lifeingrace » antique-ing

The Making of a Craft Studio

edie — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:53:00 +0000

It is with great pleasure I give you: Studio 8

She had a sinewy mind, capable of violent enthusiasms and possessed a driving energy to make and do. Sometimes, it seemed as if the wrong soul had been placed inside that slight body, for she pushed herself to her limits and beyond, and was often ill as a result. There was something in her that could not, or would not, see the distinctions the world wished to make between weak and strong, between women and men, laborer and lord.

sinewy adj. -tough, stringy, strong

If you believe that quote and could know the amount of sheer physical labor that went into transforming this space, I am definitely due to get some kind of illness. But maybe the 27 aphthous ulcers that have terrorized the inside of my mouth ARE my illness. Do you ever do that, work so hard for so long that you make yourself sick? Yeah, me too. And I regret to inform you that I’ve searched high and low for a before picture and can’t find one. It was a guest room with dirty carpet and far to many fake plants. Trust me, this is better.

So, the first thing I undertook was to rip up the old–nasty–ten year old—stained with all manner of dog and human stuff—carpet. It was not a job for the faint of heart. Not to mention the overstuffed sofa and queen bed and other sundry furnishings that had to be removed from the room before that could even take place. I then painted the walls with 2 cans of leftover light colored paint that I mixed together.

When I ran out of paint with one large wall left, I decided to do a chalk wall.

Because who doesn’t love a chalk wall and a little improvisational creativity?

With the carpet slowly being removed (by me, the little girls and my neighbor Leigh Ann) I commenced to painting the subflooring with porch paint. This was my biggest expense, totaling around $62. That process took around 5 days because the paint had to dry thoroughly in between coats. I used Meredith (whom to all our misfortune has quit blogging) for inspiration and ‘how-to’ information, but my sub-flooring was not nearly as nice as hers, so I did 3 coats of porch paint and it’s looks very ‘porch’-like—much more rustic than hers—but perfect for a craft studio. And then for kicks, I brought up every color of paint in my basement (which looks like the paint section at Lowe’s minus the 20 year old paint section worker whose never painted a surface in his life) and began painting everything that didn’t move.

Including this old school table that I bought last year at an antique store close-out for $50. I used stainless steel paint—which I will never use again—and though I liked the way it turned out okay, I hate using oil based paint, which this was. I could have achieved the same result with a silver paint and without all the hassle of mineral spirits.

Then, there were these wooden shelves—with the perfect little scalloped edges— that were in my schoolroom that the girls and I painted. We used the cute scarf as our inspiration and picked from the multidinous colors at our disposal. Those shelves now are home to our yummy yarn collection. We also continued the color-love by adding jars of skittles and bubble gum—-because who wants to spend all day in a craft studio where there’s no sugar? Not me.

Then, we shopped the house for everything fun and colorful and ‘crafty’ we could find. If it didn’t fit our fun and crafty criteria, we painted it!

The icing on the cake was this awesome 1950′s glider which we found this weekend at a yard sale for $20. It gives the spectators of the crafting a place to sit and watch old episodes of Andy Griffith. Something about Aunt Bee just makes me wanna bake and sew.

And last but not least is this cool chair that we bought at a thrift store for $5 and recovered with pink toile. I’ve written a cautionary tale about my upholstering skills here.

The sewing table is constructed from an old 1980′s computer desk (which I painted blue) and an old door from Goodwill which I decoupaged with the black polka-dot wrapping paper. We are always on the hunt for unique items to add to our vintage, colorful studio, but for now, we are enjoying our little woman cave, where we can escape from a whole host of activities including laundry, scrubbing toilets, and watching the fifth college football game on any given Saturday—don’t get me wrong, I love the first four.

This room is a little santuary of sorts—-where we girls can learn from each other—-and where our ‘violent enthusiasms’ and ‘driving energy’ have a productive place to land.

The Nitty Gritty:

It cost roughly $150 and ten days to complete this makeover. For the wall paint, I mixed two Valspar colors in about a 50/50 ratio. They are foxtrot and hemingway. For the porch paint, I used Sherwin Williams porch paint—but tinted to the color Dover. I stayed up way too late a few nights and dealt with a plethora of aphthous ulcers and one nasty cold sore. But I’m a team player so I gladly take one for the home team to get this dreamy little cozy space in which to make memories with my girls. I used a variety of craft room photos for inspiration which you can find at my tumblr site. I thank Soulemama who never ceases to amaze me with her love for the creative life and how to teach that to our children. I am also indebted to the Nester for teaching us all that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Please visit Kimba‘s sight (it’s DIY day) to see lots of fun DIY projects!

Weekend Treasures

edie — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:01:00 +0000

The chair we found on our ‘thrifting’ excursion: $5

Our find of the year—a 1950′s glider: $20

A can of paint, 2 yards of cheap fabric and child labor: $25 (and a homeade milkshake)

Having a perfect place to sew and knit and hearing your 7yo say, “When I grow up, I’m gonna be ONE crafty momma!” : priceless

Notes:

1. You’re gonna ask me how I recovered that chair and I’m gonna tell you that there was weeping, gnashing of teeth, hammerin’, staplin’, and then I put an afghan over the side that I completely messed up. In other words, you should get your recoverin’ tutorial from someone who measures twice and cuts once—-instead of from someone who just cuts! Thanks to Katilin for her help!

2. Just got that glider into the ‘studio’—thanks to Marcus and Macdaddy. I promise to show you soon—although I’m afraid the suspense is gonna be more exciting than the actual reveal.

Hope your weekend was full of treasures too!

Visit ‘Metamorphosis Monday‘ to see other fun transformations!

I’m also joining Rhoda for her ‘yardsale treasures’ carnival. Visit her blog here.

I’m in love with the bust of DAVID

edie — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:33:00 +0000

This could well be my most prized antique store find EVER. I’ve had my eye on him for months. He was broken and poorly displayed with a raggedy-ole scarf tied around his neck, and with $20 still on the price tag. When my sister was here visiting last week, I had my daughter and my niece take it to the counter in two pieces—-hoping that the shock of carrying an unstable head to the counter would surely drive the price down. And it did.

For $6, the price of a 24-pack of diet pepsi, I now have my treasured bust of David. And my antique store friend told me about the best stuff —ever—-to glue him back together with. It’s called E-6000, I bought it from Walmart, and it works like a charm.

I haven’t decided yet exactly what I’m going to do with him. He reminds me of my Stevie, strong and warrior-like and described as ‘a man after God’s own heart’. David is undoubtedly my favorite Bible hero. He was a man riddled with besetting sins but from whose lineage of repentance and restoration came the Christ child. His life inspires me to repentance. To enjoy the fullness of the freedom that comes only through faith in Christ. And if you haven’t heard the beautiful song Hallelujah, written by Jeff Buckley, about the life of David, you must listen.

I’ve looked online for new ‘busts of David’ but there’s something so applicable about having a David that needs love and restoration. Kind of reminds me of myself. Go here to listen to this beautiful song. Move the cursor to ~1.10 to bypass a long introduction.

Thanks Rhoda for hosting this weekly party to show off our goodies. Visit here to see more unique finds.