Mismatched Chairs

Last week when I was at my booth at Winchester Antiques, I turned around and saw the sweetest little chair (3rd from left.) I knew I had to have it even though I didn't know what I would do with it... I had my heart set on some industrial chairs with my recently repainted table in my kitchen nook.  I currently had a set of 4 white Navy chair knockoffs that we bought before we were married.  I always try to buy vintage when I can, but I was super tempted by 4 matching Tolix with my lion paw table.  After I got that sweet black and white beauty in, I saw how wonderful it looked at the table.

Rewind several months ago.... I found a little curved back chair (far right) and it was so lonely.  I bought it to sell at the store and painted it a weathered grey.  I kept telling the Mr that I would get over the industrial chairs if I could find a set of 4 just like this one. 

So, as of last Thursday, I had 2 curved back chairs with spindles in my possession.  Cue a text to my friend and shop keeper  Carol.  She had a green curved back chair (far left) that was similar... different spindles from the grey.  I liked it.  I took it home.  Then, we decided to go on a little hunting trip on Saturday.  My goals: yellow flower pot (check, McCoy) and a curved back chair, preferably in white, definitely not red!  And, as you can see (2nd from right) I came home with my prize in au natural!  So, after being quarantined for the past couple of days, I have been pinning some tables all with misfit chairs.  

 After much discussion that went sort of like this:
me: I am kind of liking the really mismatched look of the chairs... especially the wooden one.  Do you want to leave them as is?
the MR: no. I don't like it with everything else that is going on here.
me: all shades of white?
the MR: sure.  whatever.

He had more input later, but it is pretty decided that they will be white, but different.  I wish they were all *found* whites, but since they aren't, I do want them to look more collected and that different hands painted them. So, to get that look, I will probably use different kinds and colors of white paints.  That black and white one won't be touched though.  I love how in the last photo, they all have a similar shapes and spindles and different whites.  I am honestly surprised it has taken me so long to collect a bunch of random chairs... I always loved Monica's table *wink*

Back soon with the chairs' makeovers~

bye for now~

Little Shoppe Project

Hello all!  Thanks so much for all your suggestions on my new iPhone!  I haven't gotten to check them all out, but I will!  I realize it has been so long since I have shared photos of the shoppe.  And, I am not doing that today since I decided late Sunday to move everything (note: ironstone platters make great substitute furniture movers when you are too impatient to wait for your Mr. to help.)  However, I will show you a little project that I came up with for the Mr. to complete.  That is usually how it works.  I will see something... for instance this section of fencing the Mr. picked up:

Now... in my head I flipped it... like this:

Now, I see potential to block the blasted sun that shines through the front windows and bakes the shoppe in the morning.  We had some plastic-y plantation shutters that I had the Mr. take down when we opened.  We still have them on the side windows and I don't love them. 

SO, in true me fashion, I immediately called the Mr and explained to him what I wanted.   He came in and sketched this out:

He is good at reading my ideas and sketching them out.... I scribble rather than sketch. I told them there had to be an odd number of panels... that was super important.  I am an odd number gal.

So after the sawing and the painting, I got the striped awnings that I have always wanted for my little shoppe.

They are way cuter than the dust loving shutters!  I am planning on adding my logo to the windows underneath.  

They are fun and rustic, but not too whimsical.  Now, I just have to convince the Mr to make me 2 more and take the shutters down.... those shutters are heavy though, so it may be awhile.

Okay, pinky promise that once I get this chaos organized into something presentable, I will share some photos.  

bye for now~

Something Christmas-y

Hello there!  I finally went to see Breaking Dawn today with a sweet friend.  That little break was SO needed.  Before I left though, I did my first Christmas-y, wintry thing for the house.  I think if you have seen my house at Christmas, you know I have a thing for snowflakes... I have it bad, folks.  And, I am sort of obsessed this year with kraft and white.  So, after I finished doing a doormat for the shoppe, I decided to use the other (which I bought for the back door... or in case I messed the 1st one up!) for our house.  I am one of those people who really likes a new doormat... it is almost as good as a new toothbrush or a haircut.  Anyhow, I figured let's combine a long time love affair with snowflakes and a new lusting for kraft on white.  Oh, and this is an official Vintage Junky DIY... ha!  I am so bad at tutorials!

Okay, so I started with a very plain doormat.  

Then, I cut a bunch of snowflakes out of printer paper.  I even noticed that on the front of this printer paper that it now has a paper snowflake.  See... they are on to us... they know we don't use a ream of paper for printing anymore.  And, if you don't cut snowflakes as often as I do and you forgot how to fold them, here is a little tutorial with some fun cuts that I asked the Mr. to put together a few years ago.  He is much better with that sort of thing than I am *wink*

So, I then pinned them all in place.

Then I asked myself... Michelle, could you have picked a worse day to spray paint... and I answered.. yes, I could have.  Yesterday it was raining/ snowing. Today is is a warm 30. 

Besides, I think those directions on the back of the can are for best results.  And I just wanted results.

So I sprayed.  And sprayed. And warmed up and sprayed again.

Now, if you are wanting a really BOLD design with loads of contrast, then you would want to pounce and stencil... and it would  be mighty frustrating to stencil paper over coir.  So, this is the method I chose.  If you had a metal or plastic stencil, it would be much easier, and BOLDER.  I knew there would be some overspray and it would be a bit softer.  I wanted snowflakes.  I had paper.  This is what I got:

The overspray wasn't too bad... it didn't leak under the paper too much... I used quite a few pins.  If you do this, don't spray at an angle, it will muddy your snowflake shapes.

And here it is all happy in front of my door.  Sort of a faded Fairisle Sweater/ Nordic look.   Now, I need to get to decorating the rest of this house (still not clean!)  Okay, I am off to work on our Advent calender... something I have been planning since this summer, yet did not really start it until tonight!  I have some ideas though *wink*

bye for now!

Something Crafty

Hello all!  How is October treating you?  I miss September, but I am determined to make October just as wonderful... I am going to will the warmness to stay around a little while longer!

So, I did something sort of "crafty."  Does anyone else not like that word?  There is something about it that brings forth memories of wooden bunnies and toilet paper cozies... both things that I am not really into... if you are, please don't take offense.  I just think of toilet paper of something that is okay to be seen... you know, so you can use it.  I actually like little stacks of rolls, provided that there isn't too much quilting on the toilet paper (Cottonelle,  anyone?) How did I get off on this tangent... oh well, back to the matter at hand: being crafty.  Sometimes, we have things around here and I wonder what in the world I will do with it... this time it was two big bags of crocheted little flowers.  I have used them in the past on various things... they look like little doilies.  One day, for some reason, I decided that I would dye the little circles. All 5000 of them.

So, then I had a big box of aquaish crocheted circles...thinking back, I shouldn't have dyed all of them.  I may have had a purpose when I dyed them... I am sure of it.  I just can't really remember why I did it.  

Fast forward to when I got a little package of ribbon goodness in the mail... and I decided not to use one of the ribbons for the purpose I had originally intended.  But, as I was seriously obsessed with said ribbon (talking about things like the "hand" and the way it didn't crinkle when I tied it,) I had to find something to do with it.  Enter the Jo-ann's 40% off coupon and a trip to buy a wreath form.  After lots of hot glue, I had this:

A new fallish wreath.  It sort of reminds me of a sweater or an afghan.   I only hope that I did the person justice that sat there and crocheted all 7500 of these little flowers.  I wonder what he/she had planned for them.  Probably not anything like this.

Check out that ribbon... can't you just imagine how well it ties?  I rarely change out my wreath...for someone who likes change as much as I do, I am pretty set in my ways with my door decor.  

I just realized what an extremely wordy post this is to show you my new wreath..... I could have titled it "New Wreath" and simply posted a photo... maybe a short sonnet on the beauty of the ribbon...

Okay, I am off to go clean the hyena's room...  and possibly move his newly painted bed upstairs.

bye for now!

A Labor of Love

Or the goal of someone who should seriously have her head examined... I will let you be the judge.  A long, long time ago, Mr. Hughes bought a lot of chairs.  And since then, each and every chair has been made over and eventually went to new and lovely homes.  All except for 2 (well, 3... I have one in my entry.) These chairs have been swooned over and then forgotten.  Mr. Hughes started on them awhile ago, but then abandoned them.  Then, the other day, he looked at me lovingly over piles of stuff and said... you really need to get those chairs finished.  Sure, I said.  I will start on them this week.  I can't wait!! They will look awesome!  These chairs have what we call "good bones."  They are incredible and lovely and just need a little love.

Look at that vintage goodness!  I knew that I would have to remove those nails.... I wasn't going to recover over those.  And I have a tack puller... no problem.  I can do this! Now... take a closer look...

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you... those are nails covered by nails.  Now, it is my estimation that there were easily a gazillion nails initially.  And then there were a gazillion more under that.  And I have 2 chairs.... so, what is that... well, if my math is correct, that is 4 gazillion nails!!!  So I dug right in and pulled and pulled (I will mention here that Mr. Hughes had already warned me of this fact and had pulled a quarter of a gazillion nails himself before throwing in the towel.)  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Mr. Ancient Furniture Upholsterer has actually pulled some of the nails under the striped fabric.  I can only imagine what he was thinking when he was doing this... and the phone call that he made (if they even had phones when this was recovered!)

Mr. A F U:  Hello.... ma'am.... I have some concerns about the chairs that I picked up from you yesterday that you want recovered.  Are you sure this pink striped with gold leaf is a good combination?  Don't you think that you could possibly live with the sapphire blue velvet?

Lady of the House: No sir, that blue will not match the china.  What seems to be the problem?

Mr. A F U: Well, ma'am there are a gazillion nails to pull before I can recover them.  I pulled a few already, but I am sure I can replace them and you can have the chairs back just the same... no charge.

Lady of the House: No sir, that won't work.  Just cover them up with a gazillion more nails.  I am 100% positive that I love that pinky stripy satiny fabric.  It is timeless and no one will ever want to recover them.

So, I pulled all 10 gazillion nails over 2 days.  They are all gone.  My hand hurts.  I think I have a blister on top of a bruise.  I am saying "chairs" like it is an expletive.  Don't ask me about them for awhile, okay?  I did think it was so interesting to take something this old apart... what these chairs are filled with is... well, I am pretty sure it is grass clippings *wink*  But they are down to their bare beautiful bones and pretty soon I will paint them.  Not now though... we need our space.

Check out all the looks they have had.  Right to left... the first is what used to be a lovely light aqua silk. Then they had this sapphire blue floral velvet.  And then the pink striped satin.  Why didn't they stop at that silk... stained and all... it was lovely.  At one point, they were silver leafed rather than the gold leaf.  Beautiful I am sure!  I would love to leave the gilded look, but the finish is quite scarred from the 15 gazillion nails that I pulled.  By hand.  By myself (almost.) So they will be painted and recovered. Right now, I am planning on taking them to the barn show or one of the booths.  But, who knows... once we are on speaking terms again, they may find their forever home right here.

And, on a much more serious note, my mother is having another surgery tomorrow for her back.  This one is a big one.  So, please, keep her in your thoughts and prayers that she has a speedy recovery and that this greatly improves her life.  

bye for now!

Check and Check!

Hello and Happy Monday!  It is the beginning of a new week and I am excited to have a few things checked off my To Do list... you know, the non essential to do list.  First of all, I finished those dining room chairs that I begged Mr. Hughes for:

I painted them a light, light grey and added a little more cushion... you know... for our bottoms *wink* You will be pleased to know they are no longer stuffed with crunchy horsehair.  Then, I covered them in a charcoal grey linen.  I wanted a fun pattern to play off the pattern in our draperies, but in the end, I really ended up liking the solid.  It matches the ribbon on the draperies and also the face of my vintage clock.

Then I did this quick and easy project by following Ashley Ann's simple steps:

So easy!  baby hughes says they are snowflakes (and you know I love snowflakes) so maybe I will put them away until Christmas.  But, for now I will enjoy them.

As for the finish on the chairs...hmm... where do I start?  Well, let's just say that I was less than happy with a certain big name company that produces primer.  I tried a new formula.  It seems to have clashed with the paint that I always use.  In short, the paint never dried in some areas.  That has never happened (part of it is the lovely heat and humidity that we are having, I am sure.)  And I had painted 3 chairs.  So, what to do?  Do I strip and repaint the 3 and not use the primer on any of them or do I paint the remaining ones with the primer and hope to get the same results?  At this point, I had taken sandpaper and a drywall trowel to them.  And, I was sort of digging the look.  So I went with it.  And it looks pretty authentic.... like layers and layers of paint had been worn down by years instead of my vengeful hands.

I call it "Accidentally Authentic." And if you want me to recreate this finish for you, there will be an upcharge *wink*  And, since the dining room is once again finished (for now!) I thought I would show you what it looked like almost 5 years ago soon after we moved in...

And now, from a slightly different camera view...

We have changed the chairs and the draperies and have taken some things down and put some up.  That wall color will remain though.  I always love change, but that is the one wall color in the house that hasn't been up for change in all the time we have lived here.  Okay, kids, I have to get some invites out for someone's 3rd birthday.  Oh, and I read that book on my to do list too! check, check, check!!

bye for now!

Sneak Peek

Hello there!  How are you?  Honestly, I am a little on edge today... the washing machine is acting up and so is the hyena.  Plus, it is hot... so hot, that it is difficult for me to do my "job" since the garage is stifling.  But, let's find the bright side to things and I am inside where it is cool and maybe I will get the house cleaned up (but not the laundry caught up... I wonder if I should just go get new clothes...)

We have been pretty busy adding projects on top of projects.  So, if you aren't into birthday parties or vintage campers, you may want to tune out until after August 7th.  You can witness the wackiness here and  here.  Who knows why we go to extremes with the birthday parties.  But, this may be the last one that we have any sort of control over.  Will he remember these birthdays?  Probably not.  But, he will be able to look back at these parties and know without a doubt that his parents were always a little off.  So, here is a little sneak peek of some Hazel projects and some birthday projects...

A little something I did to hone my embroidery skills...

Mr. Hughes found this paint by number that I love... well, I like most paint by numbers (but not clowns..creeee-peee!)  I have a few more that we may add.

A little snippet of the birthday stuff... just need to finish his bunting and then I have a BIG plan for that HUGE yellow frame.

The second design for Hazel's curtains.  The first used clips... I decided I liked ties better.  And a great map that I want to use in her.

This happy yellow fabric is one that I have had from my single days.  I used it as some very crudely hand sewn curtains... before I had a sewing machine in my possession.  I am so glad I still have it and am glad that it works perfectly in her and was  f r e e!

Well, wish me luck... that I keep the naughty words to a minimum in this heat with no washer.  I hope to have a few more checks on my to do list this week.  It is a wild month, this July.

bye for now~

Sometimes it is good to be a hoarder...

 Hello there!

It is raining here... finally!  So I think I may take a quick nap.  

Did you know that stay at home mom's still get up early... to paint before their hyena wakes up?  Neither did I, but I am tuckered out today. I have been painting every free moment I get... I will show you some new pieces soon.  I just wanted to pop in really quick and show you something I made for the Winchester booth from Mr. Hughes' stash.

Yes, he has a bit of a problem with paper... he sort of hoards it.

Amongst other bits and bobs of stuff.

So, I decided to raid it and find some thing to fill some frames that were old and beat up looking...but not in a good way.

So I basically painted the frames my new favorite blue and distressed them as usual.

Mr. Hughes pulled these great maps the other day from vintage encyclopedias for me to line some drawers of a new desk that I was working on.  I decided that I wanted to use some since the color was perfect for the frames.

Then, I remembered how the Mr. bought these butterfly wings off of ebay awhile ago... what's that?  Your husband doesn't buy bug wings off of ebay...hmmmm 

And then I raided a box of old letters to make a little mixed media art.

The butterfly bodies are made out of a piece of twisted jute (my stash... I have a problem with ribbons and strings!)

I love how they turned out.  If they don't sell, I am sure I can find a good spot here for them.

If you happen to want to make these yourself with the wings that your husband bought off ebay, be careful placing the wings... they are quite delicate and want to stick to you like they have static in them... use tweezers and the tiniest amount of glue.

Okay... I am going to try to take a nap while the hyena is napping.... I don't know that our weather radio is going to let me though!

bye for now!

What Followed the Mr Home

Happy Thursday!  My Favorite Day!

I took yesterday and today off of work. I know, I know, I am leaving next week.

Next week... one week from today, I will be a SAHM.  

So, I needed a few days to practice *wink*

Last weekend, the Mr went on a little junking trip without me.  The nerve!!  Can you imagine?

I have always had this love affair with organ knobs.  Who knows why I latch on to certain things... but I love them.  Must be the black and whiteness with the text.

Anyhow, since they weren't willing to let him strip the knobs off, he brought the whole thing home.

That is right.  We have an organ in our garage.

Mr. Hughes has all kinds of plans for it and I am on board!  

(I am not always on board, just like he would like me to stop repainting walls in the house.)

I will show you some of those projects very, very soon.

I also had to post a another peony photo.  Yes, I grew these.  It was hard, hard work. ha!

The lighter pink ones bloomed just as the hot pink ones were littering petals over the table.

I have been thrilled to have fresh flowers for the past few weeks... and these light pink ones smell amazing!!

Well, I see a sliver of sun, so I am thinking the hyena and I need some vitamin D after being cooped up with all the rain and greyness!

Oh, and don't forget my little giveaway

bye for now!

Happy Thursday!

Hello hello hellooooo!

How are you?

I have the day off so I am great!

Baby is napping.

I will go paint some stuff in a few minutes, but I wanted to share a crafty, Easter-y project that baby hughes and I attempted.  

From Country Living

From the moment I saw these sweet little nests, I knew I wanted to try them.  baby hughes was super excited when I was setting everything up.  When it was time to start, it occupied him for probably 5 minutes tops.  I had to finish the one he started on.

Here are ours.... we used vintage maps for these two.  If I do it again, I will use our shredder to get the pieces more fine.

After Easter, if they aren't destroyed, I think we will use it to hold his growing rock collection.

here is another that I used old book pages for.  It was lots of fun... well, for me.  Quite messy though and they take awhile to dry.  I also painted little wooden eggs a pale blue with brown specs.

If you would like to attempt these nests, here is the link to the details.

In other news (oh and this isn't one of the 2 secrets... I need to wait a bit longer on those!)

Danielle is having a great giveaway that is benefiting an even GREATER cause.  So swing by there and see all the fabulous items ONE person will win.  Oh, and it is her birthday, so be sure to mention that 

*wink*

Isn't that sweet of her to give presents instead of getting them?

Okay, paint is calling my name!

bye for now!!