Upcycled Kitchen Island from Fence Wood and Pallets

Posted by on May 1, 2013 in Blog, Home Décor, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments I LOVE custom orders!! I’ve met Courtney at the Trade Days in McKinney a while ago and she has all these great ideas for her cute house. And I am the one who can build all that stuff. Seems like an excellent pairing! 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...
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Another Repurposed Bed Frame turned into Bench

Posted by on Apr 9, 2013 in Blog, Furniture Restorations, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments I don’t know how many benches form headboards I have built in the past, but I know that they sell like hotcakes! And I enjoy building them A LOT. I just can’t pass a bed frame at the curb. Here are some of my benches I have made and sold over the past two years (I know I made more but I sold some even before I had a chance to take a picture…): And the bed frame I found last...
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Upcycled Balusters to Table Legs

Posted by on Apr 3, 2013 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments I am so sorry, I haven’t put anything new on my blog lately. I am planning to change that (sounds like the new year’s resolutions….) and post more. I am pretty good at keeping my facebook page updated and keep you all informed about my latest projects and I love all your feedback and interaction there. All kinds of jobs have kept me busy and my “how-to” photos are...
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Things I am Selling at The Third Monday Trade Days in March

Posted by on Mar 13, 2013 in Blog, Living & Design, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments Here are a couple of items I will have in my booth this month at the Third Monday Trade Days in McKinney, TX. I’ve been busy curb-shopping, upcycling, cutting, sanding, painting and creating. I hope I can make it all fit into my booth! This month, I have: coffee tables, kitchen & dining tables, school chair, newly upholstered chairs, pillows, frames, framed potato sacks, pallet...
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DIY Turquoise Chevron Dining Table

Posted by on Feb 26, 2013 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments I’ve built several tables before but I haven’t done a kitchen table yet entirely from scratch. So, I got these beautiful poles and my hubby came home from work with some great wooden boards that were used to ship equipment from overseas. 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...
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Repurposed Futon: Now it’s a Bench

Posted by on Feb 24, 2013 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments Here’s my little photo tutorial, how I turned a futon into two benches. First, I deconstructed the heavy futon. Then I cut some of the wood, which I used for the seat later, in half and reassembled it with wood glue and strong screws. I added legs and supported the seat with a plank underneath. Then, I painted the entire bench with silver oil paint. After it was dry, I added a coat of...
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My Bestseller at the Third Monday Trade Days

Posted by on Feb 17, 2013 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments The weekend before the third Monday of the month is probably my most favorite time of every month. I am always having such a great time being at the McKinney flea market with my upcycled furniture and home decor. My neighbors are awesome, I love my returning customers, meeting new shoppers, seeing old friends and making new ones. This weekend, we had such a bad Friday, it was cold, windy and...
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Diy Wooden Candle Holders Pottery Barn Style (just nicer!)

Posted by on Jan 12, 2013 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments I wish I still had a photo from those two church pews that I picked at the curb a couple of months ago. All I have is a picture I took after I turned them into two wall tables; I had them in my booth at the antique market in McKinney last month. They didn’t really grab anyone’s attention -if I don’t sell an item one month then I’d usually bring it back the next month, but...
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Taking Down our Christmas Decoration

Posted by on Jan 10, 2013 in Green Stuff, Living & Design, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments So sad, another christmas is over! Yesterday, I took everything down and stored it in our attic for our next christmas which will be in Portland!! Leaving Texas in October for good, woohoo. So I had to think what should go into the boxes and what I can donate or put on the curb. I decided that all the reds needed to go. When I was little, bright red was my favorite color (my first bike was dark...
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DIY Burlap Pillows, Ruffled Pillows, Pillows from T-Shirts…

Posted by on Jan 6, 2013 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments As I am going through my stash of collected fabrics (old bedsheets, T-shirts, old clothes, burlap, old chef’s jackets, and much more) and I look at the pillows I currently have on the sofa, I started mixing and matching colors and began to think outside the box a little more. So, I am combining all kinds of fabrics with one another but I am keeping in mind that I they need to be washable...
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Great New Items in My Booth This Weekend!

Posted by on Sep 12, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff, Living & Design, Upcycling & DIY | 1 comment I’ve been working hard to get all my items finished that I’ll be selling at the Third Monday Trade Days this month. It’s been a busy summer and I enjoyed fixing, repairing, upcycling, dumpster-diving and street-shopping a lot. My schedule has been filled with markets throughout every single weekend and restoring during the weeks. In between, I took some graphic design jobs and...
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Upcycling an Old Teflon Pan to Clock

Posted by on Sep 2, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments I know how harmful teflon is to health, so I decided to get rid of my teflon pans as soon as I found out (better alternatives: stainless steel, cast iron). They were still good and didn’t have scratches but why wait until they’re gone bad? If you want to make some healthy lifestyle changes, I don’t think you should use up all that crap that’s sitting in your kitchen,...
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Burlap Potato Bags turned into Pretty Artwork

Posted by on Aug 20, 2012 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments I am always sad when the Third Monday Trade Days are over It’s the largest flea market next to Canton here in Northern Texas. In October it’s already a year when I started setting up my booth there. About 6 months ago, I moved my booth and my neighbors are simply awesome! To the right I have “Out on a Wing & a Prayer”, two sisters, and to the right “Now &...
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How to Turn a Tacky Office Chair into Something Beautiful

Posted by on Aug 4, 2012 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments It is HOT HOT HOT in Northern Texas!! I am not complaining here because last year we were in the 100s (40ºC and up) for almost F O U R months. It was just too much. This year, the heat only started just now, and we’re close to August already. And it’s starting to get really hot not before noon. Just saying because I work outside and I need to work as fast as I can before the heat...
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Street Shopping & Dumpster Diving

Posted by on Aug 1, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments It’s funny what kind of things find me when I go street shopping! There are days when I look up the trash days in areas and then I just drive around, on other days, I am on my way to the grocery store or my chiropractor and I pass these. Or I get calls like: hey, in my neighborhood there’s a pile of < insert item >, why don’t you come by and have a look before it’s gone....
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How to Build Rustic Wood Frames

Posted by on Jul 31, 2012 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments Here’s some more projects I do with all the deck and fence wood I gather from the street. I think it’s one of my best-sellers: rustic picture frames. Some of my piled wood inside my garage, waiting to be transformed or upcycled: I just cut 4 pieces with each 2 sides the same length at a 45º angle, then I glue them together and staple them on both sides: A coat of white paint (I get...
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Upcycled Tables from Reclaimed Wood

Posted by on Jul 30, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff, Upcycling & DIY | 1 comment My favorite shopping mall is the street! Some women love shoes, I love weathered wood. Whenever someone is taking a fence down in the neighborhood, I am the first one to show up and pick it up. And I am their favorite street shopper. Most people are delighted because more often than not, during trash days, it doesn’t get picked up and sits on the streets for weeks. If they can, they even...
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Upcycling Old Bed Sheets To Curtains

Posted by on Jul 28, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff, Living & Design, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments I am so glad my family is the type “hunters and collectors”! My Mom gave me all those beautiful old bed sheets from my great-grandparents, or maybe even from their parents? They are really beautiful and they were made to last because they had to be passed on to the next generation. And they do! You know how much I preach about recycling and upcycling -these are fairly new terms but...
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Rocking Chair Fix my Style

Posted by on Jun 28, 2012 in Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments So here, I found a rocking chair at the curb -in fact I found parts that may have been a rocking chair. I still picked it up, you never know, one day I might use it or may need the wood for something. The back- and armrest was already used for a bench that I built, but the feet, what am I going to make with those? Some of my material sits in my garage for quite a while until I have an idea what...
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Shabby Chic Glider Chair in my Repair Shop!

Posted by on Jun 26, 2012 in Green Stuff, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments A couple of weeks ago, I found a glider chair for nursing moms in my mother-in-law’s neighborhood. At first, I didn’t really know what it is until I had it at home and had a closer look. It didn’t seem to be broken, just a few cosmetic things had to be done. Then I found out how EXPENSIVE they are (starting at $300)!! How can one throw something like this away?!? I am glad I...
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How to turn a Bed Frame into a Bench

Posted by on Jun 19, 2012 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 6 comments It’s been a couple of busy weeks since I came back from Germany and meanwhile my blog went to sleep, I hope you missed me I have worked on quite a few projects, so today, I will take my time to do some blog updates and share what I have been up to. Last weekend, I had a show at the Third Monday Trade Days in McKinney. We brought 6 car loads of beautiful furniture, artwork, home décor and...
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Upcycling an Armchair

Posted by on Jun 2, 2012 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments Before I left for Germany, I found this ugly, smelly and water-damaged armchair along the streets of McKinney. Now, it was about time to bring this ugly duckling back to life. First, I disassembled it, set all screws aside, removed all the bad fabric (yuck!), removed the broken springs, replaced them with a cushioned seat instead, sanded & painted the wood parts, upholstered it and...
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Upcycling an Old Rocking Chair to Bench

Posted by on May 1, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff, Upcycling & DIY | 5 comments A while ago, I found this broken rocking chair at the curb and I knew it had potential. It’s been sitting in the garage for way too long and it was totally in my way so I decided to throw it away -tomorrow or so. And when I made that decision, I finally came up with the idea of turning it into a bench. I didn’t really have a plan, I rather went from one step to the next, hoping to...
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Upcycled Wine Bottles

Posted by on Apr 29, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff, Upcycling & DIY | 5 comments Today, I made something out of old wine bottles. Maybe someone else came up with this idea before me, but I think it’s a great and unique one. Earlier, I turned empty beer bottles (Shiner beer, yum!) into hanging vases -and someone came up with this before me, too, as I found out later! So here’s what I did… Recycle wine first (that’s the best part), then use the bottles...
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We Don’t Need Earth Day

Posted by on Apr 18, 2012 in Blog, Green Stuff | 1 comment Earth day is coming up this weekend and I actually couldn’t care less about it. Do we really need a theme or a specific day to celebrate earth? Common sense please! While on the one hand, it’s nice to raise some awareness to stop malicious destruction of our planet. Because it seems like the majority hasn’t heard how we (the ones on top of the food chain) kill our own and only...
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