Saturday

Sweet 'Koma' dome clock found for $3.  AND it works.  :)

How cool is this cotton fabric??  It's approximately 2m x 1m, which is a substantial amount.  I only paid $2 - clever me.

 

Hong Kong spoon found for $1.

Lovely bamboo coat hangers for only 50 cents each, found last year.  I never thought I'd say this about hangers, but they were worth every cent - I love them... as simple as they are.

Thursday

It's the Australia Day holiday today, and it's stinking hot like it has been for days and days AND DAYS now.  I don't think I can stand it anymore.  Holiday or no holiday, I just want to hibernate in the fridge until summer goes away.

Onto more pleasant things...

Remember my free oil painting and wooden frame story?  

If not, read here;

http://ilmiopiccolotesoro.blogspot.com/search/label/oil%20painting

and here;

http://ilmiopiccolotesoro.blogspot.com/search/label/wood  

I've finally made some progress since then.  All I need to do now is paint the fancy edge gold, then hang in up.  Yay for me!

The wood stain ended up being a little darker than I wanted, but I still like it.  And as you can see, the stain seeped through to the fancy edge even though I prepped like mad before hand!  It matters not, because it is going to be painted gold anyway.

Before staining the frame...

 

 

After staining the frame...

 

Free wooden stuff

Wood.  I love wood.  I've always admired wood and how one can build and paint it and make it look fantabulous.  I have dreams for these freshly found free pieces... or illusions of grandeur if you will;

An old tool box.  My niece actually picked this up, but when we got home she passed it onto me (with some kind of disgust - lol).  I'm thinking -:

Use paint stripper to remove the brown pain on the sides

Sand it down as much as possible

Paint a cute flower design on it 

Varnish it to protect it from the elements

... and place 3 little pot plants inside.

 

Out come the useless guts, including the rotting bottom.  I can easily cut a new piece of wood to fit;

My very own treasure chest!  I was excited when I found this... it's not large, but it's quite heavy.

I'm not going to attempt to paint it because it's supposed to look a bit shabby, but I might varnish it for a bit of protection;

Magazines fit perfectly inside;

 

And it's on wheels! 

Now, I find this next find was very exciting although you wouldn't think just by looking at that 'picture frame mess'.  A few months back I posted about an oil painting which I found (yes, free).  I had been hunting around for a frame at the op shops now and then, but wasn't that desperate.  I had been keeping the painting on a book holder on the ground but it really needed to be hung up proudly on a wall.  Well guess what??  One of these frames is the perfect size for the painting!  In all honesty, I gasped with delight when I plonked it in there and was totally amazed. 

So I started to sand it down...

Very nice wood grain, but I do have plans to paint it;

I'm off to do a little crafty thinking folks, until next time... ciao for now.  :)

Free hat and coat stand

Last year I was driving home from who knows where, and not too far from my house I spotted a bunch of wooden things that somebody was trashing.  They looked kind of nice in a shabby way.  So I parked the car and went knocking on their door.  After a couple of tries, I just threw it all in the car boot.

When I got home I looked at all the pieces and it quickly occurred to me what it was.  So I started putting the puzzle together....  and I was right - it was a beaten up hat and coat stand.  I was very thrilled with my free find!  

So I went to work on it for several weeks....  

I used jarrah wood coloured varnish, but I didn't sand it down, shock... horror.  Any woodworker would probably tell me that I'm nuts for not doing so, but I honestly couldn't be bothered. 

 

 

... then this beautiful creature was in our lives.

 

As you can see in the background, there is a big old mess.  I'm always up to something!

9. Rue Fonteneau

I've hunted high and low (on the internet) to try and find where this wooden case has come from, but to no avail.  I've found wooden plates, clocks and a few other things with the exact design but absolutely nothing like this.  It stands at about 8 inches high, both sides say the same thing, it doesn't have any other writing on it and inside it's lined with a lovely dark chocolate brown velour material.

I love this little case, even though I don't know its history.  What I'd like to think is that somebody from Perth went to Paris for a holiday with their beloved, found that popular cafe', bought the case because they saw it on display above the cafe counter and just had to have it, then brought it back to Perth with them.  

Or they boringly ordered it through the internet.  My first thought is more romantic.  Cost was $10.

Crafting

I think I'm a crafty person.  I knit a lot, I try sewing but I know I'm not that great at it and I love to revamp a multitude of old things.  In the last few years I had been collecting crafty things, that is...  bits and pieces and junk that will help me transform things into something cuter than what it is.

Everything I've collected for the jobs is mostly in a cardboard box just waiting to explode out and be used.  I never seem to find the time to just sit down, breathe in and out, take out a project and just do it.  When I try, I frustratingly get half way and it ends up just sitting somewhere for weeks on end.
For once I'd like to just start and finish something in the one day.  I think I'm asking for too much.

A few things I've found at op shops and on peoples junk piles to help me with my future projects;

These little wooden feet were $1 each.  As soon as I saw them I knew what my project was 

going to be.  I have just about everything I need but I until I find a couple of things, these will 

have to sit and wait.

 $1 paint brush - an essential for crafting!

All of this fabric was $12, but there is a heap of it.  It's actually curtain material, but the plan is 

to make cushions for a couple of free cane chairs I picked up from the next door neighbours 

junk pile.  Thankfully their pile was close to our own council strip and it's unlikely they saw me.  

Then again, who cares if they did. 

Unopened contact plastic - free and on my dirty rug.  It guess it can come in handy.

Red crepe paper - free.  I'm thinking cute poppy flowers.

Jute bag with wooden handles - free.  The jute ended up being cut up for something I needed, 

and the handles are perfect for a knitting handbag project.  Sweet!

Broken mosaic mirror - free.  It's a shame it was cracked, othewise I would have 

used it in the bathroom.  The plan is to take off all the little glass bits and keep them 

for another mosaic project.

Lastly, a bunch of pens/pencils/paint/various stuff - free!  

50 cent investments

Knitting needles aren't cheap these days.  Having found plenty ($1 or $2 per pair from the op shop) of every size I need in the past, I don't usually buy them anymore.  Unless I find a cute wooden pair for 50 cents... then I must make the purchase. 

Cutest little wooden towel rail

At the top of my list of 'things to find' at the op shop is knitting yarn and knitting books.  Just recently, I've added light fittings onto the list.  

But on rare occasions I find something totally unexpected like this:

I wasn't looking for one, I didn't need one, yet I bought one and a cute one it is!  The price on it was $10... which I thought was a bit steep but I just had to have it.  When I went to pay for it at the counter I was told it was $5.  It was half price day on certain coloured tags and this tiny bit of information completely made my day.  Yay for coloured tag day!

From old to new for free

I picked up an old, run down, very aged wooden tray from somebodies junk pile last year.  I sanded it down, then I varnished it.  Now my dear husband is elegantly served dinner in front of the TV.  Free, but oh so priceless!