Clipboards

Today I'm joining Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures. I've had this photo hanging around in my file for quite a while now. The clipboards were purchased a while back for .50 each. I finally finished refinishing the old desk that I imagined them hanging above. Here's my attempt at a fabulous idea. I'm not sure I pulled it off, with their cute molding and smaller space, it seems to work better.

Here is their version from Martha Stewart.com.



And, here's mine. What do you think? I figure that with a few vertical items on each side of the desk, it will give the clipboards a better feel. I'm still looking for an old ladder and possibly a bookshelf.

$10 desk: Before and after

It's time for thrifty Thursday hosted by Leigh of Bloggeritaville, and Vintage Thingies Thursday hosted by Suzanne of Colorado Lady

Here's the before of the $10 desk, again. I don't know how old this is, but it has names scratched inside the drawers. I left them there. They're meant to be left there. I think this was an old teacher's desk. I really haven't done anything but this for the last 2 weeks, after all, it is 110 outside (and in the garage )


Here is a before of the office:


And, here's the after: (the office is a work in progress)

Here are the steps that were taken:

1. Removed hardware. Stripped the veneer from the top and sanded it down all over.

2. Filled large gouges on top of desk with Elmers wood filler

3. Sanded again

4. primed with white Kiltz stain blocker

5. painted with Behr Premium Plus Saturn Gray in eggshell

6. chugged at least 2 large bottles of gatorade. . . in a row

7. Primed hardware with Rust-oleum rusty metal primer

8. Sprayed hardware with Rust-oleum Metallic finish (Oil Rubbed Bronze)

9. Applied 2nd coat of Behr paint to desk

10. Distressed desk

11. Locked my keys in the car because it was in the driveway instead of in the garage. There was a desk in the way.
12. Top coated desk with minwax polycrylic. 2 coats

13. Lined desk drawers with scrapbook paper (mod podge)

14. Let's be fair, the Golfer re-attached the hardware. . . and moved the desk inside. . . and moved the old desk out. What a good hubby!

I love how it turned out! I especially love that I can fit my printer in the left side and the shelf slides out. I also love the drawer liners! Not bad for a $10 Goodwill find!

Giveaway

My bloggy pal, Tricia, over at Boutelle Family Zoo is having a giveaway. Can you believe it. . . . she's giving away a year subscription to better homes and gardens to two lucky bloggers and a surprise to another blogger. I love giveaways.

Go on, what are you waiting for! Give Tricia a visit and tell her that I sent you.

Giddy

We wandered into Goodwill on Saturday. . . it was meant to be. There it was, sitting there so lonesome, wearing nothing but a 19.99/week 29 sticker. "Don't worry," I said, "I'll bring you home with me." We took the ticket to the front, and, what do you know. . . it was 1/2 off! Turns out that week 29 was the special of the day. $9.99 oh bless my soul! The golfer and I squished it into the back of the trailblazer and tied the back closed (with 3 kids and me strategically placed in the leftover space.) Sometimes you do what you have to do to save an extra trip. . . even with the Goodwill employee eyeing you as though you'd lost your marbles. After all, he did hear me whispering comforting words to a desk.

In the picture, the front pencil drawer has been removed and is off to the side. The golfer had already started taking off the hardware. See, he was anxious too! (The left side is a door that opens up to reveal a slide out shelf. . perfect for the computer hard drive.) We stripped the cheesy veneer from the top to expose the lovely wood underneath and I headed to the store to pick up some heavy duty primer. The sides and back are wood veneer. I'll keep you posted on the finished product. . . along with a home office transformation. It's good to be back in creative mode.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I'm not sure how I keep receiving these awards, since I have been out of the blogging loop for a good month now! How nice! Connie, over at Green Apple Orchard gave me this award. She really is one of the sweetest girls I know. Here are the rules:

The Rules
Thank the person who gave you this award
Copy the logo and place it on your blog
Link to the person who gave you this award
Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting
Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers
Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate
Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know that they have been nominated

7 things about myself (If you don't find them fascinating. . . shame on you.)

1. I love to play volleyball
2. My biggest pet peeve is hearing or seeing someone chew with their mouth open
3. My feet are SUPER ticklish
4. I have 4 sisters, no brothers
5. I live in AZ and love the warmth, but I really miss the seasons
6. I'm scared of deep/murky water
7. I love to read

7 blogs that deserve this award

1. Love Your Room
2. Beneath My Heart
3. Marley and Lockyer
4. The Old Painted Cottage
5. Living With Lindsay
6. Artsy Fartsy Finds
7. Simply ReDiscovered

Pass it on!

The time has come my friends. . . for vacations to come to a close and for blogging to begin again. The projects are circling inside my brain. First, I must pass on an award.


I recieved it two months ago, and I've finally come around to passing it on.

The award goes to:

Young House Love

Your blog is fabulous!

Nesting Boxes

I'll see my 4 sisters soon, and I haven't seen them for a while. I made them some little nesting boxes and you can make some too.

You start with 2 boxes of different sizes like these. I got mine at Hobby Lobby.

You pick 3 coordinating sheets of paper for each set of boxes. (3 sheets of each paper)

You neglect to comb your 5-year-old's hair, and instead, pull out the handy dandy mod podge, easter bargain vinyl tablecloth, paper cutter and sponge brush.

You proceed to measure, cut and smear mod podge on your table, fingers and children for the next 2 hours. You might get some on the boxes if you are lucky.

Keep in mind the old saying - - - measure twice, cut once.

I think they turned out cute. I also added the little drawer pulls on the top box. (Also at Hobby Lobby)