Fathers Day Gift Idea

With Fathers Day coming up I thought I would share with you a cute gift idea that we gave my husband several years ago… I was reminded of it when he brought the picture home from work so we could update with a new picture. When I saw the picture though I knew I wanted to put it up at home and get a new frame for the new picture for him to take to work… I just love this photo!
So several years ago I took the girls to a local photography studio, but you can easily take these pictures at home! I brought along one of their Dads shirts and ties for each of them… for whatever reason he mostly likes to wear white shirts to work so these outfits were very recognizable and easy to put together!

This was taken in 2006 and I’m sure if my girls read this blog they would not be happy about me posting this picture.. but I think it’s cute!

As cute as they look in this picture you can bet they are a handful now! And the little one is barely recognizable, except for the hands on the hips pose of course

I hope this little idea will spark some creative gift ideas of your own for Fathers day.. but I can tell you these girls lit up their dads face with their gift and how appropriate for an office photo!

Thanks for stopping by… until next time!

Linking up to these parties!
Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, The Ivy Cottage, A Stroll Thru Life, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

French Provincial Dixie Chest

I love French Provincial furniture (umm.. I’m sure you’ve noticed a pattern by now) and this one is no exception, but I have no before picture, so you will have to mentally picture it… as it looked just like all of the other ones… with it’s original finish of cream and gold color combination it was just another “face” in the crowd.. yes, I know dressers don’t have faces… thank goodness or my children would have never slept in their own rooms

So I can give you an AFTER…

I finished the outer cabinet in two coats of ASCP French Linen (how appropriate?) and the drawers I painted first in ASCP Antoinette and then semi dry brushed over with ASCP Pure White. I say semi dry brushed because I stink at the dry brushing technique.. that is why I love this paint because I was able to remove just enough white paint with sandpaper to allow the pink to peek through..

I left the handles in with their original finish as they looked great with the new color scheme!

Love the chest on chest look of this piece!

I do like to stain the tops, but I think this looks great just like it is.. just enough distressing I think!

Well how do you think it turned out? Do you like the French Linen and Pink/White combo or is it too much? It went to Lucketts and didn’t come back so someone else loved it too! Whew… thank goodness I didn’t have to bring it back as it was VERY heavy!

I’m starting to work on furniture again… I gave myself a few days “off” after the mad rush to get ready for Lucketts as I was feeling worn down… I still have a lot to finish in the garage and quite a bit of custom work to do but I’m not going to stress about it… I hope!

Thanks for stopping by.. until next time…

Linking up to these parties!
Romantic Home, Chic on a Shoestring, French Country Cottage, Miss Mustard Seed, Decorating Insanity, Classy Clutter, Funky Junk Interiors, Primitive and Proper, Elizabeth & Co, Restore Interiors, Domestically Speaking, Savvy Southern Style

Lucketts Spring Market Recap

Whew! The Lucketts Spring Market was so great! This being my first year I was unsure about a lot of things, but it all worked out great! I did have to bring back some furniture, but it was not too bad. The weather was fantastic and I so enjoyed meeting all of my customers, other vendors and some other seriously talented bloggers! I wanted to thank everyone who helped me pull this off too.. family, friends & neighbors, you guys are without a doubt the best! So if you made it to the Market you know how awesome it was, but for those of you who couldn’t make it I wanted to share some photos from the show with you..

Some of my booth before the Market opened..

The menu board is from my basement kitchenette, but I could have sold 500 of them as many people that stopped and asked how much it was… “sorry, it’s not for sale”

It was so hard to get everything organized and setup so people could walk through and see what you had to offer.. but I loved the way it came together!

I had to bring all three beds home.. I guess beds don’t sell very well at the show.. or maybe it was just mine, I’m not sure..?

Want to know what the VERY first item that sold was… that purple chair above.. it was spray painted in Rustoleum “Aubergine” and I had a new cushion cover sewn for the bottom… it is super funky and has 5 sides with carved plaques.. I’ll do a post on it soon.. I could have sold a ton of these too!

Here are some random pictures of items at some of the other booths…

Super awesome display!

Just beautifully finished…

This buffet came home with me for MY dining room.. lucky me

Was in LOVE with this table and chair set over at Sophia’s she might still have it…

Look at that detail…

I can’t remember the name of this booth, but I remember her husband made this table!

WOW! Wouldn’t that be a great converted into a vanity?

I so wanted to take these chairs home…

My daughter wanted this HUGE twig mirror… my response “you can make that, just get some sticks from the woods..” sometimes I’m surprised that she still speaks to me

I don’t have ANY yellow in my house at all but I wanted this pair of chairs badly…

Do I need to comment on this beauty..?

Who doesn’t need a HUGE iron orb just lying around.. ‘cause I do!

Love these antique infant tubs! Great entertaining piece or for plants..

OK.. so these are kinda scary but they are HUGE.. are they Elk antlers?

These were just a fraction of the great finds that you could have (or did) pick up at the Market this year! I’m totally going to do it again next year!

Thanks for stopping by… until next time!

Lucketts Market Setup Day 1

Whew.. well we setup the stuff under the tent that came from the house today, we still have to take up another load tomorrow.. I took some photos to share some of the items I saw.. I wanted to take more vendor photos but I was afraid I looked like a stalker or something.. anyway most of these pictures are from inside the Lucketts store or surrounding buildings.. but let me tell you the stuff in the vendor’s tents is AWESOME!!! I would need a house 10 times my current size to fit all of the yummy stuff I wanted to buy! However I did buy 1 thing.. can you guess what it was?

My tent…we had just started moving stuff into the tent.. we are in the “Gold Field” right underneath a big tree.. lovely spot.. come find me!

Not mine & not sure what it is but I do love it…

This “bowl” is big enough to bathe my Weimaraner in it!

 

 

  

  

  

  

Hope you can make it to the Lucketts Spring Market.. if not I’m sorry for teasing you! The Market is this weekend May 19th & 20th!

So do you think you know what I brought home?

See you soon…

Lucketts Spring Market 2012 Loot

Ok.. I had 5 weeks to prepare for this event and I think I’m ready.. I wanted to show you glimpse behind the “curtain” before I leave..

What my “Study” looks like today…

Completely embarrassing and not getting any studying done in here…

Hiding behind the Study door…

I have 6 cool chandeliers.. some hanging out in bubble wrap..

My “Library” or Living Room whichever you prefer…

I was going to bring the cool tin antique horse and chippy desk in the bay window area, but they look so good there I think I will keep them for a while..

And because the Library couldn’t hold everything some stuff has spilled into the Foyer!

All of the rest of the goodies are in Manassas waiting to head up the road to Lucketts! Sorry about the blurriness, a friend took the pictures with his cell phone..

I’m sure the folks in my husbands office are like WTF!? But they had the space so I “borrowed” it for a little while Can you imagine if I had all of that in my house plus the other stuff..? Umm, I think “someone” would call A&E so that they could feature my on “Hoarders”.. no joke people! So I didn’t show you the inside of my garage, which has no cars, just furniture and lawn equipment… but I promised “someone” that I wouldn’t buy anymore until I finished some all of the it…

Not pictured anywhere..

• 14 vintage black exterior wood shutters (with mounting hardware)
• a box of iron claw tub feet, not sure how many.. maybe 15
• about 25 antique chippy cedar balusters
• a super chippy yellow set of exterior French doors with glass top
• a set of LARGE Snowflake glass & louver doors (very heavy)
• a HUGE vertical paneled HEAVY arse door that would be AWESOME converted into a headboard (it also has a cool brown glass knob still attached)
• a very large frame (4×5) I painted Provence & converted into a headboard with foam & white fabric interior… LOVE this so much…

Whew.. I’ve been busy, but that is about it.. I’m not painting anything else until after the show! I hope you can come to the Market, the weather looks like it is going to be PERFECT!!

Until next time…

Linking up to these parties!
MMS Lucketts Party

Three Drawer French Chest

Here is the BEFORE

Nothing special about it.. nice legs though! It is very well built and made of oak.. the drawers and carvings are all in excellent condition.. it just needed an update!

The AFTER

I sanded the old finish off of the top with my orbital sander, starting with 150 grit paper finishing with 220 grit. I then stained the top in “Kona” and after wiping off the excess I allowed the stain to setup for a day or so before I waxed it with a dark wax.

The top just looks so much nicer in a darker stain! The green is a custom mix of 50/50 ASCP Versailles and CeCe Caldwell’s Spring Green… it is a very lovely current shade of green!

I sprayed the handles in flat white and once I reattached them I was in love! I just can’t get enough of the color combination and how the handles look so great on the piece now! What a super simple fix that makes all the difference!

A little distressing on the green, a good wax and a buff and it was finished! I much prefer the after to the before.. I think this is now a conversation piece instead of a wall flower.. What do you think? I’m taking it up to the Lucketts Spring Market.. hope to see you there!

As always thanks for stopping by… until next time!

Parties I’m linking up to!
A Stroll Thru Life, Primitive and Proper, The Ivy Cottage, Savvy Southern Style, Domestically Speaking, Restore Interiors, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch

Vintage Dining Chairs

ok.. so I call these my “butterfly” chairs.. Can you see why or is it just me?

I have not a single before photo of these chairs! They came with a dining table, but my customer had her own chairs… so these little lovelies have been waiting patiently for me to work on them!

I have four of them as you can see… and they were all in good physical shape. They were your basic maple dining chairs with some seriously pain in the rear seats… see “someone” at some point thought it was a good idea to put plastic over the fabric.. not a big deal until you have to take out the 50 gazillion staples from the fabric and then the plastic cover!! Not cool…

So after the staples were all removed I added 2” foam and some cotton batting to the wood base and then covered it in new fabric… so purdy!

The chairs were painted in Country Grey Chalk paint and heavily distressed, the “butterfly” was painted in Provence chalk paint over the Country Grey. They were then waxed and buffed to give them a final soft hand and sheen.

It wasn’t really the look I was initially going for, but this is where they ended up.. I think I like them..

What do you think.. constructive criticism is always welcome here…

Thanks for stopping by… until next time!

Linking to these parties!
A Stroll Thru Life, Primitive and Proper, Ivy Cottage Blog, Savvy Southern Style, Domestically Speaking, Restore Interiors, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

Antique Mahogany Music Cabinet

This piece is a well-built antique mahogany music cabinet. It has some pretty inlay on the top and the glass is original “wavy” glass.. yumm!!

The BEFORE

This picture looks like it is floating, but I took the picture when it was laying on its side!!

There was some severely bubbling and cracking veneer on the one side which I removed with a putty knife up to the point where it was no longer loose. I then sanded the remaining veneer down to fade into the base wood. I was concerned about this process, but once the piece was painted I can’t see the “repair” at all… GREAT!!

The AFTER shots..

I refinished the top by sanding it with progressively higher grit sandpaper (from 100 to 220) and then applied a coat of dark walnut stain. I then applied two coats of wax to the top to protect the surface and then buffed it after it was dry.

The original knobs and even the key!!! Someone was looking out for me the day I found this one! I painted the cabinet in Aubusson chalk paint (2 coats) then I lightly distressed, waxed and buffed it.

The inside of the cabinet has a lot of storage potential and some great shelves! I removed the old, super gross fabric that was glued to the wood of the top two shelves and replaced it with cork shelf liner.. The next owner can adhere fabric to the shelves that would coordinate with their space as the liner can be easily removed!

Did I happen to mention the glass is original and each one if those pieces is actually a pane? The wood is not just laying on top of the glass but is true mullion… very pretty!

Well as gorgeous as I think this piece is, it is heading up the highway to the Lucketts Spring Market!

Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear what you think about the music cabinet!

Until next time…

Linking up to these great parties!
Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch

French Provincial Drum Table

Ooh-La-La

I just love these tables.. this is the third one I have refinished.. I scoop them up whenever I can! I think they are not only pretty, but have great storage.. I even saw where someone turned one into a dog bed for a small dog, I love the idea!

Anyway here is the BEFORE

I had started to sand a little on the left before I remembered to stop and take a picture..

I thought I was going to stain the top and paint the bottom so I did end up sanding all of the finish off of the top.. it needed to be sanded a little to remove the surface scratches, but not all of the way! So of course after I painted the bottom I didn’t like the idea of the top being stained, don’t ask me why… I just didn’t, that is the problem with starting a project before you know what you want the end result to be.. I REALLY need to work on that!! Six Sigma process improvement here I come

So I painted it in a custom blue chalk paint mix.. I really shouldn’t even use the term “custom” since all I did was mix the last bits of Aubusson, Louis Blue, Greek Blue and another custom blue I had on hand together.. perfect! Thank goodness I had enough! I then used a silver leaf pen and painted the inset area along the top, the front of the grates and the knobs. Once everything was dry I distressed, waxed and buffed the piece.

Here is the AFTER

Love the “custom” blue…

I much prefer the grates silver.. It makes it look “blingier”.. seriously I KNOW that is not a word… but it definitely looks a lot happier than before!

Taking this with me to Lucketts Spring Market!

I would love to know what you think about this piece, so please leave a comment if you can!

Thanks for stopping by.. until next time!

Linking up to these great parties!
Classy Clutter, Funky Junk Interiors

Four Sweet Little Chairs

Ok… so some of you may know that I’m SUPER busy getting furniture finished to take to the Lucketts Spring Market… but I just HAD to take a few moments to share with you these oh-so-cute little chairs I have JUST finished…

I only had this one sad BEFORE picture..

This particular chair was the worst… the cane on the other three is in good shape, but this cane I had to remove. I wanted to get it fixed, but once again this chair was built prior to the 1920’s so the cane is “hole to hole” cane, which is just the term used when the cane is sewn hole to hole… totally makes sense right? It is super expensive to get repaired and it’s just not in my time schedule right now to learn how to do it (I’m assuming I can )… Also, there was no finish left on these little mahogany chairs either… which was actually helpful!!

So my solution was to cover the cane up with cushioned seats, same as my French Bench posting…

Here they all are in their AFTER glory!

They are painted in Pure White Chalk paint, no distressing, no wax.. this will allow them to naturally wear over time.. which I think will make them even more lovely!

The chairs themselves are rather diminutive by todays standards, but were probably just the right size for the early 1900’s…

I seriously cannot tell you how much I adore this fabric.. which is printed duck fabric from Hobby Lobby… just in case you were wondering my favorite owl is the pink and green one

I knew I wanted these chairs to be for children….because of their size they are just perfect for smaller tushies and once I saw this fabric I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with it.. I just love it when a project comes together to perfectly!

Well I hope these little lovelies made you smile… thanks for stopping by!

Until next time…

Linking up to these fabulous parties!
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, Decorating Insanity