November 2012 – Old Things New

Turkey dinner with family and friends, old Christmas movies, Black Friday craziness, decorating for Christmas, . . .how did you spend your long Thanksgiving weekend? As the weekend draws to a close and the last of the leftovers goes the way of leftovers (garbage can or soup pot), I reflect once again on our many blessings.

This Thanksgiving Day we drove over the river and through the woods to Grandma Betty and Grandpa Jack’s (my in-laws) house. They weren’t up to making the trip to our house this year as, at 93 and 94 years of age, they are growing tired. It was a simple day in every way. The turkey dinner we brought was spare compared to what I would normally cook at home and there were no fancy appetizers or table decorations. It wasn’t a large gathering. With family spread out all over the country and into Canada it was just the four of us. It was a nice day, quiet and relaxing.

This is a picture of Betty and Jack last summer. Jack had just been diagnosed with lung cancer and it was uncertain what they were going to do to treat it. It was an “accidental” diagnosis, as he went in for a shoulder x-ray and a spot was noticed on his lung. He ended up having surgery to have the cancer removed and it turned out to be stage 1, no radiation or chemo recommended. After a couple of months Jack is still regaining his strength. Not feeling well is hard and frustrating for him, but he is still with us! God has more in store for Jack in this life and we are all very thankful.

As we enter more deeply into the holiday season, take some time to just BREATH . . .

and be . . .

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I am so excited to share another furniture reveal today. The very reason I started blogging was to show furniture transformations and, hopefully, build enough of an audience to actually SELL some of my work. It is even more exciting today because the friend I did this for will see it for the first time when she reads this post. Oh dear . . . I sure hope she likes it!

You may remember a post I did a few months ago called Garage Sale Saturday! My friend Carol and I went garage saling on an already hot August morning, picked up this little shelving unit for her bathroom, and started painting that same day. It must’ve hit nearly 100 degrees in my garage that afternoon.

Needless to say, we didn’t get very far. Instead, we headed for the beach and chilled in the Adirondacks while my husband BBQ’d up some dinner (by the way, it wasn’t the fish that the guys were SUPPOSED to be catching that day. I guess the fish don’t like the heat either).

Since Fall weather is perfect for painting I finally got back to it this week. One very fun thing about this project is that Carol loves everything coastal. Well, these shelves didn’t look at all coastal with the dark brown wood, but from the start I could envision how to get the look she wanted in the carved top detail. My goal was to bring that out with Annie Sloan Pure White chalk paint and some antiqueing. What do you think? Does that top remind you of a seashell?

Carol doesn’t care for the look of distressing so in order to bring out the carved detail I mixed a bit of Annie Sloan’s French Linen into my clear wax. Here is a picture of the entire shelf after painting and before I started “staging” it for pictures.

I think the shelves look so fresh with the white paint, don’t you?

Here are some close-ups, showing a bit more detail.

And here are some even closer shots. Do you think the antiqueing is too much for someone who doesn’t like distressed furniture?

I scavenged my house for things to fill up the shelves. Dead Sea Salts for a nice soak on a chilly Autumn evening, (Hmmmm . . . I wonder what I’m doing tonight?)

. . . a Waterford Swan for a touch of elegance,

. . . and bit of sparkle. These remind me of bubbles!

The great thing about chalk paint is that it can be painted over even after the wax has been applied. I think I’ll send the leftover paint home with Carol just in case she would prefer it to be a little more pristine. It’s such an easy fix.

I hope you enjoyed seeing another Old Things New transformation. Blessings to you!

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Giving Thanks

A Fresh Coastal Feel for an Old Brown Shelf

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