My Crafty weekend- An update

So I haven't had too much success this weekend with my craftiness.  I spent several hours going to yard sales and didn't find anything I wanted.  That's not true. I saw a chair I wanted desperately but I didn't want to pay what the guy was asking ($35).   I comforted myself by going to Salvation Army in Saugus (which, this is going to sound funny, is very pricey, all things considered).  I found these for $8.99.   I have a minor turtle theme going for my office and these seemed perfect.  I carried them around for awhile and decided since I didn't get anything else, I would get them.

Here they are- no restoration or craftiness needed:

Adorable right?

Oh and by the way, my lack of success had less to do with the quality of the sales I was a attending and more to do with this particular style cramp who didn't want to be left home and made it known vocally. At 7:30 on a Saturday:

I like to think he is avoiding eye contact out of shame for his pitiful behavior.

I do have to make an aside however.  If you are having a yard sale, and you describe it as "epic" on your signs and Craigslist post, please make sure it is in fact "epic."  Otherwise it just leads to bitter disappointment, and no one wants that.

Later, my BFF came over and asked if I wanted to go to Goodwill with her.  I jumped at the chance cause I hadn't been to that Goodwill in a while.   And she has a bigger car than me.   While there I picked up this little gem

The woman wanted to charge me $8 to which I said "hell no" (I have a suitcase budget).  The manager, hearing this, said I could have it for $4.99.  Well under my $5 budget :).  The latches are broken but I think it will make a fantastic kitty bed.  If you look to the left of it in the picture, you see that the other suitcase bed is often occupado.  

After Goodwill BFF suckered me into wanting to go to Homegoods.  On the way there we passed the house that had the chair.  They were packing up and putting everything away (it was after 5).   The chair was still there.  BFF pointed out that I had not shut up about the chair, so we stopped and offered $20, telling the man I'd been thinking about it all day.   He seemed pleased that someone had such passion for it wanted it, so he agreed and helped me load it.   It looks like trash, but to me it is treasure!

I can't wait to get at it with my sander! I have the paint I am going to use already.  I'm going to paint the seat metallic blue and the arms and legs white.  The guy at the yardsale said that was how they originally were, so I'm trying to respect its history.  I can't wait.  Although I've learned that I suck majorly at painting.   I'm hoping practice makes perfect.  Actually I such at painting wood.  The one metal piece I did actually turned out ok:

The first time I tried to paint was the legs of this suitcase table:

You can't tell, but the legs look like crap.  The rest is adorbs, if I do say so myself.

So here's what I attempted yesterday:

I forgot to take a before. Sorry.   I tried something fancy and they kind of look like crap, but I figure it's a learning curve.  I'm still going to use them and I only paid $4 for each of them so I'm not exactly heartbroken.  All in all the weekend has gone well so far.  I will post tonight with any finished products I may have.  I am going to probably do a whole post about the chair when I get to it though, cause I have a feeling that's going to be a beast of a project.  That I am SO EXCITED FOR!

Have a FABULOUS SUNDAY!

Need to not be busy or worried...

And that is happening this week.  I passed my LCSW exam and have no job prospects and don't care right now. I'm working. just not in my preferred field.  (The one I spent over $30k to get into. Details).  This weekend, I thrift! and I craft!  Stay tuned for some fantastic creations!

On a boat (yo)

Today I went boating with my mom and step father.  Usually these trips include my sisters and my older sister's family, but today it was just me.  It felt like a private cruise.

Here is a selfy I took as we left Boston Harbor

Not the cutest picture, but they never are, are they?

We headed up the coast to Salem, MA where we docked.  There were several beautiful houses along the way.  Particularly in Marblehead

That's Marblehead.

And here's an island that I can only imagine is the color it is due to copious amounts of bird shit.  Sorry. I am who I am:

See all the white?  That ain't snow.

I wish I took more pictures, I meant to, but the boat has a way of making me sleepy and today was no exception.  The problem with the privacy of this cruise was the absence of other people my mom could talk to.  So she was talking my ear off while I tried to sleep.  It's ok.  I love her anyway.  Even though she would. not. shut. her. piehole.   

We docked in Salem MA to walk around.  We hit a few cute shops and an awesome thrift store (where I would have spent more time but I was feeling pressure from my mom and step father to leave- not their thing like it's mine).

On our way out we saw Billy Costa's boat.  I tried to peer in to see the famous throw pillows and duvet covers, but decided I was being creepy enough by looking for it in the first place.   I did take a picture though:

Pretty fancy.  If you aren't from Boston, you probably wouldn't know who he is, but I have to say I love him.  

Then we rode home.  I spent a little time up front enjoying the cool air (finally the heat wave is over!)

Gorgeous day on a gorgeous boat!  Thanks Mom and D!!!

Fans

I love old fans. I guess you could say I'm a fan. (HA!) I don't know why but suffice it say if I see a functional one for under $20, I usually buy them.  I went to an awesome yard sale this morning and picked up this little puppy for $15.

Here it is before:

And after some magic erasers and some elbow grease:

Works great, but there's a rattle I don't love, but it's old and it's my very first old box fan.

Here's the first fan I bought last summer for $3:

Please excuse the fact that it's a screenshot from my instagram- I couldn't find the photo anywhere else.

And finally, here's my FAVORITE fan.  Seriously.  It's a GE and you may have noticed it on my desk in my last post:

So that's it, my tribute to fans of yore.  I leave you with this, a picture of what my love looks like in a heavy breeze not unlike the one produced by my fabulous fans, but in this case the effect was created by riding on the highway with my top down :) (no worries, I was safe when I took this photo, I was watching the road and not the camera)

Making another effort- but I have a lot to talk about!

So, it appears that I can't keep this going.  I feel like I have a lot to talk about though.

Here are the things I plan to cover in this blog:

Things I cook
Things I make
Things I do

And whatever else tickles my fancy.

So here's the scoop.  My best friend of 15 years and roommate of 5 years just moved out.  I was bitter.  I cried.  Then I realized I have a whole new room to redecorate to my fancy!

Here's what I've done so far:

Bought a huge oak teacher's desk off of craigslist and refinished it.  It was no easy task but, amazingly I found it fun.  I often find strange things fun.  Like going to the dump up in Meredith and sorting my recycling.  I digress.  Anyway, it was amazing to results from my hard work and I'm thrilled to find that I can actually finish things I start.

Here is my desk before:

After hours of sanding, staining and poly, this is what it looked like after:

You can see that the cat is still enamored with it.   I added to my $10 investment with a $100 piece of glass for the the top and the chair, which I got for five dollars at a yard sale.  I put pictures and memories under the glass, so it's almost like a scrap book.

Here is the final product:

I have to say, I'm just super excited.  It's gotten me back into the job search now that I have a place to base my efforts.   I have an interview next week in fact!  Fingers crossed!  I graduated in May with my MSW and the adjustment from school to, well no school, has been tougher than I imagined.    I need to get back into the field, because I know it's work I love.   For now, I am immersing myself in projects. 

In my next post I will show you the other projects for my office.  Might not be tomorrow though. I am thinking of taking an urban hike and then I have tickets to see Jason Aldean at Fenway park.