Anniversary and Graduation Weekend

Last weekend was a busy but joyful weekend.

Back in November 1956, my parents were married. Saturday June 17, 2017 we celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary!

The event was held at the Kennedy School in NE Portland. There were 40 people present including two people from the original wedding!

Lucky for you, I'm posting some photos of the event!

This is a picture of the family in attendance.

We served a brunch of quiche, sausage, bacon, pastries, potatoes, and fruit.

There were more than enough cupcakes! In fact, I have about 20 in my freezer!

Close up of the flowers, done by Flowers in Flight.

Alec and my Dad talking about fishing or hunting, no doubt.

   

The next day, my son, Alec, graduated from Portland State University!

The event was the largest graduation in PSU history.

Once the graduates filed in, the seats filled up quite fast.

Thank goodness for the jumbo-tron! There's Alec walking across the stage after receiving his diploma.

The happy graduate still has a few classes to take this summer and a capstone in August in which he'll be going to Borneo!

Congratulations Alec and Mom and Dad!

How Can It Get Any BETTER!?

How can Lora's Beauty handmade soap be improved? That was the question I asked myself one day. We already use organically sourced herbs and the finest oils and butters.

Each artisan bar is than scented with pure essential oils, not fragrance oils, and because we love the rain forest, we never use palm oil.

photo credits: NPR

So how can it get any better? The answer came to me one day at my day job when I found one of my co-workers had goats and loads of  goats' milk to share!

After talking to him we worked out some logistics and the next day I found a gallon of goats' milk on my desk. I hauled it home on my bike that evening and the next Saturday I was making a new batch of Honey and Safflower soap made with not just goats' milk but FRESH-FROM-THE-GOAT-GOATS'-MILK!

Previously, I used organic powdered goats' milk I reconstituted. However, as I was mixing this new batch of soap I could tell the difference right away.  It just seemed creamier. Almost like vanilla milkshake creamy. Seriously, it looked decadent! 

For now, Lora's Beauty Shop is stocked with Honey and Safflower FRESH-FROM-THE-GOAT-GOATS'-MILK-SOAP and I'll be transitioning all my goats' milk soap over to FRESH-FROM-THE-GOAT-GOATS'-MILK-SOAP soon!

Oh, by the way, did I mention these were show goats as well? Nothing but the best I tell you!

No Part Goes Unused

Last week I shared part of the story of a broken chair. Well that broken chair reincarnated into more than just a stool/table/nightstand!

The backrest on the chair has now become an overly fancy hook.

I painted this in Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Boxwood and added a hook I had in my stash.

To the back, I added some eyes and strung a sturdy wire so it's easy to hang.

Who doesn't need an extra hook around the house to hold mugs, towels, coats, or pizza peel?

I know you're now wondering what happened to the spindles on the back of the chair? Afterall, no part went unused in this broken chair!

Well, the spindles are now being used to hold up a drawer I picked up free on the sidewalk months ago. It's now a flower box!

I again used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Boxwood to paint it and added a pull I had.

You could really use it for anything because everyone needs a box on legs, but I picture it as a flower box.

A while ago I shared this piece of wood I picked up.

This baby has now transformed into a tray!

I painted the top with the same Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Boxwood and added some handles.

I kept the bottom the same red color it was because the paint was in good condition.

I then used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint Tricycle and added a stencil to the top to tie in the color of the bottom.

All these items will be in my Home and Patio Sale this July! Stay tuned for details as it gets closer!

Broken Chair? No Problem.

You may remember this set I shared months ago (yes, it will be for sale in my Home and Patio Sale!)

Anyway, there are 4 matching chairs to this, the two shown here, and one of which I painted white, to match the stripe down the middle of the table.
The other one this post is about.

That chair was broken. The back rest had snapped from the seat.

That chair has now become this; a stool, a side table, a night stand? The point is, it's versatile and cute!

I painted this with French Gray milk paint after sanding and filling in the holes where the back used to be.

I then added a brocade stencil.

I think it would work great in a bathroom as a table next to the bath because that's what everyone's doing now; putting tables in their bathrooms (who would have thought?).

Remember this little plant stand? I dug it out of a garbage pile walking back from the pub one night (yikes, that sounds kind of bad).

Well, a little spray paint later and.... Looks a lot better, yea?

I used this metallic spray paint and gave it a couple coats.

This is another versatile item however, keeping with my theme of bathroom tables, I styled it for that.

All items will be in the Home and Patio Sale July 25 and 26 in Portland, Oregon stay tuned for more details as the event gets closer!

I've got more refurbishes to share next week as we find out what happened to the back of the broken chair and this tray!

Found and Refurbished: Nightstand

Long time no blog, I know. It's spring and the weather finally changed here in Portland which means all the free furniture has moved to the sidewalks and I've been busy picking it up and refurbishing and/or re purposing it!

I've got several before and after items to share but this week let's start with this little nightstand we picked up on my way home from yoga a couple weeks ago,

This probably started life as an IKEA purchase. It's not fine furniture by any means but it was in good condition and was all wood and it's always good to get free pulls!

I painted this with a mixture (one to two) of Mustard Seed Yellow mixed with Farmhouse White milk paint.

When painting with milk paint, the first and sometimes second coats look really awful!

Inside, I used French Gray Milk Paint, which is more like a light blue.

I added the glass pull and kept the other one for my stash.

Once painted, I finished it with Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil.

I like how the yellow and blue complement each other.

I will be offering this for sale in my Home and Patio Sale July 28 and 29.

Next week I'll share what I did with a broken chair and show the after picture of this stand!