Pondered Primed Perfected

12/9/11

Craft Room Chaos

There is no garage space (it's been converted) or shop space here at Pondered Primed Perfected. That might explain why my craft room looks like this right now:

Even the "Little Guy" loves to help paint!

The Boys are painting over that awful, bright blue color on those under-the-bed drawers. We got them for free off of Craigslist, along with a whole pickup truck load of wonderful stuff. So we won't run out of projects to makeover or upcycle any time soon.

The drawers will go up into the "Little Guy's" room once they are all done. His bed sits on one of those metal mattress frames with wheels right now. Not very fancy. And there isn't much space for dressers or other storage type furniture in his room. These cabinets will really help with his storage issues once they are done.

These two guys work so well together. It warms my heart to see them bonding in this way and the little guy is learning so much from his Dad. Okay, I'm gonna stop before I get all weepy. Doesn't take much, really.

First coat of black is on and already they look so much better!

AND, while we had the black paint out I thought I would try out that homemade chalk paint recipe. I'll fill you in on how it works out later...once it's had a chance to dry and I've had a chance to test it's worthiness. Do you see what my boy does when I ask him to be careful not to get his food on my projects!? Isn't he darling? Little comedian is lucky he's so cute...

So many projects to finish!!! We need a heated shop so I can have my craft room back.

Hope your weekend is filled with all that you enjoy!
Sherry

Stockings

Naptime was project time yesterday. I had my new sewing machine out on the dining table and some cool vintage fabrics hanging about (Thanks again, Mom), so I thought I would try my hand at homemade stockings. I threw in some vintage tassels and doilies, some remnants and burlap to make the stockings. I whipped out six stockings, one for each of us including Sadie the dog and an extra for our daughters' boyfriend. Hope he likes it. :) I am still in the process of creating six mini stockings to coordinate...just for fun. My sewing skills are so horrid that I forgot to add some type of loop or string for hanging ~ so I think I'll add some buttons and twine for that today. Maybe a fabric flower or two just to pretty them up. But for now...here they are:

Hey!!! If you've been following along you might notice that the craft cabinet's doors actually match the base now. See, I am getting closer to finishing something. ;)

*** I snuck in a peak at the radio cabinet that's been taking up so much of my Sweetheart's time. I'm starting to get a little jealous!!! (Not really...he always has plenty of attention left over for me!)

Hoping to reveal this radio cabinet VERY SOON...if it would only cooperate!!!

Happy Projects Everyone! Hope you are enjoying this Christmas Season with family and friends.

Sherry

***UPDATE***

The stockings are finished!!!

Here they are with their little baby stockings.

Sharing At:
Folk Blog
http://cottagemagpie.com/
http://www.songbirdblog.com/

12/7/11

Pondered Primed Perfected is being featured on Roadkill Rescue!

Our little craft cabinet makeover is being featured on Roadkill Rescue's amazing blog.

I know you've probably seen my craft cabinet post before..and I won't ask you to read about it all over again...

BUT~
I would really appreciate it if you would go check out Beckie's blog, Roadkill Rescue, and find out what amazing upcycles, makeovers, and trash-to-treasure projects people are doing these days. This blog features all kinds of projects and upcycles. It is an inspiration to anyone who is trying to live a more creative, less wasteful existence.

Yep, I recycle, what can I say? AND I turn the water off when I'm brushing my teeth too! Just trying to do my part. ;)

Thanks Bunches to Roadkill Rescue for sharing my project!

Sherry

12/6/11

Just a Touch of Christmas Cheer

When the kids went down for their nap today I rushed through the house adding as much Christmas Cheer as possible with the little bit of time I had. Now it's beginning to feel a little like Christmas.

The stockings are on the hooks in our new entryway ~ since we don't have a fireplace, chimney or mantle they will be easy for Santa to find here ~ right inside the front door. We will have to hang a magic key on the doorknob on Christmas Eve so Santa can get in. ;)

The beautiful tree went up, but the ornaments will have to wait for Alex. We can't trim the tree without Alex here to help!

A couple of little Christmas Cuddlies on our chippy little footstool.

Some bright and cheery accessories in our craft room.

This sign just makes me smile. We all know Santa still comes even if you're a little naughty.

Couldn't resist putting a little sparkle and shine in the craft room too. All the glittery and glitzy ornaments went onto this mini pre-lit christmas tree. Can you see those little disco ball ornaments? What about that sparkly pink flamingo?

A few jumbo ornaments hang from the chandy in the dining area.

Don't you just love that little snowman cookie jar in the background? He's full of Kisses!

Upcycled Radio Cabinet

Is it Happy Hour yet?

Just kidding! I shouldn't drink when I'm DIYing!

But check this out...

This old 1930's Sears Roebuck, AM Radio Console was sitting in some guys shop, just rotting away. His lease on the shop was ending that day and he had to clear everything out pronto ~ that's how we became the lucky new owners of this beauty. The radio workings were pretty much trashed and pieces were dropping and hanging off of it. That didn't matter, because we could see the hidden potential it contained. Mr. Clean cleaned out the old, broken radio parts. And dust and spiderwebs and bug skeletons. Eeeek! Then he got out his handy little hand sander and went to town. Right there in the middle of my craft room!!!

Taking his time and going with the grain of the wood. He really does nice work...just wish it wasn't inside the house!

At the very first sun break he was sent packing to the back deck, because somebody was getting a bit tired of all the sawdust on every surface in the house. Don't worry about him out there...he needed some fresh air ( and probably a break from my constant chatter and helpful suggestions )!

He had to get out some special scrapers to get into all of the little grooves and detailed wooden pieces on the front. I always leave those kinds of details to him. ;) He's better at details than I am.

He wears that mask well, doesn't he?

Some of the wood trim was lifting up, but he had a fix for that too. A touch of wood glue and some heavy objects to hold it down where the clamps couldn't reach.

They really did some gorgeous woodworking back in the day. Fine AMERICAN craftsmanship. This baby was built to last.

Gonn Iggulden's 'Dangerous Book For Boys' was utilized for this tough task. We knew that book would come in handy when it showed up under the Christmas tree a couple years ago.

Some scrap pieces of wood were cut to fit inside to create some shelving.

(And here's a wonderfully blurry picture just in case you wanted to feel dizzy.)

More trim was added for specialty storage (you'll see).

He added back some of the vintage charm with the old knobs and the cracking, buckling radio dial. Oh, how I wish the radio components could have been salvaged. Some things are just not meant to be.
Sigh...

Here she is in her restored glory ~

Sporting some of her new friends...

Showing off her sexy curves and classy lines. Her hardware giving off that well-aged, but still hot, vibe. Oh yeah.

And when she turns around ~ you see what she really has to offer!!!

Cocktail Anyone???

Built in stemware hangers, wine bottle storage and plenty of room for all of the extra bar accessories and beverages.

Sadly, the front panel with the radio dials broke. It was old, brittle and cracked already so it didn't take much. That left Scott with a little challenge ~ trying to figure out how to fill the void that was left behind. He finally decided on a little chalkboard for personal messages. Makes it more fun and gives it some personality. It could say "WELCOME" if you are having an open house, or "FREE REFILLS" for a girls night..."HELP YOURSELF" would be kinda nice at an intimate gathering of friends or family. Maybe "WINE TASTING HERE" for a cheese and wine party. The possibilities are endless.

I thought this message was kinda fun myself:

Please take a moment to leave us some comment love. My Handy Man would be especially thrilled to hear from you since this is his first solo project here on P3 ~ so leave a few words of encouragement for him if you have time. And Thank You for stopping by to check out what we've been up to. It really means a lot ~ to both of us. :)

Don't forget to click on that follow button on the left sidebar and like us on Facebook so you can see all of our upcycles, makeovers, DIY projects and tutorials (if you can call them that).

Goodnight Friends!

Sherry

This project has been featured at:

Also Sharing At:

http://www.soyouthinkyourecrafty.com/im-crafty-no-49-upcycling/

12/3/11

Our Entryway Is Coming Together!!!

A couple years back I noticed an amazing shelf in my Mom's sewing room where she stored all her fabrics. It was a tall vertical shelf only about 12 inches wide, with a pull out bin at the bottom to store all those little scrap pieces of fabric. I commented on how wonderful that shelf would be to hold all my craft supplies, namely my scrapbooking tools and papers. It turns out my uncle Roy made that shelf for my mom and she in turn had him make one for me as a gift. She's such a sweetheart! I loved the shelf so much that I asked Uncle Roy to make another just like the first ~ so I would have a matching pair. It just felt like it needed a partner. These shelves are wonderful! Amazing craftsmanship. They are built to last. You can see them in our Thanksgiving photo from 2010 below.

This was the first time we hosted Thanksgiving for my family and it was a big event! A total of 19 were present so we removed all the furniture from the room and brought in three dining tables so everyone could sit together in one room. You can see the shelves in their natural oak finish in the background.

Even with both of these shelves I had a shortage of space for all of my art and crafting supplies. When we finished our new craft cabinets the room became too crowded and we were left with no choice but to purge some items. These beauties needed a new home! About this same time I had a bright idea and asked my Power Tool Guy to cut down the legs on our console/entry table and turn it into a bench for the dining room. This meant we had an empty entry wall. Gasp. An empty wall, you say?

(Did I mention that I am a chronic re-arranger? Yes, it's true. No denial here. I honestly cannot recall going more than a month or two without completely changing the furniture around in at least one room of my house. I used to be a chronic painter too...but I've kicked that habit!)

The shelves were painted a creamy white and moved around the corner ~ where they have been sitting ever since! No procrastination there. ;) I was just waiting patiently for my Tool Guy to whip out that table saw of his and cut me a board. Sometimes he gets busy with life and my projects aren't the first thing on his list. Wha??? ;) He had some time on his hands recently so I finally got my board ~ and he even attached it! That left me with a big 'ole fire lit under my hiney to finish off this entry project. I rushed myself down to Lowe's on Black Friday and found some beadboard wallpaper. Yes, I said beadboard wallpaper. Pretty cool stuff.

Let me introduce you to Allen + Roth Paintable Beadboard Wallcovering!!!

Pre-Pasted, Washable, Paintable, Strippable. Gah! (I received no payment or reward of any kind from Allen + Roth for this post. Although it would be nice :)

The wallpaper is a snap to install. You cut it to size with scissors. Leave a little extra just for good measure as you can easily trim it off with a razor blade once it's in place. You just soak it in water for 30 seconds, let it sit for 5 minutes and then apply it to your wall. I measured and marked the wall where I wanted the beadboard to be and used a level to make sure it was straight.

It really was a cinch to put up...see...

Once the paper was up I added the two pieces of trim board across the top to create a little ledge and added some hooks for hanging hats, scarves, keys and whatnot. Once I've added the beadboard wallpaper to the back of the shelves I will add larger hooks inside each shelf for coats.

Here are a few shots of the new entry area brought to you by Mr. Tool Guy himself: