Friday, July 29, 2011

Do Nothing For 2 Minutes

This week has been a busy and stressful one. In checking my e-mails at lunch, I came across one from one of my favorite publications, Real Simple. It was titled "Six Ways To Simplify Your Life", and one of them was exactly what I needed.

It is a website called Do Nothing For 2 Minutes. You seriously go and stare at a beautiful sunset picture and hear waves crashing for a whole 2 minutes. If you hit a button or move your mouse, it starts over for another 2 minutes. It forces you clear your mind and just relax, and I have to tell you that it works....

I almost fell asleep.

Kudos to whomever created this great site. Two minutes was all it took me to mentally recharge to get through the rest of my day.

Photo from DoNothingFor2Minutes, first seen at Real Simple

Lots of blog updating will be done this weekend. Check back for some new projects!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Vintage Finds 7.27.2011

Just another reminder about the VINTAGE SALE next Wednesday, August 3, as part of the Vintage Finds series. You won't want to miss all the goodies I have in store!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Weekend Rehab

This weekend we celebrated my brother's 21st Birthday. When I asked him what he wanted, he said he needs stuff for his house. There is honestly so much that he needs, I was trying to keep things simple and get some real necessities, instead of fun decor stuff. You can always add the details later, but staples, like chairs and rugs, are what he needed most.

A few weeks ago, while my husband was working outside, our neighbors across the alley put out a bunch of furniture they wanted to get rid of with a large FREE sign. So I went over there to check out the goods crap. I did come upon an old swivel chair that had brown vinyl upholstery, wood armrests, and chrome frame. While it was in pretty poor condition, it had good bones that I thought I could clean up. I rolled it across the alley and put it in my garage until true inspiration kicked in.

My brother needed a desk chair for his new kitchen, one that had wheels so that it could move easily on the new wood floor. At a trip to Joann's one Saturday, I found some great blue woven fabric on clearance for $3 a yard (I bought 1.5 yards), and decided to make over the old office chair. The photo on the left shows the true color, but the one on the right shows the weave of the material.

Next, I stripped off the old vinyl off the cushions, and surprisingly, the foam underneath was in great condition. No smells or major stains, and I think this is because of the stain resistance of the vinyl covering. I liked the brown armrests, but due to some scrapes and damage to them, sanding them way down and staining was not really an option to get them to look good. And I was limited on time, so I gave them a quick sanding and wipe down, and primed them with Kilz Latex Primer. 



While the primer was drying, I took the back cushion inside and began to recover it. I used a staple gun to secure the fabric around the old foam, as the staples would be disguised by the mounting of the cushion back on the frame. No need to sew when you don't see the seams anyway! I had plenty of material to cover both cushions.




Next, I took the frame out into the grass  to spray paint the arms (we my husband had a little issue with spray paint overdraft on our his patio pavers last time, so I have been banished to the grass for all spray painting projects) with a glossy white Rustoleum paint I already had in my garage. I used some Frog Tape, also already owned, to take off the chrome as to prevent any residual spray on that too. 


And just to show you the condition of the chrome, it was not in terrible shape, but definitely had some pitting and rust spots. So, after the arm rests were really dry, as to not screw them up like I do my nail polish, I proceeded to clean up the chrome frame.

For this, I used one of my most favorite products that I already had on hand, Brasso. I use it to clean up my vintage brass pieces, anything chrome, and sometimes even silver. It can be found at most major home improvement stores. I dab it on with steel wool, let sit for a few minutes, and then rub in circles with the steel wool. Then get a clean rag or paper towel and wipe off the excess. It took off about 98% of the rust, with the exception of two small amounts in the corners, and made the chrome look shiny and new! It gleamed almost as bright as the new white arm rests!


The bottom cushion was originally covered with the vinyl stapled directly to the bottom of the frame, so I used the same technique with the new blue fabric. I just stretched the fabric over the foam, and stapled the fabric tightly to the underneath. I them trimmed any excess fabric off of the bottom.
And here it is!!! The finished chair, looking bright, shiny, and new! When we first got it to his house, the chair was a little too tall for the new desk, but thanks to it being a vintage chair, it could be swiveled down to the right height. Who knew?! Here it is as the perfect fit in his new desk, and the entire project cost me a whopping $4.50 in material, since all other items were already owned! And check out the new rugs we got for the kitchen from HomeGoods for $20 a piece. I love them because they are sisal, but have the rubber backing on the back for a no-slip grip!

 
We also got my brother some plants for his house, to warm up the space a bit. He still needs a few more, but we need to start small to see if he can keep them alive. The one in the gray pot (also from HomeGoods $3) is an air purifying plant from Home Depot, that I thought would be not only good for the desk/kitchen, but also his allergies. The other plant is a tropical plant that loves sun and requires little water. The pot was also from HomeGoods for $5, and both plants were under $10 each. And finally, his last gift was a large sisal rug for the living room. While it is not my favorite rug, he needed something in there to break up all the brown from the wood floor and leather couches, until we can find a larger rug with more color.

So there's the rundown of the weekend rehab project! I guess it was really two projects in one, since I not only rehabed a chair, but brought some more life to my brother's house. Check back soon for a few more rehab projects this summer!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Vintage Finds 7.20.2011 - SALE!

In an attempt to streamline my house (and closet), I have decided to get rid of some vintage treasures, jewelry and clothing that I have collected for a long time. These will all be for sale through my shop in Etsy  in two weeks during my Wednesday Vintage Finds, August 3.

ALL items will be $5-15, with $5 shipping anywhere in the US, and I will combine shipping on multiple items. Save the date!

Image from here

Monday, July 18, 2011

Dali Muesum Event

My husband is on the Dali Museum's Zodiac Committee and they are having an open call to artists for this year's Dali Museum Zodiac event "The Birth of Liquid Desires"!  Submit work for consideration for the silent art auction, set for August 27th, 2011 at the Dali Museum.  Submission deadline: Friday, July 29, 2011. Please check out their website for more information about this awesome event!
 
 

Friday, July 15, 2011

Friday Fun - Pick Your Battles

Coming next week will be more relevant posts, but I leave this week with one of the funniest blogs/posts on the internet for this crazy Friday. This photo should be enough to get you to go read the story for yourself:

Found here, and first seen here.
And what is more funny than the first story about the giant metal chicken is the second story about another giant metal chicken. Happy Friday!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

DIY Photo Booth

At the party, I wanted a little more than just shuffleboard. After seeing the adorable props on Oh Happy Day, I just couldn't resist a little photo booth! I purchased some blue background fabric on clearance at Joanns, and simply hung it over some items in the clubhouse. I printed out the props from Oh Happy Day (below) and used spray adhesive, outside in a well ventilated area, to attach them to white foam board. Using an Exact-o knife and a sharp pair of scissors, I cut them out and attached them to sticks (i.e. pencils in packs of 10 from the Dollar Store = $2). I then added a few more props, like giant sunglasses, dollar bills (to make it rain), and cute sayings, to complete the photo booth.



Check out the photos below.... even though we had to wrangle a few guests to try it out, many loved it and took multiple pictures. I think it was a success!








Thanks again to the very talented Jordan at Oh Happy Day for providing the fun props and idea!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Party Pics


Just a few random party shots and action shots from our shuffleboard night. Check out my cousin Chris in action.... he loved the courts! And my college roommate Nikki was in town to help me celebrate, as her 30th birthday was the next day! I think it was a good time had by all!





Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Dessert, Drinks, and Details


For my 30th, as you may remember from the invite on this post, I kept things simple by serving dessert and drinks only. So I made a list of some of my favorite desserts, and here's what I came up with:

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes (recipe here)


Bauman Brownies:


For those of you who don't know what these are, my maiden name is Bauman and this family "secret" recipe is really a box brownie that we doctor up with different and added ingredients. Legal ingredients.

Classic Cookies, both sugar with thick icing and chocolate chip, both from Publix. They really make some of the best cookies:


I know since the first picture that you were wondering... those are, in fact, Krispy Kreme doughnuts:


And yes, they were delicious! I has one of each dessert on the table. It was, after all, MY birthday.

And for the setup, I used a table provided by the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club and my green table cloth that I purchased years ago at TJMaxx for about $10. The food flags I found at Joann Fabrics by Martha Stewart for $3.99 (plus 40% off coupon!), and I covered the stands with colored scrapbooking paper, also from Joann's. The (former) accessory/shoe stands were freebies from an Ann Taylor that was closing next door to where my husband works. He snagged them before they made it to the dumpster. Other than being extremely heavy, they have so many uses!! I can't wait to use them at upcoming events!
As for drinks, we had a keg of beer, since nothing seems to be more refreshing on a HOT night than a cold cup of beer. I found the most PERFECT cups at one of my favorite shops Swoozies (no longer brick and mortar stores, but a great online shop here). While I'm pretty sure that they were supposed to be for tennis, they work for the shuffle courts too! For other beverages, we did have some wine, sodas, and bottled water. I also picked up some Archer Farms Italian Soda, in both the Peach Mango and Blood Orange flavors, from Target. I just love their large glass bottles and tangy flavors. I will definitely be using these again for other events, maybe spiked with a little champagne!

I picked up some cute napkins and plates from One Kings Lane. If you do not get their daily e-mails, you are missing out! Click here to subscribe. I ordered 48 paper plates (many to be used at a future event) and 2 sets of napkins for $12.00. They would have been double this from the party store, and the quality and cuteness of these was so much better than anything I found in town.

So that's the run down for the food and drinks and details. Sometimes, it is best to keep things simple, especially when you are hosting your own birthday party. Check back tomorrow for more party details!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Scenes From The Big Event











Just a few photos from the Birthday Bash this past weekend. Updates about the event coming this week! For more information on this awesome venue, please visit St. Pete Shuffle

SHOP