Noel

 Noel, Noel, the angels did sing....
This is one of my favorite Christmas decorations.  Every year I put out my ceramic angels.  I've had the one in the middle since I was a little girl.  I started collecting the little ceramic dolls (most of them Josef Originals) when I was six.  A friend of my mom's gave me one for my birthday.  I have quite a collection now, but I think the Christmas ones are my favorite.  For most of the year they are in a cabinet that my grandfather built, but this time of year I display them on some shelves between the family room and living room.  Funny thing about that cabinet, mom antiqued it back in the '70s in emerald green with black glaze.  A few years ago I had it refinished in a red mahogany thinking why would anyone paint it like that.  Now I am painting and glazing furniture, and Pantone's color of the year is emerald.  Go figure!

Well, I was happy to finally get a blog up.  I really do live in the styx, so far this week the power was out, my satellite feed for my T.V. has been out all day today, and I just got my satellite feed for my computer back about an hour ago.  It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house.
 

Merry Christmas
 Linking to:
beyond the picket fence 

Where Did Burl Go?

 Where did burl go?  No not Burl Ives, famous for Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, but the beautiful markings on the front of this stereo cabinet.  I found this last summer while in a garage sale slump.  Have you ever been in one of those slumps where you check out dozens of sales and can't find anything?  It gets pretty discouraging.   I was on my way back from yet another overpriced, uninteresting sale when I saw this sitting in a yard sale, that I almost drove by.  The neighborhood was a little dicey, but this piece seemed worth checking out.  I didn't realize what it was until I opened it up. 

European Mount Deer Stand

I am posting a couple of different things today, first this project of my husbands which is the most creative.  The plant where my husband works was shut down for two weeks over Thanksgiving.  That left a lot of time for a man that can't sit still for two minutes.  So what's a guy to do?  How about making a custom stand, to mount a deer a coworker got this year. 
First he found this stump in the woods that was all twisted and gnarled, and ingenious guy that he is, he figured it would make a great stand for the mule deer Phillip got this year.  So out came the chain saw and the project began.

 Here is what the stump looked like cut down and in the process of removing the bark and scraping the wood down.  He did all of this by hand with chisels. 


















Then he made an outline of the bottom of the piece, and cut a base out of some rough sawed wood that he planed.  He drilled some holes in the bottom of the log and filled it with concrete to stabilize it and then attached it to the base.  He was still unsure of what the mounting plate should look like, so we went on line and found one that was in the shape of an arrowhead.  As I said, creative guy that he is, he figured out the design, estimated the size, made a pattern and cut one out.  He even beveled the edges to give it more character.  You have to understand, he did all of this without the deer head for a reference.  Calculating the angle of the mounting plate was one of the biggest challenges.  He used a picture in one of his outdoor magazines, cut off a few inches of the top, and somehow came up with the right angle.  He stained the base and mounting plate in golden oak and finished it with some poly. 
Here it is with the deer mounted on it in it's home.  Not only Phillip liked it, but his wife and daughters did too.  The plant is going to be shut down for another week after Christmas, I wonder what he will come up with then.

RH Style Zinc Dresser

 A couple months ago I wrote about a paint technique that I happened on while messing around with some old paint, when I revamped an old silverware chest (silverware chest to art box).  I found out later that Restoration Hardware has a finish for a line of their furniture called Zinc.  I am in love with this look.

Jewelry Boxes Part Deux

I have been on a jewelry box revamping kick lately.  It's fun because it is somewhere between furniture revamping and crafting.  I wrote about two blue ones last week, here are a couple more.
As you can see the one on the right was in pretty bad shape, but hey it was only $1.  I painted this one red to match the felt.

Finding the Perfect Shade of White

Last summer I hit on a really great yard sale.  The guy running it had collected antiques for years and said he just needed to clean out some of his things.  A lot of the things were broken or damaged, but he was selling them super cheap.  It was amazing what I fit in my SUV that day.  I spied this vanity in the corner with an Eastlake mirror on it.  Now I'm no expert, but I know Eastlake and waterfall don't go together.

Jewelry Boxes part 1

Last summer I found a lot of jewelry boxes at garage sales.  Some were too much for resale, but others were as low as $1.  I thought it might be fun to revamp them into something a little more interesting.  This is a picture of some of the ones I picked up this summer, and at the estate sale I helped out with last month.  Audrey seems to think they were O.K. just as they were (she's pretty, but not to savvy about jewelry boxes).

Antique Rake Table

About 6 months ago my sister gave me four pieces of metal to give to my husband to make something with.  She said she just knew he come up with something great.  Ends up they were tines off of an antique dump rake, as seen in this picture my husband found on Craigslist.

Aurora Borealis

'Aurora borealis', the lights of the northern hemisphere, means 'dawn of the north'.  In Roman myths, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn.  Many cultural groups have legends about the lights. In medieval times, the occurrences of auroral displays were seen as harbingers of war or famine. The Menominee Indians of Wisconsin believed that the lights indicated the location of manabai'wok (giants) who were the spirits of great hunters and fishermen. The Inuit of Alaska believed that the lights were the spirits of the animals they hunted: the seals, salmon, deer and beluga whales.  Courtesy of Northern Lights Centre http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html
The Aurora borealis are very special to my family.  My grandmother's name was Aurore, and I've been told that the night she died the northern lights were the brightest they had ever seen them in Idaho.  In March of 2001 my husband's grandmother passed away, and all of the family went to Oregon for the funeral.  I had to stay home because I was on jury duty.  I got a call from my brother in the middle of the night (the day she was buried), that I had to get up and go outside to see the northern lights, they were amazing!  November 6, 2004 my first granddaughter Aurora was born in Wisconsin. This is a picture of the Aurora borealis when she came home the next night.  I believe that the grandmothers were welcoming her into the world.  Well today is her birthday and I think she is every bit as beautiful as the lights.

Happy Birthday Aurora !

Christmas Art

I know, I know, I haven't posted anything about furniture for awhile.  I promise my next post will be, but Becky at Beyond the Picket Fence is having a 12 days of Christmas party and I needed a quick idea to share.

 

Christmas Sled

 I don't know if you are like me, I love thinking about Christmas in the summer, but once it is really time to start getting ready for it I start to feel pressured.  I have a lot of little projects either in the works, or in my head to do for my space at Paris Flea Market.  So I figured I better get moving if I am going to get them in to sell.

Silverware Chest to Art Box

    Last spring, when I was just starting to pick pieces to revamp and resale, I found this silverware chest.  You see them all the time at garage sales and estate sales.  The reason is sadly, that the silver prices are up, and people turn in the silver for cash.  Anyhow, I thought this might make a good jewelery box.  Well it's been sitting next to my computer all summer while I tried to get some inspiration.  The problem was that it is too big for a jewelery box.  So finally, one sleepless night I had an epiphany!

Getting Ready for Winter

 Last week I wrote about "The Other Side of Picking".  I was really moved by the estate sale that I helped set up and run this last weekend, and wanted to remind all of us that shop these sales, that our "picks" were once somebody's treasures or memories.

The Other Side of Picking

I think most of my readers are like me.  We go to estate sales, yard sales, and thrift stores scoping out furniture to revamp, or smalls to sell or decorate our homes.  Many of us have probably had a garage or yard sale and groaned over how much work it is.  This week Jeff, the owner of Paris Flea Market where I share a space with my sister, offered me the chance to work on an estate sale.  He runs a few of these a year in addition to running two antique stores and the best coffee bar in town (OK, maybe I'm a little prejudiced).  When his wife Tracy called and asked if I wanted to help out I was thrilled.  I thought it would be fun going through stuff to set up and maybe piecing together a little bit of this person's life.

  When I first walked in I was awed by all the great stuff.  The lady had passed away a few years ago but nothing much had been touched since then.  She had great taste in antiques and collectables, I thought wow this is going to be fun.  Then we started in.  The executor of this estate wants everything gone, and I mean everything, so she can sell the house.  This means going through not only the great stuff in these pictures (and this is only the tip of the iceberg), but also all the personal things this lady left behind.  I feel like I've gotten to know this women a little through her things; vacations taken or planned, what businesses she was in, some family history.  This has really humbled me, and will make me stop and think in the future when I am at other sales or thrift stores - someone sat at this desk and wrote out their bills, or how many dinners were enjoyed at this table, what little girl played with this antique doll.  So the next time you see that gorgeous sideboard, remember it contains memories we can only imagine.

I usually only link up to a couple sites a week, but I want to link this post to as many as possible to remind us all to respect the pieces we buy and the people we buy them from.

Sharing At:

 boogieboardcottage

funkyjunkinteriors 

my1929charmer 
projectqueen
knick of time interiors
coastal charm
a diamond in the stuff 
diy by design
savvy southern style
the shabby creek cottage
beyond the picket fence 
french country cottage
the shabby nest
common ground
miss mustard seed

Cocktails Anyone?

My taste in furniture runs to anything 1920's, 30's, or 40's.  I love Eastlake, art deco, and Hollywood Glam.  So when I saw this mid-century Danish modern coffee table, did I think simple pale wood?  No of course not, I saw Hollywood revival.  This is how it started out.

Wild Child - Tamed!

    Back in June I was just starting to revamp furniture and sell them as consignments at the Old Paris Flea Market.  This was my first big piece and I was so excited about it.  I also just started blogging (this was my 6th post - see "Wild Child Desk") and I was so stoked that I got over 20 hits!

Soft Black

 I don't keep many of the pieces I find at garage sales and thrift stores, they are mostly for resale.  I picked up this side table for $7 a few months ago and had no thought of keeping it.

Bonsai in the Styx

This is our version of a Bonsai.  It is a cedar tree that started out as a sapling about 33 years ago.  Back then we were dirt poor and really couldn't afford any kind of landscaping for our new home, so we used what was all around us.  We tried transplanting trillium, lupines, blue spruce, ferns, and cedars.  We moved rocks (still moving rocks),  sawed down trees so we could see the forest thru the trees, planted a lawn and strawberries.  Some things worked and others didn't, but when you are young and poor it is all good.

Things Found

     Sometimes decorating is not about painting, or sanding, or reupholstering something.  It can be as simple as finding just the right thing for a space.  As I said in my first post, I live in the styx of North Idaho.  My view out my family room is our lawn, a few fruit trees, and then forest for miles.

Man Cave Camo Chairs

Last spring I bought a couple of dilapidated director's chairs for $5.  My plan was to paint one a Caribbean Blue and the other a bright pink

To Bee or Not To Bee

   Have you ever had a great idea for a project, have it pretty much all planned out in your head, and then can't make it work?  That's what happened with this lamp.  I got this for a steal at a yard sale awhile back and had some great ideas for it.  The brass was pretty shot on it so I knew I would have to paint it.
At first it was going to be antiqued white with a cream or burlap shade.  But when I took a really good look at it I found this great detail on it that I wanted to highlight.

Buffed Wall Art

 Most of you know that you don't have to pay much to decorate, but how does $.50 sound?  I found these cute plastic pieces last weekend for $.25 each and thought they would look good if only they were spiffed up a bit.  I'm sure they came from Big Lots or somewhere else pretty cheap, and they weren't bad, but there was so much gold they were a little gaudy.  I'm showing one done, and the other I will work on this afternoon.  I wish I could capture how different they really look.  All I did to fix the first one up was to take a little rub n buff and cover over most of the gold.  I left some of it showing to give it more depth.  The most difficult part was controlling how much of the rub n buff went on.  I ended up sanding it off in some areas.  So, I tried the silver rub n buff on a metal finial (will post soon) and it looked like aluminum so I had to take it off, but I really liked it on these plastic pieces.  It goes a long way, so I'll just have to see what else I can try it on.  I've seen it in different colors on other blogs and would love to try them, but I can only find it in the basics; black, silver, gold, and bronze around here.

Pretty Smart in Pink

Do you remember this type of desk when you were a child, or have you seen them looking more like the before picture at garage sales or thrift stores?  Don't pass them up, there are so many possibilities to revamp them.

Paris at Junk Salvation

Wow!  Tomorrow is the Junk Salvation sale at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.  I am so excited, this is the first sale I've ever been a part of.  My sister and Jeff at Paris Flea Market invited me to join them in their space.  These are some pictures of what we set up in about three hours.

1 Shirt + 1 Pair of Jeans = 3 Aprons

I read a post off of Pintrest on how to make an apron out of a shirt gabrielsgoodtidingsmens-dress-shirt-repurposed-to-apron .  I thought I would add some pockets and trim for my version.  A few months ago I had made an apron out of an old pair of jeans, and thought maybe I could use some of the left over fabric from the shirt to make one of these.  Well that still left the whole back of the shirt, so I thought what the heck, let's go for a third apron out of the front of the jeans and the remaining shirt.

1st Apron

 Here is the 1st apron of three made from a shirt and a pair of jeans.  This one only uses the shirt front and collar.  Sorry that the instructions are so detailed (I worked in a document control department in a different life).  It seems like a lot of steps, but it really is pretty simple.

2nd Apron

This is the 2nd apron out of the three made from a pair of jeans and a shirt, it was also the most time consuming.  The ruffle really kicked my butt.  First I had too little fabric for the ruffle, then too much.  Then I found out after I was all done that some sewing machines have an automatic ruffler, well wouldn't that be nice.  Oh well I think it turned out pretty cute.  The only shirt fabric you use for this is the sleeves.

3rd Apron

 This 3rd apron was the easiest of the three once I figured out what I wanted to do with it.  I had such a time with the ruffle on the second apron I knew I didn't want to mess with it on this one.  I thought that I was going to have more fabric to work with on the back and was going to have just a little of the jean featured and more of the shirt.  Instead I ended up pleating the shirt fabric and covering the seam with the ribbon.  I love the way this one turned out, I think it is my favorite.

Fruits of the Harvest

A few days ago I wrote about picking raspberries, well here is the first batch of jelly.  I hope to sell some in the Paris Flea Market booth at the Junk Salvation show August 4th.  As I said in my last post, I'll be working it with my sister.  I'm so excited!  This is the first show I've ever been a part of.  I'm finding out just how much work it takes to get ready for a show, even with the few things I'm putting in.  First I have to get two or three batches of jelly done, three more aprons made (upcoming blog), research prices for my Franciscan apple ware that I hope to sell, make labels and tags for everything, and see if there is anything else that my nephew and sister want me to bring.  Whew!  How do people who do this regularly get it done?  Well I have to go pick some more berries before it gets too hot, make some more jelly out of the juice I strained last night, and hopefully get something done around the house.

Old Chair - Great Planter

Last week I wrote about my picking slump and how I finally found some good sales, well this is one of my little gems.  When I first found this chair it was in pretty rough shape.  I toyed with the idea of restoring it as a chair (OK, only for a few minutes),

Welcome To My Jungle

Welcome to my jungle of raspberries.  A few days ago while I was working in the shop I thought I saw some red in my berry patch.  Sure enough I went out and picked a handful of berries.  I had my husband close his eyes and open his mouth, then popped in a few.  Mmmm.. don't the first berries of the season taste the best?  Well I knew that meant they would be on strong in a few days.  I went out this morning with my camera and little plastic bucket to pick.  The only problem with this scenario is that we had a torrential rain storm yesterday.  Oh well, when the berries call they have to be picked.  I came out sopping wet but got a half gallon of berries.  This is just the start, I'll be picking for probably two or three weeks and making lots of jelly.   Thank you God for the wonderful harvest!