MY FRENCH BENCH (unintentional rhyme)

I love my sweet French bench! 

A couple years ago we purchased some pillow 

covers at a community yard sale in our 

old neighborhood. 

They're a linen type fabric and have 

wild flowers embroidered on them. 

We paid $9 or $10 for the set of three. 

I ran across the covers in my old antique trunk 

after the holidays and decided it was time 

to complete this little project at last. 

Perfect timing... Joanne Fabric was having 

their Presidents Day Sale and had

50% off their pillow forms WOO-HOO! 

PLUS I had a 10% off total purchase coupon... 

double WOO-HOO!!

So sweet... 

 tres chic...

the price can't be beat! 

( intentional rhyme... )
Hey wait a minute, why are you humming the theme
song from the Adam's Family??

I got all three pillow forms for about $15. 

So the end result was 

3 fabulous pillows 

for about $25!! 

I LOVE IT!! 

After trying them in several places I 

finally decided the bench was the 

perfect landing point! 

(I'm behind the camera but blowing kisses at the bench 

and snapping my fingers like Mortishia Adams !)

What have you been doing to 

revamp or remake things 

in your home for the upcoming spring season??

I'd love to hear what you've been up to!

Til next time ma cherie.... bisous!

Sherry

The Frenchy Curtains and the Sharpie

As you know by now I love french things 

and I love my Sharpie pens! 

I wanted to hide the bottom two shelves of my bookcases 

and had some muslin packed in my fabric stash - perfect 

fabric for my Sharpies and the look I want for the cases... 

casual yet cheap frenchy elegance!

So here we go! This is easy and I love the outcome.

 

Find an image on The Graphic Fairy and copy it. 

Then center it to the back of your curtain or fabric, 

image facing down. 

I use the ever famous blue painters tape. 

 You can see your image through the light colored 

muslin!

 Here it is... my Sharpie!! Ta-Daaa!

(Yes little Sharpie, this is your debut! )

I just use my fingers to spread and flatten the fabric a bit

and trace around the letters with my extra fine Sharpie. 

You can see that it doesn't look perfect up close...

but when you're done outlining you'll step back 

and say "Hey, this isn't so bad!".

Now it's time to fill in the letters. I use the extra fine 

Sharpie on skinny areas and the fine in larger areas 

to fill in. 

(I also put a paper towel under my hand so there's 

no chance I damage anything before I iron it!

It's just a habit of mine I guess.)

 Voila! 

Iron it to heat set it and your done! 

(My fabric had very deep creases in it from being in 

the bottom of a storage tub for a couple years so 

it still appears a bit wrinkled but over time it 

will straighten out. I'm in no rush. )

I launder them separately, air dry & iron.

The image may fade a tiny bit but that's 

all the better!

Here's the other design I chose. 

Also from The Graphics Fairy. 

Here's a closeup of the results... 

it won't be perfect! 

But I'm not looking for perfection!! 

Hope you try this and add some pizzazz to 

something you have! 

Your bookcases could look like this with

the help of a Sharpie Pen!! 

Who knew??

(I think my Sharpie pen is learning more french 

these days than I am... hmmm.)

Til next time...

Bisous, Sherry

THE $25 BOOK CASE!

The bookcase on the right was purchased when we 

moved to our condo ( about $275) and we had every 

intention of getting a second one for the other side of the 

fireplace but there was always 

something else to put the money towards. 

(of course - isn't that how it always goes) 

 

So we kept our eyes open for one at our favorite used goods 

store, New Uses, in Reynoldsburg Ohio. 

Sure enough... we stopped in one day and there it was... 

a hot mess! Sturdy, heavy but with a huge hole in 

the back that wasn't even nicely cut in to it. 

It looked like something or someone had 

punched it! 

BUT it was only $25.00!! 

Yes, you read right, only 25 smackeroos! 

(Yes, that's right, no before picture! I am sooo bad at that. 

I guess I get too excited to start the project or something. 

So I found this pic of a very plain one on Google 

and Photoshopped the hole in the back.

I know you're saying "this gal can't take a before 

pic but she can Photoshop?")

Our original bookcase was painted black with 
some distressing on it so... 

a couple coats of paint and some sandpaper later 
and I had a very similar look as the original.
I used some wrapping paper on the top 
area to hide the hole but it wasn't 
working for me... I'll have to get more 
creative. 

So suddenly I had MORE STORAGE! 
WOO-HOO! 
Premium stuff in a condo. 
And I didn't have any trouble filling 
it up immediately. 

(Zoe is my project manager)

I now have room for my china given to me by my 
darling Daddy, my violet dishes a birthday gift 
from my sweet hubby 
and some silver pieces... 

my Uncle's french pitcher & bowl ...
 

my Dad's barometer, hubby's Mom's brass 

pitcher from Turkey and much more. 

 

I filled it up fast! 
As you can see I did a remake on the back wall 
where the hole was, it just wasn't gettin' it! 
I took foam board, cut to size, and adhered 
scrapbook paper in a Harlequin pattern 
(cream & white) 
and shoved it back in the top shelf!  

AND I made a curtain to hide the dinnerware. 
(it was just too busy looking for me)

Of course I had to make a curtain for the other bookcase to 
balance it out. 
(not to mention give me more hidden storage)

I used some cream and black leafy curly scrapbook 
paper on the bottom shelf that shows to add 
a dash of the "unexpected" behind my Grandma's 
carnival glass too. 

(the tin type pic is of my Grandma Meme and
my Grandpa holding my Uncle)

I seemed to have several vintage pieces in 
white or cream so I went with it! It really 
shows up against the black and I get to 
enjoy many old family pieces that I loved 
as a wee one. 
 

(pay no attention to the wrinkles)

So there you have it! 
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! 
 

The more I upcycle the more I LOVE it.

Next time I'll share with you how I do images on 
muslin. 
You must KNOW by now 
it will involve my Sharpie pen. 

Hope you like my new living room look for less. 
I know I sure do!! 

Til next time... Bisous!

THE OOOH-LA-LA TABLE MAKEOVER

My mother's 6 legged table was given to me by 

my brother after her passing. 

It had some serious damage to the top 

(possibly from watering plants) 

and could not be brought back to it's original beauty. 

SOOOOOO..... 

I was presented with a PERFECTTT opportunity 

to PAINT said table!

My assistant, Zoe, is ready for direction. 

It's too shivery cold in my garage to work

and no big basement for redos any longer 

since moving to the condo. Oh well... 

a dropcloth and a steady brush in 

the middle of my liv rm floor is all I need. 

(I can hear you saying YIKES right now) 

But it's okay... you've got to be flexible in 

the winter when projects come up. 

I'm kind of seasoned now.

After sanding and painting a couple coats of cream color

(Valspar - Churchill Hotel Lace 7003-17 )

I let the table cure for a day then... 

used my favorite image from the Graphics Fairy, 

gotta love that gal, 

of the French Postcard. 

I decided how large I wanted it and drew the 

image on the table with pencil 

( I like to freehand written images sometimes)

then used my ever handy dandy black 

Sharpie Markers to trace over my pencil lines. 

( I use extra fine and fine points)

 

 

Then the next day I used the big sander on it 

to distress it. My favorite part.

 Hubby used his furniture paste wax which
gives it a nice finish when he buffs it out.

I love how it turned out.

Oooh-la-la!

Tres chic!

It kind of brightens up that corner... 

and adds a little shabby to my 

romantic eclectic style.

Hope you like it too! 

TIL NEXT TIME...

BISOUS!

Happy Valentines Day!

Romantic candlelight...

 

sweets for the sweet...

calorie free cake...

and a table fit for the Queen of Hearts...

 

is all you need to make the heart 

merry and light.

Take time to make someone feel 

special...

tell someone you love them 

on Valentines Day...

whether it's your partner, family, 

friends or someone that looks 

like they need a smile or a hug.

It will make you feel 

so wonderful! 

Happy Valentines Day

my sweet friends!! 

Sending big hugs your way. 

Til next time...