Would You Buy It Wednesday - Help Me Decide

It's almost Wednesday and I've got something new to share for "Would You Buy It Wednesday" hosted by Stephanie @ Junker Newbie.

It's got plenty of rust and chipped paint.

And a warped and broken seat.

And yes, I bought it.......for $6.50.

 I haven't had time to do much with it yet.

I did remove the three layers of wood veneer that made up the seat.

Now I need to decide, should I paint it or keep it as is?

And how should I use it?

 Maybe a plant stand?  

 Or a stool with a new upholstered seat? 

Or maybe the base of a table with a larger circle top?

I think I'm going to make this an audience participation post.

Comment and let me know:

1.  Paint it or leave it be

2.  Keep it as a stool, make it a plant stand, turn it into a table or any other idea you have.

I'll update this piece based on what gets the most votes.

Thanks for your help.  It will be fun to see what you guys think.

Happy Wednesday.

Jane

Thrifty Tabletop

I played around with the display on my kitchen table this weekend.

It all started when I found this mirror at the thrift store.  

This old mirror is 2' x 2' and heavy!  I laid it on the kitchen table to clean it and then decided to leave it there and use it as the base of my display.

I added just a few pieces on top of the mirror.

An old scale that was a thrift store find.

Blue Atlas jars found at a garage sale filled with old silverware.

An ironstone bowl and twig ball, both thrift store finds.

And a large white pitcher purchased at an antique mall.

This part of the kitchen gets a lot of natural light and I love how the sun shines through the blue canning jars.

We don't eat at this table very often so no worries about moving this display at mealtime.

In fact, this table is probably used more for taking my blog photos than it is for meals.

I'm noticing a trend in my kitchen.....it is now almost completely decorated with my thrifty finds.  The stacked picnic baskets in the corner and the ironstone pieces on top are all thrift/flea or garage sale finds. 

And the chairs that you see behind the big pitcher.....

these were a thrift store find for $3.00!

This shelf hangs on the wall in the kitchen and it is completely decorated with things found while out thriftin'.

And the top of my kitchen cabinets display several other thrifty finds.

I love decorating with vintage and repurposed items.  I think they add a little bit of character that can't be found in new pieces.

I'm linking all these thrifty pieces with Nifty Thrifty Tuesday hosted by Linda @ Coastal Charm.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jane

Snowman Tutorial

I participate in one craft show a year with my mother at an annual Octoberfest event in my hometown.

So even though we are in the midst of the hot summer, I have been working on fall/winter items in preparation for the show.

One of the things I have sold for the past couple of years are snowmen.

They are really easy to make and are always good sellers.

I thought I would share a quick tutorial:

Pick a container for the base of the snowman.  I have made these from salt and pepper shakers and other small glass bottles.

I recently found a bag of 10 milk glass spice containers at a thrift store and thought they would make cute snowmen.

Roll a head for the snowman out of air dry clay.  I use Crayola brand.  It is a white clay and works well for this project.

Once the head is in place I use small tacks for the eyes and mouth and a toothpick for the nose (the nose isn't painted in this photo but I will paint it orange).

Don't worry about little imperfections in the clay (like the marks on the left side of the mouth in the picture above).  You will eventually be adding glitter to the head and it will cover the little marks.

Now it's time to decide what kind of hat your snowman will wear.  

For this snowman I decided to use an old clip earring (making it more of a snow woman).

Since this earring covered the head I didn't add any additional elements.  

Now it's time to let the clay dry.  This is an air dry clay and I usually let it sit for 2-3 days to insure that the clay is completely dry.

Once the clay is dry it is time to add some glitter.

I "paint" the clay head with watered down glue and then pour on the glitter.

(The rest of the pictures are of a finished snowman since my tutorial snowman is still in the drying stage).

I added a ribbon scarf accented with a piece of an old earring.

And for the body of the snowman I glued on a piece of sheet music and two black buttons.

One of my finished snowmen.

I decided to look back and find some pictures of snowmen I made last year.

I used all sorts of different bottles for these snowmen.

Here are a few of the snowmen I made using silverplated salt and pepper shakers.

 If you like snowmen I hope you give these a try.  And if you do I would love the see the finished pieces!

I'm linking this with:

Mary @ Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

and 

Susan @ Between Naps On The Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Thanks for visiting!

Jane

Would You Buy It Wednesday

It's time once again for Would You Buy It Wednesday hosted by Stephanie @ Junker Newbie.

My entry this week.....an album/record rack from probably the 1960's or 1970's time frame.

This metal rack has two tiers to hold dozens of albums.....you know, those round vinyl things we used to put on a turntable to listen to music.

I found this rack for $2.00 at a thrift store.

Here's how I'm using it now.

 I don't have any albums to store but I do have a lot of old, ironstone platters so this rack now houses and displays the platters.

Previously all of these platters were stacked on a shelf on my dining room hutch and I never really knew what I had.

Now I have easy access to the platters and I get to enjoy the beauty of these old pieces.

The rack is currently in the corner of my kitchen eating area under my ironstone wall display.

I'm thinking about painting the rack but I'm going to live with it awhile and decide later.

Would you have bought it?

I'm linking with Stephanie @ Junker Newbie for Would You Buy It Wednesday.

Stay cool!

Jane

Wooden Wine Box Display Shelf

I've had this wooden wine box for awhile.  

 My sister gave it to me.  Imagine my surprise when I opened it and realized it was just the box, no wine.

Oh well.....the box was going to come in handy.

I painted, distressed and antiqued it and then turned it on it's side to use as a display shelf.

 It's perfect for my collection of Baby Ben alarm clocks.

One more project off my list!

Jane

It's All In The Details

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.

My husband and I got back late last night from a road trip to Ohio.  

We were in the car for 13.5 hours yesterday.......12 hours were spent driving and 1.5 hours were spent sitting on I-70.  A semi-truck had overturned and they temporarily closed the interstate while they cleaned up.  Sitting in a car for 1.5 hours going nowhere was frustrating, especially when we still had 8 hours of driving to do.  

But we made it home safely and that's the important thing.

Being away for a week means no new projects but I thought I would show you a little more detail of a couple of storage pieces in my studio.

(If you are interested in seeing my post for the "Where Bloggers Create" party and a tour of my studio space you can see it here).

This black storage piece was a $5.00 thrift store find.

On top of the piece is a metal tool box that I bought for $2.00 at a thrift store.  It originally looked like this.

I cleaned it up and spray painted it white.

I then sawed off two pieces from a folding ruler and glued the ends to the tool box lid and base to keep the lid open and stabilized.

My original thought was to hang the tool box on the wall in this position and use it as a shelf.  

But, quite honestly, I ran out of wall space in my studio and had no place to hang it.

So instead of wall storage, it became countertop storage.

I had collected four glass refrigerator water/juice containers over the past month or two and had not been using them for anything.

They fit great in the tool box and became storage for old game pieces.

 In front of the tool box is the removable tool tray.  I spray painted it white and am now utilizing it for additional storage.

I have six matching "Rexall" bottles that fit in the tray.

 They are a great size to hold smaller items like thimbles and dice.

 Another piece that I repurposed for storage was an old shoeshine storage/carrier (pictured on the right).

I don't have a before photo but it had a stained wood finish.

I painted it white and it is perfect for storing more of my trims and rick-rack.

One last item that wasn't pictured in my previous post was this old lunch box I bought at a flea market for $1.00

 It sits on a small shelf on my typewriter stand and houses part of my stash of old folding rulers.

I still have LOTS of creative spaces that are linked to "Where Bloggers Create" to visit.

It may take some time but I hope to get to as many as I can.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by for a tour of my studio and for your nice comments.

It took some time to get it organized but I am excited to get in there and start creating.

Enjoy your week!

Jane