RUST AND DUST

 I gave a little preview of our new project and thought I would update in a couple of days when we got it complete.  It took longer than planned as usual....and it will never be complete, but here it is today.

 We decided to move one booth out of Hubby's corner of 3 booths to the opposite side of the building.  It seemed like the painted furniture projects were getting lost in the Flea Market look of the other booths.  One side of the building is more vintage/antique  and  the other side is more eclectic.  We are trying to keep this booth more neutral colors with a touch of aqua, green and blue.  And not quite so crowded.  Let's see how long that lasts!!


This booth had never been painted.  I decided to leave the pegboard as is for now because light colored things like frames show up well against it.  I did paint the lower walls since the mdf board had writing all over it which took 2 coats of primer and one coat of a taupe color (Lowe's mis-tint for cheap!).  Also hung a burlap ruffle around the top of the walls to dress it up.  The sign was made from a vintage screen purchased from another vendor, burlap flowers and scrapbook paper.

Some of the things came from the old booth and some are things we have made new in the last two weeks.  Tommy has been into furniture lately,  The  two step stool is so cute. The plans came from www.ana-white.com.   Painted with chalk paint.

We moved this giant chalkboard over from the other booth and gave it a face lift.  It was orange for Auburn but never sold so now it is more neutral.  The little drop leaf table has been in my dining room for a year waiting for a repair and paint.

Tommy saw and made this clock over the weekend.  Love pallet wood!

The shutter shelves  have been sitting around half finished for a year.  And the burlap topiaries moved from my booth to dress up this new piece.

Tommy also built this from plans in Ana White's book "Handbuilt Home."  I love the details of this piece and wish I could keep it.  He really distressed it and stained it before I painted it (again with chalk paint).  The knobs have maps so I lined the drawers with old maps to match.

 

 

 

Lamp Makeover

These candlestick lamps are easy to find at yard sales and thrift stores. I buy them if they are cheap enough and store them away for a rainy day. I also have a collection of orphan shades to mix and match. This is not a before picture of my latest lamp makeover- it is similar- I didn't think about taking a picture before I jumped in.

I spray painted the lamp black. Easy enough. The shade is where the work comes in. If the shade has a pattern, it is best to spray it with primer so the pattern does not show when the light is on. I ended up painting this shade black because the primer did not cover the gingham checks.

I glue on the burlap and make yo-yo flowers and felted wool leaves. Finally I glue trim around the top and bottom to cover the edge of the burlap.

These don't last very long at my booth. As soon as I make one - I start on the next one. We have found lamps to be good sellers. A little work makes a lamp look new and I can charge reasonable prices. Lamps and shades are so expensive in stores!

Here is a sneek peek at my next makeover victim. My vision is painted shabby white with linen upholstery. There are so many staples in it that I may have to be working on this for a long time!

Burlap Rocks

I found a great source for burlap bags- Mike's Warehouse. They were only $.98 each. Now I'm looking for ideas and inspiration! I sent Leigh a few and I know that her creative mind will come up with some great uses for them! I shared this lamp shade I made for my guest room a few weeks ago.I used the plain back side of the bag - but now I want to do some things with the fun graphics from the front of the bags!

Another burlap idea I came up with started with a very, very ugly desk. You know the kind - cheap and fake wood....

Son #3 had it for his computer and it fit in this nook in his room/new guest room. He left it behind when he left the nest. At first I was thinking- out to the curb- but, it did fit the nook! So off to Hobby Lobby for some burlap - black- for a change. Then I took my last piece of leopard remnant and sewed a slipcover. I used leopard for the top and cording with 3 yards of a burlap skirt.

I have also shared the bench that I redid with the matching leopard seat. The mirror, chalkboard, lamp, shelf and boxes are all thrifty purchases that I had tucked away. Mirror from Big Lots and chalkboard from thrift store were both repainted and hung from leopard ribbon. The thrift store lamp got a paint job and a leafy shade for fall!

My guest room will get it's first visitors next week when my daughter and her hubby come for a visit. She is flying in from Alaska to meet him on his 2 week R&R from Afghanistan!

Check out more burlap ideas at Leigh's place!

Burlap Napkin Rings How-To

These cute little napkin rings were so easy to make. And the possibilities to make them unique are endless....You could add ribbon, a monogram, a silk flower, a buckle, some bling....

You need some burlap (and it comes in many colors) and buttons- Burlap is loosely woven and ravels easily. I used 1/4 inch seams and over edged them. When I cut them out I used the selvage on the end that I left open -so I would not have to over edge it.

Cut each rectangle 4 X 8 inches.

Fold and sew down the non-salvage end and the 8 inch side. Over edge.

One end is open to turn. Be careful when you pull the corners to a point-if you try to poke them out with a knitting needle (like I did)- you will poke a hole in the corners (like I did)...just be gentle and use the eraser end of a pencil. Burlap is forgiving and the corners don't have to be perfect. I did not clip the corners for fear of them unraveling.
Turn and iron.
I used assorted vintage buttons to attach the end. I overlapped the closed end about 1 inch on top of the open end and hand sewed the button. The End-

The placemats were an after thought......

For the place mats I cut rectangles 13 X 18 inches.

I pulled off 5 stands on each side to fringe them. If I was not lazy I would stay stitch around the edge....maybe I'll go back and do that to keep them from fraying more!

I was in a hurry to slap them on the table so we could eat dinner!

A Thrifty Burlap Tablescape

The universe aligned today for me to be able to combine 3 of my loves into one post that fits into 3 parties! First is Crazy for Burlap hosted by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality!Next we have Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!

And last but not least is Thrifty Thursday hosted by Leigh of Bloggeritaville!

Go by these fabulous blogs today for more great inspiration!!

Crazy for Burlap came along just as I had finished some projects for the porch. I love the texture of burlap and the price! I've lusted after table runners with a monogram so with a yard of burlap ($3.99) and a denim remnant I made all of these projects today. The table runner came first...

Followed by the pillow....

I can flip the runner over to get a different look!

And I made 6 napkin rings and 2 place mats before I ran out of fabric!

So on to the tablescape, which is all done with thrifty finds! The most expensive things on the table are the Target birds!

Dinner on the porch for Hubby and me!

Thriftiness:

Tablecloth- thrift store $2

Burlap place mats and napkin rings- @$1
Green Fiesta Plates -Old Time Pottery -$2.99 each
Daisy plates -Salvation Army -$1.50 for 5
Coke glasses -Dollar Tree
Michelangelo by Oneida flatware - thrift shop -$.25 each!! And my heart
was pounding like crazy because that is my pattern!!
Soup tureen -Salvation Army- $2.00
Jadeite bowl- Goodwill- $1.50 (another heart pounder)
Cracker loaf dish(behind bowl) -Walgreens Dollar aisle


And if that isn't enough fun...since it has rained for a week...no yard sales on Saturday for us....so we went to Mike's Merchandise and I found these for $.99 each!!!!

Huge burlap coffee bean bags! Some still had beans in them!

They had tons of them! I just pulled four different ones off the top....may go back when the pile is smaller to see what different patterns are further down! So I need some more creative ideas for burlap!!! Thanks for stopping by the Swamp today, come back in a couple of days to see the "How-to" directions for the napkin rings!