Chalk one up!

I had to try my hand at making chalk paint - I already

felt a little late out of the gate!  I mixed my flat

white (with a hint of turqouise) latex paint with

about 2 heaping tablespoons of white unsanded grout

(using about 2 cups of paint).  I ended up adding a bit

more grout - overall - I had a pretty good result.  I wanted

to test the "no prep" experience of using chalk paint - it didn't

really work that well for me - I wish I had sanded the chair

before I painted but the end result isn't awful.  The

chair was free so not a big investment if it didn't work!

I also couldn't find proper wax (I wasn't able to get to

a hardware/paint store) so I used bee's wax.  Again, not a

stellar result but not terrible. 

I do have a little tip I have been meaning to share - it's

served me well in recovering chair seats such as this one.

I always look for pillow shams at the thrift stores - most

often they are in new condition (lots of people never bother

to use them) and they are often in lovely fabrics AND best

of all, they are just the right amount of fabric to cover a

chair seat.  This one is a silky fabric that was actually lined

with quilt batting so double bonus for a buck! I've

also got some matelasse ones stored up for some

special chairs.

I guess I will continue to try and refine my chalk paint

process.  I made a really cool pillow to go with the chair

but frankly it turned out SO well that it deserves

 a post all its own.

Hope you are having as much fun as I am (oh how hard

it is going to be to go back to work next week!)

I have an addiction.....

Source

My name is Peggy and I am an addict....

Yup, it's true - I am one of those people who is hopelessly,

helplessly addicted to their Blackberry.  I'm not proud of it but

it's time to come clean.  If you, like me, can answer "yes" to

any of these questions - you too might be an addict:

1.  Do you roll out of bed and grab your phone to check

for overnight messages? (now really -

who's texting you at night?)

2.  Have you ever taken your phone into the bathroom

with you?  (c'mon admit it you have - haven't you?)

3.  Have you found yourself gazing into the eyes of your

friend or loved one while they are talking to you and you

aren't hearing a word they are saying because

 you are wondering if you have any new messages?

4.  Do you return texts and emails within mere

moments of receiving them?

5.  Have you ever texted someone in the same house or

office because it was easier than getting up to find them?

6.  Do you need your phone to be visible at all times so

you can see or hear the telling alert that a message

has arrived?

Now I'm not saying that I could say "yes" to all of these

and I am going to leave you to wonder which ones I really

am guilty of.  I only know that the darn little Blackberry

does NOT own me.....I own it (er, really, I am sure I do)

and I will not in 2012 let that nasty little piece of techno

hardware rule my world. 

Oh, by the way - check out this cute little snuggly I got

the little gaffer.....

that is after I wrapped it

up in this pretty, blingly little "skin".....

But wait, there is hope - you, like me, can control it.....

turn it off, turn it upside down,

mute the tone that tells you there's a message and get

on with life.....nothing, truly nothing is more important

than this day!

I will if you will.......

All in a day's thrifting......

So, (don't you hate it when people start their sentence

with so?....)...so where was I?  So, I had today off and

miracle of miracles so did Mr. Biff!  We decided to

head down the Island Highway to the nearby town

of Duncan to do a little downtown walking and

browsing.  Although Duncan is a small town by most

standards it has a lovely downtown that is kind of an

eclectic mix of decor, thrift stores and 5 & Dime Mom

and Pop kind of stores.

All of the thrift stores except one was closed but

we kind of hit the jackpot at the one....

Check this out.....

Everything on the cutting board except for the

ampersand was from the thrifty store..... the

ampersand has been on my "I want one" list

for a while but $39 at Pier One was just too rich

to say "and" on my shelf.  I got this one at

Walmart for $4.   Yeah!!

Mr. Biff and I had so much fun.  The best

buy by far (except for the beautiful white

soup turine that had the ladle and a platter

to sit on that I didn't buy - whaaa?) was the

bread tray.  It's an Arts & Crafts (nice use of

the ampersand Peg!) Meridien Hammered

Silver Plate......and it was......wait for it....

50 cents....yup...fiddy-cents.....oh my isn't she

lovely?  The other goodie that I am drooling over is

the glass plate....

It was $2 and is sitting on another fiddy cent find - a glass

candlestick.  I was looking longingly at pedestal plates

with the ball trim in a high-end home decor store and at $58

a pop just couldn't justify but this....this is divine!

The tray and the cannister are going on my desk to hold

all the crap stuff I have to have at my fingertips....I will spray

paint the tray and rub it with some stain

 to bring out the lovely relief work.

This baby ceramic topiary with the mini-bird rounds out the

haul for the day @ 25 cents.  (Secretly there's more....but I will save it

for another day so you don't get too envious!)

Hope you are having fun in this new year! 

I Want to Thank You....

For letting me be myself again.....

(oh and thanks to Sly & the Family Stone!)

Seriously - I am absolutely humbled when I look

upon the blogs of the friends I have gathered on

my new little blog and the wonderful

 blogs I have "befriended".

Blogging has taken me from a dreamer to a

do-er and has given me some fantastic

feedback and more importantly fantastic

incentive through instruction!

So Thank You!  All of YOU!  You Rock!

May 2012 continue to bring you blogging

bliss....and remember:

"Normal is just a cycle on your dryer"

p.s. stay tuned for some changes (revamping,

renaming and re-launching coming soon....