Lets go Retro

I've finally finished Afton's dressing table and I must say I'm quite chuffed with it.  A tired old dressing table that cost me $3.25 to purchase on ebay has come up splendidly and my daughter loves it, especially the knobs.  Now I find I'm reminding both my girls that it is a dressing table not a "stage" to sing and dance on!
Here is the before and after:

 Check out this cute little trinket box I picked up on ebay for a couple of dollars!
  I think it suits the style of the dresser.  Affy hasn't seen it yet, but she will when she opens it on Christmas Day.

I must apologise for the poor quality photos.  I'm in desperate need of a new camera.  Maybe Santa Tony will get me one for Christmas?

I've got about three projects on the go at the moment and I'm trying to sand back everything so we can get the big spray gun out and do the whole lot in one hit.  More to come :)

I've been tagged - Things to know!

I have been tagged by Christine at Sunshine and Lollypops to play along in a fun game.  Here are my answers to the questions:

What is the one thing you cannot stand?

Bulls**t artists and fake people.  It's a waste of my precious time.  Keep it real people! 

If you could go back to your childhood which cartoon character or tv show would be your favourite?

I LOVED Dallas when I was a kid (the one show I was allowed to stay up for).  I so much wanted to live at Southfork with Miss Elly and JR.  I loved the pool area in particular, and the fact that you could just walk outside, jump on a horse and off you go!

What is something you do or have done that would surprise a lot of people?

I was always a very shy and timid girl growing up in Darwin in the Northern Territory.  What most of my childhood friends would be surprised to know is that about 10 years ago I began performing on stage and singing with a 9 piece band.  I love being behind a microphone and belting out Aretha Franklin numbers.  I love the soul and Motown stuff.  I also enjoyed the jazzy stuff we did too.  I was doing this for about five years and then gave it up to have my baby girls.  I miss it very much.  I have done some gigs here and there but I find it hard to balance with home and children.  Also, the industry can be full of fake people and we know that's not my cup of tea!

Do you believe in ghosts?

 Most definitely!  I have had too many experiences not to.  I also believe that we humans just don't know everything and we shouldn't assume to.  Not everything can be duplicated in a lab.  It's like the wind - we can't see it but we know it's there.

When you go to the store what's the one thing you can't stop yourself from buying more than one of?

Chocolate.  Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate please.  And can I have a bit of chocolate to go with that?  As you may have guessed I'm a severe chocoholic.  My favourite chocolate would have to be the scorched almonds from Haighs here in Adelaide.  Mmmmm I'm hungry...

What's the funniest story you have about your significant other?

 Oooooh so many, where do I start?  He has done lots of funnies whilst with me, but when he was married to wife no. 2 (I'm no. 3 as you may have figured out), their washing machine had broken down one day.  Forever the handyman, Tony (that's him) pulled the whole thing apart to see if he could fix it.  He couldn't see what the problem was so he put it back together but couldn't figure out where this one piece of wire went.  Usually he is fantastic with this sort of thing, but on this occasion it stumped him.  So he took himself off to the repair shop with the wire to ask them where it went.  You can imagine how embarrassed he was when the guy told him "That belongs in your wife's bra mate"!  Bahahahaha!

What is your proudest moment of being a parent?

It's never ending.  It fills my heart with love when I see either of my girls hop into the other's bed to cuddle each other first thing in the morning.  Also if one of them is being scolded, the other will run to their side and hold their hand.  I love how Jariah (my 5 year old) loves to learn and is so proud to tell me what she learned that day.  And she is speeding through her readers and is already up to the 7 year olds.  But it's her willingness to learn that makes me most chuffed.  Afton is not far behind her.

This is Jariah looking after her little sister Afton when she was sick :(


And I can't forget my stepchildren.  They are two of the most wonderful human beings I know.  I am already a step-nonna (at 36 mind you) to two and there is another little one on the way.  Jariah and my step-son's daughter were actually due on the same day, but Aunty Jariah arrived four weeks early.  Here is a photo of  my husband Tony with my step-kiddies on Bec's wedding day.

 If you could go back and relive one day in your life, what would it be?

I would like to get married again - and have a proper photographer!  Our wedding was a very relaxed affair.  We got married at the Registry Office on a Friday afternoon and had a big party in the beer garden of our favourite pub in the city.  I'm not a girly girl and have never been one to ponder over my "dream" wedding.  I don't even like jewellery - and this makes my husband VERY happy.  But I do wish I'd had a professional photographer instead of my dad, and that not every person and their dog wanted to be in the photo!  There is one, yes ONE, photo of my husband and I together.  And to top it all off, as good a photographer as my father is, he forgot to tell everyone to wait for the second flash so a lot of the photos have people in mid motion walking away from the shot!  Even typing this makes me want to cry.  So I don't have any wedding photos up on our wall, nor do I have any to show people.  I'm still finding it hard to get over.  Anyhoo, here is a photo of my Tony and I - at a friend's wedding!

So now I get to tag 3 other people to play along!!!

Sonia at Raine and Sage

Megan at White Cat Vintage

Laura at Happy Homemaker UK

Pop over to these lovely ladies blogs when you get the chance!

Another Bargain

After becoming really tired of looking at our outdoor table and chairs in our dining area every day (although very nice), I decided to have a look on eBay to see what I could find.  I came across this Queen Anne extendable table with 6 chairs and 2 carvers chairs.  So I bid on it and got it for $60!!!  How's that?!  It's in absolutely perfect condition with not one scratch on it.  The owners could count on one hand the amount of times it had been used and it had been sitting in their dining room for about 15 years with no love or attention.

 

I was thinking of painting it white and re-upholstering the chairs.  I realise it's a mighty big task but it sure helps that my husband is a painter!  Do you think it would be a crime to do this?  I might be brought to tears when I go to put the sander to it because of its impeccable condition.  But I find the colour is very heavy for the area it will be living in.  We are also getting timber floorboards put through the living areas.  We only have a small house so I want it to flow and be uniform with the white cabinets and walls in the lounge.  It will be right next to our new kitchen (this will be done early next year hopefully) and the kitchen will be black with white top.

What do you think?

Renovations

Hi everyone.  I've been staying at my Mum's for the past four days and haven't had access to a computer.  Our floorboards were FINALLY being sanded and polished and they came up beautifully.  Yay - something finished!

The skirting boards are still to go on, but I'm so excited to be able to look at something nice when I walk in the front door.  Now all we have to do is cover up our the lovely concrete in the kitchen and family area.  But that is going to have to wait until we extend our kitchen out.  Here are some other pics of what we have been doing/have done so far:

I think after the new floorboards are down the family area will look fabulous.  Here's a tip for any of you renovating:  try the local auctions for building materials, old furniture from deceased estates etc.  We have picked up most of our building materials from an auction venue close to home.  If you look at the photo above of our little courtyard area, you'll notice the stone stack wall tiles.  At the time this lot was worth approximately $2,500.  We got them for $350 from the auctions!  They are cheaper nowdays, but you'll always get them cheaper at the auctions.  We also got $2,000 worth of decking for $500.

Now I am off to pack up all the crap lying around and tidy up before my Daddy arrives on a plane tonight!  I haven't seen him in two years so I am super excited.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend everybody :)

Something for the spare room

On the way home from Mum's the other day, I noticed that someone had dumped this on the side of the road outside of their home (which is very common around here - lucky for me!).   I don't know whether it was supposed to be a dressing table trying to look like a kitchen 'something' or the other way round.  But I couldn't resist it.  I sanded it back, ripped off the ugly backboard and gave it a couple of coats of paint.  I should mention here that my husband has helped me tremendously with this re-vamp and I am learning so much from him.  I've just got to get a handle on the spray gun!  I purchased the new cup handles from a salvage store and the mirror I bought from Ikea for $50, as I couldn't find a second hand one that would fit - plus I'm a very impatient individual and wasn't willing to wait!

So here are some before and after shots of the dresser.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

It seems like forever that we have been in this renovation hell, with half-done jobs here and there, lack of money etc.  Anyhoo, I thought I'd just illustrate to you the good, the bad and the ugly.  Starting with the good, we've managed to complete a few rooms including the new bathroom.

The Good:

...and some of our backyard

The bad...

This is my floor :(

Actually lets just leave it here.

Jariah's new desk

Now that Afton has moved into her own bedroom, Jariah has been feeling a little lost in her big room.  So I picked up this small desk on ebay for $5.50.  It only required a lick of paint to make it come up a million bucks!  Oh, and some updated knobs.  We have decided to go with a "beach" theme in Jariah's room and I saw these cute little starfish knobs at Bunnings I couldn't resist.

Here are some before and afters:

Do any of you have any good ideas for the beach theme you could share with me?

Let it Shine

Here is another table that Chris has created and it's absolutely STUNNING!  In the light you can actually see it reflecting off the wall.

Mum bought this table at the auctions.  It was one of those 1950's bedroom dressers and came with a fluffy stool (which you'll see has been recovered in one of previous blogs).

She has received loads of positive feedback from her teacher and fellow "mosaic-ers" (yes, I know that's not a real word).  Not bad for a beginner!

My new project

I have just moved my four year old daughter into her own room and I found this beautiful old art deco dressing table on ebay and got it for $3.25!  Yay!  So this is my project for this weekend.

As you can see I have already started sanding the drawers.  Aren't the legs on this dresser adorable?  Stay tuned.