chalk outline

So here it is, my first OFFICIAL before and after!  Are you ready?  Here goes....
Last Friday I went out junking with my friend Adrienne.  Hoping to find just a few things to add to my ever growing list of projects for the shop.  I knew I wanted to do a few chalkboards, I see them all over and always think, hey I can do that! :)  Somehow I hit all the right spots, because I ended up with enough frames to make 6 chalkboards.  A couple of small ones and some big ones too.  I'd say it was a successful trip! 

There are 2 of these going into the shop but at "press time" only 1 was completely finished.  Here's what it looked like when I strolled upon it at Bargain Mart

Not totally hideous, but I imagine alot of people walk right past a discarded door, which works to my benefit, especially since there were a pair of doors!  Next I grabbed my chalkboard paint, brush, and painters tape to keep the inside edges clean.  Before getting started I needed to peel off the decal and price tag, and wipe down the front to get rid of the fine layer of gunk on it.  Then it was paint away...of course 1 coat didn't do the trick, so to keep myself busy during dry time, I pulled out some of the other frames I planned on turning into chalkboards too.

 Snagged both these guys for cheap at Antique Row in Downtown Tacoma.  I liked their shapes, just not the colors.  So they each got a couple coats of spray paint, and their backs got a couple coats of chalkboard paint.  I distressed the bigger one a little bit, added some mahogany stain, then both frames got a coat of clear wax.......tada!  All done!

After 3 coats of chalkboard paint, and sufficient drying time, the big guy is all done too!!  I kept the original hardware on it because it's the perfect little chalk holder.  Don't you want these in your house?  I have one almost this size in my kitchen and about 5-6 nights a week I actually write what's for dinner on it so my crazy kids don't ask me 100 times a day!  What would you do with this great chalkboard, maybe turn it sideways as a headboard in the kiddos room, or above an entry or mudroom bench?  Possibilities are endless!!  Now the natives are restless, better check my chalkboard to see what I've dedicated myself to cooking them :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Drop me a line if you have any questions or comments!

Denniel

flying the coop

So I know I said I would only do a weekly makeover post, but I got inspired today :)  I had a few pieces of this really great fabric I  made some pillow covers with that I got from Carousel designs (click here to check them out) that I was dying to do something with.  So of course I went on Pinterest and started looking around for something easy to do with fabric scraps.  I found this great tutorial to make some birdies.  My birdies aren't exactly the same as the ones in the tutorial.  I find myself spacing out a little if the instructions are too wordy, so I just looked through the pictures and ran up to my sewing room.  But I still think they're pretty cute...and I got to attempt using my antiqued bird cage as an almost prop.   I think they're gonna go  in the shop.  What do you think??

Jumping on the bandwagon

So here I am doing something I thought I'd never do.....writing a blog.  Jumping on the proverbial bandwagon.... I swore I would never be a blogger, yet something's changed. 
I LOVE finding unique treasures and pieces of furniture and making them "mine".  I didn't think in a million years it was something I was good at, or at least good at enough to do anything other than stick a new piece of furniture in my own house.  Then an AMAZING opportunity came my way.  One of my oldest and bestest friends started talking about opening a shop. 
A shop?  Really?  Like a for real place where people can come and possibly buy the things I love making?  Yep!!  In a few weeks Persnickety's Awesomeness Emporium(like the fb page here )will be said for real place.  And I have been asked to make things to sell there!  Talk about my dream job.  Going to estate/garage sales, antique stores, and dumpster diving, on a regular basis and refinishing said found items.  Selling them in a store so my self-proclaimed furniture hoarding won't give my husband a heart attack....can it really be better?  Don't get me wrong I like my current job of staying home with my 2 crazy boys.  But how many people get the chance to do something they really love?  I mean, I LOVE my kids, and the last 10 years have been an awesome adventure.  But as they get older and start to pull away more I find myself thinking, now what?  I still feel like it's a dream, but I've pinched myself several times while sanding furniture and making pillows in the last week that it has to be true!
That being said I feel as if I need to give some props...I have been a closet blog reader for a while now and have found SO much inspiration from Alison at The Modern Cottage Company .  I have even followed her tutorials and attempted to duplicate some of the amazing furniture pieces she's put in her store.  Additionally my sister in law Liesl at The Little Road Said Go! has such a great eye for things I could never even imagine could go together.  I thank both of you great ladies for providing me with enough ammunition that I think I can do this too!!  I hope the things I come up with are inspiring and enough of my own thing that you can see it as flattery, not copying :)

The point of all this you ask?  Well in my super organized brain I plan on doing a weekly makeover, showing you my trials and tribulations of my process of refinishing or reconfiguring things.  But there is also a super ADD side of my brain where I get thousands of ideas and struggle to keep them organized.  Hang in there if you decide to follow along and I'll do my best to stay on track.  For now here are a couple of pictures of things I've refinished or made for my home.

So!  Follow along if you dare :)  Next week should have some pretty interesting before and afters!

Enjoy!!

Denniel