Accesorizing the crafting table

 Now that my little work table has been painted and placed in the bay window of my closet it is time to start unpacking into it and getting things set up so I can catch up with sewing projects and photo albums. I want a tray that I can keep desk thing on and then easily remove them when I need to set up my sewing machine. I wanted something with purple faux croc. At first I thought I would recover a tray I already have, but I couldn't find any purple croc paper online.
I was able to find a few ready made trays. This first one I saw on the P1 website so I went in to buy it. It isn't exactly the right shade of purple, but I do like that the large size would allow me to keep a stack of papers that need to be filed and remove it all from the desk when needed.  I also found this little chrome based, drum shade lamp on sale for $29! Perfect for what I was looking to do!
 
So here is the P1 tray:

And here is a tray I found at ZG while shopping with Ms. Mc. I prefer this shade of purple, and I think the round shape is a nice contrast to the rectangular shape of the desk. But now I like the idea of having a spot to keep papers.

Using the lampsade in the antique shop as inspiration, I realized I had a couple of little broach type things. When I was in grade school, I think, my grandma or someone else gave me these little metal pieces. The one on the right was from a pair of shoes, the black in the middle is a piece of the suede from the shoes. I can't remember what the other piece was from. Yes, I never throw anything away. I had two of each of these and have been hanging on to them all these years! I used one of each a few years ago when Ms. Mc had her Wine & Witches party and we all decorated witch hats. You never know when something could be reused!

 Here they both are against the lamp shade.

 I really wanted to get a pretty velvet ribbon to mount them, but they didn't have any at Joann's. I thought 2" wide ribbon would be too thick, so I went with the 1 1/2". Now I just need to decide which I like better. And if I like the one on the right better, do I want to keep the black part or remove it so you just see the purple of the ribbon?

A crafting table makeover and an adventure

Our master suite has a dressing room which has a shaft of bookshelves and a small closet with in it smack in the middle of the room. I'm not sure why previous owners would have chosen that placement since it blocks a view of downtown, but in any event it is what we have to work with for now. I decided to use the section closet to the bay window as a crafting/sewing work area. Shortly after we moved in I began trolling craigslist on the hunt for inexpensive furniture I could make over to fill in some of the holes in our rooms. I found a small mid century, stained maple, colonial revival style desk which they were asking $90.  Except I read the add wrong, they had 60 in the title because that was the decade he assumed it was. Anyway, by then I had already made a commitment to come out and thought $90 was still reasonable.
It's in good shape and I liked all the curvy lines.

 I began by sanding it down.
 
then I primed it and painted it black to blend with the ebony stained RH dressers we have in the closet.
 
I was planning on reusing the colonial revival hardware, but in an attempt to straighten up, Mr. W lost them in the garage.  I have been trying to relocate them for a couple months now to no avail. I'm about to go pick up some inexpensive silver tone replacements.
I have been searching for an oval backed, tufted side chair I can paint black and have reupholstered in a lavender velvet. Not much luck in the department yet. Every thing I find is either too nice to paint, too expensive, or a pair that I would feel guilty about breaking up.
Last week Ms. Mc invied me to share a sitter with her and drive out to Camas, WA to go antiquing. She had been there with Mr. B a few days earlier and had spied some cute Hallowe'en things thru the window. She is gearing up for her annual Hallowe'en party which this year will be a tea! I was happy to join her. She found some cute amber carnival glass tea cups and saucers and we each got a few black glass pieces. One vendor had the cutest embellished lampshade in their booth. I've been looking online for purple lampshades for the work table. I think I might do this instead with a drum shade.

Camas has a really cute main street with lots of great neon signage. I enjoyed this diner sign.
It was closed, but we think we need to return with the children, there is a great little counter inside where I know little boys would love to sit.
 
The movie theatre has some nice neon too.
 
Once we got back in the car I recognized a man who was walking out of the antique store.  I had seen him two weeks before when Mr. W and I were at the Monticello Antique Mall. He is memorable because he looks like a carnival strong man.

I'm not exaggerating. He was antiquing in a muscle tank. totally tight shorts, a gigantic belt buckle, he has broad shoulders and an itty bitty waist. He has perfectly coiffed dark hair with sideburns and a handle bar mustache. When Mr. W and I saw him the first time I mentioned that I would love to see where he lives.  I imagined that his interiors must be just as fun and unique as he is.
This time he had a regular, but super tight polo shirt with an I heart Jesus belt. I had to call Mr. W right away and he began to badger me into taking a photo of the man. I wouldn't do something so rude. Ms. Mc got all excited once she got in the car and decided she would follow him to take a picture. Fortunately he had already gotten into his shiny red pick up so she couldn't have taken his picture. But by that point she was feeling so adventurous that she decided to follow him in his car! I was mortified! Camas reeks, by the way, because of the paper mill, so the less time we spent in Camas the better. The town is very cute, cute old bungalows, beautiful vistas, but so darn stinky!
At one point I thought for sure we lost him so I was a little relieved. Until she spotted him up ahead. We eventually saw him pull into his driveway. His house was a totally nondescript, 70s snout house. I was a little disappointed, I was hoping he was driving home to something unique and awesome. Then Ms. Mc circled around and drove back past his house trying to talk me into taking a picture of him in his driveway. I could not be convinced.  I hope his interiors are exciting. But I have assure Mr. W and Ms. Mc that we are NOT going back there to peer in through the windows!