Before and After: Elephant Side Table Take 2

I have this elephant table that was acquired this weekend.  Painted it a Krylon semi-gloss white.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I feel like this elephant before was all like "I feel so dirty please clean me" and now he's all "I'm so fresh and so clean clean," and honestly I inhaled enough spray paint fumes today he might have really said that.

I know I have been doing a lot of elephant side tables lately, but really, can one ever have too many?  Style it up pretty with a tray full of fabulous items or just use it to set your drink and a magazine on.  Perfection.

This guy is in the booth, FINDS, for $70.

CURATE: SALE!!!

Yo homegirls and boys.  CURATE is having it's first sale!  Cyber Monday  approach-eth and I have responded accordingly.  In the Etsy shop enter code CYBER10 at check out to receive 10% off the entire store.  And because I just went for a post-Thankgsiving run to combat the amounts of pie I ate yesterday I am feeling some post workout endorphins and I've decided to have the sale last a whole week until Dec. 2.  Tell yo' frans and THANK YOU for all of your support!!

Small Business Saturday?

Have you heard of small business Saturday?  Well apparently this coming Saturday will be the 2nd annual small business Saturday, an idea that has evidently sprung from the popularity of "Black Friday."  It purports that "when we shop small, it will be huge."  

Now that I am a small business owner of my Etsy shop CURATE and the small retail booth here in my native Raleigh, NC FINDS I perked up when I saw this Small Business Saturday page on Facebook.  I think it is a really cool idea, and if nothing else a sign of the times.  You know I am all for getting bargains and deals which are sure to be plentiful on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but I think it's important to support the smaller, local economies.

Maybe a good way to spend time with your family this weekend and a great way to support your town.

Pass it on!

CURATE: New Items from South Carolina

New in the Etsy shop from my travels down in South Carolina this past weekend!

Beautiful 5 opening white porcelain vase

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LOVE these brass pineapple candlestick holders.  Perfect for a holiday table!

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Vintage toast rack/letter holder

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cah-yute japanese import little salt and pepper shakers

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And so many others, be sure to check. it. out.

Tweeting the Good Stuff

Today I will be live tweeting all of my finds here in South Carolina for CURATE and FINDS! To get a sneak peek or to claim an item follow along on twitter @eviebdixon !

YouTube Friday: Don't Stand So Close To Me

Does anyone else find it hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week?  I think I might need to learn how to make these...

or these....

or get a little of this action going on...

beautimous.  

People always ask me since I'm a vegetarian if Thanksgiving is not fun for me (ie no turkey lurkey).  WRONG.  It is very fun for me.  1) The holiday is not about the food, it's about getting together and counting blessings 2) my parents make some bomb-diggity vegetarian sides and 3) I plan on consuming mass quantities of vino whilst watching football and the parade.  Don't even ask me if I plan on eating tofurky (tofu turkey) that mess is gross.

Anywho, A and I have BIG weekend plans...we are going south...south of the border...the North Carolina border that is.  We are traveling through South Carolina this weekend hoping to pick up some great stuff for both his and my Etsy shops and for the retail space FINDS.  Imagine us like American Pickers only less...annoying.

I am totally going to make us a road trip mix too...A will be lucky if there is not some Beyonce on there.  

This song will probably be on there.  It is one of our faves to belt out in the car.

God I love Sting.

Have a good weekend everyone!

FINDS: A Peacock Blue Chair Before and After

We had story time a while back about the magic of Olde English scratch polish.  Well let's consider this chapter 2.  Chap dos.  Chapter-o two-o.  Ok, so I found this chair in a thrift store...a very secret thrift store that has all sorts of goodies and I'm afraid to tell other people about it.  This chair was ahhhhmazing but the legs needed a little work.

BEFORE:

and 

AFTER:

Not bad eh?  The best results could be achieved with Restore-a-finish but I thought this was a nice quick fix.  

Let's get a look at this beautifully restored chair shall we?

Barrel back, peacock blue, carved wood feet.  

I'm in love.  I put a grey greek key pillow on it, but a whole bunch of other funky fabrics would look great on it.  OR just plain white, it's so versatile like that.

It's going in the booth.  Just $75 and this beauty could be yours!

FINDS: Weekend Small Town Finds

This weekend ended up being a huge success.  A and I went to an estate sale that was touted as a "Mid-Century Modern" bonanza and it was all that and a bag of chips (imagine me shaking my head and snapping my fingers three times in a row).  I had seen one item in particular on the sale's website that I had my eyes on.  It was the only thing that I really, really had to have.  I had a number in my head that I would want it for and if it was anywhere near my magic number I would get it.  A and I ended up being the second and third person in line so when the sale opened at 9 I raced in and saw that my item was in my magic number price range and I snagged it in the blink of an eye.  I think maybe you would have too...

This chinoiserie faux bamboo mirror was only $75!  Different versions of this mirror go for a minimum of $300 on eBay!  I was glad I was so quick on the draw, apparently many people had come from far and wide for a chance to get this mirror.  It made getting up at 6:30 on my Saturday worth it!  I was going to sell it in the booth, but I think it needs to live with me for a while.

Driving around this small town in NC after the estate sale also yielded some goodies.  I actually think goodies might be an understatement seeing as I sat down in these chairs and did a giddy little bouncing up and down dance when I got them back home.

I spotted these on the side of the road outside of a "One Stop Shop," whatever that means.  These minty green velvet wingback chairs called to me with a siren song.  The men who had them seemed like they were more at home with trucks and fishing poles than finely upholstered furniture, but I was able to talk them down to a deliciously irresistible price.  However, I almost had a heart attack when they lifted them into the car with their lit, ashing, cigarette dangling a mere inch from the upholstery.   

These will be going to the booth...only because they clash with my couch, otherwise I would have to maybe keep these too.  

I need to stop this trend of wanting to keep everything I find...I mean the name of the booth is FINDS not HOARDS.  

What did you do this weekend?  Did you get any good "finds"?

YouTube Friday: The Greatest

This weekend will be nice and relaxing since I'm taking the day off and getting mah hurr did and working on the booth.  Tonight my Carolina Tar Heels will be playing a basketball game on an aircraft carrier and I couldn't be more excited to watch!  Tomorrow A and I will be hitting up maybe the most ahmazing looking estate sale I have ever seen....

It is the house that time forgot.  I mean would you look at that carpet!  Lots of mid-century modern goodies to be gotten.

These have been on my radar as well.  Iomoi iPhone covers.  To die for...

I know right?

Ok.  Some Friday tunes.  A friend of mine posted this yesterday and I forgot how much I love this song.  Enjoy and everyone have a great weekend! 

FINDS: A Booth Update and a New Find

A little peek at the booth in its current state.  Mom and I were finally able to get over to the Cheshire Cat Gallery and get things set up a little bit more.  We are calling this table our "Holid-ay Part-ay" table with all of our barware goodies.  I also added this little corner with my newly refreshed side table:

We put some shades on the lamps.  Added a real plant in a very lovely brass planter.  That pillow was hand stitched by moi from a vintage handkerchief way back in the day when I was still dreaming about having a booth...can't believe I finally do!

Also, just found this piece in a thrift store on a day where all furniture was 50%...I mean...my jaw just about dropped to the floor...

I pick it up tomorrow and bring it to the booth...that is if I can't contain myself and have to paint it...

I am still pinching myself!

Before and After: Drexel Side Table

It is the week of white paint before and afters.  I could write an ode to white paint.  It would be Shakespearian in nature and Krylon-esque in content.  So here is the back story.  Found this piece piled, I mean it was piled, on top of a whole bunch of other furniture.

There it is...upside down...buckled into my back seat.  

What attracted me to it was the campaign-esque hardware on the corners, and these fantastic pulls that had a bamboo feel, which I get giddy about.  I looked at the drawers and saw that they had dovetailing so I knew it was a well constructed piece albeit the fact that it had water damage, a dingy yellow color, rusted hardware, and some spots of....something.  ewww.  It also didn't hurt that on the inside of the drawer it said it was made by Drexel.

I thought about painting it a crazy color, but decided that it needed a classic treatment...some Krylon dual primer+color spray paint annnnnd....

There she is in the booth!

I shined up the hardware with a metallic wax by Rub N' Buff.  

It is for sale now in Raleigh over at the Cheshire Cat Gallery...

That is, after I removed some places where my black jeans decided to stain the white paint... I mean I know I like cheap jeans, but daggum it!

CURATE: Bracelets

It's raining vintage gold toned bracelets in CURATE.  It's not as cool as when it rains men, but these won't ever leave their towels on the bathroom floor or drink all the milk in the fridge...yes you know who you are  :)

HERE

HERE

HERE

They would also make for great Christmas gifts...or holiday gifts...or just because...

Before and After: Elephant Side Table

I found this guy on a recent trip to Greensboro.  Someone had half-way and half-assed painted him.  I knew he needed to get spiffed up.

BEFORE:

Yes, this is what we call a bad color scheme with an even sloppier paint job.  This elephant is not fit to be living inside where he so desperately wants to be...

AFTER:

Ah-thank you white paint.  After a fresh coat of glossy white he was placed in the booth, given his cute purple leopard-spot FINDS tag, and then my friend R purchased him.  

It's important to find good homes for stray elephant side tables.  I love a good second chance story with a happy ending.

The Booth: First Pictures

Yesterday was a long day.  It began by visiting my parent's storage unit where I had stashed an old thrift store find of mine.  I got it without having any space or need for it, but when you see it you will understand why I went to the trouble....

The first part of the day was spent using Restore-a-Finish to get the paint and scratches off of this un-loved beauty.  We restored it to it's original glory and off it went to the booth.  

And here it is in it's eeeeeaaaarrrllly stages.  There is a lot of work to be done.  We need to have some peg boards made and painted so we can hang things like that distressed faux bamboo mirror in the corner...

Some of the merch in the chippendale secretary.  Including these lamps...

SO excited to finally have a space!  Tonight it hit me though....I technically now have 3 jobs.  My real job, my Etsy shop, and now the booth.  

Things just got real people.