I love Costumes!

Happy Halloween to you all!  Hope your day is filled with happy spirits and cute trick-or-treaters.

We are not dressing up this year as Daughter is away at college still and Son is wearing Army green 24/7 and is far far away.

In 2009 we finally got the chance to go to Mickeys Trick or Treat at Disney's California Adventure. It was so much fun.  We came out with bags and bags of candy, enough to last a year!

Even though we are not dressing up, I must tell you, my favorite thing in the world to make is costumes.  Today I only have a few to show as the rest are stuck in a very old tired slow desktop computer.

This is Son in the pirate costume I made for him.  His date used her own pirate girl costume.  I made the vest for him, wrapped his head in a scarf, made a belt and shoulder scarf. I cut ant pinned up a pair of his old trousers and he wore a shirt and shoes that he already had.

Years ago I made four of these Roman guard costumes for our Living Nativity at church. (The helmet is purchased.) I decided to be a Roman Goddess (totally out of character for me-LOL) and used several sheets to make this.

Daughter and her now fiance went as teenage Pebbles and Bam-Bam.  We worked on these costumes together. He is actually in shorts and high tops. She used a dog play bone to put in her hair.  

We didn't realize it at the time, but we look like a walk through history. Prehistory, ca. 70 AD, and about 1717! Cute!

Have a safe Halloween!

Blessings,

Jeannine

PS If anyone wants help making a costume let me know. Dream job: Costume department at Disneyland!

French Inspired Apron Winner!

And the winner of the French inspired Apron giveaway is....

Fabby Living who said:

Definetelly a follower! Love the giveaway, thank you for the chance. Your tablescape is so elegant and beautiful, I love the placemats and all the white, thanks for sharing and hope you visit too.
Have a terrific weekend. FABBY

Congratulations! Fabby leave me a comment so I can get your info to send

 you your new apron.

Blessings,

Jeannine

Chinese Red Dresser (Buffet)

So today I am sharing an exploration in salvaging a MESS!  This was a freebie that Husband got when he purchased another dresser and bedside table that we wanted.  This one was in bad shape! The missing drawer was actually made upside down by the manufacturer.  It was beyond saving.  We couldn't even give this away at a garage sale.

With nothing to lose we decided to try out a really Chinese inspired paint job.

The top was in bad shape.

We started by removing the drawers and picking the best four.  Husband then measured and cut two pieces of plywood to make platforms to later place baskets on.

The first two coats of paint were red.  Unfortunately it came out looking hot pink!  Since we planned to add more color to that we persevered instead of worrying too much

It took two solid coats to cover the faux wood grain.

After the red we brushed on a coat of black using a dry brush.  I kept going over and over it until I achieved the amount of black that seemed appropriate.

Then I took a Krylon gold leafing pen and drew around between the grooves in each drawer and the door.  It was really easy. Better than I expected.  We replaced the original handles back on it with nothing more than a quick cleaning.  I didn't want to lose the "patina" of the handles and make them too shiny.

Finally we found a pair of black baskets at Target to place on the shelves.

There we have a lovely Chinese red styled dresser or buffet.  

It was work but a rewarding result.  This little beauty is for sale. Let me know in the comments if you are interested. 

I hope you enjoyed this little journey of the Chinese styled dresser.  It almost went in the dumpster but for $20 of paint we figured "Why not?"

Blessings, 

Jeannine

I am joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday.  Check out the other fabulous transformations there.

I have also linked with Piece of Work Wednesday at Primitive & Proper.  See what else is going on by going here.

Don't forget my giveaway of a French Inspired apron. 

French inspired Table and French Apron Giveaway

I have finally had some time to myself (too much time with Husband overseas) to put together a tablescape.

I wanted to go all black and white with a sort of French theme to it.  It looks a little country French to me but I had fun.  

The placemats and napkins are from Target about two years ago.  They match the chair seat cushions and the curtains in my kitchen dining area.

The wine glasses are basic crystal from Cost Plus World Market.

The parfait glasses were a find at an estate sale.  There are six of them.  Now to make some triple layered chocolate something to serve in them! The tray is from a different estate sale. All the other items are the basics we use everyday.

Just for fun I decided to have a giveaway!  This is one of my French feedsack inspired aprons, similar to the ones shown in Apron*ology vol. 3.

It is 100% cotton and completely washable.

To enter all you need to do is become a follower and tell me you did.

For a second entry, share on Facebook, then come back and tell me about it.

I will ship worldwide this time. If you are not in the US tell me about where you live-just because I am curious!

I will draw a random comment on Wednesday, October 26 at 5 pm Pacific time.

Good luck!

I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  You must check out the other tables!

Thanks for visiting.

Blessings,

Jeannine

Stonegable Has a Giveaway!

I had to share this gorgeous tablescape that Yvonne at Stonegable did.  She is fantastic with filling a beautiful table.  She is also having a Mikasa giveaway!

Check her out here.

I hope you enjoy her tables as much as I do.  

Congratulations on Two years!

Blessings,

Jeannine

Wedding Dress Alterations

Last Saturday, Daughter drove up from college to go to her wedding dress fitting.  This time it was just her and me.  We were ten minutes early and the shop hadn't opened yet so we went over to Kohl's to look for shoes.  We found these awesome blue suede platforms.  They have a 5 inch heel and a 1 inch platform under the ball of the foot.  We are going to look around for something one inch shorter.  But they saved us from having to have the dress hemmed.  

Her fiance is 6' 4" while she is 5' 5", so it works out. Both bridesmaids are about 5' 7".  You can see some of the details of the dress in the mirror.  It is fit and flare, has beading, lace overlay, lace edging, and small three dimensional flowers. 

Here the fitter is pinning up the train into a bustle so Daughter will be able to dance at her reception.

As we work out more details I will share what I can (without giving it all away! After all, a bride needs some mystery.)

Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek at the wedding!

Blessings,

Jeannine

Adult Trick-or-Treating: AKA Garage Sale!

Two weekends ago, Husband and I went to a city wide garage sale in Escalon, California.  It's a small town a few miles east of where we live.  It was so much fun.  I have a Jeep Liberty so we are limited in the size of the pieces we can buy.  We drove around a while looking for furniture.  We turned down one street and parked.  There were garage sales at half the houses on one city block.  And these are those little houses built  right after the end of World War II. Small

People were walking up and down the streets, buying treasures, laughing and having a good time.  It looked like adult trick-or-treating!  Except you got to pick your goodies and had to pay for them.  But people were out everywhere!

This first piece is a dresser.  It had a mirror but we didn't want it.  The dresser is only 24 1/2 inches tall!

We are thinking to just strip and refinish or paint it in gradient pinks or lavenders for a very girly look. Any ideas? The dresser was $15! I practically sat on it while Husband went to pay!

These chairs were a find.  I've been looking for "new" chairs for my dining table since we brought it home from the ME.  Our chairs are breaking and falling apart.  They were made of very cheap wood.

Two chairs are stained and two are painted a glossy brown.  Eewwww!

I will strip them and refinish.  I am not sure I want to paint them.  But I do love paint!

What do you think of my finds?

Blessings,

Jeannine

Discovering Myself

I started this blog on February 1 of 2008.  I hadn't realized it had been that long. I began my blog to share some of the scrapbook pages I had made.  However, over the years my interests have changed.  Currently I am more interested in buying garage sale furniture and painting it either for my own home or to sell. I have painted five different dressers a shade of white for my bedrooms plus several that have sold.  I've done a black dining table for my kitchen and a white set to sell (hasn't sold yet.) I posted about it here.

As I look back over my blog I find that it is a lot like me and my daughter.  I am 47 and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I'm also trying to figure out a direction for my blog.

  

These are some things I know:

I love to read and write; my college degree is in Creative Writing. I have actually written one novel and started on another. Not published.

I love to paint furniture.

I love to teach, but don't love the High School Students. I don't like the discipline that takes up much of my teaching time. (I am a substitute teacher.)

I love paper, and scrapbooking.

I enjoy sewing and creating new items.  I have taught quilting in the past.

I love my blog but often feel blocked about where to start.  Odd for a writer.

I love Wedding Planning from helping my daughter with hers and from teaching event planning.

I know that I don't want to spend the rest of my working years working a job I don't like.  This month and through the rest of 2011, I plan on figuring out what I do want to do. And start doing it.  My first plan is to put more of me into my blog. 

And while I am struggling with this thought, my daughter is working through the same issue.  She is a college senior, 21 years old and getting married next September.  She is a kinesiology major, yet she does not know what she wants to do for her career.  My advice is to find something you love to do so you will enjoy your job.  Easy to say! We seem to have the same struggle.

So I hope you will bear with me as I struggle with "finding" myself and focusing my blog. Thank you for coming along on this journey.

Jeannine