Mom Time on a Dime: October 2011

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Garage saling… yes, it’s a verb

9:43 PM

Even though it was OU/TX this weekend here in Dallas (aka. The weekend where Dallas doubles in size, traffic is awful, and Oklahoma and Texas play each other on a neutral field here in Dallas… only 194 miles from Norman, OK and 198 miles from Austin, TX), I still wanted to get up somewhat early and head out to some garage sales. My alarm? Our friend Chuck, calling to tell us his on our way over to the house to start pre-gaming… … … … at 8am.

I finally got out of the house around 8:45a and started my normal garage sale hunting route… and yes, I have a “route”.

Not much early on… actually, almost nothing… and since we were having friends over to the house pretty early (the game was at 11a), I decided to head back to the house around 9:30, before one more sign caught my eye…

When I pulled up to the house, this is the adorableness that I found.

(not the best picture, but trust me, its adorable)

The older couple that owned the house (Mark and Donna… we got to talking) were too cute for words. I would have taken a picture of them too, but I think they would have been a little creeped out.

ANYWAY, their garage sale… they had this cute little table that caught my eye and I just feel in love with the lines. For 20 bones, it was mine.

(sorry not the best picture with my cell phone...I may leave it black... or spice it up... not quite sure yet)

By the time I got back, it was 9:55a and I remembered an estate sale that I had my eye on was opening at 10am with everything 50% off… it was right down the street, so I figured I might just stroll on by.

Score.

First of all, I found this table for $25. Bam.

(ohh the possibilities...I even opened the drawer to see who made it… Taylor Made… awesome)

My family friend Kerry, emailed me THIS LINK as some new inspiration and it TOTALLY hit me… I love the colors and really want to try something different like this.

(why heeelllloooo there stripes)

(so detailed... it would take a lot of time... but I have a feeling it would be worth it)

As I was admiring my $25 find, I spotted this piece in the same room… marked at $200, but $100 since it was 50% off day (yippie!)

(definitely needs some lovin...)

100% mahogany with just some minor scrapes… Still needs a sanding and a coat of paint, so $100 was a bit high for me…

After texting Chris for his advise, he suggested I try to haggle for $70… Have I mentioned haggling is my specialty? The lady didnt stand a chance...

$70… yes siree

I’m thinking to make it pretty like THIS…

(I guess you can say I'm kinda feeling stripes recently...)

Or THIS...

(this may be a nice option since it's 100% mahogany, a deep stain like this may look really good) ------- (UPDATE: this is the winner... I've already sanded down the top and am going to do a deep dark stain! Hooray!)

I would also LOVE to hear your ideas!!

Let me know!!!

Thanks!

-Samm

Lingerie Chest

Lingerie chest make over...

9:08 PM

Ok, confession time... I love yard sale... yard sales, garage sales, estate sales... I love it all.

I love the idea that I can see "something" in what someone else wants to give away... Yes, 9 times out of 10, the stuff people have strewn out on their lawns are old utensils, used clothes, and broken appliances... but every now and then, if you look REALLY hard (or just get lucky), you'll find a gem with some potential.

Insert, this little baby I scored for $30 beans.

Another personal confession: I hate wood. Not like the ACTUAL wood-wood, but just the 1970's, blonde, way-too-boring, everyone-and-their-grandmother-had-a-piece-like-this wood. I like things that are different... fun.... exciting... and "UNIQUE" (my FAVORITE word). So I knew that I would want to paint this sucka...

Also, maybe next uglies thing opposed to plain wood, is brass... why oh why, Dear God, would anyone every make something in brass?! The good news is that with a handy little can of spray paint, brass can turn oil rubbed bronze (the purdiest).

The only bad news about my little Lingerie Chest find is that the INSIDE of drawers are lined with felt... and super glued to stay that way. So instead of destroying the inside of the drawers, i thought "hey, why not just spray paint the knobs first, cover them up, then paint the wood?"

(Holy moley... what did I do?)

Oh my... ummm... wow.... well, ummm... I think I starred at this in disgust for about 15 min... and left it outside overnight, in the dark, hoping it would be prettier in the morning. Spoiler Alert: it wasn't.

Oh well, time to put on my big girl panties (enjoy that visual), and keep going! So I covered up my painted oil rubbed bronze knobs the best I could and started to prime!

(Pop quiz: how many cans of primer does it take to butcher a lingerie chest? Answer: 1.5)

So as I get down to the bottom pulls, I decide my little plan isnt going to work... bummer. So I go with Plan B... murder the felt on the inside of the drawers.

(yes, i literally took a steak knife to it to make this happen)

And what do you know?! Once its out, the screws are just waiting there for me to... umm... unscrew them (why does that sound weird?)

(this lingerie chest keeps getting sexier and sexier huh?)

I then put paint tape on the inside so the inside so that GORGEOUS pink felt wouldn’t get any paint on it.

(ohhh… ahhhhh)

And continued with the spray paint.

I then put a paint primer on top of the spray paint primer (what can I say, I love to prime). But oh, what to do about the footsies?... Flip that B!

(I can say with 99% certainty that I flipped this over with a single hand in one swift motion… It would have been a youtube hit if Gus or Rocky knew how to operate a video camera… pft, lazy dogs)

After the primer, I painted it my mom’s favorite color of “white”… Swiss Coffee, by Dunn Edwards… I know it looks pretty much the same as white-white, but its just a BIT more creamy and it goes with a lot more…

Via one of my favorite sites, Pinterest, I have a new love for stripes, especially Chevron stripes… like here, and here.

I thought it would be simple so I got my Frogger tape and taped away… this is where I got after an hour.

(I’m not joking)

Shiezer! This is a LOT harder than it looks… lining everything up, measuring perfectly, trying, retrying, cursing at my ruler that it’s lying to me (I swear it was!). Finally, after another 45 min (and spending 4 hours so far on this project), I wanted to stop, but not after giving myself a little sneak peak at what I was working so hard on… Enter, grey.

(Yes it looks light, but I didn’t want anything that had too sharp of a contrast)

Then, wait for it, BAMB!

(oh this will work… me likey)

Enter Day 2:I knew I wanted to finish it before Chris got home from Vegas (Bachelor Party… I hear someone got trapped on a roof, but when he started talking about a tiger in the bathroom, I zoned out). So I was under the very watchful eye of these two…

(I love how Rocky has his gangsta lean on and Gus is squinting like some Italian Mob guy)

ANYWAY, I finished with side 1 and started on side 2…

(who doesn’t love a paint tape tree??!!)

At this point, Im questioning my sanity… which seems to happen a lot when I decide to do projects that start with the saying “How long could it take?”

Side 2 done… I may have squealed when I put the last tape piece on… that is a LOT of measuring, taping, and cursing to get this far.