Andrea's wheel platters...

Linking up to Becky's under $100 Linky party over at

Beyond the Picket Fence

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Here's a quick and super easy project for all you wheel lovers out there (and you know who you are!) Wheels are indeed one of my favorite junk items, so I decided why not use them in some fun, resourceful way? Since I love to cook and entertain, this idea came to me over New Year's when I realized I could really use more serving pieces.

Here's the low down on my wheel platters...

First, start with a great old wheel from a child's bike, a tire from a wagon, tricycle, etc...

Dab on a little Gorilla super glue - the stuff is awesome and I use it for a million things. It dries clear too, so that's a plus.

Center your plate (I chose clear glass because I still want to see the wheel through the plate), and press down for a minute or so until the glue dries.

There you have it. Told you it was easy! I am SO loving how these turned out!

Hope you're having a funky junk-filled kind of week!

A Dandy Chandy... Updated.

When I spied this brass chandelier at a garage sale my heart went "pitter patter". The owner still loved it but was ready for an updated light fixture in her dining room.

See the before...

It was a bit tired and outdated.

I carefully dismantled the chandelier, taking all the crystals off and soaking them. Then scrubbed each and every one with a toothbrush. I sorted them all out on a towel, counting to make sure I could create a balanced look as I put them back on the chandy.

Then I taped off any areas I did NOT want to paint.

I used a quality spray primer and high performance white spray paint.

And...Taa Daa!! It truly was even more gorgeous in person than the photo shows!

Linked to:

SNS #68

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Furniture Feature Friday

Frugalicious Friday

A Sack is a Sack is a Sack...right?

I'm linking these sweeties to Miss Funky Donna's...

They're not really grain sacks (like the linky theme), but coffee sacks instead. But hey, a sack is a sack is a sack, right? ;)

I hope you don't mind...this is a bit of a repost, but I just couldn't resist sharing AGAIN!!



There really isn't anything soft and cozy about a hefty piece of burlap, is there? But the charm I believe, comes from the unspoken history of a well used burlap scrap.


I had an awesome large frame and this burlap bag made the perfect fixins for a stylin' memo cork board.

And functional?! Don't ya just wanna drool all over this mattress and those pillows?

I just HAD to keep one of these bags for ME, ME, ME! I love it like I love my SaWeet Screen Door!! Check out the screen door post HERE.

What ways have you found to repurpose grain sacks, or coffee sacks?

The ugly truth...

You know how everybody in blogland is cleaning out, organizing & tackling those first projects of 2011? Count me in! I'm not proud of the pictures you're about to see. In fact, "embarrassed" doesn't even come close to describing how I feel about the world seeing what I've done. Make that haven't done.




These images are of my sewing/craft/create room. The disarray you are seeing is not because of my mad & wild creating methods. No. This is the result of a lack of functional storage and...well, downright laziness. Like I had to tell you that. Please....don't judge.

My motive for showing you the ugly truth is to light a fire under my ahem and give me something to work towards. I wouldn't have had to share this with the world, but if I didn't, I just might not take myself seriously and get it done. Now that you've seen the before, I can't wait to share the after. I just hope I can get it done in 2011!

Stay tuned...

Chippy White fireplace mantel

One of my goals for the coming year is to spend more time creating....to nurture my artistic/creative/diy self. This includes everything from paper goods to the blood, sweat, and tears projects for JunkFest. What better way to nudge myself than to join the gals over at CSI (Create Something Inspiring)? Each week they choose a theme and select a winner from tons of entries. My intentions are to be inspired by the upcoming themes and create something new.....either for my home, or for JunkFest. Since I just jumped on the bandwagon today, I chose a project that I had already done, which you may remember seeing here. This week's theme is "white" and the first thing that came to my mind was time-worn, chippy, cottage style. This style might not be for everyone, but it is definitely my favorite and white is the perfect color for it. One consistent color, even in a mix of styles, can create a coherent look. On to the project.

What do you get when you mix 2 old chippy white square columns, some weathered corral boards and a fleur de lis? A fireplace!

Here are the two columns I started with. Don't they just scream "fireplace!" to you? After taking apart the columns, only to discover that 2 of the 4 sides on each had a one inch lip sticking out, I sawed off the lip so that the boards would lay flush side by side.

Next, I layed the boards out flat to determine the width of the mantel....and hope like heck I had enough to make this work! Sketches, rough drafts......even measuring were not part of my plan at this point. I was working purely from the vision in my head...and eyeballing as I went along.
I don't really recommend this, it's just how I roll sometimes.

Next, I flipped the boards over and secured them with some horizontal planks. So far, so good.

After adding the sides, I trimmed the top & bottom and added a thick piece of plywood for the back. Then (this time I measured) I cut the opening in the front. It appears as though the opening is a bit small, but I still had a decorative element to add above it.

Dry fit the mantel, eyeballed some more....looking pretty good. Attached the mantel and a beefy corral board for the bottom. After darkening the top & bottom with a "secret" stain/paint formula, I added the metal fleur de lis to the front to "French" her up a bit.

And there you have it! A chippy-white, faux fireplace mantel.

If you're looking for more "white" inspiration, head over to CSI this week! Just click on the button below. Thanks for stopping by!

Clock themed New Year's party!

Happy New Year! Just thought I'd share a few pictures from my New Year's party, featuring clocks, clocks and more clocks!

The dessert area began with greenery and this decorative door which was a "save" from a piece of disgarded furniture. (Just goes to show a junk girl shouldn't throw anything away as a good "use" for an item usually presents itself later on...!)

A no-longer working clock was taken apart and the face was the perfect platter for the main dessert...sitting on a silver base for some height.


Here she is! It was pretty yummy!

A while back when my junk sisters and I were out junkin', I found these old round Bristol Recorder charts. They worked just right as placemats.






These old, totally "cool" metal clock faces were used as drink coasters...

I just love 'em!

This recently found two-piece silver dish was used to hold the ice cubes for drinks -

it worked great!

Have a fabulous junk-filled 2011!

My Stars

All you Pottery Barn fans out there may be familiar with these images....they've been in the recent holiday catalogs. They're featuring the glass apothecary jars, which are lovely. But, I was more intrigued by the adorable vintage paper stars inside them. They almost made me want to buy the apothecary jars.....but I know that 1) I don't need them, and 2) when I do need them, I can find them cheaper someplace else.

Anyway, this post is not about the jars, but rather the stars. I heart them. I wanted them as soon as I saw them. But I didn't know how to get them. So I put them out of my mind until I found this blog while checking out a linky party. In case you didn't know, you can find tons of incredible ideas, projects, tutorials , etc. by lurking around linky parties.








Suzanne over at Meridian Road made an adorable star garland out of these sweet little sheet music strips. She gives a quick and easy tutorial here. Since it was storming here over the weekend (winter in ND....go figure!) I decided to try my hand at these.

Cute, yes? They even make my vintage silver candle holders, clock faces and pearl necklace look better, much like the apothecary jars!

Yes, you're seeing that right. I've only made three. Winter is just getting started here. There will be more storms.....more stars. Thank you Suzanne for the tutorial. And thank you Pottery Barn for the inspiration!







Joining Kathleen over at Faded Charms for White Wednesday #81 & Becky at Beyond the Picket Fence for her Under $100 party.