The other day, I was browsing in a used furniture store and came across this guy...


He one minor blemish on him and for only $16, I couldn't resist! Have you ever had one of those moments when you're just browsing and you find "IT" and you just know that's the one? That was one of those moments! I love the lines on the mirror. It just makes it even more Hollywood Regency looking!

Even the hubs was intrigued by it. He then asked how many celebrities in the 70's  partied with this tray... (oh my). We both took turns styling the tray and this is what we came up with

He chose:
A simple decanter with his favorite whiskey and a souvenir glass from his favorite beer event.

She chose:
Flowers and a textured container

Two totally different looks with 1 tray. How do you style yours?


Cheers!
-Melissa

I've been searching on Craigslist lately for all things brass and glass. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a set of faux bamboo inspired "brass" nesting tables within my price range. They were about an hour away so I jumped in the car and headed out to get them! They had been spray painted over in white so I knew I'd have to strip the paint to get to the "brass"... or brass-plating as I now know. I know that a solid brass piece would cost a pretty penny so brass-plated furniture would be my next choice.

Here they are "as-is" when I bought them



I met @west23rdstvintage (aka Kristy) while browsing her awesome Craigslist finds on Instagram (check out her IG, she finds the BEST stuff!) who told me of Citristrip, a gel-based paint stripper. My hubby went to our local hardware store and came back with this...




I was slightly skeptical as I looked at the bottle. This stuff is going to take off paint?! It was gooey, smelled really nice and didn't look menacing at all like paint stripper should look.
Boy was I WRONG.
I painted the orange goo onto the first table and by the time I got each leg covered, the paint on the first three legs started to bubble and pucker. Since this was my first time at the rodeo, I had a small scraper and was unequipped to deal with the aftermath that was the shedding paint off the brass.


The next day, I bought the after wash that Citristrip sells. Once again, I was inequipped and used a thick pair of rubber gardening gloves which lead to a minor chemical burn on my left thumb. After my project, we were having guests over and I thought I had dyed my thumb red from all of the cherries I'd chopped to go into a sangria (that post is definitely coming soon!)!!! Nope. I'd successfully peeled off a couple of layers of skin. I dressed it daily with Aquaphor and a festive band-aid and it has successfully healed after a week. LESSON LEARNED: WEAR THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT!


After my thumb fiasco, I tried to polish them since the brass was worn in a few spots. Did you know that ketchup can polish brass? Thanks to Google, I also learned that Coca-Cola and lemon juice can also do the same. The citric acid eats at the tarnish.



After realizing that this would take forever and the tarnish is actually rust in some places, I'd decided to spray paint them. And the finished product...




HOORAY!!! My first furniture restore! I have had this striped box/basket that I bought from The Container Store and since I'm incorporating stripes into this room, I thought this would be a good place to store throw blankets.

More to come... :)

-Melissa

I've tried my fair share of recipes on Pinterest and none have turned out as good as these gluten-free doughnuts! I made these for the second time this week just to be sure that they really are amazing and they just keep getting better and better! Prairie Hive's recipe is definitely a hit in my house. I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour ($8.99/box) whereas she used a Williams-Sonoma brand (Cup for Cup at $20). The doughnuts turn out cakey but a light and airy cakey consistency, kind of like a pancake! Add the glaze to it and you'll no longer have to go to Krispy Kreme. The dough itself only uses 1/3 cup of sugar and the glaze uses 1 cup of powdered sugar. Not too terribly sweet and I imagine you can even reduce the amount of sugar in the glaze.

Here is the recipe:

Makes 6 donuts, so I doubled this recipe for my dozen

• 1 cup GF all purpose flour (I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Vanilla glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FINALLY! I can blog about a piece of furniture now sitting in my living room! The hubby and I drove 2 hours into a little forest town to pick up this gem for only $30! Craigslist has done me right lately... I believe the most expensive thing I've purchased so far were the nesting tables for $55. For $30, I'd drive 2 hours for it. Crazy? I think not!

How far would you drive for a deal?

Here are some shots of my first piece of fancy furniture!


 
As you can see, "The Draper Room" is still a blank canvas. I plan on painting something on canvas and hanging it up above the couch. Our couches (there is another to the left) are from Scandinavian Designs and they are SO COMFY! I do love that there is so much light in this room!

I took this picture wrong but this shelf is my favorite shelf. Its the smallest piece of glass and I think this is where I'll put flowers weekly.


Is anyone else out there decorating (or re-decorating) their homes? What theme are you going with?

My blog (and first love) was originally about fashion but it has evolved. While I've been staring at Eames chairs and lusting over tufted benches and brass and glass lately, my mouth fell open when I saw these babies.

Kate Spade has a way of adding exquisite, masculine touches to her feminine line. I would absolutely add this to my work wardrobe or pair it with a printed dress on the weekends!

You can find the lovely Galley Flat here and comes in three different colors!

Enjoy!
Melissa

So I thought I'd have my first furniture restore blog post to you by Thursday of last week but I was SORELY mistaken! My DIY nesting project still remains unfinished but am hoping it will be completed tomorrow. If you follow me on Instagram (@littlemissorangeblossom), you'll know that my repainting of my nesting tables has had setbacks (bubbling of the paint due to my close painting) so I've had to sand a few places and try it again. This is what a spot looked like after it had bubbled and I had to scrape it off and re-sand. :(



While you're waiting for that post, I'd like to tell you a little bit about my weekend since it has to do with furniture and food!

The hubby is gluten intolerant; something we have been trying to learn and adapt to since we both love some carbs in our lives. Once again, I've taken to Pinterest to find some yummy and mostly healthy things we can eat.


Enter the Chia Pizza!

Ellie's blog at homecookinginmontana.blogspot.com gives a great recipe using flour tortillas. While telling the hubby about this deliciousness, he suggested I find a gluten-free brand. Mi Abuelita Corn and Chia tortilla was the result of my find! You can find them in the Tortilla section at most Nugget stores.

I also made the pizza sauce since I was too lazy to go back to the store to get a can and since I'm trying to learn how to cook, I made a little adventure out of creating my pizza sauce. In the first image, I had cut small circles in the tortilla (I was able to cut 3 of them per tortilla) so they were about the size of a good, large chip. I added pizza sauce, cheese and stayed light on the toppings since the tortilla was light and could not withstand too much weight.

In the second image, we decided to use the whole tortilla and make a mini pizza which was much more efficient at using the entire tortilla. We baked both at 500 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until crispy.
uh-MAZING. It was like a thin crust pizza...or many thin crust pizzas! And we didn't feel that bloated feeling after taking down a normal pizza. This is perfect if you have guests over or for kids!

On Saturday, we had hit up a couple of estate sales. We found some GORGEOUS items and I believe this person had some SERIOUS taste.

 This was an item I was hoping to score. I'm in search of a bench for our bedroom. $125 was too pricey for me though.
 This cool tufted and cane couch was $210.
 I don't know much about Eames chairs but at $145, I was told this weekend that this price was a steal!
 I fell IN LOVE with this couch when I walked in the room! The colors were so vibrant! If only Goldie (my humble Honda) could have held that greatness in her trunk...
And this bar cart was what I had really come to see! She was only $125 and solid brass! She wasn't quite what I was looking for though...

Today (Sunday), we drove over two hours so that I could purchase a brass and glass etegere for only $30! We borrowed Granny's SUV so we could haul it home! It needs a little work and cleaning but a blog post will definitely be in the works for this beauty! Here she is being taken home!

On the way back, the previous owner of this etegere had told us to stop on the Skyway Vista Point to check out the "mini Grand Canyon." We were definitely in awe when we got there...

Check out that view! The canyon seemed like it went for miles. Oh, and we like to play with the panorama by making sure we are in the shot at the beginning and at the end. :)


Hope you had a great weekend!

-Melissa

It all started with a bar cart. And I'm still on the hunt for that. 

Since "The Draper Room" has a modern vibe, it was decided that our current furniture needed assessment. Chris's coffee tables were from his twenties: an old, scratchy wooden number complete with matching scratchy, wooden and outdated end table. I debated on trying to give them a facelift but ultimately, we decided that we needed some new ones.

Keeping with the "Hollywood-Regency-meets-Don-Draper" theme, I began searching for glass and brass furniture on Craigslist, estate sales and wherever else I could find said table without breaking the bank. Most brass tables go for about $150+ in my area. I'm looking to spend $100 or less. Full priced items online were way out of my price range, running as high as several thousands of dollars. Sheesh.

I'm a GIGANTE fan of Pinterest and find a lot of inspiration as I'm sure all of you do too. I came across some really great Ikea hack ideas and decided that (for now) I would purchase a glass and metal coffee table and transform it into brass!

I chose the Ikea Vittsjo Nesting Table because when extended, it was just about the length of our previous table. I especially love that there is a second level where I can put magazines, vases and flowers.