Rustic Trunk from Salvaged Wood

I'll spare you the picture of me butt-up and knee-deep in our local landfill but I will promise you if you ever get a chance to dig around in one -- you'll be hooked!

I was when I found this pile of heart pine wood on my very first trip.  Crystal ball...I see a second trip in my very near future.  

The 1x6's were clean and pretty clear of nails.  I'm saving them for my next "big" project -- a powder room addition.  They'll make a beautiful, free ceiling treatment for the tiny room.  

The 1x12's were nasty and riddled with holes.  They looked like they had been involved in a shoot-out with a nail gun in which they'd barely survived.  

We call that "character" in these parts...

I needed a(nother) storage spot for fabric in the guestroom where I sew so I just ignored all the negatives and carried on -- just like the sign says.

The construction was very basic.  I added a stencil, applied randomly using stain, to add a little "something, something" to the basic box look.

I have to tell you about the quilt I plan to leave folded on the trunk.  It's vintage, was a $10 find, and it has only one loose seam. 

Oh, and it's amazing!!!

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I'll be linking up here...

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Hand Stenciled Zebra Print Fabric

Even though spray paint was technically invented in 1949 by a man, Edward Seymour, it was his wife Bonnie who asked him to come up with it. 

It wasn't clear what she hoped to do with her paint in a can but my guess is it wasn't painting fabric for her dining room chairs.  

But, why not?  I was tired of the fabric on my dining room chairs.  I paid $50 a yard for it so I've had to 

live with it (and myself) for a long time.  

I was in love with a fabric and a color that existed only in my head.  I'd have to create it myself.  

I'm lovin' my new look...

And, what's not to love?  The new fabric was cheap (painted on drop cloth fabric with 2 cans of spray paint) and easy.

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The zebra like stencil pattern was cut from poster board and the back side was coated with spray adhesive.

The stencil was pressed onto the fabric.

 I used the darker bronze color first.  It's a metallic but it doesn't look metallic on fabric, thank goodness.  I sprayed it on lightly -- not saturating the fabric so it wouldn't be stiff. 

Then, I used the avocado paint to get the illusive color I was looking for.

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 Hot dog!

I'm showing this project off here...

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Mercury Glass Candy Dish and a Project Update

I admit it.  

I have fallen down and blackened my eye when it comes to my plan to complete ten thrifty projects in 21 days.  I'm not even going to count the number of days I'm over my goal.  I'm not all that into kicking myself when I'm down...

Life got in the way and all I could do was let it.

 I'm back today, though, posting two more of the promised projects so I could X them off.  Number 7 could be marked off, too, because I've decided to make a couple more of the Trompe L'oeil Grandfather Clocks for my Etsy store and I have to save them for that...

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I bought the vintage glass for 50 cents to add to my already too big collection of containers I use for cut flowers.  I think it was a jelly jar in a past life.

This is my favorite type of container -- the kind that doesn't take a boat load of flowers to fill 'em up.

Isn't it sweet?  The flowers are fresh from my backyard.

Then there was the candy dish in need of a little jazzing up.

I've seen some great tutorials for 
DIY mercury glass so I gave it a try.  

            1. Tape it off

            2. Spritz with water -- easy does it

            3. Spray paint the inside of the container

 This was super easy.  The hardest part was getting the cap off of the spray paint.  

Too solid...

Much better...

I did think it looked a little too "solid" so I took some packing tape and lifted a little of the paint off with it after everything was dry.

  

More tomorrow -- I promise!

Look who I'm linking up with...

                            

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