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All Things Home

A Lamp & a Livery Sign

I am truly on a creative high at the moment.  I am suddenly bombarded with inspiration for things that have been sitting around, neglected in my basement or office for months.  Today, I paired a yard sale feed sack with a thrift store lamp, paint, a “scratch-and-dent” shade from Target, and a scrap from a cheap white Wal-Mart sheet to make this lamp. It was a very organic process that just flowed as I worked and this is how it ended up. The lamp was shiny, dated brass, but it is heavy and has a pretty shape.  I painted it in Aria Ivory by Sherwin Williams from a tester pot I had hanging around.  I then glazed it with Asphaltum Antiquing glaze by Valspar. I love how it looks almost like stone or weathered wood. I sort of made up the shade slipcover as I went along, but I did take

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An Oar and Another Sign

I’m still cranking things out for Lucketts over here.  I just got my new tags made to start pricing everything (yay!) and I shopped today for some “fillers” (greenery, eggs, fruit, etc) to make my stuff look even prettier.  I’m seriously getting giddy at how everything is coming together in my head.  Man, I haven’t even shown you any of the furniture and larger pieces I’ve been working on, yet!  So much to blog about.  Anyway, here are a few other things I completed over the past couple of days.  Do you remember this oar? It was blonde and the finish was in pretty bad shape.  It had clearly been sitting in the great outdoors for a good while.  So, I sanded it, stained it in dark walnut by Minwax, hand painted some details on it, and then sealed it with Minwax wipe-on poly in satin.  Quite a transformation, huh?

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I don’t know if I can…

…let this one go.  I’ve been working almost non-stop to get ready for the Lucketts Fair and today I had a rare thing…hours during the day to get uninterrupted work done.  My mom offered to pay for me to hire a babysitter, so I could get work done.  Thank the Lord for mothers, more specifically, my mother.  So, I took her up on the offer before she even finished her sentence.  Today, I had six hours of painting, sanding, staining and cleaning.  I’m tired, but it was awesome.  This “fresh berries” sign is one of the things I completed today.  It started out as a dry, dirty door.  I stained it, painted the lettering, distressed it, and then sealed it.    I had every intention of painting this to take to Lucketts with me, but…I don’t know if I have the strength.  I love it.  I mean really, really l-o-v-e it.  I

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Painted Pail Tutorial

I loved how much my large painted pail turned out, so I went out today and bought several smaller ones to work on.  As promised, here’s a step-by-step tutorial and some other ideas for painting and using these buckets.    Start with a galvanized metal pail.  I found these on triple clearance at TJ Maxx, but I’m sure you could find some at any craft store. Apply a sloppy coat of a crackle medium and allow to dry until tacky.  Don’t let it get too dry or it won’t work as well.  Check your perfection at the door with this project.  The gloppier, the better. Apply a sloppy coat of paint.  I used both latex and acrylic paints in varying shades and allowed them to dry for about ten minutes.  If you want to add a pattern, like the red cross, stripes, a number, or words, this would be the time.  I made a

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One of my favorites…

It was my very first time ever at an auction and I really didn’t know what to expect.  I was nervous about raising my number to bid.  I didn’t fully understand what the auctioneer was saying.  I was trying to work two rooms at one time.  It was overwhelming.  By the end of the night, I was a pro and was leaving with a lighter wallet and a van full of really neat things.  I won this gorgeous pair of side tables, which were originally joined to make a vanity.  They were already a perfect shade of aqua and I simply added some painted details and glaze to put my stamp on them.  Trust me when I tell you that I hauled these all over my house to try to find a spot for them, but I did not have room.  I took them with me to the Lucketts fair last year.  For

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Zinc Frame…or is it?

Zinc is a hot “thing” right now. You’re seeing zinc furniture, zinc letters, and all things zinc in home decor. It looks so cool, but it’s expensive. Now, I’m going to say that as much as I love paint, I am not a fan of faux. Mainly, because it looks….well, faux. My friend, Jami from Freckled Laundry, recently painted a “zinc” dresser and did a great job, I might add. When we were e-mailing about her technique, she mentioned the possibility of using tin foil to achieve the look of zinc. I had no plans to test it out, but then, I started working on this frame.  It was part particle board, part metal…it was ugly and paint just wasn’t going to fix it.  I needed to decoupage something over the frame to hide the imperfections.  I was a little tired of craft paper and sheet music, so I went

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A Pair of Clogs, a Pillow, and More…

My mad dash to get things ready for Lucketts continues and will continue for a few more weeks.  I feel the lure to work on my living room, but there is too much paying work to be done.  I had this vintage pair of clogs from my aunt, but they were a yellowish pine and not very cute.  I decided to paint them using a technique to make them look chippy and naturally worn.  There’s something “telling” in distressing with a palm sander, so I wanted to try something different and I’m in love with this new technique.  These are coming to Lucketts with me to sell.  Sigh…maybe they won’t sell and I can keep them.  I also finished this pillow for a client.  She is having me make another “Gasthaus” sign like the one I just sold right off my wall.  There’s an old shelf in our basement that I am

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Feed Sack Pillows

First of all, the winner of the Well of Creations camera bag giveaway is Teresa!  Congrats!  I do not have an e-mail for you, so please send me an e-mail to claim your prize. Well, I have been a busy girl, so I’ve been a little quiet on my blog the past couple of days.  You lovely ladies have not been quiet, though!  Holy Cow!  I can’t believe how popular “Miss Mustard Seed in a Box” is.  I wish I had a few hundred to give away.  It’s been a real encouragement for me to read all of your comments and compliments.  Thanks so much for making my blog what it is today.  We had some friends from our church over for lunch today, so that kept me away and yesterday one of our youth girls came over for some help with making a dress.  Now, I do not make

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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