Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Porch Swing

The Oak Leaf Quilt has been through a lot of life. It was made in the 60's and it was in rough shape when I acquired it. I had to cut out sections that were too far gone, cut the good parts and stitch them back together. It is the perfect size for a cushion on our swing.

The two afghans were bought at different times. I had the red stripe one on the back of the swing...then, brought the blue star afghan home from the thrift store and put in on the swing...and, what!...it's the American flag!

 

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Red Metal Kitchen Cabinet


This is how I found it. A green metal kitchen cabinet at the St.Vincent DePaul Thrift Store in Owensboro,Kentucky. It was the right measurements! It was the right thing! It had cabinets below! It had a countertop! It had sliding glass in front of shelves on top!
It was exactly what I wanted! It was $40 bucks!
Deb was with me and she said, "Oh my gosh, Terry, it is perfect!
Yes, perfect!.....except for the color...it needed to be cherry red.
......so, now it is! Check.
I needed the lower cabinets hold all my kitchen machines....blenders, crockpot, air popcorn popper, yogurt maker, mixer waffle maker and vegetable cutting machines. Check.
I needed the counter top for our coffee station. Check.

 
I wanted shelves in back of sliding glass doors to display my Bull and my china. Check.
....and it wasn't too tall, so that I could display my kitchen toys on the top. Check...and check!
YAY!
So, Deb says that I always find just the right thing all the time, like magic. The truth is that I've been looking for something like this as I went on junking adventures for the last 12 years...so, Yay!
Enjoy the Hunt!
Terry



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, September 8, 2014

Turtle Basket Makeover

My Brother Gave me this ugly old sewing basket.....he said that I would know what to do with it.....well, it just so happens that I did know what to do with it. I neede some storage in my bathroom. I needed something to store our extras...soap, shampoo, etc. So, this would be just the right size to fit on top of the bathroom shelves.


The first step, rip out the innards and paint with acrylic paint.


The next step....paint the outside. I used several colors of acrylic paints to get a soft soft soft yellow.

I used several layers of paint....letting them dry in between coats. This way, the fabric (and batting underneath the fabric) has a chance to dry thoroughly. Each coat of paint is a mix of yellow, sand and white colors. The effect on the fabric is a suede look. I lightly  brushed the wicker with white paint.
I also trimmed with turquoise paint.

This is a Tjap (pronounced something like "chop") which I bought from Judy Gula of Artistic Artifacts....she has amazingly cool stuff! The Turtle Tjap was used to create a wax relief for batik.

I decided to use the Turtle Tjap as a stamp.
I painted turquoise paint onto the Tjap and stamped it. Yes....I did several tests to be sure things would go well.
Okay, so this was cool....I picked up this trim at a thrift shop while the turtles were drying!!!! I know! How does that little perfect thing happen? I cut out and glued little suns on the basket.
Here is a detail. Then, of course, the next step was to trim with turquoise paint.
After! Basket Makeover! Turtle Basket is in its place and doing its job......and I like it....so does Scot.YAY!







Sunday, June 8, 2014

Magazine Basket ReDo

Okay, so I have been a turtle in my shell for awhile now. The past year has been full of family drama and  big health (life) scares. Things have settled down and things are much much better.

I am now working with an iPad instead of my PC. I have used Word Office Suite for the past ten years. I was really good at it. I wrote three books, did blogs, made packaging and design work and magazine articles. I have to move forward and learn everything new......so, I am making this blog in the Blogger App for my iPad......we'll see.

I just wish that they would make a Rosetta Stone for Microsoft to Apple.

Here is my latest upcycled project. It is a small thing, (but as I said, I'm testing a new format and I'm trying to make the test easy.) It is a magazine rack which I picked up at Trader Bakers for $1.25. I love the form and especially the little wooden beads. The painted part is a cute old fashioned design, but the color had to be changed. The condition is also great.....yay!


The only thing I needed to do was to paint a little bit with red and white paints. Easily done in front of the tv one evening while watching a rerun of Elementary.



How cute, right?

So, the red beads made me think of cherries. I have a cherry print fabric.....


....I may not even make a liner for the basket.....maybe I'll just cut the fabric into pieces and stuff them into the divided sections and then come up with a brilliant cherry project.
Some projects just continue for awhile....

Enjoy the Process!
Terry