That's RiDUCKulous!

A looong time ago I got on this kick w/ duck tape.  I realized Wal-Mart sold it in a million different colors for $3 a roll and I was hooked (or stuck! haha).  So I started experimenting and came up w/ a checkered purse design.  It was made entirely out of duck tape inside and out - some people like to cover an existing purse or fabric w/ duck tape.

I made one and carried it to work.  The girls at Shoe Carnival went crazy and everyone wanted one.  After awhile, people would stop me in the store and comment on my purse and ask me where I got it.  I did a few local craft fairs and did ok, but overall it wasn't a super lucrative business.  I even entered one in the craft show at the county fair last summer - I won first place! My interest eventually faded, but I still have a few rolls of the colorful tape tucked away just in case.

This was a flyer I made on Photoshop to hand out at craft fairs :)

1960's Overhaul

I found this relic in the basement of my boyfriend's new house.  The lady he bought it from left a bunch of junk, and this was among it.  Knowing how I am about old furniture, he asked me if I wanted it or saw any life in it.  Of course I did!!!  I needed another chair to go in my new apartment, so my gears started turning about what to do w/ it.

First, I took off the wings that were attached to the sides - that alone made the chair look 10 years younger.  Then I knocked out the sides and spindles w/ a sledge hammer - another 5 years.

I sanded the surface to prepare the wood to be painted.

The cushions weren't really salvagable even if  I re-covered them.  I had a set of cushions for an Ethan Allen chair my cousin had given me (she works there).  The chair itself costs about $800 and she had gotten the cushions for free.  I had no idea what I was going to do w/ them...until now!

I used 2 cans of silver satin spray paint - I chose not to do black this time :)

The silver turned out much better than I had expected.  The back cushion is actually the ottoman top for the Ethan Allen chair.  There is a matching pillow I will probably throw on the sofa to tie it in.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the paisley pattern has black and grey colors in it (hence the silver). 

One afternoon + 2 cans of spray paint + a hand-me-down 1960's chair + designer cushions = My New Living Room Furniture!!

Flower Minus the Power

My new apartment has a HUGE (8 ft x 8 ft) window in the living room that is screaming for an awesome window treatment!  I searched and searched and couldn't find curtain panels that I was truly in love w/.  I thought about buying printed fabric and just sewing panels, but the cost of that for a window that size would have been ridiculous!  So I bought 2 plain white panels at Big Lots for $10 each and decided to paint them instead.

I made pillows for my new sofa and a couple of them have a flower motif.  I didn't want to revert back to when I was 16 and go all flower power groovy, but I thought this pattern was simple yet fun and tied in well w/ my pillows (pictures of those to come later).

As long as I spray white vinegar on the flowers and iron over the acrylic paint, it should be set.  It doesn't wash out of clothes, though, so there shouldn't be a problem.  I just need to iron out the creases and they are ready to hang!

Freshen up w/ a Coke

I got this one for $5 on a garage saleing excursion this past summer.  I have this really cool ceramic topped table (similar to the one in the link - red and white w/ the chrome legs and pull out sides) also from a garage sale ($15 - an absolute steal!).  It didn't come w/ chairs though and I've been forever looking for the cool retro diner chairs to go with it.  I figured, until then I'll just use a bunch of random ones.

In comes this chair in all its "chrome-y" goodness.

*Sidenote: I collect Coca-Cola stuff.  I don't know why I started and I don't know why I continue, but I do.  So I want a Coca-Cola kitchen.

I bought a set of Coke sheets at a thrift store a long time ago in anticipation of curtains in my Coke kitchen - it doesn't sound like me at all, but I assure you I can make it work.  So I recovered the existing cushion w/ a section of the sheets and there you have it...DONE!

Easy Peasy!

Tile Crazy

Unfortunately, I don't have a before picture of this guy.  I got it at a sale at a storage unit for $8 and was overly enthusiastic when I got it home - so I forgot to take a picture before I started!

It was just one of those old fake wood grain cabinets you would have seen in a basement in the 70's or something (not that I was around - but my mom told me).

I painted it w/ this really cool, slightly glittery, black spray paint inside and out.  I replaced the old handles w/ new modern silver ones.  I have always wanted to try my hand at tiling, so I thought this was a good starting point - not something I could screw up too bad or cause me to go insane!

I'm guessing it's fairly obvious by now that I LOVE black and white :)  So black and white tiles it is!  The grouting was an absolute pain, but I suffered through it.

It sits next to my bed currently and serves as a nightstand/bookcase.  But I'm thinking it will serve well as a TV stand in my new apartment - the cable box and dvd player could be stored underneath and hidden by the doors!

Garbage Legs

So what's the story behind these scraps of wood lying in the driveway?  Funny you should ask...

My friend Keila just bought a house.  The house next door was foreclosed on and, therefore, empty.  She took me over there one day just to look at it because it's really unique (much like her's).  Anyways, outside by the garage there was a garbage can full of junk.  And in that can there were these beautiful scrolled table legs attached to a dilapidated table top.

 I just loved the design on them!

Keila said "yea, I already checked them out, they're junk."  I said "nothing is junk" and I grabbed them out of the garbage, ripped them off of the rotted tabletop, and stuffed them in the backseat of my car.

I got them home and paired them up w/ a piece of plywood I bought at a salvage store for 50 cents.

After a little ingenious carpentry and finagling, I rigged up this table.  I bought decorative moulding from Pat Catan's and attached it to the front to hide the rough edges of the plywood.  I had to add dowel rods for support between the legs (it's still not the most sturdy table ever).  I stained it in dark walnut - my favorite stain :) - and voila!!

 

 

Turned out decent for a garbage can and a piece of plywood!

 I see it being used as an entryway table or at the top of a staircase w/ a pretty lamp on it...

Occasionally a Chair

While randomly browsing through Salvation Army one day before work, I found this cool chair for $5.  I loved the legs and the violin design on the back, so I bought it.

This was actually one of the easier projects.  I sanded the wood, sprayed it black, and recovered the seat w/ some cool colored hatch fabric I had bought.

  

I think it looks very sophisticated as an occasional chair in my black and white bedroom.

Shoe Bench

I work part time at Shoe Carnival, a discount shoe store.  I unload shipment Tuesday mornings in the back stockroom.  I'm usually by myself and one morning I was browsing around all the junk and old store fixtures we have piled up back there.  I came across this old shoe bench...the kind I remember from the department stores my mother drug me to to buy school shoes each year.  It had never been used in my time working there, so I figured it had been sitting idle for quite awhile.  I called my manager and told him I wanted it.  He laughed but said he couldn't see why it would be a big deal.

So I did what any scavenger would do... I took it!

 

It came complete w/ unbroken mirrors on the sides and everything!

I knew right away that I wanted it to be a bench at the foot of my bed...for putting shoes on in the morning, of course!

I primed and spray painted it black and reupholstered the cushion w/- what else?-houndstooth fabric I bought at Hobby Lobby on clearance!  I was going to remove the mirrors completely and put something else there, but I thought nah- go w/ the original!

Now, nevermind the boxes - I AM in the middle of packing!  But here it is, at the foot of my bed :)

FREE FOR THE TAKING!!!!!

I was driving down the road one morning (a way I don't usually go) and my eye got caught on this heap of junk sitting at the end of this guy's driveway.  I kept driving to my destination, all the while thinking about the piece of furniture I had seen - I wasn't even sure it was a dresser at first!

I drove past again on my way home and decided to stop since the man was outside.  He usually has things out by the road to sell, so I asked him how much.  He said "It's free dear, your's for the taking."  I was elated! Of course, it wouldn't fit in my bug, so I told him I'd be right back and ran home to get my Dad's truck - luckily he was home that day!  I came back, the man helped me load it up, and I drove off.

  

After getting it back home and looking it over, I realized I had my work cut out for me.  The whole thing would need stripped and I'd never done that before.  It was the dead of winter and freezing in the garage - even w/ the wood stove burning.  But I went and got 2 cans of spray stripper and got to work. 

Let's just say, it was quite an experience.  Stripper is some crazy stuff that eats at the paint and turns it to goop.  Then you have to scrape the goop off the wood w/ a putty knife and into a bucket.  Well, goop was EVERYWHERE!  The top was easy - a flat surface.  The legs and little nooks were difficult though.

After the goop was removed and the surface was clean, I sanded and sanded and sanded and....well you get the picture.  That mark on the top seen above never did come out - not sure what caused it.  But I like that its still there because it gives it character - I'm ALL about the character!

I chose a dark stain to really draw out the beautiful grain I could already see.

The picture doesn't do it justice!  I got glass knobs from an antique store and replaced the old ones on the small drawers.  Still haven't found something for the big drawer, but I'll get there. 

That's the mark I was telling you about - the stain darkened it a little.  But look at that wood grain!! Have you ever seen something so beautiful?!?  I'd say this was quite a successful endeavor :)

Telephone Sand

I got this "telephone stand" at a garage sale down the street for $2.  Part of the veneer was chipped away, but what I really loved was the inlay design on the top. It needed ALOT of work! I spent an entire day in the driveway chipping away the rest of the top layer of wood to get it down to a smooth surface.  I chipped, and sanded (before I discovered the beauty of an electric sander!) until my fingers hurt.  All for a $2 piece of junk!  In some parts I was unsuccessful and couldn't get it to budge, but I think it gives the finished product character.  I used a dark walnut spray stain on it and put it in my room.

Love is on the Wall

I've been trying to come up w/ an idea for something to hang over my new Ikea sofa in my new apartment.  I wanted something unique that I created.  My main focus was one big picture rather than a bunch of smaller ones.  I remembered watching the Sex and the City movie and seeing this awesome LOVE picture hanging in Carrie's new "grown up" apartment.  I googled it and found it cost about $700. Waaaay outta my price range.  But I was really only looking for a picture to go by.

I loved it and decided to recreate it as close as possible.  So off to Pat Catan's craft store I went.  I bought a bunch of things to try and ended up w/....

It's not entirely the same...the original has a little more razmatazz than mine does.  But I cut those white filigrees out all by hand and I got sick of it after awhile!  The concept is still the same.  I bought a dollar roll of blue wrapping paper for the background and the letters and striped edges are scrapbook paper handcut.

I'm not sure if it's still going above the sofa or not (I might go w/ a different color scheme).  Although, I rarely match things like a normal person, so who knows!

Mod Podge It!

So, I bought this for 50 cents at a garage sale last summer.  It was lacking alot, but had great potential to be a trinket box, or a box to put photos in, or whatever!

 

Having just bought a new jar of Mod Podge, I decided to practice my decopauge skills.  I grabbed my folder of scrapbook paper and dug into the sheets I bought solely for the fact that I loved the pattern!  72 hours later, after my fingers were cramped and covered in glue, this is the finished product.  Not bad for 50 cents, not bad at all.

The Jetson's End Table

My mom and I went antique shopping one Saturday and ended up at a 4 floor antique mall in East Liverpool, OH.  I got a few little things (cream and sugar bowls, a pretty plate, a teacup of course, etc.) but it wasn't until the very end of our browsing that I found this AWESOME table!  Banished to the basement w/ outdated chairs and gaudy bedroom sets, the second I set eyes on this retro beauty, I was in love.  The $7 pricetag didn't hurt either! Yea, that's right....$7!!! Heck, I woulda paid $25 for it!  It reminded me of something from the future, like the Jetsons!

My mom (whom I get my creative gene from) couldn't deny that the table "looked like me" and helped me carry it to the car - I actually borrowed a bigger car that day because I didn't want to be limited to what could fit in the VW Bug!

Not sure what to do w/ this retro beauty, I set it aside for awhile

One day, while browsing through Dollar Tree (one of my FAVORITE stores), I came across these cute mini retro tv's. Not sure what purpose they served, I bought them anyways (hey, they were a dollar!).  Then I had an inspiration!  The teacup I bought that day had an awesome retro motif on it.  So, I decided to duplicate it on the table in the same colors as the mini tv's.

The overall finished product is wild and crazy and a little out there for most people.  But for me, well...it just fits. Especially w/ those cute little tv's on top!

Houndstooth Heaven!

So, this lovely little number was purchased at a secondhand thrift store for $15. I thought it was a steal, everyone else thought I was crazy. I had no idea what I was going to do w/ it (which is usually the case) but I knew I would come up w/ something.

I removed the armrest and legs and pulled all the upholstery off (which worked out alot easier than I thought) and stared at the empty shell of a chair for awhile deciding what to do next.

 

I had this awesome Houndstooth fabric draped over the futon in my room for forever, waiting for the perfect project. I felt that this was it. So I painted the arms and legs of the chair black, donned the staple gun, and dove straight into my first adventure in upholstering. Basically, I winged it. But I'd say it turned out pretty darn good. Tuxedo thinks so too - it's like it was made for him!

New to the blogging world!

Well, a little bit about me:

-I have an insatiable craving and knack for taking something old and outdated and turning it completely around - whether it be a coat of paint, new upholstery, or a mix of both.
-I LOVE crafting and creating and my medium varies depending on my mood and level of interest.
-I am a self-proclaimed junk freak.
-I'd love to own a shop where I sell all the crazy stuff I come up with.
-I can't wait for summer so I can go to garage sales and flea markets (it's where I find my inspiration!)
-I collect just about everything - seriously.
-I went to school for interior design - I'm not doing anything with it.
-I hate to have everything match in a room.
-I'm VERY eclectic!
-I can't read decorating magazines before I go to bed because my mind will be turning ALL night!

All little bit about my new adventure:

-I'm moving 40 minutes from the house I grew up in (AKA my parents house in Mecca, OH) to Kent, OH.
-I'm still going to commute to work (a 35 minute drive) everyday because I truly enjoy my job. At least until something else comes along.
-The apartment is an 800 sq. ft. 1 bedroom loft w/ its own entrance and fenced-in front porch.
-I will have no problem filling it w/ my many boxes of stuff!
-I'm moving because it was time for a change. I didn't HAVE to move, but I'm proud to be able to do this on my own.
-I'll now be 10 minutes from my best friend Keila (Mogadore, OH) and 15 minutes from my boyfriend Dan (Cuyahoga Falls, OH)  :)
-I've been saving money since high school to buy a house someday.  That dream still lives and I will accomplish it, I'm just not sure where my life will be 5 years from now to stick myself w/ a mortgage.
-I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified to live alone.

Overall, this is a BIG deal for me and I couldn't have done it w/o the love and support of my family and friends who all realize that this is MY life and this is what I have to do for ME.

Moving day is in 3 weeks, but in the meantime, I'm going to post projects I've done in the past. Hope you like them :)