Rockin...

I got this sweet little rocking chair on Freecycle. When I got it, it was in about ten different pieces. I was able to put it back together and replace the two missing spindles with dowels I already owned. If you look closely you can see that the two dowels I replaced are a bit smaller than the originals, but I am in to using what I have, luckily they aren't that much off. Unfortunately I have no picture of the rocker before I glued her back together, that was preblog. Here is what she looked like after she was put back together. I am not sure how old this is, but sure it is at least 30-40 years old. If anyone knows please let me know, you just don't see little rockers like this any more.

Everywhere there looks like there is a split, that is where it was apart. The lady who gave it to me was going to throw it away, but I told her I thought I could put it back together.

I painted her with DIY Chalkpaint in an off white, then lightly distressed her and rubbed her with Minwax brand clear pastewax. 

I made a pad with drop cloth fabric and used a cute transfer from Graphics Fairy using the Citrisolve method. She is so lovely now, you would never believe she started out as a pile of almost junk.

Now she is quite BEE utiful.

Great Find

I was checking out Craig's List like I do on occation and ran across these cute benches. They came from an old church that was putting in new ones. Mr. Quirky has been wanting a church bench forever so we went to check them out. When we got there the man in charge told us if we would take a second one he would just give it to us. OK great deal but what am I going to do with two? Mr. Quirky said great and loaded up the second one. I know you are dying to know how much I paid for these two. Well do you think $25 is too much for two very old church pews?  As you can see, Zeus has decided that they were brought home just for him. He can sun himself in total comfort.

Now where to put them until I can start painting and recovering... Any suggestions as to fabric or paint color? We did finally put them on the back deck so the neighbors wouldn't have to look at them forever until I get around to painting. Love the challenge, but now with the cooler weather I think it will be spring before I get a round tuit, but will love the challenge. The plan is to put one on the deck for extra seating and cut one down for in the house. Hopefully I am up for this plan of action. I will keep you informed. 

Table for the Grandkids

We are heading off to Seattle this next weekend to see three of our sweet grandkids. Probably won't get to see them for Christmas so we are packing up Christmas to take with us. The biggest gift will be this sweet table I redid for the kiddos. I found it on the side of the road, my one and only freebie. I painted it antique white with a chalkboard top. Used DIY chalkboard paint and it worked great. The only suggestion I would give to those doing it is to make sure all the lumps are mixed in. I painted the top three times since there were little bumps of powder all over the top. Had to sand down and redo the final coat. Works well though and the kids will love it. 

This is what they looked like when I started. This table is solid and when I flipped it over it was stamped Lane. Score! Lane makes good furniture so this should stand up to a lot of abuse by three (soon to be four) little people. And the chairs have survived all these years in a classroom so they will be great as well. Love to find these older items, they were built to last in those days, back when dirt was new and I was young!! Smiles.

 I picked up the two chairs at a yard sale about three years ago and they have been on my deck all this time. I am glad to finish something and put it to good use.

I painted the top of the chair with chalkboard paint as well, thought they could label the chairs with their names if they wanted to. Not sure if I shouldn't have painted both top pieces, what do you think?

So fun to make something useful for not much cash and to see the delight on my grandchildren's faces will be the biggest thrill.

Enough said.

Linking up here:

Last Of The Roses

It is supposed to rain here for the next week, so I thought I would go out and bring in the last of my roses so they wouldn't get all ruined in the rain. Here they are in a tarnished silver pitcher, sitting in a neat old wooden bowl. I snagged the cute tray today from my friend Ester. She told me it is made from an old table top and she added the handles. I LOVE it. Added some acorns and candles to a couple of goblets and walah, I have a center piece. It needs a bit more fluffing, but I am liking it for now. What do you think?

Black Dresser

I can't believe I haven't posted in almost three weeks. I have had so much to share, but haven't gotten around to taking pictures so I could. I finished a dresser that has been in dire need of a paint job for at least two years as well as a table I have had even longer. I am really pleased with how they both turned out.  I will post about the dresser now and save the table for a later post.

Here she is getting ready to be repainted. She was a dark brown. You can't see how bad the paint job is from the pictures, but believe me it is not good. I picked her up at a yard sale for $35 a couple of years ago. She came with a beautiful mirror attached that I did repaint right away and it now hangs in my guest room. I guess I will have to share that one too one day. She also had no knobs at all. 

 Here comes Zeus, he always needs to be in on the action.

Pretty dismal picture, sorry the sun was a bit bright that morning. Can you believe this has been in place for several years with me only dreaming of paint. Now she is finally ready to start the transformation.

And here she is all finished, isn't she beautiful?

I painted her with Behr Black Suede semi gloss. I was going to distress her, but decided against it. I may in the future, but for now I like her the way she is. My sweet sister who lives near a Hobby Lobby got me the clock knobs. I have been wanting some and of course there are no Hobby Lobbys in the whole state of Oregon. I do wonder why, love that place. Whenever I visit my sister I want to take the whole store back with me. Unfortunately what I want to take won't fit into my suitcase!!

Another view. I love the black against the red walls. I know a lot of you are doing away with the red and leaning towards lighter colors, but I do love my red walls. Took me a long time to convince my husband it was OK to paint a wall red. Also love the richness of it.

Close up of the knobs. I love clocks so this is perfect for me. My grandson Marcus and I went on a hunt and found 38 clocks in my house. I really thought I might have more, but that is all. Need a few more, don't you think? 

Check out those sexy legs!

Loving the new look. Let me know what you think.

Linking up at:
Savvy Southern Style
Funky Junk Interiors
http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/09/restored-it-wednesday
http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2011/09/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-link_22.html

Finally Finished...

I am posting this as my favorite redo of 2011. It was hard to decide since most of my redos were pretty well drastic makeovers. But this one is dear to my heart since it is a family heirloom. So here it goes:

Well I finally finished something that I have been going to do for years now. I blogged about it here:

http://quirkyquail.blogspot.com/2011/07/should-i-paint.html

My father was given this piece in 1948, soon after my parents were married. He used it as a shaving mirror. Interesting, eh? Since this was so old, I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it.  My siblings said to restain it, but it was in such poor condition that wasn't an option. So I forged ahead. Now have I peaked your interest? Here it is before I started.

 Pretty beat up and with water stains in the shelf area. At one point in its life it held pots of plants.

As you can see the poor thing is missing a few finials. I am on the look out for some replacements, but until then I thought I would start this long over due project.  I sanded it until it was smoothed out a bit.

Looking much better but still has a long way to go. I then painted it with antique white paint and heavily distressed it and waxed it with Minwax clear wax. Then I used a stain in dark walnut. It was a bit dark so I went over it again with the Minwax and it took some of the darkness out of the finish. I am new to all of this so I am just experimenting with what I have on hand. So far so good.

Finished product hung up in our guest room finally the day my mother came to visit. I wanted her to see how nice it had turned out.

Detail.

And of course I had to include my family, I am the baby in the picture. Too cute for words if I may say so myself!

Well now this is one project almost finished, if I can find the missing pieces then I will be happy, but until then this piece is happy hanging in my guestroom so all the generations can enjoy her.

Linking up with:
 Funky Junk Interiors SNS
Commonground Vintage Inspiration Friday
Romantic Homes Show and Tell Fridays

http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/09/introducingknick-of-time-tuesday-party.html
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/2011/09/white-wednesday-116.html
http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-decorating-fun-funky-guest-room.html

Antique Table Redo...

I have this beautiful old table in my garage that has to be painted and sold ASAP. So this weekend, since it is a long one, I will be hard at work painting and staining.

It was a steal at $15 and very sturdy. I think I will stain the top if possible and paint the legs antique white. I will post later to show you all how it turns out. Now aren't you in love with those legs? I love the fact that there are eight of them. I am like Miss Mustard Seed when it comes to legs.