“I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and always will be yours.” ― Jane Austin Sense and Sensibility
If you remember last year about this time we had our first annual Jane Austin Party it was so much fun that we decided to follow up with another party this year!
This years theme was Sense and Sensibility. It gave us the perfect opportunity to raid Kendra’s hope chest and use all her vintage thrift store finds, as well as my new……diy, shelf unit (it’s almost done!!!) On the menu? Cucumber & Cream Cheese and Chicken Salad finger sandwiches, Meringue cookies, Salted Caramel Popcorn, Avalanche Bars, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, of course Tea, and I know it’s not very English…..but I just can’t do without my coffee!!
The girls were in rare form, they decided to assign a person we knew to each character in the movie……can I just say we had quite a laugh?
It was the perfect relaxing girlie afternoon and it looks like this is going to be a yearly event…….now to decide which Jane Austin to watch next year!
To say I love thrifting is an understatement! I was thrilled when I got to check out a new, huge thrift store in Opelika, AL the other day. For those of you that are locals it’s located next to Angel’s Antiques and Resurrect Antiques! Oh how convenient!
So the other day when I was browsing all the goodness, this English hunting print caught my eye……fake mat, plastic faux wood frame and all! Does anyone else see potential here? Well for $3.99 I just couldn’t pass it up!
Then……just happened that my next stop was the Habitat For Humanity ReStore. I have been hearing about these ReStores all over the place! Seems like every DIY blog I read has something fabulous to say about them. Well I had been grieving about the fact that we didn’t have one, when one day I was running my errands and what did I see……you guessed it! Well they have kind of strange summer hours, but I caught them open……….and Oh how exciting! So I came across a big pile of reclaimed trim for .20/ft! What a steal, then I spied a big piece of chunky trim already painted black! Lightbulbs!! The whole piece cost me $1.50 and I still have a bit left!
When I got my treasures home, I went to work! I used my $7.00 miter box from home depot to make my cuts! I have used this little contraption to death and it was worth every penny! A chop saw is on my wish list, but for now I’m thrilled with my little yellow box!
Just so happened that I had borrowed a brad nailer from a friend for a bigger project……coming soon. So I took full advantage and glued and nailed the corners of the frame. Also on the wish list……brad nailer and compressor. This step literally took 5 minutes!
the next step (especially because I am miter challenged) was to putty the miters with wood filler and sand and distress the edges, because everything is so much happier and comfortable if it’s just a tad on the imperfect side!
So then I touched up the paint with my favorite black from Martha Stewart Francesca in flat. I read one time about painting furniture and projects with flat paint then waxing with a clear furniture wax. I am totally sold. I love the look this gives. It comes out silky soft and has a soft sheen, but not like a semi gloss paint. It just gives the perfect vintage look. And it’s just like Mr. Miyagi says…”wax on, wax off” Use a soft cloth to rub on a thin layer of wax, wait about 10 minutes, then buff off.
Ok….this is where it gets fancy…….yup! Because a router is also on my wish list, and because no one is going to see the back, I used blue painters tape to attach everything to the new frame! Worked like a charm! Use what ya got!
and done!! and a little sneak peek of my BIG project, and my other thrift store scores from that day! They had TONS of old books for $1 each! I’ll be going back for more! I just can’t get enough of the colors and textures of these old covers!
 
I have been wanting to make a cute french flower pot ever since I found this adorable free french flower shop invoice graphic from the graphics fairy. If you haven’t checked out her site, do! She has all kinds of vintage graphics you can download for free, and lots of fun diy’s.
So I finally found a pot I liked and a technique to try and off we went…….
I got a brownish colored terracotta pot and saucer from home depot, but of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone! It wanted to become vintage!! So I gave it a very quick and messy coat of paint! I used Pensive Sky by Behr.
Because I wanted the pot to look aged I used a dry brush technique. I dipped the brush into the paint, then dabbed most of it onto the paper towel before I painted the pot. I did a couple thin messy layers. I wanted it to be shaded by the brown color underneath.
but once again, not quite vintage enough…..so out came my trusty sanding block and I just lightly sanded the edges here and there for a little more ware. Ahhh, that’s better! Now to dress her up!
Ok, this is the tricky part…..well it was for me, now that I have it figured out maybe it won’t be so tricky for you! I used the “wax paper” transfer technique. All you need is an ink jet printer, some wax, paper, a piece of printer paper, and some tape…..cut your wax paper a bit smaller than your printer paper. Now to get this to print correctly I had to tape the bottom and sides with tape to my paper. Once I figured that out, it ran through the printer with no problem! Oh and don’t forget to flip your design to make a mirror image……Ooops! Good thing I caught it before I applied it to the pot!!
Now the ink is and will remain wet, so carefully trim the wax paper away from the tape and printer paper. Put a couple pieces of tape on the edges of the wax paper to secure it to the pot BEFORE you try to apply it to the pot! Can you tell I almost messed it up? Since the ink is wet, you only get one shot at placing your design…….good news is if you mess up you can always paint over it and start again!
Now you need to burnish the design onto the pot, use what ever you have! A burnishing tool, popcicle stick, your fingernail or your trusty papmered chef scraper! It will turn dark as you burnish it. When you are done carefully remove the tape and wax paper in one smooth movement. And Oh La La! She’s done! Perfectly imperfect!
Now let it dry good for about 30-40 min. Apply a coat of matte sealer and you are good to plant something pretty in your new pot!
I’ve read that you can use this technique on different surfaces as well, I’m looking forward to experimenting! I’ll let you know how it goes
Ok…..so I bet you thought I quit right…….yes it’s been a while, but truth be told, we lost our internet for almost a month. Now everything is back up and running good, thanks to a very talented techie friend! And I have so much to share!
I got through week 3 of C25K and then I hurt my knee……not sure what I did but it hurt! I was so upset! I thought just as I was keeping up with exercising, even though it was difficult……and I was loosing weight, feeling better….I couldn’t get over the fact that I was being stopped. I wanted to cry. I wasn’t going to quit, so I iced it, took ibuprofen and kept on! But instead of running I started walking. I kind of felt like I was cheating or something, but one day when I was struggling to get through the first mile and a half, in pain with my knee and shin splints……I was praying, asking the Lord to help me. Quoting 1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. I looked up and saw this dove sitting on the wire, just watching me. It gave me such peace and strength to keep going. He stayed there the whole time, and left when I started for home.
I figured since a 5K was about 3 miles, that I would walk 3 miles, three times a week. I started with a 20 minute mile and before I knew it I was down to a 16 minute mile……my goal is a 15 min mile and I’m almost there! I’m not sure if I’ll start running again or not. I know it’s not good to run on pavement and that is all I have to run on. I’m enjoying walking and pushing myself. It’s also so wonderful to get outside in the fresh air and have some me time. I love listening to my praise and worship music as I walk and even though I’m exhausted when I’m done, it’s thoroughly relaxing.
Before I started to write this post I decided to read over the last one to see where I left off since it had been so long. I was surprised to see where I said I was down almost 10lbs. This journey seems like it’s going at a snails pace…..but I’m glad to say that as of today I’m down 15.4 lbs. And I’m happy to report that even though there have been mornings that I thought “I’ll just sleep in and not walk to day”……..for some reason I just can’t! And my new shoes………they aren’t looking so new anymore!
I’ve never been a runner, in fact I hate running. I dreaded the two times a year in High School when we had to “run the mile” I knew I would be at the back of the pack and take forever to get done. I don’t like to sweat, and I hate the heat. All reasons why NOT to exercise. I kept hearing about this Couch to 5k thing everyone was doing, I kept watching on Facebook as friends of mine were one by one actually running 5k races. I have been watching what I eat, I’m down almost 10 lbs. so why not try it. I’ve heard so many say that they didn’t like to run, but this program made it easy and now they love it. Wouldn’t it be something to love running?
Well this is called blogging for accountability…..you see I’m famous for starting something, like a diet, being excited about it, thinking it’s finally going to happen, and things slowly fading away until, yes….I’ve quit again. I have decided I need accountability. I have been doing Weight Watchers, which I’ve done before, but this time I’m attending meetings and weighing in at least once a week. I enjoy the support from people that have been there, done that and succeeded. A couple of my friends at WW encouraged me to give c25k a try. I feel like by sharing it with you……the good, the bad and the ugly, maybe I’ll stick with it…….I can do 8 weeks right?
So here it is: Week 1 Day 1 C25K
I actually enjoyed it, I’m not going to lie, I haven’t ran in so long it felt weird and I’m sure I looked weird.
But I’m just so blessed to live next door to our church where I can walk around the parking lot, in a safe place (where nobody can see me), and I’m using the free app on my iPhone. I love that I can play music and it talks to me, telling me when to walk/run. Really it couldn’t be better. Today was a 5 min brisk walk, then alternating running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds (for 20 min.) then a 5 min cool down. I made it all the way through! And I came home feeling good! I can do this 3 days a week! I’m looking forward to seeing my body adapt as the work outs become increasingly more advanced as the weeks pass.
see you next week……………..
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