I love a good rummage sale!

Last weekend when Andy's parents were here, they tipped me off to a rummage sale that would be taking place this Saturday at the parish they attend when in town.  Now I have quite the running list of ideas in my head for projects around the house, and a rummage sale sounds like a good place for cheap materials!  So yesterday morning, we stopped by the sale, and was it a hoppin'!  While I didn't find anything for the big projects I had in mind, I found some really cool home decor stuff for next to nothing.  With a little TLC, they will easily be able to find a place in our home.

First up is this set of wood candlesticks.

I'm seeing a new finish or coat of paint.  I almost want them to turn into the unexpected element in a room.  Maybe a really bright, bold color?  Who knows.  But, for 25 cents each, I couldn't pass them up.

Next up is this rooster wall hanging/hook.  Or maybe it's a turkey?

I'm going to go with rooster for the time being.  Now, I like roosters, but I am very picky about which ones I like.  They have to be vintage country or I'll keep walking.  This is vintage country, and I'm digging it.  I am guessing it's real copper as it has started to patina (either that or its grease from someone's kitchen) but I'm kind of digging the copper color and I probably won't change him.  There wasn't a price on him, but I took a chance.  The lovely lady checking us out said 25 cents.  I said sold. 

And last, but certainly not least, is this beautiful regal boy.   

He was covered in something, still don't know what.  I am guessing he was living in somebody's plant jungle and was covered in dried plant junk.  At any rate, a little bit of Dawn and a firm bristle brush cleaned him up good as new.  He's just beautiful, and probably my favorite buy of the day.  He's gong to live in our living room, but I'm not sure if he will keep his post by the TV or not.  That's where he'll live for now though.  At a dollar, he wasn't the cheapest thing I bought, but still quite a steal.  Last night, Katie realized he was there, got up on her back legs and gave him a sniff.  He is now her boyfriend.  

Speaking of Kater-Paws, she'd like to let the blog world know that this is how she plans on spending her Sunday afternoon.  

Well, that's all I have for now.  Have a relaxing Sunday afternoon, and I'll be back with some more projects soon!

Project Headboard

As you might remember, I tossed out this picture earlier this week:

Yeah, not so pretty, but it had potential.  At least that was my opinion when I found it on Craigslist for $20.  For quite some time, I had been scouring thrift stores and Craigslist for a full size headboard to put in our small guest room.  I even considered making one myself--either with fabric or an old door we had.  But when I saw this for sale for $20, I decided to give it a shot.  I took this little baby home with me for $15 and started thinking about how I would make it look, how shall I say this, not so 70's?  

Well, it only took one day and really stressful day at work for me to start work on it.  Not sure that you can see it from the picture above (sorry it's so bad, I took it on my phone), but there are a lot of round areas that would be tough to sand.  I knew from the beginning I wanted it to be white to go with the other furniture in the room.  So I opted to not sand, but rather use this wonderful gem called Zinsser.  This stuff is awesome--it sticks to everything and dries fast!  Perfect for my impatient self.  

So I gave it a nice coat of primer while the doggies watched from the backyard.  It seems to dry on impact, so I was able to start the next phase--spray painting!  I love spray paint.  Again, perfect for items that have lots of crazy curves and antsy people like myself!  I used this lovely stuff:

It's a nice off-white color.  Just right for the room it would be going in.  So, two and a half cans later, this is what I ended up with:

We liked it, but we both agreed it was too...too...too...perfect.  So, I took a piece of sandpaper to it's lovely new finish, and came out with this revised option:

Yes, much more our speed.  The new finish would go a lot better with the desk that's already in the room too.  What's cool is that because I didn't sand it down in the beginning, the dark finish came through when I distressed it later on.  I tried to use the sandpaper in the normal places it would get worn, had it actually been used with the solid white finish.

The next night, I put a very light coat of poly to seal everything in, and let it set till the next evening.  The back of the can said three coats of sealer is best, but I was happy with one coat, and again, I am impatient.  So, once it had set for 24 hours, we took it in to see how it looked.  Once we got it attached to the frame, we really liked it!  Except for one small problem.  Take a look and see if you can figure out what the problem might be...

Yep, it's a wee bit short.  But, for the time being, it serves it's purpose.  No more pillows getting tangled up in the curtains.  Also, we were having company the next day, so no time to make it perfect (and it still hasn't been fixed!) but it would be easy to add a couple inches with a 4x4 post added to the bottom.  Here is a picture with part of the pillows moved:

And maybe just one more...

I'm pretty proud of this little guy!  Maybe we'll get around to adding some height to this...sometime.  But for now, it works!  And, it was easy and fun!

Something to whet your appetite...

Want to find out what I did with this:

and these?

Well, stay tuned!

My first post!

Welcome to my new blog!  I've lost access to my old email address, so I also lost access to my old blog (thefreemanadventures.blogspot.com).  It's been so long since I have even posted on there anyways that I thought it might be a good idea to just start from scratch.  My platform has changed; the previous blog was to document our move to CA, and then back to the Midwest, and then I tried to make it a home update blog, but that did not happen.  So here goes, with a new idea and a new blog.

For a while now, I have been purchasing things (furniture, home decor, etc) for next to nothing off Craigslist or in thrift stores, and with a makeover, turning them into a prized possession.  It never gets old telling someone that I refinished this, or I picked that up for $1.99.  So, while I was at work today, the bright idea of starting a blog of befores and afters (and maybe some in-betweens and how-to's) would be fun!  Now, I am by no means an expert, and some of my methods may make some cringe, but hey, it works for me and I enjoy the results!

I have a few projects up my sleeve that have already been completed, so in the next few days I will share those.  In the meantime, thanks for visiting my new blog, and stay tuned!