Fun, Finds, Food and Frenzies - oh, and Elvis!

It's been another busy week, but that's a good thing. My idea of fun is being busy with yard sale shopping, checking out estate sales, etc. I had the good fortune a few weeks ago of being able to purchase the "leftovers" of a large yard sale for not a lot of money. Included in all that "stuff" were several old and battered books that immediately went into one of our shops. There was also a lot of costume jewelry (I'm not familiar with the value of costume jewelry but love to include unmatched pieces and bits into the spindle candleholders that I make (like the one below). Several pretty glass items and lots of stuff I can use for my trash-to-treasure endeavors.

I've had this breadbox for sale for a couple months so I decided to bring it home, paint it and maybe paint a primitive scene on it. But, I started sanding it and look what I found:

I ended up carefully sanding the white paint off the original artwork and covered it with a sealer. Well, that didn't take much time so I moved on to another project: An old wood cabinet that had been torn off someone's kitchen wall. I have this thing for cabinets. I don't know what it is, but I love old cabinets. This one needed a lot of repair, as the sides had come loose from the back, etc. As I began working on it, pulling out old oversized nails (why do people drive huge nails into wood that isn't as deep as the nail is long? I mean, don't they know it's going to come out the other side??) I realized that this old cabinet really is old. It was originally built with wooden peg nails. Being careful not to do additional damage with my repairs, and currently being in my yellow stage (I go through color stages; I've recently left my sage green stage and my lavender stage was short-lived), I painted it yellow and kept the same handles (with a coat of black paint).

Have I ever mentioned that sanding and painting makes me hungry? So does shopping, watching TV, driving to the market, waking up in the morning...at least, that's how it's been this week. I've had a week of food cravings. No particular food, mind you. Just food in general. I can't seem to get full. Not a good thing when you're trying to lose weight. Or when you have diabetes, as I do. This whole week has been a feeding frenzy of sorts for me and I'm just wondering how many others go through this, too. But no, this isn't what leads into Elvis. One other thing first.

Have you ever seen something that you just totally fell in love with and knew you had to drag it home? Besides your spouse, that is. (Hee, just kidding - no hate mail, please!) That's how I felt when I saw this piece:

My husband said, "What do you want with that? It's missing a drawer." "The pulls are worth more than I'm paying for it." Now, this really isn't a lie. The drawer pulls are worth more than the (would you believe?!) $20 I paid for it. But, by saying that, I knew he would think the sole reason I wanted it was so we could remove them and use them on another project. And, with our workshop, attic, outside storage buildings and even part of the interior of our home being stuffed with projects he was wondering where in the world we would put this thing. And that's the question he asked me as soon as we got it home. I pointed to our den. "Where in our den?" he asked. "I'll find a spot." "I thought you said you just wanted the pulls." "I didn't say that. I said the pulls are worth more than I paid for the piece." "But it's missing a drawer. How are we going to find a drawer to go with it?" I grabbed a basket and shoved it into the cavity meant to hold a drawer. "Okay." He shrugged and continued to unload our truck. Thank God that my husband is so good natured. By the way, I'll find another basket that is more appropriate. And please disregard the mess on top of the dresser; it makes for a good place to put my supplies while I'm tagging things for the shops. One of my projects for this week will be deciding what other piece of furniture that is currently being kept in the den will have to find another home.

And now, Elvis! Okay, no, not the real Elvis. Not only has he left the building, he's left the earth. A few days ago I was informed that a large group of Red Hatters (of Red Hat Society fame, of course!) would be in our area. They are a wonderful, fun loving group of ladies. And we want them to visit the shops. Soooo...Linda, who owns the Shop Around the Corner, has arranged for Jesse Wade, a Professional Elvis Tribute Artist (ETA), to perform there at noon on October 27. If you're close to Elizabethton, TN, bring a blanket or a chair and come join us!

It's no cost to you ~ it's Linda's treat! Get it on your calendar!