What I accomplished in 2011

The last few weeks everyone in BlogLand has been recapping their year, and I finally have a minute, since crippling myself doing 'yardwork' today, to do a little recap of my own.

Became

I needed new kitchen chairs and Habitat for Humanity had these babies for $10 each

Reupholstered and painted

I expanded my wall art collection

The top pic here is my own horse, Yo

My This End Up desk got Upcycled

Several dog beds

Sold

Sold

Sold

nailhead trim... so pretty... and so hard to do!

Sold

And my lovely model!

The horse rescue had several items donated that I redid and we sold Lickety-split!!

Normally anything I buy, upcycle, and sell generates at least a 10% donation to the rescue... but these items were theirs and I did the work gratis... and they made almost/over [I forget] $400!!!

I could never hand over a $400 donation... so it felt FANTASTIC to generate that kind of money for the cause I hold dear and the organization I know does so many good things!

This hutch....

Redone and still for sale

A Fathers Day gift

[Ignore the photo date- that was screwed up for a few months!]

This...

... became...

Habitat for Humanity vanity seat...

Painted, stenciled and reupholstered

I recovered the cushions on the porch swing... from 'so NOT me, to....

.... 'Now THAT'S me!'

Salvation Army tables

For sale

My sister claimed these

For Sale

For my sister

My new headboard for my soon-to-be-revamped bedroom

A work in progress

For my sisters new house

Here they are in her house:

A small update, we swapped out these knobs on our master bath vanity...

... and replaced them with these, from Hobby Lobby

Finally, my new kitchen hutch is nearing completion.

I know I'm fickle... here are the 'also rans' in the 'Ang needs a Kitchen Hutch' race:

... the original, WHY did I SELL it????

... no counter, sold it ...

... too small, for sale ...

And the latest contestant, before...

... during....

and well, ... still during, but almost there...

See the grey backed shelves?  Those will have a door over them... someday... and just the top shelf on the sides will be open, as well as that middle.

Upper knobs, thanks Hobby Lobby!

Lower knobs, again, Hobby Lobby

[the first step is knowing you have a problem, right?]

distressing

... and you will see below, my favorite Xmas gift on the right... a genuine MacKenzie-Childs, from my sister!!

You can't see them, but I added lights to the open area on top as well, to highlight my display items

Okay, apparently trying to update 10 minutes before Downton Abbey starts is not advised.

For some reason the new pics of the hutch most recently will not upload, so consider this a cliffhanger... and check back soon for those pictures!    Nevermind, got 'em done!!

What I want to do with this piece in the near future is add a Stainless Steel counter top.

Crazy idea?  Bad idea?   Is there a way to cheat and make it look like SS, but save $$ and time and effort?  Maybe using a skill I already think I have?

Anyone know how to add SS and want to mentor me?

I still have to add the pitted glass film to the glass doors, but it appears to be a 2 man job, so I'm waiting for a day that both D and I can do it...   

Today was not that day.  

Today was 'clear the view into the woods so we can see if the bear is waiting to pounce' day.

And as before I want to add doors to the sides, where the grey backed shelves are...  I either gotta' learn how to make those, or find some that will fit.  Any guesses as to which would be harder to do, more time consuming and/or more expensive?

The colors I used on this hutch are actually the same as the 'Original', 2 Ralph Lauren colors I get custom mixed.

Here's the view from where I sit.... these 2 girls are the bestest girlfriends, and spend almost all day snuggling, or sniffin' out what's been in the yard [again, that bear!].

Happy Dogs

Repost of 'Talk Talk'

This is a repost of a November project I did.

After this project was done and I ventured to my sisters new house to help there and had Thanksgiving with my family, my mother became ill.  Hence began my Blog Hiatus.  Those of you who have followed my blog know all about the last 2 years my sister, brother and I spent caring for my father in his last years.  My mother getting ill was scary on so many more levels... but she is on the mend now, and her situation is not as dire as Dads was, so we are all very thankful.

I had a request in my comments to post this to a Link Party, and since I never checked my comments while I was on my hiatus I missed it.  I am thankful for the request, Thanks Kammys Korner!, since it gives me a chance to update everyone and link up without having to create a whole new post....not alot of work has gotten done around here, and since I left my sander in Rochester [4 hours away], not much will get done for a while. *sigh*  I'll be doing alot of sewing until I get Sandy back I guess.

From November:

I bought this Telephone Table at the thrift shop for $10 and my sister immediately called 'dibs'

bad picture

seatback detail

So  I painted it ...

... reupholstered the seat [oh it smelled!],... 

Seat back detail

... and did her Monogram on the table.

I think she is really gonna' love it!!

They finally brought Hobby Lobby to my town.  I had a blast there the other day, and could have bought a truckload of things I loved.

*sigh*

I saw this set of 3 canisters in black and white with some red, the large said 'Live', the medium said 'Laugh', and the small said 'Love'.  I was dying to buy them for sis, they are perfect for her... but they were too pricy.

So, I am going to try making them!

I think I'll take 3 coffee cans [I save them for the horse rescue for donation cans], paint them black, and then add chalk paint and then I can write the words in chalk, or maybe stencil with the stencil I did her Telephone Table with.  I'll post them if they come out ok.  :D

If they never come to fruition it's cause I do know some snakes have taken up residence in the crate I have all the cans in out in the garage... and once I see one of those slithery dudes,... well the project is over after that.

I'm scrambling to get it all done as I am heading up to see her Friday to help her paint, decorate and get settled and ready for Thanksgiving!  Can not wait to see her new/first house!   So exciting!

I linked up with Savvy Southern Style's wow-us-wednesdays, and Kammys Korner, trash-2-treasure-tuesdays   There are some awesome projects posted at both blogs.  

I love a blog party... it cuts down my computer time substantially to have those select projects to peruse... but boy oh boy did I waste time after Christmas looking at all the 'year in review' parties!!!  I thought about doing one myself [a recap post], but with the hiatus I took, I'm doubting many of you have stuck around [understandably] so linking will help me dip the toe back in to the pool, so to speak.