Fabulous Finds: Front Porch of the South

Columbus, Georgia has some pretty awesome little thrift places, and a few BIG ones! I've posted about Front Porch of the South before... (see all the awesome stuff I found before!)

Well, guess what? Every good thrifter/designer/hoarder/searchingforburiedtreasurehunter knows that persistence pays off! You just have to keep going back, hitting the yard sales, scouring the streets the night before trash day, sifting through the piles of junk goodies at Goodwill, etc.

So, of course I've made more than one trip, and camera happy me loves to take lots of pics!

Union Jack Butlers Table. love.

WANT WANT WANT this for my entry hall! OMG!

Seriously, someone who loves me, please read this and go buy this table for me for my birthday. It's tomorrow. I'm not kidding.

who doesn't love moss balls?

And I have to say, that the beachy/cottage/white antiqued-distressed look isn't going anywhere. I think ever. Its just too relaxing and refreshing. I know it was hugely popular a few years ago, but's its had some staying power. And, come on, with the love of burlap, rope, jute and all things natural, the beachy, whitewashed, sun-bleached look isn't going anywhere. And I'm glad! Tomorrow when the sun comes up, I'll show you my beachy vignette on top of my armoire! I didn't get this lamp, but I want it. HINT. HINT. I'll put it on my sofa table in my entry!

Check out the Front Porch! (and pick up a b-day present for lil ole me while you're there!) :)

7607 Veterans Parkway Columbus, GA 31909 706-576-5757
Hours	Tue - Sat: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm Sun: 1:00 pm -  6:00 pm

Fall Fabric Pumpkins {tutorial}

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, and I think that goes for a lot of people out there!

Back to School, football games, cool nights and sunny days and all the warm feel good stuff like bonfires and apple cider and jumping in leaf piles. How can you help but love fall?

Sooo, that means for this gal, lots of fall crafts and decorating!

Cordurouy Fabric Pumpkins

Materials List:

Fabric - 1/2 yard? (about 1 pant leg)

coordinating thread

contrasting fabric (6" square piece)

jute, sisal, or just a natural rope or twine

scissors

sewing machine (or ALOT of patience for hand stiching)

stuffing

piece of a tree branch or stick

glue gun

Start out with your corduroy fabric.

In my case, thrift store pants that were 1/2 price the day I was there.

Cut up the seams of the pants until you have just fabric laying flat.

Here is a pattern that I think you should be able to print to scale:

Right click on the photo below and click Print Picture.

When your print dialog box comes up, click Preferences.

 Then, select Letter size and fit to page and it should be just right.

I'm a little new to the whole adding printable stuff to the blog, so bear with me!! :)

Print the page out twice. Cut the body of the pumpkin out (shape 1) and cut 8 pieces of fabric.

On the second page, cut out the leaf topper (shape 2) and cut 1 piece of fabric in your contrasting fabric (6" square piece)

Place right sides of fabric together and sew along one side. Backstitch at the long (bottom) side, where you will put the stuffing in. Otherwise, when you turn it and stuff it, it will not hold together!

Continue placing the right sides together and sew along one side as you begin to form a ball shape.

top of pumpkin

bottom of pumpkin

Finish by sewing (right sides together) the first piece and the last piece to close the ball.

Turn right side out.

 

Stuff.

At this point, it is optional for you to place a running stich around the opening and pull on the ends to gather. I did this with some and not others and it really didn't make a huge difference at the end. If you do, I would recommend using embroidery thread (any color since it gets covered) for stability.

The next step is where your fah-bu-lous present wrapping skills come into play! Wrap this baby up like you would a present you want to watch your kids struggle with for hours on Christmas morning! Seriously, the tighter you pull the rope, the more gathered and sectioned your pumpkin will look!

Since you have 8 sections to your pumpkin, you will start across the top so that you end up back up on the top. I like to follow the seam lines, but you could also do it in the middle of the lines for some added interest...

bottom

Note here that again, the tighter you pull, the less of the opening will show when you are done, and the easier it will be to cover with the leaf template.

top

Pin your Shape 2 pattern to your contrasting fabric (6" square piece) and cut out.

Fold in half and make a small cut in the center, then fold the opposite way and make another cut perpendicular to the first. When you are done, you will have a small X right in the center of your fabric where you can pull the rope through the top.

I cut a few extra leaf shapes and added them to the top for some dimension.

I secured all of it with hot glue. At this point, you could also choose to add some contrast stitching with emboridery floss as I did in the photo below.

This little punkin was a pair of very lovely (and far too small for me) velvet Ann Taylor Loft pants that I picked up for $2.50 at Goodwill the same day I found the white corduroy ones (among many others that are being made into pumpkins at the present time)

Ok, final steps, you're almost there! Hot glue that stick onto the top of the pumpkin, right in the center where the knot of the rope is showing through.

Start to wind the rope around the stem until you get up to the top and back down again. Swirl the remaining rope around with some hot glue and your fingers (and yes, you will get burned if you are not careful on this step) and you are done!

Linking up to:

House of Hepworths

Flaunt It Friday
Transformation Thursday
Make It Monday

 

Fabulous Finds: Front Porch of the South

I have been back on the shopping sprees here again lately! A new antique mall just opened here in Columbus and I had been dying to stop in and browse but hadn't gotten around to it until just the other day. I happened to be shopping for a few clients, so I just couldn't put it off any longer. Once I walked through the door, I couldn't believe I had waited so long! Here are just a few a ton of pictures because I just couldn't help myself... this place was jam-packed with goodies!

I picked up this ornate mirror for $80. (I didn't say it was a thrift mall, but there are a few thrifty booths in there) This is for a client's 13 year old daughter's room. The walls are lime green and we are going to paint this turquoise and hang it above a white vanity. Check out the inspiration photo for that project here if you need more of a visual.

I loved this rustic accent table. The top is wood and the bottom is iron. I think they had $45 on it, which isn't bad at all for what it is. I love to put these next to a chair sitting alone. You always need somewhere to put your drink! :)

This was a very cute shabby chic, cottagey booth where you could tell the booth owner had put in a little elbow grease to transform some stuff. I liked her style and the prices weren't too bad!

Ok, someone has looked at a few blogs I'm guessing! I think the first place I read about putting vinyl numbers on bottles was Sweet Something Designs and I'm guessing this gal did too!

This was the booth next door and I just LOVE the glass lamps!

 

 

I could have stayed in there all day. I almost did...

And last but not least, here are the find of the day:

A set of three giant metal pumpkins. Oh how I wish I had the $75 to drop on them but I just didn't.

Sigh. Maybe I will happen upon them again one day, but oh how I love them!

If you go: 

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	7607 Veterans Parkway Columbus, GA 31909 706-576-5757
Hours	Tue - Sat: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm Sun: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Hope you enjoyed my fabulous finds!

Linking up to:

House of Hepworths

Thrift Share Monday

DIY Artwork

I am still in the midst of my "big boys" bedroom makeover. Although it is no where close to ready for the big reveal, I thought I would give you a little glimpse of a project I completed this week.

I've had this canvas forever... I bought it for our first house and painted it to mimic a dish I had bought at a little shop in downtown Savannah, where we were living at the time. I got sick of it, I think I had given the plate away, and I had a very haphazard, unplanned attack on this canvas with a blue paintbrush about a year ago and it was an epic fail... so it sat around just begging for a facelift and to go back on the wall somewhere.

I started taping off the stripes and quickly remembered rule #1 of painting. Prime. oops.

Then, I used a T square that just so happened to be the same length as my canvas to make sure my lines were straight. I started out trying to eyeball it, and that didn't work. I am way too lazy to measure anything, so thank goodness I had the T square on hand. I taped off one color at a time then painted each line.

The paint dried very quickly since it was acrylic paint and I made sure to peel the masking tape off pretty quickly before the paint dried completely so that it would not peel. Success!

I used what I had on hand:

Americana Spa Blue & Burnt Umber

Ceramcoat OJ

Craft Smart Lime Green

The white was latex I had on hand.

And voila! Finished product:

The dresser was found at a second hand furniture store in New Brighton, PA called Capo's a few years back. We were visiting my family for Christmas and I saw these in the window and had to have them. I almost left the dogs behind because it was a tight squeeze. I carted these 12 hours back to Savannah from PA. They are that awesome.

The lamp was a recent yard sale find, and just the right color. Can't beat $7!

 

Linking up to:

On Sutton Place

Ohh Baby!

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Remodelaholics Anonymous

Fancy This Fridays at Truly Lovely

tatertots and jello Weekend WrapUp Party

Funky Junk Interiors

Design DNA

craftomaniac monday

Thrifty Decor Chick

Goodwill Gems

Although I visited our local Goodwill on Tuesday, I am just now sitting down to write about my amazing finds. It's been another one of those weeks, you know? I think that maybe it's always going to be another one of those weeks or days, and I need to just get used to it!!! :) Life is hectic! Ok, on to my finds!

All of this plus a soccer ball for my son for under $20! Wow! That ottoman feels like the find of the century. Now, I know that its not that great, but take a look at what I fell in love with the other day at Treasures...

Oh, swoon. seriously. Turquoise velvet, nailhead trim, tufted top, I'm in LOVE. It's also marked at $125. Eh. A little out of my budget. But, at $8.18 the maroon one from Goodwill above will soon find itself with a totally fabulous makeover. Stay tuned for deets on that!

So, everything else... The teapot is old... and well loved. It's English Ironstone and although I don't know much about it, they seem to be fairly common. It will be in my booth at Treasures this week along with the sweet, hand-painted owl art. I love these two pieces!

Moving along, that white plate will hang on the wall in my dining room. I've been wanting to put the finishing touches on that room for a while now and show you, so again, stay tuned, there are BIG things in the works here! :)

The glass dome. Need I say more? I know that cloche's are probably sooooo last year, but I still think they are great display pieces. And, the pedestals are super easy to make! For $1.01 I wasn't going to pass it up!

By the way, total side note, but does anyone else's Goodwill have completely random pricing? $8.18? $1.01? $2.72? Why not just $1? Or $8.25? I don't get it. But, I digress...

Ok, last but not least the two frames in the back will be painted green and get a C and N in each of them for above my son's beds. I'm trying to wait for the big boy bedroom reveal, but I'm getting a little anxoius to show you my progress so far! I'll try to hold myself back!

All in all, a good little trip to the local Goodwill! :)

Linking up to:

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating