Weekend Mini Makeovers

I've been working on a few little makeovers this weekend, I've had this picture since the early 90's when
  I was into country style decor. I still liked the frame but I wanted to do something  that goes with my decorating style now. I took the picture out of the closet, where its been for years. And gave it a fresh coat of paint. I painted the frame in  Glass Of Milk from Martha Stewart paints . When the paint dried I antiqued it with a dark stain and glaze mixture. Here is the before:

Now heres a picture of the after:

After

I printed and image of an old dictionary page and then ran it back through the printer and layered the stopwatch image over the text. Images are from the  The Graphics Fairy.

I also had two old urns that I purchased from now the defunct Bombay Company, they must be at least 15 years old. Again I took them out of the closet patched the one that was broken and painted the other one with Blue Ocean Breeze spray paint from Krylon.  I am considering turqouise as an accent color so I decided to experiment with the color on one of my urns. Here is the before;

Before

 Here  is the after:

After

  I've been seeing deconstructed book bundles in design catalogs. I think they are gorgeous, but I didn't like the prices they were asking for busted books. I mean come on now 25.00 dollars and more....uh no...so I went to the thrfit store and bought 3 paperback novels for 1.50. I tore the covers off of them, then stamped around the edges printed a layered post card image tied it all together with twine and voila:

1.50  not 25.00 plus

I've also been working on a big project for a week. Here's a little sneak peek

More on this later in the week. What have you guy's been up to? I'm joining  the newbie party at  Debbie's and Met. Monday AT Between Naps On The Porch and Wow Us Wednesday at Kim's  Savvy Southern Style.

Need Some Wood?

 Well I've got plenty of wood  but not enough storage. I found this great box at the goodwill that seemed perfect for the job. I think it was one of those trunks with a lid,well the lid was missing and it was a little banged up but for 4.00 dollars it fit the bill. Since it has to be in my living room I wanted it to compliment the room. It's a box to hold wood so I decided to keep it simple. Here's what I started with:

Plain plywood water stained box

I painted it and distressed it with a glaze and a combination of black  white and gray paint. I grunged it up real good. In my head I was picturing a really old shipping box. However I didn't want to spend an eternity on the process. After I distressed it I printed a graphic from  Olive Rue. I burned the edges to make it look old and weathered and decoupaged it to the box using modge podge. This is the after:

nothing complicated but it fits the space

                                    
 Here's the before again:

before

after

 I decided to add the shipping tag to fit  the story in my head about the box being an old shipping crate. Its a small project but it looks so much nicer holding wood than the brass wood holder that we had, and it also holds more wood so that we don't have over flow bundles on the floor...that drove me nuts. I think its kinda cute for four bucks and a little paper and paint. What do you think...kind words please LOL.
I'm linking up with Donna at  Funky Junk Interiors  for the SNS linky party.

I Did It My Way

Hello out there, I love Pottery Barn. One day while drooling over their catalog I stumbled upon these gorgeous hurricanes             

49.00 for this

                                  

79.00 for This one

 And then I saw the price...RUT ROE... Not in the budget...so I said what every DIY gal says on a regular basis...I can do that! So I set about gathering up my materials.                                                                        

          

I've had the large hurricane for about 12 years, the smaller one I bought at the Dollar  Tree,the silver candlestick with the crystal came from Marshalls and the plain silver one came from the Goodwill

 First I taped off the top of the hurricanes with masking tape so that I could apply the silver leaf and get a nice edge.

 I did this after I etched the larger one,sorry I got ahead of myself.

Apply etching cream to stencils for monogram put it on much thicker than this pic shows wait five minutes then rinse with cool water.

 My etching came out a little anemic, I don't really know why...I've read that some glass is easier to etch then others maybe that explains it ...yea thats my story and I'm sticking to it LOL. After the monogram was etched I applied the sizing to the rims of the hurricanes for the silver leaf. After the sizing became tacky not dry, 30 to 60 minutes later I applied the silver leaf.

 After you apply the silver leaf you have to burnish it with a very soft brush or your finger to smooth it out. If you have any bare spots you can use the silver leaf that flakes off  when burnishing and apply it to the bare spots. After this step I glued the candle sticks to the bottom of the hurricanes using e6oo0 glue. I turned them upside down and placed books on top overnight to weigh them down. After setting over night here's what I ended up with:

Sorry about this horrible pic

I used the holy candles from the dollar tree inside of the hurricanes to mimic the look of the inserts that they sell to go in  the hurricanes. I think its so pretty that way. The cost for my hurricanes:              

1. candle stick 5.99  
2. silver leaf and etching cream on hand
3. stencil 3.00 with coupon.
4. holy candle 1.00

total cost 9.99 compared to  49.00 at PB

  For the smaller candle:

1.  1.00 for the hurricane
2. 1.50 for the candle stick from goodwil
3. 1.00 for the holy candle

 Total cost for the smaller candle 3.50. All together the hurricanes cost me 13.49 as compared to 128.00 for the PB version. I think they turned out pretty well and I saved 114.51 not to shabby. I'm linking up to Debbies Newbie Party   and Layla's How To's Day
and  It.s So Very Cheri for The Party and Hop.

The Bench

Before

After

Slight distressing

A little distressing on the legs

                                                  
I used  Martha Stewart paint in Sharkey Grey. I loved the color so much I decided not to do a faux finish. I used and iron on transfer sheet to add the image from  Olive Rue. Burlap is very stretchy so it was hard to get a really tight fit  on the seat. It's not perfect but I like the way it turned out. Since I didn't do an  aged finish on the paint I elected to take a light hand with the distressing. I think it has a  Scandinavian feel. What do you think?  I'm joining  Kim's Wow US Wednesday . And Furniture Friday at Miss Mustard Seeds .

                                                               

SNS AT Funky Junk Interiors

  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

New Finds

I've been stalking the Goodwill for about a year looking for a dresser or buffet for my living room. I need it for storage, and I wanted to wall mount my t.v. and have the buffet or dresser under it. Finally I found what I had  been looking for.When I cast my eyes upon her I heard ... LAAAAAAH!...  I felt like one of those cartoons you see where the giant heart jumps out of the chest and all the little sparkly hearts surround it.Not only was she what I was looking for , but she was...wait for it...HALF OFF!..not only was she half off she came with a hutch..LAAAAH...wanna see her?

The plan is to paint her in a pretty creamy color and stain the top in a nice deep stain. I think having some dark surfaces in a mostly white room helps to ground the space. Now do you want to see the hutch?

The plan for her is to go in my kitchen. I'll paint it in cottage white to match the kitchen cabinets.  I think  I may remove the doors and paint the interior turquoise. I'm going for a kind of farmhouse chic in the kitchen and I think the curvy doors are a little more precious then the look that I want. While I was there I spotted a few more items that I just had to have...  I know ...I've got issues...Would you like to see what else I bought?

Milk glass creamer and sugar bowl

.Silver plate bowl

I also bought this box. The plan is to paint it and distress it and  add a vintage graphic.  I'll use it to store fire wood.

I've had this bench for a long time, I think I bought it about  ten years  ago. I'm ashamed to say its been sitting around in my shed for that long. Well I finally decided to do something with her. I bought paint in Sharkey Grey, by Martha Stewart. I think I'll cover the seat in burlap and add a pretty graphic..   

I'm working on her this week. I hope to have pictures by the end of the week. It looks like I'm gonna be a busy girl, busy and happy. I'll keep you posted as I get em done. Sorry about the glare in the glass and you didn't notice my unfinished floor right?  I didn't think so.(tee hee) I'm joining  Debbie's Newbie Party.                     
                

                                                                            

Big Thanks

 Hello everyone, this has been a strange week for me. Between the dark and gloomy weather and missing my friend like crazy, I've been blue and weepy. On Sunday  a ray of sunshine came into my life! sweet Brandi was awarded the Stylish Blogger Award. As a recipient of the award she was supposed to pay it forward to other bloggers whom she felt were deserving. Lo and Behold she chose me as one of them! Say What?...my little baby blog ... stylish? Needless to say I am eternally grateful to her for thinking of me, and  proud, honored and humbled.The rules are I am supposed to pay it forward and list seven things about myself that you don't know.First I'd like to pay it forward to these sweet ladies : Lovey,  Dawn , Lulu,  Kim, Sheila  Carole, Karen, Jenny, thanks to all of these bloggers who reached out to a newbie and who have very stylish blogs. Now seven things you dont know about me;

1. I am a terrible procrastinator
2. Beautiful music makes me verklempt
3. I am a political junkie
4. My guilty pleasure is watching Rue Pauls Drag Race on Logo
5. Also the Real Housewives of Atlanta
6. I hate buying shoes  (BIG WIDE FEET)
7. In "real life" I am very quiet and shy.

Thanks again  Brandi for this honor, and please go and check out the blogs of all of these lovely ladies.