Trash to Treasure Party

We are participating today in a Trash to Treasure Party hosted by Kari & Kijsa...another set of Sisters...Viva la Sisterhood!!!!

This project didn't really start as trash, let's say more from "boring to treasure"...
From a $2.00 colorful, but plain tea towel:

to bold and fun pillow covers:

and personalized tea towels!

To all of those guests visiting for the first time, you can check our previous Trash to Treasure Posts...

Display shadowbox, from this:

To this...

You can check the whole transformation here:
http://niceandeasyantiques.blogspot.com/2009/03/from-shabby-to-chic.html

Or check our Folding Table Project here:
http://niceandeasyantiques.blogspot.com/2009/02/garage-shopping.html

Now we are off to some serious Dumpster Diving Competition Training!!

As easy as ABC...

How easy it is to fall in love with vintage letters?...Very!

They are, for the most part, very inexpensive, easy to find, easy to take home, and they make a huge impact when they are...

...displayed among other treasures....

....or displayed to spell inspiring words...

And for us, they are another fun obsess...oopsss....I mean collection!
Here are some "C"'s for Cavaglieri....

...And some "D"'s for DiGiuseppe...

"Words have meaning and names have power"
~Author Unknown~

Dress Form Revolt!

We are having some "personnel trouble" here at Nice & Easy...

"The girls" are really trying to take over...
This is how they come to work every day....

Cute apron for Flo ...

...paired up with lots of jewelry....

... if you need help, don't talk to her, she has a little "attitude"....

Dorothy's also feeling "special"....

...just a vintage, pink, with 2DIE4 fringe shawl over one shoulder....

...this is for a Saturday night, not for a 10 to 5 job!...

Oh! now we get it!!!....sorry, not drinking while antiquing allowed...

We just hope they are not a bad influence on little Sis, Margaret...

This is the note they left on our desk...we are afraid they will call the Union!!!...

Come on, girls! Let's all be Nice and Easy!!!

From shabby to chic...

Remember that cute folding table we rescued from the garage?...The one we decoupaged with music sheet?...This one! Well, it sold right away to a very nice customer, we love when our goodies find good homes to go to!
Anyway, the music sheet and the white paint we used on that project, inspired this last creation. Also found in the garage, this time Clara's, an old glass cupboard door with an added back, perfect for a big shadowbox...

Painted a not very attractive black....more shabby than chic...

We started the transformation by adding a sheet of poster foam to the back, we then decoupaged it with vintage music sheets using lots of decoupage medium. The last step was the white paint and a little distress...everything looks better with crisp white paint, doesn't it?...

The old garage find became a nice display piece...from Andrea's jewelry to Lynda's bottle, everything looks yummy in there...

...to sell or not too sell? that's is the question!! The answer is: to sell!!...This is one of the goodies we are saving for our Arcade Extravaganza on April 5th.
The buyer will also take home 5 of the stylish black and white push pins we used to hold everything in place...love them!!

The "ugly" people in my life...

Not really, not to me anyway....That's how Clara calls some people that "hang" around my house...
This was the first one I brought home:

I don't know if it was the shabby white and blue frame or her pink cheeks that spoke to me, but I snatched it right after my friend Mary, The Junk Diva, displayed it in her booth. She moved around my house several times and resides now on the entryway. People always ask me if I she is an ancestor or someone I know, the answer is No. People usually follow with a weird stare and a long silence...Thankfully I don't get offended by these kind of things...To me, she has a lovely "je ne sais quoi"

My second girlfriend was found in an antique store and she touched my heart with her sad expression and her killer frame:

She looks like she has lost something, so I bought her a pair a boots that match perfectly with her beautiful dress...what girl doesn't like shoes???

My friend and her boots live in my downstairs bathroom.

My two other girls like to play on the stairs...one is a toddler that had her arm scratched by her kitty. She is not really a pretty girl, it's not an antique, just a repro...but I had to have her....

Her little friend has not been given the gift of the good looks either, but she is working hard feeding her animals. She's being around for a very, very long time.

An antique canvas transfer with signs of age all over, good shabby charm all around...

And the last one it's just a baby I fell in love with. My friend Kathy owns the original oil painting, and for my birthday she gave me a copy of it because she knew she could never get rid of her.....

Andrea ,one of our Dealers, transferred the copy to a canvas and finished the sides, giving her a gallery wrap. She makes me happy from one of my bedroom walls.
Clara always says she doesn't get why I have those "ugly people" in my house, but I also have the beautiful people displayed....

Ugly or not, I love them all!!

A man's face is his autobiography
A woman's face is her work of fiction.
~Oscar Wilde~

Field Trip to the Fabric Store...

We had a fun morning today...Clara and I went to one of our favorite places: the fabric store. We started working on another room makeover. This time we will transform a Living/Dining Room and we hope you'll join us in the process...
While the painters take care of the walls, we will pick colors, stain, paint, sew and stage to give this family a room they will want to spend time in...


Cheryl, our customer, likes Aqua, Blues, Greens and Brown shades so that's what we focused on today. These are some of the choices the store had to offer:

We like florals, but this one is too cutsy...

Nice, but not perfect...

Wait...Clara, we need to focus on Cheryl's room....!

We love this combo....we just need a little green to go with her sofa....

Oh! ...mixed with the chocolate print and the stripes, the paisley is a keeper!!..

Hope Cheryl likes them as much as we do...
Next step: new life to a couple of tired pieces. Stay tuned!!