Okio B Designs: June 2011

I'm so happy to be participating in Debbiedoo's Magazine Challenge linky party. Basically, you have to re-create something you saw in a magazine. My little project was inspired by the July issue of Country Living - hand's down one of my all time favorite magazines! Here is/was my inspiration:

And here's my version!

Keep in mind the magazine's piece was showing ideas for a wedding or party. Mine is just for our everyday use and features lots of sweet treats, and vintage estate and garage sale finds. The vintage popcorn and striped bags are from Etsy. The vintage ice cream cups are too. The straws are America's Choice - our supermarket's generic brand. Don't they fit perfectly?

Of course I took these pictures a few days ago. Most of the candy is gone thanks to my three men. Oh okay, and me too!

Needless to say, it's been a big hit with the kids!

Linking to Debbiedoos, Common Ground: Inspiration Friday and At The Picket Fence: Inspiration Friday.

Jeanine

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I picked up this great BEACH sign at Home Goods over the weekend. I wanted something a little light and airy to replace some darker signs we had in our bathroom. And since we have a little beach theme going in there, I thought it would be the perfect fit with these great sea creature images:

I downloaded the seahorse image from The Graphics Fairy. The other two I bought off of Etsy last year and have enjoyed using them on pillows, dish towels and now for wall art. I printed each one on to some vintage sheet music. The frames are from Walmart - $5 each.

I think everything adds a nice beachy touch to an otherwise boring bathroom!

Jeanine

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Oh what a labor of love these Alice in Wonderland dish towels have been. First, my iron burned some cheap transfer paper I had (won't be buying that brand again!). The cheap transfer paper made the iron brown and sticky. I tried cleaning it off to no avail and when I tried to use better transfer paper, brown yuck got all over the towel. Off to Walmart me and the little guy went for a brand new $13 iron to get this:

I love this great tea party image and I think it looks perfect on these Walmart dish towels! Sweet and simple! Here's a close-up of the image:

Now that I have a brand-spanking-new iron (did I mention it was only $13????!!), I have a lot more dish towels to tackle!

Jeanine

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As I was loading these photos tonight, it dawned on me that I really need to start taking some before pictures of my projects. Sigh! I always seem to forget. Anyway, I picked up this cigar box at the local church thrift store last Friday and wanted to use it to hold my rhinestones. But first it needed a French touch:

I printed the label from The Graphics Fairy and mod podged it to the cover. I also printed some crown images for the sides of the box but it's hard to see them.

I hot glued some vintage lace all around the sides of the box and added the flower.

Then I added the same crown images from the outside to the inside of the box. It holds my rhinestones perfectly for future craft projects!

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday and The Graphics Fairy Brag Monday.

Jeanine

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A busy weekend is upon us but I wanted to share this great 4th of July subway artwork that I downloaded from Barn Owl Primitives. Excuse the glare in the picture:

If you like Barn Owl Primitives on Facebook, you're able to download the print which is a great size for 8.5" x 11" frames!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Jeanine

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I always try to pick up a few of these wooden candlesticks when I go to Michael's. Sometimes they have a ton and other times, I'm lucky to find one. I'm working on some new styles for my Etsy shop but this pair I'm keeping for moi because I just love how they came out:

First, I spray painted each one in my favorite robin's egg color. A few coats later they were ready to be sanded in random spots. I used my hot glue gun to attach the vintage lace and the buttons. Still missing something.

I love these little teapots from The Graphics Fairy and thought the blue one matched perfectly with my color scheme. I printed them off on cardstock and then punched a hole in both so I could tie them onto my candlesticks with some tea-stained seam binding.

I just love them!

Linking to My Romantic Home: Show & Tell Friday and the Graphics Fairy Brag Monday.

Jeanine

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I've seen a lot of these on Etsy and thought I'd try my hand at making some myself:

I bought a few different sized chalkboards from Michael's along with some "beachy" paint colors. These hues actually remind me of some of the beach glass we collect from Gilgo Beach. I painted each one a different color and then sanded around the edges.

The light blue one is definitely my favorite but my boys adore the green and dark blue ones. Anyone else ready for the beach?!

Jeanine

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I picked up this silver urn at our local church thrift store last week. (Is it an urn or an ewer - I'm not sure so someone please correct me if I'm calling it by the wrong name.) Anywho, I love, love, love having bird's nests and eggs through out my house. Put two and two together and you get this:

I added some faux nest material to the urn and added the three eggs on top.

Then I tied some tea-stained seam binding around it. I think it gives it a nice simple touch of color and now I have a new way to display my eggs!

Jeanine

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I just loved the menu holder Jane from Mamie Jane's made a couple of weeks ago. I knew I wanted to use the same menu image she used from the Graphics Fairy and when I came upon this letter holder on Friday, I knew it would be a perfect match:

I spray painted it pink and then used sandpaper to shabby up the edges. Then I printed out my cafe and menu images and used some Distressed Ink to "age" them. I used mod podge to glue them to each spot on the front.

Now I have the perfect spot to store our takeout menus!

Linking to: Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday and the Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday.

Jeanine

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My mom was in the mood for a Home Goods trip this morning. And who am I to refuse?! I have two Home Goods within 10 miles of my house but hers always seems to have the best stuff! Even though tomorrow is Father's Day, I decided it was ME day today and I snatched up a bunch of goodies:

Don't you just love this Fleur basket? I swear I've seen it in Romantic Homes or Country Living within the last few months. I loved it then and I love it even more now that it's mine! I'm not sure what' I'm doing with the chicken wire basket yet but I loved how it looked like a vintage locker basket. The Cynthia Rowley plates will no doubt come in to play entertaining this summer.

I could not get the seahorse plate into my cart fast enough. They had a deeper one in white but the pale blue sold me immediately! It goes perfectly with my starfish table cloth.

How lovely are these little ruffle towels?! They remind me of something you'd find at Anthropologie.

This is perfect for my 4th of July porch decor.

And what better way to call it a day than with a watermelon margarita! Cheers!

Jeanine

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Not sure if I'll get much garage sale shopping in this weekend since we'll be at my Dad's and then my husband's Dad's Saturday and Sunday, so I popped over to the little thrift store at the local church this morning. It did not disappoint! Look what I scooped up for $4:

I'v been looking for one of these wood mail organizer thingies for a while now and this one is just what I wanted. The lace doilies will come in handy for a project I saw on another blog (can't remember which one now - argh!). I never pass up wood clothes pins. The cigar box I'm hoping to add some French flair to. How cute is the little wood scoop?!

Oh and can't forget, I snatched up more sheet music. I think I scored for today. I still can't believe everything was $4! Woo hoo!

Jeanine

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I know I have a before photo somewhere of this caddy/toolbox but I can't seem to dig it up. It was a navy blue color originally and I had planned to stencil a Yankees logo on it for my son's room but he wasn't feeling it. Skip to plan B and you get this lovely robin's egg colored toolbox:

This project really was a pain in the you-know-what. First I painted it white and tried to stencil "sweets" on it to use as a dessert caddy. No good. So then I used some chalkboard paint. No good. So we ended up with the robin's egg color and I do love it now.

The image - which appears on both sides - is my new favorite from The Graphics Fairy. I simply printed it off, cut it out and distressed the edges. I used mod podge to attach it to both sides. I sanded down the edges and random spots to give it a shabby feel. Look inside and you see:

These galvanized pails I got at our local Pottery Barn Outlet. I hand-stamped the numbers onto coffee tags and then used some twine to tie them to each bucket.

Right now it's holding some old rulers, thread spools and some other random pieces.

I was really thisclose to tossing it after the stenciling and chalkboard paint fiascos but I'm glad now that I kept it!

Linking to My Romantic Home: Show & Tell Friday and Finding Fabulous: Frugalicious Friday.

Jeanine

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While dreaming of Paris earlier today, I wondered what it would be like to be a guest at a rustic, charming hotel there. Would they have those dopey electric card keys or an actual metal key. Since I doubt I'll find out any time soon, I made this little guest room key:

I love, love, love this image from the Graphics Fairy (in fact, I used it on a pair of new items in my Etsy shop too).

After I printed out my image, I mod podged it to the front of a coffee tag. Then I added the random green rhinestones and tied the key on with some tea-stained seam binding. Flip the back and it reads invite - French for guest. I had to handwrite the accent mark which is a little sloppy.

I think it would also work great as a bookmark for one of my French books.

Jeanine

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I must confess, I love my yard this time of year. My husband does such a wonderful job maintaining the "grounds." I'm also reminded of some of our most favorite backyard finds:

This old pump was an upstate NY salvage find when we first got married. I remember being terrified plopping down the $100 to get it. It still works as we have a water hole right underneath it. I love the little pail hanging on the spout.

My husband got this from an old boat in Cape Cod. I don't know how he got it loaded in his car at the time but it's happily resided in our yard for years now.

Our fish pond. Another of my husband's creations. It's well stocked with koi and goldfish. Some of the koi are huge! Can you tell it rained earlier today?

Our favorite place to unwind with the boys. Now how did that buoy end up on the ground? Boys????!!

Some fun touches in the tea room. Excuse the dead bug carcasses on the floor. I'm recharging our bug vac as we speak!

Some random shots:

Freshly planted flowers in a vintage shoe shine metal tin. A garage sale find of course.

Dried lavender from last year's "crop." The fleurs pail is yet another garage sale score!

Pull up a chair! A basket full of cute MyAdobe (Etsy) pillows.

Thank you and please come again - lol! ;)

Jeanine

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It's raining in this neck of the woods today so no garage sales for moi. =( I'm actually kind of relieved as I have visions/plans for a number of projects that I wouldn't mind tackling this weekend. First up is this quick Father's Day pocketwatch:

I picked up the watch piece from Michaels. It opens in the back so you can add photos, little tidbits, etc. This one is for my Dad a.ka. Pop Pop for Father's Day. The boys helped me pick out their photo to use. Then I added some black tea-stained seam binding for the "chain" and hand-stamped Happy Father's Day!!! to a small coffee tag.

I think my Dad will love it!

So is your weekend a total rainout too?

Jeanine

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Don't forget, today is the last day to enter my giveaway. I'll draw a winner after 5 p.m. EST today. Good luck! And now on to some sweet little garage sale finds from this morning:

I couldn't resist these little books. I don't know much about them but they were in just the shape I was looking for: old and shabby! They were $1 each. The little measuring cup was $.25 cents. And here's the French tote I whipped up last night:

I bought the image off of Etsy for $1. That's right, $1! I printed it onto transfer paper, ironed it on, added the crown charm on some seam binding and voila! I didn't do such a just great job on the bottom though - the transfer is lifting a little but I don't mind. I'll still make great use of it! Right now it's sitting at the top of our stairs near one of my favorite real dress forms.

Can't wait to hit more sales tomorrow!

Jeanine

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I picked up this little clock a couple of weeks ago. I need to re-check my posts because I can't remember if it was from Goodwill or a garage sale. Anywho, I gave it a white spray paint makeover:

The red you see on the cheeks is actually lipstick. Yes, lipstick. I wanted to make the cheeks pop. It got a little messy and I'm still mulling over whether I like it or not. Argh!

And double-argh because Michael's did not have any clock pieces to replace the ones that are missing. They were either too small, too big or just too out of place. So for now it sits semi-naked in my tea room.

Jeanine

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I typically have a bunch of leftover clothes pins floating around. Mostly cast-offs from my Etsy shop. You know, the ones that don't come out quite right? Instead of tossing them, I usually paint over my oopsies and re-use them elsewhere - like for these red, white and blue pins:

I used some acrylic paint and painted each one in the appropriate colors. I didn't have the dark blue I needed so I just improvised. I used some sand paper to shabby up the edges.

I was thinking of drawing some stars on them but I'm far from an artist. Stars seems easy enough but the few practice ones I did came out really bad. Bleah!

So this is how they will stay for now. I'm sure I'll find some great July 4th decorations to hang with them!

Jeanine

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I've had this tote bag since last summer. Yup, over a year. I don't remember where I got it from but I came across it tonight and decided to give it a beachy touch since beach season is finally upon us: