Wednesday, August 24, 2011

ENOUGH, ALREADY!!!!

I've spent so much time this entire year on projects for the booth, that my house is SADLY lacking.  It is a total WRECK!!!  I have several booth projects that need to be finished, but I REFUSE!  I am going to devote all my time and energy on my home. 

The first home project is to re-do and organize my craftroom.  I have been boxing things up and taking them to the study so I can bring in the cabinet that I bought to put in the craftroom.  I decided to wait until I get it inside before I put the top on it to make it lighter.  Last night my daughter and her friend helped me to get it inside. I was a little worried because there were several corners to turn to get it to the back of the house.  Now that it is in, I'm going to put the plywood on top and then tile it.  Yep, I said tile it.  No, I've never done that before.  But I have several tutorials on it and I feel confident that I can do it (which is probably my FIRST mistake!).  I'm going to build a shelf inside it and then I need to build 2 drawers.  I have a neat idea for drawer pulls that I'll share later.

After I get my craftroom finished, I plan to put bookshelves in my study.  I had originally built some bookshelves in a former house, but this time I'm taking the easy and cheap economical way out.  I found 2 tall bookshelves at an estate sale. Well, actually, I found one.  When I went back to load it up, I found the other one AFTER the poor man had helped me load and tie it down.  Anyway, I got home with both of them.  I didn't have anyone to help me unload them, so I said a BIG prayer and God helped me get them out and on the front porch.  They are made of particle board and the bottoms have gotten wet.  I've got to figure out how to handle that.  In the meantime, I found another bookcase that I'm going to get next week.  That should be enough for one wall of the study.  Then all I'll need is 2 more for the other wall.  It's not easy to find those 7 "footers"  Most of them are 5 or 6 feet.  I also have an old iron bed that I am going to make into a daybed to put in the study.  I MIGHT even have an idea for a window seat.  More to come on that.

When those 2 rooms are finished, then I'm going to do some much needed sewing that I have put off because, once again, I've been working on projects for the booth.  I want to make some little curtains for my kitchen and a valance for my bedroom. 

You know, I have tried and tried, but for the life of me, I can't remember what I did before I started junkin and selling.  Really!  I must have done SOMETHING with my time, but I can't remember what it was!! It looks as though I just don't care about my house at all!  This couldn't be further from the truth. I have had the nesting instinct from a very young age.  I love my home and decorating it.  I just haven't done anything in a long time. 

So anyway, here are some pix of the latest projects that I finished and put in the booth.


This is a "before" picture of a little footstool before I recovered it.

And this is after getting recovered in vintage chenille.


This used to be a cabinet door.  Now, it's a message board.

The following pix are some of the booth that I took on Sunday afternoon after I finished fluffing.







 

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

I'm BAAAACK!!!

I fell into a deep funk back in the Spring. Not sure what happened, but I sort of lost interest in everything. Nothing seemed to sell at the booth, so I stopped working on projects. Well, July was a good month and I'm back to working on projects again. Sweet, sweet Jamie Williams, who is an artist and professional photogapher, did some rearranging and merchandising in the booth and after that, stuff was just FLYING out the door!!

My main focus for the next month or so is to get my craftroom in order. My daughter's friend is going to help me do that. I bought a kitchen base cabinet from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. I'm going to put that in to have, not only storage, but a good work surface. It came without doors, so I'm going to just put "curtains" in place of the doors. It has one working drawer and 2 panels like you see in front of a sink. I'm going to make drawers and then attach the panel. I went to a couple of cabinet makers to see how much it would cost to have one more panel made. The first place I went wanted $65 and the next place wanted $50. I can't make one, because it would require a router, which I don't have.

After I get the craftroom done, then I want to tackle my study. I wanted to build bookshelves in there, but I've decided to just buy ready made bookcases. I will paint them, attach them to the wall and save some money (as well as blood, sweat and tears). It's difficult to find ready made that are tall enough (7 feet), but I did find 2 last week. I'll just keep shopping Craigslist, yard sales and estate sales until I find what I need.

Also, I'm trying to not get anything new to work on. Right now, I have 8 things to work on and I intend to finish those before I drag anything else in. I also have SEVERAL old windows that I have a project planned for. It has been SO difficult to not go to estate sales, yard sales and thriftstores!! I mean REALLY difficult!!

Oh well, below are the chairs that I got MONTHS ago. I finally finished them. One of them sold in 3 days!! I also finished some tables, 2 of which sold in about the same time!
 
 
 

OK, that's all for now.   I've got to work on  projects for the Anniversary sale at the booth.  I have a bench, blanket chest, & TV stand.  I have finished a footstool and another vanity chair.  
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