FRIDAY FINDS....SCHOOL DAYZ

It's been quite some time since I've been in school, however I have a huge love for vintage school supplies, desks, and chalkboards.  Maybe because my mother was a Special Education school teacher and my father (RIP) was a School Administrator at the end of his career.  

Once again....Craigslist to the rescue.    I found this baby on there and lucky me the man lived right in the next town.    I drove 5 minutes, he and a young man carried it from their garage to my van and even loaded it. (thank you gentleman)

I have visions dancing in my head on how I can display this in the store and what will go with it.   Yay!

What do you think???

Isn't he handsome 

This was taken by my son...lol

Nice back...no damage

Fresh clean start .......

Friday was always dress down or bummy day at school...so rest assured I am posting this in my husband's coaching sweatshirt and some yoga pants.

Have A Great Weekend!!!

-MJ

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FRIDAY FINDS.....CURB APPEAL!

Or in my case CURB DEAL!    You remember back in the Spring I had a sweet junk haul...a nice Italian man sold his house (across from my daughter's high school) and he had a ton of antique furniture and was putting it at the curb for pick up.  They were nice but very dirty and not well treated.   I'll refresh your memory.

Although I had originally planned by this time to have all my furniture filled garage emptied out and all the furniture ready for sale at the town fair.    Well.....of course too much has happened and I started purging out of anger and disappointment.

When I asked Big Daddy to take these out of the garage, I just looked at them and couldn't throw them away.   I was inspired to give them new life and so I put them aside.

On Labor Day while my husband was at work, I grabbed my can of Olde White (AS Chalk Paint) and gave them a rough coat of paint.  

  I didnt do any prep obviously but I did find that the paint might not cover all surfaces that well.    I noticed as it was drying that some brownish tint was coming through the paint.   Im assuming its a varnish coat underneath or something...I didn't mind it because it gave it age and crackle spots.   

After a coat of Olde White Chalk Paint

Here they are in my bedroom...I think they fit in nicely

I like that they look chippy and old.  I dont shiny bright nightstands.

I decided I wanted to paint the hardware too, I dont know why but I love how it turned out.

Here is a wide view...I was nice a put the other one (without the handle) on my husband's side. LOL

-MJ

I party with the best:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

FAMILY NAME SIGN GIFT FOR REDESIGN....

Okay so I know signs are all the rage, I love me a good sign too!   I have some from Kristi from Barn Owl Primitives, Brittany of 41 West Designs, and Holly of Word Whipped.   I love wooden signs, they remind me of an old general store.

Since I had just received my newest sign from Holly...my "JOSEPH" sign.   It inspired me and I thought it would be the perfect gift to my good friend Liza who asked me to help redesign her living room.   Some of you know Liza through my posts, she is my junkin buddy.   So of course this was a no-brainer...we like the same styles but I wanted to customize and surprise her with some things.

So......................a family name sign it is!   I wanted to do this project keeping within the NO COST mindset that this project was created.    So I started with a free find:

Scrap piece of wood (free)

It's actually a drawer front to some kind of dresser or buffet

It's nice & weathered already...but here it's  getting a coat of Valspar paint (Seagull gray) it's really an off white and its left over paint from my dining room.

Looks nice & fresh...I didnt fill the nail holes purposely to keep it original and to look as if it was just ripped off an old store front.

It was hard but I freehanded the letters...I dont have stencils, vinyl or cricut machine.  This is old school art class...I inherited drawing from my parents.

I used my daughter's crayola paint brush marker to make the edges wispy

 

I then went over the letters with Barn Red craft paint

I used a chocolate glaze to get into the nail holes and look old

I also sanded over the painted letters once they dried again to make it weathered.

Here is my finished project with the rest of the pieces for the redesign.

And here it is now hanging in their newly redesigned living room.

So the next time your drawer breaks or you junkin a dresser you might think twice about throwing away the drawers! lol  Challenge yourself to re-purpose something not only to explore your creativity but to lend a hand in being kind to Mother Earth. I will take an old piece of furniture over new any day.

I want to say thank you to Dave & Liza for being awesome friends to me throughout the years (they've seen me go through the good and the bad).  It's amazing years later how situations change and we are closer now and our husbands maybe more than us. lol    

You guys are awesome and I hope this sign will hang in your home and make you smile!

Im a housebound party girl....so Im linking up here:

-MJ

Hey its' made from a piece of furniture

 

FRIDAY FINDS....BACK TO THE BASICS!

For those of you who read regularly or know me personally.   You know I love junk!   Im a huge follower of the theory that one man's junk is another woman's treasure.

I have always dreamed of owning a shop where I can sell my refurnished furniture pieces, repurposed /recycled items along with handmade items for the home.  Throw in some vintage-style jewelry and I will have my self a dream shop.

I have a garage filled with items that I am planning to refinish as the weather cooperates.   Smaller items I will list and the big ones...not sure yet.

Im hoping to be in South Carolina by the end of the year, so maybe I will just bring these treasures down south and find a little spot in an antique mall.   Baby steps to get to the top of the big mountain.



 So this week....here are my treasures.

Quilt rack, scratched up Queen Anne console, antique side table, vintage chalkboard

Im so in love with the vintage door I dont know if I can put it up for sale.

However I still have these beauties to refinish first.

A 2 piece pine hutch

Vintage hutch

Seriously gorgeous vintage hutch/sideboard

FRIDAY FINDS!!!!!

Well Im feeling a little better after having spent the whole week home with the kiddies.  Cant say that I completely rested while being home, I do have a 3 month old and 3 year old who need tending to. lol  But while nursing or during her nap time Im always searching Craigslist and what a find I got today.  These beautiful baby girls are in perfect condition and get this $25.00 (okay u can pick your jaw up now) .  I brought my bff "chacha" with me for pick up and even she was impressed (p.s. she has fantastic taste)  She's the shopper, Im the decorator.....we make the perfect pair.

FRIDAY FINDS!!!!!

Since Ive been so inspired to start creating tablescapes for postings,  I have been shopping a wee bit much lately...(shhhh dont tell Big Daddy)  So I thought I would create a weekly post to share my finds for that week, unless of course they make it to their own special posting first.    I think it'll be known as FRIDAY FINDS.....hopefully no one out there in blogland has that name coined already.  So here is a trip to one of my favorite stores DOLLAR TREE (unusual I know) but their inventory has gotten so good in the past year.  To be honest I have gotten alot of basic tableware items there along with tons of other items in my home like frames,hand towels and just other cute items I pick up there almost on a weekly basis.  Well this lovely little lot of tableware was discovered at a Dollar Tree that was on my travels during work (im on the road all the time)