Well, this will just have to do!

I finally have the after pics of the 1930's Typewriter desk! Ain't that somethin'? Took me long enough, right? Yeah, OK. So when I bought this desk is what pretty beat up. I mean you try living 70 or so years without a few scars, right? Once I started working on it, though, I realized that it was in worse shape than it seemed. I had my hands full and spent several more hours than I projected to have it done! But I did it and I learned some things along the way. One being that wood filler is great but you may have to apply and sand two or three times to get the results you want. Also, do not buy the wood filler in the tubes. It's just not the same even with the same brand name. Buy a tub because you're probably going to use it eventually. Also, I suggest getting "paintable" AND "stainable". They're right next to each other...do yourself a favor and get them both.

Here he is before:

And here he is after:

The body is painted Royal Navy, the top was restained in Cherry, and I gave him some new hardware. He was missing a knob and the client who bought this likes vintage with a modern twist and I thought these were perfect. I also reupholstered her old chair to match the desk. Here are befores and afters of it.

 

It's amazing how paint or new fabric totally transforms!

I've got a BUNCH of new stuff coming soon that I'll be taking to the fair this coming Saturday so be looking out for them!! I'm so excited!

Farm Fresh Fair & Market in Fountain Inn, SC

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before but I'll be attending the Farm Fresh Fair & Market in Fountain Inn on September 21st...as a vendor!! Whoooo! This is my first big thing in my new business and I'm so nervous. I did a stupid thing and scheduled a vacation two weeks before it so I'll only have a week to prepare when I get back!! Why did I do that? I need a vacation so bad, that's why!! But still...I'm going to get back from vacation and immediately start stressing about this! Sigh, I'm going to get everything primed before we go and perhaps even start painting. I know, I know! I've just been busy and it kind of snuck up on me. Anywhoosers, I know that I'm going to do one of the dresser sets I'm taking a dark blue with glazing. I saw a dresser I fell in love with and that's how it was painted. I also will be taking a 3 piece Dixie set that I think I'm going to do a cream color and distress...and maaaaybe glaze. I don't know. We'll just have to see how it feels. As for the other furniture, smaller pieces, I have no clue what I'm going to do. I just haven't been inspired yet. I'm hoping it comes to me soon because I don't really have a lot of time to deliberate on this. If you're a local you should absolutely come check it out! There are going to be so many amazing vendors there with their crafts and art and food...yes, food. If you want a closer look you can take a look at their Pinterest page 2013 Vendors at Farm Fresh Fair & Market. It's going to be held at The Farm at Rabon Creek. You can also go to their Facebook page and "Like" them here. Let me know if you're coming! I'll be located in one of the partially covered free stalls so look for me! I'm posting the flier below with a little more info. It's going to be a lot of fun!!

Projects

I have gone into a DIY frenzy! If you remember from my last post I spent an entire day on Pinterest pinning JUST to my Do It Myself board and got soooo many great ideas! I finally got around to trying out the faux milk glass and I'm torn. First of all, it's relatively easy but none of the tutorials I found had a lot of information so I was trying to do better than that for you. I don't know how much better I'm going to do but I'm certainly going to try. First of all here are the instructions that I used.

I went to Goodwill and picked up 7 glass vases for $1 a piece (the little one was only $0.50). Then I ran to Hobby Lobby and picked up the Enamel acrylic paint that she suggested in just about every color. I got excited. I planned on making some for myself and giving them as gifts for Christmas as well so I was picking out all the ladies' in my life favorite colors (does that sentence make sense?). Anyway, so that was a lot of colors. I also decided doing some seasonal ones would be fun, too, so black and orange were thrown into that as well. Yes, a lot of colors.

Ok, so I began with the white. I thought I'd try to measure it out because I have a digital scale so I would know how much to use each time to cut down on waste but I guess my scale isn't that sensitive. Then I tried using a measuring shot glass but this stuff sticks to whatever it's in and that seemed wasteful so I decided on the next one to just mix it in the vase but then it was hard to mix SO my suggestions is to, yes, mix it in a different container. There is going to be some waste. There doesn't seem to be a way around it. The white one I let sit correct side up for about an hour and swirled it as suggested then poured out any excess. I wiped the rim off and voila, beautiful! However, mixing the other colors wasn't so easy as I described about because it seems to take A LOT of paint to coat and there is a lot left over. I'm wondering if it can be stored mixed to save on waste. I'll get back to you on that. Instead of letting the next several sit right side up like the white one I turned them over to let the paint drip down the sides. I'm not sure if I didn't make the mixture sloppy enough or what but the rims didn't turn out quite as pretty as the white one. I was going to give the blue one as a gift but I think I'll keep it and try to make the next one prettier. If they're my vases you can't really see the issue from the outside so as long as I'm the only one that knows I can live with it. Here are a few pictures to help explain.

Before :)

This was just after I'd fully coated the vase. There were bubbles all over it which concerned me but I held out hope that they'd pop as the paint settled.

I turned it upside down briefly to get rid of the excess paint after pouring out what I could.

And lovely! The bubbles DID pop and the vase is coated uniformally.

Even the rim is nice and smooth looking.

These vases didn't turn out as well as the first. I had to mix several batches of paint because I wasn't getting enough paint but I think I just wasn't thinning it enough. I figured half way through that I can always go back and recoat so I'm not stressing too much. They look pretty good from the outside but as gifts...

 
They don't look as good on the inside. This one was going to be for my mom. I'm going to try to recoat it with a thinner coat and see if that helps. If not then I now have a green vase and I'll do another one for her. Once I recoat I'll let you know how that goes.

So sloppy looking. I think I just made the paint too thick with these. :(

However, from the outside they look quite nice. I'm excited to see how they stand up to holding water. I still need to stick them in the oven and then go buy some flowers to try it out. Again, I'll post on how they hold up!

Within the next few weeks I'm going to try one of the reupholstering projects. I have an ottoman I got off of Craigslist about a year ago that I've been wanting to reupholster but never considered doing myself until now. Once I get to that I've got a lovely wingback channel chair that I'm going to attempt and then...well, there's A LOT I'm wanting to get my hands into so stay tuned!!