Crafty Saturday

Friday's goodwill trip got me all motivated to do some crafty things this weekend. The items I used for two of my projects were previous garage sale finds that have been in my possession for the last 9-10 months and I have been so lame and not done anything with them. Brian was nearly going to take them to Goodwill but my motivation did not fail me, I made some pretty things! Yea for spray paint, a staple gun, and a driver drill!!! Look what I did:
Old storage bench turned cute new Side table:
The BEFORE:


I bought this old storage bench at a garage sale last april or may and it has just been sitting in my garage ever since! So sad! I had a stained padded seat top which opened up to reveal a small storage space. It reminded me of an old organ bench my Grandma had. The legs were a little loose, but that just took a wrench to tighten them up! I went to town removing the nasty padding that was stained and worn down, removed the top completely in the process! Oops! I had to replace the screws anyways! It ended up working out better for me because I didn't have to be gentle when pulling the fabric out from the gazillion staples it had been attached with. Next I took my trusted friend Mr. Black Satin Spray paint and went to town covering up all the chipped away pieces. Next I headed down to the closet place that sold fabric (wal-mart) and picked out two different options (I ended up using them both!) Wham, bam, walla-kazoo.... here is the final product!!!

The details of the fabric are hard to see so I've included a close up:

Don't tell my husband, but I think the script is french!! oh well... he'll never look close enough to tell!!
Now, for the best part!!! The best details can't be seen unless you lift up the seat to reveal...... this!:

I know the staples look a little tacky, but I almost think it adds to the charm... I had to cover the part where I had to staple the top fabric and batting to the underside of the bench, so I used the burlap I had also thought of using, to make a rectangular cover. After I put it up, I thought it was a little plain, so I decided to stencil the letter "D" in black craft paint. That alone still looked to plain, so I used the lid to a jar of almonds to create the circle around the "D"... there... much better.... BUT! with the best part being inaccessible if this piece is used as a bench, made me kinda disappointed.... so where was I going to use this piece.....
And now for the second piece of the my saturday:
We have A LOT of tile in our downstairs living area. With two dogs (temporarily we had three)the dog hair getting wisped under the couch was starting to get on my nerves. I'm not exactly flexible these days so I decided I needed to explore some new options.... we had tried a 5X7 area rug, but it just looked so dwarfed by our large couch and the great expanse of tile! Something had to be done!
So one day after work, I wandered into Big Bob's Flooring and discussed my dilema. I decided I wanted a large piece of carpet, custom cut to fit the odd shape of our living room, with finished edges. That way, instead of the dog hair being wisked under the couch every time someone walked by, it would be stopped by the carpet and easily vacuumed up without me crawling on my hands and knees to get under the couch.
5 days and a lot of pretty pennies later, Saturday arrived and so did our carpet!!!
BEFORE:

(Picture taken before we moved in)
AFTER:
before the furniture was put back in place:


after the furniture was put back in place:

AND FINALLY..... the final destination for my storage bench:

It is going to be used as a side table next to my couch!!! I love it!
Bench: $3.00
Spray Paint: $3.00
Fabric: ~$5.00
Total: $11.00!!!!

Here are some of the other things I did on Saturday!!
This lamp was also purchased at a garage sale in April or May 2009.... I think I paid $1.00 for it... and it works! It wasn't badly painted, but I knew it would look better in black... doesn't everything look better in black???
Before:

prepped and ready to be painted....
AFTER:

Now I just need the right lamp shape and a spot to put this lamp and I will be in business!!!
NEXT:
What was once just a measly little photo box...

... has now become my new ribbon organizer!:


MATERIALS:
Photo Box
Wooden Dowel
Power Drill
Ribbons!

Finally they are organized!!!

NEXT:
Projects for the future!
I found these cute metal tubs that were made by Brodyandma on Etsy:

I thought they were super cute and knew that I could probably make something like this, but I'd most likely break down and buy one from her instead...Then... on a trip thru the dollar bin section at Target I found these:

She says she used designer fabric to decoupage onto the tubs and then finishes it off with a coat or two of clear coat protectant.
I will probabyl try this in about two weeks, since next weekend I go to IDAHO!!!! YEA!!!!!!