Capturing Your White Whale

That's what I feel like- like I've finally tracked down and reeled in a piece of furniture I have been lusting after for years- like since college. I don't know if Captain Ahab ever caught Moby Dick- I actually have not read that monster of a book. But I can imagine his plight. Always looking, keeping his eyes peeled every moment for an opportunity to catch his prize.

That's kind of how I was about Eames Chairs. I've talked a lot about Eames furniture on the blog before. It's an obsession that started in design school and grew after interning at a Herman Miller Dealership. I loved the  modern look and all the bright colors. But what I've always wanted was a genuine vintage piece to call my own. And if you know me I also did not want to pay big bucks for it. ;)

Vintage Book Letters

Hey All! Is everyone gearing up for Christmas? We are but aren't. I'm so ready for the holiday but I still have shopping to do! Ack!!

In the meantime instead of getting things done around the house... I've been trying to get some items into the shop for last minute Christmas shoppers. You have most likely seen these before:

Similar ones were sold at Anthropologie and other specialty stores this season. They are super cool but were super expensive (to me at least). I knew it was a project I could tackle myself. 

Antique Ceiling Tin Table

One of the things I am loving about having a space to sell my creations is that if I see a piece of furniture I can save I don't have to justify it by finding a place for it in our home. Or convincing the Hubs that we do need another chair, or table, or side board. (Our house is getting pretty full...) And I can design the piece the way it speaks to me- I don't have to make it fit to my decor.

This table for instance:

It was a throw away because the top tier was broken and gone. The top for the bottom table (faux leather) was warped and worn. I can see why the people tossed it. But something about it spoke to me and I knew I could make it new again.

Getting A Handle On It

Sorry for the lack of posting after Labor Day Weekend- things have been busy around here as of late! Just a quick DIY for you today. Do you remember back when I mentioned our old house was the gift that kept on giving? Well it's still giving two years later and we don't even live there anymore!

I had saved several old door knobs from our 1930's house and brought them with us when we moved. I already used most of them but still had the glass one left to make something out of.

(See how I made these useable in this post)

For the glass knob I made this:

Pretty simple but I like the contrast of the glass and the old salvaged wood. The wood is left over from my Pallet Texas, the knob and key hole from our old home. 

I just cut some wood down to size, sanded, screwed the key hole on, then predrilled a hole to screw my door knob into. 

(Only picture I had depicting screw in a door knob)

Simple and effective! Have you created anything for free lately?

Shining Some Light On The Subject

The subject being our kitchen sink. Our fabulous builder grade rental home only has 1 light in the kitchen area of the home; which drives me crazy when I'm trying to wash dishes at night. Solution? Rigging up some awesome vintage pendant lights!

You may remember when I bought these a while back, I wasn't sure what to do with them. I always had it in the back of my mind that they would look great clustered together as a ceiling fixture.

But I didn't think it would be possible in our current home given that we are renting and I can't really go around switching and rewiring light fixtures. (Or at least I shouldn't in good conscience because I sure did think about it.)

Well, last week while doing the dishes in the semi darkened cave that is our kitchen I thought- "Why don't I just use some of the Ikea pendant lights I have lying around and hang my green fixtures from those!?"

And a project was born! First up was cutting some wood pieces to fill in the missing tops of the two larger lights. I drilled a large hole for the wiring to go through then painted them to match  and screwed them to the predrilled holes on my existing pendant shells

 (Sorry for the lack of pictures)

Next was hanging them. I screwed 3 hooked in the ceiling and ran the wiring to the wall and down. I kept it as clean as I could but of course hardwiring would have been best.

Hubs making lunch while I risked my life on the ladder.

And then all finished!

No more doing dishes in the dim light and I've added a bit of character to our characterless home! And- Bonus- I can take them with me when we move to our next home! Score!

Where the Heck I've Been

I know, I've been gone for almost 2 weeks! Horrible blogger. Things have been hectic around here. Blogging and project making have taken a backseat. 

First thing that happened was the huge tornado in Moore, OK. Thankfully we live 2 hours away from Moore and the devastation that took place there. But that didn't stop the amazing people in our town (who have friends and family in Moore) to find away to help out. I along with lots of others spent most of that week gathering supplies and donations to send to our fellow Oklahomans (Okies? I'm not sure.) 

Then came Memorial Day weekend where we went down to Dallas to spend some much needed family time together. 

Next was the end of school and we have been summering it up. Spending lots of time outside and at the pool.

So... we're getting into a summer routine but even though I'm posting this today doesn't mean I'll get myself back in gear. The weather has been surprisingly mild so far this summer (unlike last year when it was 110 degrees everyday- not an exaggeration) and the outdoors are too tempting. :)

Ok, enough talking let me show you some projects that are hopefully upcoming!

First up is this dresser that I bought for our bedroom. I desperately needed a new dresser as my old one was way to small and falling apart. I found this "new" one and a long low dresser that matches it (that I neglected to take a picture of) in our AF Base classifieds for a steal! 

Both pieces are in good shape besides some of the wear and tear you'd expect from vintage pieces. Both dressers have some missing knobs and the veneer tops are worn. But they have dovetail joinery, are solid, and the wood looks good.

My original bedroom scheme included a white dresser and I thought I'd go for it and paint this one. But I'm having second thoughts. I may try to fix the veneer best I can and leave it as is. Anyone have a vote?

Second find is this awesome vintage headlight. I loved the chipped paint and overall look of it. The shop owner said it still works and for $4 I thought it was worth it.

My grand scheme is to make a bad @ss light for Con-Man's room. But of course I've run into issues. Auto headlights run on 9v (I think) and our homes run on 110v. I have to convert the light to be compatible with the wiring in the house. I'm not 100% clear on how to do this and of course I can't figure out how to get the darn thing open to take it apart in the first place. It's quite the conundrum. 

And last but not least is this set of enamel pendant lights. I bought them a few weeks ago, have no clue what to do with them, and they have been sitting in my closet since. 

Again I thought they were cool looking and for the price I didn't want to pass them up. Maybe I'll turn one of them into a light, but I feel like I could make something else with them too. Who knows?? 

Thats part of the fun I guess. Waiting for inspiration to come along. Or figuring out how to figure out how to go about doing something you've never done before as in the case of the headlight.

DIY Safe Deposit Box turned TV Console

Of all the projects, furniture redos, and DIY's I've done I think this one is my favorite. From grimy green safety deposit boxes buried underneath piles of junk in a local thrift store to this:

A new television console in our bedroom.

Here's a quick recap of what we started I started with and how I fixed these guys up-

Vintage Window Picture Frame

I was going to title this post:

"Lets see how many holes I can punch into the wall of my rental home."

But decided that was to long. (Just kidding Landlord I'm going to patch any and all these holes!) I had just hung our family photo wall not to long ago and I'm already changing it up.

Remember last week I shared this photo of the scrap wood I found?

Barreled Over

I just want to start off by thanking everyone who entered my giveaway! I'll post the winner shortly. We got back in town from our Louisiana vacation late last night- we had a great time visiting family and friends as always.

Speaking of Louisiana; I wanted to talk a little more about the barrel I found last time we were in New Orleans. 

I bought it on a whim- it was so cool and it was cheap! 

The shop owner said it is Pre-Civil War based on the square nails and wood rims (instead of some type of metal) holding it together. There's no way to prove it though; hence the price.

A Blue Redo For You

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! My LSU Tigers had a heartbreaking loss but thats ok; I'll get over it.

And don't forget that the Ana White giveaway ends today!

I wanted to share a makeover with you today. I found this metal vintage card catalog drawer at the Goodwill several months ago for just a few dollars. 

Quick Stop

Still August Breaking over here! But I have a fun giveaway to tell you about on Friday so don't wander to far off!

This past weekend I made some time for a quick stop to one of my favorite junk stores. I blogged about it a few months ago. 

Last time I stopped there I had seen an awesome vintage metal "S". I thought it would be a fun addition to Sawyers room if it was still there.

Low and behold it was!

But, the owner quoted me $70 for it!! &#(%^(@?! That was way more than I was expecting especially considering the deals I had gotten last time. So sadly I did not buy the awesome letter "S".

They had some other plastic letters I thought about buying and spray painting, 

But I didn't get those either since I didn't think they were as cool as the metal "S" I originally wanted. 

I'm considering trying to make one using this technique. We'll see.

Hope your all having a happy Wednesday!

Vintage Door Knob Wall Hanger

I hope everyone is entering the Dremel Giveaway! You have until Tuesday to enter! 


I worked on a little project last week that I think is really fun. I've mentioned in the past that our old home was a gift that kept on giving; well even though we don't live there anymore it's still giving me supplies for projects today!


When we moved in I found several old door knobs leftover from who knows when. 

I had been wanting to make a coat/ purse hanger with them but wasn't sure how to attach the knobs to wood. It wasn't until I saw this post on Infarrantly Creative that I found the answer. She used this resin mixture to fill the holes in the knobs, luckily I had some leftover from another project I was able to use. It's easy to use but messy. It comes with two resins that you mix equal parts of, then pour in the knob holes and let it dry. 

Other materials you will need:

Vintage Door Knobs

Hangar Bolts (a screw with points on both sides- I had to ask around the store to find out what they were)

Two Part Resin

Drill and bit

Clear Tape

Disposable Cups and stirring sticks

Locking Pliers

1. Use the clear tape to cover the hole that is in the knob. Press it down and make sure it sticks well.

2. Mix equal parts of the resin in the mixing cups and stir. Pour it into the holes of the knob and fill it all the way up to the top.

3. Once the mixture has cured overnight it's time to drill. Use a drill bit that is slightly smaller than the hangar bolts your going to use.

4. Use the pliers to screw the bolt into the resin. This was the toughest part. I had to put some rubber gloves on the be hold the knob tightly while screwing the bolt.

Once that was over it was time to ready my wood backing. I used some more of the pallet wood I had leftover from my sign projects and stained it a dark walnut.

I drilled 3 pilot holes then screwed the knobs into place.

All done!

I really like the look of the brass knobs with the stained wood. I have it hanging near the door for now to use for hanging my purse, hats, scarf, whatever!

The resin is a great technique to use for repurposing old knobs. If you don't want a purse hanger you can use them for knobs on drawers, screw them straight into the wall, whatever!

What would you do with old knobs?

Linking Here

Thirfty Weekend

There are a few thrift stores near our house that I like to frequent. This weekend I had some time to stop by a few of them. Technically I'm not supposed to be buying anything since we are moving. We are supposed to be getting rid of things around the house to make the move easier, but I can't help myself.


First I stopped by RetroMex. They have lots of authentic Mexican art and artifacts as well retro furniture.


I really liked their selection of chairs.


I had never seen a chair like this in rocker form:

These mid-century chairs caught my eye as well. (Sorry for the bad I-phone pics. I had Con-Man in one hand and phone in the other. :)

They had a bunch of these old cigarette holders from the days when everyone who was anyone smoked. They are pretty cool, I wonder what else you can use them for?

Cool glow-y lamp!

I saw this guy outside. It's one of the Fry Guys from McDonalds! Neat!

These planters are old tires cut up and painted. What a great reuse! 

The other place I stopped at isn't really a thrift store. It's called ABC Shelving. They mainly have old shelving they get from places that have gone out of business. I have been on the secret mission to find some lockers. (Don't tell the hubs- like I said I'm not supposed to be buying anything...) Sometimes they have some and I'm hoping to get my hands on them.

Besides old shelving they have other unique items.

Like this giant scale-

Interesting Wooden Shelves:

Mannequins anyone? (I told you they had a little bit of everything.)

What really caught my eye was this vintage drawer system. With some cleaning up and maybe a fresh coat of paint it could be a great place to hold DVD's or other knick knacks that find their way into our living room.

I was able to restrain myself even though I really considered those drawers. Must focus on the task on hand! Lockers!

Anyone else have some thrifty adventures this weekend?