Sunday, March 28, 2010

Painting in the Wind



hey y'all,

just a quick post to stay in touch with blogland. rough week, physically. i think this ever-changing texas weather is wreaking havoc with my tired old body. and, according to my rheumatologist, everybody's been hurting these past couple of months. thanks, doc. misery loves company.

speaking of the weather, it's been as windy as a (insert your favorite simile here; i got nothin'). but i think you get my drift. it's been damn windy in central texas. and as luck would have it, i was bitten by the dreaded SP bug. that would be the spray painting bug.

if you've ever been bitten, you know what i'm talkin' about. once you start spraying, almost nothing can stop you. even 60-70 mph texas winds. my best guess is that only about 30% of the paint actually made it to the desired destination. another 30% was gone with the wind, and the remaining 50% must have gone straight up my nose because i was blowing white snot for days. you do the math. ;-)

so i've had these old chairs forever it seems, bought along the junkin' trail over the years. and never could muster the energy or desire to paint them. ah ha! but of course i wait until we have record-breaking wind speeds to get myself in gear.



i covered an old pillow with a sweet vintage sheet for the seat cushion. i honestly think it turned out adorable. got the chair for $1, a little elbow grease and $30 worth of spray paint (heh heh) and voila! finis!



this little sweetie pie of a chair was a freebie from newly-wedded belinda, sister of moi. while cleaning out her garage and house, she bestowed it upon me. because i asked her for it. love bentwood chairs but of course it needed some TLC. that would be terry lee craziness.



painted her pink, reupholstered the seat with a rachel ashwell shabby chic curtain found at a yard sale for almost nothing. sweet, pink roses! am pleased with these results as well.



and finally, on a final note ... not much junkin' this week/end. i hit a couple of friday sales, at one of which i found this:



i've been wanting some architectural pieces, columns and the like, but they've always been too pricey. even at flea markets, etc. it was sitting on the side of the house, as if not part of the sale. but on a whim, i asked the lady if she was selling it. she said "no, that old thing?" and my heart sank.

then she said, "it's falling apart, so you can have it."

i can almost hear the hallelujah chorus even now.

whaaa?! i honestly couldn't believe my ears. poor old lady even lugged it to my car because i'm unable to lift anything right now (long story about rib and back pain ... for more info, see my rheumatologist).

she's right. it's crumbly. but i sprayed it with a clear coating of whatchacallit to protect it. i think i'm in love. it's a beauty!



oh! and i finally painted my church bench!! it was also free, which i think i blogged about last year. anyhow, it had been sitting in my sitting (!!) area, covered in a gorgeous ashwell quilt ... but i had matt haul her out to the painting porch so i could get wild and crazy with the pink paint.

interestingly (well, to me) i used ashwell shams for the bench cushion. i cut the original church pew cushion (an old, ugly blue ... think of all the baptist behinds that have plopped down on that thing!) in half and then covered them with the shams. soooo sweet! sadly, those pics will have to wait till next time because the poor pew needs another pint of pink paint. when i looked at it the next morning, it was splotchity. ack! i blame it on the damn wind.

see?! this is what happens when you cross a stubborn texas gal with the stubborn texas wind. half-ass projects and a cheap thrill-ride high for the project-artiste (just joshing kids. don't sniff spray paint. don't do it. really).

y'all have a great week ... and don't blow away!

love and hugs,
terry lee

okay, one last thing, for reals. y'all remember that $28 chest i bought a few weeks ago? i bloggity blogged about it. anyhow, i finally finished it too. as a reminder, here's the before:



here are some after pics:





8 comments:

Dana said...

Hi Terry Lee!! I dropped everything (I was cleaning my house-thanks) and read your blog. Terry Lee Craziness-LOL! That crazy wind moved my Heather Bullard style birthday party indoors. Anyway, love your painting projects and your pedestal! I love how you decorate your house!!

vintagesue said...

i'm with dana....i had to leave zoey in a state of melt down emergency so i could read your blog!!! lol. she is screaming as i type. poor thing. she is soooo tired.
you crack me up with the wind thing. remember i would always blog about the stupid texas wind. i don't know how y'all do it with that dang wind. i remember spray painting stuff in my yard and the spray would go sideways....lol.
i LOVE your blue chest of drawers!! turned out AWESOME. and that pedestal is the best!! it will be perfect in your garden. i just know it.
can't wait to see the pew. better go deal with the zoey monster.
take it easy....
s

Anonymous said...

It has been windy as all get out here in Dallas too - hard to get anything done outside, lol. I adore the chairs and that column is completely fabulous!!

Jamie said...

I know what you mean about that crazy wind! My nutjob Man O Mine tried to go skeet shooting in it yesterday LOL!
Love how your projects turned out, especially that dresser!

Mollye said...

Oh girl you're killing me. I tell ya what would we do without spray paint, duck tape or vicks salve. The chairs are beauties and the chest is perfect-o! Now don't spray no more until the buzz wears off! XXMollye

Library Lady said...

OK. My two faves of your endeavors:

1) Loved the bentwood chair. Hate to tell you, but now I want it back! (Heh, heh...)
Seriously, it looks great and I love the rose cushion. You done good, Little Sis! To add to the glamour of the story, you should add that it came all the way from Rochester, NY, which it truly did way back from the mid-1980s.

2) The chest of drawers. Amazing what a little paint will do with some of those li'l doilies! V. Cute. V. chic. V. Terry Lee.

TLC = Terry Lee Craziness. Not only are you "crafty", but quite literary.

Love you!
Big Sis (aka "the newly wedded") alluded to in paragraph six of TL's blog.

Now, please visit my blog at:
http://bkkscholl.blogspot.com

(A shameless plug for myself!)

Anonymous said...

Hi Terry Lee,
I'm back again, I know... I'm like a pesky fly, LOL. I just wanted to thank you for your overly kind words on my blog comments today, about Wacky Wednesday... you so "get" the whole thing - it's a way to let the teen agers be a kid for a night, (and us grown ups too) and what a great way to escape the weekday stresses than sitting down to laugh yourself silly for an hour. I think its the greatest thing I do for them these days ;) Many hugs and thanks, from the bottom of my heart!

-dawn

Debbie P. said...

The chairs turned out very cute! And gotta love that column! It always pays to ask; same thing happened to me with two concrete birdbath bottoms; were on the side of the garage, asked about them and took both of them home for $1.00! Anxious to see the pew!