Yellow and Blue Toile Garden Stool

My mom has the most beautiful garden. If you haven't seen it yet, check out My Family Visit to Pasco. Since she has such a large and gorgeous garden I like to make her things to add some extra vintage charm. This little stool was a perfect find.

Updated Retro Record Player

I love vinyl. 

Little nostalgic, possibly. But there isn't a day that goes by that I don't listen to music. It is everywhere and it is incorporated in our lives to the jingles on television, internet radio and ringtones on our phones. 

Thursday's Treasures #6: Lamp Redo and Fire King Dishes

A little behind on my Thursday's treasures, however it is working to my advantage because you will really see a great progression on how I transformed my house, again, this summer. 

Thursday's Treasures #5

Thursday's Treasures this week is going to be a project I completed with a box that I scored from a local thrift store for $1.99!

Trash to Treasure: Tool Box Planter

I think I have mentioned in previous blog posts that I don't have a green thumb. My goal this summer is to be rid of my "Plant Hospice" status and become a gardener or just have flowers other than mint, rosemary and geraniums (these plants have survived my wrath in the past). 

Before and After: Vintage Thread and Bobbin Case

Found this awesome gem at a local flea market. This old wood thread holder/case was a score at $5.00!! 

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint 101

Yesterday I did my first Annie Sloan Chalk Paint piece of furniture!!

Excited, definitely. After my class and coming home I sat and looked at my finished piece and it just got all my brain in marathon mode with ideas. 

To put it mildly, I was planning on repainting all of my furniture. 

Under $10.00 Children's Chalk Boards

I like to recycle, make something new again or re-purpose. 

So when my best friend wanted some chalk boards for her darling children, I couldn't help myself in making some chalk boards that were durable and cost effective. 

Finally of 2012 Fall Series of DIY Tutorials

Happy Fall Y'All!

I hope that you enjoyed this week of Fall DIY tutorials. It was so much fun to create all of these wonderful items and it has inspired me for even more Fall decorating/projects. Here are the tutorials:

Harvest Burlap Chair

Day three of my Fall Series DIY tutorials.

If you missed it-

 Day 1: From Pallet to Distressed Harvest Sign

Day 2: Outdoor Fall Table 

Outdoor Fall Table

Day two of my Fall series of DIY tutorials. 

Check out Day One: From Pallet to Distressed Harvest Sign

From Pallet to Distressed Harvest Sign

This is part of a five day FALL series of DIY tutorials. 

Pallet Projects-They are EVERYWHERE!!

Although I would love to create a ton of them, I refuse to pay for a pallet, much less make my own. 

KofColors Finished Workspace Make-Over

Wow!! It is finally finished. 

I can't tell you how much more organized things are and that you can now see the floor. *Not that you will always be able to.

Cost of the make-over:

$10.00 Metal Drawer Storage

$5.00 Table

$7.00 Cherry Oilcloth

$8.00 Spray Paint

TOTAL: $30.00

Before and After: Metal Drawer Storage

Day 3 of Workspace Make-Over, Day 2 was Thread Organizer and Day 1 was Five Dollar Craigslist table. 

It was about time that I found something that could hold all of my trims and notions. 

Before and After: Five Dollar Craigslist Table

Ah Craigslist...my husband can seem to find me just about anything on there. Including this $5.00 table that I was using for shows.

KofColors Workspace Make-Over

 How embarrassing!!

I should be ashamed of the mess that is displayed in these photos. But sadly this has been my workspace for the last two years. And even though I have made some small changes and added bits of charm. 

Dresser Drawer To Shabby Chic Dog Bed

Flea Market find, dresser drawer. 

Upcycled into a Shabby Chic Pet bed. 

I love my dogs. They are my babies and are spoiled so much to the point where I am constantly making them new pet beds to lounge around the house, the car or even when we go camping. 

This recent bed was made from an old dresser drawer that I picked up at a local flea market for a few dollars. It had a beautiful front and was in really great shape...it just needed a face lift. 

First step was sanding all of the old paint then smoothing out some but not all of the wear and tear. *Smoothing out all of those edges so that it will not hurt your pet or yourself. 

Next, I prime the entire drawer with KILZ Latex Primer. This helps stop mold from growing and is safe for your pet. 

This is where I get out of control with paint and cover myself and what I am working on...so missing a few photos because I dare not touch my camera with messy fingers. 

But I put a layer of dark tan and garden green. Then I take furniture wax and a rag and rub the wax all along the edges, corners and general areas where I want it to look distressed. 

Then I put a last coat of white paint and let it set until dry. Once it is dry I use a soft steel wool and rub it on the areas where I had put the furniture wax. If you want an even rougher look, you can use a light grit sand paper and sand until you get the look that you want. 

Then just added my own vintage glass drawer handle and four wood bun feet...VOILA!

A pet bed for a Puppy Princess!

Any questions or suggestion, I would love to hear from you. 

~Amanda

Entering this project in The CSI Project Contest. 

 

Before and After Vintage Rocking Chair

This little rocking chair has traveled some miles in its lifespan. I purchased this little gem in Lake Havasu City, Arizona over a year ago and when we moved to California it made the move with us. It spoke to me on the sidewalk in front of an antique shop for many weeks on my way home from school. Finally I just stopped by and asked how much it was...$15.00. SOLD!

Original fabric

 Well it is HOT in Lake Havasu so it wasn't like I could just get started in the garage....the garage temperature is normally 100*+. So she just had to wait.

We moved to California and so she sat in garage for awhile again. Thought I was going to donate her...but gave her a second chance.

The chair had two layers, someone had already recovered the chair with the red rug, peeling that layer off I was surprised to find the beat up and smelly original fabric.

Pulling that layer off I found that there was this layer of old printed plaster stuff (wasn't newspaper and felt like a plastic). The date reads August 30, 1936 Real Estate News. So I am guessing this chair was from around that time. In this Real Estate news you could buy a three bedroom and two bath home close to catholic schools for $5,500.

This is a close up of the newspaper stamped on to this plastic stuff...

 Ready for the big surprise! Wouldn't be a great find if it didn't have some weird connection to me in some way.

This chair was made in North Coast Chair Company in Seattle, Washington. And it was made for Samm Bros. Furniture in Moscow, Idaho.

Small WORLD!

This chair was made in Seattle, WA made the trip to Moscow, ID and then I bought it in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Lance, my husband, did his apprenticeship in Seattle, Washington and I went to school at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho and we both lived in Lake Havasu City, Arizona and now we own it.

I know I am reaching out there but truly we have things in common in so many ways.

You could say I am a huge geek, however, at least I am a handy one!

Finished Chair, distressed paint and new fabric

This is how I lost my thumb nail again...putting these cute decorative nails on. 

Finished product...couldn't be happier. 

Finished Peck and Hills Furniture

Didn't she turn out beautiful! My kitchen is mostly "sun-glow yellow" with accents of blue and red. It is really retro so this red accent really brings more color to my dining room. The color I chose was called Posh Red, but really it reminds me of a barn red. Red is also tied to Al Capone because of his St. Valentine's Day Massacre (if you know your mob history).

 This was another flea market find. It is a scale from American Cutlery Co. and on the front it has the patent date of 1913. After purchasing this to go on the table I realized it was from Chicago, so both the furniture and the scale are from Chicago. I added this beautiful table runner my mom gave to me awhile back. It ties in the yellow and red well.

And here is the finished product. Jade vase of roses and one of my Anchor Hocking "Fire King" bowls and a silver shell key dish. I am really happy with this I kept all of the hardware original. Now it houses all of my vintage linens and table stuff.

Peck and Hills Furniture Find and Al Capone

What does this fantastic piece of furniture and Al Capone have in common?  This beautiful dresser was made by a company based out of Chicago called Peck and Hills Furniture Company. It was first established in 1896. I really couldn't find a date when they closed but it seems it was the late 1940's, possibly early 1950's, but this is an educated guess. ( If anyone has more information I would love to know).

    So this stamp was inside one of the drawers to identify the manufacturer. I didn't realize this until I got the piece home. It was difficult to find good information about this company, it was a lot like genealogy for furniture. I found an article that was published in Los Angeles in 1941 stating that Peck and Hills Furniture Company was hiring lots of men to help boost the economy. Could this piece be from that boom?

SO- what does this piece have in common with Al Capone? In my searching of this company, a legal document came up many times referring to Al Capone's Tax Evasion smack down. He was brought to the slammer not for being a gangster...but for his taxes. It was stated in some of these documents that he purchased "three or four dollars worth of furniture from Peck and Hills Furniture Co." I know this is really kinda far fetched but I could own a piece of furniture that may or may not have been something he had in his Chicago home.

I didn't get this piece from Chicago, it was a find from the Child Abuse Thrift Store. It was something that I had seen earlier and I kept thinking about it...when that happens I was meant to have it. So I was up late coming up with ideas and woke up early so I could get it first thing in the morning.  You can see it above with a rocking chair and the plants that I hadn't planted yet. (big TO-DO list today).

All the suitcases :-)

This looks like a yard sale. Good thing Lance isn't home. 

Sun bathing beauty!

 Okay, it was $89.98. It was more than I would have liked to spend...but the money was going to Child Abuse, so really there was no bad feelings. Then after getting it home and finding out it was an old find, I couldn't help but feel like it was meant for me.

 The inside of the drawers were in such good shape I left them as is. There was candle wax near this stamp, it was the only clean up I had to do for the inside of the drawers. HAIR DRYER works "wonders" if you ever spill candle wax.

*I know this because we had some house guests stay overnight at our home and decided to use candle wax for one reason or another (eww).  They left the bedroom covered in wax all the way up the wall, in the carpet and splattered on some photo frames. It all cleaned up with a hair dryer and paper towel.  They were NEVER invited back.

Back to the dresser, I had to use my stripper, sander and tools to remove old stain, smooth out rough patches and clean her up. After this she really was beautiful.

*I was born and raised in a hardware store. You always had a ton of jokes for the old guys when they were looking for strippers :-)

 At the end of today I have put my primer on and one coat of paint. I will post later with the finished product ( then you will find out what color I chose).  Also noted that I didn't cut myself or glue myself to anything today. I also finished planting my flowers and washed all of my suitcases. Audrey was in heaven because she got to play with the hose and tried her best to kill the sander.