Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Sharing

I had really thought the Lively Grace part of my life would be busy busting out projects this summer.  How could it not?  The weather is great for painting, sanding, and cleaning.  It's yard sale season.  The kiddo's schedule is more laid back with summer.  And junking makes me happy. Right?
Don't get me wrong, summer is GREAT and I have a fantastic life.  Which may be why I don't feel I've completed as may projects as I had hope for.  Vacations, swim lessons, (work), chasing down the ice cream truck, hiking, time with friends, gardening, late beautiful evenings outside - all the great things summer is so filled with! So, instead of a post about sweet junk, I thought I'd share a bit of what I've been up to that has those projects waiting for attention and the 'junker' part of me that just peeks out regardless of where I am.

We rafted the Main Salmon River!


We were greeted with these lush waterfall side channels on a daily basis.



 We spent 5 days, 4 nights on the river with a great group of boaters!



I sat next to this cool kiddo every day!




We worked hard!  There's yours truly holding the boat (oh, did we stop in a few bushes?) while the captain scouted the next rapid.  And yes, every night camp was set up, and every morning re-loaded back into the raft.  (What, no pics of the rapids? uh, I was holding onto that cool kiddo : )



And on the hottest day (106 degrees) , we found a super fun way to stay cool!



We were engulfed in an amazing amount of history within that corridor of Idaho where the river runs.




We were able to walk into the home of Polly Beamis, one of the first settlers along the Main Salmon.  And my vintage, aged wood, chippy paint, rust loving junker heart was happy!


Photo opp!

See?  Rusty, chippy paint, vintage, aged wood... does anyone else find themselves taking pictures of these types of things?


(If possible, this would have become mine.)



Door -enough said!
 I also saw the coolest alien-green color paint on the side of a metal building along the drive to Salmon, ID, but if we stopped driving every time I saw a color or building that caught my eye, we may have missed the whole trip!



The most amazing colors, however, weren't man made. This picture doesn't even come close to the vibrancy in person.



My view out the window on the drive home ... follow that bus!



Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Tidbits

Just some fun stuff! 
 Email, call or text if you are interested!  Wondering how it works?  You contact me, we figure a time for you to take a look, you look, you either want to make it yours and pay in cash, or decide against it which is OK, we visit about any upcoming flea markets, paint, etc.  And I thank you for visiting- really, whether here, or in person!

Contact:  email- livelygrace@me.com  or 208.390.8653



Hobnail Milkglass  Lamp $16
works! 11.25 inches tall



 Chippy paint bird house $6- SOLD
 10 inches tall



Vintage leather suitcase with straps $36
that interior fabric-so cute! measures 24 inches across
Great wearing on the edges, since it is soft sided, it is not sturdy for stacking







 Vintage picnic basket with removable tray $18 -SOLD
measures 21 inches in length, 12 inches height



Found Vintage Painted Stool $20
measures 24.5 inches tall, 14 inches across the slightly scooped seat! 








Vintage Samsonite Train Case in cream  $14
 measures 13.5 length, 8 inches in height




Happy trails!
-Jen 

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Kiddo's dresser

I had been keeping my eyes peeled for a dresser to replace the one in my kiddo's room.  I had made a stop on the way home from work when I came across this dresser.  I actually measured to see if it would fit in my car... I was about 2 inches shy... you would be surprised what I can finagle in the back of a small 4 door car!  Instead, I paid for my purchase and quickly returned with the truck to load up.



Here's what it looked like when I brought it home.  Well, actually what it looked like after a good cleaning.  It had been in a garage for many years.  My dad saw it before and after just dust and cobweb removal and thought I had stained it ... nope, just removed layers of old dust!



The kiddo was not immediately smitten as I was.  Yeah, even with those key holes! If you follow me on facebook, you may recall I learned that 10 year old boys have criteria of what makes a good dresser that are different from mine.   I learned that fort making capability is an important factor while dresser shopping, and one young man was concerned that this one was too 'stubby'.  



After reconfiguring the options of fort building within his room and his input on paint choices, he began to warm to the idea.  He decided he wanted to leave the top the natural wood color, with all the dings from many years (yeah!).

We actually tried about 4 or 5 different paint colors;  one I had at home, some I mixed, one that I ordered, and then finally found just the right one.  This piece is all wood with lovely rough cross pieces on the back.  I was able to use the side of one of the drawers as the test area until we found the blue he liked best.


                                   

The kiddo chose the drawer pulls- good taste,  'eh?  (He appears less than enthused here, it was a hot day in or out of the garage!)




We moved it into his room the day we finished.







I threw this picture in because I love the stamped numbers on the side.  They're well worn with age, but a bit of paint helped them be more visible.


His room is not 'done', and may never be, as the process of making a space your own is part of the fun and you never know what you may find next (insert mental picture of the bathroom sign here!  If you have no idea what I am referring to, you should check out my facebook page www.facebook.com/LivelyGrace )


-Jen

I've linked! to Miss Mustard Seed