DIY Disaster Painting furniture

In today's current economy, many Americans are finding ways to save money and help the environment by recycling and up cycling vintage furniture and other items.  

There are many websites, magazines and cable TV shows that teach people to decorate using vintage furniture pieces.  Many of these resources teach how to paint furniture, change hardware and even create a totally different furniture piece from the original intended use of furniture.  An example would be TV armoires; these TV cabinets are no longer used because of Plasma TV's that could be hung on walls.  

These TV cabinets are being up cycled for other uses; some have been converted into craft centers, home office center, linen cabinets, even into wardrobe/ guest room closet.  This is a creative way to reuse good quality furniture that no longer is used as a TV armoire. 

Although, these articles and shows make furniture painting look easy; there are disasters that occur when furniture piece is not prepped properly for painting.

Many furniture pieces have a sealer or shiny finish on the furniture piece.  Most furniture pieces need to be sanded until the shiny finish is off; some furniture pieces need to be primed before being painted.   An example; furniture with a lacquer finish need to be primed and should be painted with a similar lacquer finish paint. Chalk paint is used as a preferred medium for furniture because there is no priming needed and can be sealed with soft wax.  I found amazing video painting on furniture with chalk paint.

After the furniture piece is painted; allow for two days to dry; then use a sealer to protect paint finish.   If painting furniture pieces for outdoor use; make sure the proper outdoor paint is used for the elements outside.  

Sometimes the best way to learn is trial by error; learning what works and what doesn't is the best method to learn and fix vintage furniture. 

Amazing video on using chalk paint for furniture

Start a Travel USA small town campaign

Congress is failing the American public; the tea party conservatives have control over John Boehner who is one of the worst House leaders in the history of Congress.  When the leader allows a loud minority control his actions, by allowing what would be brought to the floor to vote.; it demonstrates how ineffective a leader he is.   The job as a leader of the House is to allow legislation on the floor to allow members of both parties to vote, Boehner will not place Immigration reform on the floor because he knows that east and west coast republicans will vote for the bill.  By not allowing the vote, he is keeping these Republicans from voting on this bill, and the Democrats from ultimately passing the House. 

President Obama has taken actions on his own because republicans are determined not to pass any legislation to sabotage President Obama's agenda and weaken the US economy.  By Congress obstructing the President, the GOP has slowed down the economy; but hasn't succeeded in destroying it.  President Obama managed to pass tax increases and now after a decade of tax cuts; the US economy is slowly creating jobs about 9 million in the past six years; and the US deficit is dropping for the first time in over a decade.  President Obama has not been given credit for this by the media or the public; instead the media tends to allow the GOP criticism, false scandals to cloud Obama during his Presidency.  

With the inaction of Congress and the economy still not as robust as it could be if it weren't for all of the obstruction by the GOP; American towns should consider creating their own stimulus.

ABC started the made in America campaign about three years ago, since then Americans have shopped specifically for American made products creating new jobs in America.

What if small towns in America started a "travel our small town campaign" to attract Americans to spend their vacation dollars in America instead of foreign countries.  There are methods for small towns that may not have tourist attractions to attract Americans to visit their towns by creating tourist events such as art fairs, unique annual events created specific to that town.  An example is Roswell, Arizona where UFO enthusiasts have come to visit because of the story of UFO parts being found in a farm. Americans were told that the parts were from a weather balloon; many conspiracy theorists believe that it was a real UFO that crashed because of individual stories from citizens in Roswell area .

Another idea would be for neighboring small towns to pull resources together to form travel packages where tourists can visit each town where visitors can stay at these towns for a set number of days.   Local businesses could offer discounts as incentives for visitors to shop, and spend in local economy. 

There are many free methods for local towns to advertise their events or local travel deals; such as twitter, face book, You tube, other social media.   Press releases are free and is a great way to get media attention if press release is very news worthy.  Many media outlets and journalists use Press releases to find news to write about and report . 

American towns should give themselves a stimulus, because as long as Congress has obstructionists interested in power and politics and not the good of the country; Americans are on their own. 


Side note:  House republicans refuse to pass VA bill unless there are offsets to pay for VA Hospital reform.  Funny, when Congress sent Americans to fight in two unpaid wars, they didn't ask for offsets back then. 

GOP House demands offsets for VA reform bill

How to organize home with reused items

There are creative ways to save money by using items around the home intended for other uses and recycling them for a new purpose.

Shower hooks could be hung on the closet clothing hanging rod to hang purses, scarves or belts. 



 The empty cardboard toilet paper holders can be reused to hold and store unused electrical cords and label the outside of the cardboard. 



  The cardboard cylinder tubes used in wrapping paper rolls could be reused by cutting them into 4- 5 inch sizes to reuse as wrapping paper holders. By slipping the cardboard over the wrapping paper on both ends to keep paper from opening from storage.

   Reuse old ice cube trays to organize jewelry in drawers.

  

 Reuse old checks boxes to organize a desk drawer to store clips, rubber bands, odds and ends. I use it to organize my junk drawer and it works well. 

 Use a small magazine rack as a pot lid holder on the inside of a cabinet door. 

  Some of these ideas were from the Simple Dollar Blog. 

 I love that blog.

How to Spring Clean your porch

The best way to clean your porch is to use a solution of warm water and a
safe cleaner named Simple green on the concrete patio, leave the mixture on for
15 minutes scrub with a brush then rinse. Let the concrete dry naturally.  After power washing, the concrete should look very clean afterward. Use simple green on the light fixtures too, it should get it all clean as well. 

To get rid of stains on concrete add 1
cup of bleach to a 10 x 10-foot patio. Another trick to remove mildew stains is to get a pool cleaning stick used to remove calcium stains.  Wet the concrete area and the stick then rub the stone stick on the stain, it should remove the mildew rust stain.  Use a pressure washer to clean steps to remove dirt, mildew. 



If you have a teak wood patio deck it should
be washed, then dried, then a teak sealer should be used for protection. A teak sealer will protect the teak wood from rotting and the elements.

To clean wicker furniture use a soft brush
and a mild dish detergent soap to wash the surface without damaging it.



Wipe
down outdoor lighting fixtures with a damp cloth. 

Clean outdoor cushions
with a sponge, water, and mild soap and let dry in the sun.

Florida ranks 32nd in surviving a zombie apocalypse

Say it isn't so,according to Huffington Post, the states in the U.S. ranked in order as to being able to survive a zombie apocalypse by their geographical location  ranked from #1 to #50. Florida came in 32nd place. Alaska came in 1st place, and new Jersey came in 50 th place; at least, we didn't come in last.

Silhouette Pillow Project

Things needed for project;

one solid color toss pillow, silhoulette stencil, stencil tape, stencil brushes, and stencil fabric paint in different colors.

Place the stencil on the center of the pillow and attach with tape to hold in place. Place stencil brush into paint and gently dab it on to palette board.  Leave small amount of paint, add onto stencil area on pillow by carefully dabbing brush covering area until completing entire stencil.  Carefully, remove tape and stencil to make sure that paint hasn't bled through the covered parts of the stencil.  Let pillow dry for two days and place on sofa or bed.  It is a nice decorative piece, the fabric paint instructions should state how many washings the paint could withstand on the item before it states to fade or wash away.  It is a good idea to keep pillow from getting dirty or dusty.  It is a great way to make an ordinary thrift store pillow extraordinary!

Add stencil  www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

secure stencil with stencil tape   www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

Fabric paint, stencil brushes and small tray to add paint    www.savingshouse.blogspot.com
 

Fabric paint can be found on eBay, craft stores

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Dab paint on with stencil brush
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small palette tray   www.savingshouse.blogspot.com
 

Finished product    www.savingshouse.blogspot.com
 

Beautiful silhouette pillow    www.savingshouse.blogspot.com
 

Have You visited Ocala Florida lately?

Ocala Florida is a central Florida city with history, charm, horse farms, Silver Springs National park, and the Appleton Museum.  

Ocala Florida has amazing shopping and dining areas.There are eateries on every block along Hwy 200 corridor and great shops which include big and small local shops.  If you enjoy antique thrift shopping you might like the white elephant and tumbleweed on the square.

There are some other attractions in the area and many events scheduled during the year in the town square area of Ocala.    

 Ocala, Florida is the seasonal home of John Travolta and his family.  

This city is very scenic and is two hours away from Orlando and about an hour an a half from Tampa, Florida. 

The town square area known as Brick City is where the original building structures were rebuilt after all were burnt down with a fire in the 1883 on Thanksgiving Day.  The new buildings were built with bricks and stones and the buildings still stand today.  

 First Friday art walk takes place on the First Friday of each month.  It is a free event. It is held from September to May from 6 to 9 pm. First Friday art walk is located at 1 SE Broadway St. At Ocala Florida.  The event covers artist displays, live entertainment and free family art activities.  There are extended shopping hours for shops on the square in the historic down town Ocala area. 

A few years ago, Ocala commissioned artists to create these beautiful horse statues all over the city, many buildings have these statues around them such as Advent hospital in Ocala. I had taken this photo of this horse statue in the town square around the gazebo area where there were four statues on the four corners.  



These statues are just so pretty.





Horse Statue in Ocala Town Square

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