Monday, December 31, 2012

New Game Room Shelf Using English Brackets

 

 
 
 
A few months ago I received these beautiful Cast Iron Shelf Brackets from English Brackets to review.  I was thrilled to receive them as they are gorgeous and so unique!  The company makes brackets in Iron, Brass, Chrome and Wood.  They offer hundreds of choices!
 
Here are the details about the Cast Iron brackets that I received:
 
  • Each bracket is manufactured from 100% Solid Cast Iron
  • We use age old tools, patterns and techniques, to ensure each bracket is brought to life with stunning attention to detail
  • Our brackets are suitable for use with shelves, cisterns, sinks and also to decorate roof supports and frames.
  • Each bracket is supplied in a traditional cast iron finish with a polished lacquer applied to the surface.
  • Maintenance is minimal and we recommend avoiding the use of cleaning chemicals and polishes.

  •  
    Check out their website for a multitude of choices. English Brackets
     
     
    Here's what I received--They are the Winchester Small Iron Brackets. 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    We hung  them this weekend in our Game Room. They were easy to install, came with all of the necessary hardware and look so nice on the wall! I haven't seen brackets this pretty before!
     

     
     
    We added this shelf made by Rubbermaid that we purchased at Home Depot.  It fit perfectly!
     
     
     
    We were able to put some pretty heavy things on it.  The apothecary jar and scale each weigh quite a bit.  The shelf holds all of this with no problem.

     
     
     

     

     

     
    We love the way the new shelf brings some interest to what was a boring corner of this kitchen.
     
     
     
    English Brackets has an easy to use website, great customer service and ships quickly.  I  highly recommend this product and company.
     
    Thanks for your visit.
     
    Pam

    Thursday, December 27, 2012

    Game Room Updates and Another Scale Redo!

    We love our Game Room and the kitchen attached to it.  We have been working on it since we moved in to get it decorated in our style.

    My Dad gave us this old Coke machine years ago.  I found this Maid of Honor washtub at a garage sale last summer.  I may leave it here, or may take it outside this summer and fill it with flowers.  I do love the chipped paint and rust (which won't last if it goes outside)...


    We decided to change out the glass shades on the pendants.  The old ones were very nice, but way too modern for our taste.  We like how these look.



    Here is my husband's latest refurbishment.  It took him weeks to take the hundreds and hundreds of parts apart, paint, have some parts re-brassed and then put everything back together.  As he says with every scale he takes apart, he doesn't think he'll ever get it back together again, but he always does.  :)  We have the glass on order for the base.  Once that comes in, it'll be complete.


    Here was the 'before'

    
    And here is the 'during'

      

    I love this bottle capper. We found it this fall at Barb's store Treasures From the Heart in Eugene, Oregon. It got a new coat of paint and an old box of bottle caps from ebay and now we're set. Now we need some bottles to cap!

    


     Thank you so much for your visit and kind comments!



    vif187Photobucket
    Debbiedoo's

    Tuesday, December 18, 2012

    Fat Tire Sign on "Aged" Wood




    
    This summer when we were on vacation, we found this free poster in a store.  We loved the look of it and wanted to make something fun for the Game Room.



    
     
    I started by finding new, beat up fence boards from Lowes. My husband glued them together.





     
     
     
     
    I then applied my trusty apple cider vinegar and steel wool trick to 'age' the boards.   It's so easy.  Just let the pieces of steel wool soak in the apple cider vinegar either for a few minutes or even overnight, then wipe the vinegar on the boards.  These looked 'aged' in two coats!




     

    After one coat...



    After the second coat. (about an hour after starting)



    At the ends, where the cuts were made, I used a drywall knife and made the edges look torn up. I then dabbed on more of the apple cider vinegar to age those cuts.

    We used a spray adhesive to get the poster to stick to the boards.






    A simple hanger on the back and free art was ready for the wall!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    



    Thanks for your visit!
     
    Pam


    I am linking to the following parties:

    Creative Cain Cabin's Budget Decorating Party

    
    vif187

    Friday, December 14, 2012

    An Oldtime Pinball Machine for the Game Room

    We love hanging out in our basement family room/ game room.  We collect vintage games such as Pachinko and some old ball shooter games.  Today as I was on our local 'Craigslist-like' online marketplace, I saw an ad for an old pinball machine.  I do a lot of garage-saling and looking online and have not seen one like this before.  I thought it would look great in the game room.  Of course, it was crazy-worry time for me as we had to drive home 30 miles with it in the back of the truck.  Luckily it made it and my worst "old pinball machine strewn all over the freeway" fears didn't come to pass.  :)



    I absolutely love the graphics painted on the sides of it.  We think it is a pretty old one based on the birds' eye maple wood on the edges and legs. 
     
     
















     
    My very handy husband will be digging into it soon and hopefully get it working perfectly again.  In the meantime, I'm just excited to have it!
     
    Thanks for your visit!
     
    Pam

    With the rest of the world, my thoughts and prayers are with Newtown, CT.



    I am linking to the following parties:

      

    DIY Show Off
    vif187

    Sunday, December 9, 2012

    Bird Pillow for Christmas and Beyond

    I found this cute bird graphic the other day.  I love, love, love anything with birds on it and love that I can incorporate it with my Christmas decorations.  Of course I intend to keep it out long after Christmas!



    


     
     
    I started with this graphic from The Graphics Fairy
     
     
    I printed it off on Jolee's Easy Image Transfer Sheets using my inkjet printer.
     




    I cut around the edges.
     
     
    I used a Ritva pillow cover that I bought from Ikea last year. 


    I put the pillow cover over a board and a pillow case.
     
     
     
    I followed the directions on the Jolee's label--twenty seconds on each part, lift up carefully, then set the iron back on another place.  I made sure I got each area several times for 20 seconds each.

     
     
    I let it cool for 10 minutes, then carefully pulled the backing off of the transfer.
     
    And here's the finished pillow.  Easy and Festive!





     
     
    Thanks for your visit!
     
    Pam
     
     
     
    I am linking to the following parties:
     
     
      
     
    The Graphics Fairy
    UndertheTableandDreaming
    My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia