Boodling in Birmingham

We headed out for vacay a day early so that DH could meet with some clients in Birmingham. The boys and I passed the time by checking out some thrift stores. How exciting to do this in another state! We actually found 3 different thrift stores. I liked the name of this one best. And, everything in the store was half off (except underwear and bras)! This statement made us all giggle.

Training him right!

As you know after our trip to the resale store on Saturday I saw the sign for the "sale". Well DH had to be back in Louisville for a meeting so he went to check out the sale! He left here early to make it before 9:00 (oops....I didn't think to tell him it doesn't open until 10:00). But he waited. After going thru the store this is the photo of what the back on the van looks like.

While he is "training" well at getting good bargins I still need to work on the "free" pickups with him! Oh wait....he did pick up a few free items! I asked him to check on the "door panels" we found and to pick them up. Well....he was so happy with himself. He got them ALL....and they had a price tag of FREE on them!!! So girls...after I look at them all and choose my few projects then I will see if you chicks want to other ones...Chick #3....I know you Mother Hen wanted one. What size do you think she would like? I will set one aside for her to "Thank" her for all the wonderful plants she gave me.

I made a Cover-Up

This lovely little lady is our robotic pool cleaner. She is known as the Dolphin. Although she is quite cute on her own, she needed a cover-up. There is electricity involved here and we were tired of rolling her in and out of the garage every time we needed her (2 steps and wheel that would come off complicated this process) , but sitting her out in the elements wasn't an option either. Hence, the cover-up!

The fabric was purchased at Ikea and reminds me of a beach towel. There is a special coating on this fabric that repels water! I think it turned out pretty cute.

Remember that night of Boodling...

The night Scott and I ended up on a surprise boodling trip, I told you I found several items in need of decrapification. Well, I have finally finished the largest item we picked up. It was an interesting coffee table that was rustic enough that it would work great on the back porch. I hope you like the final product.


The wood is pretty cheap and warped in a few places, but I figure it is going to continue to suffer water exposure. I painted the base pretty much the same color, but included the brown center storage area as well. This is now the standard Rustoleum 2x in Heirloom White. The top was again painted black with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor paint. A few accessories later (metal baskets purchased at the junk shop in Carrollton, an iron caddy from Southern Living holding coasters and dutch girl pitcher from my mom's house, bird tray from Ikea, straw basket holding bird and wildflower books) and the transformation is complete.

We did add some "feet" to try and minimalize the water damage that might occur. This area stays pretty dry since it is under the awning, but it can get damp after a big rain. Here is a closer picture of the top with the accessories. Hope you like it!

It's a HOT day!

We went back to Louisville for the weekend. I thought it might be a weekend to rest. I was SO wrong. The yard was a mess. So while Greg was busy mowing, I got busy and pulled up the weeds. While doing so I thought I would start pulling up a few of my plants that we wanted to take. I took great care to wrap them and keep them watered...but they were wilting so much by the time we made it back here on Sunday. So I had to put my wonderful DH to work on fathers day! We dug and tilled on one side of the house to plant my pants. Out of all the plants I only "paid" for one of them. All the others were shared with me. And I am happy to say....I think they all might make it. Now I just need Chick #3 to make me some cool tags to mark them because I have no idea of their names!

Cabinet Door Project

I used the first of my cabinet door purchases to make a new "Welcome" sign for the porch. I did nothing but clean the door, no sanding or painting. I attached a knob to the top of the door and hung a bird/picture frame that I bought at Traderbaker's yesterday. Instead of adding a photo, I inserted a scrap of paper and a "C". I put this in place of the flag that we had hanging by the door on the porch. I have placed the flag up on our mantel for the time being. I think I like it there so it will probably stay for a while.

Slow moving!

O.K....so we are into day 6 on this home redo. It seems to be going slow. We got all the wallpaper and backing off but you could still feel the glue. So back to washing ALL the walls again. You don't "see" the change so it feels like it is slow going. We have only one room left! We did put kilzs on some of the walls and I might even try to paint some of the trim. Nothing else exciting. Greg is back to work.....and mom and dad have things planned the rest of the week so it is me and the kids. I am sure it will go slower.

But on the upside....we took down an ugly light in the entry. Mom mentioned an idea for it. So I am saving it for another FUN project later down the road. But my mom seems to think this junk finding is turning into a hording problem. Won't she be in for a treat when she sees all the cool things I can do with trash! She is already impressed with what you two have done!

On the fun side......I have been trying to scout out some cool places to go shop and eat when my two other chicks come to visit after the house is put together!! It might have to be more than one trip!