Little Table Gets New Life & A Story

So, today is primarily a before and after with a bit of story mixed in.  Here's a little side table I redid recently.  Here's the after:

 And the before:

 I bought this at a garage sale and thought I could just sell it as it was.  There wasn't really anything wrong with it, so off to the booth it went.  Where it sat, and sat, and sat, and sat some more.  I was tired of seeing it there and tired of it not selling, so I brought it home and doctored it up.

 I first used an ivory spray paint.  Ok, no problems there.  Then, I decided to put a dark wax over it.  Problem enters here.  Being the impatient one that I am, the spray paint had only been on there for about 30 minutes, but I proceeded to wax anyways.  Mistake (or so I thought).  It started smearing the spray paint and giving it a look that I wasn't really going for.  I distressed it some and called it good, even though I wasn't satisfied.  Had I seen this piece at a store finished like this, I would have snatched it up for resale.  But there was something about the fact that I knew it's imperfections came solely because of my impatience...it just wasn't sitting right with me.  I wasn't loving it.  (Looking back I should have).  So, instead of taking it back to the booth, where in all likelihood it would have quickly sold, I considered it a failure and took it to the thrift shop I work at for sale (it's also a consignment shop).  Then, another dealer friend of mine came in that same day, snatched it up, took it to her booth (at a store where I also have a booth), more than tripled the price, and off it went to a new home.  Now why wasn't I using my noggen???  I could have just put it in my booth, but I didn't.  I'm a goober.  Good thing this "dealer" is a great friend of mine.  I was super happy for her "find" and her "sell".

Why is it that sometimes we are just to judgmental on ourselves??  I'm not a perfectionist, generally, so I'm still bumfuzzled by this.  Looking back on these pictures, I guess it was pretty cute and rustic.  Oh well, on to new painting adventures.

Oh, and just for those of you who are jealous of the sunshine state....don't be.  Here's my weather the last few weeks (not ideal for getting caught up on my painting projects):

Entry Way of Honor

This week has been another busy one.  The weather is not cooperating on the painting home-front though.  Good thing I had a million other things that needed my attention aside from paint-related projects!  How can one to-do list become so long?  It's like it multiplies while I look at it.  So, for lack of painting projects from the last couple of days to share, I'm bringing you into my house.  Today, I'm sharing my entry way.  I'll focus on the portion I did in my Mom's honor.  In the pic below you can see the front door and our big furry black home security system.  There's also a gallery wall...that houses all of the nieces and nephews artwork.  As they send us new stuff, the art gets updated.  I LOVE this wall. 

 As you come in the front door, this is your view:

 When we first moved into this house two years ago, it was the same time that I had just lost my Mom, so I wanted to do something in her honor.  This is my tribute to her.  You can read more about her story and her inspirational journey here.

 The wood box is an old garage sale find.  I love primitive decor and so did my Mom.  The ivy is from her funeral service and is just sitting in an old galvanized pot.  My Mom collected old children's chairs and had an entire wall in her house filled with them.  She wanted each of us to have one, so this is the one that came to live with me.  I must admit, I have now turned into a children's chair collector.  Read more about that here.

 This cross is really amazing.  It is made from grapevine, which I love.  I use grapevine frequently throughout my home decor.  This cross was sent to my Mom's funeral with artificial flowers on it.  I eventually removed the flowers and replaced them with a gray ribbon, representing brain cancer awareness.  This cross is a great reminder of faith and family.  I would like to thank the person that sent it, but out of the hundreds and hundreds of flowers and cards received, this was the ONE item that came from someone that no one in our family seems to know.  I would love to know who this came from to give them a proper "thank-you".

 This beautiful quote speaks for itself.  Justin's sister sent this to us and it's words could not be more perfect.  Thanks KrisAnn!

 Here's the beautiful lady that this spot in our house is set up to honor.  We love you Mom and miss you every day!

Now you've had a sneak peek into my home.  There's usually dog hair on the floor and clutter on the bar, but hopefully you're not too scared away.  Come on over and visit!

Playing with Colors and a Feature

First and foremost, I'd like to thank Gail over at My Repurposed Life for featuring my dining room table re-do.  I'm honored!

 Be sure to check out Gail's other features and weekly link party here:

Next up is more creative kid's craftiness by one of my sisters, Holly!  She's such a great Mom.  She basically does a craft each day with my nieces.  The Texas (where they live) heat so kindly lended a hand in making this one happen.  For this project, they took a blank canvas and hot glued new crayolas on it upside down.  Then, set is out in the heat and watch it work it's magic.  Now that's what I call instant art!  This one is headed for my nieces gallery art wall at their house.

Ammo Box Desk / Table

Hey Friends!  I wished I was here to tell you that's it's been sunshine and good painting weather here in the Sunshine State.  Unfortunately, this is not true.  My garage is filled to the brim with projects that are sanded and waiting to be sprayed.  Using my sprayer is not my absolute preferred painting method for no other reason that I get great satisfaction and enjoyment from painting by hand.  But the sprayer does make a welcomed appearance when I have multiple pieces at the same time, getting the same color (and it also helps to use the sprayer when I have chairs with a million spindles).   Point being, however, the weather has not cooperated.

So instead I've been working at the thrift shop, going through the files in our home office, getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist, quoting a couple paint jobs, and other randomness.  I was able to squeeze in a couple smaller, less tedious projects recently.  Actually, Mr. JUNKtion squeezed this one in for the most part.  He was the brains and the builder behind it.  He built a piece that would serve great as a desk or a sofa table.  It's a one of a kind piece built from wooden ammo cans.  Has a bit of a rustic/industrial feel to it in my opinion.

 We have a lot, and by a lot, I mean A LOT of these empty ammo boxes.  How do we have them you ask? Well, let's just say the hubby shoots a lot.  Should the zombies attack, I think we'll be sufficiently prepared to fight back.  We may or may not have a small armory in our house.  We'll just called it preparedness.  But preparedness is a good thing when you can use it's remnants to make furniture, right??  Let's just go with it!

 The piece we are using for the top here was none other than another roadside junk treasure.  I just really love me some good junk.  Actually, it appeared to be part of a completely falling apart desk.  This turned out to be the only salvageable piece.  You know it's bad when the Smalling's actually throw it out!

 We stacked two ammo cans on their sides and glued, nailed, and screwed them together, and then attached the top.

 I then did some sanding to smooth it up a bit.

Next up, it was time to consult the stain shelf and rag box.

  The top was stained with Provincial and the base (ammo boxes) were left natural.

 I absolutely loved the way it turned out.  I really wanted to keep this one for my house, but didn't have the perfect place for it.

 I hope someone else loves it as much as we do!

Here's a peek of this piece in my new space at Plethora (58 Carson Drive, Fort Walton Beach, FL):

Linking up here:

Farm / Harvest Table

Hey Blog Friends!!  Today, I'm trying to finish up some indoor things since it's pouring outside and I can't do the painting that I need to.  I worked this morning, so I'm just now getting to start my day.  So, I'll leave you with a little teaser.  Here's a little farm/harvest table that my amazing hubby whipped up.  Isn't he so good?  The answer is yes! I'll share details, colors, and how-to's soon!

A Coffe Table Plus Some

Hello Friends and Happy Monday!!!  I hope your weekend didn't fly by too fast...ours did.  It always does.  I didn't get a lot done on Saturday, but yesterday was a very productive day for Mr. JUNKtion and I.  After church we hit the ground garage running.  We did manage to squeeze in a Dairy Queen break, although a Braum's break would have been much better.  I worked on a lot of small pieces yesterday, and I'm sharing this coffee table with you:

 It started out as a drop leaf table.  However when I came across it, there was only one side of the drop leaf remaining...that made it a little difficult to resale.  So, I removed the drop leaf side that was remaining and glued up a small trim piece.

 This table had perfect chippiness, rusticness, and character.   It was a perfect old green and a little dark wax spruced it right up.

 As for the drop leaf side that I removed, well, it got a some more of those owl hooks added to it.

 If only I could re-create a genuine crackling effect like this by hand!  That's pure old goodness!  And the owl just makes it that much better.

 I love when I get two pieces out of one. Slam bam thank you ma'am!

Here's a sneak peak at some upcoming pieces that I will be blogging about.  This is what our driveway looked like yesterday.  I'm sure my neighbors just look this way and roll their eyes.  Unfortunately, they are used to us by now. Good things we have some amazing neighbors that put up with us! :)

Linking up with these gals: