Sunday 22 December 2013

amaryllis and freezing rain

I managed to kill my amaryllis after 3 years of managing it; I transferred it to a new pot and it did not like it, not one little bit. I bought a new one and it has five blooms!

 

DSC01099

 

For the last few days we have had freezing rain and while it is difficult to drive in, it sure makes for a pretty picture.

DSC01107

Monday 16 December 2013

Baby name art and my Christmas decor

I have wanted to try the split letter names on coloured card stock for a while. The opportunity arose to make a gift for a baby boy’s nursery. I love how it turned out.

The frame is the Virserum from Ikea, the cardstock is a beautiful blue which may not show up well on the screen; not too dark and not typical baby blue. In the white frame it’s stunning.

 

DSC01095

 

DSC01096

This is the entire extent of my Christmas decorations. Bah Humbug.  I have to let myself be ok with not being able to do everything. I don’t get to spend all of my time being crafty and decorating how I would like to, so I have to let it go, take a deep breath and let it go.

DSC01090

DSC01089

Saturday 14 December 2013

Gilt faux bamboo tables

Earlier this year I went back and forth, emailing a woman that had some vintage gilt faux bamboo tables for sale. She ended up selling them to someone else and I was so disappointed. 

Lucky for me, I've found another set, this one is even better!  The set was in a city about 250 km away, but I thought it was worth asking if they would be willing to meet me halfway for some money to cover their gas.  Well, they brought them all the way to a neighbourhood in Toronto that I used to live in. The moral of this story is, if you don't ask, you don't get. The couple were asking $75 for the set of three, with delivery they were $135. I am still pinching myself.

DSC01073

 

The coffee table is the perfect size for my long and narrow living room. 

There are two side tables.

I did some online searching and found one of the end tables at Chair Table Lamp for $495 (eek!) and a set of 2 side side tables att  Sheelin Wilson Gilding Studio for $2400 (what!). Some other stores like CircaWho have had them but they have sold already.

When the weather warms up, which will be several months from now, I am going to paint my Chippendale faux bamboo chairs for the dining room. Since I have a few pieces of faux bamboo, I thought that blue and white accents would be a wonderful addition.

In one week I was able to find several pieces of pottery. Although nothing to write home about, they will look fabulous in a collection. I'll be keeping an eye out on my thrifting adventures for more pieces.

Christmas is just around the corner and I am not prepared, at all!  I decorated my mantle, but that's the extent of my decor. I am so put off by the commercialism of the whole thing. I would prefer to spend time eating and enjoying friends and families company than spend my hard earned money on presents. What a huge marketing ploy!

Friday 29 November 2013

Updated ottoman

I’m so glad that Target has come to Canada!  They always have great home decor items and the prices are reasonable. Finding decent and modern fabric here is difficult. The best source I’ve been able to find, other than shopping at the ultra expensive decorator fabric stores, is Tonic Living.

Target to the rescue when you don’t have time to wait for the mail. I bought a shower curtain to recover this ottoman, using a very simple method of sewing up the sides and then stapling it to the bottom. I should have ironed the fabric first to take the creases out, oh well.

JunkinJunky.blogspot.com

Of course I didn’t notice the bag under the ottoman until after I took the photos. Now the sun is going down, so I can’t do a retake.

JunkinJunky.blogspot.com

I started pulling out some Christmas items too; I’m uber excited to decorate my mantel, but now that I’ve seen so many great ideas, I’m frozen as to what to do with it.

JunkinJunky.blogspot.com

My thrift store mirror that I found last week for $8 needed a little bling and looks fabulous above my faux fireplace. I used antique gold rub and buff, I love that stuff.

JunkinJunky.blogspot.com

I hope all of my American friends had a fab Thanksgiving. Let the holidays begin!

JunkinJunky.blogspot.com

Sunday 17 November 2013

Faux fireplace part 2

There is actually another phase to this project, involving repainting the entire living room, so for now it will stay like this. Painting is a job best left for the boring and long winter.

Today I finished painting and hung a mirror over top temporarily. I am looking forward to actually having a mantle to decorate with each season, yay!

Faux fireplace at Junkin Junky

Faux fireplace at Junkin Junky

last night my bestie and her husband came by for a cup of tea and a gab, and I asked her to pose next to the mantel for a perspective on its size. She is going to kill me for posting this picture, tee hee hee.

DSCN4939

anyway, that’s that out of the way and the painting will wait until the holidays, when I will have 14 days off in a row!

I hope you are having a great weekend.

My Uncommon Slice of SuburbiaChic on a Shoestring Decorating

Saturday 16 November 2013

Faux fireplace part 1

It feels like forever since I have been able to find time to get any diy done, but I made some time this weekend and got the tough part out of the way.

I have never built anything like this before and while it’s not perfect, I'm pretty impressed with myself.

Faux Fireplace at Junkin Junky

My requirements were to make it big since it is going on a 16’ wall, and it had to be inexpensive. The final measurements are 60” wide, by 55`` high.  I did a lot of research about building with mdf, and was stumped at how I was going to butt joint the uprights to the top. Pocket holes may have worked, but I didn’t want to risk causing the mdf to bulge. Then it dawned on me to create a bracket of sorts, which is what I did. Its just some mdf, glued and nailed in place. Worked like a charm.

Faux Fireplace at Junkin Junky

That was followed by some 4” deep strips to make the box. Once I had the box made, I added more mdf on top of the existing, this time at 1” smaller, to give it some dimension.

Faux Fireplace at Junkin Junky

In order to be sure it doesn’t topple over, I added L brackets before putting the top on. The top is 10” wide, 2 boards stacked one on top of the other, and them some trim to cover up that it’s 2 boards attached together.

Faux Fireplace at Junkin Junky

But it was still missing something, so I decided to add some trim to the legs at the bottom. It provides some visual balance.

Faux Fireplace at Junkin Junky

Of course I had to put some decorative items on it, just to see how it will look :)

Faux Fireplace at Junkin Junky

Part 2 is tomorrow; wood filler, sanding and painting. The opening will be black and the surround will be white. Maybe one day down the road I’ll pick up an electric fireplace to go inside.

It`s so good to get my diy groove back, it`s been way too long. I`ve missed you all.

Saturday 2 November 2013

Vintage La Barge brass and glass table

Finding great vintage pieces always gives me a thrill. This La Barge coffee table is no exception.

DSC00923

I played around with the idea of cleaning the brass, but after two attempts at home made recipes, I gave up. I realized that it would take more effort than I am willing to put into it, so the patina stays :)  I did give it a good cleaning with warm soapy water, and it made a difference.

DSC00914

Are the hoof feet charming and unique or just creepy? I can’t decide.

When I picked it up, the lady that was selling it realized that she had priced it way lower than she could have got, but was good enough to honour her listed price; otherwise I would have been one ticked off woman.

DSC00908

The glass table top is in pristine condition, which considering that it’s probably from the 60’s is pretty good. The family obviously took good care of it.

And did you notice my carpet? Its the same one, I just got the genius idea to flip it over. Ok, so maybe not genius, but it’s subtler this way and cheaper than buying a new carpet.

I looked around online and found the sale price from $500 to $2400. Mine is for sale and I wonder what this market will handle. I have a couple of designers (one of them works with THE Sarah Richardson) that I have been selling items to this past year, so it will definitely get passed by them first.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Don’t forget to set your clocks back tonight before you go to bed.

Saturday 19 October 2013

Vintage wicker chair find

It’s been a while since I shared my junkin’ finds, so here we go.

This fabulous, grand and vintage chair was $10 at GW. I had my eye on it for a couple of weeks and was certain that someone would scoop it up before me. I’m not sure why I hesitated, but with some shifting of furniture in my living room, it fits in perfectly.

DSC00879

It’s quite unusual and I’ve never seen a chair like it. There is an attached long basket on the side, and I can’t imagine what is is for? My son thinks it’s for a rifle :)

DSC00899

It’s not in great condition, but it’s sturdy and looks great in my room. The cushions were the perfect size to serve as  bottom and back cushions, so that saved me some money.

The vintage wire basket is from a Canadian egg farm that has been in the area since the late 1800’s. For $3.00 it was a good find

DSC00885

DSC00882

This tray was purchased a couple of years ago and this is one of it’s many incarnations.

DSC00898

I made a few velvet pumpkins from my fabric stash, but couldn’t be bothered to search out real stems, so I put some butterfly knobs in and I think they look sweet. Not very pumpkiny, but that’s ok.

DSC00888

I also found this little side table for $12.

DSC00890

It’s made by Baker Furniture and while not in perfect condition, it is in great structural shape and it’s just pretty.

DSCN4883

I am gearing up to repaint my living room. Choosing the colours is always the hardest thing. From floor to ceiling measures 16’ and I’m looking for a way to visually bring the height of the ceiling down. It’s either going to be fabulous or awful, but I’ll never know until I get to it.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

Sunday 6 October 2013

Stamped fabric diy cushions

I worked for several hours on this one cushion making the piping and then sewing it together, so I wanted to make something that would coordinate, but that wouldn’t take forever to make. I am trying to bring more navy blue into my living room.

www.junkinjunky.blogspot.com - stamped fabric cushions

Yesterday as I was making stuffed peppers, I noticed that the shape of the peppers were quite lovely.

DSC00821

I finally managed some time today to make two more cushion covers to coordinate with my new cushion, and I made it with the pepper! It was like I was back in grade 1 :)

www.junkinjunky.blogspot.com - stamped fabric cushions

I mixed 2 parts paint to 1 part fabric medium and brushed it on. I wasn’t careful with the placement as I thought it should look organic.

www.junkinjunky.blogspot.com - stamped fabric cushions

Not too shabby.


Veggie stamped fabric at Junkin Junky

Sharing here:
Tutorials and Tips Link Party at Home Stories A to Z

Thursday 26 September 2013

Wedding sign diy

JunkinJunky.blgospot.com

A few months ago I had pinned a fabulous sign tutorial by Liz at Love Grows Wild, and hoped that one day I could make one. I finally had an opportunity to make one for my son’s friends, who recently got married.  Please go and visit Liz at Love Grows Wild for the full tutorial! Like Liz, I used vinyl rather than painting it, which would have taken forever.

I sped this one along as I wanted it done quickly, so I used my hairdryer between coats of paint and I was done in no time flat, one hour tops. I used the paint that I painted my kitchen with, which is such a fantastic blue. The can is almost finished, so I may have to get more.

For those that would like to duplicate it, the fonts I used are:

Family name and date is DaunPenh which can be found here

Wording is Callie Hand which can be found here

JunkinJunky.blgospot.com

Sunday 22 September 2013

Dollar Store Craft–updated frames

I bought these frames from the dollar store for $3 each, not sure why it’s called a dollar store when it’s more than one dollar…anyway :)

I painted them with a brush first and I have to tell you, I am confident that I’m the worst painter ever! So I spray painted them and they still aren’t perfect but they are good enough for me. The corner pieces came in a pack of 4.

JunkinJunky.blogspot.com

DSC00746

I am working on updating my spare bedroom, with things that I already have in the house so that it doesn’t cost me any money. It is satisfying to make something out of nothing. I definitely need a rug and that will be a diy coming up soon.

JunkinJunky.blogspot.com

That’s the weekend done, back to the grind. Wishing you all a wonderful week.

Saturday 21 September 2013

Faux bamboo side table score

Please tell me you are not tired of seeing my thrifty finds, especially when it comes to faux bamboo?!  Oh my goodness, this piece melts my heart.

www.junkinjunky.blogspot.com

I don’t know a lot about this type of furniture, only that I adore it. This piece is quite unusual and I’ve searched online to find something like it, but cannot. I guess it’s for books, but wouldn’t it be fabulous in a luxury master bath for holding towels?

www.junkinjunky.blogspot.com

It’s in great shape with a few nicks to the wood, but it’s mostly intact. The dividers are all carved and gorgeous.

www.junkinjunky.blogspot.com

The family I bought it from said that they used it for cutlery and napkins when they were entertaining.

www.junkinjunky.blogspot.com

As a beside table it would also be fabulous, with lots of room for your books and magazines.
Have you ever seen a table like this? I have emailed Beth at Chinoiserie Chic to see if she has ever seen anything like it. If anyone knows, she will; If I were an idolizing type of person, she would be the one ;)  UPDATE: I guess Beth is a busy woman, because I've never heard back from her :(