#79: Update Tea Cart

I bought this ol' gal at an estate sale earlier in the Spring. Yes, I overpaid at $20, but I felt like it was a wise investment as patio furniture or a future display for my felt flowers. For $2 in spray paint I gave the cart a few coats of white paint and used it as a drink cart at our last get together. I still plan on changing out the wheels, when I finally find the right size, but it's adorable and perfect for our little porch landing!

I also love the assortment of goods on this cart: Straws from Ikea that Emily and I hoarded about 5 years ago. The flower tin tray is from my Thailand trip. The bar set was a housewarming present from Emily. Handmade felt flowers. The wood slab will be part of our wedding centerpieces. And of course, Smartmouth!

I'm participating in the 92 Days of Summer challenge. Click here to read all about it and here to a see a gallery of pictures of everyone participating. 

Thrifty Thursday: Before & After

We bought this buffet and hutch for $100 from one of Mike's Dad's contractors with the idea that we'd refinish it or sell it and make a few bucks. When Barney dropped the piece off it was in need of a little TLC, so we cleaned it up with some Old English the previous homeowners left us. Surprisingly, it looked really nice! However, it still didn't match our brand new table that looks almost identical to this one from World Market.

I listed the piece on Craigslist and it sat for about three weeks. Since our housewarming party was nearing and I didn't want this unmatching piece hogging the spotlight I got to work on researching techniques for "refinishing cherry wood to look like world market table." You can imagine how many search results I found: exactly Zero. After talking to a Home Depot employee (who didn't actually roll their eyes at this project), I decided I would have to make up my own technique. I bought black paint, black varnish and a pack of plastic gloves for $10.

We removed all the hardware and wiped down the cabinets. Then Mike got to work "distressing" the wood by take a hammer to it. We decided that using all the different edges worked best to give it the super textured look. Next, I took the electric sander and went light over the entire surface and much harder in only a few areas for that weathered look. Using a damp cloth, wipe the surface completely clean.

Instead of a "white wash" that I'm sure you've heard of, I made a "black wash." It consisted of 1 part flat black paint to two parts water. I gave it a stir and painted it on. Oh, and this would be the point you need to put on your gloves.

Because you're going to take a rag and wipe all the paint off. You want to make sure the black wash has covered all the surfaces, but don't be too worried if it looks too dark at first. I left the wash on anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes. I tried to work fast, but with the bottom it was harder to get through all the sides quickly. Just make sure the paint doesn't dry before you can wipe it off.

Here is the hutch after hours of hammering it. I'm glad this was Mike's task!

Once your black wash is completely dry, open up your can of black varnish. I cannot stress enough to make sure both hands are gloved! Take a dry rag and dip into the varnish, wipe on the wood with the grain. You're almost going to massage the varnish into the wood, I'll warn you, this is the tricky part. You don't want to use too much varnish because it'll be sticky as it dries and smudgie (trust me, I learned this the hard way). Just use a little as you go and be sure to wipe away any excess. We experimented with the drawers one day and let them dry over night, I tweaked the process from that - if you have the time, try it that way.

Grandma's mash potato dish, Great-Grandma's fondue dish, Haviland Wedding China
passed down through generations, a house warming gift, a graduation gift,
a Moroccan treasure and a gift from a strange. Everything has a story, everything has a place in my heart.

As you can see, the final product turned out pretty close to our table. The piece fits in the room much better and while we may not have it forever, I'm certainly happy with our $110 project!

Make sure you have these essentials!
Cotton rags or your boyfriend's old undershirts (lots of them)
Several pairs of rubber gloves
Electric hand sander
sandpaper
flat black paint
black varnish
a tarp or drop cloths
paint brushes
jar with lid (to mix the paint and keep overnight)

I am happy to use this as my "No. 27 Freebie." I'm participating in the 92 Days of Summer challenge. To learn more about it, click here.

Thrifty Thursday

On Saturday we visited Earth Studios and I fell in love with the desk/table they have at checkout. Turns out Robyn found it in the trash (a girl after my own heart)! On Sunday we had to make an exchange at Garden Ridge and on the way home I was complaining that I wanted to find a perfect desk in the trash.

I still need to hide the excess computer cord but just haven't gotten that far yet :)

And like that, my prayers were answered. I spotted a big heap of trash on our street, yelled "STOP" and hopped out of the car. In a neighbor's trash there was a round table that had been split in half. The one side was broken, but the other was intact and sturdy. Very dirty and gross, but with loads of potential. The table was in the truck and I was off to Taylor's. I bought a pack of L Brackets for $5, spent 30 minutes cleaning and scrubbing the trashy table and another 30 to install (Mike drilled a hole in the back of the table for my computer cords to go through which took a while since our biggest drill bit is 1/4 inch).

It's like we had planned it all along! I love my new desk and how it goes with the comforter, furniture and even the painting Deb made for us when we first moved it.

Thrifty Thursday

My Mom is no stranger to me bringing home other people's trash. One time in high school I drove to return a movie to the video store (sounds so primitive) and spotted a rather large mirror next to someone's trash. The mirror weighed more than I did, but it followed me around through college and even to Virginia. When my parents were visiting and we passed this dresser my Stepdad says "Doing some shopping, Ashley?" I had already eyed this gem and was just thinking of the right way to persuade Mike to let me bring it home.

It's Vintage! It's Free! It's on our street, so it has to mean it was meant for me! I know we don't need it, but what's the harm in taking something that will be heading to a landfill? Lucky for me, there was a garage sale that my Mom and I walked to, so we detoured to the dresser. As we approached I spotted another girl leaning over the rather sad-looking piece. It wasn't until this moment I knew I needed to have it. Turns out, she was taking the hardware off the drawers. (By the way, who does that? That's like eating all the free samples and then not buying anything!) Regardless, my Mom and I walked over to check out the leftovers. The dresser was falling apart. It would have to be completely refinished, if not halfway rebuilt. After inspecting the drawers, I decided a few of them would be usable for shadow boxes. So yeah, I took two drawers. I'm not sure what's worse, taking the hardware or just taking two drawers.

Top shelf shows my new bluebird (Michael's clearance for $2) and my Grandmother's milkglass
vase. The bottom shelf holds a clock my Great Uncle Vernon made, owls my sister bought me
from Burma, a random glass vase and a hand-stitched floral picture by my Great Aunt Alice.

Nevertheless, I came home, applied some wood glue, gave the boxes several coats of white paint and purchased three spigots, bolts and nuts (a total of $6.36). Mike attached some hangers to the back of the boxes and we hung them in the guest bedroom. Not too bad for something that was heading to a landfill!

Monday Musebles

Absolutely love this sign, the back read "John Ward 1971: Authentic Sign Abandoned by Gypsies on Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, VA." Could have been mine for a mere $300!

Our dining room table and bedroom set was delivered on Friday. Of course, we can't just have a smooth process, so only half of the bed was delivered. They tried again on Sunday to bring the missing footboard and brought the wrong color...so we wait some more. In the meantime, I made our first family dinner on a real table Friday night.

window pane

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and went garage saling to find a dehumidifier for only $10! I thought for sure it wouldn't work, but it's in the basement collecting water as we speak! I hit up Country Boys on Granby Street, which is a place I love and am terrified of at the same time.
 

shutters

It's a salvage yard/antique store full of treasures...if you can get to them. I found a set of black weathered shutters I'm pretty fond of ($35 for the pair) and a antique window pane ($85 for one), which I'm particularly interested in.

English stained glass

1920s wardrobe

I finally stopped in this place called Boobala's Importers on Granby. I've driven by it a million times and never actually stopped in. If you're looking for the mecca of stained glass, this is the place to go! Beautiful stuff, lots of it, but prices start at $125 for an 11"x14" piece. The rest of the store is filled with goreous antiques. I found a wardrobe there from the 1920s, all dark hardwood, asking $300. It would need shelves and I'm not leaning toward anymore dark furniture in the house, so I passed on it.

Howeletts Trading Post opened up just two weeks ago (on Granby Street as well). I found a great china cabinet there, glass and shelves still in tact ($275). It would definitely need a deep cleaning, a polish and probably the shelves painted.

At the end of the day I came home with just the dehumidifier and quite a few new go-to places for antiques and thrifty goodness.

Monday Musebles

Whew, what a weekend! It started off pretty dreary with Tropical Storm Andrea lingering all Friday night. We got a bite to eat from Tortilla West, our new neighbor, and did a little online furniture shopping. Saturday morning we got up bright and early and hit the shops with a mission. Six hours later we were buying our first bedroom suit and dining room table. I'll be extremely delighted if I never have to step foot into Haynes Furniture or hear another acoustic rendition of Green Day's Good Riddance! It's being deliver on Friday, so it'll be set up by the time I get home from work (good news for me :).

I'm mentally planning our first meal on Friday night on this table - I realized I haven't had a dining room table in more than TWO years...yikes. We also bought this fantastic rug for our living room. I love the kinda oriental, kinda Moroccan, kinda funky feel of it. It's going to pull the room together perfectly (although our existing ottoman may have to relocate).

Do you know how hard it is to find a decent rake? I spent two hours driving around to different hardware stores to find a nice, old-fashioned, metal rake. Finally at our local Taylor-Do-It Center, we bought a normal one - which served us well for our three hours of yard work on Sunday afternoon. We bagged up three bags of leaves and debris from the front yard and have yet to bag up the dead leaves from the backyard. We still have to sweep and power wash the steps, weed the gravel patio space and then we get to the fun planting and gardening part!

#12 Slapjack Vintage Goods

I learned about Slapjack Vintage Goods through Leigh Greer at Table 7. Leigh partners with Slapjack and River Front Rentals for weddings and parties (best idea ever - just rent the stuff instead of buying it!). Anyway, I put this shop on the list because I've seen so many cute pictures on their Facebook page and wanted to see for myself.

I didn't realize they were located inside of the Town Center Antique Mall, which was covered in my first 92 Days of Summer. Mike and I dropped in yesterday because I'm looking for a vintage hutch, china cabinet or armoire of some sort for all of my craft supplies. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but narrowed down my direction.

I would have to invest in some better storage bins...everything I have right now is stored in plastic shoe boxes. I do want something with a lid, and not open wire or wicker baskets though.

This is red is lovely! And the cupboards on the bottom would be nice to hide away the not-so-pretty bins.

I pretty much love everything about this room - down to the mis-matched handles on the hutch. I'm 100% positive I could not keep it that tidy looking though.

Cute piece from Joss & Main that I know Mike would absolutely love. For this I could just get rid of the bins and throw everything into its own drawer, but there'd be no room for any fabric in this piece.

Yes and yes. It'd have to be weathered a little to match my desk. But, does it bother anyone that it is so close to the bed?

 I was a little surprised to find this piece from Ikea. Again, I love the color and the yellow inside matches the guest bedroom! I'd probably have some excess supplies that I'd have to find a home for...

Before & After: Tea Cart

Would you believe I found this vintage tea cart at an estate sale for $6? It was originally $12, but Sundays are always half off - my lucky day! It doesn't look too bad here, but was actually rusted pretty bad, so it couldn't stay as is. 

I decided I wanted to do a really bright, loud color. My friend suggested coral, which I thought would be so pretty. However, the full can of green spray paint I bought several months ago to refinish jewelry boxes (like these) was sitting in my closet screaming to be used.

I unassembled the cart easily since it was missed three of the eight screws that held it together. With heavy grit sandpaper I gave all the parts a 15-minute sand job, then wiped clean with a towel. I taped up the white rollers on the feet and gave the entire cart two heavy coats of paint. 

Since it was a gorgeous day outside the whole thing was dry within an hour. I reassembled, added the glass back on top and voila! You might remember this below from Better Block. It was one of our centerpieces when you walked in the shop. I am so happy with the way it came out, it'll be perfect for serving drinks on the patio one day... or maybe a plant holder in the garden.

Better Block: Day 2

I got to the shop promptly at 5 yesterday and got right to work. You could not imagine my deep gratitude for the people who have shown up to volunteer. Immediately, Tina, Ari and Terri got to painting on the wooden pallets John and I planned on using for tables. My friends Susie and Cali worked on folding maps and some decor for the shop. 

 

We weren't exactly sure how to assemble the tables, but the guys from Better Block assured us they would deliver wood for legs...and sure enough, they did! Chris and Bob put together four large pallet tables and a coffee table made from an old window frame (Mom - can you believe I'm still holding onto this thing??) in less than an hour! They came together so well, I'm hoping they have enough passion to put together a couch tonight! 

I am absolutely obsessed with this wreath my friend Cali made from newspapers  (left). It was a pinterest find, and although it took her 2 hours to make it was definitely worth it (although she may not agree, haha). On the right is our sandwich board display for the sidewalk.

Tonight is the big night. We have lots of people stopping by to lend a hand setting up, painting, folding maps and whatever other odd jobs we can find. Wish us luck, tomorrow is the big day!