Make and Display

Hello friends:

Just wanted to share with you a couple of projects just finished them while working on my desk.

Just finished this vintage inspired mason jar lamp.  It has an old fashioned bulb, I covered the cord (Ikea) with a boat rope for an a rustic industrial look.  It found its place on top of my bookcase. The Mason Jar is very very old, about a gallon I think. 

It sits well next to my Big Ben clock and dear antique books don't you think. The old fashion bulb adds to the vignette.

I hope you like it,

Martha

My little French Desk Adventure

Hello friends:

I wanted to show you Part 2 of my Desk Adventure.

I decided to give a coat of the  ASCP , I had

a little bit of Loui Blue, but I have loads of other
colors that are sitting there for months.  So, I dragged the brushes out and started.  Here you will see some pictures, bear in mind is not finished yet, I'm slow at painting because I don't want to ruin
such a nice piece.

This is how it was when I got it.

The first coat of the blue.

Got risky and did the borders with white I don't know do you like it????

More white???

This is the surprise glass old old knobs that were hidden inside the middle drawer.
The small drawers have a cute little wooden knob, the rest of them have keyholes only.

Add captionYou can see my "white border" it took me forever, and ever, it was late and the mosquitoes and flying ants and bugs were killing me. So I covered it with my a blanket and inside I went.

I did finished the white and did a little waxing just to see what it would like. Unfortunately we had so much rain here that the mosquitoes, bugs are going crazy, so I had to go in bye bye bugs,

This part is when I got the "famous" wax, you heard me I said "famous" this hype about the paint and the wax is insane, the paint is okay, but its too thick, and a bit pricey. You can get the same exact colors for half the price. The wax is tricky, its easier to distress with other products.

 I put a little tiny bit of wax and rubbed it into the flowers and didn't like it so I wiped it off. The wax is confusing to me. There are tons of tutorials out there and every one is different. So I just did what I always do, a little test, and I didn't like it so I painted it over.  I will try another way tomorow and see how it goes.

Call me crazy, but I went to the paint store in my town, and I talked to the woman who mixes paints, I showed her the pictures and a sample of the paint. She didn't know much about the paint or waxes, but she liked my pictures, so that was good.  We talked a lot about colors and paints, she is very good about mixing and matching colors, and I always go with a picture, she loves to experiment with colors. I told her I have two years of paint, I need to start painting or is going to go bad.  Oh, one more thing, she mixed a little formula and came up with the Loui color. I think she got intrigued, she apologized and said "by the way if you run out, I have it here for you". Of course I told her this is chalkpaint, and she said "I can make it chalkpaint, I have a formula". Of course I have enought blue to paint an entire house, she doesn't know this, I just wanted an opinion, I guess I got it.


Well, let me know how you like my adventure, to be continue...

blessings

Martha

Make and Display Rustic, Industrial Lamps

Hello Friends:

Happy Friday, I love Steam punk lamps from Anthropology, Pottery Barn, but not their prices.
I decided to make my own, I love the old Telegraph Insulators Rustic, steampunk, table lamps. People sometimes throw them away, or not even know what they are. I find them interesting and so vintage, industrial.  I love them next to lace, lavender bunches, books, and you have a vignette, but now, you can have an industrial lamp made by me. Its gorgeous, I love it, sorry but I can't believe I'm making these lamps out of discard pieces, I have some more designs on the works, a surprise.

 So here is my latest design. I did the base, and drill the hole for it, then sanded it and stained it.  I had a good friend an electrician do the wiring since I'm not that good at it.  I had the Insulator, this is my favorite color, its beautiful at night, so romantic.

I placed the light on top of a French turquoise poem antique book, one of my favorite little books.
I don't know if you can see it but it looks so pretty on the typewriter antique table.

I took this picture so you can see the color, its hard, sorry to take pictures of lights.

I wish you could see the light in person, its a soft teal, I just lay some lavender of course, behind it, so vintage with the lace, old books, ready to listen to music or you can use them as night lights also.

This picture has  another insulator in the back.

The turquoise light is beautiful, I waited until it got dark to take the pictures, because it looks

so stunning at night.  It has a 5ft. cord with an on/off switch and a candelabra bulb,

What do you think??

On to the new finds, I found this gorgeous French desk, totally blue and distress.

It has lots of little drawers, and there was a surprise inside one of the drawers,
I found several tiny old crystal knobs.  Each drawer has a keyhole but I didn't find
any keys.

I love the new find, it has plenty of distressing, but I got my hands on it already,
I'll show you the pictures tomorrow.





Great find,

Wish you great junking Saturday,

love

Martha

New Dreams and painting

Hello friends:

Sorry I'm late but in paint up to my ears, and nothing is finished.  Does this happen to you?
In the DYI world of ours, distractions are no good.
They get you behind and you end up with five projects at once and nothing is done.
This is my world for the last two weeks, everyday, I'm determine, positive, and enthusiastic and, want to finish something, but I'm lacking tape, paint, clay,name it supplies, the phone, the rain, the humidity.  Anyway, like Ellen says, I'm almost done with the chalkboard pots, one more coat, and they are out of this house.  I got a great tip in a blog, and now I cann't remember where, but its for getting the awful "antique" smell from suitcases.  I have a beautiful old old suitcase that smells so bad, everyday I take it outside in the sun, I tried febreeze, nothing, but today I found a new trick.
The blogger says this works magic:  get a bottle of unscented litter, pour the entire bottle inside the suitcase, close it, and don't open it for one week. At the end dump the litter in the garbage and your suitcase will never smell again.  WOW, I'm on to buy the litter because I don't have cats. 
Now, I know how to get rid of those smells that fills our basements with the great finds. Great tip now I have to find the author of the blog, LOL

Here is some inspiration and I'm going back to get
something finish today.  I found a great french desk to die for come back tomorow to see the picture. It is painted in blue and fully distressed!!!!! I couldn't believe it.  I'll show it to you tomorow on "great finds"



This is from Ikea, so beautiful love the color.

have a wonderful day

Martha

Special corners in our homes

Dear Friends:

 Hope everyone is doing fine.  Today, I will show you

how to make your home cozy and different using your

collections, and everyday items.

Love cages, and we all have one or two. You can use them for so many vignettes, this is one idea.

Another inspiration is to use chalkboard paint in different places.  How about this?  sweet?

This is a cute bedside vignette, so homey and cozy.

We all have old books, a lamp, a bouquet of fresh flowers, and you make your house a home.

Make a display with an old spoon, a dried flower and a candle.

So sweet and special.

This is the "ultimate vignette" from Austin Texas, via the Web

Enjoy,

Martha