A Giveaway! ..and a winter's day re-purpose

We are just tickled pink that one of our loyal junkers
took the time to submit our Autumn JUNKFEST
to Flea Market Style magazine as one of the best vintage sales!

THANKS....We love you, Nickole!
(contact us Nickole...we have a little gift for you)

Well, one good deed deserves another....
so, we've decided to give away a houndstooth tote
(the perfect accessory for your Flea Market jaunts)
and a brand new copy of Flea Market Style magazine.
These magazines have been known to fly off the shelves!
If you haven't gotten one yet...and you are looking for some vintage inspiration,
....here's your chance!

To enter, just answer these questions in a comment:

Will see your smiling face at our next show, on September 8?

..and what piece of awesome. junky. goodness. are you searching for?

(please include your email address so we can contact you if you win)
On March 10th we will have a random drawing from all of the comments.

Since our mild winter was put on hold the last few days,
I have to admit,
it was pretty easy to curl up on the couch
and page through some of my favorite magazines.
...winter does have it's perks!

Surprisingly, I even braved the cold for a quick makeover.
This old (and heavy!) cement base used to hold a birdbath tray.

It was a great pedestal, but with such a narrow top,
it wasn't very practical for holding anything.

I was at a loss as to how I could attach anything to the top of the pedestal..
I didn't want to drill into it for fear of cracking it.

I got lucky and found a metal piece of some kind that fit snugly over the "neck"
and would allow me to secure some kind of top piece to it.

She definitely needed some kind of top...but what would work?

On a whim, I decided to try this old round grate...

It fit perfectly over the metal cap.
I love the rust and the swirls.
I love the contrast of the metal and the cement.
Now, she is a one of a kind table.

Set by a patio chair, she would work great to hold a cup of coffee,
or a potted plant...
or a statue...
or top her with a piece of glass and she would make a unique bedside table.

I think she's kind of charming now.
Mother nature isn't quite ready yet...
but I can't wait to put a pot of beautiful flowers on her!

Sigh....a girl can dream!



Don't forget to enter the giveaway and leave a comment!...

...Cause until you see some of these

there is always a chance for a little snow day....
and the perfect opportunity to curl up with a good magazine
and a steamy cup o joe!...

...while you admire your new houndstooth tote!

:)

Check. It. Out.

Have you picked up your copy of Flea Market Style magazine yet?

Well, whatcha waiting for!!??

We are thrilled and honored to be listed among the best vintage sales from coast to coast!!!



THANK YOU Nickole for submitting us!

Stay tuned for your chance to win a copy of the new Flea Market Style magazine!!

Funky Coffee Table

Thought I'd share my funky coffee table creation with you this morning! It's pretty crazy, so not sure if you'll like it or not...? At a sale in Minnesota last year, my eye caught sight of this dolly, shown below, far left.
So, I brought it home, thoroughly washed it and applied a poly stain to the entire cart.


It needed some height, and the only thing I could come up with were these vintage suitcases. I positioned them various ways, but they looked best this way:

The suitcases work great for storing my magazines and decorating books. A little too funky? Whatcha think?
Hooking up today to Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors! Please click on this link for more information on Donna's great blog:
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-route-66-cupboard-and-link-up-to-be.html#more

A Valentine in peacock blue

With Valentines Day just around the corner,
I decided I wanted to try to make something...
something heart shaped & pretty & kind of fun.

I started out with one of these heart shaped chocolate boxes.
You can get a cute little size for just $1.00 at the discount stores.
They are a perfectly sturdy heart shaped blank canvas!

The good news is, if you are creating this for yourself,
you can go ahead and eat the chocolate NOW!

The bad news is, there is usually only ONE caramel :(

(Does anyone REALLY eat those pink strawberry filled ones anyway!?)


Ahem....after a quick little snack, I heated up the old hot glue gun...

and grabbed a pile of peacock feathers I had leftover from a tablescape display...

They are just too pretty to sit around collecting dust!!

I trimmed them up around the "eye"...

and started gluing them to the lid of the candy box...

until it was completely covered.

I made sure the feathers overlapped all the edges...

and then just trimmed them up with a scissor.

Remember the "before".


I added some ivory ribbon and a little bling

with an old rhinestone button I had.

Then put her on display on a cabinet in my dining room.
The sepia image on the left is one of my favorite pictures..
my sweetest little sweethearts from so many years ago!

The garden statue image is on a canvas I purchased from a local gift shop.

I just had to add a few white roses.
(No, honey, that does not get you off the hook) Ha Ha

If you feel like getting a little crafty too...

grab some heart shaped chocolate boxes and cover them with something fun:
Broken rhinestone jewelry, burlap, buttons, scrapbook paper, glitter...
...the sky is the limit!!

Even empty, these would make unique gift boxes..
tuck in a love letter, some $,...
or maybe leave the chocolate inside so they can have some too!

maybe.... ;)




Linking up to:

Getting Inspiration from a Junk Sister and a vintage tin

Our girl Cassie did such a beautiful job re-vamping her craft room...
(Seriously!! scroll down if you haven't seen it!)
She carved out a great space for herself,
she did it her way!
...and we all know that there will be lots of
cottage-y, funky, fabulous-ness coming out of there in no time!
BRAVO.

It got me to open my eyes & take a good look at my creative space...
(and, at this stage, I use the term "creative" very loosely)
My space is the one I tend to shut the door on...OFTEN.

Life as a junk girl is not always pretty!!
But, I am going to follow Cassie's lead..and bare. my. soul.

I am cringing! Welcome to the "armpit" of my house:

It has no windows, and it's kind of dark.
The green was picked out by a little girl I used to know
(she is 17 now)...and I am just not lovin it.

I wonder why I feel claustrophobic in there!?!

Between the twin bed, all my junk/stuff/treasures,
and the hodge-podge of furniture trying to corral them,
the walls just start to close in on a girl.

It is a very UN-INSPIRING 9' x 14' junky mess. UGH.
Such a waste of a room.

There is no doubt that I need to re-think the way I am trying to store things:
One wall of floor to ceiling storage would probably make more sense
than this old dresser with a door on top.

Look at all of that wasted storage space on the upper part of the wall.

...and I don't even want to talk about this corner. Lots of purging to be done here.
Look at that crazy mix of furniture
..old desk, wire cubby, handmade wall unit, ...it's just not working for me,
actually, i think it is working against me!!
It's hard to stay focused in there, there is just too much going on.

Cassie...thanks for opening my eyes!
Your room has lots of room to breathe and think ...and create.

...and I want one too!

I've been thinking about what I need and what I want my room to be.

I need it to be functional with lots of easy to manage storage.

I want it to be fun & graphic....with a touch of junky goodness,
a sprinkling of industrial flavor...and a vibe that draws. me. in.

I found this old tin at a Flea Market

I L.O.V.E. the color story of this old tin.

(I am not fond of "gold" in my home furnishings, so
I'm going to call it a golden "caramel" with robins egg blue.)
To me, these are fresh & happy colors.
I love how they pop against the white flowers.
I love the unexpected masculine lion head, ...but overall, it's still pretty.
The tin is metal & industrial but the flowers soften it up...
I love the contrast.
I think this will be my inspiration for the room.

Time to roll up my sleeves & get busy.
First on the list: purging!
Second: a large rug to hide the yucky checkerboard floor of despair!

I'm just not feeling it like I was 20 years ago :l

A rug will make it cozier anyway.

Fresh White/off white walls will brighten it up..
Touches of robins egg blue...
Touches of caramel...

Some industrial junk to bring in a little masculine vibe
and some fabrics to add some girly comfort.

I have an idea for a large shelving unit
To get this accomplished, I want to "use what i got".
Well, what I got is a LOT of old doors...and I mean A LOT OF OLD DOORS!
If I mix them with some plumbing pipe, I may just be able to
get it done "on time & under budget" ;)

And a work table is in order, that is for sure.

I may add a touch of these, just for fun:

I love peacock feathers.

and a pinch of this:

cause I want to bring in only things I LOVE.
(....so that I will LOVE going in there!)

So, wish me luck.... I have a box of empty trash bags and I'm going in!
You will be the first to know when it is finished!

This Bathing Beauty has great legs!

This vintage bathtub didn't start out nearly as cute.
Actually, for quite a while, I wondered why I had even purchased her.
She had a unique shape...she was an interesting find...
but she was just so plain!
I had no idea what I could do to bring out her inner beauty....
She definitely needed some help!
See what I mean!?

There was a thick, sloppy coat of white paint on the exterior.
I scraped off a bit to see what kind of metal I was actually dealing with.
I figured that raw metal would be much more appealing
than gloppy white paint, so the stripping began.
I not only got a good workout, and I mean a fabulous workout,
(..that paint was industrial strength!!)
but I got a speck of remover in my eye...so wear those goggles girls!!!
I certainly learned my lesson.

I cleaned and sanded the interior, sealed the seams
and gave it a fresh coat of white paint....

But she still needed something....
hmmm...she definitely was not a claw foot tub...but
maybe claw foot legs would do the trick.

Oh Yeah!
This was a case where the raw metal & the legs made all of the difference!
Now she's got some style...some patina even!
...and the legs made her one of a kind.
I love her now.

Here she is displayed at JunkFest, where she was sold.
I have no idea what her new owner decided to use her for.

I could picture her in a garden filled with flowers.
...or wouldn't she make a fabulous prop in a store window?

Or maybe she was purchased to hold ice and bottles of wine
or champagne at a junk-styled wedding!
...now, wouldn't that be awesome!?

A year and a "hack" later....

Back in January 2011, I bared my soul with you all in this post about my sewing room....vowing to get things in order and show you the "after."

Here's a shot of the "before" to help jog your memory. If you're not too afraid, I suggest you go back and read the original post.

One year later, and a really cheap PB hack, here's how the room looks today:
I knew I needed some better storage solutions to hold the necessities for all the hobbies I keep diving into: sewing, quilting, paper crafts, etc. After doing the research, I decided the Martha Stewart craft room furniture from the Home Decorators catalog would fit the bill. While waiting for the (un-assembled) furniture to arrive, I painted the room a warm tan. With the shutters closed, and at different times of the day, the color appears a little more fleshy than it actually is.

I am proud to report that I put each and every piece of this furniture together BY MYSELF, thankyouverymuch. The instructions were very easy to follow and I'm quite happy with the storage each cabinet provides.

I built a shelf from a simple board and wooden brackets and painted it white. My intent was to run a dowel through a hole drilled in each bracket to hold spools of ribbon, but the weight of 40 spools of ribbon made the dowel sag in the middle! So the ribbon is now neatly stacked on the shelf, which works just as well.

Below is the desk I made using some unique old table legs found at an auction, and an old 5 panel door.

A comfortable place to blog and surf...

Wire baskets hold future projects and past issues of magazines that I can't part with.

My little sewing corner. I can pull the sewing cabinet out and extend the table for more room.

Or sit and smile at the sweet baby face of someone dear...

The cabinets on the other side serve as storage for sewing supplies (fabric, serger, etc.) and my cutting table.

Thrift store frames painted black house graphic black & white scrapbooking paper for a wall collage.

Here's where the hack comes in. Both Ballard Designs & Pottery Barn sell bulletin boards covered in burlap. I found just the size of bulletin board I needed at the 2nd hand store for two bucks. I had the burlap on hand from another project, so all I needed were the upholstery tacks.

All I did was remove the wooden frame from the cork board,

and cover in ivory colored burlap, staple the back side and glue on a picture hanger.

Twenty minutes and $4 later.....

Below my cutting table are a couple of vintage suitcases that hold quilting patterns and magazines.

In the corner sits a chair that my husband used as a child. On the chair is a pillow crafted by my mother that depicts my childhood home.

Hand stitching, applique and embroidery give the pillow dimension. I love this!

The entry to my sewing room. The cabinet is very special to me as well, and holds some prized heirlooms.

The cabinet was once my grandfather's and refinished by my mom. The sewing machine on top came from Norway in 1880 with my husband's ancestors.

Old photos of my parents and vintage McCoy pottery that holds fabric, notions and other vintage trinkets:

Vintage quilts sewn by both mine and my husband's grandmothers:

My goal was to get this room done in 2011, and in all actuality, I did. Just needed to tweak some things here and there. I'm happy with how the room came together and I finally enjoy spending time here creating.

Thanks for your patience! Had I not posted "the ugly truth" I would never had finished it!

Linking up to BNOP's Met Monday here.