Yard Sale Treasures - Before - Part 1

Hi Friends!  Man, has my weekend been action packed, how was yours?   In between getting the first little bit of my booth set up, participating in one of our sailing club races on Saturday, baking on Sunday and rafting up on the water with friends on Monday...I actually squeezed in one more activity?  I know...crazy right?

Well I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to a few yard sales Saturday morning.  So glad I did because I am feeling pretty excited about these finds.  I can hardly wait to get my paint brushes out!

Most everything is sitting in the garage waiting for a few redo's.

I am in love with these two chests!  I have already decided on the new finish for both of them as well.  They will be going in the booth after I am done, but OH BOY is that going to be hard!

This pic is going to be very hard to part with too.

These two pottery pieces were captivating for sure.  Unfortunately after I got home I found out the handle on the basket is broken.  It is not noticable at all but a clean break near the bottom.  I will have to see if there is a way to repair it.

The new color possibilities on the gold plant stand are just swirling around in my head right now.  Both of these are going to be very hard to part with.  I love me some plant stands!

Now for the best deal of the day.  I cannot wait to get this one painted.  I am pretty set on either and off white or black and she's done.  What do you think?  What would you prefer?

Well, I gotta run! I've still got a few more things to add to the booth today and tweak it some more and then I've got to get busy on these transformations.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Of course if you hadn't figured it out yet.  I am joining Metamorphosis Monday today over at BNOTP.

Hope you'll join us there too!

Have a great day!

Repainting the Den

Hi Friends! I hope you have enjoyed the past weekend as much as I have.  In fact, I am still enjoying the weekend as I am enjoying a rare 3 day off weekend.  Woohoo!  

Since I had 3 days in a row and miraculously Sherwin Williams also had a 40% off paint sale I decided it was a great time to tackle repainting the den.  If you follow me at all you know I've been wrestling with what color to choose for some time.  I really loved a bluish green shade that I saw at a parade of homes house last year and even got a paint sample shown here.  But, I decided as pretty as it is that would be a color that I just could not live with.  I next started leaning very heavily towards one of the neutrals that I keep seeing many of you choosing.  I love how beautiful they are, but....again I just knew deep in my heart that is not me.

So, long story short, this is what I chose.  My new color is called Lucent Yellow.  It is shown on the left side of this picture.  I finished the sofa wall Saturday.

 It is very hard to describe because while it is a yellow it also has a slightly greenish tint.  It is such a subtle change from what I had but looks so much fresher!  I love it!

Here are a few more up close shots of the two colors.  The one on the right is my new color, Lucent Yellow. The color on the left is the old color which was a SW custom blend that is a mix between Compatible Cream and  Napery.

Yesterday, I did one more of the small walls with the french doors and today I hope to finish up everything.  I still need to do the fireplace wall and the wall that faces the street.  I am taking my time and moving the furniture out from the wall as I go so I haven't had to clear the whole room.  

Here is one more photo showing a small box of the old color from yesterdays paint job.  I cannot wait to have this room finished.  My youngest son came down stairs yesterday and said it was a very subtle change (his words exactly) and almost unnoticeable except for the fact that is looks so much cleaner.  I love that!

Well, I'd better get offline now, I've got to get busy again!

I am sharing these subtle changes with you for

Metamorphosis Monday

Have a great day yall!

My New Sofa Print

 Awhile back I posted about needing inspiration on what to do with the area above my sofa?  You can go here if you missed it.  Well, after thinking it through I decided what I really wanted here was a larger picture. As a rule of thumb I typically don't buy art unless it has some specific meaning for me.  It's just the way I've always rolled.  But needing  wanting a big substantial piece of art to make an impact above the sofa was not going to be cheap for what I like.  So, I searched and searched for just the right deal and... 

...look what I found!  Now that really is a nice great big print, isn't it?

Just look at the size of this thing!  And oh my stars is that one big beautiful frame or what?

What, you say?

  Come on!  Don't you see the value in this?  Well, I certainly did! 

 Of course the picture does leave a bit to be desired though doesn't it?  LOL!  I had you going there didn't I? 

 However, I just could not pass up this picture from Hobby Lobby's clearance isle.

I especially couldn't pass it up when I also found a print that I loved too.  To my delight the print was the exact size I needed to fit inside the matting perfectly and was on sale for half off.  All I needed to do was change out the pictures.   It was a little easier said then done but went fairly smoothly and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. 

Here's a few closes up of the print after I finished putting it in the frame.  I bet you can see why I like it so much now right?

This photo shows a close up of how well the existing matting coordinated with my new print.  

Not to bad for just under $55.00 Total!  I think it was a steal considering the original picture was priced at $199.99 before it went on clearance.  I couldn't find anything wrong with this frame though some of the others did have some damage, but not all of them.  They had several of these on the clearance isle so I am assuming it was the original picture (art) that was not selling. 

Here it is on the wall above one of my sofa's.   It has the sailboats that I was looking for and even has a bit of Tuscan feel to it too.  I love it!

I am still thinking about if I'm going to add anything else to each side of the picture.  I've got plenty of sconces I already own that I could use but am not sold on the idea just yet.  Since I'm not sure if I want to do that or anything else we are just going to enjoy it as it is for now.  

I thought I'd share this with you all today for

Metamorphosis Monday.

Because this really was quite a BIG change for us in the den now having a great big picture in here.  I especially loved that I was able to do this on budget and share it with you as well.    I know most of you do this already, but always think outside the box when looking at framed art.  Sometimes the values is all in the frame.

Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know what you think okay?

Have a great week!

My New Everyday Mantle Decor

Yay! I finally finished up a little project I've been working on.  It's just an itty bitty thing, but it's one of those things that I've been wanting to complete since taking down all the Christmas decor from my mantle.

Here's how my mantle has looked for the past several weeks.  Leaves a lot to be desired, doesn't it?  I just haven't really felt like doing much holiday mantle decorating this year.   But I have been very interested in finding an everyday look for the mantle.  

The first thing I knew I wanted was to replace a wreath back on the mirror.  I like the way the one I had there during Christmas looked and so I decided to replace it.  I was very excited when I found this faux Moss wreath at Carolina Pottery.

I knew it would make the perfect starting point for the wreath I wanted to make.

I have wanted a Boxwood wreath for sometime but have not wanted to pay what they cost premade.  So last week when I found these branches on sale at Hobby Lobby for half off I was thrilled.

 I got out my hot glue gun and a few wire tacks and I was good to go.

It was a bit of a challenge as my hot glue was so hot it would melt the stems I was trying to glue down.

Finally after using more of my metal floral picks I was almost done.  Oh, and there's the cute little harlequin napkin holder I picked up on sale last week from my shopping trip to Hobby Lobby.  

 Then it was time to hang it on the mirror.

I am sure it could use alot more greenery but it's enough for me.   For now, I'd like to show you the rest of the mantle decor.

 Did you figure out what this item to the left is yet?

 Yep!  It's a mantle clock I found at Hobby Lobby too.  Isn't it cute?  I just loved how it had that shabby look and best of all was on the clearance isle.  They have the best markdown deals, don't they!

I still need to add a battery to the little clock, so for now it's perpetually 10:05.  LOL!

And the green ceramic pieces I showed you bits of were vases.

 I found two of them also on the clearance isle at Hobby Lobby.

Then I filled them with this simple grass greenery that was also on sale when I was there.

I almost didn't buy them because I realized when I got to the counter they were not actually the same size.  I was so bummed out but decided to try them anyway.

I am glad I did because I have been able to successfully use vintage books to balance out the height of each of them.

Are you ready to see a full reveal of the mantle?

Here it is!  I am pretty pleased with it so far.  I am sure the lanterns and plates will most likely disappear in the summer to lighten things up but I am loving them here for now.

 Please ignore the little white dots on the wall behind my floral arrangements.  I still need to repaint the walls from where I had the sconces hung and patched.  Ooops!

 It sure feels good to have a look I can live with for awhile on here again instead of a big empty space.

Thanks for visiting my living room today and for taking a peek at my new everyday fireplace mantle decor.  

I am joining BNOTP for Metamorphosis Monday today.

Sometimes change is good!

Have a great week everyone!

Recycled Gift Tags

Thank You!  I really appreciate the support you ladies gave me by responding to my last post!  

  I feel like it's crunch time and I'm really struggling to get everything done by Christmas.  I typically don't get overly anxious about the house being a mess at times, but with the holidays coming up and no time to clean I just had to admit I am feeling quite stressed out this year.   Today,  on my only day off until Christmas eve, I focused on getting presents wrapped then tried to finish up my Christmas shopping.  

Luckily, the Mr. found some tape and I was all set until I realized I didn't have any gift tags.  I was about to go over the edge when I remembered I actually did have some gift tags.  In fact I had some of the most wonderful gift tags eva!  Do you see this wonderful box here?

It is a box that some of my previous Christmas cards came in one year.  I saved it after sending out my cards and it is now holding an assortment of gift tags that I made last year from Christmas cards I received.

It was such fun deciding which images to use and cutting them using my decorative scissors.  To see the original post I did last year on my old blog, "Sailing Simply" when I made these, click HERE.

I am so happy I remembered I made these, as I almost forgot.  I just love them!

As you can see, I got quite a bit of my presents wrapped today.  I know my store bought bows leave a lot to be desired but these handmade tags more then make up for the bows in my opinion. 

I thought you'd like to see a few close ups of how my tags look.

 Oops!  Looks like my son used one of my tags and attached it with the names showing front side up.  Men!

So what do you think?  Pretty cute idea and quite decorative too, huh?

It was so much fun to make these and even more fun to pull them out this year to use them.  I can't recommend recycling your old Christmas cards this way enough.  You really should consider it if you get lot's of cards in the mail.

It's such a great feeling!

I am joining BNOTP for Metamorphosis Monday.

Thanks so much for visiting me again!

Have a great day!