Boudoir Organizer or Spice Rack?

 

The little spice rack I updated last week went so well, I thought I'd give another dowdy, outdated spice rack a new life as well.   I've had this in my stash for 2-3 years - time to do something with it or get rid of it!

 

Plain, boring, dirty, scuffed - not looking very loved.  I'm about to fix that!

 

My daughter hated the font "Spices" was carved in, so that had to go.  

A little wood filler and a good sanding took care of it.

 

Loved the tag on the back, but there was no easy way to save it...it's 

hidden under the paint now :(

 

Above is the rack after wood filler, sanding, and a couple coats of spray paint - Valspar's Pewter Gray in gloss finish.  A very light gray really.

 

And  fast forward to done!  This is the finished project after some distressing, walnut stain, and a cute little embellishment was added.

 

Perfect for the boudoir - to hold girly things like scarves, 

jewelry, sun hats, perfume....

  

maybe I should add a couple of cup hooks to the outer sides to hold more...

 

And of course it could still work great in a shabby kitchen 

with spice bottles lined up on the shelves.

What else might you use it for?  

Would love to get your ideas!  

Leave me a comment!

Cost: $5 for the rack at a yard sale

$1 for the embellishment

Maybe $1 for paint and stain, sandpaper, etc.

Total: A cool $7!

Linking up to my favorite weekly parties!:

 

Fresh Start for a Vintage Spice Rack

I liked this little spice rack - especially the bottles it held!  I had a plan in mind for the clear glass gems with their little stoppers. Well worth the $2 I spent on the set at a yard sale.  So the bottles found new uses, while the wooden rack got tossed in my stash of future projects.  That was 2 years ago...or maybe 3.  It caught my eye when I was rummaging through the stash last week and I decided its time had come.

The rack was shabby/shoddy for sure.  Besides the expected scratches and dull finish from years of use, one of the wooden slats across the back was scotch-taped on. Lovely. and there was a small hunk of wood missing from one corner of the tiny drawer.

 

  

A good cleaning, sanding and wipe down, along with wood glue and a couple of tiny brads to replace the tape, and it was ready to paint.

 

I used Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze spray paint - the perfect backdrop to the pure white milk glass spice jars I had kept from another spice rack project.  My original plan was to distress and antique...but the freshness of the blue just deserved to be left as is.  The antique-look can come naturally over time, or by design at some point in the future if I change my mind.

 

I love that little drawer at the bottom!  It's the perfect size to hold small items like matches or keys.  I couldn't resist adding a surprise pop of color to the bottom of it with some scrapbook paper.  Fun!  And I estimate my total cost at maybe $5...$2 for the rack (yard sale) + $2 worth of spray paint + a few cents for the costs of the scrapbook paper, sandpaper, brads and glue.

Maybe spring lurking right around the corner is another reason to keep this piece fresh, bright and shiny as a new penny...to remind me spring with all its new beauty will replace winter blahs and cold soon.

Linking up to these great linky parties:

 

Easy Coffee Filter Wreath - made difficult :)

I know, I know - these coffee filter wreaths have been all over blog-land for the last year. That's about right for me...usually takes me a little while to jump on the bandwagon :) But I'm sharing the one I made last week anyway - because I love it!
Difficult isn't exactly the right word for this project, but as often seems to happen with me, I managed to add several steps to what should have been a super-fast, simple project! But I think it still turned out right for my taste, so, what's a little time, if the end result is great?

I wanted a more vintage/organic design - pure white is a bit too fussy for me. So off I went to buy unbleached filters. White was the only choice available, so I decided rather than go to several stores searching I'd just do white. But really - could I JUST DO pure white? Of course not. So I decided to tea stain the filters. I tossed a half dozen tea bags into a pot of boiling water and added the filters. I removed the pot from heat and let the filters "brew" for about 20 minutes and then spread them out to dry by our pellet stove. Any reason to spend time near the pellet stove right now, watching the flames dance while warming my tushie & toes, is welcome :)All 250 of them layered on my funky, chunky long table...looked kind of neat!
I had a straw wreath form I bought for 75 cents at a thrift store. I removed the plastic. Seemed like the right thing to do. Wrong. Straw bits were flying every direction when I touched it! Six of the coffee filters wrapped around the wreath and secured with hot glue took care of that issue. Not likely I'll buy straw again, but if I do, note to self - leave the plastic wrapper on!

Next I had to decide how to arrange the filters. The crimped look they had before their tea bath was pretty much gone. So I decided to fold each filter in half (sorry-didn't think to take pics of this part), then lightly fold in thirds, creating a fan shape. Then I hot-glued the point of the fan to the form. Repeat about 200 times, filling in as you go....and there you have it!
I knew before I ever started it would look perfect tied to this old frame - which set me back a whole 25 cents at a yard sale last summer. It's almost invisible in these photos, but the detail on the frame is really beautiful. And it was already naturally "distressed"!
And the burlap-ish ribbon was something I picked up on a whim a few weeks ago. Wasn't sure where I would use it exactly, but knew it was perfect for something!
My darling daughter-in-law has some great ideas for a statement wall using this...hopefully I'll get around to putting that together and posted before summer!

2011 - A Year of Sharing

2010 slipped by with no posts to this blog. It wasn't really intentional. Life simply filled up with so much 'stuff' ... some not so good, along with LOTS of good ... that I didn't take the time. I resolve in 2011 that I will share! Posting is good. Knowing I want to get at least one post a week in means I have to really focus on a project or other share-worthy accomplishment. And I've got a ton of things on my 'want-to-do' list that I hope to share in 2011!

For starters, how about this sweet, vintage, front door monogram? Hubby's parents had those wonderful storm doors with their surname initial that were so popular in the 1950s-60s. The doors are long gone, but this monogram has found a new purpose...
I dismantled the old storm door to get this off, and my dear husband removed a couple of pieces that were still riveted on that I didn't care for....and voila! A wonderful vintage piece perfect for hanging next to our front door to welcome guests to our home. For Christmas/Winter I've added greenery and pine cones. I'll update the look for spring and other seasons/holidays - stay tuned for those!

Linking to my first-ever linky party over at Beyond the Picket Fence!

Vintage Junk Crazed

It seems I'm vintage/junk-crazed these days. Not that I haven't loved old stuff before now, but it appears to be growing....now including items from the 50's-60's and even the 70's. I'm a yard sale junkie and I find myself zeroing in on the vintage and broken/rusty/crusty stuff and turning my nose up at the new.

Good news is, I'm not alone. From websites like Etsy to The Junk Revolution, to the tons of blogs out there authored by those with the same addiction, there is a growing population who are enamored with old stuff. Some because they are old enough to be nostalgic, others because of the "green" element (reduce, reuse, recycle), and others just because they're getting caught up in the fun!

I've posted previously about aprons, bowls and plates and such. Now I'm caught up in cut glass, and crystal pieces, and milk glass. Love these! I changed out from a lot of darker, heavier pottery pieces for these lighter, brighter pieces for spring. Just need my flowers to start blooming so I can fill the vases!

Vintage Aprons

Textiles - I find myself drawn to them when rummaging at yard sales ... tea towels, aprons, curtains, rugs, and so on. Old chenille bedspreads and quilts and comforters have several entries on my list of purchases for this past year. I've never paid much attention to aprons until this year, and though I only bought 5, they were wonderful finds. The first was a snow-white cotton bib apron with Battenburg lace accents. Then at one sale I got all of the other four:

I had never seen one of this sort before. A city on the shores of a sea or ocean, in what seems to be a view from above, as though I were looking down from a hill. Grapes or berries, growing on an arbor or garden gate, frame the view. I get a Meditteranean or Italian impression, certainly unlike the fabric of the aprons Mom or Grandma wore when I was growing up!

Now these two do remind me of my childhood - the red ric-rac touches bring to mind my grandmother, and the more contemporary, zig-zaggy stripes remind me of Mom's aprons.

And this adorable child's apron in a filmy, satiny, see-through fabric (chiffon?) looks like something some little suzy-homemaker might have enjoyed in the 50's-60's. The pocket is embroidered with "I Love Mommy" inside a heart bordered with roses - for Mommy's very own little cook-in-training. I have the black apron and the ric-rac apron hanging on the buffet in my kitchen. The other two just don't seem to fit in the old farmhouse feel, but I've kept them, just because I like them I suppose. I don't think either one would be easy to sell (the striped one is a bit faded and the child's apron has two tiny snags), and I certainly never bother to wear an apron, so I guess they are just another hang-up of mine!