Pretty Rustic Shelf

Last weekend I bought an old handmade shelf on Craigslist for $20.  I had a vision of what I wanted to do with it and somehow knew it was going to work.  I didn't even measure it, just said "I'll take it" and brought it home.

I painted it in Annie Sloan Pure White and rubbed it smooth.  Added some hooks, hung it on the wall, but then decorating it didn't work out the way I expected.  I was picturing something rustic and farmhouse-like, but the white coffee mugs I was going to hang on the hooks were too bulky so I swapped out some teacups that I got at auction years ago.  The teacups hung beautifully so I dug out the rest of the set.  This is every piece I have - 6 cups, 5 saucers, 8 dessert plates, a sugar and creamer, and it fills the shelf nicely, with a pop of color from the little aqua butter dish I picked up at an auction last fall.  This looks so pretty against my new paint. 

Destiny takes a hand.  MFEO (made for each other).  Do you remember that movie - Sleepless in Seattle?  Here is the spot where this little shelf found a home, with an inch to spare on either side.

Doesn't get much more perfect than that.  Linking up to Show and Tell Friday.

Pretty Good Junk

So my mom bailed out on going to the flea market with me (too cold) and I wasn't going to go, but it was just too nice out to stay in the house painting, and I am usually working on Wednesdays when the flea market is going on.  Although I got a rather late start, I found some pretty junk to bring home with me.

I've been keeping my eye out for a dozen or so pieces of silverware to display in my kitchen, and though 81 pieces is way more than I had in mind, I really liked this set and so I bought it.  I think I got a pretty good deal on it but I'll have to ask my mom to be sure.  And if I got ripped off I can blame her for not coming along. :)

The military type guy who sold me this box said the ATF would be at my door if the contents were still in the box, so I made sure it was empty when I bought it.  I'm not sure the guy would have sold it to me if he knew what I had in mind for his super macho box.

 But it makes a DYNAMITE dish caddy, doesn't it? 

I love vacation.

A sucker for romantic packaging

I consider myself a fairly practical gal, but I'll admit I can be marketed to pretty easily.  If you want me to buy something, make it pretty.  If I can rationalize owning it just the teensiest little bit, it will be mine.  When I visited my daughter in Los Angeles in January, we visited several charming restaurants and cafes, some of which poured everyone a glass of water from a pretty bottle and placed a full pretty bottle of water on the table.  Whaaaaaaat?  I had to have one of those pretty bottles.  How could I ever drink water again without one?  What, just dispense it directly into the glass from the fridge filter?  Where is the romance in that?

As usual, TJ Maxx is onto me and they have several of those bottles in stock just waiting for me to come buy them.  I'm eyeballing one for $4.99 when I notice they have some in the gourmet aisle with something already in them for $3.99.  Hmmm... ok, I can drink Sparkling Limonade, and then have the pretty bottle, for $1 less than buying an empty one.  (This is the PRACTICAL me getting a little gratification while the SUCKER me is buying something I totally don't need gotta have.)

So pretty.  How could I go on without this in my life?  Please note this is a rhetorical question.

Vacation Time

I took off work this upcoming week to get some things done around the house and to bring my youngest daughter home from college for break, so I'm officially on vacation.  My daughter Amanda and I had a nice day shopping for junk, clothes, and plants.  Now it's time to grill, and my cat enjoyed being out on the deck for all of 5 minutes before deciding she had enough:

I'm so happy to have plants!  Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Repainting the Foyer

I've been painting my foyer in preparation for another project.  So far I've painted the walls and some of the trim.  I'm going from yellow:

To Behr "Watermark".  Its a shade lighter than the "Tide Pools" I painted in the dining room and kitchen, and I absolutely love it.  I painted all the way up the stairwell and it looks so much cleaner and brighter.  The new trim paint is making a huge difference as well but it's terribly boring painting white trim white.  In the picture below, the door on the left and the stairwell trim are repainted but the floor trim and the door in back are not, and the color difference is really noticeable.

I must get myself motivated to finish it though, because I'm very excited for the next step.  I'm replacing the blah linoleum flooring with this:

I'm really nervous about doing it, particularly because the foyer has a closet, bathroom and about a zillion nooks and crannies to navigate. Not to mention the whole "removing the toilet" thing.  But it's going to look amazing! 

New Toy

I have not had a gas grill in 10 years, and I've been thinking about getting one for about two years now.  Yesterday, I finally bought one, and around 9PM my daughter and I had our inaugural grill feast.  It was ridiculously good and we plan to grill several times a week.  I will admit 9PM is not the ideal time of day to snap photos, but I couldn't resist a couple dark and blurry shots.

Simple and tasty.  In other news, I'm painting some more, and will soon have something to show for it.  Happy Tuesday!

Happy Easter!