It"s Award Season!

Whooeee, it's time for all those la-dee-dah dresses (and more than a few dogs), for seriously tailored suits on leading men, and the little golden statue given to the winners. Turns out I got an award of my own - from the seriously creative Terri Lightfoot. Check out her blog for some serious creative inspiration! I'm thrilled that she passed this award on to me!

The rules for this award - reveal 8 facts about myself and tag 8 other FABULOUSLY stylish bloggers. So, here goes:

1. I love discovering treasures at thrift stores. I have unlimited patience for pawing through old stuff in hopes of a "find". Somehow new things just don't have the same personality.

2. Based on the day, I consider chocolate either a food group or a pleasant alternative to therapy.

3. I'd like to be nicer than necessary, but I don't always succeed.

4. My wardrobe is a blend of thrift store finds with the occasional pricey splurge.

5. My first thought when I see something I like is " I think I can make that". Sometimes those thoughts are really more like fantasies, but I'm usually willing to give it a go. Fortunately I believe in the saying, "embrace imperfection".

6. I have a thing about small plates. I have enough to serve lunch to a small nation.

7. I love collecting supplies for my art almost as much as actually using them.

8. I never met a button I didn't like.

And now, passing on the "Stylish Blogger Award" to these lovely blogs:

Femme Curieuse's stylish, cheeky observations

The Printed Thought - sophisticated and socially responsible

Faded Charm - Shabby chic lovelies

The Teacup Pages - Artsy, Victorian and literary

The Vintage Moth - Vintage images to download

Nice and Easy Antiques - Cottage charm

Centsational Girl - DIY with style

Fleamarket Style - Great ideas and photos

I'm always amazed at the wonderfully creative people out there and glad that they're sharing their talents!

Now a word about the big kahuna of awards - T.H.E. Oscars. Watching them is one of my guilty pleasures. It's people -watching on a grand scale and there is a seriously high potential for something crazy to happen. I usually watch it on mute, though . Sadly, many of these folks aren't all that articulate without a memorized script written by good writers. Guess that's why they call it acting.

The Power of Paint and Vintage Knobs

We've had this large piece of furniture for a long time, changing it as our tastes and needs changed. I can't find a good picture of the original - it was honey- colored pine with a row of small drawers ( like 6 inches deep) along the back edge - very colonial. Several years ago Carpenter Son removed the small drawers, stripped the top and painted the dresser off white. I added some funky twig hardware and the dresser moved from colonial to cottage - yippee!. Lately it's been in our family room, holding an antique, ginormous TV.

We stepped into the 21st century and got a flat screen TV for Christmas. Normal people would just go out and buy something new to hold the TV, but I always think "what do we have that might work"? I'm not a fan of "entertainment centers", or at least the ones that don't require a second mortgage, so decided to give the dresser a new look.

I re-sanded the top and put on a couple of new coats of Butcher's wax. The wax doesn't protect like polyurethane, but I like its soft shine. Sage green on the base and white on the drawers give it a bit more punch. I used the vintage knobs I found at a salvage store. I love the look of a dresser re-do I saw in a Stamptington magazine - they used all mis -matched knobs, but since this dresser has lots of knobs, decided to use a combination of matching/mis-matched knobs so it wouldn't be too busy.

I learned two things doing this project. I have painted lots of furniture and like the matte look of flat paint, but not how impossible it is to clean. Well, news to me, there is a flat enamel finish - who knew; not me, obviously!! Love it - flat finish, but a hard surface so finger prints wipe off.

My California daughter told me about this great blog, Centsational Girl. She describes conditioners to add to paint that extend drying time and reduce visible brush strokes. Floetrol is the one for latex paint; Panetrol for oil based paint. This is made for me - my Carpenter Son used to say it looked like I painted with a broom! I'm somewhat better that that now, but next time I'm going to try the conditioner.

Indulged

Despite my best efforts at embracing winter with love, I came perilously close to pitching a major nuttie a couple of weeks ago. Back-to-back snow storms, close to zero temperatures and darkened ski lights (covered with snow) nearly sent me over. The Captain became concerned and found a great weekend get-away at the Biltmore in Coral Gables. He had these lovely flowers sent to our room - what a guy!!

Afternoon tea

Breakfast by the pool. Sun, warm breezes and great food. Afternoon by the pool with waiters delivering drinks and cool towels - a girl could really get used to all that pampering!

We took a trip out to Miami Beach to people -watch and check out some of the art deco neighborhoods. I also drove up to see my good friend Shiela for some art fun and catching up.

What a wonderful weekend - thank you, thank you to The Captain!

Rescued Treasures

One of my favorite haunts is an architectural salvage. Northeast Salvage is full of treasures - from tiny vintage hardware fittings to huge fireplace surrounds. There are hundreds of doors and window frames of all kinds. One time there was the whole inside of a church - pews, sacristy, altar, and even a confessional booth. Shoppers in search of absolution for excessive retail expenses could duck in after making their purchases! I love wandering around, soaking in all the history (and dust!). It is a joy to see such exquisite craftsmanship and to know it's not ending up in some landfill. It is also dangerous - my mind was just whirling with ideas for making things.

Today I was on a mission to find replacement knobs for a dresser I'm refinishing. I recently came across a dresser re-do that featured mismatched knobs - light bulb moment! I needed fourteen knobs and decided to do some matching/mismatching. The small white porcelain ones will go on the top drawers and the two flower -shaped ones on the side doors.

These beauties will be on lower drawers. There were boxes and boxes of these -all kinds of shapes and designs. They did, of course, have some nice plain ones, but who could resist the fancy ones? I'll be scrubbing them up a bit and may swipe on / wipe off some white paint to highlight the decorations and make them work with the rest of the dresser.

Word of caution - this is not thrift-store shopping! Apparently salvaging doo-dads is expensive. While I had spent a good ten minutes earlier in the day trying to pry the cap off a jar of face cream so I could get the last few pennies worth of cream out, I happily dropped some serious money for these treasures. I rationalized it by reminding myself I was re- purposing the dresser and not buying a new one, so the pricey knobs were really a bargain!