I really found some fun things at the garage sales this weekend--a great old copper tub, a wooden box, a birdcage, a scale and some drill bits for my husband.
I was thrilled to find this old Wayrite scale. But....the biggest bummer of the day was that a girl right before me grabbed the cutest rusty old blue scale. And she paid $3 for it!! I would've preferred to have not even seen it. :) But, I keep telling myself that I have LOTS of scales, so it was not for me this time.... And, this scale that I did find is very fun!
Here it is in the house with some other recent garage sale finds (and a bird feeder from HomeGoods).
This little birdcage caught my eye. I didn't care for it in black, but figured I could paint it.
Now it's blue/green.
I love this old box! It's a perfect size to hold lots and lots of magazines.
My husband is in the process of cleaning up the copper tub. I will post about it when it's all spiffed up.
I love summer. I love everything about summer. I'm probably one of the few people who doesn't eagerly anticipate fall's arrival. Yes, I enjoy the coziness of fall and love to watch football, but I know that soon after fall comes snowy, non-gardening winter. :)
It usually takes me awhile to buy fall flowers, as my summer flowers are generally still doing well. Unfortunately, if I wait until my summer flowers look horrible, it's too late to get fall flowers. Oh the dilemma. haha
(Full disclosure here--this was the pot at its prettiest a few weeks ago. It did not look this good yesterday when I pulled all of the flowers...)
I love the Wave Petunias and Cosmos in here. I will definitely be planting Wave Petunias in all of my pots next spring. They get huge!
This and the next two pictures are right after I planted the pots in May.
And now I have Mums. The plants I bought were so big (thank you Costco!) that I wasn't able to fit anything else around the edges. Maybe a simple planting is perfect for now.
I'm going to a "Favorite Things" party tonight hosted by my friend Ali @ Just Me and decided to do another coaster project for it. We have them all over our house and I've given several sets away as gifts. I really do love the look of them.
I started with 4" tiles from Lowe's. They are called Agora Almond and were 33 cents each. I put a piece of cork on the bottom of it, cut to just a little smaller than the tile. I bought a roll of self stick cork at Michael's.
I used graphics from The Graphics Fairy (the Ball Jars, Watering Can and Cloche) and the Bicycle and Ampersand images I found on Etsy. I printed them off on my laser printer using the normal print (not mirror image). Remember, if you don't have a laser printer, just print the graphic off any printer and make a copy at Kinko's, then you'll have the right type of copy. I used the wallet size on Picasa and did one graphic per page. (I tried to do 2 and 4 graphics per page and they printed too closely together).
I used a foam brush and applied even coats of Omni-gel. (I buy Omni-gel at Michael's. It's not easy to find, so you may have to ask a salesperson where to find it there.) You'll want to brush it on in one direction, let that dry completely, brush it on the opposite direction, let that dry, then brush it on diagonally and let that dry. Be sure to cover enough of the graphic and surrounding paper so it'll easily fit on a 4" tile. I then cut the graphic to about 6" square so it's easier to work with.
Once it's all dry (I let them sit overnight after the 3 coats), set the graphic in a tub of water. I used a dishpan from the Dollar Store. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. If you leave it longer, it's fine.
I took it out and set it on a piece of wax paper. I used a damp microfiber cloth and rubbed the paper off in a circular motion. Be sure to get all of the paper off. I usually run it under some water to try to get everything off.
I then set the wet graphic on the tile and carefully cut to fit the tile. (it works best if the graphic is wet so it doesn't slide around on the tile while you're cutting it) Be sure not to cut too small or too big. The edges of the graphic will fit nicely in the grooves at the edge of the tile and you won't be able to see them.
Carefully lift the cut graphic off the tile (it shouldn't be delicate as it's kind of rubbery at this point), spread Omni-gel in a thin layer on the back of the graphic and the top of the tile. Use your finger to spread the Omni-gel and get rid of any air bubbles. You can apply some Omni-gel to your finger to spread it easily. You will have to peel the Omni-gel off of your hands. :)
Set the tiles aside to dry overnight.
I put a little sprinkle of salt on them, then spray with a clear sealant. I found that the salt keeps glasses from sticking to the tiles later on.
I hope whoever gets my 'favorite thing' likes them as much as I do!
Thanks for coming by!
Pam
A BIG Thank You to Palatin Remodeling, Inc. for naming my blog "Best Innovative Blog 2012" I am thrilled to have won!!
I have had this metal bird decoration for several years. Recently it occurred to me that I needed to hang some things from the hooks on it. (Sometimes I'm very slow!!) :)
I got the watering can and birdhouse in the Christmas clearance section at Target last year. I cut the lavender from my yard and the key was from a set that I bought from Hobby Lobby.
I recently found these miniature Mason jars on ebay. OMG, I was so excited! Unfortunately it's hard to see the details, but they are adorable in person!
Last week when I found the old scale and typewriter, I also found this bright blue, green and yellow birdhouse. I loved the galvanized roof and dragonfly on it, but didn't love the bright colors.
I sanded most of it down and taped off the metal parts.
My Saturday morning garage-saling ritual paid off again this week.
My most fun find today was this Dayton Scale.
The people were having a 'backyard' sale and there was a huge bottleneck to get to any of the items. I saw the scale when I first walked in, but couldn't get to it for quite some time. I finally got to it and, after the guy selling it told me someone told him it was worth a fortune, he sold it to me. :)
Now it's time for my husband to restore it. He did an amazing job on this scale a couple of years ago, so I have high expectations for this restoration too.
I also found some other things--the typewriter is newer than most of them that I collect, but it was $3. I just couldn't pass it up and that price! There is also a Baldwin candlestick that I was thrilled to find, and some birdhouses. I love the metal roofs on them. The cookie tin was free.
I'll be sure to post about the scale after it is redone.
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