Friday, September 20, 2013

The Hourglass Fall Rummage Sale :)

All week, I've been looking forward to the Fall Rummage Sale at the Hourglass.  I was supposed to go with a dear friend, but she wasn't able to go due to family tragedy.  I had to brave it alone.  I arrived promptly at 7:50 this morning to find that there were few parking spaces left and a substantial line had already formed.

After a short wait, a lady came out of the Hourglass and asked were we ready to shop.  OF COURSE everyone answered yes and they let us in!  Here's an idea of what I saw as I perused the vendors.

There were too many things to take photos of.  I just had to start looking!! And did I find some goodies :)
In no particular order, first I found this gorgeous trifle bowl (it's larger than it looks) - $5

a vintage Japanese bread and butter plate with a springtime scene, complete with Sakura blossoms - $1.50

a set of 6 vintage Japanese rice bowls and a gorgeous enamel hair comb - $2.50

a pretty little saucer with pink roses that I'm sure my daughter is going to try to steal from me - $0.25

just look at that subtle yet beautiful detail :)

a vintage Walt Disney World gold trimmed cup and saucer set - $3

 a vintage shaving brush with Badger hair and a set of antique hand painted Czechoslovakian porcelain salt cellars and s&p shakers - $4

a pre-1900s JP Masonic Flask - $0.50
this one has a crack in the side from lightning, but here is one in non-cracked condition listed for $227.50!!


an antique apothecary-style bottle complete with glass stopper - $2

of course, some Scentsy in Sticky Cinnamon Bun and my fav Simply Irresistable - $7

a vintage jasper-esque avon perfume bottle - $3

a tan hand knitted hat and scarf set - $2
(I had to have this because my grandmama has a hat very similar to this one:)

I also bought a ginormous frame which I haven't taken a picture of yet.  It will be used to make another massive chalkboard that of course will be for sale:)  Keep posted for it.

So there it is folks...my spectacular haul...all for under $40.    Drop by The Hourglass in the morning when they open their doors at 8 for some more great deals :)

Mercury Glass DIY

I've seen tutorials for DIY Mercury Glass floating around on Pinterest for quite some time now.  I've thought about it, focused on it, and finally decided that I do have enough skill to try to make some on my own.  I checked out several tutorials for DIY Mercury Glass and ended up with this one.  Cheryl from TidyMom.net seemed to explain all the steps easy enough to follow so I gathered up my supplies and got started.
For this project, you need a clear glass container (like the vase above), a spray bottle with equal parts warm water and vinegar (I used plain white vinegar), and Krylon Looking Glass spray paint.  After you go in search of the spray paint, take a deep breath and get over the panic attack you have for seeing such a small can of paint for almost 10 bucks.


On my way out the door, I also grabbed two cheapo glass candlesticks and decided to give them the treatment too:)  First, spray the inside of your vase with the water/vinegar mixture (for the candlesticks I had to spray the outside of course).  You will see water droplets form.  LEAVE THEM THERE!!  That's what you want.  Then gently start spraying the inside of your vase with the looking glass paint.  This paint is insanely thin.  I was suspicious my can wasn't working at first.  But after each spray, give your vase a turn to evenly disburse the paint.  Let it dry for about a minute and then give it another spray.  I did this about 5 times, let it sit for about 10 minutes and repeat until you get the desired look.  It only took about 4 coats on the candlesticks.  I guess that was because I was spraying it directly.
Anywho...I know you're ready for the finished product.  So without further adieu, and no more guilding the lily...I present to you Sir Ulrich von Lichtenschtein....oh wait...wrong movie....DIY Mercury Glass!!





Thursday, September 19, 2013

Meet Belle...

Incidentally, my spot in the house for refinishing furniture is just outside of my daughter Becca's bedroom.  As I was trying to figure out what to do with my dainty new accent table, it saw Becca dressing up in one of her princess gowns.  It told me it wanted to feel pretty too and liked the simple understated elegance of Becca's Belle gown.  I told the sweet little table that I had just the thing for it:
 a soft coat of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Mustard Seed Yellow
some light distressing to allow her brown base to show through (like Belle's soft brown hair),
 and a buttery coat of Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Wax.
She said that she was down with everything, except she didn't want all of the busy white decoration in the picture of the dresser, so I told her that was cool; and we got started.


I couldn't get a good pic of her to start with, but here's the best idea
 of her before.




She had really dark roots so it took 3 coats of milk paint to get her consistently yellow.



After she dried, I began the distressing.  Milk paint is so glorious to distress.  All you have to do is gently run over the surface with the end of a small paint scraper, and the paint does the rest.  If it's going to distress, it distresses.  If it's not, it doesn't.  Its inescapably random and glorious at the same time and ends up giving you a unique finish every time.


And here she is in all her glory
Meet Belle....







Blue Drop Leaf Table

Today I want to share with yall a little beauty that I never got to name.  She was a gorgeous dark wood, but she had always wanted to be blue, so I obliged her.  I painted her with ASCP Aubusson Blue and did a combination of dark and clear wax on her.  I know, I know this piece has already sold and I didn't take any before shots.  I'm kicking myself.  But I still wanted to share this little gem with yall.


 This little beauty was whisked out of my life almost as quickly as she was whisked into it.  I'm proud to have gotten to paint her though :)


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Kreo Cityville Invasion Marina Madness Set

KRE-O Cityville Invasion
I received this set from BzzAgent for my children to play with and review.  
Out of the box, the Kreo Cityville Invasion Marina Madness set looked like your standard building set. The minifigures are simple to assemble. Instructions are straightforward. Blocks....that's another story. My son (7yrs) has no trouble putting together Lego sets that have 10+ age guidelines (he's been doing those since he was 5), but this set was just plain hard to assemble. The blocks were hard to snap together. I even had trouble helping him assemble a few of the items. And while they were hard to snap together, once snapped, the whole construction fell apart at a simple bump on several occasions. After spending almost two hours putting together a seemingly small and simple set, my kids were done with it for several days and weren't even interested in checking out the app associated with it. This is a set they probably will have little interest in ever playing with again because of how often they have to rebuild it. Save your money and buy some Legos.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

I Just Started Selling Plexus Slim

For several weeks, I have been taking Plexus Slim/Accelerator.

I was excessively skeptical at first, Facebook stalking everyone I knew who was taking it to see their results.  Finally I got up the courage to ask about it and try a 3 day trial pack.  I was so glad I did.  During that first 3 days I lost 5 pounds and 2 inches!  I immediately ordered a month supply.  I'm on my third week of it.  While the weight loss has slowed down, the benefits have not.  I have so much more energy and motivation during the day.  I don't have nearly as much back pain.  Also, I sleep better at night and seem to have clearer trains of thought.  I made the decision this weekend to start selling Plexus, since I believe its a product that helps not just with weight loss, but also your entire health.  I take A LOT of prescription medicine and there have been no negative interactions because it's all natural (think of it as a kind of supplement).  If you've been thinking about trying it, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about it.  If you've never heard of it, I highly suggest checking it out.  And if you want to sell it, I would love for you to sign up up as an Ambassador under me.
Here's my personal Plexus link :)

Distraction and Free Printables :)

True to myself, I go and post about how I have these two wonderful projects in front of me today...and then I go and let myself get distracted.  So in my distraction I headed over to Bliss and Tell Blog and found some cute free printables.  I posted the link to my favorite one.  Go check them out :)