I Would Break The 10th Commandment...

I want Crystal of Urban Patina to be my next door neighbor.  

I'd be over at her place every single day if she was.  I'd get nothing done at my house.  My husband and son would go unfed because I'd be hanging with Crystal.  I would break the 10th commandment because I would be coveting every single thing she created.  Her style would become my style.  (It actually kind of is already.)  We would get together and cookout.  Our husbands could be best friends.  If my husband refused to weld something for me (he hasn't yet but I did ask him about breaking out the welder the other day for a project I'm designing and come to think of it, he never did commit to it), I'd run next door and have her husband do it.  She could come over to my house and we could rock on the Triple Rocker, sipping iced tea and counting how many cars don't come to a complete stop at the stop sign.  If only...

Since she isn't likely to move to Illinois and we're not likely to move to Minnesota, I'll have to be content with following her on the internet.  One visit to her blog, or her Facebook page, or her shop will show you why I adore her so much.  

Take a look at this end table Crystal went to work on. She had two of them.  They had leather tops and they had seen better days.  Crystal set about removing the leather.  That left each table with a recessed area that needed to be filled.  No lego building plate here!  Nope!  She decided to use beautiful pieces of wood.  

The wood was cut to different lengths.  She sanded, stained and sealed each piece of wood.  Surprisingly, it's all the same color of stain on each board.  Some pieces just took it differently.  (Kind of like when I color my hair.  Some strands don't absorb the color like other strands.  I can fool myself into thinking it all looks blond because I've set my home lighting to be flattering to me at all times.  Dimmers are a girl's best friend.  It's only when I enter Walgreens and I'm under those florescent lights and catch a glimpse of myself in those stupid mirrors high up at the back of the store that I realize it is gray/white and I'm just fooling myself.  Thus, why I avoid Walgreens.)

On the body of the tables, Crystal painted them using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the colors Old Ochre and Old White.  She heavily distressed them and sealed them with both clear and dark wax.  She then added new hardware.

Take a look at them now...

Gorgeous!  You can see even more pictures of them on the Urban Patina blog.  There you will fall in love with all of Crystal and her husband Paul's creations.  

I covet this clock...

I'm seriously in love with it.  I love it so much it hurts.  They offer even MORE clocks than this one.  A bunch of them.  Beautiful clocks in various sizes and styles.  All handcrafted.  Don't you feel like you should have one of those hanging in your home?  I know I do.  

Thank you Crystal's parents for producing such a talented Earthling to walk among us less talented people.  Paul's parents, too.  Thank you.  I shall continue to stalk your children but breathe easy because I come in peace.

Get on over to Urban Patina and see what else these two have to offer.  I predict you'll be expanding your Pinterest boards today.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

Midway through the week.  Have you submitted YOUR furniture flip yet?  Get on it.  Email me before/after pics & plenty of details.  Send them to me at furnitureflippin@gmail.com .  I'll be watching for it.

See you tomorrow!

~ Stephanie