A while back I asked Thing 2 to help me cut coupons – I had her sort them into three piles – food, non-food and as an incentive, things that she might like me to get at the store. I’m always trying to get the food items they like, I was thinking along the lines of dinner items or good things to put in her lunch. I should have known, her pile consisted of coupons for: Hersheys chocolate, Ben and Jerrys ice cream, Betty Crocker desert mix, Pringles, and Neutrogena facial cleanser – good thinking… cause you are totally going to get zits when you eat all that crap….

ahem…. a little credit maybe….

This is not the first time I’ve  had a good idea go into mass production…..

Peacock Feather Earrings Tutorial

Peacock Feathers are a popular trend right now in fashion and design.  When Craig Olsen decorated my swanky new living room and dining room they added fabulous accessories embellished with peacock feathers… and seeded my love for these pretty little feathers.  I found a peacock feather mask at a garage sale – and for only one dollar – it’s a great value on future craft supplies.  Flash forward a few weeks later when I was introduced to guitar goddess Ariel.  While admiring her gorgeous feather earrings,  I immediately knew what my next craft project would be!   Peacock Feather Earrings!  The perfect fashion forward accessory for the girl who loves a little funk in her fashion.

I found a ton of tutorials for making Peacock or feather earrings, and I combined a few techniques to settle on a method that was easy and suited my vision.

First trim your feathers.  Just pull off a few of extra feathers from the left and right sides.  You need to expose the shaft of the feather in order to get a good surface to work with.  You might have to trim the shaft of the feather depending on its thickness.   Both the feather shaft and the jeweler wire need to be able to feed through your bead together.   Trim the feather shaft on the back carefully with a pair of scissors.

Trim the length of the feather shaft so that it doesn’t protrude through the top of the bead once you feed it through. You also need to test that both the shaft and wire will fit through your bead. Once you have applied the glue, there’s no going back. Apply the glue to the trimmed feather shaft and insert it into your bead – following quickly with your beading wire. The beading wire needs to extend about a 1/2″ to allow room to wrap the wire.

Bend up the wire as shown, then tightly wrap it around the feather shaft. The wire and the glue will ensure that your feathers will withstand any headbanging you might engage in.  Now thread your crystal bead.

Using a pair of small needle nose jewelry pliers – grab the wire at the top of the bead – bend over to one side – wind the wire around the closed jewelry pliers to create a loop.  Use the jewelry pliers to grab the loop you just created and tightly wind the wire around the space between the loop and the crystal bead.  Trim the wire and use the pliers to round out any part that is sticking out.

You are now ready to add your jump ring and earring hook and wear these pretties to your next rock n roll concert!

Vintage Desk Bureau with a little girly touch

I have a “thing” for certain types of furniture pieces.  I fall in love with chairs.  I melt for little round pedestal tables.  And I think we all know I have a thing for little vintage desks.   I have two and now… now I have three.  This one is a desk bureau.  Love these!  Practical.  Charming.  Organized.  Yeah.  You got me baby.

A good friend had this at her garage sale for a mere $20 dollars.  Whenever I go to her house, I admire her vintage furniture, her white milk glass collection and here she was, selling this amazing piece for $20.  It once graced her daughter’s bedroom but the blossoming teenager had outgrown it.  The faded yellow paint was chipping, the skull and cross bone skull stickers were peeling.  How could I let a stranger take it?  Clearly, it needed to be saved.  It might have been nostalgia – I purchased a desk like this years ago for Thing 2’s room – and during the divorce/separation she took it to her dads house.  But I had always loved it and missed it.  My BFF Kat, inspired Thing 2’s piece, bought one at a thrift store too.  It turned out to be sanding project from hell but she kept at it until it was beautiful and it now graces her daughters room.

I was so excited over this project I didn’t stop to take a “before” picture.  Here it is right after I sanded it down.

This piece is in great condition and it easily sanded down.  I painted two coats of Zinsser primer (letting it dry between coats) before lightly sanding it and applying the last coat of paint.

The inside of the desk was painted a royal red.  I love the unexpected color but red isn’t my favorite.  To keep the color close to the original inspiration I chose a girly hot pink.  Flamingo pink was exactly what this desk needed to pizzazz it up.  I thought about silver leafing the inside but those fussy little cubby holes were a deterrent.  Flamingo Pink spray paint conquered those holes!

Originally, I intended to sell this piece – $20 plus paint, it would have been a quick sale and easy profit.  But somewhere during the re-finishing part of our relationship, we bonded.   It whispered how it would hide my entry way table clutter – keys and mail and stuff to put away.  It coyly mentioned that it’s drawers would give easier access to my craft supplies.  Yes, I was seduced and my good intentions forgotten.

Now that I knew we were in a long term relationship, I needed to make a deeper commitment.  I wrote a dear John letter to my old entry way table – and then set it outside with a “free to a good home” sign.   Then I took a closer look at the little glass knobs who were begging for more embellishment.  This charming stencil from the Martha Stewart line tied in the star accents I already have in my home.

Now the little desk bureau is a happy welcome to my home (thanks for hiding my keys and mail)  Yes, I’m still missing two glass knobs, but they are just an excuse to go to garage sales.  Good relationships require effort, afterall!