diy idea | French Chocolate Coffee Table

Do you have a piece of furniture that needs a little French chocolate inspiration?


I'm pretty sure the gal over at Red Hen Home has far more determation then I do when it comes to completing a tedious project. Can you believe the detail she put in to this French Chocolate inspired coffee table? I think it turned out just beautiful!!!

For the step by step of how this look was created click here.

Making it Home

They say your home is a reflection of who you are.

If that is true I do not want to know what mine says of me currently!

I'll admit it, I've highly neglected my space. My excuses? Non really, except that when I first moved in I had in mind that this would be a temporary landing space and I guess I didn't want to put in the effort to make it 'home' if I was going to move again shortly. Seeing as how I've been here for over a year now and it still looks half lived in I decided it's time to do something about making it feel like home.

First on the list...

#1 Give the bathroom a facelift.

I've begun cleaning it out and started a sample color on one wall but as you can see it's nothing fancy.

As small as it is though it has good bones and lots of potential.

Of course I started browsing the web for inspiration.

Here are a few that caught my eye...

I love so many aspects of these bathrooms!!!

So which do you like? Or are there certain aspects you think would look good in my space?

Stay tuned...

Oilcloth Satchel

After working in the handbag department at Nordies for so long I guess I got a bit of the handbag bug. Of course I often get hair brained ideas about making things so here's my most recent project and first attempt at making an oilcloth satchel.

It has it's flaws, actually quite a few since I did not have a pattern and messed up a few times along the way. But for a protype bag I'm pretty excited about it!!! The oilcloth was suprisingly easy to work with and keeps it shape pretty well. I have some tweaking to do but for now I am wearing it around just to make sure it doesn't fall apart...

Funky Junk Sisters Antique & Flea Market

Just when you thought I had totally abandoned my blog...I'm back! I had been devoting every spare moment to prepping for the Funky Junk Sisters Antique & Flea Market show but I've taken a couple days to recover from all the wonderful mayhem and now I've returned to share all the excitement!

Ok, so now onto the details...I was slightly nervous but super excited about doing this show and after many late nights of sanding, painting, pricing, wrapping, loading and more I arrived Friday the 12th for setup. After meeting the Funky Junk Sisters Dixie and Linda all fears went away and total excitement took over! Dixie and Linda are the bestest gals ever and know how to put on a great show! I am so bummed I didn't get more pictures but I will post some links to some other blogs throughout this post...stay tuned.

First off I have to show you my booth. Granted I'm still new at this but I am super excited at how it turned out. This is what it looked like before the long line of customers started browsing.

This set of 4 yellow wrought iron chairs were the first thing to go and then within the hour I sold my second set of burlap covered vintage chairs that I had stenciled black numbers onto...I so wish I could have captured a picture of those but I had only pulled out 2 of the 4 when the happy buyer swooped down on them and purchased them...maybe I'll get lucky and she'll see this post and send me a pic :0)There's a few things I wished I'd done better but once the customers started arriving it become just plain fun as people discovered fun treasures and I began to meet and talk with so many great folks...it was really a blast!
Of course as things sold it took on a different look as I continually scurried around filling in holes and rearranging to keep it looking fresh.
Sunday was a little slower then Saturday but it gave me a little time to regroup from the day before. Still had some great customers and people were more inclined to stand around and chat which was great.

I also was able to spend some time getting to know a number of the vendors which I had formally only known through blogs. Of course the Funky Junk Sisters were awesome and I can't wait to do another show with them! They even were kind enough to include a pic of me and my booth in their blog.

One of my neighbors was the super talented Patrica of Tippy Stockton she made amazing things out of old stuff like her amazing candle holders. Stop by her blog to see more pics of her fabulous booth and other creations!Two booths down was Today's Country Store and Susan Wheeler. They seemed to be having such a great time both days and I was continually curious about all the funny things being said as there was so much laughter coming from that direction...wish I'd been closer to hear what was so hilarious! ;0) They had some amazing stuff and it was great meeting Susan Wheeler and Kris as well as chatting with Amy some more!


Such a beautiful setup they had(I wish I had a place for those chairs!)...check out more here. You can also visit there store in Sumner, WA. Their were other great Sumner vendors there too.

So many other fabulous booths and great gals that I met! It couldn't have been more fun! Thanks again Funky Junk Sisters for all your hard work and commitment to making this a success. Here's to next years show...if not sooner!

I also have to send out a great thanks to my dear friend Charity who not only was a huge support to me but put in a number of hours setting up and even showed up for tear down at the end...you are awesome girl and I couldn't have done it without you!!! As well as my parents and brother and sis-in-law for all the support and helping hands during the preparation of this show...you are the best and I know I owe you!

If you missed out on the show this year be sure to keep an eye out for next years show which I'm sure will even be greater then this one...if that's even possible.

Now back to reality but with such wonderful memories and new friends!

Dual Purpose Dining Table

I never look at things in a conventional way so when deciding on the right desk to desk to put in my new office I dug out an antique dining table that had been sitting in the garage since last summer. My dad actually picked this table up at a garage sale for me for $15...bargain hunting obviously runs in the family. I loved it but didn't have a use for it at the time.

After a couple quick coats of pinkish paint (my own mixture of mistinted paints...I love those!!!) it was ready for use. However, it was a bit smaller then I wanted but luckily I had hung on to a large piece of glass I found at Pottery Barn during their annual University Village Sidewalk Sale for a mere $5. (The U Village sale is a must visit... I haven't been able to find the 2009 dates yet but it is typically in mid-late June) Actually, if you want to get technical the glass was free as it also came with 2 other pieces intended for side tables that I sold at a past garage sale for $5. Anyway, the glass was the perfect fit and I now have a new desk for less then $25!!! That includes the piece of wrapping paper I placed under the glass for another pop of color.

The best part of this desk (table) is that it has four extra leaves and even another set of legs for the center which make for a super long table just perfect for the occasional large gathering...got to love dual purpose pieces!!!

How to Make a Corkboard...the Hard Way

As I started to mull around ideas for decorating my new home studio I was reminded of a couple yards of fabric that I've been hoarding in wait for the perfect project and decided this was the time to use it.

I love florals and this fabric was very complimentary to my much loved chandelier that had been previously installed.

After much debate about what to use my fabric on I decided on a corkboard. I've seen a number of DIY articles about covering a pre-made cork board (like here and here) and figured that would be a great tool for keeping me organized. I couldn't be content with simply covering a premade board though as I had my heart set on using an ornate 2 x 4 frame that I had picked up at an estate sale for $5.00.

I searched high and low for a roll of cork or even squares of cork...seriously where does one find these? I've seen them used on DIY shows before but after trying Lowes, WalMart, Walgreens and even the dollar store I came up empty handed. I finally recieved a tip from my sis-in-law that led me to the office supply section at Fred Meyer where I found a roll exactly 2 x 4 which was perfect!

I wish I would have taken more pictures of the process but I will do my best to explain it well. I started out by spray painting my frame a choclate brown ($1 brown spray paint from walmart) then where there used to be a strip of ribbon I decopauged some gingham paper.

I set that aside to dry then cut out a piece of backer board the size of the opening of my frame and attached the cork to it with spray adhesive. Sadly I think the cork I bought was a bit too old as it was quite brittle and cracked a few times but in the end it didn't matter as I cut out a piece of my floral fabric a little larger then my backer board, spread it out over the corkboard/backer board, wrapped it around the edges and attached it with hot glue on the back. Nope it's not pretty...but no one was supposed to see it ;0)

I wanted a little more embellishment so I crisscrossed vintage binding over the board at measured out intervals, pulled them taut and secured them with small thumbtacks.

I then secured the corkboard into the frame with a strong wood glue and a little hot glue to keep it in place until it dried. Lastly I added a couple picture frame hooks on the back and now it's ready to install!!!

P.S. One mistake I made in the process was using a backerboard that was so stiff that thumbtacks would not penetrate the surface easily. I ended up using sewing needles instead and much to my suprise they hold things really well and honestly I think they are kind of a cute twist on the average thumbtack. Anyway, if I were to do it again I would actually suggest using a couple sheets of cardboard or foamboard instead of the backer that I used.

Happy Creating!

Favorite Find Friday

I admit I have become addicted to Craigslist and have to monitor my use of it or I could spend all my time and money running around to pick up things. I am going to blame my mom for this addiction as she got me started on it a couple years back. She insists you can find anything on there and she is so right! We are often sending each other items we think the other might like. I will have to take some time to write a post about all the fabulous things I have found on CL to furnish my home but today I will share just one.

Yesterday evening I was bored and gradually browsed my way to the free section of CL. One of the first items on there was the beautiful armoire/wardrobe!!!

I was so excited to find out it was only 15 minutes away so of course I picked up the phone and called to reserve it. I was the first to call so I immediatley flew out the door knowing there would be a number of interested folks begging to come get it before me. I was right because when I showed up the gentleman it belonged to said he recieved 7 calls in less then 2 minutes after I hung up from talking to him. We quickly loaded it in the truck and drove off with my happy find!

Ok now I recognize it has some flaws but c'mon it's free!!! It does have all it's orginal hardware on the outside and even the original rod and hooks for clothing on the inside. Besides some loose trim pieces and some nicks and scratches it really is in very solid condition.

I'm not sure what I am going to do with it yet but you can bet the ideas are flying around in my head. It's so pretty I hate to paint it but it could look really great in the right color. The part I am most excited about being creative with is the center portion where a mirror used to be. Now of course I could just put a replcaement mirror in there but I'm not sure I want to be so typical. Any ideas???

Well that is the first of my Favorite Friday Finds...I can't wait to share future fabulous finds!