DIY & Lifestyle Blog

Browsing author

Flippin Furniture Blog

Stick Projects!

Projects made from sticks in your yard! It doesn’t get much simpler than this! The first one is more of an Easter craft, and the second one is more ‘springtime,’ and the third one is ‘anytime’!! The Three Crosses I wanted a small, rectangular-shaped box for this project, but I came across this old mini loaf pan and ran with it! First, I started with my sticks. I just guessed at the sizes of the sticks and broke them to the length I thought they should be. When I placed the smaller stick across the taller one, I carved out just a tiny bit of wood to give it a little bit of flat area to help it lay better. I then hot glued them together and then wrapped twine around them and hot glued it on the backside. In the loaf pan, I glued floral styrofoam to have something for my sticks to stick in. Next, I took a smaller twig and “pre-drilled,” where I wanted the crosses to go. Once I was happy with the placement, I put the bigger sticks in. ✝ After that, I added the Spanish Moss. I was also wanting to add in some of those green, mossy looking rocks that are usually available at the Dollar Tree, but they did not have any at the store I went to. Anyway, I hot glued the Spanish Moss on and then glued on the little rocks. I basically placed them randomly and then around the bases of the crosses. Easy enough for kids to do also! Another super simple burst of sunshine! Depending on the age of your children, they may be able to do this one also! Or at least go pick you out some sticks! Spring Time Flower Garden Like so many of my crafts start…I went to one of my scrap piles and pulled out a piece. This was a cool piece of barn wood. I barely knocked the cobwebs off of it before I started, lol. You could clean it up more and even clear coat it if you wanted to. I just broke some twigs to the height I thought I wanted and hot glued them on. If I had made them a couple inches shorter, I could have either stenciled a word across the top or added more butterflies or some bees. Next, I rummaged through my scrapbook flowers and brought out some springy flowers and hot glued those on. I also found some random leaves in the mix, so I glued some of those on also. And a butterfly. The last step was adding the Spanish Moss at the bottom. I did these project live on Facebook if you would like to see my physically do them, see the video below! Another Spring Flower Garden For this one, I got another piece of random scrap wood. Instead of staining the wood, I just put on some brown glaze and rubbed it in good and used my heat gun to make sure it was dry before the next step. The next thing I did was add the bee transfer. I just thought it looked sooo cute! And for the rest of it, I just did it exactly the same way as above. Stick Art Initial For this project, I chose an old, small cabinet door. I cleaned it up and painted it “dried sage” and dried it with my heat gun. The next step is a little boring. Ok, probably a lot boring, at least if you were watching me do this live on Facebook. Anywho…it’s pretty self-explanatory but you break the sticks to the size you want. I started at the bottom with longer pieces and worked my way up. If this is clear as mud, feel free to watch the live. Once I had the “H” complete, I just felt like it needed something. I added a little bit of my black paint dabber to go around the edges to finish it off. You could add some florals if you wanted to add more to it. Whatever your style is, make it your own! I hope you have enjoyed playing with the sticks as much as I have! So easy and cheap! See you next time! Supplies: Sticks from your yard! Spanish Moss – https://amzn.to/2WTPbVf Tim Holtz Black Dabber – https://amzn.to/39vcPtK Twine – https://amzn.to/2WXejdM Decorative Rock – https://amzn.to/3au5lbP Floral Styrofoam – https://amzn.to/33VOCvG

Flippin Furniture Blog 4

More Fun with Furniture Transfers!

So I have had this awesome, little green window laying in my garage in my way, for quite some time. I have been doing lives every day for a while now. I rarely plan ahead for these. So I was scrounging around looking for a project. I spied the window. And I had furniture transfers open from the previous crafting live. I hurriedly washed the window and ran inside to make lunch and let the window dry. IF I had been prepared, I would have sanded the window before going live also, but I wasn’t. So I did end up sanding the window after the live. Basically, you just apply the transfer to it. I cut out the pieces I wanted and kind of laid them out where I thought I would like them. I knew where I wanted the script to go, so I just laid out the flowers around that. And then I started rubbing. The transfers come with this little stick that you rub the transfer onto your surface with. https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/overflowing-love-redesign-decor-transfer That’s it! Pretty simple. If you want to watch me do it, you can watch the video of me doing this window here… One of a Kind Mirror Makeover This was another one of those things that just laid around in my way. I had spray painted the mirror and distressed it. I had meant to take it to my store, but for whatever reason, it never made it there. Then I closed the store. And still, it sat. Skip ahead a few months, and I am needing to do a Facebook live and looking for something to make. It was this mirror’s time to shine! I dusted it off and cleaned the glass, and we had a beautiful, clean slate to work on! I also did this one on a Facebook live, so if you would like to actually watch me do the video, you can… So, I roughly decided how I wanted the transfer to go. I knew I wanted it on the left side of the mirror for the most part. I was also going to add some random small flowers here and there, but in the end, I felt like the left side was good, and I needed to leave some of the mirror showing, right?!? Also, knowing I was planning to also stencil the window, I had to trim down the side of the transfer a little bit. Once I had it cut and figured out how I wanted it placed, I commenced rubbing it on. After the transfer was in place, I got my paint and finger sponge ready. I did a little research about what type of paint to use on glass. Enamel was the recommendation. So I laid my stencil down and dabbed on the paint. I have also checked, and the furniture transfers are ok to be put on glass. They just tell you not to use any chemicals on it, like glass cleaner. So I would probably just Swiffer it to be safe. And there ya have it. Two more uses for furniture transfers! https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/fuchsia-sunset-redesign-decor-transfer

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Beautiful Ways to Display Your Vintage Photos

In one of my recent blog posts, I showed you these two photographs that I had picked up while out thrifting. I do not know these people. I’m pretty sure I am not related to any of them. But I have now adopted them. Unless you know them, then I would love to see them in the hands of their rightful family. So anyway, I keep thinking about these awesome photographs, and I know I NEED to do something cool with them. While I am at my computer one day, the idea came to me. Old clipboard + old photograph = very cool vintage display. I knew I had an old clipboard somewhere, and luckily it wasn’t too hard to find. Vintage Clipboard Photo Display First, I painted the clip with patina paint. I used a little bit of copper and a little bit of the bronze. Then let it dry. Next, I mod podged on a piece of scrapbook paper with the look and feel of what I was going for. I also mod podged over the top of the scrapbook paper. While that top coat of mod podge was still wet, I laid the photo down on top of it to glue it on. At this point, I put a chunk of scrap wood about the same size as the picture on top of the picture and then added weight. I think I used full paint cans. I just wanted it heavy enough to keep it laid down to stick. Then I added the little burlap flower with a dot of hot glue. For the last step, I just wired on the two old keys (you can barely see them) and the padlock. I just wanted something old and vintage-y feeling. And this is it for this project! I haven’t done it yet, but it think it would be adorable displayed in an easel! Another Vintage Photo Idea The idea for this one also just came to me right out of the blue. I decided it would be cute on a jug. But I wanted an amber jug. I checked my carport stash of glassware—no Bueno. I did find a regular glass jug, but it just wasn’t the look I wanted. I kept thinking, “I know I have one around here somewhere.” It finally hit me. I had one in my kitchen, with a cute chevron ribbon tied around it. So I snatched it, dusted it off a little, and got to work on it. Of course, I chose to do this on a live. And I could tell right away that it was not going to work exactly the way I was hoping. I slathered on some mod podge and put the photo on it. It wasn’t really conforming. I did not want to curl with the jug. So…I ran into my house and grabbed some rubber bands. I probably placed about ten rubber bands around the picture/jar to get it to hold. I had to excuse myself from the live and come back later, lol. So I brought the jug in the house with me while I had to do some work on the computer, and I kept pushing it down when it wanted to come up and or readjust rubber bands. Once that fiasco was under control, I came back live and finished it. I can’t remember when I made the tag for it exactly, but here’s how I did it. I stamped the tag with a script stamp, then stamped again with letters that spelled out “family” and glued on a little burlap flower. I put a coat of mod podge over the photo also. Next, I wrapped twine around the top and bottom of the photo and secured it with hot glue on the backside. I just thought it added a little something to it. And there you have it! Two ways to make a unique display with your vintage family photos!

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Dresser & Side Table ft. Furniture Transfers

So, today was day 12 of going live. I did this side table and dresser one-day last week, during one of those lives. SIDE TABLE I used Yankee Blue from Dixie Belle. While I liked the color, it really wasn’t as navy as I wanted, so I added some Black Walnut Glaze from Miss Lillian’s. That was much closer. My sister in law is the one who I went junkin’ with the previous weekend, and we had been talking about her redoing her bedroom. She showed me her new comforter, and we talked about paint colors, etc. She was also telling me about a few projects I had sold at my store that she had loved, that had floral transfers on them. So when she commented “navy,” I got an idea. I will paint it for her bedroom redo and add the floral transfers that she loved! So that is exactly what I did. Unfortunately, this transfer must be discontinued because I couldn’t find them online. At least not on Amazon anyway, but there are others to choose from. The colors of her comforter (I think) are navy, teal, gray, and mauve. I used little gray flowers and a cluster with tealish and mauvish colors. I sealed with Dixie Belle’s clear coat in satin and done. Supplies: Dixie Belle Yankee Blue 8 OZ – https://amzn.to/2Jc5NQe Dixie Belle Clear Coat – https://amzn.to/39fshdz Prima Transfer – https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/fuchsia-sunset-redesign-decor-transfer THE DRESSER This was just your average, ordinary piece of old blonde furniture. Nothing to look at, but had good bones. I don’t think I have ever come across a piece of blonde furniture that wasn’t well made. Occasionally there may be a veneer issue, but all in all, they are sturdy. For this dresser, after cleaning it all up, I sanded the whole thing. There was some loose veneer in a couple places, so I just sanded extra there. For the side table, I asked on my page what color I should paint it. Only two people answered. One said navy blue, and the other said red. Well, the blue one was my sister in law, so I went that way. After the drawers were sanded and cleaned up, I stained them. I used a walnut stain. It didn’t go a ton darker, but it was just enough, in my opinion. If I had gone too dark, then the transfer would have been less noticeable. And that would have been ok, also, but wasn’t quite what I wanted this time. Then I painted the mainframe with Dixie Belle’s Caviar. My favorite black paint. Two coats. Distressed. Then sealed with Dixie Belle’s Clear Coat in Satin. Supplies: Dixie Belle Caviar 8 OZ – https://amzn.to/3biii8I DeWalt Orbital Sander – https://amzn.to/3dqDPxJ Minwax Dark Walnut Stain – https://amzn.to/2UuICpx Dixie Belle Clear Coat – https://amzn.to/39fshdz Example: Prima Marketing Transfer – https://amzn.to/2WEkGmi NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE TRANSFER These can be a little scary, at least the first time. I was a bit rusty when I did this one. And I did it on a Facebook live, on a friend’s page! What was I thinking? Oh well, it turned out beautiful! It doesn’t matter that I was sweating bullets, right? After I applied the transfer, I sealed it with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Clear Coat in Satin, and that’s a wrap! Unfortunately, I’m afraid this transfer is also discontinued. I was going to put a link in for it, but I could not find it on Amazon. If you have used these transfers or do in the future…I would love to see them! I have a couple more that I cannot wait to work on! Hopefully soon! Stay tuned! If you want to see me actually applying them, here ya go…. Don’t know where to find the transfers? Check out my Amazon Store! https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-05781315 https://www.facebook.com/FlippinFurniturebyTammy/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1037595059955549/

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Easy Easter Crafts

Ok, so I have kind of been on a roll lately. Today was day 12, in a row, of going live with either a craft or showing you what I got to do more crafts with. With all the craziness going on right now, I am just trying to be a bright spot—a positive distraction for the crafty people that are on lockdown. So with that being said, let’s hop on into some Easter crafting! HOW ABOUT THESE SWEET LITTLE BUNNIES Super easy. I purchased the wood cutouts from amazon. I painted the edges black and mod podged on the scrapbook paper. I then wrapped some raffia on. Done. Supplies: Wood Bunny Cutout – https://amzn.to/3acZpEd Wood Egg Cutout – https://amzn.to/33FBHhe Mod Podge Matte – https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/mod-modge-matte-notions Scrapbook Paper – Your Choice Raffia – https://amzn.to/3bfY3bC Dixie Belle Caviar 8 OZ – https://amzn.to/2Ua083k Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/2UfajUq Cordless Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/3aphYVT Squeegee – https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/the-blue-tool-hp How about another easy one? EASTER BLOCKS I have had these little wood blocks for over five years now. They measure about 3 ¾” x 3 ¾”. I’m assuming they were cut from a 1×4. I painted the outside edges with pink paint, then cut the scrapbook papers to fit the blocks and mod podged them on. After that, I added some embellishments. A few flowers hot glued on here and there. And wrapped green raffia around the first and last blocks and secured that with hot glue also. Done. I did this in your typical, traditional Easter colors. Then I did it again in more of the neutral, farmhouse style for “spring”. The neutrals are for me 🙂 HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH YET? HOW ABOUT A FEW MORE? CAN YOU HANDLE IT? Same wood blocks as used above. I painted all the blocks black and distressed them with my sanding sponge. Then I used my little stamps and stamped “Easter,” “Grow,” “Spring,” and “Grow.” For the Easter block, I wrapped green raffia around it and secured it with hot glue and then hot glued on the pink flower. For the “Grow” block, I wrapped regular raffia around the block, secured it with hot glue, and added the flower with hot glue also. For the “Spring” block, basically, the same as the “Grow” block. I just added a tiny sprig of greenery to it. And for the “Bloom” block, I used twine in place of the raffia. So simple but so cute! Perfect little fillers for those tiered trays! Supplies: Raffia – https://amzn.to/3bfY3bC Dixie Belle Caviar 8 OZ – https://amzn.to/2Ua083k Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/2UfajUq Cordless Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/3aphYVT Green Raffia – https://amzn.to/3bjE2Rz Alphabet Stamps – https://amzn.to/2Jatc4k Floral Embellishments – https://amzn.to/2UukAej Floral Embellishments – https://amzn.to/2WNYOoH ANOTHER CUTE EASTER DISPLAY This little domed display was $2.99 at Good Will. All I did was clean it up and painted the wood base black. Next, I added two little glass bottles that I had bought at an antique mall. I added some greenery to them, the bunny, and some Spanish moss. BAM! Supplies: Dixie Belle Caviar 8 OZ – https://amzn.to/2Ua083k Spanish Moss – https://amzn.to/2WD5WnJ LAST ONE, I PROMISE I bought the little peat pots from Amazon, and the eggs came from an antique store. The eggs were pink and plastic. To cover the eggs, I used an old sewing pattern. For me, I absolutely LOVE things with script and numbers on them. The pattern didn’t have quite enough going on for my liking, so I stamped some more designs on it. Next, I tore the sewing pattern into small pieces and mod podged on a few layers to the eggs. Once the eggs were completely dry, I hot glued Spanish moss into the peat pots and then hot glued the eggs onto the moss. And there you go! Most of these projects were done during Facebook lives if you want to “watch” me do them! I would love for you to try any of these projects or ALL and show me!!! P.S. I recently started a free group called “The Flippin Community.” I would love to have you join us there. It is just a smaller group where I share most of the same things that are on my “Flippin Furniture” page. Facebook wants us to have communities so they let you see more of the content in the group than they do on my business page. Don’t ask me why. I just try to keep them happy! Please join us! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1037595059955549/ Supplies: Peat Pots – https://amzn.to/2y32Y1u Mod Podge Matte – https://amzn.to/2QHYpjI Spanish Moss – https://amzn.to/2WD5WnJ Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/2UfajUq Cordless Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/3aphYVT Here are just a few more wood blocks for more inspiration!

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Pickin’ Part 2!

So after the whole wardrobe debacle, we head on into town. (Missed the first part of the day… here it is! ?? https://flippinfurnitureblog.com/fun-day-of-pickin/ ) Lindsay had overheard someone talking about an indoor flea market at the old Adams School. Ok, how hard can that be to find? Harder than it should have been! We are all over Adams street looking for it, trailer in tow. I bet it took us 30 minutes to find it, once we got to Adams street. Did you know that Adams street has several places where it ends and picks up again? We do now. I think we finally figured out that it was the old Adams School and had nothing to do with being on Adams Street. Good grief! We finally found it. This is pretty much just how we tend to roll. Upon entering the old school, we realize that it is not the whole school, lol, just one room. Wow. We put a lot of work into finding it. I’m buying something. And everything happened to be half price also, so all was not lost. I ended up with two small side tables and a big ole pair of shears, I think they are called, basically huge scissors. I had some years ago, and they are long gone, so now I have a replacement! Once we left there, it was lunchtime. I know! I felt like we had endured enough for one day, and it was only 11:30! But we aren’t quitters! To Cassano’s for the best thin crust pizza on earth! That’s my opinion, anyway! We had a nice lunch, and I got caught up on a few things on my phone, and we were off again. We hit the Walgreens and from there to the Salvation Army. I can’t say I got much there. And their prices seem to have gotten out of control, especially on furniture. I did get some “crafty” items, but that was about it. Next, we hit a store called “Odd and Ends” or “Bit’s and Pieces.” I can’t remember the name for sure, but it is basically a little antique store filled with different vendors. So much to see in there. I found some cool Easter décor and some other cool things. A long, long time ago, Lindsay and I worked on a dollhouse for my niece, American girl doll size. And we scoured thrift stores at the time looking for stuff to fill it with. We had a blast doing that! Lots of things in this store reminded us of that time and how much fun it was shopping for it! And getting me excited to get busy remodeling my dollhouse! Look for a blog post on that coming soon to a blog near you! I also bought some perfume in there—old perfume. They were super cheap, but they reminded me of scents I used to wear. One was Exclamation. I’m pretty sure they still make that one. I think another one was Amor. My favorite was always Malibu Musk. I can no longer find that anywhere, but these were reminiscent of it, so I grabbed them. I thought they would smell bad being that old, but they smell good to me! We were starting to wear out at this point—multiple yawns coming from both of us. I said, how about we hit Hobby Lobby and Good Will and call it a day. Deal. We walked out of Hobby Lobby empty-handed. I had a few things in my cart, but nothing I couldn’t live without. Nothing worth standing in line for, so off we went. Last stop, Good Will. It wasn’t too bad. I did get some Easter décor that I will be rehabbing very soon. Probably on a Facebook live this week. In case you didn’t know, I am doing a minimum of 10 days in a row of going live. Maybe more. I’m just scared to commit any farther out at this point! It was so much fun to get out again. I really need to figure out how to make a living out of shopping vintage stores and estate sales! Though I would rather not have to do quite so much heavy lifting! I wonder when my next adventure will be? You can be sure I will take you with me!

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Fun Day of Pickin!

Another fun day of pickin!! Y’all, I can’t believe it! I got off the farm twice this week! Twice!!! And went pickin! It’s almost like the seal has been broken, and there is no going back now! I can’t wait to go again! So this little episode started with my sister in law texting me around 9:30 Friday night. She sent me a picture of this cute little vintage loveseat and wanted me to talk her out of it. It was on an estate sale the next morning. Well I was of no use in that department because I thought it was adorable. I am more of an enabler anyway. She knows that. We kept texting back and forth and I looked at the website to see what else they would be selling the next day. Long story short, we BOTH decided to go. I thought I had heard somewhere about a winter weather advisory for the morning, but when I looked at the forecast online on AgriSource, it only said about an inch of snow. I’m kind of thinking that the weather advisory is blown way out of proportion at this point, on top of the significant toilet paper outage of 2020. So when I get up in the morning, it’s still dark outside, but I can see that the ground is white. Hmm, we must have gotten that whole inch they were calling for. Next thing I know, I’m sitting at my desk, and its daylight, and the snow is coming down like nobody’s business! I’m so desperate to go that I keep trying to turn a blind eye. Lindsay texts me to see if I still think we should go and tells me we can cancel if I want to. I really don’t want to! In the meantime, my wonderful hubby checks my tires and adds a little air, fuels it up, and hooks up my trailer for me. We are going. So I leave my house, and it is pretty slushy, crappy, but the interstate will be fine, right? So I pick her up, and we hit the interstate. No Bueno. But we trudge on slowly. I went to try to pass at one point and about got sucked off the road, and I can see Lindsay grabbing the dash handle. So then I decided that the person going 35 mph in front of me was perfectly acceptable. I tell her that the roads usually get a little better when we cross the county line. I was finally right about something! We probably should not have gone, but we did make it. Snow flying the whole time! My brother thought we were crazy for going. Then I came to realize that when I look at AgriSource, if I don’t double-check the zip code, it defaults to Lafayette, Indiana (face palm here). So you guessed it, our forecast was much worse than theirs, and I’m an idiot. Oh well. We had fun at the estate sale. It was day 2 of the sale, so that meant half price. We found her vintage sofa. It was nowhere near as nice in person, unfortunately. I think she ended up getting a cookbook there and a garden stake with an “L” on it. I saw quite a few pieces that I liked but I genuinely don’t need anything. Plus, I was not going to buy anything from the basement and have to haul it up the stairs and outside. I found some smalls and started a little pile. And I found a swivel rocker, in my color scheme, like new, for $20. Score!!!! I ripped the tag off that sucker in a hurry! Then we went to the garage. I should have just stopped while I was ahead. Of course, there is this big beautiful diamond in the rough. It is an old tired wardrobe. I really should have walked away at this point. But I did not. I kind of looked it over. One door was off. No problem, it will have open storage on one side and be cool. A few other minor-ish defects. They just added character. We kind of tried to pick it up, to make sure we would actually be able to get it into my trailer. It didn’t seem to be a problem. I grabbed a vintage trash can also, just because I like them. Then I paid, and we started loading. I got my smalls, my chair, and the drawers from the wardrobe all loaded. Thankfully the wardrobe was on wheels. Unfortunately, it was too tall to just wheel out of the garage. We finally figure out how to lay it down and maneuver it to the floor. Holy crap, it is way heavier than we initially thought and hard to find somewhere to hold onto. But we did it. We got it carried out of the garage and then was able to stand it back up and roll it to the end of the driveway. Then a nice gentleman offered to help us load it. Lindsay tells him yes, lol. It was very heavy, after all. Oh and I forgot to tell you that when we pulled it away from the wall, it was filthy and had termite runs and termite damage on the back. One area will just have to be replaced. I’m just glad it is on the back. Well, obviously, if it were on the front, I would not have bought it, right? Well…probably not. Back to where I left off. I go get the trailer and pull up as close as I can. We wheel it as close to my loading ramp as we can. All we have to do it lift it up off the ground and move it about 10 feet now. The end is in sight. So I get my end off the ground, and he doesn’t lift his. He just starts shoving? What the heck? Next thing I know, it is in more than once piece. He tells me its meant to do that, that’s why it was built with pegs in it. I think I’ve heard of a know down wardrobe? But not a rip apart one. I don’t argue. I thank the man several times, and we go on our way. It was kind of him to help us, damsels. And I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what the what???? The piece did not just “come apart.” In my mind, it is ripped apart. I hear wood cracking. I’m scared even to look. Can this piece be saved? Only time will tell now. Stay tuned. This will either end up being one of my best flips ever or end up in the burn pile. It could go either way.

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Two Super Easy Easter Crafts!

No joke. I’m almost embarrassed to show you these! Almost. They can be customized to your color choices and home décor. I have recently started doing Facebook “lives” daily. I think I did day six today, and am going for at least 10. Maybe 30 days. Maybe not. We shall see! All of these were done mostly on those Facebook Lives. The carrot project was first. So super simple. THE EASTER CARROT I started with a scrap piece of wood and painted it brown. While the paint dried, I started looking through my orange scrapbook papers and found one I liked. Then I drew a rough outline of a carrot and cut it out. I didn’t want it perfectly cut, so I used my crappy old scissors. You know the kind that you have used to cut the wire too many times? Yeah, those scissors. That was the look I was going for! I used my black paint dabber to go around the edge of the carrot cutout. I glued down the carrot to the board using mod podge and added some faux greenery for the tops with hot glue. Then I wrapped some twine around the top and the bottom. I did put a little drop of hot glue under the knots to keep it secure. Done! Supplies I Used: Scrap Piece of Wood Orange Scrapbook Paper Black Dauber – https://amzn.to/2UbUdJH Faux Greenery Mod Podge Matte – https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/mod-modge-matte-notions Twine – https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/jute-cord-notions?_pos=1&_sid=65d8ac4b2&_ss=r Scissors Hot Glue Gun – https://amzn.to/390ovVv Easy, peasy, right!?! Let’s throw another one in here real quick! It uses a lot of the same supplies! I love how these bunnies turned out! My house is mainly neutrals, so I chose to do more of a “farmhouse” neutral theme. But feel free to go more Easter traditional if that is more you! ——————————————————————————————————————————————————– FARMHOUSE STYLE BUNNIES First, I painted around the edges of all the bunnies with black paint. Once the paint was dry, I laid my bunnies down on the scrapbook paper. I had black and white polka dot, black and white gingham, and tan and white polka dot. I traced around the shapes (bunnies) and cut them out. I always cut inside the line about an eighth of an inch so that when I lay it on my piece, it won’t be hanging over. And if you do find that yours hangs over, you can either cut it a little more or sand it off later. Once cut, mod podge your scrapbook papers onto your bunnies. Working from the middle out, you want to work out any air bubbles or excess mod podge from under the paper. This little gold credit card looking piece is perfect for just that! I have actually used a kitchen spatula in a pinch many times! At this point, I couldn’t decide if I was done or not yet. I sanded the edges just a little, all the way around. I ended up deciding to do some random stamping on them. Most of my stamps are about as old as my kids. We are talking 20 plus years old. So I tried to give you links to the ones I could find and others that were kind of close-ish. And I took a picture of the ones I used in case that helps. I used Staz On ink in opaque white. This is good stuff. Once, on a piece of furniture a long time ago, I stamped a bunch of different stamps on the top of a smallish side table. It looked amazing. They were painted white with French script stamps in black. I can still see it in my mind. But that is the only place. Because I had used regular stamp ink, it wiped off! When I touched it, it would smear! I was dumbfounded! Or maybe just dumb? Anyway, regular ink is fine for most craft projects, but I highly recommend the Staz On for this! It dries quickly! So, paper on and stamping done. Once I had the papers on, I waited maybe 10 minutes and put another coat of mod podge over the top. Then let dry completely. The last step was adding the raffia around the necks. I used a little dot of glue again to keep the raffia in place. And that’s it, that’s all Folks! Supplies I used for the Bunnies: Wood Bunny Cutouts 6-inch x 3-inch, Pack of 3 Unfinished Wood from Amazon – https://amzn.to/3b2sCBs Large Wood Rabbit Cutout 12-inch x 10-3/4-inch, Pack of 3 Unfinished Wood – https://amzn.to/3b1oj9S Black Paint (Dixie Belle’s Caviar) – https://amzn.to/3aVDRM0 Squeegee – https://flippinfurnitureshop.com/products/decoupage-felt-squeegee-flippin-furniture?_pos=1&_psq=sq&_ss=e&_v=1.0 Scrapbook Papers Mod Podge Matte – https://amzn.to/2vqm5Sd White Opaque Staz On – https://amzn.to/2U5rCWA Scissors Sanding Sponge

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Small Businesses Are Hurting More Than Ever.

A few things are weighing on me heavily this morning. I could not be more thankful that my building sold as quickly as it did. Quicker would have been better, lol, but everything takes so much longer than it should with the paperwork, banks, and lawyers, etc. Just the way it is—all in God’s time. My new career path is mainly blogging. But blogging takes a long time to really take off. I am LOVING the process, though!!! Once you get it all set up and plug-ins, SEO, widgets, etc…I love it! I am starting from the bottom, but at least I do have a small following, and that helps a ton. THANK YOU to those of you who take the time to read my stories or look at my craft and furniture painting ideas. THANK YOU. I love sharing, and sharing is caring after all. On the flip side for my other small biz friends, the first quarter is slow regardless. People are trying not to spend and pay off their Christmas spending bills. Or the weather is crappy, so they can’t get out, or the weather is extremely crappy, and the store has to close. All these things HURT small businesses. And now we have the Coronavirus. Good grief. I’m still not sure what to think. I suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this in my lifetime that I can remember? And this may be one more nail in small businesses coffin. Pardon the morbid description, but it can be that serious. Already slow first-quarter sales and add no one is getting out = no sales. I’m sure this is not news to most people, but it is just tugging on my heart today. So if you do happen to go out, don’t forget about your small business friends. If you can afford to, go buy something, share their posts, be supportive. Being a small biz owner of a brick and mortar was not for me, but I have lots of friends who love it. And I want them to succeed as long as they want to, but they will need everyone’s help. And if that small biz has an online store, that would be another way to support them without actually having to get out there. I am just throwing some things out there. I just keep thanking God that this is one of the small biz owner problems that are not directly affecting me. I still know to an extent because I was in their shoes. I can almost guarantee you that even though things are slower than slow right now, there are still people coming in looking for donations—another big drain on small business. I’ve often thought people should really leave the small businesses alone and go door to door to the people who have 9 to 5 jobs and know exactly what their income will be every week? Right now, the small businesses may not be bringing in much of anything but still have building payments, rent, insurance, inventory, employee paychecks, utilities, chamber dues, and a whole list of other things that I’m probably forgetting—just one of the ugly sides to being a business owner. Wow, sorry, didn’t mean to get off track. I was just putting out there that I truly feel for my small biz friends NOW and ALWAYS. It can be tough, and it can make you question why in the world you ever wanted to do it? Maybe the last part was just me? Lol, The creative small business is a whole other animal. The business part can steal your creativity. But again…maybe that was just me! Anyway…if you are in a position to or want to aren’t afraid to leave the house… I’m sure your local small businesses would love to see you or have you shop online with them! Just my 2 cents for the day!

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Maurices Obsession Part 2

Ok, so when we left off, I was hanging my head low for caving and buying more clothes. At least until I found that my husband and son went shopping for a bull and ended up buying two! So back to where this original post began. It was supposed to be about thrifting, lol. And after we left Maurices, it was. My daughter does not enjoy the thrift stores so much, but we did end up finding something for her to take home to her boyfriend. We can get back to that later. Good Will was first. I don’t know what they have going on there! I haven’t been to it a year or 2, or 3? But I do not remember it being this good! I don’t know if they are getting seconds from somewhere or what. I usually would go into these places looking for furniture. I do not need any currently, thank goodness because they had none to speak of. I asked the clerk if they still sell furniture. She said yes, but it sells just about as quickly as it comes in. Oh well, I found so many other treasures! I didn’t NEED anything, but I did end up with some goodies. I actually did a live video on my Facebook page this morning, showing what I ended up bringing home with me. I took lots of pictures as I walked through the store and posted them once I got out to my vehicle. It was so much fun! Everyone wanted to know where I was and kept saying that they wanted to come shop at my Good Will! I think I took over 40 pictures here. And there was so much I didn’t take a picture of. I wish I could go pickin every week! But I have no need for all of it! Is there such a thing a Thrift Store Personal Shopper? Is this a thing? Could I make it a thing? How fun would it be to rent a big old 15 passenger van or a big bus and take some of your girlfriends and go junkin! I personally think it would be amazing! Maybe someday I will arrange that! Then we hit The Crossing Thrift Store on the other side of town. It didn’t disappoint either. And it had more furniture. But I didn’t buy any. See! I can occasionally be strong! Their prices aren’t as low as I really need them to be to make much of a profit, so that helps me stay strong. I really need to figure out when their half-price days are! They did have this massive hutch that could have been awesome, but it was $200. It would have been a ton of work to paint. I was thinking more of sanding the whole piece and see what it looked like after that and possibly seal it then? Extra distressing in the natural wear areas? That would have been my vision anyway! This was where we found a wooden bulldozer. My daughter’s boyfriend is a heavy equipment operator, so this was screaming his name. Plus he had been sick all week and not able to go outside and work with the real thing so I told her it would be nice for her to get it for him because he could at least have it in the house with him, lol, and be a little “pick me up” for him. I think it was a hit. I also passed up a gorgeous set of dishware. Barely. I didn’t get too much, just a few things to do for some future “lives” and some Easter décor, but I had a ball! While I was in Macomb, my friend Jen asked if I could grab something she had ordered while I was there. No problem. And we even made it back to Carthage to give it to her before she left work. But while I was there, I noticed she had Maurice’s coupons on her desk. See, I just can’t escape it! I haven’t received snail mail coupons from them for a very long time. But I do get their emails, and their ads strategically placed next to my emails and in my Facebook feed and texting. I guess I’m just a paperless customer. Jen knows all about my clothing hoarding tendencies, and we were talking about it. She was showing me what she liked in her little coupon mailer. CRAP! They had the cutest little pair of plaid capris that were NOT in the store! Dang it, Jen!!! When I left there, I had to run home and do a few things before we went out for supper. We got back around 10:30, and I worked on the computer until about midnight. But once in bed, I still can’t quit thinking about those capris. So I’m scrolling and adding them to my cart and a few other things. But as I’m getting ready to check out…I realize that I don’t know how to use Rakuten from my phone, and I wanted to take advantage of the 2% cashback. Long story short (way too late, right) I got up at 5 to let the dogs out and ended up staying up and got in here to the computer and got to my cart and added the pieces I had added to my phone. Of course, there were already a few things in there. I did pretty well. I got some excellent clearance prices and a couple of BOGO pieces. I did not pay full price for anything (honestly, I rarely do, but I’m calling it a win here!). I purposefully went through the cart before I ordered and removed anything that was not on sale. It’s a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. One more thing… I had plenty of time to fill loosely in the salesgirl about my clothing overflow. She gave me a card (no, it was not for clothes-aholics anonymous) that told me about their clothing drive coming up! At first, I said, “I never said I wanted to get rid of any.” Still, then I remembered that I probably have six boxes of clothes already ready to go somewhere. And this is through WIU and is given to women in need if I understood her correctly. So…if I make another trip to a Maurices March 15-the 22nd, I will be gifting them with a bunch of their lightly used clothes to gift to women who can use them. And in return, I get 30% off my total regular-priced purchase from March 30th through April 5th! Then I could get the jacket that I wanted to go with the capris but didn’t want to pay full price for! As long as it isn’t already on sale or sold out! I’m such a loser! Clothing ban again 1,2,3 starting NOW!!!

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Maurices… I’m STILL Obsessed.

I cannot tell you the last time I went thrifting before this little unplanned adventure! I knew the day before that my hubby and son would be gone for lunch the next day. I also knew that I needed to take a load of Spring and Easter decor over to Macomb to my friend’s store, All In Vinyl and Boutique. I love to be home to cook for my guys for lunch (well…I enjoy spending time with them over the lunch hour, not so much the cooking and clean up part). But knowing they would be gone the next day, I decided to get my SUV loaded up to head the next day. As we are getting ready to leave, my daughter asks if we can go to Maurices while we are there. I knew she would ask! Maurices is quite possibly my favorite clothing store and has been since I was in High School. I always find way too much that I like there. If I had to guess, I would imagine that 80% of my wardrobe is from there. I might have an addiction! If you read my last blog post, you know that I have an overabundance of clothes at this point and have sworn off buying any more for a lonnnngggg time. But my daughter asked, and she has a wedding to go to this weekend, so I had to take her, right? And I did have two pairs of jeans to return so I could do that, too. Win, win. So…we go to Macomb and deliver all the goods. And grab Mexican for lunch and then we go to Maurices. I need to back up a little. First thing in the morning, as I am checking emails and answering questions…Maurices is at it. Sending me emails. Ads to the right of my emails. Ads in my Facebook feed. I had told myself to steer clear as much as possible. Try not to look. Well, it caught my eye. It was kind of a black cheetah print top under this unique blue color cardigan. I thought surely I have something close enough that would cure me of needing it. I tried to forget it. Back to entering Maurices. I march in with the intention of returning my jeans and MAYBE getting something else for about the same amount. A couple of things derailed this thought process. One…my daughter wanted to try on. UGH. It is the rarest of times that I will try on in the store. I get hot. I sweat. The clothes want to stick to me, and it’s just not a good time. I would much rather take them home and return later if need be. The second problem…they had so much new spring attire! Bright colors! New strappy cami’s that the sales girl told me that she loves and wears with almost everything! And florals galore!!! So, while my daughter is taking forever, I’m trying to look but not look. Know what I mean? If I don’t look directly at the clothes, we won’t be magnetized together kind of thing? Chatting with the salesgirl, in my mind, I’m thinking, “ok, I liked that combo I saw online this morning.” I bet I can get that for less than the cost of what I am returning. I describe the shirt and cardi set to the salesgirl. Not well enough, though. I finally found one of them in the store and had to look online to show her the other one. They have it too! But only in Navy Large. Would I like them to order it for me? I sure would, but I have no idea when I would make it back to Macomb, and I can order it from home since it was already in my cart, lol. “We can ship it to your house for free if you would like? It is $10 off of $50 today”. CRAP. You now I would like that very much. Ok, let get the one that’s here and order the other one so I can get the discount. Daughter still trying on…me still wandering with my side-eye. I didn’t even realize until it was out of my mouth, “is it $20 of off $100 then?” Stop it. It was $30 off of $100. I wait with bated breath to find out if she is going to tell me that it is $50 off of $150. Sure enough, it is! I have no shame at this point. Challenge accepted. All bets were off. I put some things on the counter and had her order a total of three items that will be here in a few days. I’m not proud. At all. Hopefully, publicly shaming myself will help someone else be stronger! I did only end up spending about $78. When I got home and realized my husband and son bought two bulls, I didn’t feel quite as bad! More on this shopping shame and the rest of our day in the next post! See you there!

Flippin Furniture Blog 0

Dressing Room, Cry For Help

This has been a long time coming. Out of necessity mainly. Can I tell you a secret? I LOVE clothes. My name is Tammy, and I am a clothing-aholic. No kidding. I USED to love shopping…in stores. In the last several years, I have lost my thrill of shopping in the store. I think it’s because I feel like I need to be working. And I love what I do so I would instead be working than shopping most days! But that does not mean that I don’t shop. It just means that it has gotten way too easy for me to buy from the comfort of my own home. No need to drive 30 minutes plus one way and shoot half a day or even a full day. These little ads pop up on my Facebook all the time. It’s like they KNOW me! Cute tops. Frayed jeans. Purses. Shoes. And then there are the sale emails all the time. Usually, I don’t buy unless it’s a good sale, or at least A deal, or at the very least not too expensive 😉 BUT…as y’all as my witness, I am cutting back drastically. This has been an eye-opener for me. My clothes are out of control. Many dressers and multiple closets, and I can never find anything. Stop the insanity!!! I tried to do this about 3-4 years ago. I had my husband fashion me a clothing rack out of an old cattle feeder. It is not light. It was a biatch to get up the stairs. I’m pretty sure there are noticeable scars in my house from its delivery upstairs, but I must have blocked them out. Anyway, …3-4 years ago, we got the cattle feeder/clothing rack upstairs and ready for me to adorn it with all my clothes…or as many as it could hold. No problem. I filled it all up. Getting all my clothes out of the walk-in closet meant that my husband and son could now share it, and it would be so handy for them, right off the bathroom. Perfect right!?! Totally selfless of me also!!! Well, it was wonderful in theory. Until I realized I would have to go upstairs anytime, I needed something to wear. UGH. How had I overlooked that? Or did I want it so badly that I rationalized it to fruition? Either way, no Bueno. Slowly my clothes started filtering their way back into the closet downstairs. First, it started with my work clothes. “I’ll just keep a few things downstairs.”Whatever got washed never seemed to make it back upstairs. Over the last few years, I found myself never going upstairs, like hardly at all. But I also found myself still shopping for clothes. So mostly, I have ended up with a full wardrobe upstairs and an entire wardrobe downstairs. The downstairs walk-in closet was bursting at the seams. My son went through his clothes in there while I was on a business trip a couple weeks ago, to thin it out because he was tired of not being able to find anything. YIKES I had planned to start this project a few months ago, but we plan, God laughs. It’s a work in progress now. I am always a work in progress. Fingers crossed, I can do this. I know the exercise of going up and down the stairs won’t be bad for me! After lugging clothes back upstairs this time, and adding a few more garment holders, the majority of my clothes are back upstairs. I am desperately going to try to make this work. It’s like my own little store up there now! It’s really nothing pretty. I painted the turquoise wall white. Changed out the rug. It’s a lot of clothes. I am not going to do a massive day of trying on everything and trying to thin it out more. I am just going to start a box of things that I don’t want as I go along. I have sorted some out already, believe it or not. I wish it had an adorable chandelier where the ceiling fan is, but dang it, I am a sweater, and I need my fan. And I wish I had shelving all along the walls and everything fancied up, but this will have to do. And now you know why I have put a self-inflicted ban on myself to not buy any more clothes for a very long time! My vision was to be something a little more like this ? but this ? was my reality!

Flippin Furniture Blog 0