A Rose By Any Other……

Hi!

I just have time for a quick post as I’m scrambling to get everything together and ready for tomorrow’s Rose Bowl.

I seem to be on a text kick.  Subway Art, letters etc etc.

I either know exactly what I want to do with a piece of furniture or I have no clue what to do and it has to sit in my garage for a while before inspiration strikes.

When I saw this woebegone piece in the thrift store I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.It was in bad shape.  Wobbly legs, and ton’s of splits along the rim but I really liked the shape of the top and the curve of the legs.

So, after some serious patching and priming I got to work with my blender pen method and one of my favorite Shakespeare Sonnets and headed for the romantic side of furniture.

OK, off to sand things, staple things and general finish all the things that really should have been finished two days ago.  Wish me luck! (and, of course, if you’re local please come on by the Rose Bowl tomorrow.  It should be a beautiful day!)

End Table Nirvana Continues To Pay Off!

So we’ll continue our furniture world tour with a little French end table I worked on for the Rose Bowl.

This was another find from the End Table Nirvana (yes, I’m still working my way through that amazing furniture haul!).

She had tossed this little guy in at the last minute for free “because it’s broken.”

But all that was broken was that the top wasn’t fully attached and the lower shelf had split along a seam.  The finish was looking a little sad too.  But one can never argue with free!

So, as usual, it was time for sanding, glue, bondo and clamps (always clamps!)

After some drying time it got another good sanding, a cleaning with TSP and quick coat of flat white paint (actually ceiling paint left over from my dining room).

The next step was to distress it a little but I was in a bit of a bad mood and got a kinda carried away.  The final result was not as much “distressed” as it was “traumatized” but I didn’t have time to go back in and repaint.

I decided it needed a little help from the Graphics Fairy and did a little mixing and matching with these labels that she so generously provides.

Once I got them (re)arranged and reversed I went to town with my Blender Pen method.

A nice coating of wax and I was all done and it was time for pictures.

I feel that lemons should always be stored on the lower shelf of a table in the hallway near the bathroom where the light is better.  Don’t you?  It’s a great spot for your vintage camera collection too.  Just a little FYI from me to you.

I’m happy to report that this one sold at the Rose Bowl!  And considering it was free and the paint was leftover – the overhead on this one was just printer ink, blender pen, a knob and time!  Yay!

Please check out these great link parties

End Table Makeover and Rose Bowl Ready!

OK, the car is packed for the Rose Bowl and I’m ready to go!

Almost.

I’m never really ready to go.  Even when I’m there I realize that I wasn’t really ready to go and I’ve forgotten, oh you know,  the price tags, the signs, the Windex, the cash etc etc….

But, nevertheless, it’s up at 4AM tomorrow to hit the road!

Yeah!

And then I get to stand around in a parking lot all day!

Yeah!

Honestly, though, the customers are fun and the folks who run the booths on either side of me are just the best.  David, who sell cufflinks has been doing this for, I kid you not, 30 years.  He’s been at the Rose Bowl for 30 years!  He knows everyone and everyone knows him.

The couple on the other side are professors and do this as a fun hobby.  They too have been doing it for decades.  They raised their charming daughter at the Rose Bowl and now she sells things there.  Amazing.  Couldn’t ask for better people to spend an afternoon in a parking lot with.

But I promised before and afters this time around so here we go with the first one.

So, after my big “I’m so eclectic, I can’t decide what to do” fest in my last post the horror is that I painted this first piece white.  I’d actually planned to do something totally different but it didn’t work and time was running out so, with my eye on the bottom line, an antique white became the way to go.

As you may recall this little table was in bad shape and missing chunks of its edge detail.

A little Bondo, a little (a lot) of sanding, some patching and priming

A little addition of some paper and

I like the way the bold paper contrasts with the faded white and sanded edges (and I don’t know why it looks to be two different colors in the the two pictures.  Argh!).

And, for the buyer, the beauty is you can swap it out with anything that suits your room or your mood or the season.

OK, off to bed.

Linking Up!

Sofa Table Makeover – and petty crime

“It’s $1.99.”

 “Are you sure it’s not supposed to be $19.99?”

 “The tag says $1.99 – do you want it or not?” said the understandably fatigued, slightly belligerent, Salvation Army lady.

 The store was crowded.  The line was long.  There was no air conditioning and she clearly wasn’t in the mood for a pricing debate with some overgrown Boy Scout who wanted to pay extra.

 So, although technically it wasn’t my fault and I tried to do the right thing, I feel like I stole something from the Salvation Army (which seems like a really bad move Karma-wise).   

Because I got this for $1.99

The top was in seriously bad shape and, as you can see it was, um,… missing something there in the front.  But look at those awesome legs!  And I was convinced I could create a replacement part for that front piece.  Or maybe replace the entire front with a useful drawer!

 So I forked over my $2.00 (I put the penny change in the “need a penny?” basket which didn’t make me feel as unguilty as I’d hoped it would) stuffed it in my Honda Civic and took it home – - -

where it sat for quite a while because, unfortunately, my imaginary carpentry skills far outpace my actual carpentry skills. 

 I lack that key element of patience (“measure twice?!! But that would slow me down!!!). 

 After a couple of tries I had to admit that I couldn’t duplicate the missing part and that I would just need to create a whole new front.

 I decided to make this piece my homage to Miss Mustard Seed  and her amazing and awesome work.  So, after cutting a new front out, I painted the bottom, did a little distressing, stained the top and added a couple of doo-dads to make it fancy.

I’m totally pleased with how it came out. 

I do still wish it had a drawer but…..  Patience….patience…..