Do You Have An Obession?

I seem to have a small obsession. It might appear that I have an obsession with a collection. Well, it's not really an obsession of a collection for myself. It could be fuel for someone else's collection obsession though, if I'm lucky!

You've seen the pictures all over the magazines and Pinterest where people have a very full crock or basket of vintage rolling pins. I have to say that I kinda have rolling pin envy when I see those pictures. But honestly, I don't have anywhere to put them. So how do I get the thrill of being able to buy rolling pins without having to find a place in my kitchen for them?

I decorate them and sell them! 

(Insert a picture of all of the rolling pins in a holder here-if there isn't one, then I've been slacking and didn't get it done by the time this was published)

It's kind of like the best of both worlds. I can shop for them and have the thrill of the hunt, while not having to worry if I have too many or a place to keep them. Well, I still have to worry about where to keep them until I sell them, but if I'm lucky, it's only temporary.

This is the first one I made. I was happy to see it sell last year.
 

Then I had another older rolling pin that I thought would be cute all painted up too.

I haven't had it in any shows yet, so it goes in my next one that's coming up soon.

 

I wanted to point out that I think it's a great way to display a family keepsake. Not that I have any from my own grandmothers, but it would make them even more special if they had the family name or the grandmother's name painted on it.

After doing the first two in the same design, I decided to change it up a little with this design.

 This one fits a little more into the primitive look.

 This photo looks a little more grey than the tan-ish color it really it is.

Some of you may be gasping at the fact that I'm completely covering up a vintage rolling pin with paint. It's OK. In the case with this last one, it already had quite a bit of paint splatter and paint smudges on it, so I didn't think it was a big deal. I'm thinking I did it a favor.

On the topic of rolling pins - I was going to work on another rolling pin from my stash and I noticed that one of them is really heavy, has bearings in it and it has a stamp on one end that says Foley. I did a little research and learned that it must be a highly collectible rolling pin that was made from the 1920 to the 1960's. Really?!!

They're going for $10+, but mostly double that on Ebay & Etsy, and that doesn't include the $10+ for shipping! Crazy. 

Nope. I don't think I'll be painting this one up.




  
Parties I'm linking to:

Vintage Style Cutting Board

Does anyone frequent here enough to remember my March 2, 2013 post on the 3 treasures I found at my local thrift store?

These 3 treasures?

Well typically, I'm a huge procrastinator! If I don't start on something immediately, then I tend to let things sit around, at least until I get a good swift kick to jump start me. It's usually deadlines or I've been made to feel guilty by my husband (who is a bigger procrastinator than me most times) that gets me motivated to finish stuff.

Heh! Not this time! I actually had one of those items in that picture done BEFORE I even posted about buying them, and I didn't wait that long to post about buying them either - like 2 days.

And truth be known.....I now have a 2nd one done at the time of this post writing! Woo hoo!! I'm on a roll friends! 


But today, it's all about this one

Just like the title said, the Cutting Board. It doesn't look very vintage here though, does it? (for all the admirers of the wood scoop, stay tuned...)

I love the old look it had, however, it was pretty pale in color. I adored its versatile looking style. It looked like a cutting board and was all marked up like it had been used as such, but it also looked like it could be made into an old wood sign. 

Would you believe I actually passed on it the first time I seen it in the thrift store? Luckily, so did everyone else that had been in there during the week that passed. 

 

Ta-da!! 

Doesn't it look more interesting & all rustic now? I really like how it looks sitting there on top of the Primitive Style Breadbox I painted up last year.

The large gaps are what really made me want this slab of wood. 

I like the primitive look it has now. I tried to make it look as authentic as possible. Since it was a cutting board, I wanted a design that gave it that country kitchen look and feel. I chose Flour as my jumping off point. Since I usually use my own wood cutting board to cut my home made noodles on, which of course, requires flour. I don't even remember if I found an image online that said Old Glory Flour or if I just used the "Old Glory" part and added an "e" at the end of the word old, then the word flour, plus the scroll & the stars, but it must have been something similar to that. I created the design in my Silhouette Cameo Designer Studio program. Gosh, I love that thing!

I stenciled on the design in black paint, distressed it, then stained over everything with Minwax Aged Oak gel stain and sealed it with a spray on Matte sealer.

This gives you a pretty good idea of how used and loved this cutting board really was. Who ever donated it probably would have kept it if they knew it could be made into this, don't you think?

I hope it finds a new happy home that will appreciate it and display it proudly. Of course, if it didn't find a new home, it's safe to say it looks pretty good in mine.


  
Parties I'm linking to:

Craigslist is NOT for the faint of heart!

I'm sure sometimes when you come to read my posts, they may leave the impression of me standing on a soap box (preferably a vintage one) spouting my displeasure with certain misfortunes in my life. Well, brace yourself - here we go again.

As the title implies, this is going to be a rant about Craigslist. Not Craigslist in itself, but the sellers/buyers that you encounter through this site. I guess it's like the Walmart of the internet, you're gonna get all kinds. 

I've bought and sold a bit on CL over the past few years, and typically have not had any problems - until the past 2 weeks. On 2 separate occasions I was the FIRST to reply to TWO separate ads for furniture. The first time was for a set of tables that very closely resembled this table I had done last year. I have regretted selling this table to this day.

French Postage End Table

So imagine my excitement when I came across an entire set for my own home! Long story short, the man sold them out from under me claiming he got his emails mixed up. Really? How do you mix up emails when each one is different and shows a date & time? Yes. I want to call you a few choice names.

The next one gets even better. 

I found 2 oak end tables posted late Sunday evening. $5 each! woo hoo! I know I was the first to call, by phone. Talked to the man & MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO PICK UP for a day & time that HE set up with me for Tues. night (he told me they couldn't do it on Monday). It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to this place. With the price of gas and our time in a pick up truck with 3 little girls, it's not a cheap trip or a joy ride.

So now we're close to the house, but when I call the guy to ask exactly where his house is, he proceeds to tell me that the tables are sold and that "he got confused with all the calls." WTF! How do you get confused when YOU set up the time with the FIRST caller? (ME) I will tell you what, if I didn't have 3 little girls in the back seat of my truck, I would have unloaded on him with words that would have made a sailor blush!! I was H-O-T hot!

Why are these people doing this?? Is someone else telling them that they'll give them more $$ for these items if they sell them to them instead? That would be my guess, but you know what? That's wrong. If YOU set the price and YOU make a deal with someone already, then that item is sold and that's the right thing to do. I don't feel as though I should have to pay for their stupidity. I hope Karma comes back to bite them in @rss! I do believe in Karma. I even ask myself if I'm getting paid back for something I did wrong to someone else. If I did, then I didn't realize it at the time.

The story doesn't end totally bad though. Apparently Karma felt Murphy's Law had had enough fun with me for the time being and decided to step in on my behalf. Bless her heart (I'm assuming Karma is a female, cuz they don't say "paybacks are a b!tch" for nothin'- wink wink)

As we were sitting somewhere near the vicinity of where the person lived that had these $5 tables, we spotted a bunch of junk sitting out by the trash cans there by the road.  There was some good stuff there and my hubby hopped out & proceeded to dig through all the stuff. He has been curb shopping looong before I ever started. He got some speakers, scrap metal and some yard tool we'll try to sell in a garage sale.

Here is what I picked out.

Look at all this good stuff we got!! I didn't get any tables, but I did get two of my favorite style of chairs!! YES! One chair has a broken support, but it's fixable and I'll make it into a decorative planter chair, but the other one is in great condition. 

I think the birdcase is home made, but it's still kind of neat and needs a little work too. The basket with the silk plant inside was included. Not sure of what kind of condition it's in yet.

 

I seen an idea on Pinterest that I want to try with this galvanized tub that was sitting there too. It may not turn out as nice as the one I seen, but I want to give it a shot anyway.  Not to mention, you just don't pass up a FREE tub!

This metal mailbox. I LOVE the name on the side! (maybe a little clue that someone was watching out for us with this find) I think I'll keep it there. It's another Pinterest idea I hope to try to make.

 This dirty, grungy dartboard that is in otherwise new condition.

It even came with darts that were new in the package. I may clean it up to resell or gut it and redo it more rustic. The selling it is easier. 

If you look on the seat of one of the chairs, there's a couple of wire hangers with the cardboard tubes. I used to throw these away, but now they have a new purpose for me and I'll be showing what I do with them in the near future.

I just love the back style of these chairs! I want to keep one.

 

I guess sellers/buyers on Craigslist don't have to care how badly they handle their dealings, since there is no accountability on that site, like on Ebay or Etsy.

So, has everybody had at least one bad experience on Craigslist or have I just hit a couple of bad ones in just 2 weeks?

 

  

Linking up to these parties:

A Crackle Painted Rolling Pin

I told myself that I was done with this. That I was not going to do this crackle painting thing anymore. And yet, here I am doing even more. What is my problem?

Part of my problem is Pinterest and seeing all the people that are pinning my crackle painted projects with the stars on them. THAT'S what my problem is. Someone had pinned this little number I did last year.

And you know what they put in their comments? They said they would love to see what this design would look like on a rolling pin. Well, that was all I needed to get me going. So, you know I had to make a rolling pin in this design, don't you? 

Oh yes. I did.

I keep saying that I'm not doing crackle painting anymore. It's not really a good seller for me, but for some reason, it draws quite a bit of attention without creating a desire to buy it. It's kind of a nuisance to do, with little financial reward. LOL! Maybe I should try selling this stuff on Ebay. It seems to be a hot ticket on there, at least for now.

 
I still have several rolling pins sitting around waiting to have something done with them. Some are old, some not. I'm getting them done, slowly but surely.
 
I sort of have an interesting story with this one. Ok, maybe it's not all that interesting - to you guys.

This rolling pin was my first choice to do the crackle paint & star design on. But then I noticed that stamped word "Foley" on the end. I didn't remember seeing it when I bought it. I'm sure it came from either a thrift store or a garage sale for no more than a couple of bucks.

I'm not a rolling pin expert (or any other kind of expert for that matter) so I did a little research on the name. It seems as though it was a well made rolling pin that was produced from the 1920's-1960's before going out of business. It must be a somewhat highly collectible piece because they go for pretty good money (for a rolling pin, that is) on Ebay & Etsy, not to mention the $10+ for shipping! It is quite a heavy rolling pin made from maple wood and the roller portion is larger than normal. It even has ball bearings in the pin mechanism. Mine doesn't even look like it's been used much!

So this little number isn't going to get anything done to it. It's just going to be sold as a vintage collectible, but not for the ridiculous price that they're going for online.

It's been a crazy couple of days around here lately. On a spur of the moment, we drove just over the state line into Michigan last night to look at a smaller enclosed trailer we found for sale. I have to say that unlike campers, those suckers hold their value. I don't understand. They're just an empty box with a couple of doors and a wood floor on 2 wheels. We got a better deal than the asking price and we put some cash down to hold it until we can go get it this weekend. It's going to store my 8 ft. tables and be used to haul my stuff around to the craft shows I do.  I was hoping for a smooth sided one, so I could do my Rustique & Chic logo on the side. However, it has lots of rows of rivets all along the sides. Oh well, I just have to work around that, I guess. 

Oh, and that was after I got up at 5 a.m. to help my 20 year old son make a New York Style cheesecake for a coworker that he lost a bet to (pssst...it was a girl he's kind of sweet on). Mind you, neither he nor I have ever made one of those before. I've eaten plenty, never made any. 

The winner wanted chocolate covered strawberries on top. I have to say that Walmart carries some dipping stuff called Chocolate Lava, or something like that, and it is very good on the strawberries!! Oh my!

No, I didn't get any of the cheesecake, but the reviews were off the charts, I guess. He decided he wanted to make a Vanilla Wafer crumb crust instead of the standard graham cracker crust for his. I guess that got him some bonus points with the winner. ;) We used the crustless cheesecake recipe I found on Pinterest (is there anywhere else to look?) The crustless cheesecake recipe can be found on What2Cook.net. I plan on making one for us when I get a 10" spring form pan. My largest one is 9" and it ain't gonna cut it with this recipe. It definitely needs a 10" pan. I also have to wait until after Alan has his bi-annual blood work done. I'll give my take on how it good it is after that.






Parties I'm linking to:

Thrift Store Goodies

I don't have anything creative to share today, but if you like seeing others thrifty finds, then stick around. 

 It's the beginning of March & there's no sign of spring weather here in northern Indiana. I remember hearing the phrase, "March weather comes in like a lion and out like a lamb." I wouldn't say it's like a lion so much, but it's cold and there's snow on the ground. So that means there are no garage sales going on right now. Bummer. I love garage sales!

What's my alternative?  The thrift store in my town. Oh yeah! I visit it on a pretty regular basis. Like, at least a once a week basis. I mean it IS on the way to Walmart. I have found some really nice stuff in there! Some things are just stupidly priced way too high for a thrift store though. Other things are priced fair or pretty darn cheap! 

I took a donation in on this particular day and they gave me a coupon for 25% off my next purchase! They've never done that before. Yes! Since the coupon was burning a hole in my pocket, so to speak, I decided it couldn't hurt to have a little look around.  

I didn't really get much, but I didn't have to. 
 

I was flipping out over finding this bigger wire sled. I can usually sell sleds that I've decorated up for Christmas at my craft shows. It's painted a metallic gold, but it won't be when I get done with it.
  

After I finally came back to earth after throwing the sleigh in my cart, I quickly seen this old looking cutting board on the next shelf. I just loved the rustic look it had. I had a vision for that and you'll see that in a future post.

I have been on the lookout for rustic scoops. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but I think they're just interesting looking. I don't have any others, except for a cute little aluminum one. I could probably just leave this wooden one alone and not do a thing to it and still sell it, but I have to change it up in some fashion.

  
So like I said, nothing creative today, but if you like checking out other people's treasures, then this might have been an interesting read for you.


  
Parties I'm linking up to: