heartless.

Published on by Quandie

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

I don’t have a pretty, frilly pink or red filled post for you today.  Valentine’s Day just isn’t a holiday that I decorate for.  I’m pretty much heartless, at least when it comes to decor.

A while back my thrifting friend Meggan and I were at our local favorite thrift store (Arc Value Village on White Bear Ave, for those of you locals who might be curious) and I was laughing over the plethora of items with hearts on them.  I pointed them out to Meggan, and we both agreed that hearts are pretty much out these days from a home decor point of view (thus they end up in thrift stores by the dozens).  I mentioned to Meggan that I have a couple of tricks for dealing with them though and she suggested that would be a great idea for a blog post.  So I filled my cart with some hearts …

The easiest way to get rid of a heart is to just simply cover it up.  That’s what I did with the heart cut out on this little wall shelf.

But first I transformed the shelf with Dixie Belle’s Patina Collection.  You may remember that they sent me some of their Iron paint and Patina Spray to play around with a couple of weeks ago.  At the time I mentioned that I wanted to try this stuff on wood to see how it looked, so this shelf was the perfect candidate for a little experimentation.

Since the shelf is made of wood, you don’t need to use the special Prime Start primer (you just need that if you are painting over metal).  Instead you can just start with a layer of any color paint.  I used Dixie Belle’s Gravel Road since I happened to have it close by, but the color really doesn’t matter since you’ll be covering it up entirely.  Once that dried I added a coat of the Iron paint and allowed that to dry.  Then I added a second coat of the Iron paint and while it was still wet, I sprayed it with the Patina spray.

Next I just dug through my stash of random bits and pieces and found this back plate to a drawer pull.  It was already rusting on its own, plus it was just the right size, so I thought it was the perfect cover up.

Both Meggan and I simply couldn’t resist this next item.

It’s got both a heart and a cow … a classic.

And actually, in the end I didn’t get rid of the heart cut out, just the cow with her heart shaped face and the country welcome.

I removed the glued on words, sanded the entire thing down and then painted it in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  I added the grain sack stripe in Dixie Belle’s Driftwood.

Then I added an Iron Orchid Designs rub-on from one of the French Pots collections.

A vast improvement, even if it isn’t totally heartless.

Unfortunately I ran out of steam (and straight into that cold that I’m still getting over) before I could get to the rest of those heartfelt pieces from the thrift store.  I may have to hang onto them until next year.

But to prove that perhaps I’m not entirely heartless after all, I couldn’t leave the thrift store without this sweet Dinner for Two cookbook.

It has some great illustrations …

A candlelit dinner for two served on a gondola in Venice would be my idea of the perfect Valentine’s celebration.

So sweet.  This is much closer to my idea of a little Valentine decor.

How about you?  Valentine’s Day decorating, yeah or nay?

 

 

31 thoughts on “heartless.”

  1. Like the piece of metal you used to cover the heart,. just my style. I do believe that your cookbook was illustrated by the great Charlie Harper, which makes it a keeper!

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    1. How fab that you shared that info with me Susan! I googled Charlie Harper, and read a bit more about him and yes, you’re right that he illustrated this cookbook. So funny because I had initially planned to have a ‘give away’ with the cookbook today, but then I second guessed myself and decided that probably no one would want an old ratty cookbook. I thought perhaps I was the only one who would appreciate the mid-mod artistry of those illustrations, and now I realize that was totally silly. I should have done the giveaway after all!

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  2. Great coverups! I was laughing at your cow plaque, it’s so classic 80s ugly! And now, just look at it, simple clean and beautiful. Please, please update the rest when you can – they are great inspiration to those of us who love thrift store makeovers. And BTW, your black dresser from Monday is awesome. I was busy hauling stuff to my booth at the antique store I didn’t get a chance to comment. I have a French provincial dresser I think I’ll ty that on. You always provide us with great ideas.

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    1. I will have to get to the rest of those heart-felt pieces soon! The look from Friday’s black dresser will be perfect for a French provincial piece. Keep me posted how it turns out!

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  4. I am a nay on the Valentines decorations. Just wish the kids a Happy Valentines Day and I am done. Both projects came out really nice. Love the way you covered the heart cut out.

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  5. Nay on Valentine’s decor, but I did decorate for February when my children were younger. (And many a heart pin was made out of puzzle pieces!) LOL That cookbook is A-MA-ZING! I hope you hang on to it! Best healthy wishes to you!

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  6. I love this post, and I am a HUGE fan of mid-mod illustrators. My favorite is Gordon Laite. Thanks for sharing the cookbook and positing the challenge of transforming the most hideous item in the thrift store. I’m really feeling the itch to try it!

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    1. I had to google Gordon Laite too. Clearly I am not up on my mid-mod illustrators! Now I’ll be on the lookout for books illustrated by him as well. I think it would be fun to have a thrift store makeover party where everyone brings the most hideous thing they could find at the thrift store, then gives it a makeover. Am I the only one who thinks that would be a fun get together?

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  7. How fun was that?! I knew they would turn out beautifully, but still so fun to see your interpretations! Heartless (almost) for sure. LOVE!!!

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  8. That cow plaque/sign was so bad I definitely couldn’t see any possibility there. Of course you were able to. I used to live in Cincinnati way back in the late 70’s. I would buy Charley Harper art upon initial release and hold them for a year or so and resell for a tidy profit. He was a very clever & talented artist.

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  9. Linda, I have bought heart things over the years because you can get them so cheap! Nobody wants them. I have adorned benches, cupboard doors and potting benches with cool stuff to cover the 1980’s hearts😉. I only buy them once in awhile 😊I like what you did with the shelf!

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  11. I wish I could attach a photo because you will not believe what I found yesterday after reading your post….I was trying to kill some time before dropping off a Valentine gift to my niece yesterday and waiting for her to get home from school. I have a thrift shop near me that is hit or miss. I don’t look at the books much but realize I really should keep an eye out for old cookbooks. As I was looking through shelves of their books with nothing much to even pull out to take second look at – something caught my eye that looked old….BETTY CROCKER’S DINNER FOR TWO!!! I KID YOU NOT!! Not one other old cookbook on the shelves. It is so sweet and small and the illustrations are just amazing and it is in great condition. After the clerk said, that will be .54 cents – I do believe I skipped to my car!!!

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