I love people who know what they want, working with them is what makes my job enjoyable and so much fun. Finishing a job may take a while because I use what’s already been used and therefore I need to find my material before I can jump right into a project. But once I got everything, it will be finished within a day or two. It’s been wonderful working with Courtney who ordered this custom island for her kitchen. And I thank her for providing pictures from her kitchen after she put it inside (and had to take out the entrance door to get it into the house!) and decorated it so beautifully!

So here’s the work in progress (its a 3x5x3 inch table, it’s massive!), entirely built from fence wood, poles & pallet wood:

And here’s the end result at its new home –CUTE!!

A couple of months ago, I was asked to create an illustration for an ice machine company called “Easy Ice“. I thought that their concept was awesome (I can definitely tell because I am a chef) –it’s a monthly subscription based concept. I can’t think of a company that does not own an ice machine and I am sure they all know what it means to maintain one… So Easy Ice takes care of all that. Pretty cool concept, I think (if you own one, you definitely have to look into that!).

So, when they asked me to create a cartoon for them, I was super-excited. They had specific ideas what they wanted, so I just breathed life into the little ice cube, gave him a face, some cool sunglasses, feet and legs. And the Iceologist was born!

I am so honored that they chose me to do their illustrations and that they trusted me to get it done the way they imagined. You can find him on Twitter and Facebook with his cool sunglasses. Don’t forget to follow!

And then my personal highlight: Chef Robert Irvine loves Easy Ice too. If you are into food and great chefs on TV/Food Network, then you definitely know him with Restaurant Impossible. He’s Easy Ice‘s new face because he thinks -just like I do- that it’s a great concept. And we have quite a lot in common when you read our bios
Go check out Easy Ice and watch their videos too; the Irvine-chimp video is hilarious!

Look below Chef Irvine’s photo, there’s another little ice cube with Irvine features I made:

And the bed frame I found last week is almost done too. I need to work a little more on the detail and it’s ready to go to a new home. My work in progress:

Want to read more about my headboard-bench projects? Just follow the links to “Turning a bed frame into a bench”, “Upcycling a rocking chair”, “Repurposed Futon”.

I decided not to put drawers back inside, instead I added shelves and kept the front open –I’d put baskets inside. I sanded the outside pretty well, replaced some of the damaged sides, painted it white on the outside and distressed it a little to give it the shabby look. For sale at the Third Monday Trade Days, April 12-14 (I should charge $1,000 counting the hours I spent on it… but I think I’ll price it at $140).

At home, we took the whole thing apart, removed the record player, loudspeakers and I started restoring the gutted shell. Here’s the result how far we have come. We are planning to turn it into a modern media player, replace the loudspeakers and add an iPod and other stuff. Will keep you posted

All kinds of jobs have kept me busy and my “how-to” photos are piling up in my pic file. It’s been an incredible time with weekend shows, antique markets, trade days and custom orders for my wonderful customers. Thank you so much my friends for liking my work and equipping your homes with my items. Without you, I couldn’t do my upcycling business.

So, here’s finally a picture series how I used old balusters (I got at the Horse Flea) to use as table legs!

So here are the beauties:

I cut them to the same length

My husband brought those big wooden crates they use to ship heavy equipment from overseas, from work and I reuse them for the table top:

And then I attached the poles by gluing and then adding screws:

Almost done, just needs some paint!

And then I forgot to take pictures how I painted the chevron on it (but check HERE for another chevron design on a table)…

So what do you think? What would you use as table legs?

My friend Kevin owns an antique store, Lillian Kelleys Design, in Paris and what would be a better idea to go and visit? I was amazed what a great store he has (doesn’t surprise me, because he’s an awesome guy, I knew his store would be great!). So should you go to Paris, you have to visit, it’s right downtown at the historic square.

Even though I am originally from a town that is only 3 hours away from Paris, France, I have never been there (only at the airport which doesn’t really count). So I can’t really compare but I wouldn’t anyways because Paris, TX has its own charm in a weird but good way.
It took me 1.5 hours to get there from McKinney. When I got out of the car at the historic square, ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” came out of the loudspeakers that they’d placed all around the square. Hahaha!!!! A place with sense of humor I thought and I laughed. And I kept on laughing or let’s say, I was highly entertained the entire afternoon.

This place definitely has potential, interesting architecture and an Eiffel Tower with a cowboy hat on top. I didn’t take a lot of photos, only had my iPhone with me and I missed the cemetery with the Jesus statue in cowboy boots I guess I will have to come back because Paris is a very happy place.

Here are some impressions from my visit today:

And HERE some funny info about Paris in Texas!

This month, I have: coffee tables, kitchen & dining tables, school chair, newly upholstered chairs, pillows, frames, framed potato sacks, pallet shelves, a dresser, bookcases, bunting, headbands and much more. Come by and visit if you’re nearby, I’m at Loftice Lane, booth #279

Here’s a little diy how to transfer an image to furniture. First, print out a graphic that you like. Next you turn the paper and paint it with oil pastels, I like black when the image is going to be black.

Then, place the paper on the furniture in your preferred spot, make sure you don’t move it. You can use painter’s tape to keep it in place. Using a sharp pen, start outlining the image to transfer the oil pastel on the surface.
When you’re done, remove the paper and paint the image with paint and a brush, and done! When it’s dried, I sand it a little bit to give it that old, worn look and finally seal it with a protective finish (like polycrylic).

I will have this one for sale at the next Third Monday Trade Days in McKinney, March 15-17, come and see me if you live nearby!

And so here it is, a kitchen table with turquoise chevron pattern.
I first built the frame for the table, then added the poles and finally attached the tabletop. I whitewashed the surface and after it was dry, I taped the chevron pattern on top (which took me more than an hour). Then painted the turquoise chevron.

After removing the tape and waiting for the paint to dry, I roughly sanded the top to give it that worn look. I painted the frame a darker gray and finally, I added a coat of protective finish.