Plexiglas Top Child's Desk

Years ago my grandmother asked my grandfather if he could make her a small writing desk. It needed to sit in front of her rocking chair, be small enough to fit in their already cramped living room, and be light enough so she could pick it up and set it aside when she was done writing.

My grandfather, being the handy guy that he was, built this for her.

With 2 little drawers for her pens 'n such, a Plexiglas top, and a light frame, it was just big enough without being too heavy for her to move around.
And, as was his custom, he built a few more for anyone else who might want one.

I like the little table
But... I didn't really care for my grandfather's choice of paint (which was whatever he had on hand usually mixed with a few other paints that he had on hand = thick, gloppy, blah, beige).
I was not all that impressed with the smoky Plexiglas either.

 

I took the Plexiglas top off, pulled out the drawers, and gave it a good coat of primer.

 



 

Then I gave it a coat of CeCe Caldwell's Vermont Slate.

 



 

While my paint was drying, I took my Plexiglas top outside.

 



Gave it several thin coats of Krylon Fusion for Plastic in Burgundy.

And a few coats of Minwax Polycrylic.

Now I have a nice smooth, pretty burgundy, surface.

 

I also needed a little chair/stool/seat thing to go with my new desk.

Without realizing it, my grandfather had just the thing already built. He made several of these little folding stools over the years and this one was just the right size so it received a few coats of Vermont Slate too (I skipped the primer on this because it was raw wood).

 



I re-attached the Plexiglas top to the table and distressed the paint slightly.

Both the stool and the table received a coat of CeCe Calwell's Clear Wax and I gave the seat of the stool a coat of the polycrylic as well.
Oh, and the knobs were simply painted with black craft paint.

And, there ya' have it.
These last few pictures are kind of crappy because I took them late at night and my flash always makes stuff look plastic.

 

This desk and chair are for sale here in my showroom and at Newport Market Place.

What does a Business Card Holder and an Old Dictionary have in Common?

Since I now have a place to display all the re-purposed junk that I've collected over the summer (because I'm a new vendor at Newport Market Place...in case you haven't heard), I decided that I also need to pay a little attention to advertising my business.

What is my business? 

Hmm.

I take stuff that no one else wants

(I hope),

 break it down

(sometimes),

slap some paint on it

(most of the time),

put it all back together

(why do I have left over parts?),

and turn it into something someone might want

(hopefully).

Headboards become corkboards,

 

lamps become planters/bird feeders,

 

chairs become decorations

 

and planters.

It's a sick, twisted life I lead.

Getting back to my advertising dilemma. I decided I need a business card holder.

Do you think I would have one single, solitary, item in my house that a business card would fit neatly into?

Nah.

Hello Pintrest, what'cha got that I can make, like right now, with what I have on hand?
Thank you Life and Art of Andrea Rogers for coming to my rescue.

Walla!!

A dictionary.

Yep.

Webster's Student Edition.
This baby got me and my manual typewriter (without spell check) through high school. I haven't looked at this thing in over 30 20 10 years...yea, ten years since high school.

First of all, you fold all the pages (except about the first 3 and last 3 pages and the covers) in half.

And you keep folding, and folding, and folding....then you get bored and you start to browse through your Facebook page while you continue folding.

The tutorial I linked above went so far as to glue the covers to a board to keep the book open like a fan. I just folded the covers (along with the first and last few pages) inwards. It seems to be staying open just fine. I think it depends on just how many pages the book has that you are using as to whether or not you need that extra step and weight.

I decided that I not only want to advertise my business.... a.k.a "Take a card".

I would also like to help others advertise their businesses....a.k.a "Leave a card".

I saved one book that could have someday gone into the trash (because I know kids in the future wouldn't have a clue what to do with a dictionary).

And...Now I have an interesting (to say the least) business card sharing system. Rather primitive, may need a little tweaking, but effective for now.

I'm a New Vendor at Newport Market Place

It's official!!

I'm a new vendor at the Newport Market Place in lovely little Newport, NY.

Newport Market Place is a fantastic side of the road, gotta stop and look around, little treasure.

Over 40 vendors (including me...hehe) have incredibly beautiful stuff for sale here. Antiques, furniture, glassware, hand crafted items, food, seasonal items, the list just goes on and on.

Here are a few pictures of the stuff I have available in my booth #32.

 

 

 

There are just so many beautiful things to be found here. Check out the Facebook page for Newport Market Place. The owner, Patty Marko, does an excellent job of posting pictures of new and interesting items for sale here.

Please remember to support local small business during the holidays.
If you purchase from large department/chain stores, you send a CEO on another vacation. If you purchase from your local small businesses, you help local families put food on their table.

Check it out.
It's only a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Utica, Herkimer, Barneveld areas on Scenic Rt 28.
Newport Market Place
7583 Main St., Newport, NY
Monday - Friday 10-6
Saturday 10-4
Sunday 11-4

This Week in History (Well, at least over the past few years)

 

This is what my back yard looked like on the 25th of October 2011.

 

 

Typical fall day.

Leaves mostly gone.

Still some grass.

Sunny. Partly cloudy. Temps in the 50's.

Nice day.

 

This is what my back yard (same back yard, different pond) looked like just a few days later on October 31st 2011.

 

 

Leaves are mostly gone.

Dreary. Dull. 

Grass covered in white.

Temps in the 30's.

 

This is what we call typical Upstate NY fall weather.

Wildly unpredictable and rather annoying.

 

This is another shot of my back yard on October 31st 2010.

 

 

It's hard to tell here but it's snowing.

Leaves are mostly gone.

Grass will be gone by morning.

Temps in the 30's. Dreary.

 

See a pattern here?

 

For some reason, I must have chosen not to look outside in October of 2009 because this is the only picture I have for the whole month.

 

 Pumpkins on my counter.

 

 

I thought it was a picture worth keeping.

 

 

But ... when I look back a little further to October 29th 2008......

 

 

Yea, more white on just about everything in the yard.

Temps in the 30's maybe reaching into the 40's by later that day.

Ugg.

 

 

But this is 2012.

It's time for a change.

So...

I'm holding out hope for this year.

 

You see....

It's supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow.

That's right, I said 70's.

In October.

In Upstate NY.

 

Which is why I'm choosing not to take a picture of my yard until tomorrow.

So..For now I'll leave you with these.

 

A pumpkin and a cannon.

 

 

A pumpkin, a pinecone, and a moose on an olive oil/vinegar jar

(sounds like the beginning of a bad joke).

 

 

 

 

Drive-by Photography

How often are you riding in the passenger seat and the perfect picture goes flying by because the person driving just doesn't have an eye for photography (yea, we'll go with that reason).

Me: That would make a really nice picture.
My husband: Huh? What?
Me: The brake is that other pedal, you know, to the left of the one your lead foot is on.

 Me: Just look at that sunset.
My husband (as we go speeding towards a 4 way stop: What sunset?

 



My husband is the worst offender here. He will actually speed up when he sees that I'm trying to take a picture of something. He'll say, "Oh, did you want to take a picture of that".  Yea, he does that.

And heaven forbid if there's anything worth taking a picture of out the driver's side of the car. That's right, don't even look out there. Just stare straight ahead.

 





I've taken so many blurry, not so perfect, something is just not quite right, pictures over the years because I was using my camera while riding with a Nascar wannabe.

If he's not driving, this is what he's doing while I'm taking pictures. Just sitting and waiting (with his Ford Racing hat on).

Believe it or not, this actually was a pretty cool looking old barn but the dash, review mirror, window stickers, and power lines took center stage here.

Me: No that's ok, I didn't want to stop to get a better shot of that barn.

 



How many times, while you are driving, do you see a sight that is just begging to be photographed and you either don't have time to stop or you are in a place where it's just not safe to pull over?

For me, that's every time I get behind the wheel.
I just hold up the camera and start pressing the shutter without even glancing over to see what's still in the window. Sometimes I get lucky and actually catch what I was aiming for.

 

 

The following pictures I took just the other day while following my husband who was driving the tractor and bulldozer. So, although I was driving while taking pictures, we were crawling at about 15mph. 

 

 

 You see, this outfit doesn't move too fast at all.

 





 

Some cows watching us crawl by.

Then I passed him and went on my way.
Woohoo.
Freedom on the open road once again.
Honestly, that's what it's like when you finally get to pass something that's driving that slow.

Delta Lake is really low this year. You normally don't see that strip of land in the center at all.

I love the way this tree just hangs off the bank.

This morning on my way to Utica, it was just so drab until I got to this clump of yellow trees.

 

 

I took this one a few winters ago. I was trying to get a picture of the deer that was standing in the middle of my driveway.

What, you don't see any deer?

I don't see a deer here either so don't bother getting your eyes checked.

It was there when I picked the camera up.

It was there when I turned the camera on.

But...in the time it took the shutter to go off, the deer disappeared leaving me with a rather boring shot of my dash and some trees.

 

 

So do you drive-by photograph too?