Above the Grub

I'm obsessed with beautiful things, but I'm even more obsessed with finding the beauty in the overlooked and under-appreciated things. Our Grandma was a dumpster diver who rode around on her bike looking for "treasures" in her dress and high heels. She found some dandies along her alley way.

"Above the grub", as our good friend Charlotte says when we arrive for tea at her house wearing our smocked dresses and Mary Janes. She knows what we've been up to.

Here are some Taylor-Made Do It Yourself projects. The pub bar was found at a local flea market for free. Will has to be given the credit for this project. He chiseled the grubby stuff off, painted it, edged it in copper and added lighting. I will be sharing more of his DIY projects on here as well. He just built a rustic (and I DO mean rustic, cold-water) open air shower in our back yard. You won't be seeing me out there in my skivs today.

The sofa was a flea market "nana". It's been thru several re-do's. It was photographed as a DIY project for Better Homes and Gardens. I've used it for a weddings and events and for retail merchandising.

Alright folks, the fridge photo up top, is from a fun photo shoot I will be sharing in a few weeks. I just threw it in here because it's one of the latest simple DIY projects that I just love, love, love... and I knew you would too. It's a vintage fridge that was a rusted, chalky, and all scraped up on the exterior. Will painted the outside of it, a yummy shade of green. More to come on this one, but Whatta ya think of what you can see of it thus far? I just want to stock it up with sweets, sweets and more fun festivities.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and am hopeful of the same for you in this new week!

x's and o'sies.

sharon

I remember reading a headline today that said "multi-taskers are usually bad at multi-tasking".

Here are a just a few things I should work at getting better at while I'm working:

Lets just start with how the t.p. that is never on it's dowel rod. It's usually almost always spent, and then tilt-ily and skillfully laid upon the rack. Percentage of time I see it on the floor the next time I go the bathroom is usually 99%. I then skillfully and unmindfully place it back up on the dowel rod as if that's the proper place it's supposed to be. I think I waste a lot of time on that task.

The paint lid is never fully closed all the (proper) way either. One side usually gets pinched down and the other stays up. Syl found a can once and it ended up being her very "first oil-painting". Any other can that hasn't been closed properly usually hardens and dries out just as I go to find it to use on a project.

My back is one big slant shape from the ground up...scooping baby Syl up...therefore I don't always see what's in front of me so I hit my head hard on walls and ladders around home and town.

Other multi-taskers I've questioned lately besides myself: (sorry, I have to make me feel better)

The exit employees at a wholesale club who put a slash mark through your receipt as you exit with a cart full of food. Their job is to make sure you are not walking out of the store with more items than purchased. I usually have 501 things. I don't know if they pay attention to their job all the time. Maybe they are good counters though...I guess they could be just like Dustin Hoffman's character from Rain Man--the genius with numbers.

...Babbles I know.

We had a great weekend. I had great help from the kids, Will, and Beatrice. Will cooked some great meals, as always. My Louis Henry turned 14. I had a solid show at the Met Bride show. (Three brides have called since yesterday!)

School starts tomorrow...which makes multi-tasking go into over-time if you ask me. The multi-tasking doesn't end at five pm anymore. Loading Zone for sure! You'll be seeing a lot of my sister's (Julie Blackmon and my other creative sisters) work on here.

I need to go take a picture of the moon...it's a new project I'm working on...Ta-ta summer!

"Taylor-Made" DIY project

Taylor-Made" DIY project-- I'm no sewer/seamstress, but my bride for this wedding wanted something different for her head table...so I decided to give her an old Hollywood glam vibe. She had a very vintage themed wedding that had lots of mirrored glass, crystal chandeliers,silver touches, and tiffany box blue. I think this idea could also be used in a much smaller scale for a girls bedroom/or bathroom vanity. DIY Directions: With scissors, and inexpensive suit-lining fabric, I made three sizes of rectangles. Sm,Med,Lrg. Draped the large one first, then the med. on top of that, and the small on top. I then shredded 1x8 inch strips all around the whole perameter of the tablecloth. It took about 2 hours to make this. Required no sewing, and ended up looking kind of Greta Garbo-ish, I think. It also reminds me of the Pepperidge Farms Cocunut cakes that came from the freezer aisle at the grocery store. I loved those as a kid!

So, right now, I'm really craving ice cream, which could be why I fell head-over-pink-high heels for this room. Sorta reminds me of the pink baskin robbin chairs we all remember and loved sitting in, every time we went and celebrated an after-school concert. Sadly, BR has been converted into a cash advance loan place with portable plastic walls, a tiny barred clerk window, and neon yellow & red flashing lights that makes me think BR was wrongfully inprisoned... OKay, silly-craziness...

Here's a happy land I think you'll love. My friend Crystal, from over at plush palate, always posts the most fabulous rooms! I call this room, Flava #21: cherry-almond dream! The arne jacobson ant chairs add just the right amount of ice-dream happiness that I need and crave on this hot-hot day! And the cellula chandelier is the double dip topper that us nine kids would always beg for, but that mom would never let us get, because, ...nine kids, well, you get my point...a little too lavish.

xo

s

DIY home project/window installation idea

I like to head over to Thrift Haven flea market to do my quick weekly run-throughs. When searching there, I usually go with a specific item in mind, but I always keep my eyes peeled for deals.

So--I'm working on a window installation that needs a few re-purposed "wow" factor elements from a flea market (much like the anthro windows that jaw-drop me every time with their innovative up-cycling). So, when looking for items to repurpose...I like to spend as little as possible. Like dirt, dirt cheap.

The window I'm working on right now has the backdrop finished so far. I hand-painted some fun mushrooms onto a big board...and what I'd like to do is add some elements that hint at the whole mushroom thing.

I'll lead you step by step thru to my window install...but here's what I went searching for at the flea market: anything that resembled the shape of a mushroom. I concluded: lamps

I found a pair of "ugh" lamps for $2 each. I then bought two cans of red rustoleum spray paint @ $4.25 each, pressed the can button and "voila, my dears". So easy. So, these red lamps will now be the base for what's to become mushrooms to hang in the window install. Can you visualize it?

But, before the lamps get their big yellow mushroom spots, though, I thought I'd highlight these lamps as a simple do-it-yourself home project.

This is a simple idea that anyone can do! I hope you like!!

xo

sharon

I'm finally feeling more ready to blog. Three months ago, I announced that I would start a blog out with a huge give away, (I had no idea what that give-away would be). Well, I've come up with a few ideas...maybe a grab bag of sorts. More about that in just a moment.

Well, here are some snippets of the window installation I've been working on for Staxx apparel. It's the most fun job for me, because the store's owner, Meghan, gives me full reign on exploring creatively. The spring installation just came down and I'll hopefully have some photos to share soon.

So, It's a montage of things in a Wizard of Oz-ish sort of color scheme. Brightly painted owls, peacocks, mushrooms, trees, organza/raw silk rosettes, and strands of leaf garlands. I used a lot of things I had and found most of the other things at flea markets.