Primitive Albion Orange Crate

Here is yet another rustic, primitive crate I found at the flea market.  Let's just say I have never found one I didn't want to bring home.  I think this one is more rustic than the last one.

 I searched the internet and found a wonderful vintage style produce label for Albion oranges.  But when I finished the crate, it just didn't look right so I am leaving this just painted without the label and will save that for yet another project.  I copied the letter style on the label which was a three color logo.  I rather like it this way.  It's very patriotic and I should have kept it for closer to Memorial Day, but here it is.

 My husband added the cross bar for me because there was no carrying handle.  I hit it with two coats of Leafy Green by Rustoleum in the spray can.  You can see it's still full of rustic wood and loosely placed nails.

 It's still a great caddy and will hold a lot of things.

 Here is what it looked like when I started.  It looks a little better now.  What do you think?

I'm partying at...


Mondays          The House in the Roses       Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy
                                      Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage   
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style           Primp         Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Tablescape Thursday   Delightfully Inspiring Thursdays
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Old and Perfect

This purchase for my space at Aubergine Emporium was a bittersweet experience.  I went to one of those community sales a couple of weeks ago and found this cabinet.  First of all, I absolutely love it.  The patina is magnificent and you can tell this was a well loved piece by the wear it is showing.

 It is very old and the crazing of the paint is perfect in every way.  I didn't have a lot of smalls to put in it when I placed it in my space so it is a little sparse.  It is fuller now, but the pics were already taken.  That's the sweet side of the story.

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 What's the bitter part?  I bought it from a self-confessed hoarder.  The woman cried when it was being loaded into my truck.  I tried to assure her it was going to a loving home (I know it will) and that she will feel better when she has more room in her home.  I am not talking about the kind of person who saves used Kleenex.  I am talking about a woman who truly loves her treasured pieces.  But she told me she could not walk down her hallway without walking sideways.  My heart broke for her, but her children were trying to explain to her this was for the best.  I do love this piece even though it would not fit with my home, and I will love it and cherish it as long as it's in my possession and I will think of the very sweet lady I purchased it from in a very thoughtful way.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          The House in the Roses       Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy
                                      Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage   
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style           Primp         Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Tablescape Thursday   Delightfully Inspiring Thursdays
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Hammond Vintage Typography

Here is this week's vintage graphic.  It's a 1900 invoice from Hammond Typewriter.  This one has sort of a steampunk feel with the old typewriters.  I segregated out the letter head so you can use it for something creative.  Thanks for visiting.

 

Pottery Barn Inspired Shutters

When I was looking for a project to copy for a copy cat challenge last week, I came across some shutters in the Pottery Barn catalog.  I had these shutters for quite some time and hadn't decided what to do with them.  I loved the PB shutters and decided to adapt mine to "sort of" look like theirs.

 I took the catalog with me when I was getting the paint so I could come as close as I could.  The name of this color is Pirate Coast by Valspar.  It is a very beachy color and really would blend great with Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic look.  I paired them with a shabby red bed in my space at Aubergine Emporium and I think that color combo looks great as well.  Below you can see how it looks with the reds and pinks.

 The door locks were taken off a project I recently did so they were freebies.  We had the cross beams in the scrap pile.  My husband did however purchase the bolts.  They are decorative and functional at the same time.

Here are my inspiration shutters.  They look really shabby and glazed in this photograph, but in the catalog, they didn't have that appearance.  They were pretty clean looking.

 Here are the shutters as I found them at the salvage yard.

 Cross piece added with the bolts.  All in all this was a super easy project.  It was nice of my husband to drill all those holes to help me get my desired look.  Thanks for visiting and please stop by again soon.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          The House in the Roses       Metamorphosis Monday         The Graphics Fairy
                                      Le Chateau des Fleurs
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage   
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style           Primp         Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild     It's So Very Cheri Bloghop     Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Tablescape Thursday   Delightfully Inspiring Thursdays  
                                    A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Petite French Gray Chandelier

I don't have any before pics of this chandelier, but we all know what this looked like.  1980's inexpensive brass chandelier.

 We sprayed it with primer gray spray paint, and then I went over it with gesso and wiped it off.  Some of the areas got a little too white so I went back with a watery brush and brushed on some pewter gray acrylic paint and applied just a wash to even out the color.

 Instead of replacing the candle covers, I made some homemade patterned tissue paper and decoupaged it onto the candle covers.

 Very easy project and I love the results.

 Thanks for dropping by.  Have a great day.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          The House in the Roses       Le Chateau des Fleurs         The Graphics Fairy
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage   
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style           Primp         Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild     It's So Very Cheri Bloghop     Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Tablescape Thursday   Delightfully Inspiring Thursdays
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Books Are For the Birds

Thank you, Karen, for featuring this project on the Graphics Fairy Brag Monday. You are a true inspiration.

Although I added a lot of photographs to this post, it will be a short tutorial.  I found these books at a yard sale.  They were a children's encyclopedia set and the pages were all scribbled on so this set was basically an altered art project waiting to begin.  With Mother's Day and Father's Day coming up, these would make great gifts.  Stay with me for a minute and I will tell you why.

All four of these images came from the Graphics Fairy.  I love bird prints and florals.  The above brownish paper with the script also came from the Graphics Fairy.

 Cut brown mailing paper to fit your book and flap it over the cover.  I sprayed the cover of the books with spray adhesive and affixed the brown paper to the cover of the book and then sprayed the flap that was hanging over to affix it to the inside cover.  Then I sprayed that page so it would keep the cover closed permanently.  Repeat process on back.  I purchased the mailing paper at Walmart on a roll.

Then I printed my script on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of copier paper and hand cut it to fit just the cover of the book.  I affixed it to the cover with the spray adhesive.  Then I picked out my bird graphics, hand cut the image (mine were 5 x 7) and then sprayed it with spray adhesive and affixed it to the text.  The best spray adhesive I have found is 3M  Super Tack 77.

 You can add a ribbon, or leave them plain or affix them together like I did my beautiful book covers that I posted a couple of weeks ago click here.

 Now why do I think these would make great Mother's Day gifts for mom or grandma?  Have your child write out a message in their own writing.  Then print a photo of the child and use this layering process.  I haven't tried Picmonkey yet, but I have seen some awesome editing examples done by other bloggers with the software.  You could print an actual photo on photo paper.  Notice I used a picture easel in one of these photographs.  Include the easel with the gift and there you have a project your child could do by his or herself to make a great personal gift for a loved one.  Even in kindergarten I remember using those no pointy edged scissors.  My favorite gifts from my children from when they were little kids are the ones they made themselves.  Those are the ones I still have to this day.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          The House in the Roses       Debbie Doos         The Graphics Fairy
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage   
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style           Primp         Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild     It's So Very Cheri Bloghop     Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Tablescape Thursday   Delightfully Inspiring Thursdays
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Ruffled Tulips

Today I was going to do another neutral tablescape and then I stopped at Costco and found these incredible ruffled tulips in red and yellow.  Well, I just had to bring them home.

Just about everything on this table I have shared with you before.  I am just mixing it up for this vignette.  The red charger plates came from Tuesday Morning years ago as did the yellow plates and the red goblets.  The red items are seasonal and you can find them around Christmastime.  The lemonade decanter is kept in our kitchen nook all year long more for decorative purposes than functional.  The red flatware is also from Tuesday Morning.  It's my daughter's, but she lets me use it from time to time.

 The ruffled tablecloth was a splurge from Julie O'Keefe's Home and Garden in La Canada, California.  Great for spring and summer dining.  I made the napkin rings out of silk geraniums and curtain loops covered in floral tape.

 It's bright and cheery and ready for summer.

 Vintage hemstitched napkins are always a classic.

 I love the strong shades of red against the sunny yellows on the table.  A very striking color combination, don't you think?

 A great layered look.

 Thanks for stopping by.  I love your visits.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          The House in the Roses       Debbie Doos         The Graphics Fairy
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage   
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style           Primp         Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild     It's So Very Cheri Bloghop     Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Tablescape Thursday   Delightfully Inspiring Thursdays
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors