::The Real McCoy::

I've mostly avoided thrift shops lately.

Firstly, I don't have a lot of extra greenbacks (having spent them on $35+ quarts of chalk paint)....

Secondly, I really haven't found much that tickles my fancy, lately.

And thirdly, I don't have space in my temporary quarters to either display or store any more knick-knack-paddy-wacks.

Let me just stick my big ole BUT in here....

BUT.....

Lookie see what I found on the bottom shelf, way in the back behind a brassy watering can, when I found myself with some time on my hands last Friday:

I felt like I was robbing a bank.

'Round these parts, McCoy pottery like this goes for upwards of $40 in the 'tiques shops.

But my find has some cracks.

As do I.  So this pretty fits right in.

And the lilacs I picked fit right in too....

I also found this wee little guy, and though it has no pedigree, I find him perfection itself.

I used all this yummi-ness to practice aperture with my new-ish lens.

And of course played around in Picasa and Picmonkey.

How 'bout you?  Found any treasures buried in the plastic tupperware at your local thrift lately?

Don't forget.....would love to have you follow me on Bloglovin'!  And would love to follow you back :)

Bringing Mr. McCoy to Junkin' Joe's, Photog Show and Tell, A Favorite Thing

ReStore to the Rescue!

I'm in a funk again.

So instead of just whining here or to my children who can't hear me anyway due to Mp3 earbuds 

I embarked on a bit of thrifting therapy.  Hit a goldmine at the H4H Restore.  

See?

Been wanting to find an old door with glass for a corner in my house.  This one just needs a bit of cleaning.  Already has some glorious wear 'n tear...

Also picked up an empty frame from their cabinet door department 

and the criss-crossy things for cool wall art. 

Remember I used a big one over my bed last year?

And lastly, I found this wood room divider for my daughter's studio apartment.

Can't wait to find some cool fabric to use...not a fan of dirty yellow polyester.

I'm working on fallifying some areas of my house, switching around some window treatments, and repainting a room or two.  

Like you do.

Remember this:

Well I miss my beloved brown and white.  

The dining room became our office/schoolroom (which I need to reveal),

so I've found another room to do in brown and white.

Brown Alpaca by Martha Stewart will make a grand entrance soon,

and maybe this beauty will find itself paired up nicely with it.

Easy Gift Wrap...Burlap wine sleeve.

My friend Clara has been at it again. 

You know, my amazing friend who throws parties that rival Martha herself, as well as decorates, organizes, cooks and gardens better than any blogger out there?

(see This Post, This Post, and This Post to refresh your memory)

(look at her all barefoot and cute)

Tonight I felt like I'd stepped into a Country Living spread as we enjoyed a festive evening celebrating Clara and her Hubby Herb's 40th anniversary surrounded by the beauty of her late summer gardens, good friends and good food and drink.  

I'll do up a post with pictures from that tomorrow, 

but I wanted to show you real quick how I wrapped up their gift.

Easy Peasy Burlap wine sleeve.  

Just cut a long strip of fabric 29.5" x 6.5", sew up both long sides, turn right side out and voila.  Pop the bottle in there, turn down the top and add something to tie around the neck.

I happened to have a crocheted flower from the scrapbook store that I hotglued to the fold down collar. 

 I braided some jute twine, and added a wee wooden letter from Hobby Blobby that I quickly stained before threading it onto the twine.

I thought it turned out kinda cute, if I don't say so myself.  :)

You could easily use linen or cotton...leave the edges unfinished and use a grosgrain or satin ribbon instead of jute twine.  And how cute would a vintage brooch look pinned to the collar?  Or a small bloom tucked into the tie.  Or add some blingy beads to the hanging-downy threads. Lots of room for creativity and a great opportunity to use up stuff from your cra(p)ft room stores.  Not that I did that or anything. 

And do you notice that gOrGeOuS hutch in the background? 

 I'm pretty stoked to show that to you soon too.

(edited to add I linked this up to creative little daisy's impromptu linky for quick crafts)

What I'm working on. All. The. Time.

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

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So let me just say right up front that I'm a spaz when it comes to decorating projects. 

 I can't do just one project, or just one room at a time.  

I can't just do all the painting, all the sewing, all the organizing from start to finish. 

 That's just not how I roll.  

(living room got a new coat of paint, therefore furniture must be moved around. Ya know.)

So here is just a smidgen of the plethora of projects in the works.  

Please pray for my family as they don't have a place to sit and can't find anything, including their mom/wife.  

My poor dog thinks we're moving and hides on my bed dawn til dusk.

School Room/Office.  Actually almost ready for the big reveal!

 Sewed up a new shade...still needs some finishing touches though....

Organizing homeschool books on the shelves...

Gotta make labels for these...

Cra(p)ft Room.  Not even close, but at least I'm getting started on the furniture.  Finally.

Picked out and purchased wall paint and fabric too.

Dresser started as this as of this morning....

covered with citrusstrip crap and plastic so it won't dry out before I scrape the 3 layers of paint off..

See that there antique hutch back yonder?  I did the drunk person technique on it today.

(Love those old details! It'll look marvey with my crafting/sewing stuff tucked inside.)

Master Bedroom.  Getting a complete makeover.  Again not quite ready for a reveal, but I'll show ya a few things I've been working on....The walls still need painted, and a couple more things painted/sewn.

 $5 desk-about-to-be-turned-vanity...

Painted the nightstand next to it as well.  Need to sew up the stool cover as well as the closet drapes...

(how attractive)

This desk got a new paint job and I need to put these on...

Front Hall.  Repainted, including trim.  It was a mess, and I wanted it to match the office/schoolroom. The paint is an old Ralph Lauren color called Canvas Natural.  LOVE it.  Perfect warm neutral.

Other randomness.  Anyone else throw yards of fabric around the house looking for that perfect spot?

(used some of this in my master bedroom for awhile, but it will now reside in the family room)

These beauties got repainted heirloom white.  I'll show 'em to ya when I reveal the upstairs rec room.

(such an attractive chapel chair.  Eegads.)

Played around with vignettes in my spare time.  Remember the mirror?

It looked like this before:

 and now it sits on my antique walnut dresser in my living/reading room.

Everyday I start popping around from painting to organizing to decorating to sewing.  Keeps it interesting.  My daughter is moving into a smaller place, so lots of stuff I'd given her came back, and I got inspired again.  Plus I'm still cleaning out, paring down, weighing my likes and loves.  :)  

I think the school room will be done this week, and I'll do a full post on it.  We start school in a couple weeks, so it needs to be ready to go.