Turning the Tables

hey y'all!!!

oh.my.gosh. i've been v. bad. AGAIN.

i know i'd promised to blog more often, but more often than not, i don't. whaa??

i don't know. life is so crazy. either i'm too tired, too bizzzzy or something else comes up.

ANYway, what drew me back to blogger (gahh gahh gahh!! it took me THIRTY minutes to figure out my login and password!!) was my most recent project(s).

recently, as i was driving down a neighborhood road, i spotted two cafe tables, sitting pretty as you please, curbside. naturally, i slammed (er, i mean slowed down) on my brakes, hit reverse and backed up to the aforementioned cafe tables. not ONE, mind you. but TWO of them. CURBSIDE!!!! (read: FREE)

i don't know about YOU, but my heart goes into v-tach (that's like real fast thumpety thump-thump for you non-medical types) when i see "stuff" that has been tossed out and kicked to the curb.

i mean, one man's trash, blah blah blah, and all that jazz, right?!?!

so i jumped out, hauled the not-so-light tables to my camry, arranged them nicely in the backseat and headed on my merry way.

let me interject here and say that these cafe tables were UgLy!!! if i had no motivation or inclination to paint them, I'D throw them out too.

case in point:

 

 

seriously?! red and silver metallic stripes! what was this USED for?! WHO used it?? looks like something that belongs at the north pole, no? ho-ho-ho!!

and then THIS one:

 

metallic silver with an attempt at trees on the top! what. the. WHAT?? maybe the tin man from the wizard of oz lost his table along with his heart.

 

 

well, i've been wanting to do a chalkboard project for the longest time. yes, folks. that's right. i'm the LAST person on planet EaRtH to use chalkboard paint. so before i even got home, i knew that one of those tables was doomed, i mean, destined to have a chalkboard top.

ALSO, i've had it in my crazy tow-headed/gray brain to paint something ... ANYTHING ... a lovely robin's egg blue. i've fallen head over heels in love with it and thought it'd be a nice change-up from my usual PINK. yes, i know ... a moment of silence. she's not using PINK.

over the last four days, the project has finally come together (after only 3 trips to walmart, several naps, multiple xanax and more than a few cuss words!).

the gawd-awful red and silver metallic table (henceforth to be known as table 1) was converted into a chalkboard table. i used the robin's egg blue for the heavy metal base.

 

the metallic silver table (table 2) has been transformed into a lovely cafe table. it has the robin's egg blue top and white for the heavy metal base.

 

i think they both turned out pretty well. i love it when i can rescue an old, thrown out, kicked to the curb piece ... and give it new life. makes me just a tad sentimental for some reason.

together, before:

 

together, after:

 

 

with any luck (blogger is imPOSSible to work with ... slooooow photo uploads, weird screens, ack!) my next post will be about another recent rescue rehab, a bad-a$$ old screen door which was teetering atop another pile of junk, on another road, awaiting another life.

til then!

love and hugs,
terry lee

 

let's have a cup of tea!

New Junking Haunt + Easy Project = Tuesday Post

hey y'all,

i know, i don't normally post on a tuesday, but since i have a couple of things to share ... and because i like to be unpredictable sometimes ... here we go!

first, i'd like to thank jamie over at him, me and our three for cluing me in to a new junking stop! although it embarrasses the hell out of me to admit it, this "new" place is IN. MY. HOME. TOWN. yes, folks, right here under my very own ski-sloped nose.

jamie (who lives locally) asked me in a recent email if i was planning a weekend trip to paply's. whaaa?!?! all i could think of was that either she'd lost her mind and thought i was someone else ... or I'D lost my mind and was not who i thought i was.

i mean, really. what. THE. hell. is. a. paply's?!?

this is where and when you put your god-given interweb skills to work. google google google.

did you mean pappy's?!

arghh. no, i did not mean pappy's. i mean paply's. you heard me right the first time.

guess what?! there IS a paply's in town and it's. an. antique. mall!!!! after skimming the search results, i realized that it's the former oma's flea market ... for those of you who remember that place.

so on sunday afternoon, after catching the latest chick-flick (back-up plan) with pal bonnie, we decided to check out paply's, which is open 7 days a week.





the owners are mike and brenda paply (of all things!) and were vendors before purchasing the business and turning it into an inside antique mall about a year ago. it still amazes me how someone like me could NOT know about something like this, so nearby (yes, i asked her about their advertising habits ...).





the mall has 30 vendors (with a waiting list!!) with over 5000 square feet of showroom space. pretty cool.

bon and i felt like kids in a candy shop, having never been there before ... everything was new to us. antiques, shabby loveliness, vintage hats (two of which came home with me!) ...

this one! notice its beads dangling all the way around. gorgeous!!

and this one! sooo lovely!

... vintage linens, furniture, dishes ... well, almost anything you might want, if you're someone like me (and that's all that matters, right? heh heh).





most vendors had sales going on for mother's day ... 10% up to 50% off. and some of them had such gorgeous displays. they really know how to show their wares!

i discovered this v. sweet white wicker shelf that is perfect for my new shabby white wicker office! to make the deal sweeter, it was 50% off an already low price! love it.

at home, shelves already filled!

close up ... my sweet lil clock collection

also found this sweet baby, half off:

love, love, love the black lid with the pink sugar bowl!

okay, enough blah blah about that. just wanted you central texans to know about my latest discovery. check it out when you get a chance. tell 'em terry lee sent you and you'll get a 75% discount. haha. not really. ;-)

finally, i wanted to show y'all a quick and easy project i started (and finished) yesterday. 'member the vintage suitcases i bought recently at the GW bargain barn? well, here are two of them that i painted pink, added some vintagesue ribbons, a couple of vintage doilies and a killer rose ... stacked them beside the loveseat for a v. sweet end table.







happy tuesday! who knows when or what i'll post next!

hugs,
terry lee

Easter in Wonderland

hey y'all!

easter is quickly approaching and i've found myself in a bit of a funk. don't get me wrong ... i celebrate the true meaning of easter with my fellow believers, and am very thankful that He Is Risen.

however, on an entirely self-absorbed, emotional level, i've had some trouble with it all lately. i think it started when pal bonnie asked what my easter plans were. was i cooking a big meal?

whaaa?! cooking? a big meal? for whom?! hubby and me? my youngest (and the older two for that matter) will be with his dad this weekend. upon more scratching and picking at the emotional scab, my mind began to wander to easters past ... when my kids were little.



ahh! those were the days. when i was young, had more energy and of course, the major motivation of little ones expecting easter baskets full of chocolate bunnies, colorful eggs filled with jelly beans and other surprises ... and naturally, a big ol' easter lunch after church. ham, potato salad, green beans, etc. and a lovely hand-decorated easter cake for dessert! this usually meant a cake mix with canned frosting, green coconut on top, for grass, and jelly beans representing eggs. they were easily amused when they were young.



anyhow, thinking of those erstwhile easters ... and even further back to those of my own childhood (big, HUGE affairs!) i sensed a slow but sure spiraling downward, almost as if i were alice in wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. memories of easters past swirled and whirled around me as i fell deeper and deeper. then just as surely as alice landed, so did i. with a thud.

no need to worry, or call the men in white coats. i'm steering clear of strange mushrooms or little bottles of magical potions. but i am looking for the madhatter. i could use a funny, silly tea party about now.



meantime, while waiting for the white rabbit, i wanted to show y'all some more pics of projects i've been working on.

the much-ballyhooed church pew finale! liked it so much i put it in my front "parlor" area

different angle

close up

y'all remember last month when i blogged about that grrrreat gumball machine i found for $5?! i had some gum-popping plans for that baby.



first thing was to slap some pink paint on her. i'll admit to experimenting with different fillers for the glass bowl. but that's the beauty of this piece! you can change the vignette over and over and over!

she sits pretty next to my recently re-done pink chair

gorgeous glass knob for a makeshift finial that was missing

filled with all manner of musings ... tea cups! pearls, lace!

balls of precious pink and white thread!



makes you want to stick a quarter in and buy something, eh?

here's my vintage lady in her easter dress and bonnet. well, i wanted a real bonnet for her but couldn't find one. she'll be okay, except for the incessant whining. she's such a diva.

in case y'all didn't notice it in the photo of the church pew, here's a close up of my FREE column/pedestal. had to use her inside because, well, i wanted to.

isn't she lovely? isn't she wonderful?!


love, love, love these colors! my newly found turquoise tablecloth is a perfect easter color. sweet candlestick (from GW bargain barn, but still had the hobby lobby sticker!) paired with a vintage glass creamer filled with sweet balls of thread from an estate sale. i like the idea of mixing the new with the old.

happy easter, y'all!

love and hugs,
terry lee

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: