Bloglovin? Not so much...

Is anyone else having issues with Bloglovin?  I am having difficulty getting on to check the blogs I read as well as getting random deliveries of blogs that I haven't seen in weeks.  I have not seen anyone else complaining about it on any of the blogs that I read so I am asking you!  If you use Bloglovin as your reader, please leave a comment (or send me an email) and tell me what you are experiencing.  If it is just my computer (which is about 6 years old and an antique in the technology world) I would like to know and then I will ditch this old horse. If it is because I use Chrome, I can always switch to another search engine.

Thanks!!

Busy weekend

I have one too many irons in the fire this weekend!  I have been working in the basement, cleaning out and rearranging everything in my hutch and china closet, sewing and helping my sister a bit at her studio.  Oh, yeah - also painting.

Painting this very large spice cabinet.

Shown with all the accumulated dirt and crud as picked up at the Goodwill.

I have learned something really, really important.  It takes FOREVER to paint all the little shelves, dividers, edges, what have you. I should have spray painted the interior.  Next time I do something like this, I will definitely spray the interior and hand paint the outside.  I think I will finish it by using a wipe on poly in the interior which will allow for much easier clean up.  The exterior will be finished with regular and dark wax. Oh, the front panel is going to be a blackboard.

Back to basement...

Thrifting find

I don't know how old it is.  I only know that it is American ironstone, has the Red Cliff logo and is completely intact down to the perfect ladle.  It is about 13" high and the underplate is 13" wide from handle to handle.

There is some crazing on the underplate but other than that, it looks amazing.  I have seen these listed as high as $299.

I bought mine for $12 at a local thrift store.  It is the same one where I find most of the English ironstone I have been collecting for several years.  When I saw it on the shelf, I was stunned for just a second.  I quickly recovered, wrapped my arms around it and took it to the counter.

Giddy, I tell you.  Just giddy!!

Linking to these fabulous parties:  Open House Party and Home{work}Wednesday

Who needs cable?

Well, I guess technically I still need cable so that I get internet service.  However, I am cutting part of the cord.  I just bought this.



It is very tiny.  We hooked it up last night in just a couple of minutes and were watching Hulu Plus in no time flat.  The screen looks perfect and the remote is very easy to use.  I bought one that I can use with an HD television though I am using it on my huge glass flat screen television which refuses to die.  (There is a very nice Sony HD monitor waiting in the wings.)  If I feel like I need to use a second television, I can pick up the very bottom of the line, simple Roku unit for about $50 from Amazon.

In the fall I plan to purchase an antenna to pull in local news reports.  Until then I can keep up just using the internet and my cell phone alerts me if there is any National Weather Service updates I need to know.

Removing the television portion of my cable will reduce my bill by about $65.  The unit I just purchased was on sale at Best Buy for $80.  The Roku box nearly "pays" for itself with my first billing reduction. Comcast has jacked up my cable television bill for the last time!

Happy Independence Day!!

I am offering a discount coupon (code INDEPENDENCEDAY13) for free shipping on any domestic order $20 or greater in my Etsy shop today through July 7th.

Sitting pretty

A couple of weeks ago my mother gave me a vanity bench for which she no longer had a use.  Since I don't have a chair for the small secretary in my bedroom, I thought I could paint and re-upholster the bench and use it there.

I mixed up a batch of my off white faux chalk paint and painted on two coats.  I waxed with Minwax paste wax and followed that with Annie Sloan dark wax.  Three layers of wax and some serious buffing and I called it "done".

The color in the fluting was a weird shade of green.

Looks better antique white, doesn't it?

I really love this fabric.

This morning I pulled the nasty, old fabric off the seat and then upholstered the bench.  I used a layer of muslin over the foam and batting and then finished with a piece of one of my favorite fabrics, Portobello Market.  Normally I would not use quilting cotton for the bench cover but because it will be used fairly infrequently and because I have a layer of muslin under the cotton, I think it will do.

All I have left to do is staple the burlap on the underside of the bench.  I would have done that today except that I ran out of staples.

I am really pleased with the bench.  It will look great with the secretary....as soon as I paint it!

(Linking to:  Tutorials and Tips Party, Home Stories A to Z; We Did it Wednesday on Sew Much Ado; Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party; Lilyfield Life Paint Parade; Start at Home Paint Party

I am loving this color!

Here's the footstool that I painted up yesterday as a test piece prior to painting my grandmother's dresser.

The color is EXACTLY what I envisioned and a lighter, brighter blue than ASCP Duck Egg.  I think this color juxtaposed against the mahogany will be gorgeous.

Actually, before I paint the dresser I am going to repaint the table that I painted last year with ASCP Provence.  I thought about selling the table and buying something else for next to the bed but the table is exactly the right height for my crazy, tall bed.  (Though I did really want to go shopping for another piece of furniture!)