Melony's Whimsy Daisy!

The Ugly Duckling Desk Makeover

Happy Pink Saturday, friends! Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to enjoy all the other pink participants. 

A while back I blogged  about a heavy metal desk I got for free. I love free.

 

It needed a makeover and I sort of overdid it with the make-up, and it was left looking a little clownish. So, above is the BEFORE picture, but I couldn't bring myself to show the AFTER picture. The desk has set in its garish glory being ignored.

Below: that's the makeup

Yes, I do believe I used every color except the red. I was like a fifth grader turned loose with blue eye shadow! I couldn't stop myself from shaking and spraying. Shaking and spraying. Shaking and spraying...... 

 

 I wasn't about to re-paint the OVERpainted desk-of-many-colors, so I've decided to tone it down. I began the twelve step program with an artist canvas.

 

Then, I selected some of my favorite fabric. This is by Michael Miller, who is just about my favorite fabric designer of all time. 

***By the way, you can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger and see the dust on my floor.***

Do you hear the ladies below chatting?

"Yes, Mary Fran, I simply adore the way my new hair pomade holds my bob in place."

 

It was hard to cut into the fabric. Always a problem for me. I began to ponder:

I could make a cute skirt out of this fabric...if I were forty pounds thinner, I could actually wear the cute skirt after I made it.

I could make a tablecloth out of this fabric...if nobody would spill on it. Forget that.

Then, I asked myself these two questions.

1. Melony, are you the boss of this fabric? 2. Or is the fabric the boss of you?

I got out my scissors.

 

I cut out a rectangle of the newly submissive fabric a bit bigger than the canvas and began to staple it to the frame. As luck would have it, I ran out of staples immediately after I took this picture.

 

I love my glue gun. It is faithful and true. Sometimes love hurts. But, it eventually dries and I just pull it off along with some skin, which, so far, has always grown back.

This is just Step One in the Ugly Duckling Free Desk Makeover-Gone-Bad-Tone-Down Process. It's going to take some time to turn this puppy around. I'd be grateful if you'd ignore I cut all the poor ladies' heads off the top. Let's pretend none of us see that. Yes, I know I should have centered the fabric...thought it out more carefully...perhaps, yes, even measured. sigh.

  

Do you know about those nifty thingies you use to attach artist canvas to metal desks?

Neither did I.

Did I mention how much I love my glue gun? Squirt and press, press, press. We'll see if the ladies' are still standing in the morning.

So, overall, not bad if we ignore the decapitation. If I can't live with the headless heroines, I'll cut again and redo it...but, knowing me...I can probably live with it. sigh...being the perfectionist I am.

Happy Pink Saturday! Stay tuned for Step Two.

Oh, and if you please...do be so kind to check out my post below. It's pink too, and I would love you to meet my youngest daughter and a cause close to my heart.  

On and Off-the-Wall at the Craft Cottage

Happy Pink Saturday to all of you patrons of pink. I have a touch of pink here and there I would like to show you on one of the walls in my Craft Cottage.

I was tickled to discover an old chipped yellow feed store seed packet holder at an antique store. I spray painted it a perfect pink and have added some of my old patterns. No! Sigh. I have not sewed one of these patterns...not even one... but I think of it as art on the wall. I just enjoy the look of these wonderful ladies posing.

 

This holder is made where it can sit on a cabinet, but that kind of space is not to be had at the moment, so it was better to hang it. I'm not so sure what these two girlies think of it. One looks pretty miffed, but the other chicky is just concerned about her hair. Oh well...

 

I have had the little dress below for a long time. I cannot remember where I found it, but it really represents everything wonderful about vintage in one teeny tiny little dress. It combines sweet, the perfect shades of pink and aqua rick-rack, a frilly petticoat underneath, and an adorable old-fashioned brand name...Lucy Jane. What's not to love?

***Okay, right now, I'm daydreaming if I had a baby it could be a girl, and I would name her Lucy Jane and she would wear this dress.***  (By the way, that was the off-the-wall portion of my post today.)

 Ironing is not such a chore when I have this cute ironing board cover...or so I have tricked myself into thinking. I am one of those strange people who actually enjoys ironing, but I must admit it is more fun with these enthusiastic ladies.

 

and my old Goodwill iron with aqua accents and cord...

 

Also on this same wall stands my dress form wearing the vintage apron that was the color inspiration for my entire Craft Cottage. Look at detail in this apron and I think the combination of these colors are so cheerful.

 

Somebody had such patience with all these beautiful stitches. I like the little touch of pink.

 

On and off-the-wall adds up to this in my Craft Cottage. It could all change tomorrow!

 Please take the time to click in my sidebar and visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and all the other Pink Saturday participants...like pinkbuttercreme's blog. 

A Dresser Makeover in Pink Saturday Style!

Happy Pink Saturday!  I have been busy getting my Craft Cottage together and wanted to show you a few projects I've completed. The biggest re-do was a freebie hand-me-down unattractive brown dresser. I found some paint on the Oops shelf at Ace Hardware for $6.00 and kept adding leftover white paint until it was the shade of pink I wanted.

 

I don't know what happened to my before pictures. That is is so aggravating (sigh) but you can imagine a brown and not so pretty beat up dresser. I spray painted the handles white and this is the end pink result.

 

Then, I added my pretty bits and bobs as well as stuff that I will use in art projects to come...paint brushes, buttons, pom poms and such. It is so nice to see what I have actually OUT and not stuffed in a plastic bin. Thank you to my husband for making all this happen!

 

The paint shelf I purchased at Michael's with one of their 40% coupons. It still doesn't hold all my paints, but it's a good start and I like the ribbon storage and the other little shelves for knick-knacks.

 

 Here is a garage sale icky gold frame.

 

It was sporting my kind of price tag.

  Shake, shake, shake that can of white spray paint and s-p-r-a-y! I created my inspiration board by adding some wire to the back and attaching a little of this and that with tiny clothespins. I saw something similar on a blog somewhere, but for the life of me cannot remember which one or where. Feel free to post if you know who the creative mind was behind this. I will probably add some rick-rack or something to the frame as it is not froofy- fied up as much as I would like, but that can wait.

 

I think vintage cards are precious and will probably interchange some of my collection for inspiration on my little "bulletin" board.

 

You can read about my vintage handkerchief dress form in my previous blog post. I had a lot of fun putting it together. My great grandmother's old lace and tatting are displayed and my great grandfather's old glasses rest in their original case. 

Peeking behind it is a white spray painted old mailbox that started out like this:

 

I find it pert near impossible to pass these old treasure up at garage sales and actually like the worn look of this one. Nevertheless, I got out the spray paint and, yes, painted it white. It looks so fresh now. I added some vintage children's books with beautiful art work. I find the colors so inspirational on days that are kind of blah and I need a little sumpin' sumpin' to get the creativity going!

 

Here is a yummy pink and chocolate rose sundae made with Dollar Store craft roses. I'm sure I'll use them in a future project, but will enjoy them in "ice cream" form for now with the vintage pink and pearl pin for the cherry on top.

 

One ringy dingy! Two ringy dingies! Is this the party to whom I am speaking?

 

My kids didn't understand why I would say "dial" a phone number. This old black phone says it all, doesn't it? Would you like fries with those scissors? I liked the color of the aqua plastic basket which looked like it belonged in a fifties diner. I drink Diet Sweet Lipton Tea by the gallon, so I've saved the jars and used them for storage. A ribbon and an orphaned old clip-on earring spices it up a bit.

Hope you enjoyed another little peek into my ongoing Craft Cottage project. Happy Pink Saturday to you! Please be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to meet all the other girls who enjoy a lovely shade of pink!

Vintage Hankies and old Lace Dressform

I MUST write a love song about spray paint. In the meantime, here is my latest project. The dress form started out black and gold from T. J. Maxx. I think it was $6.99.

 

I have a little collection of vintage handkerchiefs. A couple are sentimental to me, but most just sort of struck my fancy with their rosy-ness and femininity. I've been wanting a way to display them and enjoy them.

Here is a preview and then I'll show you the details:

 

I haphazardly (that's my middle name...Melony Haphazardly) pinned them to my dressform in a pleasing-to-my-eye- fashion. I found a crocheted bit and popped it over some pom-poms to cover my pins and to make my girlie have a nice waistline.

For the collar to m'lady I scrounged through some lace bits my Me-Me gave me from her mother (my great grandmother). It appears all handstitched and is so delicate. I added another little lace embellishment to the neck opening and adorned her with a favorite necklace of mine. It isn't old or expensive, and I really love it. I just have a hard time finding an outfit in my closet that screams "Wear a cameo with me!" I will enjoy the necklace more on the dressform.

I added a crocheted buckle and some beads around the bottom. I'm not sure if this buckle is old or new, but  I liked it.

 

Every dressform needs a cup of standby vintage lace.

Or a Goodwill (29 cents) English china bowl filled with tatted lace. (My kids hooted over this...English China. Think about it! LOL!)

 

I tossed an old jaunty straw hat on top of the creation, and perched some millinery flowers on the brim, and called it finished for now. I am pleased with the results and especially like that I was able to incorporate some sentimental sweetness. Check out other interesting vignettes at The Inspired Room.

No Sew Curtains, with No Curtain Rods

Still working on getting the Craft Cottage put together. Today I decided to ignore the tubs and boxes of stuff begging to be put away and do something creative instead of organizational. Too much organizing makes Melony a very dull girl.

Curtains were the fun of the day, but I did have some criteria.

* I wanted to use fabric I already had.
* The sewing machine has still not been found, so NO sewing!
* No curtain rods.

These giant clothespins were in my stash, and I'm using up spray paint. I gave them several coats of paint.

 

I used the glue gun, rick-rick, and hot glued them to the wall to hold my curtain. I also painted some small clothespins in white and added vintage buttons.

 

Baby pom-pom trim was hot glued to my fabric. Don't you just love hot glue? Although, I must admit, hot gluing on a stretch knit was a little tricky as the fabric wants to curl up and results in burnt fingers. 

 

So, here are two windows finished. Nothing fancy, but I like it and think it's cheerful. I also added scrapbook paper to the little nooks above the windows for some extra color. I'm not sure what little doo-dads I'll put up there yet.

 

 

Happy Wednesday to you!

I am MOVING on UP to the Craft Cottage!

It is finally happening and so overwhelming and fun! Wonderful husband has finished the Craft Cottage except for the underpinning on the outside and some gingerbread-ish trim I am dreaming of for around the porch. I am feeling so blessed to have a dream come true...a place to create!

Part of me wanted to wait until everything was the picture of perfection to post, but I can already tell I will move things around and change things up before  perfection is found...if it ever is found, so I am planning on trying to show you a little each day what I'm up to around here. I've been so inspired by other bloggers creative spaces, and I hope some of you will enjoy my hit and miss process.

The kids and I put some Wal-Mart metal shelves together. The box said thirty minutes and no tools required...four hours and every-tool -known-to-man and we birthed three shelves!

 

Daughter Daisy could not resist adding some fabric to start making the place feel like home.

 

In the spirit of organization I printed out the signs below to guide in placement of all my stuff. I basically ignored each sign and dumped things wherever they landed.

 I am headed out to the Craft Cottage today, and will take some more pictures of projects I have going. So, I hope you will check back in. I am looking forward to getting my Etsy shop back up and running and maybe even doing some clothes designing again. I got my paint set up yesterday too. My mind whirls with the possibility of once again doing the things I enjoy so much.

Lucy and Ethel Hit the Jackpot!

Bob said, "Let there be light, " and there was light in the Craft Cottage. It is getting closer and closer to completion.

 

I set out on a mission for a fabulous and CHEAP work table or desk for my new space. I had no luck whatsoever at garage sales, and decided to move up the thrift-food chain and hit some Goodwill and charity stores. I completely bombed out, and decided to move up another rung on the thrift-food chain to new and used office furniture stores.

The first store I went into I was overwhelmed by a sea of mahogany conference room tables with ultra modern chairs. A very nice young salesman approached and asked if he could help. Although I had my doubts that he could, I explained I wanted a big desk that was  inexpensive and had personality. It needed to be sturdy and inexpensive. Cute and inexpensive.

Surprisingly, he didn't seem phased and led me to a really nice desk that had some interesting gingerbread-ish trim which would have looked really pretty painted white or chippy pink. It was marked $199. but he was willing to take $150. That was really out of my price range, and so I thanked him kindly but again stated I needed something really inexpensive!

He said, " I don't know how you'd feel about this, and I sort of hate to mention it, but we have a desk out behind the store we are carrying to the dumpster after work. You could have it for free if you want it and can haul it off." 

He couldn't show it to me fast enough, and although I tried to act very dignified, I'm sure I squealed with delight when I saw the old metal desk in two pieces leaning up on its side out amongst the trash. JACKPOT!

Now, the problem. My husband has the truck, but if I were to call and explain I had found a desk that was three hours away from being hauled to the dumpster, he just wouldn't have seen the positive in the situation. Thus, therefore and thence, I called my friend, Jennifer and asked, "Do you feel like being Ethel to my Lucy?" She was game and before I knew it, we (and three furniture store men) had loaded the ginormous monstrosity of a desk (with all of its inexpensive personality) into her Suburban.

So, here she is in all her BEFORE beauty. Keep in mind she was free.

 

She is a heavy metal beauty with all kinds of nooks and crannies and drawer dividers. When she is repaired she will form an "L".

 

Now, wouldn't it be wonderful if I told you I had found a treasure hidden in the drawers of this Longview National Bank relic? Perhaps like an interesting ledger book, or love letters to the bank president's wife? Take a look at what I discovered!

 

Okay, so maybe not THAT much of a treasure, but did I mention the desk was free? The next step was to give the ol' girl a beauty makeover. Here are my cosmetics of choice.

 

I went to work getting her all spruced up. The end results: not good. She looks a little like a circus clown. I didn't have enough paint in any one color to really do what needed to be done. Let's just say I was a little over-jubilant with my trigger finger and the spray paint nozzle.

Anyhoooooo.....no AFTER picture for you to oooh and aaah over...yet! I need to do some fast thinking and get the situation fixed. Stay tuned. Did I mention this desk was free?

The Male Version of Pink Saturday!

My husband has been working long and hard on getting my craft cottage up and running. It is so close to being finished I am silly with excitement. I cannot wait to do a complete show and tell of the entire thing soon. I am giddy!!!!

In the meantime...Happy Pink Saturday! I had to give you a sneak peak of the action taking place for my pink post and I think I was successful. Here is my man installing flooring into a very Robin's Egg Blue room.

 

Have you spotted the pink? Here is my Craft Cottage Contractor taking a much needed break!

 

I was so happy to see how absolutely gorgeous the color pink looks next to this color of blue. It pops! Check back soon for updates on my studio's progress. Be sure to check out all the other Pink Saturday  participants. It is so much fun to spend some time visiting other blogs and meeting others that enjoy a splash of pink in their life.