A Quick DIY Tip

Picture this-

You're driving down the road and suddenly you see two abandoned chairs on the side of the road. You stop immediately, jump out and rush over to throw them in your car. 

But wait! Oh No!!!! One of them has a broken leg and the joints are all in disrepair. You have to leave them behind right?

Well maybe not... fixing a broken peg on a chair is not as hard as you may think it is! I had a similar situation happen to me a few weeks ago, I didn't find my chairs on the side of the road but at the thrift store for $5 each!

One is in good shape but joints were all out of whack and a leg was broken on the other. Hence the cheap price. Today I am here to share with you a quick fix for those broken pegs in the chair legs. 

All you need is- wood dowels (I used 1/4"

                            - drill 

                            - drill bit (the same width as your dowels- in my case a 1/4" drill bit)

                            - wood glue

                            - clamps

First I drilled a pilot hole with a smaller size drill bit than the one you will use for your final hole into the old dowel. Try to center it as much as you can, and be careful not to knock off any other legs in the process! Do this in both the chair leg and the spindle that supports the leg. Once the pilot hole was done use your 1/4" drill bit to widen the pilot hole. This is where we will insert our dowel.

Get your wood glue and dowel out. Start by putting wood glue into the holes you drilled and then onto your dowel. Insert the dowel into one hole and attach the other side to the open end of the dowel.

Finally add wood glue to any other joint that could use some reglueing and clamp all joints. 

Wipe off any excess glue and let dry overnight! When all finished drying you'll have a chair that's fit to sit in!

I wish everyone a happy and safe Labor Day Weekend! 

Tile Tray Makeover

Good Monday Morning Everyone! How was everyone's weekend? Our was pretty eventful. Saturday we jetted out of town and hit some of the wineries that Oklahoma has to offer. The main event we were headed for was a Grape Stomp at Chapel Creek Winery in El Reno Oklahoma. 

Con and Saw

Not only is Chapel Creek a winery it's a farm as well. So the boys got to run around and chase goats and play while we sipped wine.

Me stomping grapes

I must say I am glad I got to stomp some grapes but it was kind of gross feeling- not sure it's I'd like to do often. 

I also was able to finish up another project this weekend. Again one of my thrift store finds. Remember these guys?

This tray in particular-

Now I'm all about vintage find but this is one butt ugly tray. There is good vintage and bad and this is bad. Those tiles had to go for one. Luckily they popped out pretty easily. Almost as if they never wanted to be there in the first place. 

The tray has nice carving so I painted it a soft grey and sanded the edges to add some detail. (I swear I took more pictures of this but must have accidentally deleted). Using some tile samples leftover from a past design project I laid them out and glued them into place using Gorilla Glue.

Then since my new tiles were smaller than the original ones I used tile caulk to fill the edges. Messy but effective. Side note- I thought it would be easy to scrape off any excess caulk but it wasn't. I finally found some Goo Gone and got it off that way. Just in case you wanted to try this yourself!

Let is all dry and Voila you're done! Not to bad for a $2 tray. Everything else I had on hand. :)

My original plan was to sell this and some of my other recent finds in a shop here in town like I have done in the past, but someone expressed special interest in this piece so it's going to be a gift instead. Sorry Altusians! 

All in The Family

This summer we made the trek down to Louisiana for my mom's side of the family's annual Family Reunion. Now my my grandmothers (my mom's mom) hails from a family of 10 brothers and sisters. And my mom herself has 5 brothers and sisters. So you can imagine that this Family Reunion is serious business. They do it every year and we take up a whole hotel for the weekend. This is the first time I have made it back in 3 years.

We have a family talent show, 

Connor (in the whale shirt) singing with his Cousins

games and art for kids, 

golf and nightly card tournaments for the adults and an all around good time. 

Hubs playing Bourre` with the fam

The one thing that always impresses me is the artistic talent that runs in the family. I've already mentioned before that my mom is one who inspired me and encouraged my creative side. On top of that....

One of my second cousins; Hanna Lane, is a soon to be famous artist (if she isn't already!). I'm currently saving my Birthday. Christmas, Anniversary gift to purchase one of her paintings.

My cousin Brandy is incredibly craft with tiles and paint.

My Uncle does amazing ink drawings.

Some of his French Quarter Drawings

And come to find out that one of my second Uncles is also a furniture designer. He says he just "dabbles" in wood work but looking at this awesome Cherry side table (that I was fortunate enough to win at our Family Raffle) I beg to differ. 

Sadly my lovely table is residing at my parents house at the moment. I wasn't planning on winning a table so we didn't have room for it on the ride home. Hopefully we can pick it up in the next month or so before my mom claims it as her own.

What talents does your family have?

A Shabby Glam Bedroom Design

A friend of mine asked me to help her with her soon to be built Master Bedroom. She and her husband are building their dream home and have been looking for ideas and inspiration for the house. After some discussion and looking at her inspiration images here are the plans and mood board I came up with.

Here is the proposed furniture plan with an elevation of the North wall:

The ceilings are 10' at the lowest point. Sitting area is partially separated from the bedroom and has a large window overlooking the back yard. I envision a wall of built ins containing a Dresser/Media Storage console, a desk/ vanity space, and a small built in that houses a refridgerator with storage for coffee supplies. How awesome would it be to have a coffee maker and all your creamer right there in your bedroom when you wake up in the morning? Plus the fridge could be used to keep wine as well! Ya, awesome - ness. The small double doors on the right lead to the bathroom.

And here is the scheme. She loves the cool blues and beiges that remind her of being at a  beach. She loves shabby chic, but I didn't want the room to be to feminine because her husband has to live there as well. So I added rich, dark grey velvet curtains and some stainless steel to even out the chic-ness.

Sources:

Bed

Dresser / Desk

Desk Chair

Bench

Bed Pillows

Bedside Table

Club Chairs

Round Wood Table

Rug

Curtains

Lamps

Desk Lamp

Lighting Suggestions:

Chandelier

Source

Or 

Source

Bedding Suggestion:

Source

What do you think?!

A Little Bit of Audrey in My Life

A while back, well more than a while it's been several months; I won a contest for a hand sketched portrait of Audrey Hepburn from Fall Into London's Etsy Shop

I wasn't sure where to hang it until inspiration struck the other day. Audrey Hepburn isn't only known for her famous movie roles but also for her inspirational saying and quotes. I thought it would be nice to create a little inspiration vignette on my wall in the bath room. I searched online for some of my favorite Audrey quotes and framed them with the sketch.

The Quotes read- "Walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

"As you get older you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, and one for helping others."

"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul."

I like waking up in the mornings and looking and reflecting on these ideas. I also added some pictures of the kiddos and a sketch that my Uncle did of a cafe in New Orleans- I'm surrounding myself with all my favorite things!

And did you notice that Sa-Weet detail on the Audrey frame?

It was one of my thrift store finds from last week! It looked like this remember?

I painted it glossy black and sealed it with laquer. I like the moody vibe it has now- no more brown town!

Have a Happy and Inspirational Monday Everyone!

Latest Thrifty-ness

I feel like I've gone through a long dry spell at the thrift store lately. Besides the bamboo trays I bought last week it's been slim pickins. I don't know if it competition from other people looking for similar things or if people haven't been donating as much the last few months.

All this changed however yesterday when I popped in just looking for a picture frame to repaint. I found a few goodies to fill my basket!

First up is this pair of chairs:

The last thing I need in my life right now is chairs but they were only $5 each! I thought they had good detail and would be worth making over. 

I'll probably pawn them off to a friend when I'm finished overhauling them.

Next up is this lovely duo-

I found the frame I needed and winner of a tray circa 1975 (I'm guessing?)

Both these guys will be hard to recognize when I'm done with them!

Have you had any luck at the thrift store lately? Or have you encountered a dry spell as well?

Just a Quickie...

Ummm I'm talking about a quick DIY project- what were you thinking??? Ew...

Anywho I thought I scheduled this to post last week and I'm all like- "Man, no one is commenting on my project. *Sad Face*" But to my surprise I didn't click publish, so here you go~ one crafty DIY just for you one week late! :)

Last week I found these super cool bamboo trays at Goodwill for only $1.50 for the pair!! Score!

I think bamboo is making a comeback. Not like in the 70's/ 80's where it was over used- but nicely mixed in with modern decor to give a room a touch of natural elements. These little trays are a great way to bring that natural look into my home in a subtle way. Since I have 2 of them I thought it would be fun to paint one and to leave the other natural. I have some Pantone Celestial Blue samples I've been wanting to use and this was the perfect opportunity for it!

I left the "supports" the natural wood for some contrast.

And here is the natural one. I think it will be fun to change them out and use the two to create different looks as needed.

Are you digging bamboo or do you think it should stay put in the 70's?

Linking here