Guest Post on Deep South Magazine

I’m so excited to have a guest post up on Deep South Magazine today!

Deep South is a magazine with a regional focus on capturing life, Southern style. From the faces, places and food to the art and music of the region, Deep South aims to bring readers stories that portray life in the South as it exists today, while also harking back to the history and traditions of an area known for its culture, color and style.

Erin contacted me after she read about my trip to Canton Trade Days and asked if I would share a little about our trip.  Head on over to read the re-cap!

 

Salvaged Shutter Turned Wall Art

Ok, I think this is the last treasure from our girls’ trip to Canton that I have to show y’all.  My friend was bound and determined to find an old shutter to hang over the bay window in her kitchen.  She found the perfect candidate for $10.00:

And here’s how it looks now, after she painted and distressed it:

She used several different techniques to achieve the worn and weathered look she was going for.  She first painted the shutter a solid green.  She then sanded in spots and colored the bare wood spots with a wood stain pen.  Then she just started playing with her two shades of green paint, adding darker green to some areas and going back on top of it with the lighter green paint again to create a natural worn look,  and finally dry brushed dark green all over to "age" it some.  This takes a lot of playing around.  She spent about two days just layering paint and sanding on spots to get the look she wanted.      It’s so perfect in that spot!   

I have to thank my bestie, Jessica, for letting me share all her wonderful crafts and transformations over the past couple weeks.  Y’all be sure to give her all the credit in the comments! If you missed any of her features, check out the following posts:

Pottery Barn Inspired French Lampshade

Flea Market Find Transformation (Terrarium Base)

Ruffled Burlap Table Runner

I swear, if she had her own blog, she’d be over here guest posting all the time!  I just may have one or two other projects of hers to share in the coming posts…..

I’ll be sharing today’s post with DIY Showoff, Metamorphosis Monday, Thrifty Treasures, Trash To Treasure, Power of Paint, and Transformation Thursday.

Flea Market Find Transformation: Drab to Fab!

I’m sharing another one of our treasures from Canton today.  Sometimes you have to have a keen eye when you’re digging through flea market finds.  I spotted this piece and instantly knew it had potential:

What do you think it is? Our guess was a light fixture of some sort.

Whatever it is, I convinced my friend to buy it.  For $6 I knew she could use it for something.  It didn’t take long for me to suggest using it as a base for a bell jar/cloche or terrarium. 

She brought it home and introduced it to Mr. Heirloom White:

She created a glaze by mixing some brown craft paint with water:

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Rubbing it in the crevices really highlights the great detail.

Next, she assembled the elements for her cloche.  A plate from TJMaxx made the perfect base:

Of course a glass bell jar, purchased in Canton:

Some fun little accessories, all purchased in Canton.

Having a variety of items allows you to change it up every so often.  For now, she chose to use the small fern, fleur de lis finial, and ceramic bird.

And, voila! The perfect table centerpiece!

One more look at the

BEFORE:

and AFTER:

By the way, are you totally in love with this table runner?!? My friend made it! I’ll share more details tomorrow.

Sharing today’s post with DIY Day, Trash to Treasure,  Transformation Thursday, Power of Paint, and more great parties seen HERE.    

Treasures From Canton

Between the two of us, my friend and I filled up her whole SUV with treasures from our trip to the Canton Trade Days.  Most of my purchases were for outdoors.  They have great plant/flower vendors this time of year with great prices and beautiful varieties.

These gorgeous double petunias have already found the perfect spot in my fence boxes:

Edited to add: these petunias are actually purple.  It seems they are coming across as blue on some computer monitors (including mine).  It is so hard to get an accurate photo of flower colors!

I should have gotten one more of these potato vine plants.  At $6.00 each, they were half the price of the ones at a local nursery.  I also got the stand for $15.00.

I got two of these Snow on the Mountain (also known as Bishop’s Weed) to hang in my carport.  They should get a lot bigger.

A sparkly little jeweled fleur de lis iron stake found a home in my hydrangeas:

And a cute little air plant and hand painted rock make a unique little display on the lower shelf of a plant stand:

We were seeing these old chairs painted up in fun colors and used as plant stands in several booths:

But at $30-$40 each, I knew I could find something cheaper, and I did! I spotted this cute yellow chair for $5: 

I haven’t even cleaned it up yet, I just plopped a plant on it and called it a day.  I was originally wanting to put it in my front flower bed, but I really like it here by the back door:

One booth was selling shutters for $1 a piece, so I snagged a 2-pack of small ones to paint up and use somehow, maybe as a display:   

And finally, this shabby tin frame:

Aside from a couple other small purchases, that was my haul!  Even if you don’t buy a lot, it’s still fun to look and dig for “treasure”!

I’ll be linking up this post to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.

Flea Market Frenzy Revisited

This past weekend my best friend and I made a trip to the Canton First Monday Trade Days. 

“What started more than a century ago as a flea market, has become home to some of the most exciting, cutting-edge home furnishings, antiques and collectibles that can be found anywhere.  Every month, thousands of vendors from across the country turn this friendly East Texas community into a shopper's paradise where you can find the rare antiques and collectibles, furniture, fine home decor, arts and crafts, clothing, jewelry, tools, produce, and much more.”

We were so busy shopping the more than 200 acres of vendor booths and boutiques that, needless to say, I didn’t take a lot of photos, but I did manage to snap a few.

Here is Cha-Cha, standing guard over one of the plant booths:

Need a golf cart modeled after a classic Mustang? 

How about a Cruizin’ Cooler?  Too bad hubby already has one of these at home:

The outdoor vendors were selling everything from plants to old shutters, glassware, toys, antiques and more. Tomorrow I’ll share some of the treasures I found!   

The World’s Longest Yard Sale

Unfortunately I didn’t get to do any thrifty shopping this week; instead I just worked on transforming some of my previous thrifty finds. I wish I were lucky enough to live near the route of the World’s Longest Yard Sale, which was held this past weekend. I don’t think I would have flown out or made a special trip to just attend the event, like this person did last year, but it sure would have been fun to stop by if I lived close by.

Have you visited Susie, Layla or Rhoda today? Be sure and head over there and check out some of their finds from this great sale. Their photos reminded me about the trip my mom and I made to Canton Trade Days earlier this year. Which, in turn reminded me that I never posted photos of any of my finds!

So I do have some thrifty treasures to share after all. Here is a beautiful purple cut glass bowl I got for $6 I think:

Read more about purple glass here and here. Another look at it filled it with roses for a Mother’s Day centerpiece:

I also found this cute little wine glass (or sherry glass?) for 50 cents and couldn’t pass it up since it is etched with our initial, plus I love the little ball stem:

I bought about 6 of these tin ceiling tiles for $1 each, this one I have painted a fleur de lis on and embellished with rhinestones:

Believe me, I bought plenty more stuff, but these were my favorites.

Just for fun, here’s a little something Rhoda and the girls didn’t take home with them, although for the life of me I can’t imagine why!