Free As A Bird

 

 

I had this old rusty cage for years that didn't have a bottom and that I just couldn't seem to sell.  I put candles in it and birds nothing seemed to work to sell this prim cage.

 

So I thought about it and before long I decided to cut it in half and use it on an old door panel. I had bought a set of three birds at a sale some time ago and decided to match them up.  The panel is painted grungy white and the cage I left a wonderful rusty finish.  Dreams do come true!

 

 

Just some Windows I had.

I got these two windows from a friend who does construction and sometimes has 

 things he gives to me to upcycle.  I had these great windows for over a year and just couldn't bring myself to paint them. I decided this week -enough storing something so fragile and got to it. I am such a klutz and hardly ever like to handle glass, I make exceptions from time to time especially when they are free

 With the Christmas season rapidly approaching I painted this in a winter design.  I love sheep and I hate snow so I compromised!

Angel Mirror

I found this old mirror at a sale several years ago and decided it was time to get it out and doll it up.  I painted it off white and let it set that way for several months.  I was at an impasse and just really ignored it.  I was short a project this week because it wasn't coming together fast enough so that I could get it to the shop by Friday so I decided to fill in my inventory with the mirror.   I stenciled the vine on the sides with the word "Blessings" on the bottom.   Next I sanded the edges and top coated it.  I glued the angel on to the top and declared the piece finished! Took it to the shop today and hope someone likes it enough to make it their own.

D-R-E-A-M

I had this wonderful old window frame with raggedy screen and decided this would be the week to doll it up.  I made the dream banner out of a grocery bag, some stencils, and paint.  Then I hot glued them to a piece of twine.  Lucky me the 2 knob were already there, probably used for taking the screen out of the window at the end of the season.  For you young ones there was a day when the window screens were taken out at the end of summer and re-installed in the spring. Can you imagine?  They had to be painted every so often and then stored.  This little cutie has seen a lot of use and I am furthering her life by making her into art. I attached the vintage wire basket with some metal strap and screws and put screw eyes in each side to hold wire so I could hang the old pictures from it.  I love this piece and don't want to sell it but I do this for income so good bye little wonderful window you will be in my dreams for ever! LOL too much? naw

ABC Table

It is so good to be back to work. I took some time off because my youngest son graduated this year from High School and of course then comes the open house. It went well and we had a lot of fun seeing family and friends.  Jeffrey as I said is my youngest at the trail end of a total of seven children (6 boys and 1 girl-miracles happen).  It was a major event to see him cross the finish line and graduate, not only for him but for me too. Happy Day all around.

It has been so hot I have had a really hard time working. Temperatures have hit 100 several times and today it is well over 90. Thank the Good Lord Monday I was able to get back to business. I started with a wonderful little children's table and chair set that I had squirreled away in my store room.  I don't have a "before" picture on my work for this week I was so excited to actually handle a paint brush I didn't even give it a thought until I was almost done painting, sorry but at least I am sharing the idea for the design! Yeah!

I knew that I wanted them to be painted blue but that was all I had in mind. It wasn't until the next day that I thought they would look nice with birds, letters, and numbers.  I am pleased with the outcome and think they look so much better this way than the plain old stain that they use to have.

End of the Month Projects

Saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be fun to make. I found a spoon holder painted it white. Then I sanded the edges to make it look worn and pasted a post card on the top.  The post card came from my clip are file. I happen to have some old hankies to finish it off.

This is just a little crock I picked up and then modge podged a pretty label to.

On the left you can se this great looking wooden owl I bought for a buck. It was very dated looking with the pinecones and funny looking base. I painted the owl a metalic silver and then with a wash of black.  I mounted him onto an old bunson burner I picked up at a flea maket. I figured he would be really cool at Halloween he is so ready to keep watch over a fall brew!

This sign is a door panel and a carved fish that I had. I added some netting to set it off. I think it would be super in a man cave!

Painted Stuff

 I love old drawers that came from old sewing machine cabinets.  I bought a ton of them several years ago and these are the last of them.  They were cut apart from the original cabinet and I just gave them a top and some paint.

 This is a nice old table I bought for 2 bucks and painted blue. I decided to leave the folding chairs as they were because they had some great lettering on them.  I painted the basket antique white and filled it with dried hydrangeas.

 This is another one of my garden chairs. I bought four of them this is number three, one left to go.  I just decorate them with whatever I grab out of my stash boxes.  I love the blue twig heart planter I attached to the top. 

Vintage Suitcase Table

I bought a vintage suitcase at a shop last week, I love old suticases wish they came with a record of all the sweet places they have been.  Anyways, I also bought a small bench and decided it would be perfect to mount the suitcase on to make it into a table.  I used six screws and washes and a little glue and it came out really sturdy.   I thought a two tone look is what this called for and went with the egg shell blue with the antique white again to go with all my other creations from this week. 

The nice thing about this piece it that it doubles as a small table and a place to put magazines or all the things you don't know where else to stash.

Expressions

Here is are two random shots of my work area covered in all kinds of things I worked on this last week.  There is a tin ceiling tile, an old calendar frame, in the back a hinged set of shutters, and a table I already primed white along with other good stuff.  I try to take pictures of everything I am working on but sometimes I get so excited about the project that I forget and remember after I have primed the item. I do my best.

Below are the finished projects that are all nicely tucked away in my booth at the Peddler's Market.

This picture is made from two vintage butterflies, the double paneled ceiling tile, and the abandoned calendar frame. It took three things that I didn't have a use for and made a nice wall piece.

 This is a table I bought at a thrift store, it needed some repair but overall was in very good condition. I decided to keep most of this weeks painted goods in the same theme color because most people are looking for things to decorate a room and need several items. 

This is the hinged shutters and table that I connected together and painted.  I have made several of these types of shelves and they sell very well because they fit into nookd and crannies and hold collectibles or books without taking up a large space.

This is how the stained shelf came out. I added a back piece to it and painted that white.  I ususally don't buy many shelves to paint but this one was made so well and I had the bead board. It always starts with me that I have something I want to use and then just what I need stumbles on my path. 

I love the paper/kleenex holders that everyone had in the 90's.  They are still very useful but most just need a new paint job, one that doesn't include hears and geese.

 Found this number 4 and had to have it.  I planned to mount is on a found door to use as wall art. Even though the number 4 has no special significance to me, number and letter art is big in the decoration world.

Garden Table

I went to the Re Store in Greenville the other day and found a really nice door for 5.00- most of the things there are out of my price range but this door was just right.  It was probably once part of a bi-fold closet door in some one's bedroom.  I love making garden tables I have made several and the best thing is you start with a discarded door and just keep adding things.  Right off the bat I knew that I would use two other doors and a drawer making my masterpiece.  I put them all together and started painting away very pleased with the progress and yet it still needed something.  All I had to do was look up....hmmm heard that before and it is always the truth.  When in doubt look up! Well this was no exception for hanging on the wall was a chair shelf I had made some time ago.  I love taking old chairs that don't have all their legs and chop them up some more and make them into shelves. You can buy reproduction ones at the fancy decorating stores but nothing beats a vintage farm chair hanging on the wall piled high with delightful treasures. 

This particular chair shelf had been waiting for just the right time to make its debut.  I needed something to complete this project and I knew that this was just what I was looking for. You know how they say Necessity is the Mother of Invention, she is my BFF we are inseparable.  As you can see the chair was a perfect fit.  I did add another drawer on a shelf on the bottom half, you can never have too many places to stash wonderful things.

This is the chair shelf I have hanging in my house.  I thought I would post this picture so you could see another chair shelf I made.