Pretty Scary...

... or don't do projects in front of a mirror...

I have to do the vast majority of my 'projects' outside because we share our basement with the landpeople and are relegated to one room for laundry and storage. This wouldn't be a problem aside from the fact that A) Our laundry abode doesn't afford us any windows for ventilation and B) Mr. Pretties doesn't so much love having pink spray paint on his work uniform... so mostly I go outside. This morning Mr. Pretties helped me haul out the LP's big dresser, a little dresser, and my washstand that weighs more than both combined, I swear! I was ready for some work during naptime!

As you may remember, the LP's dresser has a swing mirror on top. I decided not to remove the mirror because it's a pain to put back together. I got the pink drawers all distressed and put back in and started working on the little dresser beside it. here I am all sanding away right, into it when I think I hear something, maybe someone coming up behind me. I'm a paranoid person by nature (Mr. Pretties can attest, he never comes up behind me because I scream like a banshee every. freaking. time.), which is made worse when I can't hear what's going on (believe it or not, a sander does not allow for good audio control...) around me. So I turn around to see if maybe the landpeople have made their way into the backyard when my gaze is met by the most ungodly looking girl with wild greying hair, pasty looking face and horrified eyes. Needless to say an accident of bathroomical proportions nearly took place.

Until, that is, I realized that the frightful girl I was having heart palpitations about was actually my reflection. My reflection in which both my hair and my face are covered in white crap from sanding. I'm such a huge dork it's unreal. If that weren't bad enough, five minutes later I did the exact same thing again...

What's the old saying?

"Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me"?

What does that say for me? Shame on me squared because I'm scared of my own reflection!?

I think I've finally reached the toxic level of breathing in lead paint particles...

Can You Hold?

... Or my furniture fetish (ie. sickness) has reached a new level...

Mr. Pretties usually phones home on his lunch to see how everyone's doing, and, obviously, because the tremendous pain of being apart from me for more eight hours at a time is far too much for one human to bare. Clearly. You might not want to cross reference that with Mr. Pretties though, you know, because he gets embarrassed about stuff like that. Or something. Anyways... so as I'm hosting an intriguing discussion of what kinds of diapers I've changed this afternoon, who threw what in the aquarium, and whether or not I think Wilma might not be feeling well since she's been boycotting the bed all day (yeah, there might be something deathly wrong with your cat if it decides not to nap for the entire day...) I spied these sweet little things:

MmmHmm... those are in fact pink antique spindles/balusters. For $5. Seriously? What a steal! So in the middle of my self diagnoses of Wilma's imaginary ailments our conversation (or non-versation as it were) took the following turn:

Jenn: What would you say if I told you I was going to buy pink spindles?'

Mr. Pretties: Pink what?

Jenn: Pink spindles, you know, like when you have a railing and then you have the up and down things (Mr. Pretties requires these kinds of in depth descriptions)?

Mr. Pretties: Uh huh...

Jenn: Yeah those are spindles, someone on Kijiji is selling four of them for $5! AND they're.... pink!!

Mr. Pretties: Pink spindles? No railing? Maybe a table top?

Jenn: No... just spindles...

Mr. Pretties: Why would you want to buy just the spindles?!

Jenn: Umm... because they're pink?

Mr. Pretties: So?

Jenn: They're super cute... and pink!

Mr. Pretties: But what would you do with them?!

Jenn: I don't know... who cares, they're pink...

Mr. Pretties: You would buy them even though you don't know what to do with them?

Jenn: MmmHmm... I'm sure I'd find a use for them sooner or later, maybe for now I could just stand them up in the corner and appreciate their pinkness?

Mr. Pretties: Uhh... can you hold for a second?

Jenn: Sure... why?

Mr. Pretties: I need to make a phone call... do you have the number there for the FUNNY FARM?! Seriously?! Pink spindles?! You're making me sick I have to hang up now... I'll see you when I get home *over exaggerated sigh* pink spindles...

Jenn: Well let's just check Ebay here... Ahh yes... spindles $73.26 shabby baluster pink set of four $34.98 o---

Mr. Pretties: Ohhhh... you didn't say you were going to buy them to sell them! Okay I get it now!

Jenn: Sell them?! I'm not going to sell them!!! Are you crazy?!

Mr. Pretties: Bye...

Obviously by 'I don't know what I'd do with them' I meant 'I don't know what I'd do with them because there are so many options to choose from!' Seriously. They could be table legs, they could be cut down for those cute baluster candle holders, but I adore the point ends, so that wouldn't work. A window table? Yes! An old window table, those can be the legs, that would be fab! There we go, got it all figured out ;)

I guess lusting after pink spindles is a little far fetched, but that's me, take me as I am. Or something...

Glorious Aberfoyle Season...

... Or has anyone seen Mr. Pretties?

Sunday kicked off my very favorite time of year, it's what I like to call 'Aberfoyle Season'. The weather man predicted a lovely balmy day of 26 degrees of sunshine and a beautiful blue cloudless sky for Sunday. What arrived however was a chilly 13 degrees of grey grisly clouds, and cold misting rain. Jerk. But rain or shine I was going, even if it meant I was fondling Duncan Phyfe's while holding a blue and pink polk-a-dot umbrella ;) As it happened it wasn't 'misting' quite enough for that to be necessary.

Although it was a quieter day (most opening days are, people forget that Aberfoyle opens that weekend, because, you know, they have lives or something. For shame...) and due to the weather the majority of the visiting vendors cancelled their spots, so the visiting section was a little worse for the wear. However there seemed to have been new permanent vendors with some fabulous stuff and the prices were amazing! I brought my camera with me with the thought of taking pictures to both discuss with my Aberfoyle buddy as well as to post here, but I brought out my camera and people started to stare, followed by me feeling like a huge dork... so I slowly put my camera back in my bag, people started turning back around and I went on my way. Next time, I promise.

As much as I enjoy Kijiji I hate having to route through the mounds of tacky floral couches, lease-to-own livingroom sets, and Grandma's old kitchen table from 1970 with the co-ordinating teal sparkly chairs to get to the real goodies. Aberfoyle is like a Brita filter in that it keeps out all the crap and gets right to the treasures. I could spend all day mauling everyone's items (get your head out of that gutter, you know what I mean!!), sniffy drawers, and asking Mr. Pretties why he doesn't make more money... kidding... sort of... anyways... it's great because it's not like the low end flea markets where you see the same things 50 times at different booths, everyone has something wonderful and unique to offer, and it's not like the high end antique shops that have wonderful tradition items that you'd have to sell your soul and that of all of your offspring in order to afford one of their pieces (this by no means means that all antique shops are like this) because the prices are reasonable, and if they're not they're always open for bartering! The prices entice me because you get the rush of a good deal on an awesome piece, but you also pay enough that it's still important to you and means something. Does that even make sense? That might just be me actually... Hmm...

I generally am not a big purchaser (I purchase regularly, just not bug purchaes, or a lot of little ones at the same time) at Aberfoyle (This is where Mr. Pretties income comes in... kidding.) but when I do purchase something it's because it's something that catches me the right way, *insert animal shelter analogy here - it's just like that puppy with the sad eyes that you can't leave behind* and it must come home with me because we have a 'connection'. I don't know if I've ever shared this theory with anyone other than Mr. Pretties, and this'll sound out there, but I always wonder when this happens if it's because maybe in another life I owned this item, or one like it and my subconscious remembers and makes this connection. Weird, I know.

This week it was an old spice cupboard that is crap condition, smells like a smelly green walnut from a barn, and a door that has swelled indefinitely open (unless I plane the side) and opens with a skeleton key I don't have. A real winner, eh?

What I see though is a terribly characteristic piece covered in wonderful naturally chipped and crackled paint, with fab moulding on the top, a key hole in the door, and a great hand written note inside the door about how many pounds each pot/pail/bowl in this farmer wife's home holds, and how much sugar to add to the pail of cherries :) It reminds me of the cupboard from the book 'Indian in The Cupboard' which has stuck with me so maybe that's why I had to pluck this up out of the rain and bring it home to shed it's leady paint everywhere ;) No idea what I'm going to do with it, but I'll do something. I have another small old cupboard that's quirky and I just love it!

Next Saturday (the 2nd) from 7-4 Aberfoyle is having their first Spring Special with loads of visiting vendors, vendors from out of town, and general fabulousness, as well as the open market 8-5 Sunday. It's an Aberfoyle weekend! Or you could just look it up at www.aberfoyle-antiques.com ;)

ETA: The cupboard door does infact close now... it was swollen from a combination of the side crack and the rain yesterday, apparently a day airing out in the warm sun (I can only handle so much 'ou de fruit farm' for so long while trying to sleep) did it some good because the door fits nicely now. However, it may never open again... why can't I just leave things alone?!

Dresser Love

It's been so long since I've used my sander that I forgot how to put the sandpaper on... resulting in me spending half an hour swearing at it for being such a cheap piece of crap... obviously I am the cheap piece of crap in this story, that's what happens when you get rusty!

I found the girls' a new dresser for their room last week. Did they need a new dresser? No. Is it a bigger dresser? No. But is it a better dresser? Hells yes! So I sold their old one, and bought this one. Please note that it had just been sanded down and will turn into a sweet concoction of dreamy pink and white with oval glass knobs shortly.

See the sweet little details that makes it special?

As I was emailing my girlfriend to tell her about this sweetheart (she's probably the only other person I know who loves furniture, antique markets, and sanders as much as I do) I realized what a freak I am, and that I should share it since I've been lacking blog fodder lately ;)

Firstly, I absolutely adore the mustly smell of well aged furniture. As soon as we had this in the house I opened the first drawer, stuck my head in and took a giganitic whiff of musty well aged goodness. Mmm... heavenly... Mr. Pretties pretended not to see this taking place, things like this make him worry about my sanity ;)

Secondly, as you can see this dresser has two litte drawers. I love little drawers, they are so adorable there aren't even words to describe how adorable it is. So I took one of them out and gave it a hug. Seriously. A hug. Mr. Pretties simply responded with 'You're sick...' which may or may not be true... sometimes I'm just so over come by the absolute adorableness of a piece of shabby furniture that I can't contain myself. This piece came with bubbled veneer on the top, rusted paint (wth?) spots, and a really crappy super shiney sponge painted paint job that was in dire need of redoing. It also came with gorgeous spindled legs, wonderful original appliques, dovetailed drawers back and front, and that fantabulous smell. I think the good out weighs the bad 20 fold. My old disappointment is I bought it for the Pretties' room instead of mine ;)

I'll show the after pictures when it's done, which may be a while as I'm waiting for glass hardware to come in for it, it's already ordered but international mail is slow, snail mail to the max.

Is Brass Recyclable?

Apparently it is when Mr. Pretties is in charge ;)

I've been stripping an old washstand and in the process I also needed to strip the original brass hardware that had, oh, about 75 layer of good quality lead paint on them. At the direction of our landman I set them in margerine container with some stripper (the paint kind, not the corner kind... c'mon on now) and syran wrap over the top (did you know it's the fumes that strip the paint not the actual gel? I had no idea...) so I did that several times and finally got them all nice and brassy like. I put them back in the container out on the deck to air out because they were pretty reaky... A week goes by and I go back out to get them so I can wash them off and... low and behold, the container is no more?! So as is the case when anything randomly goes missing in the Pretties household, I ask Mr. Pretties if he happened to where they might be... and, if it were a possibility that he put it in the blue bin and forgot and thus it went out Wednesday morning... He didn't need to answer, his 'Ohhhh shiznit...' face said it all. Crap. But that's okay actually, I was debating replacing the original hardware with glass repro. hardware but felt uber guilty for drilling new holes and dissy the old hardware by not using it, problem solved!
When in doubt, chuck it in the recycle ;)

We've Got Salvage Chic...

... Or how to make a shabby fab candlestick out of a salvaged baluster (spindle). It doesn't have to be a salvaged one, but honestly? It makes the project about 7,000 times better. Just saying.

So, what matrials need we gather for this exceptionally simple project that turns out impossibly adorable results? Here's the list:

1 (or more) salvaged baluster(s)/spindle(s)

bonus points issued for chippy paint and crazing.

1 saw or wood cutting tool

(optional, I like to keep my candlesticks tall and use them beside the fire place...)

*Insert Saw Of Choice Photo Here... C'mon, You Know What a Saw Looks Like...*

1 Tin/Metal/Glass 'cup'

For lack of a better word to use as the holder on the top. You can just drill a hole right into the top and plop a candle in, but if you plan to use it I discourage this. Using 90 year old dried out tinder as a candle holder isn't always the best idea...

1 Tool to pierce tin/metal (optional)

You'll need it to pierce the edges of the tin/metal cup if you choose to attach one to the top as a holder. Usually a nail and a hammer works just fab. Something like these from old chandeliers works wonders (especially if you're using the old crystals, those pieces usually also have the crystal cup!)

A few small crystal prisms/etc...
for that added shabby chic look. (also, optional)

Now given the photos of the required material it's fairly easy to 'put it all together' as to what steps will take place. But, just for the sake of typing, we can go throught it step by step.

Step 1:

If you scored those extra points with the chippy paint, it's probably best to take some fine grain sand paper, steel wool, or a well worn wire brush and flake off those loose chips of paint. As much as I love me some chippy paint, in the eye of safety, if that balluster/spindle is old than say 1970, you're likely dealing with lead paint, which is fine until it's disturbed (or eaten, which I also don't advise) so just brush off those little extras so that the spindle has a fairly smooth feel while still looking chippy/crackly. Also if you're going to brush on a coat of paint (allow me to suggest a pale pink/green or cream) just to give it a little colour but still allowing for that aged look, do so now as well.

Moving on...

Step 2:

If you desire a shorter candlestick now is the time to break out your saw and lop of the desired amount off either end (only one end though) and smooth that cut with some fine grain sand paper, try to smooth down the edges too or it'll constast fairly sharply compared to the rest of the piece (you know, 90 years of weathering storms comes at a price and all...)

Step 3:

Take your tin/glass/metal cup (either from your used chandelier parts or picked up from the good old dime store) and fix it to the top, be it by glue or by nailing a nail down the center of the cup into the wood. You can always just drill a hole in the top for tapers, but I prefer not to, I'm a fire-phobe in that way.

Remember: Never leave a burning candle unattended, particularly when your hold is 90 year old dry wood... so if you're going to use it in the light of, say, romantical event, blow it out first, Mmmkay? Thanks.

Step 4:

If you're going to attach prisms/crystals to the top edge of your holder, do so by drilling diagonal holes about 1.5" along the top edge. The prisms should come with little metal rings already attached so just break them open and feed them through the newly drilled holes, forcing the back together and feeding the 'broken' space back into the hole, feel free to fix it there with a dab of hot glue or the like.

What you should end up with is something similar to this:

The above photos are courtesy of, and linked to:

left(or top): trash2treasure.typepad.com

right(or bottom): abitofparis.com

Both are fab sites and even sell great wares like this!

I also believe in a few weeks or so Green Spot Antiques in Cambridge, Ontario will be offering kits of this nature containing both instructions and materials so that you don't have to go around hauling your used chandelier pieces, chipping paint spindles, and prisms while dragging out your power tools to achieve this adorable look. Let's call it 'Fab In A Bag' for now...

Enjoy!

Crackle-Lackin...

... Or how to create that fab old-time crackle finish on your shabby chic pieces.

No I'm not the super star who wrote these instructions (c'mon, you knew that!), they're straight from this Ebay Guides board. I've always loved the look (not on everything though, it can definitely be over done) and have always bought the spendy 'crackle medium', because I'm a dork, obviously. So if you want to crackle that fab find from the flea market, try this method out:

Did you know that the expensive "crackle medium" you buy in cans is really just plain old white glue? Any white glue will work just like the really expensive stuff in cans.

We all love the "shabby chic" look of old crackled paint. When we're lucky, it happens naturally. But most times we have to help it along.
Crackling is great for covering up flaws. If you're considering sanding off old layers of paint, crackle instead - it's much faster & gives the item a lot of character.

How it's done:

There are two different methods of crackling that I use - one where the color in the cracks comes from underneath - the other where the color in the cracks in rubbed on. I like the second method best. It looks like dirt has naturally accumulated in old paint cracks.

Method One: Color underneath

1) Primer your item if it wasn't previously painted
2) Paint it with the color you want to show in the cracks (use a color with a lot of contrast to your top color if you want your effect to be dramatic.)
3) Paint the glue on. You can dilute it a little to make it easier to work with. Use a brush, not a roller. Cheap brushes work better - they leave more lines & therefore more detail in the cracks. PUT IT ON THICK! Thin coats don't crack well

Experiment - the more glue you put on, the bigger the cracks.
I like to use a funky, random pattern so the cracks aren't all in nice neat brush lines.
And I like to vary the thickness of the glue from one part to the next so the cracks look natural.

TIP: Thin coats work best on vertical surfaces. This is true for both the glue and the topcoat. If you paint them on too thick, it will all run down & be a gloppy mess. You can turn your item on it's back, crackle the front, turn it on the side, crackle the side, etc. I did this on an armoire. It's time consuming, but works great.

4) After the glue is set up, but still tacky,(more than 1 hour, but not more than 2 or 3 - depends on your thickness & weather) paint on the main color. Don't let the glue dry too much - it won't crack if it's too dry.
As the top color dries, the underneath color will be revealed in the cracks.

Method 2: Color rubbed in

1) Primer your item if it wasn't previously painted
2) Paint the glue on - see details above
3) After the glue is tacky (see details above) paint on the main color. Cracks will appear as it dries, but they will be very subtle.
4) After the main color has dried overnight, take a rag and rub gel stain onto the item, working it into the cracks. Work in small, manageable patches. This is a really beautiful effect - gives gorgeous age, texture & patina.

Here are some photos of a dresser I did for a guest bedroom with this method of rubbing in gel stain:


On the dresser, I used a basecoat of french vanilla and did the crackle finish just on some parts.
Then rubbed the entire piece in two different colors of gel stain, to give it an aged, patinized look. I rubbed it in with a rag, alternating the colors in about 12 inch irregular patches.
Gel stain works great for this, because it dries slowly so you can work with it until you have the look you like.

You'll get the hang of this technique pretty quickly - you just glop the gel stain on with one rag or a sponge brush, and then rag it off with a clean rag.
Try to clean more off in some places and leave some spots darker, and leave plenty in the nooks & crannies to accentuate the carving. This really brings out the details of a furniture piece.

Jenn here - So that ladies and gents is how you create that fab crazing/crackled look! I find crackling isn't so much like distressing though in the land of shabby chic. Distressing you can do to every single piece of furniture you own and it's just marvy. Crackling you kind of have to select a few pieces to do and try to leave it at that. Easier said than done though, I know! It's kind of like me a spray paint cans. There is nothing better than a full can of creamy white paint, I don't think I've ever had to put away a partially used can. Ever. Once I get that puppy going there's no stopping me, everything in my path will be white until I run out. It's a sickness really...

As you can tell I'm feeling much more like my shabby self ;) Good old junking... is there anything it can't do?

I'm In Need...

Of some treadle sewing drawers. How many people can say that?

I found this adorable project on RoboMargo in the trash to treasure section and I love it. How great is project?!

You take these:

And turn them into this:

(Instructions are on the bottom of the page) but it just goes to show that things you would think are fairly useless can be used to make something really shabby and fab! I can't tell you how many times I've seen sewing drawers at the antique market and thought 'What the flip am I going to do with these?! Who buys this stuff?!' obviously people who're smarter than me ;)

Now I'm on a mad search for some locally (Ebay is loaded with them, but for $30+ to ship, I'll pass) and may have lead. Mr. Pretties thinks I've lost it, but I just have to have two pairs! Not to mention I've seen them painted shabby white with glass knobs and appliques and used as little storage containers, how marvy would that look in the LP's room now that it's all done up right?! *Squeal*

So yeah, next time you're at the market and see something ridiculous, grab it. You'll thank yourself later. Or I will, since I'll probably need it ;)

Love...

Nope, this isn't a Valentine's Day post. Now that the weekend is over and I've had time to sit back and review it, I have to say, Mr. Pretties really can be a pet ;)

The LPs required new beds. BLP's was older (ahem, as in from when I was her age...) and LLP's was still a wee toddler bed (she's only 2, give me a break!) so we needed to something about that situation. We talked about bunk beds, we talked about Ikea, we talked and talked and talked. And when I got tired of talking I went on Kijiji (when in doubt...) I usually keep my browsing limited to Hamilton/St. Catharine's/Brantford, you know, reasonable driving distances.

This time I happened to click on London and seriously, what was the first thing to pop up? Matching antique shabby chic four poster beds. Fate, I'm telling you! So Mr. Pretties and I headed up there (read: 2 hours away) to pick them up. Oh. And I got another washstand (sorry, but the black one wanted a sibling, who am I to deny that?!). These beds are super gorgeous, I love them more than it probably healthy. The LPs love them too, ofcourse. Although I told them it was a surprise (they had no idea new beds were coming) so we did the whole 'reveal' thing and they walked in and said:

BLP: Wow! New beds!!

LP: That's a big bed!

BLP: Mommy, where's my 'prise?

Me: This is your surprise...

BLP: Oh. Where's another 'prise?

Me: *Sigh*

Oh well, I should have known that was more of an adult excitement than a child's. So I spent yesterday with a can of white spray paint in one hand and a piece of sand paper in the other, taking care of important things like shelves, lamp shades, trim, doors, window sills, etc... I even got to hang my .50 curtains in their window, and I might add, they're pretty adorable and quite suitable!

I'll post pictures soon. I'll have to borrow Aunt Pretties camera because ours took the final crap out that no amount of counter bashing would solve. It's so shabby and cute in there I wish it were my room!

Next Up:

I'll be sourcing out an outdated chandelier and spray painting it, then adding the sweet little crystals! I love things like this. It makes me wish I had my own room, sharing a room sucks! Oh wait... I'm not 12 anymore, it's not cool to go around saying things like that... geez... well, then I wish Mr. Pretties wanted a pink frou frou room as much as I do ;)

Truly Fab...

I've seen this idea a few times floating around the antique/shabby chic forums this week and can't believe how completely great it is! If I had a penny for everytime I sat here and thought 'Damn... how did I not think of that?!' well, I probably would be sitting here right now talking about this... so, let's move on.

Let's say you're like me (just go with me on this, you can be the me that loves great stuff and not the me who's a total nut, deal?) and ofcourse lurve yourself some antiques/shabby pretties/uniques/primitives/etc... and your house is a fair compilation of things that make your smile. Now say you have to visit the ladies room (we're keeping this G rated people, uncover your eyes), and your smile suddenly disappears. Why would that happen?

Could it be, that like myself, you have one of those inexpensive shiny laminate-type vanities glaring at you in your bathroom? You know what I'm talking about. The type with two tiny doors, a 'faux drawer', a sink that has just enough room for your bottle of hand soap, and is so very hopelessly boring that you fear falling asleep mid bathroom break. Alas, everytime you look into purchasing a new vanity you're fairly (Re: alot) disgusted by how spendy anything even remotely stylish is (especially, if, like us you're rent-savy and don't want to drop the dough on something you'd likely leave behind).

So what's a girl to do? How about this:

It's such a wonderfully simple concept that makes such a difference in a room! I can't tell you how badly I want to go rip my vanity out right this second and try this out! It can even be an inexpensive project (dressers/washstands/buffets are available on Kijiji/Craigslist/Thrift store for a good price, especially if needs refinishing!)

A lot of people are able to fix the drawers to accommodate the plumbing, making the drawers completely usable and wonderful! Just make sure that any piece you redo for this type of use gets several good coats of a waterproof coating to help protect from all the water and humidity exposure it'll get in the bathroom.

I love this idea so much, and it can have so many great looks depending on what furniture you use, how you refinish it, etc... the possibilities are just endless and they are look marvy! Here's a quick How-To :)

And A Little DIY

I should really hang on to this so I don't have to wrack my brain for Shabby Share next week... But, I really enjoyed this site!

I'm all about DIY, Trash to Treasure, decorating flea market style, etc... but sometimes (read: A lot of the time) it's hard to come up with original and interesting ideas for each piece of trash that comes in the door.

has a whole 'file' system of tricks and projects put together by herself and her fabulous team. The trash to treasure section is organized by piece (ie, windows, doors, grates, etc...) and she has so many fantastic ideas, all of which are useful, doable, and totally cool! It seems like everytime I have to Google something about home decor, shabby style, arc. salvage ideas RoboMargo pops up, so, I decided I better check out the site, since it's clearly calling to me. I'm hooked. I may never have to use my own brain again when it comes to what to do with all my trash!

I lurve old windows, old windows are fab! But, I don't always (as in never) have inspiring ideas for them. I hang them on the wall like everyone else, pop a mirror behind them, hang them from the veranda, you know, the usual. But check this out:

It's a freaking greenhouse. If my only purpose in life was to sit and stair at a pile of old windows and figure out cool things to do with them, I would never, and I meant never, have thought of this myself. I'm so lurving this, and now require a pile of windows. Good thing I know GreenSpot Antiques in Cambridge just got a truckload in. Here's a variation of this idea, but for those paneless windows:

Not to mention the tables/frames/pot hangers she's created from these great finds, her site is limitless! I wont even get into the fabulous things she's found to do with old doors!

As a closing thought, how cute is this?

I am so making me one of those! I have no clue what exactly I'm going to do with it, but, I am having one of those! And then... I'm taking it to the antique market ;)

Shabby Share...

... I think we'll do a Shabby Share today. I came across a couple cute things that I think you might enjoy. They kind of feed into eachother as well ;)

First Up:

Decoupaged Bangles, OnePearlButton has a fab tutuorial on her site (the first link, second is her blog) for these totally adorable and customizable (not to mention easy peazy lemon squeezy) bangles! Lurving them!

Secondly:

I discovered a fab little site! Have you ever done online swaps? You know, where you're assigned a partner and you mail them something and they mail you something too? Are they so much fun?! (Yeah, they're a total blast!) Swap-Bot is a site solely for listing, arranging, and participating in various swaps (there are quite literally thousands...)! There are so many different types to choose from, you can do the good old BOC (box of crap, ie. assorted box of random house stuff) or, you can swap more specific items such as ribbon, inchies, dolls, homemade items, fabric, postcards, childrens items, etc... the list seriously goes on and on (and on, and on, and on...), it's great! Even Canadians can participate in most of them (swaps will show whether they're international or not, and a majority of them are, yay!) I've already signed up for a couple (handmade pin cushion? Heck yes!) and everyone gets rated on their swap (namely did you flake and not send it = RUDE) so if you flake you get a bad score and then no one wants to swap with you anymore, life basics, you know.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Shabby Share, perhaps we'll make this a weekly event, or not, we'll see...

No, I Didn't Sell A Shabby Piece...

I'm just super lucky!

After Marcela from Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration (Linky is posted on the side for future enjoyment) saw my whine-a-thon about the lack of a cute banner (and my personal techno-challengedness) on The Chair she took pity on my pathetic self and made me that sweetheart of a beauty you're feasting your eyes on up there! I'm totally loving it, and, she did it all on her own, without any input from me (It's definitely best that way, I suck at things like that, I only know what I love when I see it, and this, I lurve!) and I can't believe how bang on it is!

Enjoy the makeover guys! And thanks again Marcela, it's absolutely fab!

My Name Is Jenn...

... And I'm an old furniture-a-holic...

*Hi Jenn...*

*Jenn, is there anything you'd like to share with the group today?*

'You know Pam, I think there is. My husband sent me to this group to seek out the support of people with the same type problems as me an-'

*Jenn, old furniture hording is not a problem, it's simply a personality quirk that you have to work to control*

'Oh Right, I know that, totally not a problem at all. To me anyway. This week alone I've tried to talk my husband into allowing me to purchase the following:'

Antique Black Dress w/o Mirror (I have a twin to this) that I've convinced I could find an appropriate mirror for ($45):

Antique Hutch/Server w/peeling veneer. Bowed front glass. I think it would be fabulous stripped, painted antique white w/glass knobs ($55):

And atleast 10 other items that there are no longer pictures of. Notice the prices are quite reasonable. Also notice that I am not a driver. If I were I would not be discussing these purchases with Mr. Pretties prior to bringing them home. As it stands though, Mr. Pretties must consent to go with me to pick these items up, and, well, if he thinks we have too much furniture, no room, or something entirely ridiculous like that, then I lose.

Part of our problem is, say, take the server. Our conversation mostly goes like this:

Me: Mr. Pretties, check out this server, isn't it fabulous?!

MP: Uh... it's all chipped and it's that veneer that you don't like...

Me: *Dramatic sigh* I know that, it would need to be stripp-

MP: When do you have time to strip it?! Where are you going to put it while it's being done?! Do you know how to strip furniture because I don't!

Me: Ofcourse I know how (I could look it up, ask the landman, sand it all off... whatever) and I'd find time, it could go in the basement for now.

MP: Uh... Jenn? WE CAN'T MOVE IN THE BASEMENT AS IT IS!

Me: So?

MP: I'm going outside to have a smoke. Please don't talk to me about servers anymore.

Me: Whatever (We will be discussing this later my friend... you just wait...)

Is it my fault we have ten pieces of antique furniture in our 10x10 dining room and can't walk in it? Okay, it probably is, but I plan to have a big house one day, so it's totally acceptable. If only Mr. Pretties could 'see' things the way I do before we purchase them then he could see how that server would make a marvelous shabby chic piece and would be all over it for a mere $55. He lacks imagination though. Now if I told him I could buy it, strip it, paint it, flip it and profit $100 - $150 he'd be all over it. Men.

By the way, the black desk/vanity (I think we decided it was a vanity) has now found it's forever home :) I know someone would love it, that's exactly why I rescued it from the thrift shop and slapped on a new coat of paint and performed sticker removal, so it could be all purdy for it's new owners.

I'm sweet like that.