Toy caddy and turquoise punches.

Here is one thing I have in my craft closet waiting for attention. Last weekend I got this toy caddy from the Salvation Army.

It was $1.50 and it originally had a partial name glued to it with wooden letters. I popped those off and plan to paint it. I am inspired by things like THIS:


or maybe THIS:


or THIS:


I am thinking of doing it in black chalkboard paint, distressing it a bit, writing Autumn on the front and filling it with a fall arrangement. If I do it in chalkboard paint, I can also change out looks fairly easily, spring w/ flowers, Christmas w/ poinsettia etc..

Recently in my living area I added a punch of turquoise. It all happened because of this cross pillow I found and had planned on giving it as a gift, but after I got it home, I really loved it and it looked better than I would have thought in my living room. I think it will get even better when I wash it and the fringe frays. I need to do that already.


I got out the craft paint and grabbed a few things out of my craft closet and around my living room, and my daughter and I spread the color around the room. (click to enlarge)



These plaques were from Goodwill for 99 cents each. I failed to get a before shot, but they were white with gold accents. I just painted right over them in a turquoise acrylic and then washed over them with a watered down black/brown mix, dabbing as needed. I absolutely LOVE it and think they look great with the quote above my hall tree (made by my honey with left over house siding btw). You can not mess up this paint technique. My daughter did it without supervision. Can you tell wish 2 she did vs the two I did? Didn't think so!


I also repainted this thing.

I loved it, but Ms. Thang always teased me that it was ugly. I decided to paint it as well and if it looked bad, acrylic would come right off of the glaze finish, but I did like it so I went over it with mod podge to give it more sheen and lasting power. It will still peel off if I try so I was braver than usual with color on a piece that I really liked already. You can see the original in this old shot of the mantel:


and here is an after shot of the mantle for the heck of it:

You can see that I found a wicker ball (10 cents at a garage sale) and another silver candle stick (50 cents at Helping hands), and I added some flowers to the pitcher above. The place to find flowers is thrift shops. It's hard to picture them in a pretty setting sometimes with poinsettias mixed in with victorian roses or fluorescent daisies, but you can get floral bushes, greenery, holiday picks etc.. for cents. Sometimes I will pay a dollar for a hideous flower arrangement in an ugly container just to pick out a few great high-quality flowers. Pull them out and turn around to put the rest of it right back in the donate pile lol

I also did the "artichoke" piece below from this shopping trip.


and the after:

I used the same turquoise acrylic with a black/brown watered down wash. It was fun to watch the wash flood in all the little grooves of this piece. I really like the results.

I also did this decorative ball. I always thought it looked like a giant golf ball anyway.


You can also see an oversized acorn in there. It actually has 3 other siblings, but my kids play with them all the time. I'm happy cause they leave the breakable balls alone now. I got the pack of 4 at a church sale for 50 cents. I want to paint them white and distress them. I'm just waiting to find the others. Probably under my couch.

I recently got this bird for $1 and I am still reeling from that find. It was at Helping Hands up on a high shelf behind the counter. The price on the bottom was originally $14.99. It reminds me of my weather-vane bunny Bernard. I think I might name her Rose. (Lost fans should get that!)


I've got more to share, but it will have to wait until later...life is calling!

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