My day at the flea market

  On Saturday, my friend, Allison & I made a trip to the semi-annual flea market here in Saskatoon. Allison is an amazing photographer & she was looking for props for her photo shoots. I was looking for some vintage-y type things. I had a vintage globe, map, & suitcase on my wish list. My son, Parker, also asked me to look for some cowboy stuff for him. Off we went!

We wen't sure what to expect, but we weren't disappointed. 

Goodies were everywhere! 

Pretty dishes

Purses, hats, & gloves

Fun owl finds

Tin signs

Snow Shoes

lanterns

Scales

Tins

How cute is this little baby buggy? 

This was awesome.

Lots of Soda Pop products

Old radios

Cameras

This lovely old piece was calling to me

Not sure what this is, but it's tiered drawers were filled with little compartments. 

Old school clock

Pretty hats & sewing notions

This lady's booth was my favourite - so feminine!

Aren't those bags beautiful?

The suitcases we bought

 We found a booth selling only vintage fur coats for amazingly low prices. We each bought a persian lamb coat. 

Just for a vintage diva look. :)

Modelling our fur coats

Bringing home our goodies!

Here's what I came home with:

Toy guns for my son - $8

Persian Lamb fur coat - $10

Suitcase - $15

Clip on earrings & vintage broach - $10

It was so much fun. I'll definitely be going back in February.

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' Up:

Mommy By Day... Crafter By Night

Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

What a Little Spray Paint Can Do!

  There is power in a can of spray paint. Well, not literally, but think of all the wonderful projects you've done that involve spray paint. It's a wonderful thing. And the colours that are out there these days are truly beautiful.

  If you've been intimidated by spray paint in the past, don't be. It's so simple to use. Go pick up a can in a colour that you love, make a trip to the thrift store & buy something with good lines but bad colour. Then, break out the spray paint! 

  Here are some such projects that I've done over the past several years. I sadly was not blogging then so I don't have any before photos to show you. You'll have to use your imagination. :)

  The first one I'll show you is a set of canisters that were given to me several years ago. They were originally a 70's avocado green. A little black spray paint & Shazam! They're back in business!

  The second one I'll show you was actually painted by my mom & given to me. My wonderful mom is a real life interior decorator & I'm blessed enough to be able to pick her brain for ideas & suggestions. This mirror was originally in a gold frame. Not so much my taste. Look how unexpectedly fun a coat of hot pink paint makes it!

  

  Number three is one of a set of wall candle sconces that my mom bought for me from an antique show. They were originally painted gold, but again I broke out the black spray paint. Now these beauties have a place of honour in my living room.

  So are you feeling inspired to go paint something? What colour would you choose & what do you have in mind? Spill the beans & share your blog links. I'd love to see YOUR spray paint makeovers!

  On a side note, if you've tried commenting on my blog before without success, please give it another shot. I've recently switched my commenting format & it is now quick & easy!

  If you'd like to see more projects I've done involving spray paint see: My silver table & my thrift shop owl.

Enjoy your day!

Vintage pretties

  I'm so excited! On Friday I had a brain wave... but let me start at the very beginning (a very good place to start. That's for all you Sound of Music fans.). The last time I went thrifting/antiquing one of my finds included an 8x10 black & white photograph. The man at the antique shop I got it at didn't know who the people in the photo were/are, but I wanted it anyway. The clothes, the hair, & the soft angelic look of all the girls drew me in. (I'm also curious to know why there's only one male in the photo?)

  I bought a simple black certificate frame at Wal-mart & discovered that it was too big for the photo. I set it aside to return & find a new frame. That's when the brain wave hit. I had some vintage sheet music I was itching to use in my home decor. So I got it out & mounted the photo on top of it. Then I slipped the music with photo into the frame & wa-la - almost instant vintage art. I'm lovin' it.

  I hung it near my back entry with my new mail / magnetic key holder from Umbra. 

I quite like the mix of modern & vintage.

  So that kicked off my weekend in a satisfying way. I had a wonderful weekend: flowers from a dear friend, a massage on Saturday morning, found some cute pumpkins at the farmer's market in the afternoon along with doing some window shopping at some thrift/antique shops. On Saturday evening I was able to get in some crafty time making some cards & a scrapbook layout. (I'll post those pics tomorrow.) Sunday was church with my wonderful church family & family time in the afternoon & evening. A blissful weekend all around.

Oh, and how could I forget?! I also joined Pinterest this weekend. What a cool site. I love the fact that now all the inspiration I come across on the internet can be corralled in one spot without a million bookmarks. 

Not to mention categorized! :)

(This girl loves all things organization.)

  What did you do this weekend? Did you find any treasures or start any projects? 

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day!

Linking up to Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

The big reveal

TA-DA!

  My little side table is complete! I can't believe it only took me an evening to complete the makeover on this little beauty. If I had known, I would have done it long ago.

  A reminder of the before:

Here's a rundown of the process:

I took it outside, gave it a light sanding, wiped off the dust, & taped off the black top & chrome trim - 

I kept those as is.

Got on my painting duds & broke out the spray paint.

My painting pants...
you can actually see all the past/present colours of my house on these babies!
They're like a work of art in themselves! :)

I used Krylon Metallic spray paint in Aluminum.

And all systems go! I sprayed on the first coat:

And a second coat:

After 2 coats. Before distressing.

It was looking a little too space age for me at this point so I got out some black craft paint I had kickin' around & played around with some dry brushing on the corners & edges. I ended up dry brushing on some black paint & then smudging it (purposefully) with a paper towel to make it look a bit more distressed.  

After distressing with black craft paint.

The finished product:

I think it will look especially stunning at Christmas time with my silver/white colour scheme. 

Here's some more after shots:

  Thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment & tell me what you think.

Enjoy your day!

~Steph

Linking up to: The DIY Showoff,  Crafty Scrappy Happy, Just a Girl, Common Ground, Miss Mustard Seed, & Tater Tots & Jello

My project this weekend & a tip for cleaning your microwave

 I've had this little desk/side table for going on 6 years with the intentions of painting it. But up until this year, I wasn't sure exactly the look I was going for with it. I was talking about it with my mom (interior decorator extraordinaire) this spring & she gave me a great idea...

  She took me to Urban Barn & showed me a little cabinet with a black top (like my little table already has), silver sides & front, & a butterfly decal wrapped around the side. I have searched the internet, but CANNOT find a picture of the exact one she showed me. So sorry. This is the closest I could find:

Madame Butterfly Tall Cabinet by http://www.frenchbedroomcompany.co.uk/
Pretty, no?

  I'm not sure I'll add the butterfly to my table... what do you think? I'm thinking it might be too busy with all the displays I do on this table. I would also have to find a stencil or decal. Anywho, I bought some silver spray paint & it's on my to-tackle list for this long weekend. I'll show you the results next week. I'm going to the keep the top black & the chrome trim is also staying. I'm excited to see the results & to finally cross it off my list!

Introducing the Cleaning Tips column! 

(or "One of Steph's handy tips" as my husband calls them)

  In my cleaning detail today I noticed that my microwave was in need of a scrubbing. I learned this tip from the show How Clean Is Your House? & it works so well, I thought I would share.


 Fill a microwaveable bowl full of tap water. Quarter a lemon & add to water. Or in a pinch just add 1/4 cup of lemon juice.

  
  Put bowl in microwave & set for 5 minutes. After it has "cooked" for 5 minutes, let it stand in the microwave for an additional 5 minutes or so. Then, just wipe your microwave out. The steam loosens cooked on food & it just wipes away! And the lemon makes it smell fresh - bonus!


  Thanks for stopping by!

  Enjoy your day!

~Steph

  

Using my vintage finds

  A couple weeks ago I went thrifting / vintage shopping with my mom... remember?  I came home with several great finds & today I'm going to show you what I did with some of them.

  In one of last week's posts, I showed you what I did with the vintage postal scale I brought home. It sits beside some favourite books on our book case.

  The chair I bought from Great West Warehouse went into our son's room under his loft bed as a place for him to read. I'm going to find or sew some cushions to add to it. We also have a wall mounted lamp to hang in this space as it can get quite dark under the bed when the sun goes down. I'll post pics when it's all put together.

  The Sleeping Beauty record I bought from the Salvation Army Thrift Shop went in a record frame & now sits on top of our daughter's cupboard in her bedroom. I think I'll keep looking for other vintage Disney princess records & perhaps do a collage of them on her wall if I find enough.

The silver basket I found at Value Village now holds my mini scrapbook albums in my scrap space.

  The more I look around my house purposefully looking for items that I've purchased second hand, the more I find. I'm going to be posting more about them in the future.

Enjoy your day!

~Steph

Old Books

  I have an affinity for old books. I love how they cozy up a room & call to a me: "Open me up. Discover another time. Learn about another culture."

  I have some favourite authors I keep my eyes peeled for when I am looking at second hand books. L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen, & Charles Dickens to name a few. Hardcover classics catch my eye. The colourful fabric covers with the metallic titles.... Mmmm. My favourite one of all? My copy of Heidi as seen in the top photo, second book from the left. Just the way it looks makes me smile. The vintage-y fabric is so cheerful.

  And they just plain look good on a book case. :) I've also used old books as part of a display on a side table or dresser. They usually add just the right touch.

  Speaking of bookcases... Remember that little postal scale I bought on my vintage shopping day last week? Well, it now holds a place of honour beside a stack of books on my book case. I quite enjoy it.

Side note: the fun 60's photo effect on the above photos is available here.

This week's papercrafts tomorrow! Woot!

Enjoy your day!

~Steph