Blue Chair Update: Freeze!

I finished the blue chair...I planted it with white daisy mums, yellow mums, red mini-peppers, red geranium and blue pansies. It looked great. I thought I would put a few more small plants in (I like my container gardens FULL) and take pictures of the finished product for you the next day. But my plans were foiled by the strange weather we've been experiencing. Apparently we had two days of fall this year instead of our usual allotment of three. My plants froze. It was 70+ degrees the day I bought the plants and two days later we saw temperatures in the high 20s. Ouch! For people and plants. So, to make a short post even shorter, I will replant it and show you the final project as soon as I can replace the plants.

Look at the table to the left: I DID make that (or my own version)

I love stuff. But I'm cheap. That's the inspiration behind most of my creations. I see things I love in stores I can't afford to even be shopping in: Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, Anthrpologie, Z Gallerie, Anthropologie - you get the picture.

When I see something I really want, I'm inspired to try to make it - perhaps "fake it" would be a better term. I carry a picture on my phone and refer to it as I look for similar shapes or details in items at yard sales or thrift stores (pathetic, I know!) Such was the case with the Blue Butterfly Table. If you look left at the "I Want to Make That" feature you will see the inspiration piece from Urban Outfitters (younger, hipper sibling of Anthropologie.) It's a simple pedestal table in a medium blue with just a hint of aqua (check out Pottery Barn Kids - they have tons of furniture the same color. So I was looking for the same shape wooden table, figuring I would have to strip it and try to recreate the color. But fortune was smiling on me - I found THE TABLE, in THE COLOR at a yard sale price. I love it when a good plan comes together.

Found the table just like this!

I got the table home and thought it needed a little something more. Since it has a lip around the edge, I decided to get a glass top to fit into it and then decoupage something on the table surface. But then I had an idea, what if I did something under the glass that WASN'T permanent, something that could be changed at the whim of the owner and that's what I did.

Butterflies!

So currently, the table has lovely Victorian butterfly decals, the kind you put on walls and can remove easily. The results are beautiful, if I do say so myself.  Just waiting for the glass top to be finished and the project will be fait accomplis! Sadly I will need to find this little beauty a new home. I'd rather keep it, but I've got lots of future projects that are crowding my very patient husband out of the house. So it's gotta go. If you are interested let me know...local (Metro Bakersfield) buyers get free delivery. I'll research shipping for anyone not in the general vicinity.

So, if you are interested, please comment me, email me, Facebook me, tweet  me, text me, check out my Etsy shop or just leaflet my house for goodness sake!

You've GOT to see this - Virtual Vintage Vaccuum Cleaner Museum open for business

If you love all things retro...especially those bordering on kitsch, you've got to check out Dennis Foster's Vintage Vacuum Gallery and Museum. Now, I collect some unusual items, but I am thrilled to see the lowly vacuum, an icon of household efficiency, finally elevated to the status it deserves as a design element.

And my kids complain about using a dust-buster!

I understand the museum will continue to grow and that some things may be available for those who are interested. If you are interested in donating your vintage vacuum, I'm sure he would love to hear from you! Click here to go to the Vintage Vacuum Museum!

Recycling Tomorrow Etsy Shop is up and running!

Hi all - So excited to share with you that as of tonight, my Recycling Tomorrow Etsy Shop is officially open! I only have three things on it, but I'm working hard to get more inventory listed for you. So, what's on? Right now, I have listed a set of the Dysfunctional Family Christmas Lights from earlier this week, the vintage embroidered dress pillow and the plaid scrubs pillow.

Dysfunctional Family Christmas Lights

Vintage embroidered child's dress pillow

Scrubs and vintage button pillow

Still to come: vintage button rings, more pillows, fun and funky headbands, vintage hats with interchangeable flowers, mirrors and other framed art, furniture, antique china tiered serving plates and, as always, special orders!

So check it out, give me your thoughts, your feedback, your carefully construed constructive criticism or anything else you want to tell me. Just be gentle, I'm new at all this!

And as this holiday weekend comes to a close I just want to tell you all how thankful I am that you have chosen to spend some of your precious time with me. I'm also thankful to my family for tolerating the hoarding required to create my projects. Most of all, I am thankful to God, for providing me with the blessing of being able to stay home with my children and create (art, not more children!)

Wishing you the start to a joyful holiday season.

Cristy