Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone enjoys this green Holiday Season! Make the most of the cool climate and get outdoors!

Cheers!

Magnetic Message boards

 Happy Friday!

Today I am going to share with you my favourite thing to make. It is super easy and has a fantastic result! All you need to do is find a wonderful frame and fabric that works in your space!

I start by checking out garage sales, thrift stores and of course Auctions for frames. I always looking for boards that are in good condition or need only minor repair. Then I clean up the frame and make any repairs and then paint!

I get press board and cut it to fit the frame and then I paint magnetic paint primer from Home depot. I paint 6 coats of this paint so that it will be strong enough through the fabric for magnets to hold on.

Next I spray adhesive the fabric on to the magnetic paint and then put the frame altogether.

The last step is to make cute magnets. I use the Lee Valley Rare-earth Magnets because they are the strongest magnets I have been able to find. I super glue the magnets to crafts store gems and vintage buttons.

Check out my latest creations!

This is a very tall board. It would be perfect in a little girls room!

This is a damask print in black and white.  

This is my favourite  message board to date. I love these cute owls!!

Craft show # 1

This weekend was the kickoff of my 5 seasonal craft shows. It was a little slower than other years, but was still a successful show. We got to iron out the kinks of setting up and I have commissioned my dad to make a stand for my message boards. My mother and I always have our disagreements when getting organized but once we are set up are fine. This picture shows how my mom spent the slow part of the day.
We ran into lots of friendly faces and was a great Saturday!
What did you do this Saturday? Are there any shows you're looking forward to?

The Holiday Season is upon us!

Tis the Season to check out the craft shows! I am currently booked every weekend this November for a craft show. I know this month will fly by as last November did.

I enjoy seeing what everyone is making and I always hope to see some new and unique items!

Here are wreaths that I have been making! They are all yarn wrapped and then each has its own individualized decorations.

 This is a fall Wreath with red, orange, and gold felt flowers.

 This is a wonderful fall/winter wreath it has brown, blue, and green felt flowers and artificial acorns in the same colours.

 This is a perfect wreath for your Holiday door!

 Sparkling red yarn will add the brightness to your door this season!

 This is an elegant winter wreath. It has peacock coloured felt flowers and a peacock feather.

 This is a nice holiday season wreath that can pass through the fall and into the winter.

This is my favourite wreath for the fall. It is a deep teal colour yarn with a vibrant pop of gold felt roses!

Hope you get to out to your local craft shows this season and see some wonderful handmade items!

The End of Antique Season (Aberfoyle)

Good Monday Morning and Happy Halloween!

The Season of Antiques has ended! I should give some explanation to my statement. This is the end of the season where you can go to yard sales and out door flea/Antique markets. It is now getting to cold for these lovely places where you can find amazing deals!

This weekend marked the end of Aberfoyle Antique Market's season as well. I love this market as its outside and such a wonderful way to spend a Sunday! My dog also loves this market because she gets to come along! I have been meaning to post a few finds that I have acquired from the market this fall.  

This Lovely chair is solid oak and cast iron. I was told that it is from the CN railway. This is the chair the ticket sales person would sit in. I loved that it didn't have so it can fit easily under my desk which has a narrow passage between two sets of drawers.

The mechanics are quite impressive.

 I took this before I had washed the chair. As you can see it was a little dusty.

 This basked was perfect for my shelf! I had been looking at stores everywhere for a basket with a lid. I stumbled upon this beauty and had to take it. It is missing one clasp but I think that just adds some character.

This was a real find! I  got this for only $15!!! I am going to get my dad to wire this into a light! I have been watching this trend in Interior Design blogs and magazines. I love the way these fixtures cast light out in different patterns.

 This is a cute coffee/nut grinder. The colour is perfect!

I lived for a year in Australia. I have tons of pictures and haven't found a way to display them. I am living currently in an apartment but someday I am going to do a gallery wall with my pictures and these finds! I got a map of the three states I travelled!

Along with the map I got four newspaper drawings of Australian wildlife and culture.

 This is another illustration. It is depicting a hunt of a lyre Bird.

This is a water spritzer! It is from the Nu-Jersey Creamery in Toronto.  I love the Elephant on the logo.

 Here is another vintage kitchen utensil. This is a potato ricer. It is in great condition!

 AND Finally my favourite pottery company McCoy! We got a set of Greek key planters in the cream colour. I love looking for unique pieces and helping my parents find items for their Antique Booth.

Now that Antique Season is over I find myself into craft show season.....

I have a month straight of craft shows!

Oh, Deer!

Well, this weekend was an interesting one. I got a txt message from my mother on Saturday that said my Dad hit a deer. I was quite concerned but was assured everything was fine and it had just damaged the front headlight......

A couple hours later I hear back from my parents. They had assessed the damage closer and my mother had more information. The accident not only damaged the front headlight but the hood was bent back and the front grill was damaged. My parents at this point had called the insurance company and had everything in order for repairs and a rental vehicle.

I went over to my parents and had a look for myself. The vehicle looked okay but because all vehicles are made of plastic now the front end was pretty bent. My Dad said he hit a BUCK going 90 kms. The buck ran out of a corn field and within two jumps had hit my Dad's SUV. He's very lucky he didn't hit the ditch or have any other cars near him. The Buck hit the ditch and after a couple of minutes ran into a near by forest.

Please be careful on the roads!!!

IPHONE 4S

I bought myself a little present the other day!!

Well I have wanted an iPhone since the first time I heard that apple was even making a phone. A few years later and I actually have one! I was a Blackberry owner and quite happy with it, but was just amazed at how much more you can do with the IPhone. There are so many apps to add that it is overwhelming! I also love that I can view the Internet as I can on my computer rather than the weird format my Blackberry had. I must admit my Blackberry was the curve with the rollerball and quite a bit old (in technology time). I am very pleased with my new purchase!

Check it out!

So what do you prefer iPhone, Blackberry or Android?

AND What Apps should I download??

Repurposed Dinning Chair

Hello Friends! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I have been really busy working. I am super excited about how this project turned out. I got this chair at an auction last spring for $2!! Great deal! I have been planning on painting it the same turquoise colour that I used on my buffet. I just couldn't find the right fabric for the seat cushion. I searched and searched and manage to find a couple of options that I liked. I wanted something muted that would work with my apartment and wouldn't compete with the bright colour of the paint.

 This is the chair as I had bought it. I loved the details of the legs!

 I sanded the entire chair after removing the seat cushion. I had some help as you can see the back half of my puppy. I then sprayed my chair with my turquoise pant.

 After the paint had dried I attached the newly upholstered seat cushion.

 I am so happy I went with this beige and cream striped fabric as it works with the carpet and the paint in the apartment. Since I can't change those two factors I had to work with them.  

 I just love the extra pop of colour it adds to the boring beige wall!



How do you work around design dilemmas?

Christie Antique Show finds [Part 3]

 Last Saturday I went to the Christie Antique Show and had a blast! My parents and I found many items including tons of salt and pepper shakers. We did buy other items than salt and pepper shakers and here they are:

I have been collecting the old turquoise fiesta ware for about 3 years. I found a small nappy bowl.

 I also found two plates in the turquoise colour. I will later do a post devoted to fiesta ware and the different markings on pre '86 and post '86 pieces.

 I have also been collecting McCoy pottery pieces. This is one of the markings the company used.

 We bought this frog as a present for my grandma, who loves frogs. She has tons of frogs in her garden and in her home. I thought this was in great condition with the paint being very well preserved.

 I have had my eye out for a glass rolling pin for awhile but just couldn't find the right one. I was thrilled when I was at a booth and they had two! This one has not been used and still had the information inside.

 I love that it has the Good Housekeeping seal on it!

This is the information sheet inside the pin. I love the retro logo! It even has recipes on the back!

 I found this Fire King mixing bowl at Christie and pointed it out to my parents and they were thrilled to find it. It is a beauty!

I had to alter the lighting in this picture to show the Fire King label on the bottom of the bowl. Fire King is a popular vintage brand that made mixing bowls, batter bowls, and refrigerator dishes.

Here is the mixing (batter) bowl.

This is a refrigerator dish and lid. We actually got them separately. There was this medium lid and two small lids at a booth that we picked up. We had two small refrigerator dishes without lids at home and thought we might as well buy all three lids. Then a half hour later we found this pretty blue refrigerator dish without a lid. Perfect match!

Here is a picture with the lid on the dish.

Hope everyone enjoys these finds as much as I do!

TGIF

Well the weekend is finally here!
I'm going to be relaxing and maybe organize a little bit.
I hope your weekend is safe and relaxing. Go outside and enjoy the sun!

Christie Antique Show finds [Part 2]

 At the Christie Antique Show my parents and I were looking for items that we want to add to our collection as well as items that my parents could resell at their Antique booth at Brydges Street Merchant Market in London, Ontario. We noticed at the end of the day that what we had picked up was vintage kitchenware's and quite a few salt and pepper shakers. I don't think we need anymore (s&p) for a while. I find vintage kitchenware is becoming very popular as it can be used in our everyday lives. Here is the salt and pepper shakers that we got!

This pair is a blue milk glass. It is not labelled but it is a very simple and colourful pair.

 

 This pair is a red/orange coloured polka dot pattern on milk glass. I believe it is made by Hocking company. These are worth $25-$28 each.

 This is a depression era pink glass. It doesn't have a pattern on it. We picked these up for 4 dollars!

This salt and pepper set is called the windmill pattern and is really popular. The lids were originally painted red, but with age this set has red speckling on the top and most of the paint has come off. They are milk glass with a painted blue windmill and red lettering. These are about 3 1/2 inch tall. These were made by the Hazel-Atlas company.

 The three spice jars are the Dutch scene pattern and have a different blue person on each jar. On the three spices the lids have been repainted and this is what the windmill lids would have originally looked like. Each jar is to have a red star above the name of spice. They are about 3 1/2 inch high and made of milk glass. They are worth $12-20 each.

This I think is my favourite. It is just the Pepper but it is really funky! It is a white milk glass that is painted yellow and has the black dots. It is also 3 1/2 inch high.