Do you know...and LOVE...the movie "What About Bob?" My friend Julie and I watched it endlessly through college and beyond. And I was just thinking about the time Bob said {after "sailing"--as a passenger, no less--exactly once}: "I sail! I'm a sailor!" That's me. I'm officially proclaiming myself a thrifter. I LOVE IT. Even though, like Bob, I've only gone one time...before this, that is. Look what I got for $4.02 total! First, a cut-glass bowl with a pewter rim for less than two bucks. This is going to look so pretty with my Plain-Jane wedding china: And second, a small mounted still life which is currently propped up in my kitchen looking totally perfect: I also repainted the little sign I got at the beach. You may remember that it looked like this originally {I liked the green, it just didn't fit in with my house}. And yes, I'm highly professional, using a pizza box as a drop cloth...take notes people. I had some white spray paint left over from painting my Adirondack chairs: One coat and I was good to go. I sanded over the letters with fine sandpaper, but it didn't look that great: So I used a pencil to define the letters a bit more: I still need to mount it on a board and hang it in my soon-to-be-completed {???} front entry, but I like it so far. What do you think? Sharing over at Southern Hospitality
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On Saturday, we got back from our annual beach trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We had a great time {as always!} with Brian's sister and her family. This year, we stayed in a house in the Four Seasons area of Duck. It had a pool, was close to town, and was reasonably close to the beach. Sold! Well...rented. We always have a looooooong list of to-dos, and favorite spots that we MUST visit. First stop: Timbuck II, which has Steamers and Corolla Raceway {go-carts}: We also went to the Blue Point Grill, which is right on the water {Currituck Sound}: Down the boardwalk is Candy & Corks, where I went FOUR TIMES. {It's for the children.} They have a great selection of "vintage" candy, including my favorite...Charleston Chew {chocolate of course, and frozen!} The boys and Brian went crabbing...twice. I was only subjected to this horror once. ;-) But really, how cute are my sweeties? Duck Donuts is also always on our go-to list. The kids {and overgrown kids, aka husbands} love to watch them being made. I'm starting to realize that most of the stuff on our list involves junk food...hmmm... My sister-in-law and I used to book treatments at The Sanderling Spa, which is amazing... ...but I think our interests and priorities have changed slightly, because this time we went shopping for home decor. We visited Urban Cottage in Scarborough Faire: And Savvy Home: We also checked out a couple of other antique-y places, and each of us purchased one of the signs below. I love the saying but I'm not wild about the color, so I may paint it white and then sand over the letters. I wonder if that would work? Finally, I rediscovered my love of...obsession with...reading! On the drive there, I read this, which was awesome: And I also read this, which was very good until the end, which was terrible! All in all, we had a great week with our beloved family
{and our niece's very sweet 12-year-old friend.} Bring on Beach Week 2013! So I went "thrifting" for the first time last weekend. I know, alert the media right? I also bought a plant, but I don't want to overwhelm you with so much action all at once. The closest I've gotten to thrift stores are antique stores, which to my unsophisticated eye seem to be a lot like thrift stores with higher price tags. I finally decided to break down and google the stores in my area, because I keep seeing "thrifted" in the source lists for stunning rooms. I realized that while most beautiful spaces seem to be a mix of high and low, my house looks like a mix of medium. Which is obviously not a mix. Still, I was a little concerned about the idea of "thrifting," and here's why: While I'm definitely not a minimalist, I hate clutter. You know the term "buyer's remorse," right? I've had "seller's remorse" or the closely related "donator's remorse" because I'm always so quick to get rid of STUFF. I've sold a ton of items on Craigslist, but I've never bought anything. I try not to bring anything home unless I know I can walk in and put it somewhere specific. You get the idea. But doesn't "thrifting" sound so relaxing, like you'd have a nice little coffee and just kind of leisurely browse through rows of under-priced treasures? Well, it was kind of like that, except I had no coffee and I basically darted through the HUGE warehouse-style store, as people were trying out bikes in the aisles and the shelves were restocked because they seemed to be emptied so quickly. CROWDED! Really crowded. But I got some stuff! First up: A little stool which was $2.99 and then 25% off. Um, sold? Here she is with one coat of the ubiquitous ASCP in Paris Gray: The second item is a bit of a head-scratcher, to be honest. I'm not sure why I bought this, but for some reason I just couldn't leave this dude in the store. He was $4.94 and 25% off: Maybe it was the "M. Kleiner" and address on the back... I was thinking of an old lady painting this and thinking it was really special? In any case, he was named "Harry" by my 8-year-old and is currently chilling on the porch.
As for me, I'm looking forward to checking out some more thrift shops in the area. {Side note: I'm REALLY sick of ASCP Paris Gray. I need a new color.} Happy Thursday! YES...FINALLY. I am done painting this godforsaken table and chairs. {Part I, Part II, and Part III gave you TMI on this process.} Here's a shot of what the table and four of the chairs looked like before. There was some damage on the tabletop, but otherwise it was in excellent condition: The first thing I did was recover the chair seats, which was an adventure in itself: Here are three of the chairs now, all painted and hanging out on the porch: Like the klassy garage pictures? I know you do!!! {Unfortunately, my husband is out of town and couldn't help me move the table to the porch. Don't think I didn't try to move it myself, because of course I did!} Here it is with both leaves and my mismatched chairs: {Oh! And a yellow extension cord!} So what's the bottom line...is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint worth the hype or not?
In 3 words: YES, YES and YES! In a few more words... ASCP goes a LONG way. I got through almost the whole project with only one quart. You can add water as you go {which I did twice.} I wonder if you could prime it first and make it last even longer. "They" say you don't have to prime, but the first coat kind of replaces the primer since you'll probably have to do multiple coats. Clear Soft Wax does not last as long. I'm not even sure what it's supposed to do, exactly: Protect? Shine? Darken? All of the above? This is where some research would have come in handy. It definitely darkened the color and gave it a subtle sheen, but since I haven't used the table and chairs yet, I'm not sure how much it protects. Stay tuned. If you're a perfectionist, you may not love it...at first. I beg you to take my advice and start small, or at least medium. Don't do what I did and tackle a huge project right out of the gate. Especially if you're a painting novice, it takes some time to figure out how to work with the paint and wax. I will say that the paint seems to adhere much better to non-glossy surfaces and I probably should have sanded everything down to make it easier. Newbie challenges aside, I'm totally hooked on this paint! There's so much more you can do with it: mixing custom colors, dark wax, gilding wax...wheeee! Haha. I've already moved on to a console table, and I'm looking forward to painting all the other wood furniture in my house, piece by piece! Don't tell Brian. ;-) |