Organized Clutter

 Do you remember these wooden fruit bowls of yesteryear?  I find them from time to time when thrifting.

I chose this tan and cream herringbone fabric for my new Flexsteel sofa and chair and a half.   My fabric choice was a Revolution Performance Fabric : "Revolution Performance Fabrics® by STI and Brentwood Textiles are true performance fabrics.  Woven with Olefin yarn, the fabrics are virtually unstainable, easy to clean, and extremely durable; yet beautiful and soft while also resistant to fading from the sun. Revolution Performance Fabrics® are made with upcycled fibers and have no chemical treatments making them easy on the environment."  

My fall project today starts with this plastic or resin antique gold oval mirror with raised detail.  I paid $2.

This vintage safety grater was a recent find included in my August 19th post.   Today's project is a super easy and quick repurpose.

The furniture store that I am employed by sells decor accessories from Kalalou .  I was recently inspired by Kalalou's  Clip Board Photo/note Holders  gallery wall.

Vintage side table with mid century modern legs $10.

I think this garden before photo is the most dramatic.  This little bed started out like this last May.  The metal pedestal under the laundry tub  was salvaged from a restaurant/bar type formica table purchased at the thrift shop.  Flowers in this laundry tub include Euphorbia Diamond Frost, sweet potato vines, a yellow double calibrachoa, Butterfly Marguerite daisies, and pink zonal geraniums. The ground level has more Marguerite daisies, pink seed geraniums, white alyssum and pink lantana.

For some reason, I always pick up little stools at rummage sales and thrift shops.  I want to try out a new stencil from Old Sign Stencils called * Plaid Shirt.   These little stools that I picked up for a dollar or two will be great practice pieces. To prevent any stain bleed through, I sprayed the two stools with Zinsser Clear Shellac Spray . 

Here's another garage sale item that I found recently.  It's spent some time outdoors so the paint is very worn on the seat.  Not as much on the back.  Blueberries have been hand painted on the little chair.

  This little plant stand was for sale at my friend's parents garage sale.  Since I helped with the sale, I was able to take a few things free (it was only priced $1) to upcycle.   Here, I am brushing on a coat of vinegar and steel wool stain.

Welcome to my annual junk garden tour!    There were times I was discouraged about this year's tour...  We had an unusually wet and cool spring and early summer, but it has turned around some, and I am happy to share my tour.  Be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom and see the garden video !   Lets start the tour here at this small flower bed next to the driveway.  Earlier this year I found a Formica table with a metal base at the thrift shop.  I discarded the table top and added a board and then a laundry tub to give this bed some vertical height.  See this bed at planting time here .

 I purchased this pitcher plaque at the thrift shop for a couple bucks. I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and stenciled it with "Flowers" in French  and added a little shelf.  I liked the finished project but was never happy with the light blue paint showing through on the sandpaper distressed edges.  So I re-painted the whole thing with Rustoleum Chalked Paint in Chiffon Cream.   This time I didn't sand the edges to distress, I used my FolkArt Layering Block  and Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint in Walnut Noyer  .  Details on the layering block are  here.