Stenciled Wood Crate From Goodwill

I have had a real dry spell at the Goodwill over the last few months but finally found something worthwhile that I had fun transforming today.   I took a homely little wood crate that I only paid $2.99 for and I added some of  my “magical” number stencils and voila!  :)

 

    

BEFORE                 AFTER                                                                   

Here is the crate as I found it in the photo above.  I took some sand paper to it and a little bit of elbow grease and removed the strawberries so that I could use my number stencils on it.  

 

I stenciled the word “MAISON” which means “HOUSE” or “HOME” in French along with our last name on the slats in the center of the tray.

Then I stenciled the number 31164 on the sides which is the house address of the first place we lived in after we were first married. 

I just love it.  In the summertime I’ll be using it to serve food and drink when we are out on our deck and in the winter time I plan to keep it in the dining room and I think I will keep some wine bottles and some of the Pellegrino bottles in it.  The apples might get a bit moldy.  :)

And don’t forget to enter for your chance to win a MONOGRAMMED LAPTOP BAG in my giveaway.  Hurry!  you have till Saturday, October 9, 2010 to enter. Click on “MONOGRAMMED LAPTOP BAG” above for more details!!

Ballard Inspired Burlap Foot Stool

My latest project was another Goodwill Re-hab. My inspiration can be found on page 47 of the latest copy of the new Ballard Catalog. That is where you will find a foot stool that looks a lot like the one I just made. The price was $129.00. I kid you not!!

Such a sad and lonely little foot stool. I’ll bet it was the hit of the party back in the 1970’s. I paid $4.49 for it at the Goodwill and took it home for an easy project. Well, I knew I could I could fix this little baby up to look just like new and I could include a few of my favorite touches like covering it in Burlap. Not only is Burlap CHEAP… I really do like the look of it. And then I thought I would use my new question mark stencil.

The first thing I had to do was remove the wood legs which was very easy because they simple screwed on and off and then I gave them a couple of coats of black spray paint.

I turned a box over and screwed the legs into the box so that they were standing straight up which made it very easy to paint them with out any paint runs or smudges. (This is a great way to spray paint door and cabinet knobs too.)

I wanted my foot stool to look nice and plump and have some loft on top so I cut out two pieces of high loft quilt batting (very cheap at Walmart for around $5.00 for a bag.) and wrapped the top piece with it and stapled into place with my upholstery stapler. This kind of stapler is a must for projects like this and they are not very expensive. I purchased mine from Lowe’s a few years ago.

Next step was to cut out a piece of Burlap to go over the batting and cover the top. I used a steam iron to press out the wrinkles before I stapled it into place.

As I stapled the burlap to the top piece, I folded the edge under for a more finished edge.

I screwed the legs back into place before I had a chance to paint them in this photo to see how they fit and trimmed the underside of the corners.

Rest assured that the newly painted black legs look fabulous on the finished product.

And here it is. The total cost was about $8.00. I guess you could say I saved $121.00. Cha- Ching! And this is so easy to change when I get tired of the Burlap or the Question Mark…I can just re-cover it again with some decorator fabric. But for right now I am happy with the Question Mark. It gives it air of mystery don’t you think? :)

I am adding this post to Cottage Instincts....Come see all the other How-To projects!!

And there are more projects to see over at The Twice Remembered Cottage.

Junkin' at the Goodwill

I did some junkin' at the Goodwill earlier this week. Didn't find much in the way of furniture. I am looking for a bench for my hallway to re-do or possibly a long narrow table. I keep telling myself to be patient! In the meantime, I found these three little treasures and the grand total of my bill was $8.05.

I needed a mini watering can and this one was especially ugly. No problem! I have American Accent Rust-oleum Smooth Satin Finish Fast Drying Spray Paint in Heirloom White!! I have been asked where I found this paint and I have seen it at Michael's, Lowe's, and Hobby Lobby. Two quick coats and it was done.

Here it is before....

And here it is after!

I am still working on the little nautical wood box and should be able to show you it finished sometime this weekend.

In the meantime, let me show you what I think is my favorite of the three.....the wood utensil holder. Yes it was a wee bit dated, but it was very sturdy and I had several ideas for this one. I pryed off the plate in the middle with the country blue geese on it and then scraped the glue off of the back.

Then after wiping it down I gave it a coat of Kilz Primer. This saved me from having to sand off the finish.

Next step after the primer dried was to give it a couple of coats of black spray paint. Then I glued the plate that was covered in geese back on the box after giving it a quick spray of Heirloom White paint and letting it dry. I love the how the white label looks on this box. I am not sure yet if I want to write something on the lable like maybe "Les Couverts " which is French for eating utensils like forks, knives, and spoons or maybe I will just put "ETC... " on it. I might just leave it plain. I have to think about that.

TRASH TO TREASURE BABY!