Thrifty Miss Priss

A Journal of Interest....

Thanks so much to everyone for the wonderful comments on the dining room re do!  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  One of these fine days I'll look up what the wall color is...I've had lots of you ask....I actually purchased that paint from the OOPS bin at Home Depot (I KNOW!) for $5.00.

Switching gears a little here....while I'm not elbow deep in paint anymore, I'm still trying to be creative everyday.....I signed up for "A Journal Of Interest E-zine".  A few times a week we get prompts and instructions on how to complete a new page in our art journals.

Here's a few of my pages so far.

I got the Victorian Game Card images from Mary at green paper they are beautiful and I'm finding so many ways to use them!  Thanks Mary!

On this page we were to make a statement.....or a quote....this says
"To live a creative life, we must loose the fear of being wrong"

This page was about giving yourself permission to use certain materials.... to take the time every day to create........

The little bits and pieces are fun to add!  I got this from Karen, The Graphics Fairy!

When I added my name to the inside cover, I wanted to be sure and keep Agnes' name displayed.....she must have been a previous owner of this old music book....from 1904.  Agnes and I can share the book!

Have a creative weekend!

More about Project "Beast"

I finally got the beast in the house Friday night, having to take the legs off.....and lots of struggling amongst my daughter and her fiance....we gouged it up a little....and as my daughter said..."it's distressed all right!"

                                                                                         see the german shepherd ears on the bottom right?

It feels so good to have this behind me! After all the wonderful emails and comments...and a few days to recover...I'd say YES it was worth it.  I still don't want to paint anything else for a loooonnnng time.  Unless it's from a spray can.

It occurred to me today that slowly almost EVERYTHING in my house is thrifted.  I told you that I got rid of a perfectly nice set that we bought about 5 years ago to replace it with this one.  My dining room just didn't fit with the look I was trying to achieve and I wanted that old table out of here.  This feels so calm and serene to me now.  Everything on the buffet was from a thrift store (including the buffet) except the sweet little fairy in the glass dome.  That was a gift from Lori (my Faerie window).  All the mirrors, lamps, frames and plaques were from thrift stores.

  My grandmothers scissors

Isn't this cute?  It feels so thin and fragil.....I found it for $1.00 in a thrift store!  I can't beleive there is not a chip on it.  The gold edging at the top is almost completely worn off though.

Yup, everything but the salt and pepper shaker (Target) is thrifted....that wonderful wood dough bowl....it's so soft and worn..... FIFTY cents at a yard sale a month ago.  I have some shells in there now.  I've seen them on ebay for up to $200.00.  I didn't know I wanted it or needed it...but when I saw it, it reminded me of the stories my mom told of having to make bread each day for her family's dinner growing up on the farm in North Dakota in the 40's.  I've never made a loaf of bread from scratch in my life.  (I've done the frozen dough so that half way counts) and using a bread machine doesn't count either!

I also wanted to show this cute little chandelier I found the same day I bought the table and chairs.  The reflection on the walls from this little light is so sweet!  All those little danglie sparkles......I'm going to add a scrunched cord cover at some point...but I just had to get this hung above my sink.  It was 1/2 price that day.....as all household items were so I got it for $4.00.

Yesterday my two girls and I went to the ENORMOUS thrift store that we don't get to very often.  It's 50% off on ALL HOLIDAYS on EVERYTHING.  I found a ton of clothes and several books to use as art journals.. I'll share them another time.

Thanks again to everyone for all your sweet comments and flicr favs!

Ta-Da!

It only took me about 15 hours.....half gallon of paint...an entire pack of sandpaper.......a lot of cussing and swearing....beating myself up for taking on a huge project like this...but it's finally finished! (almost)  I still have to distress...but it's in the house and looks great!

 

I first covered the seats with a muslin fabric.  I had intended on using a white/grey linen that I found at a thrift store but I ended up liking the muslin better and I think it's more durable.  This cut the recovering time in half to a mere four hours....... (I had to remove all the old staples and welting from the pink upholstery.....but covered the pink with the muslin, only removing the welting.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still need to distress all the chairs (except this one) and attach the seats. (they are just resting on the chairs here)

 

here I'm distressing it with my fingernail.....while the paint is still sticky...

Overall I'm really happy with the way they turned out.  Would I do it again?  Not for maybe ten years!  This was a lot more work than I envisioned.  I kept saying to myself the entire time I was painting it....."be careful what you wish for".  I'd been looking for a set like this forever....and my heart was racing when I found it on sale.....I jumped in with both feet not realizing how much work it would be.  It gives me so much more room in my dinning area now...and the big mammoth modern table has been dismantled and stored.

The light in my house is terrible...too many shade trees....but one of these days I'll try to get a picture of it inside.

Happy Independence Day!  Have a safe and fun weekend!

Finally......

I finally opened my Etsy Shop!  Only took me a little over a year!  I guess now that the task is done I'll want to add to it regularly!

I also covered all of my chairs that I bought a few weeks ago and they've been sanded and ready for painting.  I hope to finish this huge project over the holiday weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Things

Things making me happy.........

 

my pink puff tree!

 

 

the GIGANTIC Magnolia getting ready to bloom..........

 

a geranium my sister gave me last year....I pulled it out of the dirt last fall and saved it in the basement....bare root....now look at it!

 

a cute little gnome I took from my moms garden last fall when we did the big clean out...... (he has cute polka dotted pants!)

 

 

thrifted things in the flower beds........

and these little Journals I've been making.............

 

 

 

 

and a few scrappy garlands.......

 

 

I'm hoping to finally get my Etsy shop up and running! 

Have a terrific weekend!

Thats what I love about Sunday....

I spent all day Saturday yard sailing in the rain....and then I still didn't quite get my fix so I went to my favorite thrift store.  The one that had MY DINNING ROOM set for $250.00 back at the beginning of May.  Yesterday was 50% off furniture so I got there when it opened never even thinking I'd see the table and chairs.  I walked in and there it was.  It had been reduced to $200.00 and still had not sold.  So I got it for $100.00.  I was quite happy.  I'd thought about this set SO MUCH since the first of may...and here it is almost 45 days later

 

 

 

I plan on distressing this and painting it white.  I wanted to start on it SO BAD today but I had to see my mom and have fathers day festivities at my house..so it has to wait.  I picked up a huge bolt of grayish white linen at the thrift store a few weeks ago thinking I'd make a few pillows...now I have the perfect fabric for the seats.    My daughter can not understand why I spent a few thousand dollars on a dinning room set five years ago...but now I want this shabby set from the 70's.......she longs for a Pottery Barn style home...but that's not my style anymore.  Who knows...in five years I'll be wishing for ultra modern....(nah)

So after a wonderful visit with my mom and two sisters..it was back home to get ready for fathers day.  My father in law came over and brought me my usual six pack of Corona...and treats for the dogs....

I went out into the yard and cut some pretty blooms....

 

 

 

My little $8.00 table (from the 50% off sale) and my kids' little silver baby cups....not stuck in a cabinet..but looked at and handled often.....

 

 

Their pop-pop ALWAYS brings them each a bag of treats (along with my Coronas) when he comes.  This one kept doing random stunts all day hoping for more.  Heidi is a little bored with it all (in the background) If we yell out "pop pops here!" the dogs go CRAZY!  One time Sarah ran off like a wild woman and wouldn't come back...my daughter yelled at the top of her lungs....."POP POP's HERE!"  and she turned around and made a bee line towards us at full force!

I also got to end the evening with this one......

 

apparently all day she was beyond excited about "the cook out at Robins"  then she fell asleep...she had to be woken up to come.  I showed her my new "art room" which looks NOTHING like the last picture.....I have totally trashed it.  Can't even see the bed.  She immediately wanted to do art......I felt bad because I had nothing planned for her to do and I was supposed to be out back cooking the steaks......so I showed her my Journal...since she has her own that I made way back when.  She seemed pretty impressed....her favorite pages were the collage...with all kinds of random things.  Watching her run her fingers over everything was so sweet.  Kinda like how I felt when saw Hopes Journal

 

she was itching to get her hands on my journal.  She found a page where I was not finished.  A page I copied almost verbatim from "Journal Bliss" and she begged me to paint the bird.  I'd spent quite a bit of time on it....but I felt so selfish for not indulging her in her creative mood.  I quickly gathered up a few paints and let her have at it...

 

 

She quickly finished that and wanted to keep going (you can see her pink bird in the journal at the top of the photo)  So i quickly drew her one of her own..that she could paint and take home....

 

My daughter came through and said "Uh...are we supposed to be cooking or what?"  OOPS!  I got so involved with Lily that I totally forgot about the steaks!  I promised I'd be there in one more minute!  She snapped a picture of Lily and I working....

 

Lily told me all about "don't forget the peek a boo spots"  (that's areas that are not completely colored in) and she wanted orange...for the beak....I told her I didn't think I had orange...but her solution was "don't you have red and yellow?" DUH!  She was great at mixing and knowing what made what colors....something we forget about 40 years later.....

Then it was out to walk in the woods to find mull berries......picked right off the tree....this little city girl as a little apprehensive to do that....but she saw me do it and guessed it was okay.

 

 

thats what I love about Sundays

Making Progress in my craft room

Making tiny bits of progress.....

 

The bed was lime green...then it went into storage...then I sprayed it pink...I just did not like it...back to home depot...now it's white

 

I'm in the process of making lots of pillows so it will be a day bed.

 

I used the curtain rod I had as a ribbon hanger....so then I was stuck with nothing to hang the curtains from.  I thumb tacked these to the wall...and used the pink tulle to cover up the tacks.

 

See what I mean?  Clever way to store ribbons...not so clever if you need the rod later......

 

The light is really bad in this room.  It doesn't help that these pictures were taken when the sun was setting.

Everything in this room was thrifted at some point...or borrowed.  Rachel Ashwell Curtains were from my daughters old "shabby chic" room....the pink spread is a Bates...found that for SIX DOLLARS!  The white pop corn spread was purchased at a thrift store also, a few years ago.

 

See those two sweet little girl pictures?  Found those at Lucketts last weekend. Loved this little girl!  She looks a lot like me when I was young, and just like my girls when they were about 7.

 

 

This case that hold my little collection of flowers used to be in a restaurant, it held Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

The pink ticking on the table skirt is from my stash.  Then last weekend I found this stretchy elastic ruffle that goes all the way around...I think it was for a bed skirt?  I love the added foof it gives.  It was a whopping $2.50

I just love this room!  Every evening I'm in here listening to music on my Iphone....working on something.  Here's a few pages from my journal that I've been working on lately

 

A page to remember the fantastic time I had at Lucketts, meeting new blog friends....

 

 

  

This one stays right by my side...or on my knee here...and we bounce ideas off each other......

  

We chatted about the cute little gift that Heather and Stephanie gave me last week....and she wanted to see just HOW that flower was made....

 

yes, I think she has it all figured out!

Even Sarah was thrifted!  She was once previously owned and she is second-hand!

Have a great creative weekend!

The past few days have been such a whirlwind!  I've had the best few days meeting old and new friends.  Thursday evening I met Karla and Beth for a fancy dinner.  Karla's sweet husband took us to the most fabulous restaurant ever.  It was on the 17th floor of the building surrounded by city lights.  It was the most amazing thing.  Karla whipped out her camera and her husband cringed.  He explained to us that the people there are USED to eating in places like this several times a month.  It's a private venue and these people pay for the privilege to be members.  When our food arrived we each had our own server....and they did a choreographed dance practically around our table.  I glanced at Beth as if to ask her what was going on......but wow was it impressive!  I can't thank them enough for including me in on Beth's mini vacation away from home and to celebrate Beth's Birthday!

 

Friday morning we met up with TEN friends from as far away as Kansas, (Karla and Beth) Ohio,( Lori )Pennsylvania (Heather and Stephanie) and several local girls.....Pamela, Jessica,Hope,Amy and Andrea.  What a treat to meet these amazing women!  Reading someones blog forever is one thing....finally meeting them is another!  You absolutely feel like you already KNOW them. Weirdest, nicest experience ever!  I wanted to take some little gifts to each one so I made the little bouquet of flowers.  The "vase" is the top to a spice jar....plastic stopper part removed.  The flowers are tiny little coffee filters that I punched out and put a pastel colored sticky dot in the center for color.

I wrapped them in coffee filters too.  I used the cone shaped filter and colored the edges with a marker...after pinking them.

 

I also took along a little gift for Beth for her birthday.  She has an antique booth and sells baby clothes from time to time.  I embellished several hangers that I had so she could display her little dresses.

 

Then it was on to Lucketts.  This is the best place ever!  If you are within decent driving distance it's worth the trip!  We all met there and shopped for a while....then it was on to the pink polka dotted barn "On a Whim" right down the road.  Both places did not disappoint!  I left my camera in the car like a lazy girl and will have to show pictures from their websites.

Here we all are in a shop called "On a Whim"  it had two buildings and one was entirely filled with vintage prom dresses.  It was more like a museum!

 

(Karla's wonderful new camera took this amazing shot!)

Back row:  Jessica (Such Pretty Things), Pamela (Pamela Janes Studio), Lori (My faerie Window), Amy (Inspire Co), Heather (Pretty Petals), Andrea (Velvet Strawberries)

Front row:  Hope (paper relics and Besottment), Karla (Karla"s Cottage) Beth (Gathering Dust), Stephanie (Just a little bit pink), and Me.

 

 

 

 

This was taken in the Cottage...an amazing old house in Leesburg adorned with the most beautiful rooms!

I'm still absorbing all the fun we all had.  It was so nice to walk around and chat with everyone!  It wasn't even so much about the shopping, although it was great.  It was about getting to know each other and sharing ideas.

I'll share more including great gifts that were exchanged "just because"! 

If I owe you an email or a reply I'll get to you!  It's been a crazy week!

I've been a lazy blogger.  I have a good excuse I guess.....I've been working on my own little piece of heaven.  No more crafting in the dark stinky basement.  I moved all my stuff upstairs into my sons old bedroom!  It's still a work in progress and probably will never be "done"

 

The walls are 1970's paneling that we painted white.  How do you like my storage?  The blue shelf was left in my basement by the previous residents.  I just spray painted and distressed it.  The Big blue contraption on top is my scissor and marker storage.  It's supposed to be for utensils at a fast food place I think. 

The wooden carrier on the right was purchased at a yard sale for $1.50!  It has holes drilled into it....i think to hold screwdrivers.  It's perfect for paintbrushes.

 

 

here is the shelf before I painted it-

 

It's just a cheap dirty shelf from the 70's...I would have thrown it away a week ago...but now it's got a new life!

The two beautiful books on my shelf are from Dede....One is the Valentine Fat book I participated in and the blue one n the right is one she sent to me last year when  I was starting my journaling!  I love and treasure them both!

I've been planting a LOT of flowers....lots I grew from seed, but still had to go out and buy more.  I ran out of planters and beds!  I had this old bamboo-ish looking tray/stand.  I had planned on using it for some other project back in the fall...and never got around to it.  I left it out and it rusted.  I actually  like the way it weathered.

 

I taped off the edges so I could save the patina and spray painted it...

 

This is my spray painting "station" in my back yard!

 

 

 

This old frame for a mirror was free.  I took it thinking I'd make an "inspiration board".  It was missing it's emblem in the middle at the top.  I found the perfect one in a junk box and sprayed the whole thing pink.  It's been sitting in my basement since November.  I finally got to hang it!

 

The collage hanging in the middle happened purely by accident.  I was working in the dark dirty basement...I was in a raunchy mood...so I decided for the sake of my family's safety I better stay down there for a while.  My husband sent me a message on the printer (it's kept in the basement)  he was trying to set it up to be wireless.  Computer upstairs...printer downstairs...ANYWAY...I heard the printer fire up and something was printing while I was down there.  I looked over and he'd printed out a note..."Perry Loves Robin!!" so it made me smile.  You know the saying "If mama aint happy....nobody's happy?"....I'm just sayin.......So I grabbed it and started playing with some new watercolor crayons I got.  I thought I'd make it kind of high schoolish and cut it into a heart...just because.  It kept evolving and in the end I put a picture of my husbands great grandfather at the top of it.  It has an UNBELIEVABLE resemblance to my husband...it's really weird! (he never knew his great grandfather)  so I foofed it up and it's the first thing I hung in my new art room! 

 

 

I found this really neat "book of days" it's really old.  So  I tore out the page for that date...May 29 and collaged right on top of that.  After being creative I was in a MuCh better mood....so my family is probably safe until about oh....June 29th or so.....

I also made this skirt.....I cut an old pair of jeans off right below the pockets....and I added the vintage pink material to make the skirt part.  The pink fabric was a bedskirt that I fell in love with a few years ago but never had a bed to use it on.....I was saving it for SOMETHING but didn't know what........

 

See that lace on the bottom?  I was doing laundry the next day after I made the skirt and the lace from the top of my sheet started to rip off.  I impulsively just tore it all the way down off the sheet before it went into the machine...and I thought..HEY!  This can go on my skirt!  So I'm a little like Scarlett O'Hara, using bedskirts for clothes and sheets for trims!

 

I really like to sew...but not from complicated patterns where pinning is involved!  Not one pin was used in the making of this garment!

I've always LOVED the Rachel Ashwell Union Jack flags...but who could afford that!?  I whipped up my own little pillow using scrap fabrics from my rag garlands......and some muslin fabric I had.  Now I want to make a hundred of these.....

 

Saturday was such a terrific day!  My sister and I took our mom to an antique mall.  We forced her to try on vintage clothes and hats.  She was the only one tiny enough to fit into those tiny clothes!  I wish I'd taken my camera!  It was lots of fun!

I hope you have a wonderful week........I'm looking forward to shopping and spending time with some blog friends that are coming into town!  I'll have LOTS of pictures to share next weekend!

Project Weekend....

It's so NICE to have a THREE DAY WEEKEND!  It feels like such a  bonus!  Normally around this time on Sunday I'd be getting the Sunday Night Blues.  I've had them for years.  Even though I LOVE MY JOB and I'm so THANKFUL to be employed in such hard economic times....I get the blues on Sunday Nights.  Right now.....It's Saturday Night in my mind........

My husband and I worked all day in my front garden...ridding it of weeds and finally planting some flowers.  I've grown a ton of plants from seed but wanted some that were already blooming for the front of the house.

 

I bought some  "knock out roses" a few weeks ago...and I've been really happy with it's blooms.  I've never grown roses before...now I want lots

I pulled out my window flag that I made last year- inspired by Joy from Joys of home.....and then I noticed my neighbors across the street pulled out their buntings. My husband said they copied me because of my flag!  I informed him that I HAD buntings that I thrifted (of course) back in December for $1.oo each.....they still had the original tags on them for 6.00 each!

 

A month or so ago my husband discovered a "junk pile" on our property that had been used as a dump for many years.  He found these old light fixtures buried in dirt.  He dug them out and brought them to me.   I had NO IDEA what to do with them....but saved them. Today while I was planting my flower beds  I caught a glimpse of this old fixture and immediately STOPPED what I was doing and started working on a hanging planter.  I call this Junkers ADD.  I already have ADD I'm sure of it...but before I was even half way finished with the flower bed project...I started working on this.  Of course half way through it I was sick of it already and wanted to abandon it...but pushed my way through it.....

This hangs on the back of my house between my bathroom windows now!  I just LOVE the patina on it. I first thought I'd spray paint it...but I like it just how he found it.   I planted some asparagus fern in there and some LEMON  petunias (new this year I think)  I had the plastic chandelier baubles from a HORRIBLE chandelier that was in this house when we moved in.  Each little bauble is tied to a place that used to have a dangling light socket.  I think this is from the 40's.  Our house used to sit on farm land and we've found quite a few interesting pieces.

This is a little birdcage I bought at the thrift store and planted some of my husbands Grandmothers succulents in it.  I think it's neat that she has passed away...but we are keeping her memory alive by her plants that she loved so much....

I hope you are having a wonderful three day weekend!  If you see a Veteran or a Service Man or Woman...don't forget to thank them for their service!

Have a terrific week!