Fall Junk

I had sweatpants on this morning. That's a good sign right? Fall is coming. Never mind I'm sweating now and the AC has kicked on. It was cool ish this morning and I'll take it.

I dragged out my Fall boxes. I wanted to work with my junk too so that I could join up with Donna. She's having a junk vignette link up. Only I am bugged by the word vignette. I don't know why. Some words just bug me.  I will just call them my arrangements.  I wish I had gotten around to painting this table. I'm making a mental note to do that. I do like the rusty metal mixed with the tarnished silver.

This is not of the rusty junk variety but they are unpolished and left in their old tarnished state.

Off to work on my mantel. I am trying to bring in Fall yet still keep things light. I don't want to over do it. I might need to get out the paint.

EDIT:  I was not too thrilled with the look of the sofa table so I did a little do-over. It's allowed. You can see it here. I'm liking it better now. Thanks! 

Anger Management

Yet again the simplest task has sent me over the brink into crazyland. All I wanted to do was remove the toilet paper roll thing and give its ugly brassy self a coat of some satin nickel spray. I had replaced all the other towel rods and hooks in satin nickel already but I couldn't find a toilet paper roll thing that had two mounts. The new ones have one mount and then just a bar for the tp. I didn't want to fill the hole from the old one and repaint. So, I just thought I would paint the old one. Easy peasy. HA! I might as well try something like, oh I don't know, rewiring my whole house. It probably would have been easier.

This tiny little set screw was what was giving me problems. I got one side off and the other side well, it wasn't budging. That tiny little screw just wasn't coming out. So, I tried jiggling it. It might help. It was getting looser. But why was it not coming off? Well, I'll tell you why. It was not the set screw loosening up at all. It was that I was pulling the anchor out of the wall.

I was getting desperate. I even tried sawing through the darn screw. I was digging into the drywall a little bit. Okay, more then a little bit. Why don't we have a sawzall? We have every other darn thing. We have 2 compressors. TWO! I had a bit of a tantrum. Yes. I. did. My anger was building. The drywall was crumbling. I wanted the darn thing off. It was coming off one way or another.

Oh, it's off now. Guess I have to repair the wall. My anger management needs a little work too. This is what I was trying to avoid. Think I can patch it or will I have to cut it out? I don't even know if they left me any of this paint. I'm using a free standing tp holder now. And I guess I can take the stupid phone jack out now too. But it's not wanting to come off either. You would not believe how many oddly placed jacks there were in this house. I think he was CIA or something. Couldn't be 2 feet from a phone. Have these people ever heard of cordless phones?

Thank You Tracy

I want to thank Tracy from Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures for featuring my new bathroom the other day over at her place. Tracy is one of the sweetest bloggers out there. She also happens to be a very talented one too. She is always coming up with the most wonderful decorating ideas. I thought I'd share some of her recent Fall decorating ideas with you. If you click on the photos her blog page will open in a new window and you can read about how see created all this beauty.

Thanks again Tracy! I think I need to drag out my Fall boxes now. Perhaps doing so will force some cool weather our way. Am I the only one not decorating yet?

Favorite Products

L'Occitane. Have you heard of it? I thought I'd share one of my favorite products with you all. I got hooked on their hand cream with shea butter many years ago when my sister gave me a tube as a gift. It lasted forever. Okay, a reeeally long time. I was finally hitting the end of my tube. Then I found out the store where she bought it was no longer there. I planned to order it online. It's a little pricey at $26 for the large tube but like I said, it lasts so long. I just never got around to ordering it. Then, the other day at a Goodwill I had not been to before, I found this.

A whole box full of goodies for 7.99.  Fantastique indeed! I was a little bit leery though. I don't like buying this type of stuff second hand. But I checked and it was all sealed. If you enlarge the photo below you can read about shea butter and L'Occitane.

Look how flat I got my old tube. I am squeezing every last tiny bit out of that tube. The newer tube is not quite as thick as the old one but they might have changed it up a bit. I have had that one tube for years. I just love how well it absorbs. I put it on before I go to bed or after I've been working in the yard. There is no greasy feeling. I have a tube of another brand with shea butter but it doesn't absorb as well. I like the light scent it has too.

Look at all I got. Two travel size bottles on the left. One is a shower cream, the other a lotion. Two bars of soap. An almond hand cream. A pot of 100% shea butter. The large tube of the 20% shea butter hand cream, which is really all I wanted it for. On the right is the foot cream. I think a pedicure is in order now.

Is there a product out there that you absolutely love? Something that really works well? Leave a comment and share with everyone your favorite product that you can't do without.

Linking up with:

Southern Hospitality Thrifty Treasures

Bathroom Caddy

Thank you all for all the sweet comments on the new bathroom. They all made me smile. I am so happy that it is done. I wanted to show you my caddy for the back of the potty. I don't have storage in here so I needed  something for a few towels and tissues. The spare roll of tp I'm working on. Trying to find a small metal bucket or basket. I had a basket but it was sort tight which resulted in torn tp. Can't have that.

I have had this metal container for a long time. Long time. Which is why it's hunter green and brass. Just never got rid of it because I loved the size.

I gathered some supplies. I just had to buy the gloss white and the ribbon. The ribbon was about $3 for 9' so lots of that left. I had the primer, jute and well as you can see, the glue gun. The glue gun has to be over 20yrs old. I think I got my moneys worth out of it. Quick funny story, hubby and I kept smelling something burning last night. I was checking everything. It was the glue gun I had left on for about 2 hours. The thing is indestructible. Lucky I didn't burn down the house though.

I started with the primer, then 2 coats of the glossy white. I had planned on painting this ribbed part but it was not going well so after I erased my mess with another quick coat of white I went with the ribbon and jute. Just a dab of glue to hold the ends down, then wrap it around. The ribbon is just tied in the back. It was the front but hubby wasn't digging the bow. Whatever. I just turned it around.

There you have it. Under $10 and under 1 hour. Spray paint dries pretty darn fast. 

So I'm joining up with Melissa @ 320 Sycamore for her little party.

and

Finally....The Bathroom

Hey everyone. Remember this mess? It took awhile but the bathroom is done. For those who are just arriving you can read more about the progress and what a mess it was here and here. Then there was the board and batten vs bead board issue that you all helped me think through here and here. Feel free to revisit and reminisce won't you? Without further adieu may I present....

The new bathroom! Let me say it's hard to take shots in a 5x5 space. But I did, just for you all. We did steal some space from the garage so no, your eyes are not deceiving you. My closet was not that big.

Here is how we solved the change in tile issue. The tile in the laundry room was still available but the dye lot was off. So, we went with a different tile, slightly smaller in size and used the transition piece in the doorway.

I couldn't go too frilly in here as it will be mostly used by my hubby. Hence the fishing magazines. Just noticed I forgot to put the shells in the jar. Oye!

I was short one hook but I went and predrilled it. This bath is just off the pool so I wanted lots of hooks for all of the towels. My original thought was to use boat cleats. Holy cow, those things are expensive. Hooks will do.

Okay, I slipped in a little bit of flowers. But they're in a manly color.

This used to be hunter green and brass. I'll show that on another post. Just gave it a little bit of a redo.

I have something else in mind for the towel ring. I'll show you if it works out.

I love the square sink and lights.The mirror is my little bit of pretty. But made out of wood so still manly right?

 Here is a wrap up of what I used. Everything else I already had.

Paint: BM Ocean Air (top) BM Chantilly Lace (bead board and trim)

Sink and Toilet: Archer by Kohler @ Home Depot

Faucet: Treveso by Price Pfister @ Tuesday Morning

Magazine Bucket: Tuesday Morning

Hooks, Light, Tile: Home Depot

Mirror: TjMaxx/Home Goods

Towel Ring/Towels: Marshalls

Linking up to:

Cottage Instincts Blue and Brown Bonanza
Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special
French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday
Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday 
Thrifty Decor Chick Before and After 

Chair Makeover

Well, Helloooo! I know it's been awhile since I posted. I'm so sorry. I welcome those of you that have chosen to follow and you are probably wondering when the crazy lady is going to do something other then the trashcan. So, I thought I'd show you one of the things I've been working on. Off and on. Okay, mostly off. Funny how things don't go the way you have it all planned out in your head.

Here is a reminder of what it looked like in it's previous life. When I went searching through my pictures I realized it was over a month ago I bought this. It was right around the time my bathroom project started. The reveal on that will be coming shortly. I promise.

This is what was going on with the black paint. It was coming off like a bad sunburn. So, I new I had to strip her. I got a recommendation from Miss Mustard Seed on a stripper called Motsenbocker's Lift Off. It's a gel and it's water based. It worked fairly well. It was the groves on the back and the legs that were making me want to pull out my hair. I think this stuff would be awesome on a flatter piece. This was going to be a pain no matter what I used.

I used the stripper shortly after I got her but then she sat because the bathroom workers were in my way. I finally got around to stripping some more and then I brought her inside to sand. Yes, I sanded it in my kitchen with an electric sander. A bit of a mess but I wanted to get this done. Then to top off my impatience I decide to prime it inside with a brush. Big mistake. It was hard to get into the grooves and there were drips and brush marks. Not pretty. So, I waited a bit to bring her outside and then sanded a little more and then sprayed her down with some heirloom white. Those are tuna cans she is sitting on.

For the seat, I had a quilted shower curtain that I had never used. I added a bit of batting first for a little more cush. I really like this fabric and have a bunch left over. But just when I was almost done I ran out of staples. I have 2 guns and neither had staples. And why do they have so many different sizes? They don't even take the same staples. So, I went to buy more and ended up with yet another gun. But an electric one that shoots brad nails too. It was only $25. Not bad and it was fun to use.

I haven't even secured the seat down yet. I was running out of light and wanted to get some shots. You can tell in the picture below. Oh, and I love that grass mat I found at Tuesday Morning.

I'm happy with the way it turned out. It was more dinged up then I had thought. The black paint hid a lot. I'm going to try to use it in my bedroom so I'll have an extra chair to pull up to the computer.

The paint and fabric I already had on hand. So tell me, are you trying to use up what you have lying around the house too? What have you repurposed lately?

Linking up to:

Southern Hospitality Today's Thrifty Treasures

Between Naps On The Porch Metamorphosis Monday

Coastal Charms Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays 
Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party 
Primitive & Proper Piece of Work Wednesday 
Brambleberry Cottage Time Travel Thursday 
Cottage Instincts Make It 4 Mondays 
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday