I love Sharpie Paint Pens!...Mexican Style Folk Art

I took a leftover drawer front,

some hooks.....some paint..

And a favorite tool of late:

Sharpie Paint Pens....

(although when I went back to Lowes to get more, 

they didn't carry them any longer. Bummer!)

Obviously I have too much time on my hands...

Smashed bottle caps add that special something...

(See?  There is a REASON to save everything!)

 This little skull place card holder from Halloween is perfect. Ha!

 Says it all, no?

Here's what it looks like after applying a layer of stain...

 To "tone everything down."

(Not sure that's really possible...)

Tacky is what tacky does.

Available for purchase: $65.

CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA: Old Fencing = Garden Angels!!!

My friend Frances is a wonderful person.

AND she's a great client! 

Double bonus;)

She had several people on her Christmas list 

and she was stumped as to what to give them...

And rather than spending a bunch of money on things

that they probably wouldn't like anyway, 

she asked if I could help come up with some ideas.

I said sure!!!!!

So she gave me a list.......with some info like,

"loves butterflies"

"loves pink"

"loves yard art"

etc..

 Since I just happen to have a couple of booths just overflowing with treasures, 

I took photos of several things I thought might work.

One of the things she liked was this little garden angel 

I had made from some leftover lumber.

She asked if I could make more...

But of course.......

 So today, I pulled apart this old fencing I had saved for a rainy day.

(Actually it was in my garden, but nothing is sacred here!)

 After an afternoon of fun, 

meet Conchetta!

 Celeste

Priscilla

and.....Tina Louise.

Okay, so they look a little like Godfrey's Garden Angels....

Frances said, "Even better!"

I told you she was wonderful!

Thanks, Frances, for letting me help with your Christmas gift list this year!

Time's running out, folks, but you still have a few more days!

Street find = French Country Buffet

Another street find......

I'm not kidding!

I was taking my morning walk

one day last week, and

bam........this was on the sidewalk.

Right next to the garbage cans.

Abandoned.

Unwanted.

Really??

Okay, so it had some dings.......

Particle board issues.......

Plastic trim......

But it was love at first sight.

I routed myself right back home and grabbed the car keys..

(Did I mention how !@#$% heavy this thing was??)

I could not W-A-I-T to get paint on this baby!!!!

 As usual, I used Annie Sloan chalkpaint. 

For the body, I mixed up a combo of Paris Grey, Louis Blue & Old White.

 And for the top, base moulding and all the decorative door panels, 

I used Old White.

 Here it is after painting.

Next, I distress sanded all the edges...

 And waxed the whole piece...I added a little

dark wax to the decorative panels and some of the edges

to age the piece a bit.

 Look at the amazing detail in the doors........I added these awesome

painted lion ring pulls.

Here it is in my Greenwood Antiques booth. 

Yummy goodness. $225 and tons of storage.

Candace's Amazing Kitchen and Reinvented Hoosier Cabinet

Take a look at this amazing kitchen that my clients, 

Candace and Craig, recently had completed. 

Having seen the original kitchen (WHY didn't I take a photo!!)

I KNOW how amazing this transformation is!!

 I love how they mixed things up a bit....

For instance, they used a different color on the island base 

than the other cabinetry.

 I love the use of materials - the granite, the backsplash, etc.

Nothing too dark or somber...

 See how amazing these colors look together?

 And the glass fronts on the upper cabinets keep them 

from being too overpowering in the room.

 On the other side of the room is a great elevated brick pizza oven, 

and this elegant little sitting area with newly reupholstered club chairs. 

The blues were carried over to this area in the painted paneled walls.

 And to the left of the sitting area is...........

this original oak hoosier cabinet.

They felt it was too countrified for their new sophisticated space......

and they asked me to paint it. 

I was happy to oblige!

 Inside, I primed and painted in Benjamin Moore White Dove in a semi-gloss finish.

 I painted the exterior in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite.

 Here it is all base painted.

Now, here comes the fun part. 

Wax!!!!!

First I waxed everything in a regular furniture paste wax.

See the difference already?

 Then I added some dark wax to the edges and drawers...

This gives the illusion of a time-worn finish........

After the wax dried, I buffed to a lovely sheen.

 Here it is all finished in the space.

Pizza anyone?

Turning a cabinet door into wall storage

So remember this ugly cabinet?

That I transformed into this?

I took the door, which I didn't use on the cabinet redo....

It looked like this...

(lovely, heh?)

...and this assortment of old brass candlesticks (thanks, Shirley!)......

...and made a sweet little display shelf for my Greenwood Antiques booth.

I raided my garage and found all sorts of snippets of wood, 

brackets, dowels, etc, 

and painted them all in a distressed 

pale blue homemade chalkstyle paint.

I painted the dowel and all the candlesticks white....

For our store's open house, 

I added little LED tealights to them.

And added all sorts of little treasures for sale.

The shelf is lightweight, freestanding, portable - perfect for display. 

And it's also for sale......Darn it...

would be great in a bathroom, 

where it could be attached to a wall. $110