$1 Flea Market Find - Before & After

As I was walking around the flea market last weekend I saw this vintage little step ladder and it was calling me from across the aisle.   It said "Diana, take me home... You want to fix me up and give me new life".  I approached the vendor, glanced around their space, acted like I wasn't really interested, and then casually asked "how much for that" as I pointed at my new must have friend.  He looked at it then looked at me and said "How about one dollar".  What??? At first i thought I had heard him wrong because nobody sells stuff for only $1.  I would have paid $5 to $7 for it...  But, yippee, my new little ladder was coming home for a much needed up-cycle  makeover!   And I can't believe it was only $1.

It sure was sad looking when I got it, but we all know what a bit of paint can do, so when I got it home, into my paint booth it went.  I decided to spray it yellow.  I don't have anything yellow in my house and I've been wanting to do something yellow so this was the perfect piece.

Just like that, instant update... Well, I did dust it off and lightly sand it first, then sprayed it and lightly distressed it once it was dry.  But it was by far my fastest project transformation ever. 

Okay, so my little ladder no longer talks to me, but if it did, I think it would thank me... because it is a beauty now!

Until next time,
Happy decorating!

Diana


Linking up -
Bowl Full of Lemons
Brambleberry Cottage
Somewhat Simple
French Country Cottage
Savvy Southern Style
Funky Junk Interiors

New Blog Design

Today I gave my blog a makeover.  I tend to get bored with things and need to change them up every so often.  Do any of you do that???  Yesterday I started playing with new header ideas and today I installed it and made several other changes too.  Earlier in the year I learned how to design my own blog stuff, so now it's sorta like decorating... I like variety and changing my decor with the seasons... So now I change my blog whenever I get bored too!!!

I'd love to know how you like it... and hear any suggestions you might have for improvements :)


Thanks so much!
Hugs... 

Diana

How I DIY'd an Outdoor Chandelier

I wanted to make an outdoor chandelier and I set out to find inspiration.  I first found a strand of battery operated LED lights.. and then while browsing at Marshall's in the Home Decor section I came across this metal birdcage for $9.99 (I so love a bargain!!!).  So,  my inspiration was found... I knew this would make a great outdoor chandelier for the upcoming camping/glamping I was planning.

The cage is metal so my first step was putting primer on the cage.  Since I wanted to be able to use it indoors and outdoors Rustoleum primer was a must!  

I really liked the look of the cage in white, but I decided to paint it red so the color would pop in nature rather than blend in.

The cage had a door that opened and the top opened so it was easy to access the inside.  I wove the LED light strand through the bottom of the cage so each would hang down a couple of inches.

I cut small pieces of floral wire and used them to fasten the lights to the bottom of the cage.

I spaced the lights evenly across the bottom.  This is what it looked like (with all the excess wires inside) except the battery pack was still on the outside.

I then wired the battery pack inside into a position that the on/off switch could easily be flipped.  The wires all still look messy at this point, but once the finishing touches are put on it, you won't even see them!  Since I was taking this camping I saved the finishing touches until we arrived at our outdoor destination.  I took nesting materials to cover the wires, battery operated votive candles to put in the middle of the nest and tons of crystal prisms to add lots of sparkle and bling hanging from the bottom!!!

In the next picture you can see how the nesting material hides the wires and how pretty all of the crystal prisms are.

Notice at the bottom center of the cage, you can see the easy access on/off switch.  I worked perfectly!

Although I made this chandelier to use outdoors, I ended up hanging it from the center of our tent (which is sort of outdoors).  I will continue to use this chandelier for all of our camping trips since it gave such a wonderful ambient light in our tent but also I will use it in my backyard when entertaining.

Here is a shot of it at night when it was pitch black outside.

If you want to make your own chandelier you can get the LED lights on Amazon at this link... Battery Operated LED String Lights

I also got a great deal on the battery operated candles.. Seen here: 
24 Flamless LED Votive & Tea Lighted Candle Set

Kitchen Herb Garden Cuteness

I decided to create a little herb garden in my kitchen.  I've had these vintage silver tea and coffee pots and pitchers for awhile now.  I found them for a few dollars each at a flea market.  They have been just sitting empty on my kitchen counter.  I finally found a way to purpose/up-cycle them.  I already have a nice veggie garden in our yard, but I wanted to have easy access to the most common herbs that I love to cook with.  The kitchen gets pretty good natural light so growing herbs on my counter should work well (at least I hope so!!!).

I started by researching herb containers without drains, because I didn't want to drill holes in the bottom and have water dripping all over the countertop.  I found out that you can put small rocks in the bottom for drainage instead of drilling holes.  I started my project by filling all of my containers about half way full with small rocks.

When using rocks for drainage, it is important not to over water herbs.  You don't want large amounts of water sitting in the bottom.  According to what I read, light water every few days is all that is needed.  Allowing the plant to become almost dry before watering again.  This I will likely learn from trial and error.  Hopefully I won't kill anything!

Next I decided which plant I would use in each container.

 Then I got to planting.  I pulled the plant out of it's plastic pot, broke down the excess dirt around the edges until the width would fit properly into my container.  Then I added soil booster mulch around the plant to fill the excess space around the plant. 

And there you have it.  Here is my kitchen herb garden.  I planted rosemary, lemon thyme and basil.  I decided to elevate the small pot by putting it on this vintage scale.  I recently found the scale for $2 at a thrift store.  I love the way it turned out.  Unbelievably I got all three silver containers and the vintage scale for a total of just $10.  I love me some bargains!  

Now I have the convenience of just picking herbs and easily adding them to any recipe, also I love how they make the kitchen smell!


Until next time,
Happy decorating!

Linkin up at:
EyeHeart, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, The Brambleberry Cottage

Golden Anniversary Celebration - 50 Years Together

This week my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  It is such a huge milestone!!!  It feels like it wasn't that long ago that we celebrated their 25th.  Wow... that means I'm getting old...  Lol.


We had a family celebration at a local restaurant.  My parents knew we were getting together for a meal, but had no idea we were doing anything special for their day.  Here are a few pictures of the celebration.  These pictures don't do justice to how pretty it was, but they give you the general idea.

Notice in the above wedding picture (on the right) how tiny the brides waist is.  My mom had an 18" waist when she got married.  I don't think I've ever even had an 18" thigh... lol.  Heredity wasn't that kind to me!  Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for what God has given me, but seriously a smaller waist would have been nice... (hehe).

The picture below is my parents coming in.  My mom immediately got tears, happy tears of course.  I was hoping she would :)

I made table runner from ribbon and tulle and put it down the center of the table with battery operated candles for a little ambiance...  I found several photos of my parents from the past 50 years, put them in acrylic frames and placed them throughout the center of the table. I added some purple and gold curly ribbons for a little sparkle and made a two tier anniversary cake from scratch... and placed on it a pretty purple cake plate that I recently found.  I found the golden number 50 for the top at Michaels Craft Store.  We put fresh flowers in mason jars and scattered flowers down the runner.  Purple is my mom's favorite color so I went with a purple and gold theme.  I was happy with how it all looked.  The photo memories were definitely a hit with everyone!

 This next picture is my parents with my daughters and me.

This is my brother, his wife and step son.

Mom sprung a few more tears when they opened their wedding gift.  She is trying to hide them at this point.

After cutting the cake they even fed it to each other.  It was very sweet.  Of course they didn't shove cake in each others faces... (although a few of us suggested they should, hehe)  

Happy 50th Anniversary Mom & Dad...

We love you!!!