Church Plates, a New Collection

Hey Guys!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend, mine has been pretty awesome since I just got back from vacation!  Ahhhh, relaxation at it’s best! Back to the real world and work tomorrow though.
I did have time to squeeze in a little project that has been hanging around for sometime.  I have been collecting commemorative church plates since the Fall and finally have enough to hang. 
I started seeing these church plates when I was out antiquing and I decided the next ones I found I would start a collection, then of course I could not find any!  My sister in law found the first two for me and then everywhere I went I had to look for them.  I tried to find mostly plates from NC and had pretty good luck with that but have some others mixed in as well.  I wanted to hang these in one area to group them all together.

A Twenty Dollar Chair

This journey started in my favorite thrift store with a $20 chair.  I literally shoved this chair in my car if you remember this Instagram photo…FROM OCTOBER!!

I’ve kept you waiting long enough…here is the whole chair before I got my hands on it. 

I loved it from first sight!  It was in good shape other than scratches and I thought this was the perfect size for a bedroom chair. I knew I wanted it paint lighter and give it a lift with new upholstery.  If you remember during this time we were living with Will’s parents and I had no place to paint so it sat for a while, then moving took over and it was just put on the back burner of home projects. 
Back in April I painted it with my brand new box of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Grain Sack, the perfect white/grey color and I could not wait to see the chippyness.
I teased you with this Instagram photo…

Then I forgot to take a photo of the after.  Almost ALL of the paint chipped away, I was so disappointed.  I have this shot from the garage and you can see it a little. It was really bad, worse than it looks.  It mostly chipped all off the back but it was pretty severe and every time I touched it paint chipped off.  I then got the bonding agent and tried again but the paint that stuck was showing through and it looked horrible.

I contacted the team at Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint and they were helpful and indicated that I would have to sand down to bare wood and start over.  I hate sanding! So I opted to sand until smooth and paint with Chalk Paint.  Lesson was I should have tried a test spot!
I’m not sure the colors I used but I mixed ASCP in Pure White as the base with a few others  a pale grey.  I also did not have it reupholstered .  I have a fabric commitment phobia.  Here it is in it’s orange velvet glory.

Here’s a close up, I brushed the sides lightly so I could get a peak at the brown and then distressed.

I'm happy with it for now…at least right this minute, that could change anytime.  I am sure the orange will someday disappear but the pillow helps tie the colors together and the only other color in our bedroom is blue so it’s a nice contrast.  The cat really likes it too, good window seat. 
For $20 bucks it is pretty sweet!
Fun Fact:  I have a strong dislike for the feel of sandpaper and velvet…maybe that’s why it took me so long to finish, HA!
P.S.  See those curtains in the background…trying to make progress in a few rooms around here.

April

30-Mile Yard Sale Recap

The yard sale was not all that I had hoped it would be but I did find a few treasures.  I went armed with a list and was on the look out for certain things. 
File Cabinets
World Globes
Small Furniture to Paint
Small Shelf for Bathroom
I found none of these, didn’t really see any of this except for a shelf that would have worked for the bathroom but they wanted $50! 
There was one guy selling a lot of neat old stuff, old tins, soda crates, dishes, and ceramics.  I found this lovely lemon sugar dish.

This reminded me of one I had seen at Anthropologie and so I scooped it up for $8.
The only other spot I had luck at was a little store that was having a sale outside but inside was a collection of hoarded finds.  There I found two matching McCoy flower pots, a honey bee honey pot, and a crazy squirrel  candy dish for my squirrel loving Aunt.




I bought all these pieces for around $20.  Ceramics are not my typical find because I am usually not looking for them.  I think they are pretty neat and I plan on putting them all to good use. 
Did any of you make it out to the sale?  If so, what did you find??

April

30-Mile Yard Sale! Count Me In!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 
I am getting really excited about a Yard Sale coming to my area this weekend!  Right here in the county I live in!!

The yard sale is in Johnston County starting in Kenly, NC and ending in Benson, NC.  I have to work Saturday so I am taking off Friday afternoon around lunch and I’ll start in Kenly.  I am so excited because this sale starts only about 20 minutes away from my house and I will have a lot of time to check it out!  I am also really glad I get to go on the first day of the sale. 
Here is the link to the website giving you all the details.
http://www.301endlessyardsale.com/
If you are not familiar with the area and plan to go the Selma area should be a really great area because this is a mecca for antiques and I am sure a lot of the stores will be participating in the sale.  I am not quite sure what to expect but looking forward to searching for treasures!
Wishing you lots of success if you plan to go!  Is anyone planning a trip?  If you will be there Friday and we bump into each other, please say HI!

April

Coastal Table

This unique table just craves a beach house, at least that’s where I feel like it belongs.  Or maybe I just want a beach house! I got pretty artistic with this one. I tried dry brushing, which is a new technique for me. 

I picked up this table at the Salvation Army for $100, a little more than I like to spend but I really liked the unique look.  I tried to learn of it’s history but there are no markings on the table that indicate where it was made or by what furniture company.  

I considered keeping this as is and restoring the top which was scratched and water stained but then I love to paint so I tried something different and I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I did find this little handwritten note on the table top when cleaning it and thought it was pretty cool.

I dry brushed the entire table with three layers of paint.  The first layer was a mixture of Masion Blanche Chalk Paint in Silver Mink and ASCP Pure White. The next was ASCP Duck Egg Blue, then ASCP Graphite. Last I added a little more of the white mixture over the darker parts.  After all that painting I sanded everything down to smooth things out a bit.  It certainly has a unique look to the finish but I like that it is different.  Originally I had the top layered but I didn’t like all the brush strokes on the flat surface so I used the white mixture for the top surface. 
*Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
If you are not familiar with the dry brushing technique you barely dip your brush in the paint and then you dab off the excess so you are literally painting with a dry paint brush.  This takes a long time on a piece this big!
Here is a picture of the table top dry brushed, here you can see what this would look like on a flat surface. 

I preferred a solid top so I painted two coats of the 1st paint color to the entire top surface.  After I painted the top I lightly sanded to distress the edges and top a little more.







What do you think about this redo?  What type of home do you see it in?  Love the tripod legs on this one.
I’ll be selling this one so here is hoping it goes to a good home! Perhaps the beach!!

Linking To:

April

Thrifty Finds

I have been on the hunt lately for a small side table.  I haven’t found it yet, but along the way I have found some other great finds.

 

Just a simple cookie jar but I am drawn to ceramics lately, just plain Jane ceramics.  I want a collection of things to add to shelves and rotate some of my accessories more…you know when I have a house! The color on this one really caught my eye.  I may spray it white eventually so it will go with everything but for now it is fun and funky.  This piece was $2.99.

This is a set of ironstone I picked up.  I really just wanted the sugar bowl, again solely for décor.  The whole set was $4.54, can’t beat that!  I love that ironstone is a creamy white and will go with my vintage décor finds.

Still on the hunt for the small table…what else will I find along the way??

What things have you found lately?

 

April

New Kitchen Island

Long story short…I have a brand new kitchen island and it was FREE!

Here is the skinny on how I scored it….
I know you are wondering why I needed one since we just moved into a new house.  The house did not come with an island but the builder staged it with one and he let us continue to borrow.  We really didn’t want to spend a lot of money and had found an acceptable one at Target for $250 but we were not 100% sold.  We really wanted a furniture look so I started the hunt on Craigslist for a furniture piece to redo and found the perfect piece for $50….it was an old dresser/sideboard that had character and we would only need to find a top for it and paint.  I called, and the lady had just sold it with in the hour!! Disappointed but back to the hunt.  
We knew the builder was wanting his back and we need to find something and soon.  I was talking to one of my customers that does kitchen remodels and also sales cabinets, asking  if he had any less expensive options. He said sure and it won’t cost you anything.  I was like, for FREE??? He confirmed and I still could not believe.  Even free I can be picky so I wanted to know what it looked like.  He had a picture and a drawer but otherwise I really didn’t know what the exact size was or what it looked like but told him I wanted it.  We picked it up a few days later sight unseen and I was so surprised.  I begged asked him quietly to let me pay him something, but he refused. 
We totally scored!!  This is a super high end cabinet line, furniture like piece with a granite, yes I said GRANITE top!!
I love it in our kitchen.  It is a little smaller that what we had in here, but it fits the kitchen much better.  
This is what it looked like when we picked it up…not bad at all!
  















This was actually a piece that connected to other cabinets so the end cap had to be fixed. Will helped me out with this and he said it was pretty easy to fix.  I knew I’d be painting so it didn’t matter.



I am so happy with it.  I probably would not have chosen this color granite but it works well in our kitchen and after painting the piece in Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint, color French Grey and finished with clear wax it really made it pop.   We also added a pull and I thought this one was really fitting because it had a similar pattern to the drawer.

Now I have a nice wide drawer for my silverware and knives.  I still cannot believe this island was free!  I usually don’t have such luck.  The only thing I bought was the $3.48 pull.  I already had the paint and wax and it didn’t take much to cover this because it was in such good condition. 
 

What do you think?
p.s. I also had awesome luck at Goodwill the same day I picked this up…stay tuned for those neat finds….or start following me on Instagram to see sneak peaks.  (name is aprilletchworth)


April


Linking to:
                          

&

   Jennifer Rizzo

                                                                          

&

Sizzle into Summer Party

&

&

&

Liberty Antique Festival

Warning…Picture overload!
On Friday I took the day off work and me and my Mom went to Liberty, NC to the semi-annual antique festival held at a local farm.  We were very excited to check it out because we had recently read about it in Our State magazine and learned that over 400 vendors from several states come to sell at this event.  We felt like we would find some things that we didn’t typically see at the Raleigh Flea Market. 
There was a lot of stuff for sure!  We had fun looking through it all. 
I considered this green dresser.  I’ve been looking for a smaller one for my closet and this one was a good deal at $40 but I passed it by.  
Overall we thought the prices were a bit high.  These signs were $125 each. 
This booth was set up by The Gypsy Paint Brush and Victoria spotted me as a blogger with my camera in hand.  We struck up a conversation which was great and I learned that she paints with Anne Sloan Chalk Paint, the frame here was Louis Blue with Old White over wash. She had beautiful furniture and shabby chic accessories. 
On a funny note…I found the Alabama Leprechaun in a Christmas Tree :) 
The finds were plentiful but the rain rolled in and it rained and rained….

And rained!  Here is my Mom taking refuge under a vendors tent.
So here I am soaked and ready to leave.  I found the fan for $25 and the Beech-Nut sign for $25 as well.  The sign  is not vintage but holds a special place in my heart and memories of my Grandfather.  I didn’t even haggle on the price…it’s priceless!
Here is my fan in it’s new home.  I loved that this had the red center and the green base.
This little bottle was my other find at the festival, I bought this from the Gypsy Paint Brush.  It is such a pretty color and reminds me of the beach.
After the sale, me and my Mom were both itching to go to yard sales, estate sales, and Goodwill to find REAL DEALS.  And as luck would have it my brother told my mom when she got home about an Estate Sale near them on Saturday.  So off they went.  About 3 in the afternoon she called and said she bought me a bunch of furniture and I needed to go pick it up.  When I got there it was like a pickers Heaven!  So much stuff! And the sale had started on Thursday!! 
So…she paid a whopping $15 for a whole room of junk and look what I scored!
A pretty twin bed ready for a dip in some fresh paint.
This looks like a pie safe that is missing doors, but I have plans for it just the way it is.

Six of these drawers with glass fronts.  I did a little research today and I think they are drawers form a seed pack display cabinet.  I may see about having a cabinet made for them or I may just use these for storage.  Once cleaned up I think the wood will look fine.
This is a small side table in parts and will have to be put back together but I think it will work.
This dresser is the reason my Mom bought the room for me.  It is the perfect size for my closet and a much better deal than the green one above.  It needs some repair work in one of the drawers and it has a crack on the top but I think it will be just right.  And I actually like the color, I think I’m going to try to match it.


Bonus items were the books, great for decorating and this skeleton key.  My Mom also took home some linens from the room that were in great shape and vintage.  There was one other dresser in the room but it was in pretty bad shape and just wasn’t worth hauling it home.  But for $15 Dollars!!! What a score!!  THANK YOU MAMA!!
What thrifty finds did you pick up this weekend?
April


Linked to :