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Priceless?
Over the weekend we had a neighborhood yard sale. This happens 2x a year and I’ve gone to all of them since we moved in. I’ve managed to score some pretty cool items, for cheap too. Last year I got a bag of pink Christmas ornaments for $5.00, much to Matt’s dismay. (This led to the purchase of a white Christmas tree! 😉 ) At the same house, I found some really large 24×36 wooden frames. I think they were $1.00 for both! They are currently hanging above the buffet in the living room waiting to be made over.
This year, my usual partner was actually participating so Mom said she would go with me. I managed to snag a few free baskets from a friend at our first stop. Mom found a large outdoor lantern and some pics at our 2nd stop (and spent almost all of her money!) After that it was kind of slow. It didn’t feel like many people were participating this year. As we were headed back to the house we stopped at a sale just down the street. There was a large painting sitting off to the side. Mom and I were talking about it when the sellers came over. Apparently it had been “Aunt Ida’s”. They said they weren’t sure Aunt Ida ever liked the pic but she had had it for years. It was about the size I was looking for for over the guest bed but the painting was not really my style. While a nice landscape, it just wouldn’t work in the house. I asked how much and when the lady said $10.00, I knew it was coming home with me.
I told Mom Matt was going to kill me but the frame alone was worth probably $50.00 or more. So my grand vision, paint over the existing canvas. Yep! Matt didn’t care that I’d bought the pic but he was curious as to how long it was going to sit in the garage. I might have a fewor fiveother projects currently sitting out there. :OYesterday, I ran to Michael’s to get some Gesso. I knew I could use that to cover the existing print and also to add more texture. So right now it’s in the garage with a few light Gesso coats on it. Since I hadn’t used Gesso before, I didn’t want to get ahead of myself and get paints too. Plus I wanted to use a 40% off coupon for the paint set so I ran back to Michael’s at lunch to get some paints and brushes. Now I have to figure out what I’m going to paint. Or just see what happens. I want to go for something pretty abstract. I’m hoping that equates to easy.
I’m hoping to have it finished this week so we’ll see what happens. For now, let’s just hope the original wasn’t some priceless piece of art!~k
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Flea market find!
Matt and I knew that when we bought a new house there were various items that would need to be upgraded. Our bedroom furniture is on that list. We are currently in possession of my childhood furniture set. However, this set did not come with bedside tables so a few years ago I bought some cheap side tables from Walmart. We couldn’t have anything too large in our old room at the townhouse. These fit nicely even though they were cheap.
Since we moved I’ve been randomly keeping my eye out for various pieces of furniture. Hence the dining room table sans chairs right now. 😉 About two weeks ago I was on FB on one of the buy, sell, trade sites I follow and someone posted a set of small chests for $120.00. I commented for dimensions and said I would be interested if the first deal fell through. The next day I received a PM from the lady. The chests were available, and they were just about the right size! I im’ed Matt and he said “whatever”! I PM’ed the lady back, asked if she would take $100.00 for the pair and the next day I went to pick them up. They weren’t in perfect condition but they were in good condition. I just needed to decide on a paint color and I was in business.
For a while now, I’d been looking at new chests. The only problem was that most of the new chests were 1) more than I wanted to spend and 2) too tall. Our bed is pretty low so we needed chests that were under 30″ tall. Most new chests are several inches over 30 which I knew Matt would complain about. The used chests came in right at 28″ tall which makes them only a few inches taller than the bed and not uncomfortable while reaching up from the bed.
The weekend I got the chests, Matt and I ran to Lowes to look at paint colors. I ended up choosing Morning Fog by Sherwin Williams. It’s a really pretty light greyish blue color. I was a little worried there wouldn’t be enough contrast between that and the wall color but decided to just go with it. First I primed the chests and drawers with Kilz. Then over the next few days I painted the chests, and then the drawers. Within a week I had everything done. (Which was kind of shocking!) Originally I had planned to use the pulls that were on the chest and just spray paint them but then I realized almost all of them were pulling apart and Matt didn’t really think he could fix them. I searched on Amazon and fell in love with some antique looking glass knobs but they were $17.00 for a set of 4. I would need 12 and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to spend $50.00 on knobs. In the end, that’s exactly what I ended up doing. The chests were really cheap so I figured I could splurge a little on knobs.
For just over $150.00, I was able to get us new bedside tables and they turned out AMAZING! The knobs really add a little something and the color blends nicely with the room. Seeing how well these turned out, kind of makes me what to buy the Hurdal dresser and chest from IKEA, paint them and add the same knobs. (Side note, we saw these at IKEA and they are quite large and sturdy which is the only reason I’m really considering them.) That would redo our whole bedroom (chests included) for under $1000.00. I told Matt I’m not really ready to take on this project but it might happen soonish. 😉
Before: Our small crappy little tables. 
The chests before, during, my knobs, and after. -
Flea Market Finds
Yesterday Matt played golf, so while he was out, mom and I went shopping. First we went to a nursery I pass each day on my way to work. It has a very nice facility so I figured it might be kind of pricey, which is was. It was still fun to go look around and see what might be good for the yard though. Then we headed to the Flea Market. Mom’s been asking to go for a while now but it’s been either too cold or rainy. I also wanted to look for a chair and a picture frame. I’m slowly starting to get ideas for different rooms.
A few weeks ago I purchased a workstation desk from Amazon for my craft room. Thanks to UPS, my desk was destroyed. Matt said the box was ripped and banged up not to mention they left the box sitting in the rain. Needless to say I was pretty bummed (and super pissed!). Anyway, I think the desk would have been too small for the space anyway so I’ve been looking for different options. Since I know I’ll need a chair, I’ve been looking around. A new chair would run me well over $100.00. I really didn’t want to spend $100+ on a chair. That’s accessories and things I can’t buy. I started looking on Craigslist and found a few mid-century modern chairs I really liked. These were all running under $100.00. That’s a much better deal but would also require me meeting someone. I figured the Flea Market would be a good place to check.
As mom and I were walking around, I found a cute picture frame. I need something to put in my closet to hold my necklaces and earrings and I love the frame holders everyone seems to be using. I will add some paint, fabric, and wire grating and I should have something cute. As we were leaving the booth where I bought the frame, we came to a booth with tons of mid-century modern chairs. I found the vendor and asked how much. He told me $45.00! After a brief negotiation, I got him down to $40.00. 🙂 He put the chair aside and we walked around a little longer. When we got ready to leave we went to the car and drove around to pick up my new chair.
I plan to paint the chair and add some cute fabric. I also LOVE the gold cap feet. I think I will paint them to make them more gold. I’ve been looking at fabric this morning and I think I’ve found the One! I originally planned to decorate my craft room with coral and gold and maybe a touch of navy but the fabric I found doesn’t really have any coral. It’s navy based with pinks, purples, blues, greens, and yellows. It’s really fun and festive but also a little more dark and cozy.
I’ll post pics of the finished products, hopefully soon!
~k
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Superhero Subway Art
I found this pic on my phone over the weekend and realized I never actually posted the final product. Whomp whomp. Even worse, it was like a year ago. Oopsy.
Backstory, a friend was having a baby and decided to do a superhero themed nursery. In true Kelly fashion, I decided to make her something. I decided on subway art with superhero slogans. I was lucky we were pretty slow at work so I was able to work on my project in my free time. (I like to work on crafts at work, shh, don’t tell. 😉 ) First I had to figure out what slogans I could use. There were a few I knew but I had to research quite a lot to finally get enough to fill the space. In the end I used 16 slogans. I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy find that many that I thought were appropriate and short. I think my subway art turned out really well considering.
I also decided to customize the Superman logo and change it from an “S” to a “D”. Baby’s name started with a D. 🙂 It’s been so long I honestly can’t remember how I did this. I either found the image on a Google search or I used an online tool to change it. I can’t believe I can’t remember. Anyway, I made it work.I just ordered more fabric the other day to make another baby blanket for a coworker. This will be my 5th one? I’m pretty excited about the fabric I got. This will be my second girl one. I’ll post some pics when I get finished. I feel like my baby blankets are getting better, and I am getting much faster. The process now takes me about an hour from start to finish. That includes cutting, pinning and sewing.
~k
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Mr. Picky Pants
Matt and I have been on a coffee kick lately on weekend mornings. We have about 3 mugs that hold 10+ oz and fit under the Kuerig so we decided we needed some bigger mugs. When Matt first mentioned this, I told him I’d run to Home Goods or TJ Maxx and pick up a few new ones. Well work has been crazy or it’s been cold and rainy so I haven’t run out at lunch to look.
Yesterday the weather was nice and we needed to run to the grocery store. Matt asked if I wanted to grab lunch first so I said yes. We headed to Briar Creek to Panera. I told him we could run to Home Goods and TJ Maxx to get new mugs after we ate. We get to TJ Maxx and I find a little wall of fun mugs and tell Matt to pick some out. He is like “ummm I want a set.” Ohhhhh! Well okay then. That is news to me. We walk over to Home Goods because I figure they will have some sort of set. We find some cute white ones but he doesn’t like these either. Once we’ve completed our lap around the store I suggest we walk down to Pier 1. Surely they will have something he likes.
Pier 1 had a much better selection and the prices weren’t much more than what we found at Home Goods. We finally agreed on, wait for it……..plain white mugs! Honestly this works for me. I’ve had visions of fun “fancy” mugs for a while and the white will let me do this. I know there are paints and pens for ceramic that you can use and then bake into the mug.
Here are a few ideas I am currently loving.
I feel like either polka dots or the half painted ones will win out. Of course they will all be gold. I like the simple designs the best but there are tons of ideas if you image search diy mugs. I’ll post pics once I add the finishing touches to ours!
~k
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Gettin’ my craft on!
The past few days at work have been quite boring. To the point that yesterday I think I found the end of the internet. Last night while I was watching TV I decided I should start working on a craft project for a friend who is having a little boy in a few months. They’ve decided on a superhero themed nursery. I tried to think what I could do that would be superhero themed. PLUS, I thought it would be nice if I could work on it at work. 😉
Anyway, an idea came to mind and this morning I spent some time researching superheros. Then I spent a lot of time working on my project. hehe. {I told you we are slow.} So a few hours later I think my project is done. I’m currently waiting on some feedback just to make sure this is “the” final version. I actually think this turned out pretty well so this gift may be shipped sooner rather than later just so I can post a pic. 😉
~k
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I feel another Pinterest Project coming on…
It’s been several months since I have been inspired to create any of the craft projects I currently have pinned. I found this adorable pic from Esty dealer drawGabbydraw and just knew I had to do it. I have watercolors so all I really need it probably a good pen. I have no idea where I will put it. I might need my own little lady cave so I can display all my random art projects. 😉 I still have my NC heart lying around somewhere.
In other news, I think Matt and I have finally decided on a location for our trip. More details soon. 🙂~k
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A special craft
I don’t think I mentioned it, but my brother in law Patrick, was very big in the music scene. He played the guitar, managed a music store and was constantly going to festivals to help.
As we were cleaning his house, we started finding guitar picks laying around. I guess I didn’t really think about the fact that he probably had a ton of them until we had a little baggie full. As soon as I saw how many there were I knew what I wanted to do! I asked Jill and Steve if I could have them for a project I had in mind. Of course they said yes, so for the past 2 months they’ve been sitting in the closet waiting on me.
On Sunday Matt and I ran to Michael’s to find the items I needed. A glass back frame and some glue. I ended up buying 2 frames because I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do. One idea involved some sheet music. The other just needed a frame. Plus they were different sizes, one was square and one was rectangular, and I wasn’t sure which size would work best. In the end I used the rectangular one.
So what did I do? I glued the guitar pics to the to glass. It wasn’t hard or too time consuming, though it did take a little while to figure out which ones I wanted where. I knew I wanted to use the memorial ones at the top and bottom and I just filled in from there.
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More baby gifts
A friend is pregnant and since I was literally the first to know I thought I would do something a little special for her shower gift. Of course I knew I wanted to make a blanket for baby k but there was also a sign I wanted to include. I knew baby k’s mom had been eyeing one on etsy that I knew I could recreate.
A few weeks ago I started working on my projects. I started looking for fabric and found a few online. I ran to Joann’s at lunch one day and happened to find some cute flannel that was also on sale. I grabbed that and some minky and I had what I needed for project 1.
My next hurdle was the sign. I needed wood, but it couldn’t be too heavy or shipping would kill me. Then I needed a starfish. Thankfully Matt’s mom was able to find the last 2 at a store near her. The last time they came up she brought the starfish. Neither were prefect but one had a little more personality. When turned the right way it looked its little leg was kicked up dancing.
I got my ass in gear and started working on my gifts. I mean baby k could be here any day. Thankfully the gifts arrived in tact today!
So here’s what I made.
I’ll do a walk through of the sign later in the week.
I am pretty happy with both projects and baby k’s mom seems to like them too. 😀
~k
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PSA – Joann’s
If you liked my Halloween wreath, Joann’s currently has them half price. Just click here.
Happy Friday!
~k
