We're quickly approaching 2013, all! I took a little look back to see how I had done with my plans for Lively Grace during 2012, and I'm pleased as punch! I think I did quite well with my goal of posting 2-4 times per month. I increased views during the year. I have a few posts I 'linked up' with other blog posts, which says something for a gal with less than awesome computer skills. I have written two articles for Pocatello Magazine (so far!), and saw my blog and name printed in Flea Market Style Magazine. And let's not forget, the fun that is being a vendor in the Wildhare Flea Market!
I choose a couple favorite posts from the last year to share.
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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 )
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Story of the Lockers
Early last fall, I had gone to a 'moving sale'. Anytime I drive up and
see a shed or barn structure, I'm ready to roll. This guy's place was
amazing, with a huge 3 sided workshop. To protect the innocent, we'll
call him Walt. Walt was moving out of the country on a new adventure.
I nabbed this fan at first sight! And it still sits atop a project table.
I spied a set of lockers, dusty, and tucked all the way in the back,
without a price. The color was awesome! I continued to look around,
contributing to my 'pile', while still physically holding the fan.
Although I wasn't in the market for one, Walt was selling an enormous
rain collection bin that he use to catch rain from his shop's roof and
then watered all the trees on his property. I knew then we were a bit
of kindred spirits; in a good rain storm my kiddo and I go 'catch' rain
in buckets by setting them under drain spouts to use later to water the
garden and flowers! And when I say enormous, think larger than a horse
trough, raised up, next to the shop - too cool. While I visited with
Walt, I wished my kiddo was with me, just to see the rain collection
system and pretty property, we kinda get excited about recycling and
reusing in the Lively Grace household.
So I asked Walt about the lockers. I recognized that immediate
hesitation; he had a connection with the lockers, kinda like my new
connection with the fan. He had pulled them out of the dumpster at
work, he explained, just knowing they could be put to good use. He had
planned to build shelves horizontally on the inside, but alas, many
other projects had come before this one. He admitted he couldn't take
them out of the country with him, but they weren't for sale today. As I
loaded up my car (he was impressed how I could fit so much in a 4 door
car!) he took my number, maybe he would contact me later about the
lockers.
I went home and swooned over the fan. The weekend passed and I didn't hear anything more about the lockers.
Then, over a month later, I had a message on Facebook. Not from Walt,
but from his neighbor, Kathy, who owns Her Alibi Antiques in Pocatello,
and had been helping him with his sale. How sweet is that of Kathy? We
had visited a bit at the last flea market, she also had a booth, and at
various estate and yard sales. Walt had misplaced my number, but had
passed his number along to me thru Kathy, if I was still interested in
the lockers.
IF! Walt and I played phone tag and then came up with a time I
could drop by. When I pulled up to his property (this time in the truck
with my kiddo), I noticed the shop was completely cleared out.
Except for the lockers.
Even the enormous rain collection bin was gone; he had auctioned and
sold everything else. But there were the lockers. He explained how he
had set them aside, that if I appreciated their awesome junkness as much
as he did, they should go to me.
Since it was gone, Walt described the enormous rain collection bin to my
kiddo. We took a look at some of the trees it had helped grow. We
loaded the lockers in the truck, joking that they 'probably' wouldn't
have fit in my car.
I snapped a pic immediately after I unloaded them in the garage.
Although I was super excited to put these to good use, they had been
stored in a 3 sided shed and had become a haven for spiders, cobwebs and
dust. Lots of gloved scrubbing occurred before they went into the
house.
The vintage ice-cream bucket with orange handle was also picked from
Walt. And, like Walt, I have a long project list (which includes
re-painting the walls in this room- not quite as blue in person) that
frequently gets re-prioritized.
After such a story, you may think, "and she stores paint in those?".
But if you have ever used, priced, or talked to me about Annie Sloan
Chalk Paint, you would understand that this paint deserves a special
storage place! One may also find, on occasion, mini peanut butter cups
on the top shelves : ).
I think Walt would approve.
-Jen
Are you a reader of Flea Market Style Magazine? These are the lockers I
mentioned as one of my favorite finds when I wrote to Flea Market Style
Magazine. Imagine my excitement when I saw my name and blog in the
article Reader's Choice favorite cities (Winter 2012)!
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Well, although I was painting in that room today, it wasn't the walls. Guess I can add that to the plans for 2013!
Happy New Year!
-Jen
