I got out of the house!!! We had quite the heat wave, temps roared up into the low 20s. So, of course, I had to go outside into the world and soak up some of that great weather.

And shop!

My Zero Dollar Decorating is done, I went out spending!  First stop? Curious Sofa.  Debbie had emailed 20% off coupons with an announcement of big sales.  I had been coveting some bamboo rugs she carries, with vintage style script on them. Sadly, there weren't any in the size I needed, but I HAD to spend my coupon, right?  You can't let 20% off at Curious Sofa just slip by.

So, I bought the clock in the first photo.  It seemed to be just right for the new look in the kitchen.  While I was in the neighborhood, I swung by Beth's booth at Mission Road Antique Mall and picked up the clock face (2nd photo).  Hmm, looks like the beginning of a theme, to me.

When I saw this Cinderella's carriage, I knew that clocks were the right choice!  It was found at my favorite antique mall, the Rusty Chandelier in St. Joe.  My friend and I were both needing a good girlfriend day out and we made the most of it. Talking non-stop for about 10 hours, shopping, dining, and shopping some more.  There was no one home at either of our houses, and no reason to get back, so we just made a day and an evening out of it.  

After being cooped up for so long, it was exactly what I needed to myself back to normal. Sometimes you just need a day out, to talk to another adult who you are not related to, but just love like a sister and have a lot in common with.  What would we do without our friends??? Including blogfriends- thank you all, for keeping my company while I was snowbound. If I didn't have your email conversations during this last cold snap, I'd have really gone insane. 

Its nice to know that friends are only a keystroke away! 

Since I had found my clock theme while out shopping, I decided to add a watch face to a piece of art I made today for the kitchen.

I started with a French ad from an old magazine, and glued a butter pat plate to it, added a millinery bloom and the watch face to the center of that.  To the middle, I glued a rhinestone.

Then, I cut a tiny oval of old text and glued it to a charm, and glued a mini cameo to it, and hung it from a crystal.  With a punch, I made two holes under the word "Paris" to put a ribbon through, then tied that to the crystal to dangle it.

At the bottom of the page, I pasted a German die cut rose.

It didn't quite look done, so I drew some scrolls and swirls in metallic inks. If I'd planned better, I'd have drawn it first, instead of trying to work around the things I'd already glued down.

After that, I rubbed dark brown ink along the inside of the mat, and popped it all back together.  Now, I want to go buy some more shadow boxes and make more! I loved doing a 3-D collage, or is it called an assemblage?

Another purchase yesterday was this crystal ball, bubble night light.  While I had the old French papers and glue out, I covered the wooden base of this, and inked the edges.

This frame was from our trip yesterday too. I wanted new accent pieces for the kitchen redo, but just couldn't find what I wanted, so decided to make something. 

In this, I used more French text from an old book, that I'd embossed one day when Beth brought over her Cuttlebug.  

To make the  embossing stand out, I rubbed over it with a bronze ink pad.

In the center, I added a circle punched from the cover of the French magazine, which was a nice brown, then glued velvet petals and a white millinery rose to the circle. 

After putting it back together, I fashioned a hanger from ribbons.  I tightly tied two ribbons around the frame, then looped another one through them, and hung that one over a hook on the wall.

Here is a view from the far side of the kitchen. A great view of just how crooked the old house is…

After dropping my friend off after our day of shopping, I stopped and got a can of creamy taupe paint to change the walls behind the cabinets by the sink. The inset had been chocolate brown (like the rugs) but it seemed way too dark after my other changes.  So, I was painting at midnight last night.  It was a quick job though, because Behr now makes a primer/paint combo and it covers like a dream.

(that is a pot of chicken rice soup on the stove, yum, I'm hungry just thinking about it in the kitchen waiting for me!)

Here is the kitchen from the other direction. The wooden piece over the window is also from yesterday's expedition.  I got it at Rusty Chandelier's sister store, Jesse James. (Or would Jesse be a brother store? They share a parking lot)

After painting the inset creamy taupe, I had to add some of that color to the faux finish around the other walls.  I think I'm done.  Well, maybe…. I really would love to find some non-princess chairs for Sugarwing's table.

  And I am still planning on bringing in some metal garden chairs for the breakfast nook

if the snow ever melts.

I've got some old alarm clocks that I might take apart to get the faces from, and add some of those to the china cabinet, too.

And I really, really, really want those rugs from Curious Sofa! Either this one, or this one?

Well, maybe I am not done, after all.

 

Are we ever done?  That is what makes it fun!

Here are my totals for what I spent, after I escaped from the house and  the Zero Dollar Decorating:

paint- $36

trim over window- $19

frame for flower collage- $2

clock faces- $6

Cinderella's carriage- $29 (big splurge, but SO cool!!)

Clock from Curious Sofa- $48

bubble night light- $15

Fleur de Lis hook for flower collage- $6