Yard Sale Finds

I headed out this morning, and it just so happened to be a great day yard saling.  There were a TON of people out and I guess not as many sales as usual, but I still grabbed a few things:

 The wire freezer baskets ($2 each) I will use in our basement bath under the sink for toiletries or towels (hoping to build an open vanity in there when we get around to working on it).  I found four pairs of shorts for Sam at $2 each, all brand names (Ralph Lauren, Children's Place, and Gymboree).  And this bench from an estate yard sale.  This is a true before, all dusty and dirty and with the nasty cushion.  I actually like the side without the arm better, but I haven't decided whether to go armless yet.  If I do, the pieces are there to fix it if I change my mind.

 I couldn't help it, it was love at first sight with that back and the idea of refinishing her with the other old chairs I have to go around our dining room table.  I did wipe her down before bringing the frame inside - that cushion is staying outside and will probably be disassembled for parts for a new seat.  It's amazing what people store in an old barn.  I called Mike and he told me no more than $30 when she had come down to $35.  I drove back at the end of my stops and she had raised the price after going through things some more but honored the $35 offer from earlier.  It'll definitely be a lot of work to get her fixed up, but once I wiped her down I was amazed how pretty the wood looked under all that dust.  And she just barely fit in the Escape; we had to do some maneuvering.

And 20 half-gallon mason jars (Ball, H over A Atlas, and Kerr) to use in my brother's wedding and then to can with.  $0.50 each because I took them all.

Now I need to clean and get some things done around here.  I've already vacuumed my entire car (I wanted to get that dirt out from the bench and ended up doing the whole thing). 

Hi There

Not much sewing going on this past week (or two).  I've been much busier gardening and working on house projects.  May always seems to be busy.  I have:

- made a tiered planter using Positively Splendid's tutorial (last month but never shared - I kind of want to add some ORB grain sack stripes later)

- planted flowers for my brother's wedding in August - I'm going to be the florist.  Wish me luck; I'm just praying all the seeds and such that I've ordered will sprout and grow properly.  I think I have every coral/orange/pinkish flower known to man.

- planted our vegetable garden.  Everything is in except a couple Roma tomatoes (sold out everywhere) and some peppers I started from seed.

- begun working again on our basement bedroom.  It started like this . . . (only before picture I have of this room, weird).

Ah, another before from the opposite side.

Spent almost a year (from last August to this May) like this . . . (well, the walls were primed and painted, but there was no trim on the walls and wood and tools stacked everywhere).

And as of this evening looks like this . . .

Still a long way to go, but at least I am working on it.

Well, it's 9:30, and my toddler is not in bed yet, so I should be going.  Priming some more boards for the bedroom is up next on the list.

Oh, and this is the best picture - my almost-86-year-old granddaddy helping Sam on the pedal tractor at a recent picnic.  He has no business doing that, but he's a farmer (they just can't sit/quit) and I know one day this will be a very special memory. 

Revamped Photo Plaque Tutorial

I was finally able to do this project - the pieces have been sitting around for a good while.  I revamped an old art plaque I found at the thrift store.  It's not really worth a tutorial, but here's what I did.

Find an old art plaque at the thrift store - I forgot to take a before picture, but this square one was $0.75, and the one I used was $0.55.

Dampen and scrape off the art.  Mine was a card stock type material.

Sand lightly to scuff, and spray paint the color of your choice.  I used flat black because  my photo was black and white.  Distress if desired.

Cut photo to fit plaque.

Apply a layer of Mod Podge to the plaque and to the back of your photo.  Place photo on plaque, smooth to get rid of bubbles.  Apply Mod Podge over top of the photo and plaque to seal everything.

I'm one step closer to finishing my gallery wall!