A co-worker and friend wanted a simple desk painted teal after she saw the dressing table I had painted for my daughter.  So, I told her I would keep my eye out for an old desk on the cheap that I could paint for her.  Well I found the desk for $5.99 at thrift store.  I completely sanded it down to bare wood (there was much carving of unsavory nature done by previous juvenile owners).  She had picked out some really pretty knobs that were a wonderful pop of color.  I mixed some different paint colors to come up with a close match of the knobs and painted the drawers all but the front with that color.  So here are some before, during, and afters.  I was really pleased with it and so was the new owner!

Here are a pair of Christmas stockings made from an old burlap cattle feed bag.  They are for my daughter and her boyfriance.  This is their first Christmas in their new house, so they needed something really old to hang on the fireplace!

Old bed gets new life as a bench

 This is my daughter's old college bed - it was bought second hand.  It started out as a French Provencal creamy white with gold embellishments...

 My husband helped me by cutting the footboard apart and attaching the two smaller end pieces to the headboard...

 we then added stabilizer boards to the back.  The brown piece in the front was attached at the same height as the top board in back - to which we will connect the bench seat.  The front board came from the side stretchers of a Jenny Lind bed which will also be made into a bench.

You can see some white places - this is wood filler to help repair some areas which were either broken in the moves or needed filling just because.  You will also see that we added the board for the bench seat and attached some small spindles in the front of the arms.

 Close up view of the new spindle - isn't she cute!!!

Next, primer - the bench will be white when finished, so this primer is perfect - no sanding needed - wonderful!

 Back view of headboard.

 And she's all painted white with the bench seat covered w/foam and batting - masking tape is in place to hold the upholstered oval which will go on the back.

 ...and we are almost done.  Only need to add the finishing touches to the oval.

 I just love this fabric...

and was very fortunate that I already had the lace and blue rope edging from previous projects.

This is the finished bench...in my garage...

...and this is the bench in my daughter's home...by the back door in the kitchen.  This was a great way to repurpose a piece of furniture which was no longer needed as it was, into a whole new useful piece of furniture.

 

The Old Closet Door Gets a New Life...

This is a project I worked on with my husband.  It began as an old door from the house my daughter and her boyfriend had updated.  I had seen similar projects on Pinterest and thought this would be a wonderful way for her to keep the door and give it a new and useful purpose.  See the journey of one door into a wonderful plant stand...

 

 

 

 

Mom's Birthday Gift

 

plant stand silver finish

pitcher and bowl and small brass bird on a branch



used floral sticky to affix bird to bowl

didn't like the silver finish, so painted black

 













added some nice beach glass and shells to bowl

 

 

 I have been buying lots and lots of things to use in projects - but have not had lots and lots of time to do those projects.  I am posting, today, this little bird bath/planter which I made for my mother's 83rd birthday gift.  She loves to sit on her back patio and watch the birds and her cats.  She has a really nice patio area and I think this little gift will add to her scenery.