Priscilla is FOR SALE!!!

 

 

"Priscilla"

$40

 

 

 

"Priscilla" by Lexi Gonser is FOR SALE!!!!
41" L, 23" W, 15" T Priscilla's base is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint "Old White" and her top is a custom shade of ASCP "Florence" with a wash over to add a fun depth! very lightly distressed for the shabby chic look!!
$40

 

God has NO limits!!!

i don't know what my deal is... but some days i just get totally down on myself.  this morning was one of those times. 

i was thinking about my furniture project... i started this for a couple of reasons:
1.  it's a GREAT outlet for my creative side.
2.  who doesn't want to make alittle extra money?!?!  and for the next year, the money we make reselling furniture is going toward our Mission Trip to Mexico.

i'm not the most patient person in the world, so i guess i was disappointed because i have three pieces done and NONE SOLD!  so i sat at work, beating myself up.  i kept thinking "i'm trying to make things BETTER for our family, but all i'm doing is DRAINING us!!"  mike is so good about supporting me and "ideas" and the thought of letting him down was crushing to me!! 

while doing one of my facebook "scroll throughs" i read something:

"When you take the limits off of God, you will see God amaze you with His goodness."  Joel Osteen

man i needed that!!!!  so i took a few minutes to apologize to God and get my head right.  and i started my brainstorming again for the furniture plan.  it wasn't even an hour, and i got TWO calls about two different pieces we have for sale!! 

i'm happy (and sad) to say Olivia now has a new home!!  she will be living at a lake cottage in Rome City IN!!  and, her new mom may come back for brady's coffee table/bench!! 

so... when you're feeling discouraged.... remember, God has a plan for you!!  And He has NO limits!!! 

"Betty red White & blue" and "July"

well, i've finished the final two chairs for the Conrad Silent Auction!

i'm pretty happy with "July".  She's very simple.  i can't believe how i get so excited about a piece that i forget to take the BEFORE shot!  sireana and i found July at a backwoods (no joke) garage sale in michigan.  my intention was for it to be Azria's chair.  but then once i got this idea for the auction... well, lets just say Kita better make this up to azzy!!

 i painted her with "old barn red"... added alittle dark wax... and then a final clear waxing for protection and durability.

 

 

then there's "Betty red White & blue"... i know this sounds harsh, but MAN, AM I SICK OF THAT CHAIR!!!  it's very frustrating when you're working on a piece and it's just... NOT WORKING!  i think once i line all three chairs up together, Betty will make more sense... but for right now, i'm just thrilled to get her OUT OF OUR HOUSE!  i do plan on bidding on her at the auction... watch... i'll end up with her again! 

 

"old barn red", "napoleonic blue" and "old white"

dark waxed



 

 

i do want to thank everyone who offered their candid opinion on this chair when i asked for it on Facebook.  i appreciate the constructive criticism and tried to implement some of the suggestions. 



ALL THREE CHAIRS WILL BE IN THE SILENT AUCTION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH AT FAITH COMMUNITY CHURCH IN ELKHART!!!!  if you need more information, please comment below!!!

"Francis" is FOR SALE!!!

‎
Whew!!!  What a day!!!  I am TIRED!!    and i'll admit, i'm not really in the mood to blog!  sooo... i'm keeping this super simple!!

incase you've been wondering WHAT IS WITH THIS FAMILY AND THE FURNITURE?!?!?!  well here it is... our family will be bringing New Life to sad furniture and selling it!!  Why??  for the next year, all the profits from our furniture sales will be going to our Family Mission Trip to Mexico to work with Andrew and Anna Conrad!!  We are very excited for this adventure!  and we're praying for favor! 

so... even if you don't particularly need a piece of furniture, pass the word... share our blog with your friends and family.  when we started this... it started because we were looking for a "statement piece" for our livingroom... which is Olivia... if you are looking for a specific piece, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!  we take specific orders!!!  if you already own a piece and want us to bring it back to life, we can do that too!!!  we use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint with dark and clear wax. 

 this is Brady's first project!!!

 

Brady Gonser has finished "Francis"!! He ready for his new home!!! Francis is ASCP Olive on the top and Versaille on the bottom. He's been distressed and waxed!! (Francis is a boy named from a character on Saving Private Ryan) Francis would not only be an fantastic coffee table, but he's an excellent candidate for a cushion on top making him a bench! He is extremely SOLID!!! His dimensions: 22"x59"x16" . Francis is $75.

Olivia is FOR SALE!!!!

i think Olivia may be my favorite project yet!!  i saw her on craigslist... and the second i saw her, i knew i had to have her!!  she was stunning!!  complete with sexy legs!!

look at her!!!  solid wood construction!!

fabulous wood detail and original hardware!

i told you she had sexy feet!!

she sat in our garage for several weeks while i TRIED to get a "vision" of what i wanted her to look like after her make-over... i was struggling choosing a color.  do i go with one or two?  i felt drawn to red but mike didn't seem to agree. 

we were really hoping we'd feel "inspired" when we went to our favorite Annie Sloan shop... The Peru Mercantile in Peru IN, and sure enough we were!  we saw a cute desk painted in ASCP Olive and dark waxed...

that's just what i did to olivia!

i think she turned out marvelously!!!

if you are interested in purchasing Olivia, her dimensions are:

21" deep x 33" tall x 42" wide

$150

outfit of shame

after my post on Facebook last night about what our family refers to as an "outfit of shame", i've gotten a lot of questions wondering just WHAT IS an "outfit of shame"??

that is a valid question given how goofy our family is... always making up words and phrases only the inner most circle of us could understand.

to truly understand "outfit of shame", you have to first understand this-
GARAGE SALE'ING IS A FAMILY EVENT FOR US!  after understanding that, knowing we have a "continuous garage sale" ... resale shop just down the road from us... will help you to see my family can get in a lot of trouble! 

it was at the Continuous Garage Sale one friday evening that "outfit of shame" was born.  i found this:

she's a HOT number!  she even came with a scarf/belt!!

imagine it... she has 3/4 length sleeves... flared legs... high neckline... zips up the back...  my only regret is that i don't have a picture of one of us wearing it!  we ALL tried it on!  well, mike didn't for obvious reasons... he IS 6'3"!!

my family says i WASTED $2 on this outfit of shame... i say, i purchased 1000 laughs for only $2!

when i brought it home, after much joking, someone coined the phrase "outfit of shame" which i suppose has multiple meanings...

originally, i told my tweens if they misbehaved, their punishment would be to wear this "outfit of shame" in public.

and the more i thought about it, a second meaning could be, it's a SHAME someone EVER thought this was a for real good idea to wear!!  the label read "hawaii" something... you know some tourist bought this and thought "shazam!!  i look GOOD!!"

now, whenever we're out, if we see a really horrible outfit in a store, we say "look, an outfit of shame!" we've even bought others! here's britt's:



 britt found this little polyester number at an estate sale... ergo, it's an old lady shirt... that we fashioned into a dress.  hey, it COULD be worse!





and of course, we also make our own... like brady did last night! 

 i just KNEW that snuggie would come in handy!  oh, and the ace bandage and beret from last years costume!! 



AND THUS... THE "OUTFIT OF SHAME" WAS BORN!!!

Uncle Sam

I’m quite certain my son’s exact words were “I thought you were crazy when you brought that thing home!!”  “That Thing” he is referring to is ...

i suppose i can see why he was concerned for my sanity!  it does look ... shabby... and not so chic!!  but i saw the potential!!

but this blog isn't just about me bringing home a tattered rocking chair, it's about obedience.



i feel like with every story i have, there's a back story to share first... and of course, the story of this rocking chair is no different.

andrew and anna... a great young couple from our church, are missionaries in mexico.  as i shared in an earlier blog, i've never been overly interested in missions... but lately i'm overwhelmed with the desire to go on a trip to see them!  last year, to raise funds for their missions, andrew and anna held a chili dinner with raffle and silent auction.  it was a huge success!  this year, God placed it on my heart to buy a piece of furniture, give it a face lift, and donate it to the 2012 Andrew & Anna Silent Auction.  if you know me... this was alittle out of left field, but i totally knew it was what God wanted me to do.

now... to find this "piece of furniture"... i started checking out garage sales and watching craigslist... after a few weeks of looking, i was getting a bit discouraged.  i just wasn't finding "the piece" i was looking for. 

I remember saying “God, I know you will help me find the right piece for this auction”. 

Shortly after that, while checking the most recent posts on craigslist… there he was… paint chipping and flaking… looking all bedraggled… I knew he was the piece I was looking for! 

i have since read how cut-throat furniture sales can be on craigslist and buying this rocker was my first experience with that ferocity!  I contacted the seller, got all the info on the chair and made an appointment to come see it around 5:00… at which point he mentions he has someone coming at 6:00 to see it.  WHAT?  So I asked “what happens if I get there first?”  to which he answered “whoever gets here first gets it”.  Oh man!  What if someone else calls and beats me there?!  So I drop what I’m doing and head straight there!  Really, the chair was everything I’d hoped for!  He was sturdy, his wicker was in EXCELLENT condition, I saw crazy potential!

When I got him home (like how I’ve assigned a gender to this inanimate object? J ), I think my families’ reaction was mostly that of humoring me.  I told them my plan and then he sorta got… pushed to the side… much like many of my “projects”.   I can’t figure out where my son gets his A.D.D.!

Then my daughter sireana pulled him out one day… to the center of the garage… and rocked in him… and fell in love.  Sireana BEGGED me to keep the chair!  “just buy another piece of furniture for the auction!”  my husband knew how the family was falling in love with this chair too.  He even told me “if you love it, buy another piece or another chair for the auction”.  But something in my heart told me that was NOT OK WITH GOD!

Call me crazy… but I know God led me to this chair for a reason.  I’m considering this a lesson in obedience for me and my family.  We all know, if we really want that chair, we have to bid on it like everyone else at the auction!

Just as my daughter sireana fell in love with him, so did her daughter azria!  So while at a random garage sale, we picked up a beautiful wooden rocker for her!  When I asked what color I should paint it, sireana said “red” because I had since painted our rocker blue.  Hm… now that got my wheels spinning…  here I have the original chair painted blue… and a child’s chair to paint red… all I need is a white… “HONEY, BRING ME THAT OLD ROCKER OF OURS OUT OF THE BASEMENT!!!” 

meet BETTY!!!  this is what she looked like when mike hauled her up out of the basement!



she's all scratched up from my childhood dog.  she'd been forgotten... sitting in our family room.  my daughter lexi, lovingly gave her a coat of Old White from Annie Sloan... i distressed her alittle last night and can't wait to show everyone when she's done! 

oh... and i forgot...   Meet "Uncle Sam"!!



Sam got a facelift with Annie Sloan's Napoleonic Blue.

 he's so handsome now!

 i didn't distress him... i just wasn't feelin' it!  but i did give him a little dark wax here and there.

i promise, i will post the finished pics of betty... and before & after pics of "july" the child size chair.

ALL THREE will be auctioned at the Andrew & Anna Conrad Silent Auction on Sunday Sept. 9th at Faith Community Church in Elkhart IN.  If you need more information, let me know!