No. 3 - LSD Party Table

Hi everyone, time to introduce myself.  I'm "mum" (Chris) on this wonderful blogspot my lovely daughter has developed. I hope you are not under the influence of alcohol while you are reading this as I am now presenting the third and last of our party tables.

It's still waiting to be siliconed into the table frame.  We have labelled it the "LSD party table" and you will no doubt see why.   Here's a before pic of the table as it was (the other two were identical), and also no. 1 and 2 after completion...

I had a lot of fun doing no. 3 and even though it looks complicated it was actually quite easy to do. A bit time consuming but satisfying to say the least. I will admit to being a bit dizzy after sitting for several hours cutting out circles and placing them. My next project is quite sedate by comparison, albeit fiddly as it will be done in glass.  I have to say to anyone contemplating taking up mosaics - DO IT!  I have never had a hobby and took this one up in the middle of last year after a bit of convincing by Megan - I haven't looked back. It is very therapeutic (although people think that they have to have a lot of patience and that may be true for some people) and you do have to have the time (which I have) and support of family and friends (which I have also).

(I might mention here that I ended up selling the Naked Lady for $300 a few days after I finished it!)

My lovely partner Hank made me a little studio of sorts in a section of our back veranda which was used by our dear old dogs until they passed away early last year.  Consequently it is called the Dog House. Therefore if anybody wants to know where I am, I'm simply in the Dog House. Contrary to popular belief, it is not gender specific!

So there you have it ladies (and gentlemen - just so they don't feel left out!).  I have really enjoyed reading all your blogs and seeing the amazing creations coming out of them. I think it is a wonderful way of having a little brag about our accomplishments, but more so spreading the amazing feelings of self satisfaction from doing something yourself and enjoying the end result. Keep them coming. 

Peace and love,
Chris x

Post Script from Meg:  In keeping with the psychadelic table (and the comment made by my friend Sonia from Raine and Sage), I just had to share with you a photo of Mum recently at my cousin's party...

Footpath Treasures

Phew, so now I have slightly recovered from the weirdness (and spookiness) that was my last week (see previous post about "the dresser"), I've managed to finish this dining table and four chairs that I had sitting out in the carport.

I found these four chairs on the footpath around the corner...

Gross eh?  Here's a photo of the table my husband found the next morning by the side of the road where
he was working...

A dining suite - perfect!  So I gave the table and chairs a few coats of black enamel and the chairs got a couple of new layers of foam and some fabric.  I could have been more adventurous as far as colour goes but I just didn't have the time to spend on it as I have to start emptying out my carport!  Here is the end result...

See the scratch?  This was on the table before I painted, but it went across the grain of the table so if I filled/bogged it, it would have really stuck out like dogs bal dinner.

So, whaddya reckon?  This whole project cost me about $15.  Hooray!!!

I started my own Etsy shop the other day, but I'm not sure what I'm doing.  Can you sell this stuff on there?  And can you make it that shipping is only within your country?  Any Etsy advice would be much appreciated!

Megs x

'Coincidence' or something to make you go "hmmm"

This WAS going to be a post with a few photos of some of my recent furniture "freebie finds", but it's become something much much more.  I'm still trying to get my head around it.  It all starts with this dresser my husband found on an abandoned lot and brought home Saturday afternoon.

Here is my "guest" blogger to tell you all about it...

Seventeen years ago a young woman relocated to South Australia to repeat year 12.  A young woman with ambition, she knew she needed to be away from friends to 'buckle down'.  She set up camp in a cheap rental and was donated some furniture by her father and step mother.  Upon completion of the year she paid it forward and gave her meagre furniture possessions away, in turn helping someone else to establish their cheap and nasty rental.  She returned to her home in the Northern Territory. 

Fast forward almost 20 years.  The girl, no longer a girl, flies to South Australia to visit her best friend.  They are planning to celebrate a birth and memorialise a death.  The friend enjoys explaining her new passion for restoring old furniture.  She has acquired some new pieces - just 12 hours earlier her husband had brought home a dresser and cabinet.  The woman laughs with her friend, joking that it looks like she had somehow travelled back in time to burlgarise her old cheap little rental.  Then she noticed that dresser.  "Oh my god this looks exactly like the one I used to have" she said, knowing there was no way it really was.  However, she still felt compelled to go and open the drawer, looking for the tell tale sign that surely could not have survived 20 years.  As the drawer opened, a gasp was drawn from the woman - there it was......  There lining the drawers was the naff purple wrapping paper with the gold exclamation 'Merry Christmas'.  In that instant she replays in her mind the day she installed this unconventional protection for her underwear!!!  The logical part of her mind tried to debunk the reality that was now staring her in the face, who could believe it?  

So I am the girl, Charity, Megan being my best friend and in a strange twist of fate 12 hours before I landed to stay with Megan, her husband had brought her home my old dresser complete with the old drawer lining to prove the point.  I asked Megee "What do you think the universe is trying to tell us?"  Perhaps that we are still inexplicably linked after 24 years of friendship through distance and time?  Or was it our friend and former housemate Jason (who we affectionately called Noodle) now passed on, whose one year memorial we planned to honour the very next day, playing some trick knowing full well how we would wonder and analyse with awe at such a 'coincidence'?

Charity x

Even as we speak, Charity is looking at the photo above with that tacky wrapping paper and still shaking her head in disbelief, as am I.  Another point of interest is that Darwin people usually always have relations interstate and during one of my Christmas holidays when Charity and I were both 14 years old, I sat dressing up for New Years Eve at this very dresser at Charity's Dad's house. 

So peeps, there you have it.  With ALL the people in South Australia, the dresser came to ME.  Not only did it come to me, but was rescued from an impending doom having been abandoned in a property marked for demolition the next week.  Excuse the French, but WTF?! 

For us, and our friend Tricky who made up our mischievous foursome, we believe that Noodle had a hand in this.  I know not everyone believes in "divine intervention" and that's ok.  But do you ever have that feeling of just "knowing" something and you don't know why?  Twelve months ago tomorrow I woke up on my birthday to the news that he had been killed.  Making that call to Charity was heart wrenching.  But with the three of us together last night making a toast to Noodle and celebrating his life, things feels complete.  I think if Charity hadn't made the trip we would have felt a little emptier today.  Now I feel my heart is full after sharing our stories, crying and laughing so hard we thought we would bust.  RIP Noodle.
Megs x

Toddler/Kiddie Chair

This is a stool (formerly high chair by the looks of things) that my friends gave me.  They just moved into their new house which comprised six, yes SIX, sheds in their backyard.  The previous owner had left loads of furniture and other bits and pieces behind.  I forgot to take a before photo of the chair, but luckily I took one as I was going.  It was just a timber chair with a light varnish, and this is it with the first undercoat:

It obviously used to have a tray but we couldn't find it.  Therefore I decided to turn it into a toddler chair so they can sit up high at the table.  Here it is transformed...



(Excuse the horrible concrete floor.  I'm over these renovations.  I'm over apologising for my floor too, but I feel I have to it's so disgusting. )

I already had the paint, the chair was free and the fabric and tacks came to about $10.  I got the fabric off a roll from Ikea.  It's actually table cloth material so it can just be wiped down after any "accidents".

I might my husband will attempt to affix a tray to it, but I kinda like it how it is.  My daughter loves it.  Probably because she can sit up high with the grownups at the table. 
Megs x

Naked...

...and lucky for all of you I'm not!  But I bet I got your attention.  Check out Mum's new mosaic masterpiece...

I took the photos on my phone so they don't really do it justice.  I think this is gorgeous, and so does my husband (surprise surprise).  Mum said it took ages to get the grout out of the lady's bum crack, but the hard work paid off.   And after only a couple of days its SOLD!  Hooray!  Chris' first sale and she already has orders put in for other stuff.  So she's now feeling the pressure, but it's all very exciting.

It's super heavy, and initially it was meant for outdoors, but her new owners have decided to put it in their massive bathroom.  I'm hoping to get a photo of her in her new home so I can post it. :)

Hall Table and Pretty Dressing Table

Aaaah it's so good to be back in Blog World!  My internet has been down for the last two weeks as I've changed over to a new provider.  Silly me thought it was just a matter of the ISP people pressing some buttons and then I'm switched back on, but nooooooo that would be too hard.  They have to make me wait for a fortnight!  So I have been checking on you all via my iPhone, but I think I'm starting to go blind.  It's due to be back on next Monday so I've trapsed over to Mum's today to use her up for her internet and give you an update of what I've been doing lately. 

My lovely aunty was looking everywhere for a white hall table that didn't cost squillions of dollars.  She's really into the shabby chic and floral stuff.  Since I recently replaced my hall table with my new black and white one (see previous post), and my aunt had so kindly given me that adorable storage bench, I painted my old hall table and "girlied" it up for her.  I had some fabric that I got as a freebie with an ebay order.  It wasn't my thing but she dug it.  Here is before and after.

Don't you just love these knobs?

You should have seen us trying to stuff into her two door car.  I offered to deliver it to her in a few days but she was determined to have it then and there.  I have no idea how she got it out of the car when she got home!

Here's another big project I finished last night.  I bought an old dresser from the Salvation Army for $20.  It was a little crusty when I saw it, but I thought it had potential and it looked relatively easy to do.  How wrong I was!  When I went to sand it I realised that some of the veneer had snapped off.  So I had to bog it, sand it, bog it, sand it again.  Took ages.  But I had fun with my $10 spray gun I got at the markets (after my husband gave it a good clean up).  So now I have one for undercoats, and another for enameling. 

Check out the before...

It came with a big bevilled mirror but it was detached at this stage. 

Check out the after!

I know I know, I've gone a bit overkill with the photos, but I'm pretty chuffed with this one as it was something that when I was half way through I was sure was going to end up looking like a dog's dinner.  But it turned out lovely and I've just listed it for sale.  My four year old daughter came into my room this morning and said "Mummy, I'm so so proud of you.  That dressing table is beautiful".  Awwwww :)

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Miss Mustard Seed