Cute Ideas

Wanted to share this really cute idea with you. Why sailing last week, I came across this lamp. I bought it for two reasons, one it matches my kitchen and second wanted to share this idea. One pottery crock, one lamp shade, a little wood working and a light kit. How cute is that?

Also wanted to share with you, one old picture frame, so me vintage valentines and cards, makes one great wall decoration.

Check this out found at second hand book stores and sales, I came across this wonderful vintage book series. American Country by Time Life. This book set of 20 volumes has classic country decorating ideas and explains all that is country. I fell in love with this set, because it will never go out of style. I found most of it on line for a penny a book. Shipping was terrible.Costly but worth it.

Old Wrought Iron Tables

Old wrought iron tables. Love them. But, sometimes you find them with missing glass tops. That is ok. Love them too. Reason being they make great planters. How fun would it be to have one of these next to your kitchen door filled with herbs, or like me on my patio filled with wave petunias. The best thing about these tables they can easily be converted back with a piece of bought glass. So gather up your table, chicken wire, coconut grass and a few plants. Have fun.

Outdoor Lighting My Way

The joy of outdoor rooms, the magazines are all showing them. Outdoor Living Spaces, have you ever noticed that they show candles for the lighting of these rooms. Yes, I know they are beautiful, but, if your patio is like mine, the candles melt in the summer sun. The electric lights are nice, but then I had cords running every where. Oil lamps,better take them in at night too.

I came up with a neat idea. Solar. Try to find solar lights with personality! Good luck! So I took some old floor lamps, chandliers, wall sconces and plant and candle holders. Removed all the wiring, sprayed with an outdoor metal paint and added solar lighting. The lights came from a home improvement store. I removed the stakes for placing them in the ground and then crazy glued the lights into place.

Personality, soft glow, and movable! Best part I can still use the candles when company comes.

Fireplace Charm

I was lucky that the antique mantle already had a back to it. Someone else had added it to use in their home. What I did was add a tin ceiling panel painted black to the inside to add depth and interest. I placed the fireplace up on to a faux brick mat, picked up at a home center. Next I wanted to keep the chippy look of the paint, but still need to be able to dust the thing. So, I painted on three coats of watered down Elmer's white glue. Dry between coatings, and sand lightly. Over that I painted on three coats of varnish, sanded lightly between coats. What all this does is seals the original paint in place, makes the surface smooth and protects the exposed wood.

After that I touched up the carved pieces of decoration with my magic gold marker and sealed that to with a light coating of varnish. Once this was complete I added a firescreen, and a pair of old cast iron lamp bases made into legs to hold all in place. A remote control appliance switch from the hardware store, and a cozy fireplace with no mess is now installed.

A View From The Side

Finding old pieces of furniture. What a rush it can be. You see a piece in the trash ( the dresser here) or a small buffet ( bought for $25) and your heart skips a beat.
You zero in on the object, and find the sides are a mess. The piece is usable, but the veneer is peeling or spliton the sides. What a shame.

There is hope, a trip to the home improvement store, skip down the trim isle. pick up some wonderful moldings, a few pieces of ceiling tin etc,. The choices are endless.

Cut, glue, nail, miter etc.etc.etc. Look what you have. A wonderful piece that looks as good from the side as it does from the front.

Fixing The Mirror Issue

Well, as you all know I broke the mirror to the dressing table, while taking it out of my car. It could have been fixed, but the three panel mirror would not have worked in the room anyway, sometimes accidents happen for a reason.

The original mirror had three panels of glass and slid down into the back of the dressing table. So to get around this issue, I cut two pieces of antique trim ( picked up at a previous yard sale and hide away till needed)and glued them over the opening that the mirror slid into.

I had found a couple of years ago a large antique full length looking glass and had stored that away too. Perfect, I painted it to match the dresser and hung on the wall it blends perfectly.

As you can see the full size bed is massive, so I needed a piece that was going to balance the room. I think this did the job perfectly.

Painting Old Furniture

You all know I really hate painting a piece of furniture, (if I do not have to.) I would rather sand and refinish the piece to it's orginal beauty. However, sometimes there is no chioce, for example, a piece may need paint( that hides a multiple of sins) or if you need it to match an existing piece of furniture that you already own.

Here is a good tip, after sanding the piece, mainly to remove laquer and wet rings.( old pieces sand quikly) Then spray paint with clear or the color paint you want to use. This seals the wood, you end up using cheap spray from say" Walmart". Save the last coat for your finish paint. It will go on easier, and you will not waste any as the old wood soaks up anything you apply to it. Happy painting.

PS. Sometimes you find a piece of furniture and you break mirrors or the piece comes broken. Do not worry. You can always 'Riggg' a piece. No one needs to know, and it will work out in the end...

The Executive's Desk

The piano bench has been transformed into a miniature desk. Sanding this piece took forever, but once down to bare wood, the mahogany
stain went on very nicely. My famous gold paint marker and the desk was
ready to use. What I like about projects like these are that they have
many uses. A bench, a side table, add some foam and fabric and you have
an ottoman.
Pieces like these are fun to work with, the only decision is deciding
what you want it to be. And also remember the best part, they are
reusable threw out the home.

The
old mirror frame, well the sides went to the barn for a future project,
and the top got a fresh coat of gold spray paint first, then a misting
of black spray paint. I used a gloss spray paint. The mirror frame will
sit on a shelf waiting for the next project that it may be used for.
Stay tuned you never know what project I will be working on next.

Gold Anyone ?

One of my favorite items to have on hand are, a gold paint pen, a
bottle of antique gold paint, a can of gold spray paint, and a small
amount of gold leaf paper.

When you have gold on hand, then just about anything can come to life.

For
example, the Grandfather clock was missing something, it looked too top
heavy and a little out of place. But, what exactly was it? Well. it
needed a little bit of antique gold applied to the wooden do-dad
decoration at the base, and now the clock looks sturdy.

The antique secretary
desk was missing some of it's wooden decorations, a swipe of a gold
paint marker in the right places, and no one would never know. That is en-less they had to point it out, and if they did. They need a life! The same trick worked on an old sewing machine cabinet.

Gold leaf made an old radio cabinet come to life. Now, I am not saying go crazy with gold paints. But, a little adds warmth to any home.

Clock Cases Re-Styled

I love clocks as you all know. But sometimes I run across a clock case
that just is so pretty , That I must bring it home. Well re-think those
empty not working clocks and use them. The large round floral clock had
wind up parts that long ago stopped working. a clock re-pair man is
hard to come by, and they are not cheap. The other problem with this
clock was it was wet from being left out in the rain and painted very
gold. I re-painted it using the colors that match my library, antiqued
it out in gold leaf, removed the clock parts and added a $10 battery
operated clock part from Walmart. I glued a beautiful button in the hole where it would have been wound. On wall, LOVE IT!!!

The second mantel clock, I bought this empty for a $1. I polished it added a battery opeoated clock part from Walmart and now it sits on top of my husbands big screen.

The third case a large cabinet
style was missing it's face and some of it's insides, a screw driver
later, some oil polish and a cup hook, now it has become a display unit
for a ladies satchel from the 1800's also an antique perfume bottle that now graces the fire place mantle in my bedroom.

So for a few $$$'s re-think those clocks, just because they do not work, does not mean they are junk. Far from it.

Looking Glasses

I go to a lot of sales, and every estate sale,tag sale,yard sale and
thrift shop always have at least one big old plastic mirror from the
1960s and 1970s. So I started looking at them a little closer. Yes they
are mostly faux wood grain brown, and of painted white rubbed with gold. Yes, very
ugly...But... Try looking a little closer the next time you see one.
Some times the detailing is pretty neat, and if you can picture it
hanging in your space in another color. Well, BUY IT!!Craft paint
can change the look, and you can pick the colors. The other great thing
about these mirrors, you can usually pick them up for a $1 and the size
of them, they are quite large. Painting them is just like paint by
number so give it a try. It is alot of fun.