I am in Love!

I now have the prettiest dining room suite.  It once belonged to my husbands great grandmother.  It has wonderful details and is very lovely.  I am told it is about 80 years old.  I am just smitten with it.  Here are some of my "before" pictures I wanted to share with you.  It does need some cleaning and freshening up. 

The color of the wood is beautiful and I love the details of the doors on the buffet.

The captain chair.  See the dust all over it?

The simple details of the chairs are quit lovely.

The table has been sitting in grandpa's house for some time.  There has been a doily table cloth on it and you can still see the pattern after the table cloth was taken off.

Isn't she marvelous?  What a Buffet.

Michael Miller Fabrics

Michael Miller Fabrics are just the best.  I love the colors and the designs so much.  They even have a blog.  Check it out.

I made a cute outfit for both of my daughters with some of this fabric. 

(Isn't she precious?)

Here is the outfit I made for my oldest daughter.

Just a few more pictures because it is fun.

Jackpot!

I hit the jackpot!

I drove by a building that had a sign out front...FREE FOR ALL.

WHAT? Did that say what I thought?

Back to the office I go to get someone to go with me because I'm a chicken and don't like to go into places I don't know by myself. So, with my partner in crime I went back. My partner informed me that we were not shopping all day. I said no problem. I breezed through that place grabbing this and that. After I had an arm full of things I wanted I headed for the door. I couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. Free stuff makes me happy.

Now I have to go to break out my spray paints and see what I can do with it!

Ps. I went back today without my trusty sidekick so I could look around some more. I loaded my van up with more stuff. I will share that with you next week.

Tell me you can see the potential of these items too. :)

Cool Vintage Looking Letters

I was in the store Earth Trader a couple of weeks ago and they had these letters that I just loved. Below is a picture of what they sorta looked like. Except in the store, they were just single letters and they sold for $5 each. Now I could have paid $20 but I am trying to stick to my budget and I thought I could make them on my own. So here is what I did....

I got my supplies together:

Mod Podge

Paint Brush

Cut Magazine Strips

Stain

Scrap Panel Boards

I cut HEEB out of my scrap panel board using my jig saw. Then, using my mod podge,I applied my magazine strips to all of my letters and let it dry.

After about 24 hours, it was good and dry. So I used my a sharp razor blade and cut off the excess magazine strips. I applied a thin coat of stain onto of the letters. The white didn't look so white and the letters had more of vintage look. I then applied 3 coats of mod podge on top waiting for each coat to dry.


Here is my finished project. I like it and that is all that matters.

A friend of mine had the idea of using newspapers. I like that idea too.

Old New Canisters

I found these great canisters for FREE. I love free things.

With a little paint, love, and time...I will have something new in my kitchen.

I keep forgetting to take "before" photos. By the time I remembered I already spray painted the wooden lids black. You might not be able to tell by the picture but these are really orange. Straight from early 1970's.

Here is my finished project. With some off white & black spray paint, card stock, and mod podge...I have new canisters.

Once I have it all done in my kitchen I will take pictures of how I displayed it all. It is coming together nicely.

Kitchen Decor Ideas

As I was looking on the net for inexpensive decorating idea I saved a few of the projects I like.

Here are some of them.

Enjoy!

A Ruler Coat Rack. I like the vintage look.

These are too cute and I might do them in my kitchen

You can try making these hooks yourself too.

I have been "collecting" jars lately. I have spray painted some of the lids but I like this idea too.

I think this is cute idea for old cupcake pans.

You could paint it any color and then even change out the

papers for the season.

Once I have found a cool wooden frame, I will have one of these in my kitchen. I like how it is not just a plain old frame. It has some character. Besides, who doesn't like having a chalk board in their kitchen?

The DORMEYER SILVER CHEF 4300

It is composed of chromed & stainless steel, polished aluminum, and black & red Bakelite. The mixer is rust & dent-free, works great, and sounds like a Machine Age mixer should! It could use some polishing though.

It even comes with a meat grinder and all the needed accessories. However, I'm not sure I will ever need the meat grinder but it is still pretty cool.

I found all this in my grandma's basement. What a great find! My grandma told me that it had belonged to my great-grandmother and that when she passed away, my grandma kept it because she like it so much. My grandma never used it though. She never switched out her kitchen mixer for my great-grandmother's. So, not only is this a cool functioning machine but it once belonged to my great-grandmother. A little family history is now sitting right in my kitchen.