Top shelf.

I'm on the homestretch now.

The long tedious job of repairing the plaster walls and ceiling is done.

The floors have been refinished.

Everything's been slathered with a fresh coat of paint.

The furniture is back in place.

Speaking of furniture, lookie what I found!

A 1930's doll dresser in my favorite shade of green!

Aged mirror, cute original decal, what's not to love?  I saw the dresser

and I was smitten.  If only it was that easy to pick out a new sofa!

Of course it needed a display shelf, so I drew up a design
 and my assistant cut it out for me.

 I nailed it together and added hooks to hang....whatever!
I found the dress for $2 at a local shop.

Love me some red & white polka dots!

At the far end of the same wall, I hung a vintage shelf

I bought a few years ago.  I don't know what it is about wall shelves,
but I find them hard to resist.  Since there's barely room to shimmy out

of bed in this room, the shelf will be used in lieu of a nightstand.

All the amenities a child (or adult) will need right at their fingertips.  Literally.

Truck riding teddy bear, wind up alarm clock, reading

glasses, farm scene to gaze at, lamp, and a storybook.

There are wonderful illustrations in this old book.

One hour and 45 minutes (somebody was in the car timing me)
 spent in a gigantic antique mall, and this small book is all I bought!   hehe

After the success of building our first shelf, I was ready to tackle a bigger shelf

to hang over the bed.  I mounted prefabricated brackets on the wall, and added

two pine boards cut to length and inexpensive door stop molding to beef it up.

Success!

I'm kind of liking this carpentry thing.

Now, I didn't randomly choose the size of this shelf.  Nope, I had
a little something in mind to display up there.

A dreamy 1940's dollhouse!
I did a quick online search, and I think it was manufactured by
the Deluxe Game Corp and sold by Sears.

It's missing a few parts like the front door and railing
 above the pillars.  Sort of like another slightly larger house
 that's missing 3 sets of window shutters.  :)

We answered an ad in the newspaper for 2 homemade dollhouses
that were not at all what I had in mind.  Afterwords, we stopped at
a nearby antique shop where I found this house for only $20!

It was meant to be.

Six unfurnished rooms.
I guess I'll be looking for dollhouse furniture next.  And decorating
it for Christmas.  I can see it now.  Tree, lights, presents.......

As I said, I'm on the homestretch now.
A few minor details like bedding (which I'm working on....slowly), possibly some curtains,
 and no doubt dozens of holes in the newly repaired plaster walls to hang "art",
and the room will be DONE.
Finished.

Have I mentioned there are 2 more bedrooms in the same
ghastly state of disrepair?  Oh, yes.


Thanks for stopping by today to view my
trio of shelves on the walls.

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesdays
Common Ground Be Inspired
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

Trashformation complete.

Other than a misadventure with a wrought iron corner shelf back in '83,
I've never sought out curbside trash.  I have nothing against it, but I work
three to four (sometimes five) days per week and we live in a 90 year old
house in desperate need of attention, so the last thing I need is
another project!!!

It was purely by chance that I came across a threefer last fall.
A little spiffing up and the 2 enamel topped cabinets found new homes with our daughters,
but the forlorn looking whatchamacallit below sat in our garage all
winter long.  And a long winter it was here in northern MN!

Not very pretty is she?

This is how it looked when I picked it up off the

side of the road last fall.  I've been on a mission to clean out

our garage and this is one of the things that had to go!

After I brought the junk home, I noticed our daughter Julie
had pinned a photo of a play produce stand for kids.

Light bulb moment!

I'll turn it into a lemonade/produce stand for Mack!

I had my assistant scrape the rust off the cast iron frame
and cut a few rectangles from quarter inch plywood for the sides.
Then I gave it a few coats of glossy white paint to brighten it up.

The front of the stand is my old subway art covered
with chalkboard paint and screwed into the horizontal wood shelves.
It's a perfect fit and didn't cost me a dime!

I also had my handyman piece together some spare plumbing parts and
 insert them into the top holes of the pipe frame to support the canopy.

The only thing I purchased for the project was this piece of
 striped outdoor fabric.  I lined it with painters drop cloth
and sewed strips of velcro near the scalloped edges of the canopy.
I stapled velcro to the front and back of the top board
to attach the fabric canopy and viola!

A lemonade stand is born!

The back opening can be used to store extra supplies.

I had planned to photograph the stand outdoors in the sunshine, but
unfortunately it rained all weekend.  What good is
a lemonade stand on a rainy day?


Plan B:  Use it as a puppet theater!

A few months ago, the amazing Tracy of Crow's Feet Chic sent me this darling
 crocheted strawberry bag.  Hmmmm, is this the new fashionable
handbag for spring?   Why no, it's filled with.......

Finger puppets galore!!!
Squeal!  Aren't they adorable?!

Fun to be had by children of all ages!  Adults, too!
  I know this because I brought them to work for show and tell.
Finger puppets have a way of bringing out the child in all of us.  :)

Thank you Tracy!


Before & After

Total cost $5.00.
Moving it out of the garage.  Priceless!!

Our grandson Mack turned 2 on Saturday!
He may not grasp the concept of selling lemonade yet,
but he's no doubt inherited the salesman gene, so it shouldn't be long
before he's out on the boulevard selling lemonade.
  And tomatoes from their garden.
And toys from his sandbox.
 And kitties.

Tracy's crocheted version of Mack's beloved? kitties,
 Peanut and Mr. Meowmers.   ;o)


Thanks for stopping by!
  Have you hugged your cat today?  Real hard?

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
BeBetsy & VMG206 Brag About It
Common Ground Be Inspired
Funky Junk Interiors Party Junk