A Pretty Little Tea Set Shelf

I didn’t get to do this shelf piece on my three day weekend, but was able to do little bits in the evenings after work.   If you recall from previous posts, this is what it looked like when I got it from Goodwill.

And it had this little bear thingy on it, which soon met with the garbage pail.

The first evening I cleaned the piece with TSP ~ a degreaser, deglosser and cleaner {wear gloves when you use this}.  I attached my wood embellishment with some wood glue and just put it off to the side to dry.

Better already.

The next night I  primed it with Kilz 1, 2, 3 primer which is supposed to be a stain killer and save me a step with sanding the piece.   I gave it two coats.

Finally, it was onto the Heirloom White paint and here she is!

Perfect china tea set shelf!  I picked up all of these tea sets at Goodwill, except for the set to the bottom right.  My Mom gave that to me and my granddaughter for Christmas.  It’s got such a pretty pattern and I love the little tray that came with it.

When my granddaughter is old enough, we will be Gone With The Wind southern ladies and I will say, “Why, I do declare, it is time for tea, Miss Evalyse.  Which tea set shall we use today?” {I may have to invest in some lovely hats and gloves that go up to our elbows}.

I’m itching to get started on the little table and chairs; I just need to get the paint in a quart.  Thanks to an anonymous comment on a previous post, I now know that Heirloom White can, indeed, be purchased in a quart size {I was apparently misinformed at the Home Depot I went to}.  So, thank you anonymous!

Linking up with

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

Make It Yours Day at My Backyard Eden

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Kathy

Chocolate Decor

While I’m working on this {and getting our tax stuff together}

I thought I’d share a delightful room with you that I came across today. 

A chocolate room!  Everything in this room is made out of chocolate {well, except for the mirror, I’m sure}.   This was put together by a sculptor who uses food as his medium.  It is in a mall in Lithuania.   Apparently, they have to keep a constant eye on it in case anyone tries to eat it!  {Go figure!} 

Kathy

Pillows!

I’m happy that I did get to do a few pillows this weekend.  One of my favorites is the Alice in
Wonderland print fabric.  I just put it on my desk chair for pictures.  This pillow is 14 inches.

I wanted to use something with it and found that I had this onion fringe with similar colors.

I think it came out cute and I may even have enough fabric left over to make little cushions for that child’s table and chairs set that I got for free a few months ago.

Pillow number 2 was the Alice in Wonderland text and my pillow form was a bit bigger at 20 inches.  I wanted to add something to this pillow, too, so I found some extra fabric that I already had, with a color that worked, and made a ruffle out of it.

It is pictured here with the Alice print pillow.

You can see some of the text a bit clearer in these close up shots.

I put it on my sofa so you could see just how big it is ~ almost the size of the back pillows that go with my sofa!

I only got as far as cutting the French Country Rooster fabric and picking out a possible trim.  Everything got put to the side when I had an opportunity for a visit with the granddaughter today. 

I’ll be cleaning up the house this week after work to get the house ready to go on the market.  Our goal is the end of this month and, of course, it’s almost here!

Kathy

Three Day Weekend Projects

Thank you so much for your confidence in me; I really appreciated your comments on my last post!  This weekend is a three day weekend for me and I’m hoping that {in addition to cleaning my house} I get to work on a few projects. 

Alice in Wonderland text

Alice in Wonderland figures

French Script

Italian Postcard/Label

{which may become something other than a pillow}

French Country Rooster print

The fabric above I recently purchased from fabric.com.  I got 1-2 yards of each fabric to recover some pillows. 

I’m also hoping to sand and prime this little shelf that I had picked up at Goodwill.  If you recall my post here, where I first showed it, it had a Teddy Bear emblem at the top.  This shelf is going to be used to hold the little china tea sets I found at Goodwill.

I have removed the bear and have this wood embellishment to add in its place.   If I make a trip to Home Depot this weekend, I’d like to see if they  have something close to Heirloom White that I can use with a brush and roller.    If you know of a paint color from your own experience, I’d love to know about it.

So, that’s what I’d like to accomplish this weekend.  Do you have any projects planned?

Kathy

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I just wanted to post that I have a busy week {probably next week, too}.  I hope you’ll hang in there with me, as I probably won’t have too much to post this week and no time to do any of my own projects.

In addition to my 9-5 day job, I have a home staging consultation via telephone tonight, which required me to make notes off of a virtual tour; a Friday afternoon interior decorating appointment to present a decorating plan and budget; working with the winner of a Purina contest {who won a 1-hour phone consultation} as well as still finding accessories for my current client.  Add to that my daughter’s 24th birthday and I’ve got a pretty full week! 

Fingers crossed that I can pull all this off successfully!

 

Kathy

Everything’s Coming Up Roses

I’m not very good at redoing fabric on lampshades, but my daughter wanted to do a lampshade for my granddaughter and I thought I could handle this one.  This is our inspiration picture.

It costs {on average} $150.00.  For just the lampshade.  A bit too steep for either of us.  Of course, my daughter wanted the scalloped shade, so after finally finding one at a decent price, we got started.

I know it’s hard to see in the inspiration picture, but the main part of the shade is covered in white rose petals and then the roses are along the top and bottom edges.  A trip to Michaels was in order to get supplies.

$1.99 per bunch of roses {I got nine and it was just enough}.

$6.98 for the box of petals {300 petals per box}

The shade was $12.00 {purchased online}

After a couple of hours, this is what I wound up with. 

Our version totals about $36.98!

Now she just needs to get a lamp!

Linking up with:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Kathy

Caught My Eye

Browsing online I found some clever and lovely decorating ideas that caught my eye.  From Southern Living magazine:

An enlarged and framed hand written envelope.  You could find similar at The Graphics Fairy site.

Cork cabinet pulls.  How cool would this be in a wine cellar or an area designated for wine and wine tastings.

Wall map art.

From Better Homes & Gardens:

Taking advantage of every inch of space in this craft closet.

Family command center/desk area in a French Country kitchen.  Love the warm color.

From Country Living magazine. Love this archway! 

One of my favorite patterns on a floor.

I love what I can see of this painted pink cabinet.

Side tables being used as a coffee table.

Lots of ideas and inspiration!

Kathy

The Long {Long} Hallway

I have a long hallway in my house {about 17 feet long} that connects the original house with an addition we put on many years ago.  We stole some space from the original den to make this hallway.  Here is how it looked about two years ago, before we got the house ready to go on the market.

I had a family picture gallery here, which was really the perfect spot to do something like this.  With getting the house ready, I removed all these pictures {and we painted the walls}.  Then it looked like this.  For over a year.

I had this series of egg prints that were originally in my entry foyer and feeling that this long hallway needs something to entice people to walk through it {and to show a prospective buyer what you could put here}, I decided to hang them here.   There is no natural light here, so bear with me.

Using the areas where the lights hit the wall, I hung my pictures.  Now it looks like this.

So I get to enjoy my egg prints again and it fills this area nicely.

Kathy