Pretty Statue Makeover

Hi Blogger Friends,

A week or so ago, I posted about some of the finds I got while out antiquing and one of them was this little fella.  He was so cute with his little ivy wreath crown and bird's nest, but he was painted an old gold.  I love old gold on some things, but on him, not so much.  Don't get me wrong, if for some reason, I could only have purchased him with the agreement that he had to stay as is, I still would have picked him up, but luckily, that was not a stipulation of purchase!  Like so many of you out there, sometimes, we just think, "but I could make it so much BETTER..."  And off we go, paintbrush in hand.  Here's what he looked like when I got him.

I had wanted to leave a little of his gold peeking through.  Hmmmm...I painted him all a watered down white and then wiped some of the paint off.  YUCK!  That wasn't even photo worthy.  He ended up in the sink with me and a brillo pad.  Back to the original...after numerous coats of a little white paint mixed with a little walnut glaze, then watered down walnut glaze to go down in the cracks, he ended up looking a bit like an old bronze statue.  I kind of liked him, but when I got up this morning, that old painting jones got the better of me and I got back at it before I even ate breakfast (or got dressed for that matter-I know, it's a sickness).  I wanted him lighter.  After a little more white paint mixed with a little glaze, ragged on, I sort of liked him, but he was a little chalky looking and the walnut glaze in the cracks seemed a bit too...well, wal-nutty.  SO, add some black paint to the watered down concoction and drippled that all over and then wiped if off the surface, just leaving it in the cracks.  Better.  I think we're getting there.  This is the result.

In this picture, he looks a tad zombie-ish, so I think he may get a little more dabbing of color in his face.  Tweaking, tweaking, always tweaking...sigh.

Overall, I think I'm happy with him, but there's always room for improvement, right?

Don't forget to enter my ROMANTIC PRAIRIE STYLE SHOW ME YOUR STYLE PHOTO CHALLENGE.   Click over to that post to get the low-down and send me your take on the romantic prairie style.  You never know...you may be in fabulous Fifi's next book!  No, I don't have any inside information, no I do not know if she has another book planned, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.  One thing I can say for sure, the winner will receive a copy of Fifi O'Neill's stunning new book, Romantic Prairie Style.  Archive photos are fine, you don't have to snap new ones, as long as they are YOUR personal photos of your home, garden, or studio.

Linking up with Kathleen's White Wednesday.  Pop on over for some great white inspiration.

Until next time,

Weekend Treasure Hunting

Hello Friends,

I thought I'd take a break from altering costumes for my son's Shakespeare play (yes, 5th graders doing Shakespeare-and they do it well!  Does that rock or what?), to say hello and show you a few of my finds from over the weekend.  I did a little thrifting and a lot of antiquing and came up with quite a few treasures, some for me, some for sale.  I am only showing you the white or white-ish ones since it is, after all, White Wednesday, possibly my favorite day of the week!  Least productive day of the week since I spend WAY too much time hopping around looking at all of the pretties, but still my fav!  ANYWAY, I scored the beautiful little glass apothecary jar shown above and below.  I saw it and just knew it had to be my new mother of pearl button container.  It's going to look great in my studio.

I got a set of 4 of these pretty little doilies.  I will use them for some project down the road.  Or maybe just enjoy them as doilies, who knows?  I think its important to keep an open mind, right?  My husband would tell me we could go broke keeping our minds so open, but he doesn't have to know everything!

I paid a lot for the heart shaped doily, but I have never seen a heart shaped doily before and I do have a special place in my HEART for heart shapes, so it just had to be.  I think this would be great incorporated into an altered blouse or in a beautiful Magnolia Pearl inspired purse or tote.  What do you think?
Or maybe into a lovely pillow inspired by my very talented blogging friend Rene' . Hmmmmm....  No Rene, I'm sorry, this one is mine.

These beautiful earrings are going to be cannibalized for their incredible beads and will be made into a necklace along with some of their vintage jewelry friends that I have been hoarding collecting for a year or so.  Well, no, I've never actually made a piece of jewelry, but I do have a couple of great books and I need to have a stash in order to get the proper inspiration, right?  Yeah, I think that's what the poor folks on that show "Hoarders" probably said 15 years prior to being "featured" on the show. Yikes!  There but for the grace of God...

This beautiful little fella (or maybe gal) almost didn't get picked up because of his very gold paint job.  But when I walked over and really looked at the detail, I realized that it just had to come home with me.  I will do a little makeover on him/her and subdue the paint a bit.  I'd like to leave a little of the gold and silver peeking through though. Any thoughts?  Email me or just comment on this post if you have any ideas on how to do this.  Come on, you gals are the most innovative, creative, and talented  people on the planet, I know you know.  (smile)

Just love the detail on that sweetie.  Ivy crown (or is it grape leaves?  A horticultural genius I am not, I leave that to my brilliant husband), bird's nest in the hand, sweet face... does it get any better?  Well, after a little make over it does, but other than that, I think not.

I almost fainted when I saw this incredible vanity tray.  Nuff said.

Swoon...

Lastly, the thrift store was a bit of a dud where home goods were concerned, but where clothing was concerned, I was pleased.  Check out this gorgeous top from one of my fav stores, White House Black Market.  I couldn't buy it fast enough.  Love its lace detail and the color is divine.  I'm thinking "date night".

Well ladies, must rock and roll.  I'm linking up with Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday.  YAY!

DON'T FORGET to enter my 100th post giveaway here.  Time is getting short for you to win a copy of Fifi O'Neill's Romantic Prairie Style and one of my lavender sachets.  Entries need to be in by midnight Mountain time tomorrow, March 31st with the winner being announced April 1st, so get on over there.  You'll be glad you did.

Until next time,

A Good Day Junkin'

Still beats a good day at work.  OK, I know, the phrase is, "a bad day junkin' beats a good day at work", but I had a GOOD day junkin', so EVEN BETTER!!!  I went out to a couple of places this weekend, one which I go to once in a while, and one that I'd never been to before, and look what I came up with.

10 count em 10 uncut yards of super wide crocheted lace-it is probably almost a foot wide.  Would this be great on a bed skirt or couch skirt, or WHAT?

And then there's this stool.  Is it cute or is it cute???   Oh wait, I know the answer...loving those worm holes or whatever they are on the top.

I can't seem to pass up cute bags of crochet thread.  You'd think I crocheted or something!  I'll use the creamy ones with some others I have for display in an apothecary jar.  The pastel ones will no doubt end up in a pretty sewing box that I will put together for sale on Our Cottage Garden.  The little pink tissue napkins will probably land in some type of art project since I'm not too keen on using them as napkins.  Like the thought of the pretty vintage-ness of it, not sure about the vintage germs (I am a microbiologist, ya know).

Love the vintage tobacco tin and the old bottle.  The bottle will be dolled up, the tin I bought to alter, but I'm sort of liking it as is, so I may just leave it and put it on Etsy.

Then, as if I weren't having a good enough time, what did my little eye spy? 

A LARGE cement Madonna (the mother of Jesus, not the pop star).  Her chippy multi layered paint called me over and beckoned me to take a closer look.  I have to admit, I started looking around as though everyone must surely be laying in wait for me to make my move and then walk on so they could swoop in.  But perhaps that was just the Jeanne d'Arc Living lover in me making me paranoid. (Speaking of that, have you seen the new issue???  SHREAK!  I think it may just be my favorite one yet.  But I digress.)  I still did the cool, disinterested mosey-over just in case.  You know the one I'm talking about-if you're a junker, you've done it.  Yep, cool as a cucumber, that was me.  Look at something close to the piece for a little bit, then casually let your eye wander down to the item you're really interested in.  Then, without looking TOO interested, check it out.  Look like maybe, if you want, I could take it off your hands...pull off price tag, just in case someone else might be lurking.  Try not to skip on the way to cashier.  

 

She's not in a proper place yet, but I had to share a little peek with you because you guys "get it".  Mr. FL, not so much, but I'm used to it (and so is he).  Anyway, when she is situated, I'll take some more pics and share them with you.  I told Mr. FL I intended to sell her and honestly, I planned on it, but she's like a hundred pounds and I'm not sure I want to take that on, and well...she is so pretty.  And chippy.  And perfect.  And...well, you know.  

And on that note, I think I've babbled on enough for one post.  Do you have a favorite junking story?  Like a purchase for sale that, well, never made it to the shop?  Come on, we're friends, you can tell me!

Until next time,

Linking up with Kathleen's White Wednesday. Come on over and join the fun.