BEFORE AND AFTER: Bird cages and other finished projects....

I get so excited about projects that I have stacked up a bunch of things that I am going to redo, revise, or re-invent.  They sit in my newly organized garage waiting patiently.  I have made some progress with the bird cages I showed you here http://mylifeinstages.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-treasures.html and the magazine rack and cake stand that was mentioned way back here http://mylifeinstages.blogspot.com/2010/02/projects.html

I gotta say I am  a bit embarrassed that it has taken me so long to post the "after" on these but it was mostly because I wasn't satisfied with them.  I thought I somehow needed to make them even better, but I never really figured that part out.  So, in reality, it has taken me this long to give up the idea of perfection I had in my head and just move on!  Ha! 

I hope you enjoy looking.  Leave comments with suggestions if you have ideas for me! 

Bird cages before and after

This cage was tole painted and had little filials on all the corners.  It was supposed to anyway, but it was missing one.  I took them all off and put wood putty in the holes.  It looked like it needed something though so I found some little wooden ones at Micheal's and spray painted them to match the cage.  It took alot of sanding, several coats of primer, and multiple coats of heirloom white to cover the designs!  Who knew tole paint was so indestructible? 

  Here it is just painted.  Should I glaze it with a brown and distress it a bit?  What do you think?

This little wicker cage didn't have anything wrong with it.  It was stuffed full of flowers when I found it at Goodwill.  After pulling them out and washing them and the cage, I saw it was in good shape, just a little bit dull. 

I painted it a celery color which I just love, and think it would be a great cage to use as a card holder at a wedding reception, retirement, or anniversary party. 

The gold tone bird cage looked hopelessly outdated.  The door of the cage was slightly bent and I wasn't sure that I could make it look updated with the hearts on the sides. 

My husband fixed the door, I painted several coats of a satin black paint, added some angels and flowers and it looks vintage modern to me now. 

 I just love these little cherubs...

One more bird cage that was a quick update.  Remember this picture from the birdbath post?  Well, look at the little goldy yellow bird cage.  I liked the style but NOT the color. 

Trying for an "industrial" look.  What do you think? 

Magazine rack  ~

Here is the before with primer, it was actually a varnished dark wood when I started but it was my first project and I forgot the before pic! 

I painted it with a Rustoleum barn red color (can't remember the actual name). Then it seemed a bit bright so I distressed it slightly and glazed it with some brown.  Then it was too dark so I put more red color on it.  I think I like it now, it is only slightly distressed and glazed so it looks more vintage-y to me that way.

I love the style of this vintage piece!

Cake Plate

Here is the before of the cake plate.  It actually looks better in the photo.

Here is the after.

I had hoped for better definition of the fruit.  I painted it in Rustoleum Claret Wine is Satin and then glazed it with burnt umber to highlight the detail.  It looks more like a holiday plate now. 

So, tell me what you think?

Linking to :

The DIY Showoff- http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2010/10/diy-project-parade.html
Between Naps on the Porch - http://mylifeinstages.blogspot.com/2010/10/bird-cages-and-other-finished-projects.html
http://diane1876.blogspot.com/2010/10/2nd-time-around-pictures-from.html
Thrifty Decor Chick http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/10/before-and-after-party-buh-bye-ceiling.html

Deep Thoughts

Yesterday my family and I traveled back to the town where we were raised  to pay our respects at a funeral and to make a visit to my step-mother who has been at the hospital for awhile.  You can see this isn't a light hearted post so bail out now if you are not in the mood for a deeper exploration of life, death, and emotions. 

Much as I still feel "young" in my mind, my body feels my age.  I also notice that more and more people that I know, are passing on, or in the end stages of life.  I find myself  looking back to the earlier times, in essence reviewing parts of their lives that I experienced with them.  In some ways those memories seem so long ago and yet, somehow, there is also this terrible feeling of time moving so quickly. 

A few years ago I had what I have come to regard as a Mid-Life Crisis.  During this time I colored my hair blond, tried acrylic nails, whitened my teeth, lost 70 pounds, and started to exercise.  It was fun to feel healthy again, and younger, but I also had the inescapable feeling that time was running out, and that everything I wanted to do had to happen quickly.  If there was something I really wanted to do in my life, I needed to do it RIGHT NOW!  This urgency was with me for the length of my "crisis" which lasted approximately a year. 

The experience has left me a different person than I was before as all experience does; but this time, I feel like I don't need to rush so much because the things I really want to do and experience are things that I already have.  Things like spending more time with extended family, friends, my kids.  Things like saying what you really mean instead of what you think they want to hear.  Things like "being real." 

In a way, this is the freedom of aging, of moving closer to the end of life and, depending on your beliefs, the transition to the next phase of being.  Being your true self, not caring about appearances but about the emotions, feelings, connections, and people that you meet is both  freedom and joy. 

I do get sad thinking about running out of time to do these things, but as I see more people at the end of life, I realize that they have lost this ability.  Either through disease, sickness, or old age, they are no longer able to fully participate in the connection of daily life.  I think this helps both them and us prepare for the end.  Maybe this is the way it should be. 

Of course, this only makes sense when people are old or significantly disabled.  Sudden death, or dying young, are so hard to take because this does not apply.  They DID have the ability to continue the social connections and experience the joy and meaning we are all given regardless of our income or education. 

I really don't have a destination to arrive at in this post.  Just clearing my mind.  If you have read this far, you may appreciate the words of the song Breathe by Anna Nalick;  it is truly beautiful.

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table

No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands

And breathe....... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPz3YaIJkjQ

Join me on Facebook! + Sept winner

Well, I am trying to do a bit of marketing today.  I would like to invite you all to join me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lifeinstages  There is a follow me button to your right.  This is the place that I will post before and after pictures of projects I am working on, let you know about fun projects I discover on other blogs, and just generally keep you up-to-date with what is happening regarding my shop.  Currently, all facebook fans will receive 10% off any order from my Etsy shop. 

My goal is to reach 100 fans by the end of this month.  Suggest LIS to your friends if they like vintage, upcycled, painted furniture, or refurbished items.  I appreciate your support in this! 

Ok, marketing done!  I am going to work on a post of before and after on some bird cages.  I posted asking for suggestions about these months ago!  http://mylifeinstages.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-treasures.html 
Yes, they are finally done!  Stay tuned!

Now for the winner of the gold and black paisley scarf!

The winner as determined by random number generator is Samantha from SS Vintage!  Samantha lives in NY and has a great blog about her thrifting adventures and vintage clothing and shoes.  Visit her here http://smellyshoesvintage.blogspot.com/
Congrats Samantha!

My baby boy is 14 years old

How does time go so fast?  We ask each other this.  It seems to me that the older I get, the faster time goes.  It was not so long ago that Jared was just a little guy, and then a child, and now he is a teenager who is almost as big as me! 

We decided to surprise him the day before his birthday with a trip to the fair.  I got him up for school as usual, fixed breakfast, made his lunch and sent him off.  His dad and sister had taken the day off but I told him that his dad was home sick (he slept in, how horribly unfair).

About 10am I showed up at the junior high and had the office call him down to leave.  Dad and sister were hiding behind the back seat of the van.  I told him I got him a last minute dr appt for a checkup he needed and that I would be taking him back to school later.  We got in the car and started to drive in the parking lot, and they jumped up screaming SURPRISE!!!! 

 Jared almost had a heart attack!  What was supposed to be a fun surprise (concocted by his sister, who by the way also slept in) turned out to be kinda scary!  After he recovered, we told him we were going to the brick oven bakery for chocolate donuts and then to the fair.  We got the kids Dizzy Passes (those arm bands that allow you to ride all the rides and cost alot) and he was thrilled. 

We hadn't been to the Fair in about 4 years, and back then he was a little afraid of the rides, but not this year!  He was fearless and tried everything!  Couldn't get enough of spinning and being turned upside down and inside out!  Sarah  bought some tickets for me to ride some swings that I had said I always wanted to ride but hadn't.  Why?  Because I was too scared!  Now, however, I HAD to do it!  Good thing for me I know how to use deep breathing to calm myself down when I get anxious!  Same technique I use when in an airplane preparing for takeoff. 

Let me off!!!!

I'm alive!  I wasn't worried.... nah....

What is wrong with kids these days?  They don't even scream when they are thrown upside down in the air! 

Acutally it was a fantastic day, we all had a great time and I even found the swings to be exhilirating (though still a bit scary).  The next day, on his actual birthday, we went out for dinner, opened gifts, and had choc cake with homemade hot fudge sauce.  We laughed alot and had a wonderful time! 

Still, I wish I could turn back time sometimes..... Just to pinch those sweet cheeks again, and the little feet with the cute stubby toes, that have now morphed into ugly 'man feet.'  I am very proud of him and at the same time, I want to shrink him back down and cuddle him on my lap again.

We are enjoying life along the way, even if the current is swifter than we might like. 

French Inspired Blue Nightstand

I bought this old nightstand  'spur of the moment ' since it was so solid and sturdy.  It looked very sad in the current condition, but there really wasn't anything structurally wrong with it.  So, into my van it went. 

On one of our rare sunny days in the Seattle area, I hauled it out to the patio, set it up on a table and started cleaning it.  That helped immediately to see the details around the base and drawer better.  I checked it all over, sanded to smooth out any rough areas and primered it well. 

I painted on 3 coats of this pretty french blue color (oops paint) in a semi gloss finish.  It went on very nice and smooth and I liked it immediately but it seemed a bit plain.  It came in the house and sat for a few weeks while I decided what to do with it.  Should I put a knob on it?  An embellishment of some kind?  Finally, it hit me!  Wallpaper! 

I found a couple of brand new rolls of wallpaper border (prepasted) at Goodwill for 99 cents each.  It looked like they would fit and just in case, one was narrower than the other so surely that one would fit.  Well, neither one did!  I tried various combinations of trimming it down and I was originally going to cover the entire front.  I had a beach theme paper with two adirondack chairs, some sandpipers and an ocean.  This one looked good and was the smaller so I had to trim off less of it, but it was so specific I thought it may be hard to incorporate into an existing decor.  The other one was a more sublte floral hydrangas with a french type border on each end.  I tried just the middle floral section, and then each of the borders, and in various positions on the drawer.

Here is what I chose. 

What do you think?

Don't forget to enter the September giveaway!  There are only a couple of entries so far so great odds of winning!  Go here to enter

http://mylifeinstages.blogspot.com/2010/09/september-giveaway-gold-black-paisley.html

I am linking up at

The DIY Project Parade - http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/

Metamorphosis Monday - http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Marketplace Monday - Finding Fabulous http://decormamma.blogspot.com/

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday - Coastal Charm  http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/2010/09/nifty-thrifty-tuesdays-no30.html

The Power of Paint - Domestically Speaking http://www.domestically-speaking.com/

Blue and Brown - Cottage Instincts http://cottageinstincts.blogspot.com/2010/09/great-blue-brown-blog-bonanza-is-here.html