The Christmas Booth

I was very excited to set up the booth for the holidays. I had been collecting pink Christmas stuff since July! I made most of the ornaments on the tree and had a blast doing it. 

I love that the Christmas goodies blend in with all the pretties I already had in the booth. 

These pines turned out cute! Oh and the little pink ones? They were ugly chipped burgundy and gold ornaments. I was complaining about how hard it is to find pink ornaments and then it hit me....I can spray paint them whatever color I want! 

I LOVE these little tree ornaments. I saw one like it on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try. I'm going to be honest, it was a major pain to make, but sooooo worth it. Apparently one lady thought so too, because she bought the whole tree! I wish I had made the time to make a second tree. Maybe I should start planning for next year now. Hmmmm. 

More Blue Goodies

It has been a crazy semester, so I haven't posted anything in forever! A foresee a flurry of catch up posts soon. I found this cute little chest at my favorite thrift store, Good Samaritan. I didn't remember to take the "before" until after I had the handles off. As you can see I replaced a shiny cream and mint paint job for a cool aqua one. I got all the paint off of the handles only to discover that 3 were bronzie and two were kind of gold. Not to fear though, I always have plenty of pewter Krylon. 

On the way from picking the chest up, Mom saw this cute nightstand on the side of the road! It needed some definite cleaning and repair, but I think it turned out adorable. Nothing a little wood glue and inspiration can't do. 

The Vanity

It's done! It's finally done! I worked my butt off but it was worth it. I know that shabby chic typically involves painted furniture, but this wood was too gorgeous to keep covered up. I hate to say but I have no step by steps or secrets to how it got done...it was just a full week of stripping, sanding, cleaning, and staining. All with a temp of 95 in the shade. YUCK. Well, I'm in love with it and I can't wait to work up the bravery to put stuff on top of it. 

I can't stop looking at it! It would freak people out, but the TV is hung above it, so I look like less of a weirdo. Now I've just got to strip and stain the gorgeous chair that goes with it.

The Vanity is Almost Done!

The vanity it so close to being in mah room! When I saw this beauty on Craigslist the post said that it needed to be restored. I thought that was nuts! It already had a pink shabby charm about it. Then, in the process of cleaning it, I pulled off one of the handles and it took a huge hunk of paint with it. Underneath there was beautiful wood....and I don't usually like wood! 

As you can see, I'm pretty messy. I look like a Verathane dalmatian! 

Another Vanity Update

So I began stripping the pink vanity because I had a sneaking suspicion that there was some beautiful wood underneath. It has been a slow and tedious process, but I think it is well worth it. Typically I prefer painted and distressed furniture, but this wood is far too pretty to leave covered up.

 

Look at the beautiful flowers I found on the top drawer! What a pleasant surprise. 

The drawers were the first things I began stripping...and you can see why I went on to do the whole thing!

 

I started out with an ancient container of old stripper that was practically jello consistency. Not good. I knew there had to be an easier way. There is. I got this Klean-Strip aerosol stuff and I seriously should have bought stock, because I've spent more on stripper than I did on the vanity. There are empty cans everywhere. But is IS the best way to get into all of the nooks and crannies of old intricate furniture. It has been worth it.

Now there is nothing special about the formula. It's not green, it's not safe, and it will seriously burn the crap out of you if you get it on bare skin. But this thing had 5 layers of paint, so there was no alternative. It is just convenient and it works. I wish I would have just sucked it up and tried this in the first place instead of trying a "green" method of using washing soda and water. That made a HUGE mess and was very difficult to get off. Anyeho, I'll post pics after it has a rich stain and smooth poly coat. :)

August Booth

The white dresser was a garbage find, but trust me, it's come a long way from when I found it.

I'll post some before and after pics of the bench soon, it was rather hideous when I got it.

 

I sewed the neck piece....I actually sewed.  It's a rarity and it will probably be some time before I do it again, so I thought I'd brag a little. 

I filled the booth with all kinds of new goodies, and I'm very pleased to have a rather empty looking garage now. I know the dress form is not super vintage, but I just had to have one and she looks quite lovely in the corner.

Some Frenchy Dressers

I've put the vanity on hold for a little bit as to work on some other projects that are a little less overwhelming. I've always secretly liked the shape of those 60's "French Provential" pieces, but the formica and gold trim is so tacky. Turns out they look pretty sexy when painted up just the right way.   

 

  

This dresser is pretty huge with 9 spacious drawers....each of which were pretty gross. It must have been in the garage for some time and certainly needed some love. Not to fear though, as I always have plenty of "oops" paint to paint the drawer interior.  

Vanity Progress

I have never been a real wood person, often preferring painted furniture...tacky I know. The vanity was no exception. I painted the chair first. A nice Ivory. But it just wasn't right. So I distressed it a little. But something is still wrong. So I decided to hunt for some paint stripper and try it on an area that I could get a feel for how the wood looks. A drawer. It looks like there is some beautiful wood hiding under layers of paint. I'll post pics soon, but first I've gotta get some better gloves....mine got melted by stripper.

My Newest Project

I've been scouring Craigslist for some time now looking for pretty pieces. About a month ago I saw this gorgeous vanity for $80. I loved it, but as usual, the only time I find good stuff on Craigslist is when I'm flat broke. Well lo and behold yesterday I saw the same vanity re-listed for $60! That I can handle (or could handle, now I'm flat broke again). So this morning we took a Sunday drive down south and picked this beauty up. It has some rough spots, but that'll make it more gratifying to refinish. Oh, and it comes with a gorgeous matching chair that has a beautiful floral fabric. I can't wait to bring this piece back to life.

Glorious!

I was meandering around my favorite Goodwill today, when I saw it. It was sitting on a coffee table right up front. A beautiful, huge, Capodimonte  tureen thingy. It had roses and detailing and all that is glorious. I literally ran to the piece, shocking a woman who had just turned her nose at it. I could hardly look at anything else I was so excited!

If anyone else loves it, I don't have room for such a big piece in my booth, so the listing is on eBay.

My Booth

This was the first day that I set up the booth. A lot of this stuff has found a new home!

I just knew everyone would think I was crazy when I said that I wanted to set up a shabby chic booth somewhere...anywhere really. But to my surprise they didn't. My awesome mom jumped right in and began the hunt for "purdies" right with me. My boyfriend's mom has a lovely consignment shop, Unique Boutique. It is the perfect place for all the shabby chic treasures!

The booth probably looks a lot emptier than this right now, I need to bring another truckload of fabulous finds.

Bedroom Overhaul

I began buying and selling shabby treasures at my little booth in Okeechobee, but I started to grow attached to some of the items. My room was in dire need of an overhaul, so I figured I might as well redo the whole thing shabby with nothing but thrift store finds!

The nightstand is from the Dogs and Cats Forever Thrift Store. It was funky pressed wood/Formica, but I loved the shape and knew that a few coats of matte white would do it a world of good. The little keyhole is fake, but I thought it was a really neat feature and painted the inside black, so it wouldn't look so hoaky.

The bed is also pressed wood, and was kinda icky. Another treasure from D&C Forever. It had "simulated wood grain".....yuck. So I threw some matte white and it made a world of difference. There is a boyfriend blocking some of it, but it's clear that it was definitely bedroom worthy.

My other goodies also came from thrifty spots. I redid the whole room for just under $200! That included my paint, the bed, nightstand, vanity, and knickknacks. Who would have thought being thrifty could look so good?

My Vanity Restoration

I bought this beauty on craigslist for just $35! I had eyed it for a few days before finally deciding that I had to have it. I picked it up from a really nice guy who also loves shabby chic goodies. After getting it home, I saw that it was very peely and kinda falling apart. But not to worry, I've got enough wood glue and putty to fix anything! I decided on a creamy white color, but it didn't seem done, so I rubbed brown paint onto areas to "age" it. The gorgeous mirror is sitting in the garage, but there just isn't room for it right now. I love how it looks, and love even more how it's not falling apart.

Blogging?

I'm new to the whole blogging thing, so excuse the ugly layout and overall newbie nature of the blog. Anywho, I've undertaken a time and fund consuming hobby of creating shabby chic treasures. I'd like to share some of the lovely before and after photos and see what everyone thinks...or no one, depending on how this whole blog thing turns out.