Pink Paint and Roses

Is it Thursday already?

Time passes so quickly. I am widdling away at projects here but have so many more to go. I'm a great one for 'yeah, I'll buy that and do this, that or the other' and there it sits. The pile grows and grows but I'm starting to see some progress. There are also books and magazines that I've put aside for reading and thumbing through. I'll have to designate time for that as well. I guess it keeps me out of mischief doesn't it.

Yesterdays project.............

I wish I had taken 'before' pics of these. I picked them up at a thrift. They were a weird metallic gold color but the wood was in great shape. It looked like no one had ever used them. I painted them a creamy white and added these cool flowers. The flowers were bought secondhand and they appear to have been wedding thingys. I think you can get these at the craft stores ( i.e Michaels and Hobby Lobby) in the wedding aisles. They are very fragile and a shelf is really about the only thing you can put them on because it doesn't get moved around. I don't know what they're made of but it looks like porcelain but yet it feels almost moist, like clay. I broke a few even though I was careful.

TIP- if I were to do this again I think I would buy flowers from some of those creative art clay ladies on Ebay. They are harder, probably much easier to work with and have flat bottoms for gluing. You can even mix them in with mosaic for a really great look! Use Mosaic glue-it holds anything!   

Today I will try to find something to put on my new shelves and maybe I'll even get to my mosaic project . This will be a fun one too...wait til you see this! But first, laundry and mopping. Eeegads...these self-imposed rules are killing me.

Only 116 days til Christmas

OK so I'm a little early.  This is a little thing that I saw somewhere a while back. You can get these at your local craft store, I believe that these are from Michaels.

Just remove the wire top and put aside, pour in a small amount of acrylic paint and keep rolling the ornament around in your hand until all the clear glass is coated, put wire top back in place and set aside to let dry.

Apply a waterslide decal or paper image (if paper you will need to  glue it on), let dry. Now get some of that Martha Stewart Glittering Glue and spread it on and then her Crystal Fine Glitter and sprinkle til your little heart desires (available at Michaels). I then sprayed them with a 'fix' just to give them a longer life.

 

You can use them to decorate your tree. hang in your windows, tie onto a special gift, etc.

New Rules

Well I've been off on one of my anti-computer binges again. I don't know about you but I spend far too much time here and neglect other areas of my life-that has to stop. I am trying to find balance now and only come on periodically so I don't have as much time to blog. What I have decided to do is show you more finished projects which is an incentive to get things done, AWAY from the computer.

Here we go....We were at an auction recently and found this fabulous set of twin beds. This is what they looked like when we won them.

and here they are now....

How's that for a transformation!  These are just the prettiest all dolled up in white. So much fabulous detail, look at the claw feet and they are all on wheels which makes it so easy to move around and clean.

I'm going to smash some old plates today and mosaic, well that is after I do my chores. No playing til the work gets done. LOL

 

See you tomorrow!

 

Another Award..........

This award comes by way of Rosemary who has the most fab vintage red stove that I've ever seen. You must go see it! Lots of cool stuff there and she sells on Ebay!!! Thank you Retro Rosie!

This is so nice and I want to pass it along to ...................

Charlotte at http://housewrenstudio.typepad.com/charlotte/ because she is one of the nicest people that I have ever met and I do not exaggerate on that at all. Lovely, talented, thoughtful woman.

Clare at  http://vintage-home.blogspot.com/ who is my pal across the pond. We have found a lot in common including the fact that our respective hubbies look like brothers, too funny.

last but not least, Jan, a non-blogger but so deserving of this particular honor.  Jan invented nice and I think you should all pop over to her Ebay About Me page to see a little bit of her beautiful storybook cottage. 

The Power Of Schmooze Award

Today I received an honor from my friend 'M' who is my first Canadian blogger friend, remember her name she'll be famous one day. Not only is she fabulously talented (she sews, quilts, paints, writes, is a Mommy extraordinaire and is brilliant) need I say more. It is my honor to be HER friend and she's throwing awards my way, go figure! Anyhow thank you M and I will now pass the torch here. I would have loved to give it to you again but we need to spread this around.

This is the explanation for the award.....

"The Power of Schmooze Award is for bloggers who effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship."

I am awarding this to a few people this evening.

Rosemary from http://rosespetitemaison.blogspot.com/ who ALWAYS drops me an email that makes me smile and the fact that she would ship her fabulous dresses to me for a special occasion, now thats a pal!  Find me another like her!

Manuela from http://thefeatherednest.typepad.com/the_feathered_nest/ who has shared tips on darn near everything from gardening to mosaics with me. I envy this womans garden and her incredible energy.

Jill from http://bittersweetsoap.typepad.com/bittersweet/ who is so talented and upbeat and lets me gush all over her stuff. Jill, if ever a soapmaking class, I'm there!

Clarice from http://storybookwoods.typepad.com/storybook_woods/ for your ever so thoughtful emails and that talk that we had recently about self-image. How did you get so wise???

There are countless others and you know who you are, thank you to all. I also want to take a minute to give Honorary Mentions to two great blog visitors that I adore....Chris and Andrea. You two are terrific. You both hold such a special place in my heart. I wish you guys would get blogs and I could leave you comments that are as thoughtful, funny and oozing with love like you do for me.

You nice people have no idea how rich you've made my life just by being yourselves. Thank you.

Does anyone know????

Here is a cookie jar that I picked up in my travels. It stands approx. 10" tall and has no markings. It does have a saying on it that goes like this "You're an Angel-Have one"

Any info is appreciated.

Back amongst friends....

I've been gone for the last two weeks and what a two weeks it's been! The first week I was busy with prepping for my garage sale and also had a job interview which I got, more on that later.

The Garage Sale was great, made a lot of new contacts and cleaned up pretty well. I ended up with a zillion mosquito bites and that wasn't very pleasant. Why is it that some of us are so tasty to those little buggers and other people are untouched? I had quite a few ladies leave their email addy's and phone numbers to call when I get new things that I might want to part with. I even had a lady call me a week later to inquire about an item that she couldn't get out of her head, luckily it was unsold and she was able to come over and purchase it.  The best contact that I made was a lovely older woman that has been collecting anything and everything since 1952 that would like me to come over and help her get rid of items. She was absolutely delightful and feels its time to unload because as she so delicately puts it "can't take it with me!" So stay tuned on that one.

Back to two days before the Garage Sale-I got a call on a resume that I had sent out the week before, set an interview time and off I went. Day before the Garage Sale-got the job! Start MONDAY!!!! EEKS!!!

I need a job. Mike took a pay cut at his new job earlier this year and its starting to pinch....so here is how it went...Started the new job...am I this dumb? Here I am pre-menopausal, can't remember what I ate for breakfast let alone mastering their archaic software system. I am sitting day after day watching others work, that was the training, no hands on. Everyone there is unhappy, 3 out of 4 actively looking for jobs and the 4th had already given her notice. I find myself daydreaming, thinking of the million projects that I could be busying myself with at home and watching the clock to make sure I get outside to check on the ducks on the retention pond behind the office....that ladies was the highlight of my day. Sad but true. After 5 working days and a weekend off I couldn't bring myself around to going back. I quit. I am again actively seeking employment. Don't need a lot of money but a little steady money to help out weekly....should anyone know of such a thing near Chicago, give me a holler.

Ok now back to regular blogging. I have something to show you. We picked up this shell of a bookcase several weeks ago and yesterday Mike made me shelves for it. The shelves will get some decorative moulding on the fronts but here it is primed and ready to paint.  

  Look at these beautiful carved beasts on the corners

I'll show you it completed once I get done painting it. The wall behind it needs to get painted or papered...haven't made up my mind just yet.

I'll be back later because I've had a few things arrive in the mail from some lovely ladies that I would like to show you.