Blogging from the Craft Show

I'm at a craft show today, hoping to thin out my stock of cat beds and other creations! Thought I would use the time to share something I was working on last week. A while back I picked up this antique lamp base at a yard sale to refinish for my mom. She has a spinning wheel and spins her own fiber into yarn, plus she has a dedicated craft room that it will look great in. 

It needs to be rewired, and I still need to work on that. It also didn't have a lampshade, so I picked up an inexpensive one with an interesting shaped frame and discarded the old stained fabric. 

I started collecting vintage lace and handkerchiefs at estate sales to make into a shade. I traced the lampshade frame onto a piece of fabric to use as a pattern, and then arranged the lace and hankies overlapping each other. 

I hand stitched all of the edges of lace together to make one solid piece of layered fabric to cover the frame. Then I used hot glue to secure to the frame. I think it looks great! I might add a bit of ribbon on the top and bottom edges to make it look more finished. I can't wait to see how it looks with the light shining through the lace. I'll make sure to post a picture when it's all rewired. It's going to be a Christmas gift, so shhhhh! Mom doesn't know I blog. 

One other thing I'll show today is the cheesecloth ghost I finally made. I've been wanting to try this for years! I can't say it came out quite as good as Martha Stewart's, or looks quite as recognizable as a ghost, but I still like it. 

The process is to saturate cheesecloth in liquid starch and lay over a form that will create the ghost's body. My form was made of a tall mug with a ball of tin foil perched on top, and thin dowels sticking out the side for arms. I couldn't find liquid starch anywhere, so I made my own with just cornstarch and boiling water. It worked great. I wasn't sure if I should ring out the cheesecloth or leave it totally saturated. I left it saturated, so it took about 24 hours to fully dry. 

Long Time No Blog

I miss blogging! I've been MIA because I really haven't been working on any grand projects, but now I'm thinking - it's my blog, so if I want to write about something less grand I'm going to! I think I have a couple readers, so I hope that doesn't disappoint you. 

Here's what's been going on. I've booked myself silly with craft shows this fall, and I've been making some stock for them. I am not focusing solely on cat beds and toys because I like to make other stuff too. I have a bunch of crocheted baby hats I made last year and a little sweater set I made this year. The sweater was actually intended as a gift but it was too big so I made another! So just in case it looks familiar to anyone, that's why. Here are some photos of my work: 

I also made some little critters that I just sold to a friend via facebook! I am so excited! 

And then there was my favorite little guy, who is not for sale! 

Although I could make more if someone wanted one. 

I will also be bringing these little mason jar sewing kits to the craft shows. I've sold a few so far. I think they are the perfect little gift for a kid to give their mom for the holidays, so I'm keeping them affordable at $5. 

I have one other project I want to finish before the next craft show, which is turning some of those mini shutters I got a while back into holiday decorations. I have all the materials, but I need the time and space to paint the shutters. Hopefully that will be this weekend and I can post pictures. 

Something else I was busy with last month was a volunteer project for a group called Click for Babies. It's an organization that promotes awareness about Shaken Baby Syndrome, and they were collecting purple infant hats all through September. I roped in about 6 other people to contribute, and in all we created nearly 30 hats. Here's a photo of most of them. 

Please disregard my messy desk. 

I guess it turns out I had more project related things to write about than I thought. Here's a pic of Lily "helping" with a crochet pattern, to end this post with a smile. 

The Ultimate Compliment

Over the weekend I had some friends over for a craft day, and one person walked in and said, "It looks like Pinterest exploded in here!" I considered it a huge compliment, especially coming from a fellow crafter. 

Then of course the ultimate compliment is this stamp of approval from the queen of the house:

Doughbox Side Table Makeover

The second piece of furniture I worked on refinishing over the past few weeks was the doughbox inspired end table I got at a school rummage sale.

After removing the hinges and other hardware, I sanded the old chipping finish of the wood and wiped it down with a wet rag. 

I chose a blue-gray paint for this piece because I couldn't decide where I wanted to put it in my apartment. The gray will go nicely in either room. I wanted to try a lace stencil technique on the top of the piece, so I painted the top surface in a lighter blue color to be the base behind the stencil.

I picked up this lace panel from a thift store and was so excited to try it out. I taped it down and used  a foam paint roller to go over it with the main gray color. Unfortunately, it was not a success. The paint completely soaked through the lace and the fabric got stuck to the surface. I wound up having to scrape off what I could and resand the surface again. Very frustrating! Spray paint would have likely worked better.

My back up plan for if this didn't work was to use a stencil I had from a previous project. I repainted the top with gray paint and stenciled over it with the light blue paint.

I finished off the project with a clear glaze and reattached the hardware, which I had previously spray painted matte black. I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

August Craft Shows!

I've been hard at work getting ready for the two craft shows I'm doing this month. I'll be selling my upcycled sweater cat and small dog beds, and my new catnip toys from upcycled baby socks! The first event is Saturday, August 16th in Sparta from 10am until 5pm. 

It's more than a craft show. It's an all-day fair for families that to raise money for pediatric brain cancer research. This cause strikes a chord with me because a few years back, I co-organized a bake sale to raise money for a little girl in my hometown who was suffering with an incurable brain cancer.  Here is another way for us to support these children and our community, and I hope they have a huge turn out. For more information please check out their website: www.pediatricride.com.

The second craft show is Saturday, August 23rd. This is being held at the Meyersville Grange in Gillette from 12pm to 5pm during their annual Peach Festival. Come take a look at what the vendors have to offer and enjoy some delicious peaches and cream. 

I'm hoping to do well at these shows! I'll be happy to thin down my inventory, although I know someone else who won't be pleased by that:

Telephone Table Makeover!

This blog has been a long time coming!! If you recall, a few months ago I spotted this diamond in the rough curbside:

It's been living in my parents' garage while I decided what I wanted to do with it. Over the past few weeks I've been spending a few hours each weekend sanding and painting, and here is the progression. I am so proud of this piece because I did every step of it myself!

I chose this fabric remnant for the cushion and then selected a bold paint color. 

I started off by removing the seat cushion and taking off the old vinyl. I had shown a photo of the piece to one of the owners at a local antique store, and he told me it looked to be 1940's, but that vinyl wasn't made until the 50's. He said to check and see if there was original fabric underneath, which would confirm that it's a 40's piece. Well, I was super excited to find that there WAS fabric under the vinyl, and I thought it was awesome to see that it was originally fastened with nails rather than the staples used on the vinyl. 

Although I see why it was recovered. 

Despite it's appearance, I decided to recover it without removing the original fabric first, because I just love that it exists from 70 years ago. 

Using a paint scraper, sandpaper, and elbow grease, I sanded the surfaces until they were smooth. 

If I ever own a home with a garage I can use as a workspace, I'm going to invest in some tools. Like a power sander. 

I used a paint and primer in one to paint the wood, and it still needed three coats to cover the black. 

The color is Behr Enchanting Ginger in eggshell finish. 

I let the paint fully dry by bringing it inside the air conditioned house instead of the humid garage, and then the following weekend I finished it with a clear gloss made by Rustoleum. It's supposed to be chip proof, so we will see! And it's also super shiny. 

In the meantime I recovered the cushion with some quilt batting and my fabric, after an annoying delay due to having the wrong staples to fit in the staple gun.  I'm excited that basically just from watching the amount of DIY shows that I do, I know the proper technique for basic reupholstery. 

The gloss required 48 hours to fully set before using the piece, so I impatiently waited a few days before going back to attach the cushion. Once it was finished, my parents loved it so much they were joking around about how wonderful it would look in their entryway. But alas, my dad helped me load it into my car so I could bring it to it's rightful place. There was a lot of rearranging done before I was happy with the placement, because I really wanted it to be a focal point in my living room. 

Here is the completed project!!

And what telephone table would be complete without a retro rotary phone?! Right now it's just decoration, but I'm going to see if it will work! 

I am in love with this finished makeover. In addition to being proud of doing all the work myself, I'm also proud of the total investment amount! 

Cast off furniture piece: Free

Inspiration fabric remnant: $2.00

Paint and gloss (gloss was also used on another piece of furniture so I'm only counting half the cost): about $17.00

So for less than $20 I have a beautiful, custom piece for my home. And don't forget an extra $10 for that retro phone from an antiques garage sale! 

Before and after, one more time!