As the hot days of summer are now numbered I am starting to collect pieces once again for a Chelsea's Garage on-site sale! If you check out my Etsy shop don't expect to find much in there as I will be holding onto newly refinished pieces for an upcoming autumn sale right out of our garage. If you haven't been able to attend or see photos of past sales, it is such a fun day!

Transforming the garage, (with bikes, kids toys, lawn equipment and all), into a warm and inviting little showroom for a day is how this all began. In the past few months my focus has turned more from hunting for my own pieces to taking on client orders. While I absolutely LOVE working with clients and giving their vision for a piece it's own reality, I also still enjoy the thrill of finding interesting pieces and dreaming about what they could be...and working it out!

It's also a fun opportunity to test out different techniques since I don't have to worry about upsetting a client if it goes horribly wrong! In my previous post I had success using Vaseline as a distressing tool. I tried it again on a GORGEOUS dresser yesterday and I must say, I'm a big fan!

{will be available at the next Chelsea's Garage sale}

For me, a piece is not truly finished until it is in my home, staged, and photographed. That's just the icing on the cake for me...buttercream icing. The best kind.

Tying these two fantastic reads by my one of my favorite authors, (Jodi Piccoult), in tulle seemed to tie in the Marie Antoinette look that this dresser seemed to have when I stepped back from the finished product. I'm not educated in Marie Antoinette's style, but am I right? From the tone of the blue to the two round pulls and the curves of the upper drawers - when I finished this piece I just had to google Marie Antoinette and check if my first impression was accurate.

It wasn't too far off. But, I'm no expert.:)

This piece was done in a lighter shade from the table that I posted on previously. Come back tomorrow to see an entirely different shade of the same blue! We're going ombre this week! Sorta.:)

~Chelsea

Well, it's safe to say I may have shed a tear or two during the closing ceremonies of the Olympics yesterday. What an incredible journey the last 2+ weeks have been for all who were either in London or tuned in from home. If it weren't for my children I may have never left the house in order to watch every minute! Feels like the time flew by and I didn't do a single thing around here....my cleaning may be behind but I did do a thing or two.:)

First off, the Garage Games was such a success! A huge thank you to all who invited us for a peek into their home. I have definitely come out of the Garage Games with some fresh ideas and that itch for creativity. If you sent photos then you'll be entered into a drawing for a piece of jewelry! I'll contact you soon if/when your name is pulled.:)

Aside from tuning into the Olympics and putting together Garage Games posts, the past 2 weeks were not completely wasted.

I completed this custom order dresser.

Made 5 loaves of banana bread

which were gobbled up by my 3 little birds.

Found THE tray. I've been looking for a little wooden tray with handles like this for a while. The price was right during a little trip last week to Home Goods.:)

And best of all, made a little spot to display our little ones' art.

Truthfully, I have seen way better/prettier looking ways of displaying children's art, but this seemed to be the most practical for us since we get about 10293473210298347 pieces of art a month and I needed a super easy way to change things out. I just did a zig-zag of twine and used paperclips to attach the papers to the twine. The 'CREATE' sign above is just a scrap piece of particle board that I painted in flat black paint, (which works like but is cheaper than chalkboard paint), and wrote the letters in chalk.

Being right around the corner from their toys, their little gallery is in a fun spot for the kiddos to admire.

Shire pointing out her own pieces.:)

Artist love.

There would be nothing spectacular to a stranger about our kids' art - it's typical 1 and 2 year old scribbles, (and dribbles on a few pieces!)....but I love showing them that it's spectacular to us and that we're proud of them!

That just about sums up the last couple weeks around here and in the Garage!

Thank you for reading!

~Chelsea

My 'go-to' banana bread recipe is found here: 10 Minute Banana Bread - I like using a few extra bananas, between 3-4. Enjoy!