Lunch Break

I'm at work again: eating chobani yogurt and strawberry coconut tea whilst on break. One of my dear roommates is finally back in the USofA and she is going to see the glory house tomorrow, complete with the new lamp I just finished. It took approximately one week to complete the shade- a large drum with hundreds of little fabric circles bunched and glued all over it. Thank God we had fabric scraps in numbers, and leftover prom dress silks from my junior year.

But really, the shade is lovely. Now I'm pondering a backsplash for my kitchen sink. This seems like a job for the glass marker. Roommates' forum for filing kitchen complaints, sending greetings, or being very silly. Hmm....

I was on a date night the other day, and I ate the best dessert of my entire life, and that is a monumental thing (considering that I work next door to a fabulous chef who once baked for the Presidents Bush). It was a mango pie. Simply garnished with a scooch of whipped cream and a light drizzle to the side. I immediately made my own when I got home, and tried mango nectar and key lime juice as the base. Little did I know I would be getting a key lime pie with a mystery flavor and too much corn starch with that experiment. It wasn't bad, but I was not satisfied. Last week I tried mango purée, because surely that would provide the definitive mango flavor I so greatly craved. Wrong again! I got the consistency of pumpkin pie (blegh!) and semi-decent mango flavor. Although my family loved it, I was still underwhelmed. And so the test continues...on to mango extract! If that flops, I shall hang my head in despair until a better ingredient comes into my power.

Yogurt cup is empty, time to wipe some tables.

Projects Etc.

When I got off work Saturday, I made this wind chime/lantern. The silverware was from an antique market in Roswell, Georgia. I found the lantern at TJMaxx. It was quite simple to make. Since my dad is better with a drill than I am, he drilled holes around the rim of the lantern and through the tops of the silverware. I threaded twisted wire through the holes, making sure the pieces of wire were different lengths and made this chime.



Sunday afternoon I stopped by an antique market in Columbia to pick up a few tins for clock-making. I got a Barnum and Bailey's tin and this Greek looking one also. The clock mechanisms came from Michael's. My boyfriend drilled holes in the tins and after a suitable amount of elbow grease, two lovely clocks came to be. Perhaps I should sell these babies sometime.



Yesterday the crafting went on, and I went to a thrift store for an old drum lampshade. Not only did I receive a free shade, but scored a pink bench for $10. Could be a nice kitchen stool of sorts. The back was a bit tattered, and once I had removed the splintered wood, I cleaned the piece and painted the back. Tada!


Here are a few more things that have found their way into my keeping:

($7 antique market)

($3 yarn sewn picture, His House Thrift)

($24 handmade Indian stool)

And since I do not have to work today, I am going to spruce up that drum shade with old fabric.

This is the first blog I have written since I was fourteen. Of course, that blog was not very good or very interesting. I made this one for two reasons:

1. I wanted to share my furniture finds, repairs, art projects, music news and cooking escapades.

2. I have frequent spurts of free time at work. Not that our coffee isn't marvelous and my latte art useful in getting tips. I'm a barista.

Here is a soupçon of information about me and this online journal:

I will soon be twenty, piano slave, folk artist, craft queen. I have an old bungalow that I am currently furnishing with the help of some dear friends and roommates. Not to be too cutesy, but my boyfriend does prove quite helpful in all of my projects, adding humility and sweetness to everything we do. I very much appreciate being close to family. My parents are extraordinarily wise and my sisters are beautiful.

One of my favorite things to do is ravage through thrift stores and antique markets. I have recently found treasures from tin trays to mahogany tables. All for a song of course, because we baristas must live frugally.

Here are some of my latest finds.

1960's chair from His House $5

early 1900's sewing desk, sanded, refinished, new gold detailing (in my dad's shed!)

antique pink lamp with gold roses $8, scalloped shade Anthropologie $30

I get off work in an hour, and when I do, I am going to complete two projects:

1. my silverware windchime/lantern

2. a handmade clock tin

I will post photos and details on how I make them in my next entry. Right now I am obtaining much inspiration from www.threadbanger.com- a very helpful and creative DIY site.

More later- the southern masses must be caffeinated!