My How Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Where do I begin? .....I can't believe it's been ten months since my last post!!!!  They say time flies the older you get and they weren't kidding!

Recently, my husband asked if I had given up blogging.  My answer was a firm noooooo.... I've just been a little busy this year.... but I'm almost caught up....ha ha!  I can rattle off a million reasons (excuses) but I won't bore you.  I do promise I haven't just been sitting around.  Although I haven't had time to write the blog, I have been working on projects.  Some I have "How To" photos and some I'm lucky if I remembered to take a "before" and "after" photo.  So, I've decided to share what I've been up to for the past year and you can let me know if there's anything you'd like to see step-by-step.  How's that?  I'll start with what I did in January.

PROJECT 1:  Nightstand Updates

One of my goals, this year, is to empty my storage unit.  I had been collecting so many "projects" that I had to rent a storage unit.  I decided to start small and try some stenciling ideas I've had on a couple of old nightstands to give them a vintage bohemian feel.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

I do have step-by-step photos of these two paint projects.

PROJECT 2:  Chalkboard/Bulletin Board

BEFORE

AFTER

This started out as half a swinging "saloon-style" door and ended up as a wall mount chalkboard/bulletin board. 

PROJECT 3:  Cottage Style Wall Cabinet

I don't have a "before" photo of this little wall mount cabinet.  It used to be solid black with these reproduction ceiling tin doors.  It wasn't particularly old and I wanted to give it a more "cottage" look so I painted it white, sanded it here and there and "antiqued" it with a bit of stained paste wax.

Then, I decoupaged the inside in vintage book pages and added a little blue suede bird silhouette.

PROJECT 4:  Sofa Table

I always seem to need a small sofa or entry hall size table for display....although this sold pretty quick.  The base was made with reclaimed wood and the top is a recycled cabinet door.

PROJECT 5:  Typesetter Tray Earring Holder

I saw this idea once at a craft show and thought it was a great way to turn your earring collection into wall decor.  I took one of my vintage typesetter trays and simply cleaned it up.  I wanted to keep it's vintage look so I just sprayed the whole thing with a satin sealer so that at least it looked "finished" and not grungy.  After adding flush mount hardware to the back, I added small eye screws at the top of each cubby that could hold dangly earrings.  It's a tedious project screwing all those teeny tiny eye hooks in those teeny tiny cubbies.  Pre-drilling a teeny tiny hole then using needle nose pliers to screw them in was helpful.

PROJECT 6:  Potting Bench

One of my favorite projects to make are potting benches.  Not only are they great in the garden, they make a perfect piece for summer entertaining.  I do have step-by-step instructions for this bench.  It's made from recycled picket fence sections for the base, reclaimed siding and an old enamel bowl for the top, and a vintage window attached to the back gives it the look of a buffet and a place to attach a shelf.  Painted cast iron brackets hold the window to the bench and the shelf to the window.  Vintage split legs add a decorative touch to the pickets and old glass shutter knobs are perfect for dangling garden tools.

And that's what I did in January!  Like I said, I do have step-by-step photos of the nightstand paint finishes and the potting bench if anyone's interested.

Happy Junkin'....until next time!