fancy flea

Greetings from the Sunshine State!

Jasper's Cottage is all boxed up and in storage for a while as we settle in for some time in sunny Florida. Sunny and warm - just the way it's supposed to be.

Mr. French is busy working during the week but we've been trying to have new adventures on the weekends by visiting places we've never been before. Not too long ago we went to a fantastic vintage market called The Fancy Flea which is held a couple of times a year. I actually planned my arrival so that I wouldn't miss it this year and I'm so glad I did! 

Doesn't it look awesome? As you can see, it was full of all sorts of pretty treasures but the best part of the day was getting to meet up with a friend from the blogging world. I was so excited when she said she and her husband were driving up for the show. I don't know how we found each other in the crowd but it was great to meet in person and walk around together. She has great advice about how to navigate this DIY world that I'm so new at. Thanks, Victoria, for hanging out with us! I hope we can do it again sometime.

Being surrounded by so many beautiful things, it was hard to pick just a couple of treasures to tote home. Right away we saw a cute sign which was perfect for our French-inspired living room but after wandering around for a couple of hours, I hadn't found anything else that spoke to me until, there it was on a table in front of a booth I'd walked past at least 20-hundred times. How had I missed this diamond in the rough?

Isn't the sign cute? As for the shutter, I admit, it doesn't look like much now and I really didn't like the color but in my mind I instantly saw the perfect jewelry organizer for my dresser...once I got out the magic paintbrush and worked a little DIY magic, of course.

But that's a story for next time.

in conclusion

I'm sure you've been asking yourself all week "what else did Jonni do to spruce up her little front stoop?" Ok, humor me and pretend that has been your first waking thought each morning. 

Here's a reminder of the way my front stoop looked originally.






















Then I added some fencing

What was I going to do next? I painted something, of course. 

Yeah, yeah, I know that to some of you crafters out there, just slapping a coat (or four) of paint on something isn't anything to get all excited about but for me, it's a pretty big deal. I don't have endless amounts of artistic creativity and most projects I've tried end up in the garbage so the idea that I can take something rather useless and make it pretty once again, well that's pretty darned exciting in my book. 

Enter the mini bench.

This had been buried in our backyard for years and was looking pretty drab after spending so much time out in the elements. I still had a whole lot of that blue paint leftover from my first painting project and it was just going to waste so I decided, why not?

Plus I had a "new" toy to play with because we'd uncovered the mouse sander in a box in our garage. I was just itching to sand something!

So I gathered up all my favorite supplies and got to work sanding and painting. 

This was a fairly quick job, pretty easy because I didn't prime anything and used a mostly dry brush technique to keep some of the original wood showing through. All too soon the fun was over and I had a much improved little bench on my hands.

And then it was time to put all the pieces together.

Keep in mind that I would dearly love to get rid of the water-stained green rug but that's not my call. Besides that, I think the whole effect is pretty cute and welcoming.

I really get a kick out of walking up to my front door now and the best part is that I can take all the pieces with me to the next Jasper's Cottage and recreate the look.

The Bench, part 2

My lovely bench was all ready for color but what color would I choose? Originally I had wanted to paint it a soft pink and stencil something on top (yay, a future project) but then I saw a turquoise bench on a favorite blog and I knew how I was going to proceed. I adore the finished product!

The Bench - my first painting project

It has long been established that I'm not particularly good at crafting projects. I long to be an artist and CREATE but somewhere between my head and my fingers that desire gets lost or confused. The fact that I might suffer from a wee bit of laziness probably doesn't help...not that I'm admitting to anything. I really want to make things but I want to know that what I'm doing has a purpose or can really be used in some way. I don't want to use projects as busywork.

You may remember the big kitchen cabinet project of 2013 (here and here) and you may think that was my first painting project. You would be wrong. I did a lot of sanding on those cabinet doors but Mr. French, the perfectionist, did all the painting. He did a great job so I'm not complaining but I was kinda looking forward to painting and I've been itching to get my hands on a painting project ever since.

Enter THE BENCH.

Pretty, ain't it? It's been hanging around our yard for years now, left behind by the previous owners. I've always considered it a bit of an eyesore with all that moss growing on it and cracks here and there. But then I looked at it with new eyes and realized 1) it could be a thing of beauty and 2) it wouldn't be the end of the world if I screwed it up since we didn't pay anything for it. Yes folks, I had that much confidence in my ability.

I first had these thoughts about the bench back in August and I was so excited about the idea that I waited 7 whole months to get started. But one day it just hit me that I really, really wanted to paint something so I might as well go ahead and give this a try.

Step 1 - clean and sand  I really enjoy sanding and I got lots of experience with those kitchen cabinets so this part was fun...actually the whole project was fun but I really did enjoy seeing all the moss and dirt come off the bench so all that was left was rustic beauty.

Step 2 - primer  Since the wood was quite weathered, I figured it was a good idea to put a primer coat (leftover kitchen cabinet paint) on to see how the wood reacted to the paint. I also figured it was a good way for me to get some practice. I fell in love with the distressed look that I got with the first coat of white. At that point I actually wished I had started directly with the final color because I didn't want to accidently put too much paint on the finished product and cover up the distress. But I also knew that having some white show through would add texture and dimension in the end. Mr. French has never been a big fan of the distressed look (once when I bought furniture in a distressed style and it was delivered when only he was at home, he called the furniture store to complain about the dings and scratches and they had to explain that it was done on purpose which was a concept he never could wrap his head around) but he loved the way the bench was turning out at this point.

Step 3 - pick a color  I already had a basic color in mind but wow, there are a LOT of turquiose-y blues out there. I visited more than one paint store and had a bunch of color cards but in the end it came down to these choices.

At this point I had to wait a week to finish things up so this gives me a good stopping point for today. Tune in next time to see the bench in all its glory!

The road to Cachagua

Every once in a while you have a moment that changes the course of your life. A few months ago I had one of those moments and it's all because of brunch.  All the best moments of my life involve food.

My boss invited us out to brunch at a new (to us) place - Cachagua General Store. This place, in the middle of freakin' nowhere, is unlike any place I've ever been. Gourmet food in a rather laid-back atmosphere. Cachagua (that's Ca SHAU wa) is a life-changing experience and not just because the road to get there is a treacherous, winding mountain path that makes me want to throw up just thinking about it.

See that red shack behind the sign? That's the restaurant. When we pulled up in the (dirt) parking lot I felt as if we'd driven through a time warp and stepped back into the '70s and I'm pretty sure I heard Dueling Banjos playing in the background. I was instantly fascinated and a little bit scared of this strange place. It's the kind of place that has beat up VW vans (complete with flower power stickers) parking alongside high-end BMWs and Mercedes. It's quirky and funky and a little out there...and that's just the outside.

Doesn't this say award-winning gourmet hot spot to you? But you should see their Yelp reviews. If you ever want to eat there, keep in mind that it's only open for brunch on Sunday and dinner on Monday. Any other day of the week, you're out of luck. Remember, I did say it was quirky.

The eclectic interior doesn't disappoint. Please note the restaurant dogs that just hang out in the dining room with you.

Take a close look at the "curtains" - they are actually paper drawings of curtains, it's like eating inside your favorite cartoon.

The food was pretty amazing, it lived up to the hype.

But how, you ask, could a simple brunch change your life?

It's all because of the clothes, my darlings

Of course I had to buy something new for this outing. Duh. Drawing inspiration from the hippy-chic atmosphere of the restaurant,  I found a cute, hippy/bohemian ivory babydoll top - so perfect! To this I added a crocheted sweater that I already had in my closet. All this hippy on the top needed the perfect embroidered jeans.

 

 

 

Cute, right? In keeping with the boho theme, I decided not to spend hours straightening my hair and let it curl the way it's always wanted to.

I put all this together and BAM - I felt like a new person. I loved the ruffles on my babydoll top, I loved my wavy hair, loved, loved, loved my jeans. I felt like me for the first time. I felt like a free spirit, creative, bohemian, wild-child. My new inner attitude must have shown on the outside too because complete strangers came up to me in the parking lot to tell me how much they loved my style. Um, wow.

That was such a great moment, I've worn the same outfit every day for the last six months. Ok, that's not really true (thank goodness) but I have refigured my wardrobe to reflect my new creative, hippy, boho, shabby chic, vintage cowgirl self. To be totally honest, some days are more successful than others. Creativity is a journey, I guess. All this creativity is spilling over into the house and garden although they are a long-term work in progress. It's really exciting to see where that will lead.

Cachagua will live forever in my dreams....because you're never getting me on that wickedly, winding road with the hairpin turns and sheer drops ever again.

Shabby Me

Lately I've become obsessed with the whole shabby chic concept of decorating. Yeah, I know, it's been around for years, where have I been? I can only say that I don't jump on bandwagons when a trend is hot, I prefer to wait until nobody else is doing it and then I'm unique. But there's no point in waiting until shabby chic isn't popular, from the sheer number of blogs I've been reading recently it's not going anywhere and I love it so I'm all in.

All my favorite blogs have been talking about the new Rachel Ashwell collection at Target, posting pictures of all their recent purchases and I was feeling so left out because my Target had nothing. Today I got the bright idea to travel down the road a few miles to another Target and there I confirmed that my hometown Target is totally lame because this one had a lovely Rachel/Simply Shabby Chic display. I turned a corner to the bedding section and I was instantly drooling on the floor wanting at least one of everything.

I am fairly obsessed with that basket, I must have picked it up and put it down at least 30 times. In the end I walked out of the store with nothing but a really long wish list but hopefully one day soon I'll be able to bring some of these lovelies home.

I consoled myself with a trip to the dollar store to pick up more of those fabric hangers and some scrapbook paper for a craft project I'm working on. Yes, you heard me right, I'm doing crafts. Never thought you'd live to see the day, did you? Well, that's a story for another day.