Annabellea.com

I am so excited! I have finally decided to open up our Cottage! The focus will be on  Shabby Coastal Style Furniture, Home Accessories and Jewelry … and of course my Annabellea Jewelry line!

On the back of our property, or the Front, depending on which street you are on… is a cottage house… about 900 sq ft. and an awesome porch. It was built in 1937 and is heart pine floor walls and ceilings! Fabulous wood that is sometimes hard to get a nail into!

I purchased the cottage and an acre of land as a single woman in 1997 – it is about 4 miles from the Gulf of Mexico near Seaside and Grayton Beach …and just a couple blocks from Eden State Park in Historic Point Washington. I was so happy living in my little Beach Cottage even though it had no air conditioning or heating for the first 2 years! There were also dirt roads back then, that have been paved in recent years.

Here is the front in her current state, she needs painting and some landscaping and some styling with pretty things and we’ll be good to go!

When got married we built in the back and the cottage became my studio, but after bringing our daughter home from Guatemala, I wanted to be able to work in the house and moved my jewelry business into the house.

Then my sweet daddy passed away and the cottage became a storage house for all of his things… and my framing supplies… and my thrift shop finds…and things piled up more… and more… until it looked like an episode from horders! Seriously. no. seriously…see… it’s okay, you can gasp…

So little by little these last few months i have been sorting through things and have cleared a pathway, yes, it was that bad! But it is like going to a thrift store everyday!

I found this Pie safe that i can’t wait to paint and this vintage Blue Pottery Crock…

and these fabulous vintage suitcases

and this dresser that i think was my maternal grandmothers, i need to check on that story before i go and sell it…

i have been having so much fun uncovering things long lost…

i will be blogging about the progress and all the treasures i am finding! 

When will we be open? i don’t know, i want to set a date, but if i don’t make it i will feel like a failure… and really, why do that to myself?  Our Summer tourist season is almost over here in North Florida, so that pressure is off… So we will open when everything is ready!

I have set up a  Shabby Coast Cottage facebook page , so stop by and “like” it and you can follow all the progress!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / French Country Cottage /  Faded Charm  Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

I did it! I made my first Roadside Rescue! I found a broken chair with a great back… It also has wonderful legs that i will be using in another project!

The back had broken away from the chair and was missing a side… it might have been there in the trash, but i forgot to look in my slightly embarassed state of actually taking somebody’s trash, my heart was pounding and i was hurrying to get it in the car before someone saw me! lol

I took off the one side, used wood putty to fill the holes,

sanded and primed…

Then i spray painted with my new fav color Rust-oleum Eden Green that I also used on my easy canvas project. After it dried, i distressed using sandpaper and my little Dremmel Drill that i use for my jewelry, this made it easy to sand in the openings.

I nailed a sawtooth hanger on the back .

I toyed with the idea of adding tiny nails on it and hanging keys in the entry or even plates… but the plates hide the pretty lines…

So then it went up on the hutch…

Then i hung it over the kitchen sink…

Now it is happy in the foyer! Am i the only one that constantly moves stuff around?

Notice my Rusty Tools that i painted in the same green color! I have an awesome rusty tool collection that i am about to unpack from the back shed and hang. I can’t decide if i want to paint the tools or leave them rusty…. decisions, decisions!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / French Country Cottage /  Faded Charm  Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

This is one of those projects that you start out with one idea in mind and end up on a totally different path…

I can’t be the only one that does that , right? RIGHT?

So , I’m not going to give away my initial idea, because i still hope to accomplish it, but let’s just say this is what i started with…

a starfish skeleton made from wrapping newspaper around and then tying it with twine .

This is where my mind wandered off from my original plan, call it impatience, I am easily distracted…

anyway, i took my drop cloth scraps and wrapped the starfish using my glue gun to secure it …

then i wrapped it with thread , really sloppy…

i started out sewing on the glass pearls, but again, my impatience got the best of me and i used the glue gun to set the rest …

It looks so cute tucked in the old wooden tray on the table with the Painted Drop Cloth Runner.

I may really be going drop cloth crazy, just saying…

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  /  French Country Cottage /Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

So After reading one of my Favorite Blogs- Funky Junk Interiors,

I found her wonderful post on how she paints Old Signs.

She was so inspiring I had to run outside and see what wood I could find to paint one for the Kitchen!

The only piece that I could find was a 1×4, a little smaller than I wanted, but fun to practice on!

I picked my 2 colors, I love these small samples from Home Depot for around a dollar each! I brushed each on being very sloppy and not covering the whole surface.

I printed out my letters in the size that i needed….

and I colored on the back with a pencil then flipped over and traced the letters. Then Painted in with Blue paint and sanded heavily to get the old look!

I hung it over the sink in the kitchen….

I love it so much!

We have an old Shrimper that sets up his roadside/bayside shrimp stand near our house and I have always loved his painted signs…

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I participate in the following link parties:

A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

I just finished up 2 large wholesale orders from Galleries, shipped them out , and now it’s time for some DIY!

Yes, I reward myself for working by getting to do a little diy project….

I have seen this project around the internet and knew I had to try it!

I ran over to the studio/storage house and flipped through the blank canvases I have and found 2 16×20 size! Giddy with happiness I quickly grabbed my painters tapes and taped off a square about 2 inches from the edges. Then I taped off each corner. I extended the tape around the edges and onto the back.

I then spray painted it with my new favorite Rust-oleum color GreenEden… I love this color, not too lime, not too dark green, just a fresh and happy green!  

I gave it one good coat and pulled off the tape… Lovin’ it!!

I didn’t do both canvases because I wasn’t for sure how it would work, but now I think that I will do the other one to have a matching pair!

I love the little wooden animals from Guatemala that were given to me by my aunt when our Daughter came home from Guatemala!

On top of the Antique Hutch until I paint the other one… Then who knows where they will go!

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I participate in the following link parties:

A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

I finally almost have it finished! I have to go back and tighten up some seams, hem a bit and put in the velco on the side seam… but i am very happy with how it turned out!

 I forgot to take a total before shot but just looking at the Green cushions, i am sure you can imagine how ugly it was! but it’s in good shape and I got it several years ago for $25.00!! It was $45.00, but my bff talked him down for me! I have been using a purchased blue denim slip, that just sits on top of the cushions, the kind you always have to tuck in… so I am so excited to not have to tuck anymore!

here it is below with the dropcloth base and the old cushions…

 Detail of pinned arm… I just basically cut and pinned the drop cloth as i went…

 I laid the old cushion out and used it as a pattern for the back cushions… I am way too lazy to put in a zipper so i used an envelope style on them…. I also used the French Welt instead of piping on the top cushions on none on the box cushions, I want it to match my Chair that I recovered here.

Above you can see the difference in the 2 box cushions… the one on the left i just pinned cut without measuring and pinned as i went, and the one on the right I actually measured and cut correctly, obviously that one looks better, so i need to go back and fix the one on the left and tighten up the seams.

I made 2 pillows out of a Chenille Bedspread and piped it in Drop Cloth and then Handpainted a Coral Pattern on a Drop Cloth Pillow cover.

I love how the New Slipcover has changed the whole look of the room!

*** Edited to add: I spent about 10 hours on the slipcover, for 8 of those hours I sewed like a mad obsessesd woman on the first day. The second day I sewed about 2 hours finishing up the cushions, and i figure that i have about an hour or 2 of finishing up and tightening the seams. So about 12 hours total sewing time!

I also used the Home Dept 8 oz Dropcloth in the 12×15 ‘ size, they were 29.97 and  I used almost 2 of them. so for $60.00 total for the slipcover cost plus my time.  I also washed the drop cloth before, but i don’t bleach mine , we have so much white in the house already, and i figure i will be bleaching as i wash off the kid and dog dirt!

This was also much easier project than i thought! I have sewn since i was young and always made dresses, skirts etc… if you can sew … you can do this! Once i got started i saw how everything fit together… it’s really just holding the huge amount of fabric up to the machine that is the hardest part!

I also followed Miss Mustard Seed’s Video on Slipcovering, there is lots of great info there!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

 

I’ve been Neutralizing the Great Room in our House! We have had the yellow walls for several years now, and while they were fun and bright, i am ready for a change! I am in the process of taking out all the knick knacks and color and slip covering and painting the furniture to give me a blank neutral canvas to work with!

It feels so fresh and new, yet i find myself missing the color… I had thought that i would bring in blues and greens only, but after looking around at the accessories and art that we have, i think that i will use the bright colors in accents, vases, art, pillows etc… then i can change them out as the seasons and my moods change!

right now we are in the neutral stage, and it feels good!  The room is also very empty because i am in the process of re-finishing several pieces right now.

here are some before and afters….

And notice the Drop Cloth Curtains, Slipcovers on the Couch, Chair, Table Runner and Dining room Chairs…

yes i have gone Drop Cloth Crazy! I just love it!!

I just finished up the Couch Slipcover! It wasn’t as hard as i thought it would be , and i still have a few seams i need to tighten, but i love it!

I will be writting a post on it soon!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

This was a fun, fast and easy project…. Just like I like them!

 I am deliberating whether or not to paint my dining room table and chairs,

I still can’t decide , but thought that in the meantime

I would make a table runner with some leftover drop cloth that I had.

I cut to size and hemmed the edges under…Then taped off with painters tape and rolled on paint.

I used a satin wall paint in off white. I love the slight contrast to the tan drop cloth.

after the paint dried, i pulled off the tape and laid the runner on the table… love it!

I have a studio/cottage in the back of the property full of old treasures and I dug out this old tool tray that I filled with goodies!

I was inspired by Miss Mustard Seed and her tray here.

The slipcovers on the chairs are a new sewing project and I am just finishing them up and I will put them in a separate post!

So should i paint the Table and Chairs or not????

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

Yes, I have probably officially lost my mind!

While enjoying a Sunday in Home Depot with my BFF I came across a garbage can with this mini pallet sticking out of it….

So I did what any good DIY’er would do…

I stuck in in my cart! In the back of my mind were running all the projects that I had seen with pallets, but I had never seen a mini!

 This morning I was overcome with heat, it is 101 degrees on our screened porch, and in my heated condition new creativity was born! So I grabbed my mini pallet and gave it a good sanding with my palm sander. (it is officially my husband’s , but I like to call it mine)

After that sanding I primed it with 2 coats of primer and then distressed it with the palm sander.

I nailed a couple nails inside for hanging some plates and placed it in foyer and Pimped it up for some photos! I intend to move it to the back porch, but I am really liking it in here right now!

And husband was even surprised at how funky chic it looked, well, those were not his exact words, but I know that is what he was thinking!

 Now, I find out that my BFF has access to as many pallets as I want/need…

So I can promise that there will be more pallet projects coming!!!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

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