Fast Fixes: Christmas Dinner No More

Like everyone else, I have a mile long list of quick projects I never make the time for, so I'm going to try and force myself to get a few of them done, especially the ones I already have the supplies on hand for. My first project was actually not really even on my list, and something a lot of people likely wouldn't bother with, but it was so easy and fast and I like the results so much, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.

The cats have a big tray in the pantry to corral the loose kibble they like to scatter everywhere. It was one I picked up at Ross years ago for around $10 I think. It's nice wipe-able plastic, but the problem was it had a winter scene on it, so not really appropriate for nine out of twelve months of the year, even though I do think it is pretty.

Enter roll of "faux bois" contact paper and voila, they now have a swanky new look which I think looks great with the white sides of the tray and is still wipe-able and can be removed if I ever want to change the look.

I also considered the grass cloth wallpaper I used on this bathroom toe kick project, but decided the contact paper would be more functional for this particular project and easier too since I wouldn't need to break out the sizing. The blue cat food bowl was Chloe's first Christmas present way back in 2003 and from Target and the green polka dotted water bowl is a Sur la Table cereal bowl I picked up at a thrift for .90 or so - love the two colors together. Wet food is served up on paper plates.

While I had the contact paper out, I did do another quick project with it, but still need one craft store supply to finish it up so we'll get to that later.

I'm linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's November Before and After Party. Hop on over to see all the great inspiration.

Chalk One Up

I can't believe I've lived here almost three years and have just now figured out I can draw on my slate hearth with chalk! I have to say I've never been a huge fan of the chalkboard paint trend - it seems like so much form over function - I mean really, are you going to take your pantry door to the grocery store with you so you have your shopping list?

From HERE

I do like the look for erasable labels though - cute and practical.

From HERE

But back to my little quickie fireplace makeover. You may remember where we left off with painting the firebox and the doors and other metal parts. The plan for the hearth was to faux marble it and maybe mark off a herringbone or chevron pattern, but well, I'm pretty slow about getting things done (darn working). In the meantime, in the meantime I saw an awesome blog project that involved a dark wood top and a chevron pattern drawn freehand with a paint pen ...

I can't find the original inspiration project, but the effect was similar to THIS

... and thought, hmmmm, I could do that on my hearth, with chalk. And it will be fast and easy and reversible and I will actually get it done. So I dug out my chalk and went to town. I probably should have used a ruler or yardstick and I may search out thinner chalk at some point, but for now it is done and I like it and I can always redo it down the road, either with a different pattern or the original planned on faux painting.

For some reason the cat was fascinated with the process so it got a little smeary in places where she walked on it, and a day later it looked like someone had rolled around on it a bit too. Oh well, at least it wasn't wet paint.

I'm linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party. Stop over and see all the great transformations.

A Light Summer Pasta Salad and a Breezy, Beachy Table Setting

You may remember my saying I’m not much of a cook, but I have a few easy, quick go-to recipes and summer is my favorite time because I like to use simple, fresh ingredients. Today’s salad is an easy, summer pasta salad. It’s pretty flexible in that you can use whatever vegetables you like and have on hand. This time around I mixed quartered grape tomatoes, fresh corn sliced off the cob, carrot slices, and broccoli with tri-colore spiral pasta. The dressing, and I don’t measure anything, is a mixture of olive oil, brown mustard, and balsamic vinegar (cider vinegar would work too) whisked together with a little cracked pepper tossed over the vegetables and pasta and then layered over a bed of mixed leaf lettuce.

The table setting is the Robin’s egg blue linen cloth I’ve had on since spring with my wooden tile place mats, a Johnson Bros. ironstone plate and a pink glass rimmed soup/salad plate (all thrift store finds). To make it beachy, I’ve added braided rope napkin rings and little resin? star fish (cheap-o bins at Michael’s), a big blown glass decanter that reminded me of a bubble, a few wooden candlesticks, a gnarly branch that looked sort of drift-woody to me, and a teal green plate shaped like a fish (all thrift store or found items).

$20 Storage - Cha Ching

I recently lucked into the best deal on a gorgeous server to replace my beat up old Bombay Co. console table. I used to have it under a window, so the cats did a number on it while observing the local wildlife. Truth be told, while I loved the design of the piece, it was never very practical in terms of storage. At the very least I pined for a nice shelf underneath to stack baskets and maybe display a few things I had nowhere to store decorative objects.

I sort of fixed the problem with a large Irish linen table cloth and a smaller topper - it covered the scratches and I could stuff a few things in among the legs for hidden storage. It was one of those works for now kind of solutions, but I wasn't going out of my way to look for a replacement either.

Then a recent trip to the Salvation Army turned up this beauty. Priced at $40. On half-price day. Yes, that's right, $20 for this gorgeous, made in North Carolina by the Sherrill Furniture Co., buffet server. The size was perfect, so I didn't need to move any of the gallery wall.

The upper drawers house some of my eBay packing supplies and the lower drawers and cabinets house inventory. I was able to empty out 3 heavy, hard-to-manage, storage totes into this thing. And look at how pretty the hardware is too. The finish is in relatively good condition, a few sticky spots I just covered with objets d'art need to work on, and I love the color so no painting projects in the foreseeable future either.

Any favorite rescued furniture in  your life right now?