Author: Quandie

beating the winter blues.

Published on by Quandie11 Comments

A little while back one of my readers, who also happens to live near me, offered me a box of bottlebrush trees and this blue tacklebox.

That was awfully kind of her, don’t you think?

I rather liked that pretty shade of cobalt blue, but I didn’t love the stenciled yellow wording or the big patches of rust.  The lid was a bit banged up too.  So I used a hammer to mostly pound the lid back into shape (pound gently from the inside to push a dent out), then I did my usual cleaning/sanding/priming with Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S.  Then I decided to pay homage to the original color of this tackle box by painting it in Dixie Belle’s Cobalt Blue.

It’s a bit brighter than the original color of the tackle box, but who doesn’t need to brighten up these gloomy winter days a bit?  Might as well beat the winter blues with some Cobalt Blue.

I painted the box inside and out in the Cobalt.

So far I’ve used the I.O.D. Rose Chintz paint inlay over white, black and green, so this was my chance to try it over blue.

Sure enough, it works beautifully over blue too!

I ran the paint inlay all the way around the bottom portion of the tackle box.  Next came deciding what to do on the top.  I wasn’t sure that the black lettering of my usual I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfers would work.  So I decided to do a test board.

I painted it with the Cobalt Blue, then I pulled out some transfer scraps in black, gold and white to see how they looked over the blue.  The black was my least favorite, but then I’ve never been a big fan of the combination of black and blue.  The gold actually looked quite nice over the blue, but I didn’t think it would work as well with the paint inlay colors.  I was surprised to discover that I actually liked the white the best.  That is a scrap from the I.O.D. Traditional Pots transfer.

I have to say, the newer white transfers are a huge improvement over the old ones.  Or, at least these Traditional Pots are.

So I went with some bits and pieces from that transfer on the top of the toolbox.

Looks pretty good, right?

The white transfer ties in nicely with the little touches of white in the paint inlay.

I used clear wax to seal the top and interior of this box, and I used a spray matte sealer over the paint inlay.  If it were summer I would have spray sealed the entire thing, but this time of year I try to keep my spraying to a minimum.  It involves taking the item outside, spraying quick, and then bringing it back inside to dry.

I have to admit, I wasn’t sure at first how I was going to stage this one.  Then I remembered my pretty blue and white tea cup, and I thought it would make the perfect prop.  But what to fill it with?

Q tips of course!

And that led to staging this one as a makeup case.

I mean, why not, right?  Who says you can’t keep your cosmetics in a tacklebox?

If the Cobalt Blue is just a bit too much for you, I recommend trying Dixie Belle’s Bunker Hill Blue as an alternative.

Next time I think I might try a 50/50 mix of both colors, which might be just perfect for a piece of furniture.  But for today, that pop of Cobalt Blue is perfect for beating the winter blues.

If any of you locals would like a Cobalt Blue tacklebox for your makeup, or for anything else, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details because this one is for sale.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the B.O.S.S. and paint used in this makeover.

the birds and the bee.

Published on by Quandie29 Comments

I’ve got a couple of signs to share with you guys today.

The first is a short and sweet makeover of the cupboard door sign I whipped up last November.

I don’t know, I thought it was pretty cute.  But it didn’t sell.  So I brought it home from the shop and I was planning to just tuck it away until next November and try again.

But as I was looking at it the other day, I thought it just might be the perfect size for the row of birds from the I.O.D. Brocante transfer.

So I sanded down the stenciled Christmas wording, vacuumed away the dust and then added a fresh coat of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

That gave me a clean slate for adding those birds.

Aren’t they adorable?

Full disclosure; the Brocante transfer comes with two different rows of these birds.  It took a row and a half to fill my sign.  I trimmed one of the rows in half and pieced it in with the other full row.

The wording is from my usual favorite, the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.

It was a quick and easy makeover, and now I plan to take it back to the shop and see if it sells this time around.

I just had to stage it up with my Custom Laundry Co hanger.

Last summer my neighbor/handyman Ken called up and said he had something I might want.  He’d been cleaning out the basement and he was going to throw it away, but at the last minute thought it might be something I’d like.  A vintage hanger that says “French Dry Cleaner” on it?  Yes, please!

Did you know that dry cleaning was invented by the French in the 18th century?  Originally it was referred to as “French” for that reason, but it’s the same dry cleaning technique as any other.  Who knew?  Well, google knew apparently.

Certainly “French Dry Cleaners” sounds way more posh, am I right?

Either way, I’m sure glad that Ken didn’t just throw that hanger in the trash.  It will be right at home with the rest of my vintage advertising hangers.

And in the meantime, it also looks good hanging from the birds.

Whether you do your laundry the old fashioned way with a bucket and washboard, the new fangled way with a washing machine, or you send it out for some French dry cleaning, this bird sign would be adorable in a laundry room.  Or a potting shed.  Or your foyer.  Or really just about anywhere.

I pulled out another cupboard door to turn into a sign last week as well.  This one was a blank slate, a factory finished door.  To give it a bit of age, I painted it in a base coat of Dixie Belle’s Collard Greens mixed with some of their Sea Spray to add some gunky old texture.  Once that was dry, I added a coat of DB’s Drop Cloth and then sanded it all down once the Drop Cloth was dry to reveal hints of the Collard Greens underneath.

Next I pulled out my I.O.D. Kindest Regards stamp …

and my VersaFine Clair ink in a color called Pinecone.

As I’ve mentioned here a few times, I’ve struggled in the past with using stamps on painted items.  I’ve never been totally happy with my results.  However, thanks to tips from a couple of my readers (using the VersaFine Clair ink over unsealed chalk paint) I think I’ve finally found success!

I stamped randomly onto the door creating a wordy background.  I let the ink dry for several hours before proceeding on to add some I.O.D. transfers.

I think using the stamp as an imperfect background rather than a focal point was the secret to making the stamped look work for me.

What do you think?

I’ll be bringing both of these signs into Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater this week, thus giving you locals another reason to head out there (remember, they are only open Thursday to Saturday each week).  While there, you could also check out the snow sculptures in Lowell Park (along the riverfront).  We stopped by on a foggy morning last weekend to see them.

This one from Team Flozen, the team from Florida, was my favorite.

It’s free to go see them, and you can go anytime of day or night.  I recommend going in the early morning to beat the crowds.  I think I’d also recommend going before the sub-zero temps kick in on Friday night!

 

faux enamelware.

Published on by Quandie29 Comments

Remember the galvanized hanging bucket thingies (I don’t really know what to call them) that I found while thrifting a week or so ago?

They have a black rolled rim and handle, so I thought that if I painted the galvanized part white they would look just like vintage enamelware.

One of my readers suggested I leave them as is and just add a transfer to the front, and I did consider it.  After all, I do like the look of galvanized stuff.  But these had that blotchy look that feels a little faux to me.  In addition, my ‘before’ photo doesn’t really show how dark they were.  I knew I wanted to dress them up with some transfers, and the black wording of most transfers doesn’t show up very well on the darker galvanized stuff.  Here’s an example of that.

It can create kind of a cool aged look, but I wanted to go for that enamelware look with these.

So I washed them first, and then painted them in Dixie Belle Silk paint in Endless Shore.

They really do look like classic enamelware now, don’t they?  Although not quite as shiny.

Next I started thinking about which transfer I wanted to use on them.  I considered going with more color and adding some I.O.D. florals, but then I decided to stick with the black and white theme.

You might be surprised to learn that I used transfers from two different companies on these.

The one on the right has a portion of the I.O.D. Astoria transfer on it, with some wording from the re.design with prima Paris Letter added above it.  The one on the left has a portion of the Lovely Ledger transfer from re.design with prima on it.  All three of these transfers combine beautifully.

My next challenge was to try and think of things to put in them.  Of course, you could always go with the classic florals.

This silk lavender stems came from Hobby Lobby a few years back.

Since the bucket itself is rather neutral in color and style, you could change them up seasonally and it would still work.

When you see evergreens like these, do you think they are strictly for Christmas, or would you leave them out until Spring?

I’d love to get some feedback from you guys on that.  Are you sick of evergreens and ready to see them go by the end of December, or do you leave them out until the end of February?  Leave a comment and let me know.

You could also put a small glass vase inside for the water, and fill these with real flowers.

But I wanted to try and think outside the box a bit.  How about filling them with old altered paint brushes?

Definitely unexpected.

You could also fill one with your non-collection of whisk brooms.

Or am I the only one with things like whisk brooms and gunky old paint brushes lying around?

How about you, what would you put in one of these buckets?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Meanwhile, I’ll be taking these into the shop later this week so if any of you locals are interested, you’ll have to head to Stillwater later this week and do a little shopping.

the rose chintz toolbox.

Published on by Quandie16 Comments

It’s time for another toolbox makeover everybody.

Unfortunately, I have once again dropped the ball on getting a ‘before’ photo of this one.  Whoops.

Suffice to say, it was red, and maybe a little rusty and crusty.  But now it looks like this.

After my usual prep of cleaning, sanding off loose bits, and priming with Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S., I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth and the inside with their Kudzu.

I added the I.O.D. Rose Chintz paint inlay to the angled sections of the top (here is a how-to post on using the paint inlays).

Once I had the inlay sealed, I added some wording from the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer to the top and front of the box.

I also added a sweet little bee to the latch.

That bee comes from the French Maison knob transfers from re.design with prima.

I sealed everything up with some of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat.

This box didn’t come with a tray, but I did add some pretty green and white gingham scrapbook paper inside.

This one is nice and roomy at 15″ wide x 8″ deep x 8″ tall.  You could keep all kinds of fun things inside.  The paper is not adhered and thus could be easily removed if you want to use this toolbox for things like garden tools.

I sure am getting my use out of those Rose Chintz paint inlays.  Here are links to a few more projects I’ve used them on; a black toolbox, a tackle box, a green bench, another toolbox, some books, a watering can, and a green flower crate.

This toolbox is for sale locally, so be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details if interested.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint used in this makeover.

a pottery predicament.

Published on by Quandie37 Comments

About 20 years ago, Mr. Q and I took a cruise in the Baltic.  It was an amazing trip with lots of fabulous ports of call like Oslo, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg and Stockholm.  I think Mr. Q’s favorite city though was Helsinki.

We made our way to the Tourist Info office there and picked up a brochure for a self-guided walking tour from the Market Square to Kaivopuisto Park.  Eventually the tour would take us past the Mannerheim Museum where we got a personalized tour of the exhibits, likely because absolutely no one else was visiting the Mannerheim Museum that day.  Mr. Q was in heaven chatting with our unofficial guide about … well … you know, historical military stuff.

But before we headed out from the Market Square, we checked out the open air market stalls there.  Mr. Q ate some reindeer paella, and tried on some fur hats.

And I purchased a mid-century vase.

In my mind it had that quintessential Scandinavian look, and I loved the colors.  I thought it made a great souvenir from our trip.

I have no idea how much I paid for it.  I’m sure it wasn’t terribly much (because we all know I’m pretty cheap).  Plus, 20 years ago mid-mod stuff was not all that hot.

We’ve displayed it in various spots over the years, and most recently it has been on the window ledge at the bottom of our staircase.

Over Christmas I replaced it with a row of nutcrackers.  After taking down my Christmas decorations, I went to put the vase back in place and I thought (as I often do) that it really doesn’t jibe with the rest of my décor.

All this time I’d been hanging onto it because I thought it reminded Mr. Q of the awesome time we had in Helsinki.  But when I asked him about it, he said “What vase? I just remember the fur hat.”

So I thought I’d go ahead and bring it into the shop to sell it.  I was just about to make out a price tag of $25 for it when I thought, gee, maybe I should make sure it isn’t valuable.  After all, it was signed on the bottom.

Maybe Google would have some clues.

Turns out that my vase was made by Pirjo Nylander, probably in the 1960’s.  I found quite a few examples of her work online including this vase …

It has that same motif of rectangles, so I’m sure I’m on the right trail.  This one is listed for €475 at vntg.com.  I found another of her vases on Etsy for $475, but it’s still available so I’m not sure what that means.  There is also a Pirjo Nylander vase listed on 1stDibs for over $1,000.  But then, we all know that the prices on 1stDibs are horribly over-inflated (called ludicrously expensive by some), right?

Well, even so, now I feel like putting a price tag of $25 on my Nylander vase would be a mistake.  But I’m fairly sure a price tag of over $100 would be puzzling to most of the shoppers at Reclaiming Beautiful.  And that brings me to my pottery predicament.  What to do with this vase?

How many of you remember my blog post about the ‘death star’?

This goes back to 2014.  I had purchased some mid-mod furniture at an estate sale, and on a whim I asked about this metal sculpture that was hanging on the wall above the credenza.  The sellers threw it in for free.  After some research, I discovered that it was a signed Curtis Jere, and the exact same piece was listed at 1stDibs for $5,900!

Again, that’s a 1stDibs price, so you have to take it with a grain of salt.  But I did do some further research.  I sent inquiries to two auction houses that specialize in mid-century modern.  Palm Beach Modern Auctions said they would love to take it.  They estimated it would sell for $800 to $1,000.  But, I would have to ship it to them in Florida (and it was extremely heavy and large), and then they take a 20% commission.  So that was a no go.  I also contacted Wright in Chicago.  They estimated its value at $2,000, but they felt it wouldn’t be worth it to ship it to them and pay their auction fees (they did not elaborate on what those are) so they suggested I try to find a local buyer.  I did eventually find a local mid-century dealer who offered me $300 for it, and I took it.

You know what?  I actually kind of hate finding out that something I have is ‘worth something’.  I really regard most home décor as discardable.  I enjoy it for a while, and then I sell it onward or take it to the Goodwill when I’m tired of it.  I don’t have any collectibles that I consider valuable in any way (one of the many reasons I call them non-collections).  Or at least, not that I know of.

One of these days I’m probably going to buy a Rothko for $20 at a garage sale and then sell it on to someone else who will make millions on it (if you’re as fascinated by art that sells for millions as I am you might want to watch Made You Look, it’s a documentary on Netflix about the largest art fraud in American history, to the tune of $80 million).

In the meantime, what am I going to do with my Nylander vase?  Keep it?  Try to find a mid-century lover who will pay what it might or might not be worth?  Or just go ahead and bring it to the shop, maybe with a price tag just a tad higher than $25?

What would you do?

 

a thrifty tuesday.

Published on by Quandie20 Comments

My friend Sue and I hadn’t been out thrifting since … um, well … gosh!  Could it really have been October?  I think it may have been that long.  The holidays just got in the way I guess.  Well, the holidays plus my trips to Disney World in October and then Puerto Vallarta at the end of November.

But Sue and I finally made it out again this past Tuesday and I was reminded that I need to make a point of going more often.

I didn’t bring home a massive haul, but I did find a few things that I thought would be fun to share with you guys.

First up is this brass road runner.

He reminded me of the brass pheasants that I picked up at a garage sale last summer, remember them?

Ahhh, and remember when the grass was green and not buried under three feet of snow, and I could take pictures outside on the deck?  Those were the days.

But I digress.

I also brought home this copper pitcher.

Copper continues to be a good seller for me, so when I see nice pieces I grab them.

I also continue to pick up white cannisters so that I can add the blue I.O.D. Traditional Pots transfers to them.

I’m pretty much down the the last couple of blue transfers.  I sure do wish they would come out with more of these!

If you’ve always wanted to win a golden globe, this next item would be right up your alley.

This globe is a bit smaller than your typical globe, it would be perfect for desktop décor.

I threw this marble cake stand into my cart as well.

I did a search after I got home and found that it’s from Target’s Project 62 line.  It’s solid marble and has a great mid-mod vibe.

Speaking of a mid-mod vibe, I just couldn’t resist this set of 4 shallow bowls.

I think that green is just gorgeous.

I picked up the metal egg basket in anticipation of Easter.

I think I’ll paint the wooden handles, and then I want to come up with some sort of fun egg project for filling up the basket.  Maybe I’ll stamp some papier-mâché eggs like my former co-worker Jodie did.

I shared her project with you back in 2018.

And speaking of Jodie, the enamelware coffee pot actually came from her as well.  She was going to take it to Goodwill, but offered it to me first.  I just added the Farmers Market transfer, which is from the Dixie Belle On the Farm transfer.

Last up, I grabbed a few things that will make fun small makeover projects.

I’m debating painting those galvanized hanging bins.  They have a nice thick black rim, so I thought I might paint them white to look like enamelware.  What do you think?

Then there are these boxes.

Sue brought me the larger box, and I thrifted the two smaller wooden boxes.

It will be fun to paint these up and add some transfers, much like I did a while back with this box.

So be sure to stay tuned for that!

 

a rose window.

Published on by Quandie26 Comments

I picked up an old window at a garage sale last year.  I tend to grab chippy old windows, especially when they have a unique shape like this one.

This particular one was in pretty rough shape with the glass practically falling out before I got it home.

So, I started out by giving the window a good clean, and then I re-glazed the glass.  Now, you should be forewarned that I have very little talent for glazing and I really don’t know what I’m doing.  But, I need to get it figured out because we have quite a few windows at our house that need re-glazing and I want to do it myself.  So this seemed like a good way to get some practice in.

However, I’m pretty sure I picked the wrong product.

I saw the words ‘window’, ‘clear’ and ‘paintable’ on the label and thought it was what I needed.  I also thought a ‘sealant’ was what I needed.  In the end, this worked OK for my purpose here, which was basically to hold the glass firmly in place.  But it’s not really the right product for glazing windows, so I’ll be going back to the drawing board before I attempt to work on my house windows next summer.

In the meantime, here’s how my totally imperfect sealant looks on the back side of the window.

Fortunately it’s on the back, and it’s clear, so it really isn’t noticeable from the front at all.

Next up I debated re-painting the frame.  But the thing is, I like the authentically chippy look.  So rather than paint it, I sanded off any loose paint and then added a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat to seal it.

Next up I pulled out two sections from the I.O.D. Ladies in Waiting transfer to add to the glass.

I cleaned the glass well before starting and then applied the transfers to the front of the window.

I have to confess that I nearly applied the first one to the back of the window before coming to my senses.  The transfers do not work that way.  Here’s how that would have looked …

Yep, I dodged a bullet on that one.  Don’t know what I was thinking.

Ultimately the Ladies in Waiting transfers were the perfect fit for this window.  One on each side (the full set includes four of them).

I added a number to the side of the window frame too.

That came from my pile of transfer scraps, so I’m sorry, but I don’t know which particular transfer it was from originally.

One question I get frequently is whether or not I use a sealer over transfers that are applied on glass, and I do not.  The transfers stick to glass extremely well.  However, they can be removed using a razor blade, if one should ever want to remove it down the road.

As for cleaning, I would simply dust it using a soft cloth.  I would not recommend using a spray glass cleaner of any kind on a transfer.

This window looks great hung on the wall over a desk.

But you could hang it anywhere.

What do you think?  Are you a fan of transfers on glass?

If so, here are links to some other projects I’ve done with transfers on glass; this one is on a mirror, this one is on a barrister bookcase, and this one features glass cannisters with transfers on them.  Check them out!

In the meantime, this window is for sale.  Check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

that four letter word.

Published on by Quandie34 Comments

I’m just sharing a quick Sunday morning post from the garden today.

I thought it might be fun to give you guys an update on the ‘winter interest’ in my garden.

For the most part, it’s buried under several feet of snow.

And so much for my Christmas decorations, they also got kind of buried.

Well, except for the ones that are hanging higher up on a wall.

They still look good.  Which is lucky because there is a huge snow bank in front of that scene, so I won’t be getting in there any time soon to take them down.

Cossetta (my statue) has snow nearly up to her waist.

Fortunately, she is impervious to the cold so she’s perfectly fine.

In other words, like much of the northern half of the country, we’ve gotten a lot of snow already this year.  I found one source that says we’ve gotten over four feet so far, and another that says 45″.  I’m not sure which one is correct, but they are close enough.  It’s a lot.

Since I like to look on the bright side, how about I list the benefits of that four letter word, snow.

  • It’s picture postcard pretty.
  • It covers up a multitude of sins.  Suddenly every yard looks beautiful and you can no longer see the debris that your neighbor piles up next to your fence.
  • It adds a layer of insulation to the garden, so subsequent sub-zero weather is not as damaging to dormant perennials.
  • It provides lots of moisture to the ground when it eventually melts.
  • People who enjoy winter sports like snowmobiling, skiing and snowshoeing are in heaven.
  •  It lights up the sky at night.  Have you ever noticed that?  It’s never too dark to see outside at night when there is snow cover.
  • It provides a reason to get outside and get some fresh air and exercise (because you have to shovel off the walkway).
  • You might get a snow day from school or work (although since Covid those have mostly become ‘e-learning’ or ‘remote work’ days).

Can you think of any I’ve missed?  Are you enjoying the snow where you are?  Or are you blessed with warm, sunny weather?  Leave a comment and let me know!

 

hidden in plain sight.

Published on by Quandie17 Comments

In my humble opinion, the month of January is good for precisely two things.  Traveling somewhere warm, or cleaning out closets.

Since I won’t be traveling anywhere warm until February when my sister and I head out to visit our mom, that leaves cleaning out closets.  Or really, just basically organizing things.

I don’t think I’m alone in this.  Do you guys tend to use these cold winter months for things like sorting through your crafting supplies, or alphabetizing your seed packets while dreaming about next year’s garden, too?

Lately I’ve been spending some time putting away Christmas decorations, sorting through closets, and making piles of things to take to Goodwill.  So that means I haven’t really been working on projects to share here on the blog.  And I figure it would be pretty boring for me to show you my ‘before & after’ closet clean outs.

So instead, I thought I would revisit some fun ways to use vintage items to organize and store things, and to basically hide them in plain sight.

One of my favorite vintage items for organizing small things is the enamelware refrigerator box.

I use some for organizing my ink pads and paper ephemera.

I added the wording using some old alphabet rub-on letters from my scrapbook supply stash.

I use another of the enamelware boxes (also updated with a transfer) to keep all of my mailing supplies handy.  I have stamps, my return address labels, and a small address book inside.

Another of my favorite items for stylish storage is the vintage suitcase.  This is a great way to add more storage to a room, while also adding some fun vintage style.

You’ve already seen that I store some my tree toppers in one.

And I also store my embarrassingly large supply of scrapbook stickers in a vintage suitcase.

My spare photography equipment fits nicely into a vintage vanity case.

One thing that I’m frequently asked about when it comes to old suitcases is how to get the smell out.  I have to admit, I haven’t really found a permanent way to get rid of a musty smell (you can read more about the various methods I’ve tried here).  In the end, my advice is to use musty suitcases to store things that won’t pick up the odor, like those camera lenses.  I recommend avoiding storing clothing or other linens inside old suitcases.

Another great item for storing bits and pieces is an old toolbox, tackle box or lock box.  Before I paint these, I seal them inside and out with Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. which blocks stains and odors.  So no worries about musty smells.

I use a toolbox to store all of my furniture wax.

It sits on a shelf right in our living room.

Talk about hidden in plain sight.  It fits right in and no one would know that it contains some of my painting supplies.

Toolboxes are also great for holding things like ribbons …

Or your sewing kit.

I keep my two hot glue guns and all of the related supplies in an old tackle box.

Those trays for the tackle are the perfect size for glue sticks.

Tackle boxes are great for storing random crafting supplies too.

An old roller skate case makes the perfect container for storing your pile of black and white photos while keeping them nice and flat.

All this talk of storing things in vintage containers brings me to my first ever after Christmas sale!

I have a couple of items that haven’t sold, so I thought I’d mark them 25% off for the month of January (sorry, still local sales only).  So if you’re looking to get organized, maybe you can use one of these items for stylish storage.

First up is the roller skate case shown just above, and here …

Sale price is $26.25 (skates not included)

Next up is the classic blue & white toolbox.

It includes a removable tool tray inside.

Sale price is $41.25.

And finally, the dark side lock box.

This one is that pretty Scandinavian pink on the inside.

Sale price is $30.

If you’re local and interested in any of these ‘storage boxes’ be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

spending time.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

You know, it’s funny, but when I initially was thinking about putting together a year end recap blog post I felt like I hadn’t really done that much in 2022 and it would be hard to come up with something that wasn’t lame.  After all, what did I spend my time on last year?  Now that I’m retired from the day job, I have to admit that I feel a little bit like I’m spending too much of my time doing unimportant things like reading a book, taking a nap or watching YouTube.

Then I started looking back at my blog posts for 2022 and I realized I did do some things.  For one thing, I traveled quite a bit.  I visited some old favorites like my mom’s place near Vegas, Disney World and Puerto Vallarta.  Plus I saw some new places like Sedona …

and Charleston.

I also did a lot more gardening last year than I have in the past, and that led me to start a weekly ‘Sunday mornings in the garden’ blog post.

I also did plenty of thrifted item makeovers.

And garage sale item makeovers.

And even some makeovers of my own stuff.

Of course, there were countless toolbox makeovers!

And lock box makeovers.

And tackle box makeovers.

Speaking of tackling, I also tackled a project I’d been putting off for a couple of years, turning the photo cottage back into a potting shed.

I learned a new technique in 2022 with the I.O.D. paint inlays.

I also got my first paid magazine feature in 2022.

And my first paid blog post sponsorship (Dixie Belle Paint Co does not pay me, but they do provide me with free product, fyi).

Looking back over all of these things, I realize that I did a lot more in 2022 than just nap, read and binge watch YouTube.

I guess I tend to focus on furniture makeovers when trying to decide whether or not I’ve accomplished something, and 2022 was definitely not my best year in terms of productivity or profit when it comes to furniture.

However, I did create some really cool pieces like the fritz kohnen armoire.

And the raw wood experiment dresser.

The botanical cupboard was one of my favorite pieces in 2022.

And the splitsville nightstands created from a dressing table were a fun project to work on too.

My motivation for working on furniture stalled a bit over the last year because my stuff just hasn’t been selling as quickly as it used to.

At this point I can’t promise that I’ll be ramping back up when it comes to furniture makeovers, but I hope to have plenty of projects of all kinds to share with you guys along with a smattering of gardening and travel posts (we’re going back to Norway!) in 2023.  So I hope you’ll all stick with me for another year.

Happy New Year!