Serioulsy? Halloween? Already?

One of the aspects of this career path that I didn’t count on was the whole “get ready for a holiday four months before the holiday.”  I still can’t quite master thinking about Christmas in June.

Hence my shock when people started rolling out their completed FALL MANTLES! this week.

I don’t really have a mantle (there is a big TV there) which I thought got me out of the Fall Mantle requirement.

I was wrong.

One of my stores asked me for Fall Mantle decorations.  And, double whammy, Halloween Fall Mantle decorations.

I’m not much of a Halloween guy.  Once people stopped giving me free candy I kind of lost interest in the whole event.

But, I have had good success with my snarky, literary Halloween coasters (warning: if you click on them you’ll end up in my Etsy shop)

And my vintage Halloween candle blocks

But, frankly I was a little stuck.  My brain just wasn’t ready for Halloween thoughts.

And then this afternoon, juuuuuust as I was convincing myself that a nap was totally justified an idea hit.

Perhaps a variation on my subway signs with a Halloween theme?

I had all the parts so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

I took a ¾” pine board, painted it black, added some support strips, waxed the edges with a candle and then gave it a coat of Rustoleum’s Orange Spray Paint.

In the meantime after some  after some quick brainstorming with The Muse who is a whiz and both literature and being clever we came up with the text (text?! In a CheltenhamRoad craft project?!  Well, I never!)

and I printed it out of 8.5×14” paper.

and mod podged it onto my precut slats of wood (3 x 13.5”)…..that I really should have dusted before photographing them.

By that time the orange paint had dried and I gave it a quick power sanding and got that rustic/antiquey look I likeI attached the wood slats to the backing board and

I have a Halloween Mantle!

Welcome Fall!

OK, it’s not really a mantle it’s the top of a bookcase.I’d like some candy now please

PS: the full tutorial for these Subway Signs appeared originally on Mod Podge Rocks

Millwork Monday

I’ve been experiencing some technical difficulties.

No sooner did I decide that I had my mojo back (and I was ready to blog blog blog!) then my internet connection started to have a nervous breakdown.  It’s on! It’s off!  It’s on…off….on….kinda on…..it’s ……stuck.

The problem has still not been resolved.

In the meantime I continued to focus on getting organized.

The workroom is done!

Sort of!

Well, it’s more done than not – I just keep feeling like there are certain details that need to be accomplished before I can proudly display it on the web.

I also decided that today was MillWork Monday wherein I would spend my day sawing and sanding and getting all the wood items I would need for the week ready to go.

And it was a success.  I now have, for the week, 2 HOME signs, 200 coaster blanks, 20 candle block bases and 25 slats for subway art.It has created a great sense of accomplishment along with a great sense that there is sawdust in my underwear which, you know, keeps me grounded in the here and now.

Despite my sporadic web connection I did manage to post my latest coaster design – vintage subway art coasters. The set I made is for New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago but I’m trying to figure out a way to make it so whatever city you desire I can produce the set.  I’ll keep you posted.

And now I must dash before the internet shuts down.

Paris Metro Coffee Table Makeover

I woke up yesterday to find my Vintage Postcard Dresser made the Before and After section of Apartment Therapy.com.  Wow!  I felt totally honored and equally amazed by the bump in my blog views!

The commenters were really kind and my sister Phebe received a lot of praise for steering me away from my original idea of using chalkboard paint on the drawers.  I think this is a great new path for Phebe – consultant – I’ve taken the liberty of printing up business cards for her:And I finally (FINALLY!!) finished up my long ago started, long ago sidetracked Paris Subway Art Coffee Table.

There is a bit of history here that you may have forgotten so let’s do it TV style

 Previously on “French Coffee Table……”

David found a cast off coffee table with broken legs.

David reglued the legs and patched the ugly cracks using Bondo!Frenchy curves led David to make some questionable decisions……David impulsively purchased a Cameo Silhouette machine.  Women in store were excited!  A little too excited.  David was nervous. David had lots of trouble getting machine to work (“read the instructions?!  I don’t read instructions!  I’m a guy!  I just instinctively know how things work…..and how to get somewhere without a map….STOP QUESTIONING ME!”) and the project got delayed.

The table was painted and the top distressed in anticipation of design.

The Silhouette problem was solved (apparently it was in a turf war with other printers) and the letters applied!

And after a top coat, some letter peeling, some serious sanding and a bit of distressing with antiquing glaze:Tune in next week when you’ll hear David say:

“Ow!!!!!!  Why do I keep doing that?!!!!!!”

Linking up here:

“This is the cool place!”

This is the cool place!

A woman exclaimed that as she approached my booth yesterday at the Rose Bowl.  AND she actually proceeded to buy something.

I’ve discovered that exclamations of “OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS!!!!” do not necessarily lead to purchases.  Last year a woman stopped dead in her tracks, and shouted (like at the top of her lungs) “I’VE GOT TO HAVE THAT!!!!” when looking at one my clocks.  Then there was a brief pause while I, and pretty much everyone nearby, stopped and waited.  Aaaand then she walked on.

Now I realize that I don’t actually purchase everything I think is cool.  But I’m kind of a quiet person by nature so if something grabbed me so much  that I reacted to it like I was having a heart attack and it was a nitroglycerin tablet I’d probably fork over the money.  But that’s just me.

Anyway, the weather was beyond beautiful yesterday (sorry east coasters) -  70s, sunny with a light breeze.  Sales were good, although my “oh this is so cool/but I’m not buying it” rate was better.  I think people were suffering with that post-Christmas “good lord what did I do!?” hangover.

The big eye catcher was my new dresser that I hinted at on Saturday.

I’d had this dresser sitting around and was waiting for inspiration to strike. And it struck big time when I saw this blog post from the very talented Lauren and Nick of  Lindaure Designs (the link is for their excellent tutorial).

Isn’t  that beyond cool?!  The minute I saw it I couldn’t wait to get started.

Mine’s a little different – different city, different layout but I was pleased with the final result.

(and I just realized when I posted this that I not only stole their dresser idea I even stole the fan they put on top of it!  Shall we just chalk the whole thing up to “sincerest form of flattery” and move on?  I think we shall.  Oops!)

The dresser got the most “oh that’s cool/wander away” action but I kind of expected that.  It’s a very specific person who’s going to want to own it so it’s OK.

I did manage to get away from the booth to hang out for a bit with my friend Nicki of Nicki Huard Creations.  Her booth was busier than mine.  Crazy busy.  Too busy…..  I think I like her less now….

However, despite liking her less, I have to show you these nifty teapot lamps she makes.

And she has promised to teach me how she does her stenciling (she has secrets!) because look at these boxes!

Look at how clean those lines are!  You may be thinking “uhhh, David, it’s a stencil.”  But this is rough wood so to get that kind of sharpness takes some skills and I want to acquire them!

Today I started to tackle the garage as phase one of my war on disorganization!  If you don’ t hear from me again I probably dropped something on myself.

Linking up here: