Under A Pile of Scrap!

Your "Basic" Oak Bar Stool Makeover

2015-02-28T11:41:00.002-05:00

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Check out these darling bar stools! I think they are anyway.

I gotta tell ya. When I first found these bar stools, I was so excited & had BIG plans. I brought these plain, solid oak bar stools home & was ready to get to work on them right away. Well then, things started to go wrong, colors weren't looking right. I was going to do a dark stained seat with a vintage design that didn't work out quite the way I was hoping. So, they sat back in a corner for a long time, a couple of years long.

Then, I decided I'd try to remedy the way they looked & I painted them a different color & tried to redo the seat. I was getting frustrated with the seat part - again. THEN, they sat in my over-filled-with-more-crap-than-my-family-should-bear dining room. Sat in there for "who knows how MANY" months.

Finally, the answer to their prayers (& mine) came in a message I received on my Facebook selling page (Rustique & Chic) late last year. I just kept reading it over & over....not believing the words my eyes were reading. It was from General Finishes!! If you paint & stain furniture, you might know this name. GF had seen my work on my Facebook page & wanted me to use their product! NO WAY people! They are probably the most used stain for the tops of every kind of piece you can think of on the internet! They make Java Gel, my dream stain! Right about now you should be hearing brakes screeching to a halt. LOL They weren't offering the stain at this time. BUT! They did want me to try two of their paint colors. I was like, what? They make paint? Not just any ol' latex paint. They make Milk Paint. To be honest with you, I had never heard of milk paint until Miss Mustard Seed came out with her own line of it, that comes in a powder that you mix with water. So I went on the General Finishes website to see what it was all about. It's already premixed perfectly for you & comes in some amazing colors.

I sent them back my response that I would be thrilled to try out their product! Hello! I'm not stupid. Although, I was hoping I could pick out my own colors, but that wasn't the case. I'm taking a chance on getting something I can't work with, but after looking at all their colors, I was confident that wouldn't be a problem.

They sent me a pint of Buttermilk Yellow. I have to admit that I don't use a whole lot of "color" when I paint. I definitely use more neutral colors & occasionally red. I LOVED this shade of yellow though! Very country-ish looking.

I wanted to test out a color combination on something small to begin with, just to see how I liked this color AND the combination.

This little footstool worked out great for that.

I wanted the top black, since it goes well with yellow, but I didn't want it to give the impression of bumble bee colors, so I distressed the top & then stained over that. I really liked it! I have to say, after using this milk paint, I really like the coverage compared to the cheap Walmart latex paint I'm used to buying. This is smooth & so creamy. A little really goes a long way.

That's when it hit me to do those darn bar stools for the last time. I was determined to finally be finished with them this time.

And I AM done with them and couldn't be happier. But I don't just paint my furniture. I have to make my stuff into conversation pieces, even if they're just a bar stool. It's what I like to call "simple with a Wow factor." I created a pretty stencil for the seat with my Cameo and now I just adore how these look, & the General Finishes Buttermilk Yellow was the breath of fresh air they needed. I do want to point out that the paint on these bar stool have been stained over using Varethane Walnut Gel Stain, so it has a toned down appearance compared to the foot stool.

And since I liked the stencil design & look of this paint with distressed black so well, I decided to do up a cheese dome with the same theme.

Super. cute.

Until next time ~ be creative!

**This is a sponsored post by General Finished paint, but the comments & opinions are my own.

Magically Change a Vintage Cabinet into a Car?

2015-02-03T21:02:00.003-05:00

Ok, so maybe it's not so much of a magic trick as it sounds as it is having patience and determination.

It took me some time to make this cute piece happen.

You see, it all started with discovering this awesome bit of inspiration through Pinterest (you all know about Pinterest, right?) and this beauty can be found at Gadget Sponge.

Pretty friggin' awesome, am I right? I knew in an instant I had to find that kind of cabinet. That was step one. And I really did want to duplicate this bad boy as close as possible, but without the light thingy on top.

I knew there would be some subtle differences, but there ended up being so many more than I had originally wanted.

But you know what? I'm totally cool with how it turned out and I can really say I made it my own.

Like the handle on the drawer. How cool that it looks like a vintage car door handle! And since we're going with a car theme here, and not really wanting to go with a refrigerator logo as was on the inspiration piece, I wanted to find a vintage Chevrolet logo, but didn't want to go that expense. I thought I could find one for a couple bucks. I did not. BUT, I did find this Chevy fender skirt accent piece that just fit the spot I wanted it in. The price ended up being much more reasonable than the Chevrolet piece I thought I wanted. The more I kept talking to the guy who was selling it, the lower the price kept going, and I wasn't even asking him to go less.

I didn't realize how hard it would be to find the right sized basket for this space. This was the 2nd basket I bought. The first one was the style I wanted, but it was a bit too large, but I was going to try to make it work. Later I found this one, not buying it with intentions of using it for this, but in digging through my mountains of stash, I found it & it fit better. It also meant I needed a smaller license plate. I found a small red one at the same flea market where I bought this one, but it was $26 ~ eep! This one was $20 cheaper. I can settle.

Even though I adore distressed paint on furniture ~ I just adore it, I wanted to make mine shinier than the inspiration piece, with chrome looking trim. So, I spray painted it high gloss red & shiny chrome for that brand new car look. It probably took me 6-8 months to find all the pieces to make this one project complete, so it definitely wasn't *POOF!* ~magic.

That isn't one of the reasons why I keep doing this, but the results are.

Parties I'm Linking to:

A Pumpkin Face Take on the Snowman Muffin Tins

2014-09-19T11:32:00.003-04:00

Just a quick post here, even though it's only been since FOREVER that I've done one! Am I right?

Yes, I know I'm right...

If you've done any Holiday searching on Pinterest, then you just might have come across some cute muffin tins decorated up like snowmen. I thought they were so cute, I even did my own! You can read more about those & see the original inspiration if you click HERE.

I did a little searching on Pinterest to see if anyone had done a pumpkin face muffin tin yet & didn't find anything like it. I found some cute scrapbooking type muffin tins decorated for Halloween, but nothing even close to what I was looking for. I did a search on Google & still nothing, except some yummy looking pumpkin recipes that I might have to check out.

I started out thinking I would do all the muffin spots as a pumpkin face. I even painted them all orange. Then, as I was getting ready to do the last one, I thought that maybe I could do something a little bit different. And so, the one little ghost face was added. If I do any more of these tins, I might change the mouth design on the ghost, I'm not thrilled with how it turned out but you can still tell it's a ghost.

I won't say this project is actually done, because I want to add something for the black background, but if I don't get that far, it's still cute enough the way it is.

I was also thinking that this might be a fun project for the little kiddos to do with a black marker if they aren't big enough to carve their own pumpkin yet, & it could even be a memento that they could keep for years. I would recommend using a spray sealer for that. I use Krylon Matte sealer because it doesn't yellow & gives it a nice finish without a high gloss, unless you like that look.

Have a Blessed day!

Parties I'm linking to:

Unique Gift Container

2014-04-18T10:14:00.001-04:00

Who doesn't like the insulated canning jar cups that are out on the market now? I've found a way to use them as part of the gift AND the wrapping! They are coming out in some really great colors now & you can even buy extra replacement straws too!

This is going to be a really quick post, but I wanted to share it with you in case your scrambling for a last minute Easter "basket" for someone special. In fact, this idea is perfect for any time, not just Easter!

My older sister lives in a group home with 3 other ladies and they all have some kind of mental disability. My sister has Downs, and we just recently had it confirmed that she has the onset of dementia. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do from here, as it seems to be progressing quicker than I'd like to witness.

I always try to do something for each of the members of their house at the gift giving holidays and even a little something for their staff, because those ladies put up with a LOT! Actually, I don't do enough for them, but I try.

I wanted something different from the usual basket that they really have no other uses for, and I hate to waste my money on such disposable items. I wanted them to have something useful & yet make it look a little pretty in it's presentation. I have a ton of tulle ribbon, so this was a another use for that, even though it barely made a dent.

I purchased the cups at Walmart. They're less than $5 each for the smaller ones, like these. This cup is for my sister. Her favorite color is purple, but since they didn't have that in their selection, this is what I settled for. I tied hers with some turquoise tulle and the others have light pink. She loves bright & festive things, so this should please her.

This is one of the other cups that's clear, so you can see the contents inside. It's still hard to tell, but there's a little bit of Easter grass in the bottom to make it feel festive.

I'm hoping you were a little bit inspired to think outside of the typical gift box with this unique & useful idea!

Happy Easter & God Bless!

Teacher Appreciation Sign

2014-04-16T19:57:00.003-04:00

We're getting closer to the end of the school year and come some time in May, we'll be doing Teacher Appreciation week around here.

Now mind you, this project was not originally my idea and I don't know anything about the original artist, so I won't post their photo without being able to give them proper credit. I was sent a phone picture by one of my customers asking me to make something similar. I believe the original one was done freehand on canvas maybe, while mine was done with the help of my Silhouette Cameo on wood.

I wish I could tell you what all the fonts are, but I had this melt down with my lack of proper judgement by installing the newest version for my Cameo much too soon. I ended up installing & uninstalling it AND the old version 3 times each just to get this project done by the deadline. I can tell you that the font for TEACHER & the name at the bottom is Cornfed. Others are TMJ, Hello Heartache, Comic Sans, Happy Sans, Hippy Movement, & maybe Segoe Script? I know there are some more, but if you want to make this sign yourself, make it your own & choose which fonts YOU like! I'm thinking the apple was part of a title image from the Silhouette store, I just made one fat & one skinny.

All you have to do is paint your board black first. And here's a little tip for making your colors POP on a black background, do a primer coat of your design in white first.

Trust me, if you didn't do a white base coast first, the pink & green paints would have had a black undertone to them & harder to see, plus you would have had to do many more coats. Since I cut my "stencil" design using plain white contact paper, it makes it easy to keep it in place & do each color over the white with little hassle & barely a trace of the white. I had a couple of letters with a white edge, but I touched them up with a fine artist brush. Once the paint is completely dry, I like to spray a couple coats of a matte sealer.

**I have to mention that my late Mother In Law had a hand in creating this sign. I was afraid I was going to have to out & purchase another bottle of pink paint, since that's what my client wanted, but I went to check my stash, just to make sure. Wouldn't ya know it? There was a bottle of Country Rose paint that I had inherited from my MIL, Barb. And it was EXACTLY the right shade too. I only have one other bottle of pink paint & it's baby pink. I just had to share that with you, for those that read my blog & knew my dear Mother-in-Law.

Have a great day!

Fancy Smancy Frenchy Table

2014-04-10T09:35:00.002-04:00

Gee, I haven't posted anything new since 2013. Oh, I've started at least 3 new posts that never got finished, and now here we are into April. Time sure does fly!

You can usually tell my excitement for Spring by my anticipation for blooming flowers in my gardens, especially after the long, snowy winter we've just had this past year.

We STILL have a 2 tiny piles of snow left in our yard, & no, we didn't just get hit with that snowstorm that Minnesota & the Dakotas (& Canada) just got a week or so ago (thank you Lord!)

Of course, these piles are from the massive piles that my husband created from plowing our driveway & we live in the woods, so the shade from the trees help to keep them around even longer than usual.

I do have some very tiny flowers blooming right now, so that's good to see!

These little blue ones are some escapees that I need to transplant somewhere else. I've learned that these will spread like crazy if left unchecked! I want them by the edge of my woods, behind my garden shed where they can just "go to town!"

My poor looking Rhododendron tree took a hard hit from the long term freezing temps. It's looking pretty rough! I wonder if I'll get very many blooms on it this year? It's never looked this bad in the 11 years we've lived here.

This is what it looked like last year in 2013, I guess we'll see what May brings for it.

However, as much as I LOVE to see my plants and flowers emerge in the spring, there just might be one other thing I love a tiny bit more....

...GARAGE SALES!!

In years past, it's been warm enough once in a while that there might be some as early as late March & even more in early April. This year, nothing in March in my small town. But there was one yesterday in a nearby town. I tried to be good & not go there, and I didn't! Buuuuut, I learned that my sweet hubby was working in that town & it just happened to work out that he was able to go scope it out for me at the end of the day. I'm sure there was more there that I would have probably liked, but what he sent me pictures of with his phone was enough.

He found a wicker-like birdcage, a pitcher and bowl in a wash stand, and this beauty!

I had no idea the table looked this pretty based on the photo my hubby sent. It had pillows sitting on one side & a throw on the other & it was far away, so I didn't notice the inlay detail.

It does have a repair that looks easy enough to take care of. I've dealt with worse.

I had my husband do a little wheelin' & dealin' on a price for everything - a little "bundling".... you know, American Pickers style!

I want to get started on this piece right away, because I have an Artisan Market on May 3 that will have the kind of clientele that just might be in the market for something like this. I'd love to keep it myself, but I don't think it's a right fit in my woodsy, rustic home. Well, I could if I wanted to redo the entire living room over, which would be much to my husband's dismay.

So keep your fingers crossed that you'll get to see a post on the finished table! (and maybe say a little prayer that we have great weather for the artisan market too)

Teacher's Gift with the Silhouette

2013-12-19T10:44:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post today to share with you a simple teacher's gift that I made up for my daughter to give to her 4th grade teacher. Her teacher's last name is Hopple and even before she got married, she collected frogs, so it's kind of funny that she collects frogs AND her last name is Hopple.

It's a large bottle of Hand Sanitizer that just so happens to have an image of an Aloe Vera plant on the backside, which doesn't show up here very well. I traced & layered this cute little frog from a clip art image I Googled, then added her name to middle in a fun little font, that sort of has the appearance of hopping (just agree with me on this - ok?). It's called An Unfortunate Event and was free, probably at Dafont.com, but not sure on that. I tied a sheer matching green ribbon at the top and called it good.

We're also giving her an Attic Treasures stuffed frog that looks more like a vintage style than kiddie-like....

...and this little wooden spool ornament I made. (yeah, I have a TON of lights on my tree)

That's all for today. Keeping it short & sweet since I have some more projects to finish and the one is not going well at all. I'm on my 5th try to make it work. It's supposed to be a Christmas present that a customer is purchasing. Needless to say, I am NOT happy that the easiest part is now my biggest headache! That hard parts are all done & turned out beautifully.

Have a WONDERFUL Christmas (in case I don't get back on here before THE big day!)

2013 Christmas Mantel

2013-12-16T17:57:00.000-05:00

I don't think I had shared any photos of my Christmas mantel last year. Maybe that's because it wasn't much to speak of, or I just didn't have the motivation to write a post about it. Yea. That's probably more like it.

This year's mantel really isn't much to speak of either, but that's the look I was going for...something simple that will carry through the winter, as I'm just now getting around to decorating for the holidays. I just put up our tree on the 15th of December and THAT has NEVER been that late in getting put up. I swear, it gets later & later every year.

Since we repainted our living room this summer in a two-tone beige color scheme from the basic (dirty) white, I wanted something that went with the room & yet was still noticeable on the darker stone wall & mantel tones.

You can see a little bit of the paint scheme to the left in the photo - just pay no attention to that horrible popcorn ceiling. We have every intention of removing that some day, but it's a huge room that will take forever and a day just to get scraped off.

This is a sign I made for myself after I made one last year that sold immediately in my first craft show. I'm just now getting around to finishing mine up. I made it from a cabinet door that I painted & distressed, some dollar store picture frames that I painted white, scrapbook paper & my Silhouette Cameo. It's hard to tell in this shot, but I've also embossed the background paper in the frames with a Tim Holtz vintage postmark embossing folder & inked them in Tea stain with Tim Holtz stamp ink.

It's probably not a wise choice to do my mantel in such light colors because it's almost pointless to dust up there as long as we're using the fireplace insert. I can dust & there's literally dust there again in just a matter of seconds. Even though this insert is a newer one, it blows out a ton more dust than the identical one we have in another room that is 15 years old & this one doesn't blow out the heat anything like the old one does either. It's better than not having one though, I guess.

So I'll enjoy this photo of it while it's less dusty.

I'm linking to these parties:

Funky Junk White party

A Dicken's Christmas Lamp Post

2013-12-09T13:42:00.002-05:00

"'Tis the Season" as they say this time of year! Around here though, 'tis the season of crafting & craziness! I barely have the first decoration up yet in the house ... thank goodness we have a wee bit of a dusting of snow outside to give you a little bit of that Christmas feeling at MY house.

I finally finished my last craft show of the year and it has been a whirlwind year for me. I was up until 1:00 a.m. the night before trying to finish some last minute projects & still didn't get a few others done that was on the list, but only because I couldn't find some of the materials needed to complete them. They've gotten "misplaced" in all the madness. I'm trying to locate them & clean up now, so I'm hoping they appear so I can finish them up & save them to have a head start for next year's holiday craft show madness. Sometimes it's all about shortcuts, even if I have to store them for 11 months. It will be a nice surprise when I discover them next year!

I already shared with you the pretty Christmas suitcase I made, which there were 3 made & sold.

Then there was the little bitty Elf Christmas tree in a wooden boot. If you missed it, you need to check it out.

Today, I'm showing off my Dicken's style Christmas Lamp Post.

It sort of reminded me of a lamp post you might see in a Dicken's Christmas Carol. It was originally a honey brown wood tone when I got it, but I thought it would be more striking in black. I think it really makes the red & white candy stripes really pop!

I made the little sign myself & I am so happy that I was able to make that candy stripe bow...I'm not good at making bows to begin with, but this ribbon was super stiff. I had a hard time twisting it so that the white backside wouldn't show, yet not look like a wadded up mess, but I got it & I actually like it! Even my 21 year old son was impressed & he could care less about how my crafts look.

I just added some home grown grapevines, some skimpy tufts of wired greenery & the ever popular pip berries in red & white, which completes the final touches to the post portion.

I hope some of you are able to create some holiday crafts either to sell or just to add your own personal charm to your own home. Which ever it is, just enjoy the creative process.

I'm linking to these parties:

Remodelaholic

How about some Suitcase Christmas Decor?

2013-11-30T09:29:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving Day is done & over now. This year we got to spend it with my grandma since she moved back to Indiana & I enjoyed it in all it's craziness and overdosing on excellent food!

I can't believe how busy I am with all my crafting for craft shows & it seems as though the special orders have been booming as well! I'm NOT complaining, except for the shortage of time. It leaves my blog a little short on the postings, even though I ~~think~~ I have some cute things to share with you. I hope I can make it worth the wait sometimes.

A majority of what I make is pretty much one-of-a-kind items because I work with what ever I find. In most cases, I only have one, occasionally I can get multiples, but it's not the norm.

The project I'm sharing today is sort of one of those kind of projects.

I actually had TWO green vintage suitcases that were more of the smaller sizes, like the carry on variety. I found my inspiration, where else - Pinterest!

Click on photo to direct you to the proper owner at "A Bit of Heaven" Blog.

It's just a grungy old suitcase that has "I'll be home for Christmas" painted on it in simple brush strokes. Nothing fancy & a bit rustic looking. I love it, but I don't have any super cool "old" suitcases like hers, so I just kept the idea in the back of my mind (it's getting a bit crowded at the back of my mind tho!) then one day it hit me! I can use that song title on a suitcase I already have, but in a different, decorative design that will really pop!

Using my Silhouette Designer Edition program & my Cameo, I made my design & tweaked it a tad bit from one suitcase to the other, but essentially they were the same

Surprising to me, I sold the smaller of the two at my first craft show. I didn't think anyone would buy one, at least not for the prices I was asking for them, especially in my tiny home town. But someone did & that left me with the slightly larger one to take to my next show. I never got pictures of either suitcase, sadly.

I had one left for my 2nd craft show & someone was admiring it, but decided to have a look around the rest of the show before deciding they wanted it. Unfortunately, she missed out in the meantime, as another lady bought it for her college aged daughter as an early gift. The first lady appeared upset with herself that she missed out.

Once we get home after the craft show, there's a message already waiting on the answering machine from that same woman wanting me to make her a suitcase whenever I find another green one. Then, I get on my Rustique (pronounced Rus-teek) & Chic Facebook page & see that she's also left me a message there, requesting again that I make her a suitcase. **Ya know, it makes me feel good to know that someone LOVED something I made so much & that they had that much regret for missing out & that they are so determined to get one. She didn't even care if it wasn't until after Christmas before she got it.

I told her that it was going to be a little while because I have prior orders & the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with family in town before it would get finished and she was good with that.

I ended up getting started on it immediately for fear of running into problems & delays (that's a typical day for me). It ended up going fairly smooth & I finished it ahead of schedule.

I do love how it turned out & I even did a better job on the bow this time.

I'm beginning to think I need to have a suitcase of my own to keep!

I'll be linking this project over at Remodelaholic's Anonymous Link Party...so go check out some other amazing ideas!

Parties I'm Linking to:

Simple Little Elf Tree for Christmas

2013-11-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm in the Christmas crafting mode for that ever loving holiday craft show season again. In all the crafting & painting craziness, I'm trying to remember to take pictures.

This little tree is one of those like soooo many of my projects where I buy something without having the first clue of what I'm going to do with it. So, it's sits around waiting for its destiny...some day.

This tree started with the little wooden boot. A friend pointed it out to me at a sale & thought I might be able to figure out something to do with it. I hadn't the foggiest idea at the time, but it was small & so stinking cute that I didn't care. It's made of wood & it turns out that it was hand carved by a somewhat local craftsman. COOL!

One day this past summer, for some odd reason, it just hit me that I could use it as a base to put a small tree in. I thought it looked just like a Santa boot, so I painted it black.

It still needed something else to make it a little more interesting, so I broke out my trusty Silhouette Cameo & made the whimsical "label" on the side.

It has a bit of a primitive or rustic look to it instead of the predictable child-like feel that you may likely associate more with elves. It only stands about 8 inches tall, so it is pretty small.

It's simple in design, because I'm just not good with decorating trees, which kinda fits in there with flower arranging - same concept. I put in some dark red pip berries, some handmade tea stained chenille candy canes & some home spun ribbons tied on. Never mind the red string at the top. It was an experiment that I forgot to remove before taking the picture. Lastly, I tied on a rafia bow that streams down & I attached a rusty snowflake in place of a star at the top. See? Simple!

It probably took me just as long to decorate this itty bitty tree as it does a 7 ft. tall one! Nope. I don't work fast.

Parties I'm Linking to:

My Simple Fall Blocks

2013-10-19T09:14:00.000-04:00

I found this idea on someone's Facebook page that I had come across. I wished I would have saved their page, because if I remember correctly, they had some pretty cute things. But once I saw these, I forgot about everything else ... I was on a mission. I had to go outside & dig out the pieces of scrap wood my husband cut from odd sized trusses he couldn't use & threw out in our burn hole the night before. He always seems to shake his head when I start pulling things out of the burn hole. LOL

I painted the blocks orange first & then lightly sanded the edges & rough spots til they were sort of smooth with my cheap hand sander, but you could do this step by hand if you don't have a little hand sander.

Then I had a big bagful of small wooden spools I picked up at a flea market a few years ago. I almost put them in our garage sale a couple of different times, but talked myself out of it. Good thing!

I painted the spools brown & kind of sanded the edges of those too, but sanding probably isn't necessary. You could paint them green if that suits you more. I tied a few strands of rafia around the spools. Nothing fancy, but it does add a little something extra to the look. The other lady used dark green rafia on hers. I screwed the spools onto my blocks with drywall screws, but the original ones had just hot glued the spools on, so you don't really need anything out of the ordinary to make these.

I used a different font than she did too, but it isn't really that much different. The letters are stenciled on in the same color of brown as the spools.

You can use what ever font you like to make it yours.

Here they are, along with a sign I also made using the same colors, & some fake pumpkins. Truly nothing fancy here!

So if you're wanting to make a simple, yet cute fall craft - this just might be what you're looking for.

I'm linking to these parties:

Funky Junk

My Own Fall Wreath

2013-09-17T13:42:00.002-04:00

I have to say that I don't really decorate for holidays, except for Christmas, but I do put out a few things that relate to whatever season we're in ... & I don't go for cutesy so much.

I'm also not one to go around saying that I can do flower arranging or wreath making either. I know where my weaknesses are and these are just a couple of my ~~many~~ crafting deficits.

But I tackled a fairly simple Fall Flower arrangement in my "Fall Decor & More" post, which didn't really have much decor or any "more" in it. I guess writing blog posts is another one of my deficits. However, I was pleased with the end result of how that flower arrangement turned out.

My next little project was adding some fall decor to a twig wreath I had. I have to say that I like the way it looks, except for the burlap bow. I may try to change that... oh, did I mention I can't make bows either? yeah, add that to the list.

It doesn't show up well against my stone wall. The twigs are too much like the color of the stones. I guess you'll have that. It's not for my home anyway, it's for sale in my Facebook shop, which you can find the link to at the top of the sidebar on the right. ya know, just in case you're interested in this beauty.

This project was a chosen one at these blogs:

Parties I'm linking to:

Fall Decor & More

2013-09-12T14:51:00.001-04:00

I'm slowly but surely trying to get back into the blogging swing of things. It's an easy habit to let slide when you haven't done it months, but I'm working on it.

It's been in the high 90's for temperatures around here lately, but with it being mid-September and all, we have to start thinking about Fall. My yard is trying to prepare me by already requiring a raking of the leaves. Since we live in a clearing in the middle of the woods, this is an all season endeavor until the yard is then covered in a blanket of white (if we're lucky).

Since I have started selling my re-designed items out of my home now, I have to try to be prepared for all the seasons & more holidays than before when all I did was just 3 Christmas time craft shows.

This isn't my first fall project this year. I've started quite a few, and moving along at what feels like a snails pace, I'm getting them done, one by one.

If you want to see what is listed so far, you can click on my Rustique & Chic Facebook link located in my sidebar at the right. Once there, everything is sorted into Albums. If you like what you see & want to be kept updated on any new listings, be sure to click the "Like" button. 95% of my items are one of a kind and don't have multiples of.

If you look at the upper left-hand corner of the photo at the beginning of this post, you'll see a hint of a wreath I made that's listed on my selling page.

Sorry about the shameless plug for my "shop", now to get back to the subject.

Sorry about the poor photo quality...

I found the nice foam pumpkin at a sale & it already had a small bouquet of yellow carnation-like flowers in it. I added the sunflowers, cat tails, spikes, orange pip sprays, leaves & some different little pom-pom looking things to make it look fuller & more proportional.

It still looked kind of plain & uninteresting to me, so I added the quote on the front with a matte finish brown vinyl. The grooves in the pumpkin made applying the vinyl a bit, shall we say....interesting?

The font I used was Exmouth, except for the "B", which is Edwardian Script. I wanted something that was more elegant looking, since I had Thanksgiving in mind when I started this project.

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If you're lucky, more posts with Fall & Halloween themed projects will be following soon! Want to see these, and many more wonderful ideas for making your home Fall cozy and inviting? Then you need to head on over to Reveal: Fantastic Fall Decorating DIY Ideas for inspiration overload!

Linking up to the following parties:

Another Chair Make Over

2013-09-06T21:39:00.001-04:00

Hey there!

Remember me??

I know, it's been a really long time. As in MONTHS.

It's been quite a summer for us this year. We haven't done much swimming in our pool because of the rainy & mostly cool weather, so I'm not even sure why we opened it this year, other than the fact it needs a new cover for next winter. It wasn't until after Independence Day when we finally opened it up & my daughter has only swam in it twice.

We've had quite a major time hog with a project that we've been working on since early May, but I can't disclose that just yet.

The other time hog has been taking our daughter, Brooke, to rehearsals, literally since the day after the last day of school in May. She was in a local production of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as part of the children's choir.

They are now done with their 6 performances and I have to say it's been a fun ride and an amazing experience for all of us, in spite of the time & fuel consumption! I'm so very proud of my daughter and the entire cast of crew of this show. They had put on an AH-mazing show all 6 nights.

This is the Pharaoh, the guy who played him was awesome & the audience loved him!

This was from what is called the Megamix at the end of the play. Check out "Joseph's" guitar glasses (far left). If you can pay close attention to the blonde haired boy in the green shirt, you may get to see him in an upcoming Disney movie that was being filmed in a nearby town. He was an extra in the movie & was even chosen to play a small part in the talent show portion. This little boy is really something & quite a little entertainer!

They got better & better with each performance. They received standing ovations every night, as well. Even though it's been quite time consuming for our summer, our entire family has loved every minute of this new "adventure" & wouldn't have missed it - with that being said, we're also glad that it's finished.

That's just a little bit about our summer...

I have been working tons of craft projects during this time as well. I hadn't gotten many photos taken of them before they were sold, which is a good thing in a way!

I did come across a vintage chair at a garage sale recently. I already have more chairs to redo than I know what to do with, but the price was crazy cheap & it only had a small flaw that I would end up creatively camouflaging.

I replaced the padding on the seat and recovered it. In the meantime, I painted the chair black & did some light distressing.

Since I like making things that force me to "think outside the proverbial box" I wanted to add a little extra something out of the ordinary to this chair.

I crackle painted the top brace & stenciled the quote "Faith Hope Love" with some small prim stars in between. Also, if you look closely at the lower right point of the star in the circle, there is a chunk missing. I added the metal star to draw your attention away from the flaw. I started with a larger star that completely covered the missing chunk, but the first time I sat on the chair to check for comfort, the belt loop on my jeans caught a point of that star & bent it all up. Start over - use smaller star.

I have been making so much stuff lately that is black & more prim looking. I have a customer that really likes that look, so I've been working several pieces for her. She didn't purchase this, so it's going in my "shop" (Rustique & Chic).

So, for those of you wondering where I've been & what I've been up to, that's basically it in a nutshell. Hopefully my next blog post won't be a whole season from now.

Parties I'm Linking to:

Have You Had Enough of the French Post Mark Tables Yet?

2013-05-30T07:40:00.005-04:00

Courtesy of Graphics Fairy

click on image to go directly to her printable version

This has been one of the more popular graphics that Karen from the Graphics Fairy has had over the past couple of years. I know anyone that sees it on my projects just go CRAZY over it. I have to admit that it's also one my own personal favorites as well.

This was the first table I used it on.

I apologize for how dark the photo is. This table sold in the first hour of the craft show I had it in, and I think I could have sold it a dozen times over that day. If you want to read the story behind it, feel free to go check it out here.

I figured I was onto something after all the rave reviews I received on that first little table.

So I made another one, and that one proved to be a phenomenal success and I'm kicking myself for selling it (I knew I would). It has been repinned so many times and still continues to be every single day. If you want read about how it came to be, you can read my post from last year here.

The table itself was a great style to begin with, and adding those vintage metal accents just took it over the top.

I used the freezer paper transfer method for both of these tables and it worked fine for the most part, but I found it limiting and I didn't always get good results, which required me to quickly wash it off. My printer has waterproof ink, so if it came out a flop, then I have to be quick with window cleaner to remove it before it sets.

I contemplated getting an overhead projector & I even found one for sale cheap, but being basically lazy like I am, I didn't want to go that route, because you have to trace the entire design by hand each time. Nah. Not for me, plus I have to have some place to keep a large projector. I think I may have mentioned a time or two that I have some ~~slight~~ hoarder tendencies...hence my blog's name "Under A Pile of Scrap!" and there's just no place to keep one here - and they're a bit heavy.

My next idea was to use my new Silhouette Cameo that my darling son got for me for Christmas. He is such a sweetheart & so generous.

With using the Design software upgrade for my cutter, I thought if I could trace the design and kind of clean it up a bit, it might work out better than all the other options. Then I can save the design once all the initial effort has been put into it, plus, I can make it any size I want (for the most part anyway) without having to reinvent the design every time. I just cut it out with contact paper or stenciling vinyl that Silhouette now offers.

Can I just say that I hopefully never have to resort to the old way again! Not that this method is perfect either, but it's easier to get the results I'm after than the others.

But this post isn't just about creating the image to cut with my Cameo. It's also about how I made a table out of 3 different things.

You see, I sold the table that I'm kicking myself over to an acquaintance. She loved it so much that she asked me to find & make her 2 more tables, only they can't be any wider than 18"! Really?

Ok.

I thought I found 2 tables, but one ended up being a total nightmare & I notified her that I gave up on it as a table and will have to find her another one. And the other one? Well, I didn't really find her a 2nd table, but I had a plan to create one out of bits & pieces I had.

The top was a just one of those lightweight pine trays that sits on a criss-cross wooden TV tray type base. The legs used are from some sort of little bench or seat that had a ripped out cane seat. I felt that tray was just a little TOO lightweight to use as a side table, so I decided to add some stability and, if I'm lucky, create a more rustic look to it by adding.....
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....these

Paint Stir Sticks

Yep. The longer, thicker ones. I got them at Walmart.

I seen them being used on some other projects at a few blogs and on Pinterest (of course). These were the perfect thickness I needed and if I was lucky, which I'm usually not, they might be the perfect width to fill the tray, without having to cut any lengthwise to fill an odd gap. Guess what?

I was LUCKY!

It's a tedious job and for those that have made the amazing herringbone designs with them - I bow to you and your determination! I had to test each one out in the tray, as some had a slight bow to them and needed to placed just so or replaced with one that would fit properly. Then they had to be sanded individually, then stained, keeping them in proper order the whole time.

Next, I glued them in place with E6000 glue, except for an inch on either end. I did that so that I could add some a little more rustic look. Not sure it was the best idea, but it is what it is.

I added some dark brown tack nails at the ends of each strip. Since the paint sticks are thin and I was nailing so close to the edge, I needed to drill pilot holes for each one so the sticks wouldn't split. I forgot on the to do that one on the first stick & realized it was splitting.

So that I could keep the tacks in a straight line, I first put down a piece of painter's tape to use as a guide.

After all that, I finally applied the Postmark image that I worked so hard on to perfect. There's lots of tiny detail weeding to do on this image, but the end results made it worth it.

If you look closely, you can see where my husband got just a little carried away with getting the tack heads set flush and some are actually more recessed than I cared for, so I had to go back and touch up those spots with more stain so they're less noticeable.

The blue design in the top left corner is not really that bright blue, but I just couldn't get the color adjustment right in Picmonkey.

I painted the base using home made chalk paint, then aged, distressed it & waxed over the entire piece.

I don't think this will be the last Post Mark table that I'll make and I think my customer is just as thrilled with it as the other one she purchased from me. Since she wants one more smaller table, I'm on the hunt for one more.

Non-furniture related topic...

...today is my daughter's last day as a 3rd grader and it's her first night of rehearsal in the children's choir for the play Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She's so excited! I'm also going to try my best to go have lunch with her today. PB&J's! Yum!

Parties I'm linking to:

Funky Junk White Party

A Pretty Garden Chair

2013-05-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

I kind of want to call this post my "Un-Craigslist" chair find. I choose to give it that name based on a recent encounter with a Craigslist seller that pretty much left a bad taste in my mouth (& he wasn't the first either). If you want to read an entire post about it, you'll want to go back to my March 27th post. Since I tend to go on & on about things enough as it is, I won't bore you with repeating that story here.

But, I do have some good news! I did manage to have a BEFORE picture of this chair. If you read my blog enough, you know I'm really bad about getting, or finding Before shots of the things I refinish.

There is actually 2 chairs that I found at the curb of the before mentioned Craigslist deal gone wrong, along with some other things you see here.

I just want you to know that I braved the mosquito infestation this morning to take these pictures. I think it was the quickest photo shoot I've ever done.

The one I worked on first is one that had a broken leg brace. So I fixed the break & decided to make it a garden chair. The chair is still pretty sturdy, but I don't want to take that chance with anyone's safety, but it will hold a heavy planter of pretty flowers just fine.

I wanted to make it bright enough that you could see it out in someone's garden or a shady porch (like mine-not shown).

Using my Silhouette Cameo cutter, I made this design. I've always loved the quote "Time Began In A Garden", because my husband always thought that me having flower gardens was kind of senseless & a waste of time. I felt it was necessary to remind him of where time began. He doesn't say that anymore.

I think this scroll bracket was a freebie from the Silhouette store a little earlier this year. Did you know that they offer one free design each week? They choose the design, but they do pretty good about selecting decent ones. Anyway, I felt this one was perfect for the front of the seat. It fit the curve nicely without getting blocked by having a potted plant or vingette sitting on the seat.

The blue is more of a teal blue color and I just used a Glidden sample bottle that I got at Walmart. The color is WGB09 Deepest Aqua. The green is an Apple Barrel brand acrylic paint in Pale Green, also from Walmart.

I love those set-back spindles and I wanted to accentuate those by painting them in the green accent color.

If you look closely, really closely, you can see the break in the "cr" letters of the word Scrap in my watermark.

I traced the Petunia/Morning Glory image from clipart I found online, as well as the butterfly, in the Designer software add-on for my Silhouette.

The font is Guttenberg MF and can be downloaded for FREE at Dafont.com.

This is just a close up of the white accent painting I did in the grooves at the back of the chair.

I sprayed the entire chair with Krylon Clear matte spray sealer and called her good and took a day of rest (actually I didn't rest, I have more projects to finish).

This project has been featured at these blogs:

PJH Designs

Parties I'm linking to:

New Life for a Henredon Coffee Table

2013-05-17T13:19:00.001-04:00

Does it seem like it's been FOREVER since I did a post on my blog??

Yeah.

Don't feel bad, it seems like it to me too.

But I have lots of really good excuses!

Really!

Take for instance that my repurposed items have been selling pretty good lately, especially for the piddly bit of effort I've put into "putting it out there." I've even developed a few "regulars."

Keeping up with the supply & demand at this point, has been quite time consuming, but it makes me happy & worth it!

Excuse #2 - And since I was pretty successful in the majority of my craft shows last year, & then hearing all the inquiries as to where "my shop" is located and how I SHOULD get one, I've finally taken the leap of Faith and going to give a try. My husband has been trying to talk me into it for 2 years now. He apparently has SO much faith in me, that he's dropped ALL existing projects to build my shop here on our property. Wait. Is it faith? Or just the mere fact that my stuff is pushing us out of rooms in our house? Maybe that's it. Naaaah!

We priced having a building built and delivered, but we did the calculations and realized that we could save at least $1,000 by doing it ourselves AND I could have a larger building to include a workshop and finish it on the inside for that same price. Ummm, no brainer there.

Excuse #3- since I've been selling things and trying to think ahead of what I might want or need in my little shop, I've been working on my own projects of refinishing tables and cabinets and finding other display pieces. So I've been hitting the garage sales and thrift stores and that takes up at least half a day 2-3 days a week.

Excuse #4- I also had some special orders to work on as well. I hate to admit it, but I've been doing really bad about taking any pictures of them, let alone my usual - no "before" pictures.

But today!

Today I have something to share with you and I love it! My husband must love it too because he said the only way we're getting rid of it is if someone pays $300 for it. This is coming from the guy who said he doesn't even care to have this piece of furniture because it just gets cluttered (and he's so right). So I guess, technically, it's for sale.
pssst...I seen a used one eBay for $399 & others for much more, so this is a pretty good price IMO.

I wish I could find the Before pictures of this, but I bought it exactly 2 years ago, so those pictures were probably 2 memory cards ago, mixed in with about 6 other memory cards. It had some major water damage on the top, which had the finish looking opaque & flaking. The wood was rough from swelling & then drying. But it's a solid piece and made of solid oak. The entire piece was stained a single dark oak color. I love its design. Simple, yet unique.

There was a nice little surprise while I was painting on the underside.

I noticed this mark.

Of course, I had no idea who the Henredon company was, but soon learned that they are a high end U.S. furniture manufacturer. I guess the business had fallen on hard times and might have been recently been bought out (not 100% sure on that, so don't hate me if I'm wrong). From what I've seen of their pieces, it's superb stuff and waaaay out of my league price-wise. I bought it at a moving sale at a mansion that belonged to the daughter of a local successful business owner. I didn't find out about their sale until the afternoon, and this was the only thing left that I found to my liking, and the price was more than right.

I decided to paint the base and legs a Natural Wicker color, then sanded & "antique" it, because I like that look.

Yeah. Don't make fun of my sculpted shag carpet. Since it appears to be ORIGINAL from when the house was built back in 1978, I guess that makes it vintage, right??? C'mon, work with me on this, K? Cuz, it's going to be a while before I get new carpet in here. Saying it's vintage makes it sound more acceptable. yep.

I decided to paint the skirting around the top black, as an accent, kind of like I did with the Clock table I made that you can see here. And I stained over it after that.

Here is a close-up of the inlayed wood. Not my best photography skills, since the light coming from the windows is creating a glare on the wax in the grain of the wood, making it look dried out.

I used Minwax Aged Oak gel stain for the darker color & Varathane Natural gel stain for the squares/diamonds. I was shooting for a noticeable, yet subtle difference in the pattern.

When it was all painted, stained and sanded, I finally put a coat of clear wax all over. Don't think that ain't a task! Wax on...wax off, but just once.

(A little tidbit about me and waxing on, waxing off. Back when the movie Karate Kid came out and the whole wax on, wax off became a well known phrase, I was doing a job that would have made Mr. Miyagi proud. I was 19 and worked in a Fiberglas tub & shower manufacturing plant. My job was to wipe on & wipe off 4 coats of wax on each tub and shower mold that came through before getting the color gelcoat applied. It was not uncommon for me to have applied & removed 100 coats of wax in one day. And yet, I had the tiniest arms with no noticeable muscle tone. Not right...)

So there it is. One of my better pieces of furniture that I like to think I made even better.

Parties I'm linking to:

Whipperberry

Our Hand Made Rustic Bin

2013-04-14T15:45:00.001-04:00

If you've been following along on my blog lately, then you may have noticed my latest trend of rustic/primitive projects.

I like rustic decor and it seems to be a bit of a trend all over. That may be why I do fairly decent at my craft shows, for being a no-name crafter that is.

Sometimes I can get my hubby to show a little enthusiasm too. Especially if I can convince him that what I need him to do is simple.

He helped me out a lot with the memo boards & chalkboards. So I showed him what I thought was a simple project, but proved to be a little more laborious than I anticipated, but he/we got'er done!

I was going to post the picture here of the inspiration piece, but I'm having problems getting it to post no matter how I try.

So here's our black painted version, which has graphics added to it, where the other one was just plain dark blue.

Sorry about the poor photo quality, but it's been so gloomy & rainy all week, that I had to use my flash and I still couldn't get the photo editing program to help me create the money shot.

But in these shots I wanted to show how it works great for Keurig coffee pod storage, boxed or not.

And this a close-up of the graphic I used, which is the same one I made for the wooden grain scoop I decorated too.

I put it in my craft show this past weekend, but it didn't sell. I sort of followed my hubby's advise on the price, but I think it was too high. Actually, he wanted it to be priced even higher, but I disagreed with that one for sure! I've done enough shows in our area to have a better idea of what the threshold is for people in our area. I'm not saying that no one would ever pay his asking price, but it's just gonna a take a while to find the right person, but I don't want to hang onto it that long. LOL!

It holds 3 boxes of pods nicely while giving you the top shelf available to easily grab one for use. I didn't have this in mind when I wanted the hubby to make it, but the idea just came to me while looking for someplace to take a decent photo & I was moving my son's coffee pod boxes out of the way.

It may not be the perfect solution for everyone, but it does work.

Parties I'm linking to:

My Beach Theme Suitcase

2013-04-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

That's BEACH, not the other nasty word. hee hee!

Now that we actually seem to be in full Spring mode here in northern Indiana, it has me thinking of the things I want to do this summer. Going to the beach might be one of those things!

But...beach season is quite a ways off, so in the meantime, if I want to feel a bit beachy, I decided to create this piece of decor.

I was inspired by seeing a vintage suitcase that had the word BEACH roughly painted it & an arrow. I don't even remember many of the details, because right away, my mind was dreaming up this design even before I had the suitcase.

This suitcase was purchased at a thrift shop and originally was all blue, like the trim color. You can imagine my excitement when I seen it sitting in the shop!

But there were set-backs. There's always set-backs.

First, I had issues with getting the design to cut for me on my Silhouette Cameo, until I eventually ruined the blade on the last attempt. I found a decent blade deal on Ebay and now have 1 with an additional 1 as a back up.

New blade is in & I get the design to cut b-e-a-u-tifully, but because I used contact paper, it didn't want to stick to the surface of the suitcase at all. Ugh! Yes, I cleaned the surface of the suitcase well. There were scuff marks that had to be scrubbed off first.

So then I had to go over the back of each contact paper piece with some repositionable glue, and that helped, but apparently not enough. My first coat of creamy ivory paint seemed to do well. A false sense of relief came over me. But when I went over it with the 2nd coat, I could tell the contact paper was starting to lift and I knew the paint was seeping underneath. Sure enough, every single image had major paint seepage. Crying.

This is the part that people don't want to pay you for. The part of your time it takes to make something sellable, but doesn't make you enough money for what you had to do to get it to that point. Follow me?
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I had to take wet Q-tips & go over each letter and image by hand and rub off the excess paint. It's not perfect and the edges aren't clean & smooth, but I think it gives it a rustic, beach worn look, yet looks pretty good, even from a short distance. It's just when you look at it real closely that you notice the quality.

AND, just to toot my own horn a little bit. I created this design all by myself. As much as I loved my Cricut Expression (and still do) I didn't have much creative freedom with it like I do on my new Cameo.

Parties I'm linking to:

So Now I've Got A Wood Scoop

2013-04-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

What would I do with that wood scoop?

Do you know what wood scoop I'm talking about?

This wood scoop is the one that I picked up at the thrift store with this group of goodies.

Could you tell I was so excited when I went on and on about them in my Thrift Store Goodies post? Oh yes, I was.

And before I knew it, I was already working on the cutting board.

If you missed out on that project, feel free to check it out here.

I noticed a few people were really admiring the wooden scoop in that first post too. To be honest with you, tears nearly ran down my legs when I spotted it. I can just hear it now, "Clean up in isle 7! And bring the mop and disinfectant."

But I managed to contain my excitement and just grabbed it as quick as I could. THEN, I looked at the price. What??? It was less than a dollar and I also got 10% off that. Score!!

I've been pondering about what to do with it. I mean, it's cool enough just as it sits, all pale and naked. But I can't just leave it go like that. It needed something to dress it up & yet make it look rustic. Like it had been used and had a previous purpose in life.

This is so much more to my liking.

I seen this name when I did a Google search for "feed and grain." I wanted something that seemed fitting for a scoop. I have no idea what a wooden scoop might have actually been used for, but this seemed likely.

The images with this name were all really generic looking and quite plain with just a single line. I have quite a space to fill on this good sized scoop, and even though I'm going for rustic, I wanted to spice up the look.

The font I used for Feed & Grain is called Niagra Engraved and it has some pretty slim lines that are barely noticeable, but I still loved how it looked. Again, I used my Silhouette Cameo to make this design.

I wrapped a small portion of the handle with some twine and tied it off, then stuck in some burgundy pip berries. I don't show it in these photos, but once my battery pack charges for my drill, I'm going to drill a hole in the top of the handle so I can add some twine or rag ribbon to hang it with.

Before After

I'm so glad that I'm getting this stuff done. I just wish it would look like I'm making a dent in the whole hoarding look I have going on right now in my home.

I'm linking up to these parties:

Do You Have An Obession?

2013-04-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I seem to have a small obsession. It might appear that I have an obsession with a collection. Well, it's not really an obsession of a collection for myself. It could be fuel for someone else's collection obsession though, if I'm lucky!

You've seen the pictures all over the magazines and Pinterest where people have a very full crock or basket of vintage rolling pins. I have to say that I kinda have rolling pin envy when I see those pictures. But honestly, I don't have anywhere to put them. So how do I get the thrill of being able to buy rolling pins without having to find a place in my kitchen for them?

I decorate them and sell them!

(Insert a picture of all of the rolling pins in a holder here-if there isn't one, then I've been slacking and didn't get it done by the time this was published)

It's kind of like the best of both worlds. I can shop for them and have the thrill of the hunt, while not having to worry if I have too many or a place to keep them. Well, I still have to worry about where to keep them until I sell them, but if I'm lucky, it's only temporary.

This is the first one I made. I was happy to see it sell last year.

Then I had another older rolling pin that I thought would be cute all painted up too.

I haven't had it in any shows yet, so it goes in my next one that's coming up soon.

I wanted to point out that I think it's a great way to display a family keepsake. Not that I have any from my own grandmothers, but it would make them even more special if they had the family name or the grandmother's name painted on it.

After doing the first two in the same design, I decided to change it up a little with this design.

This one fits a little more into the primitive look.

This photo looks a little more grey than the tan-ish color it really it is.

Some of you may be gasping at the fact that I'm completely covering up a vintage rolling pin with paint. It's OK. In the case with this last one, it already had quite a bit of paint splatter and paint smudges on it, so I didn't think it was a big deal. I'm thinking I did it a favor.

On the topic of rolling pins - I was going to work on another rolling pin from my stash and I noticed that one of them is really heavy, has bearings in it and it has a stamp on one end that says Foley. I did a little research and learned that it must be a highly collectible rolling pin that was made from the 1920 to the 1960's. Really?!!

They're going for $10+, but mostly double that on Ebay & Etsy, and that doesn't include the $10+ for shipping! Crazy.

Nope. I don't think I'll be painting this one up.

Parties I'm linking to:

Chalkboard from a Cutting Board

2013-04-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

Since I had been sick with a doozey of a head cold, I haven't done too much. Having a tissue stuffed up your left nostril while using the bottom portion to sneeze into kind of puts a damper on doing anything. Especially when you have to change it out every 5 minutes, if you're lucky.

That's why when I seen a cool project by Stephanie on "The Cozy Old Farmhouse" blog, I thought I could manage that one with said tissue sticking out of my nose. Well, there is a teensy little drawback to doing it with a runny nose, but I'll get to that in a bit.

One of the best parts about doing a project is when you have everything on hand already.

Then next best part to having everything on hand is KNOWING where everything is too! ;) Around here, that can be the trickiest part to any project.

Isn't that a darling idea?! I actually think I seen it before on Pinterest from someone else, but didn't pin it and didn't remember it either, until I seen Stephanie's. I really liked the rustic look it had. Mine is a tad different from hers, since she was trying to fix a faux pas that ended up working out for the better. I think she taped off the shape for hers, but I set out on the wild side & decided to go freehand.

I took some Minwax gel stain in Aged Oak and coated the entire cutting board, front and back. You just never know if someone doesn't want the chalkboard look and may want it to be plain, so now they have that option. I know, I fret over all kinds of little things that other people may not even dream up. But I like to create multiple uses for things where ever possible. You'd be surprised at some of the complaints I hear as to how someone wishes it looked like something other than what I did.

Oh, and the gel stain? That's where the runny nose can create problems. The next thing you know, your nose is suddenly gushing & now you have brown spots on your nose and above your lip from the stain that's on your fingers & hand. Yeah, it would make for a funny picture for y'all, but I don't live that far on the wild side.

Next, I just used some of my brush-on black chalkboard paint (that I purchased at Walmart) - applying 2 coats and letting it dry between each coat. I used a medium sized artist paint brush, so I could have better control for crisp lines around the edge and a smoother finish, in spite of all the cuts in the wood.

After all that, I took some twine and wrapped it around the handle like Stephanie did, sort of. Actually, the chalk hangs down lower than in these pictures, but it kind of screws up seeing the writing on the board, so I wrapped it around the back again after tying it off so it would look nicer for the "money shot."

Now it's ready for my first ever spring craft event!

Linking to these parties:

A Little Bit Country Chalkboard

2013-04-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

With chalkboards being all the rage these days, and having made several myself over the past 2 years, it looks like I'm at it again. If you want to see some of my other chalkboard work, check out here, here, here, or here.

A little FYI, my hubby is a licensed plummer and also does HVAC work, so he has many opportunities to pick up some pretty awesome stuff for ME to work with!

Take this galvanized panel here, for instance.

He brings one home for me to see if it's something I can use. Ummmm....Heck YEAH!! Are you kidding me? At the time, I didn't know just what for, but I was sure something would come to me. He also informs me that there's 36 of them. They're some kind of panel that gets removed off of some furnaces they're installing for an apartment complex. Oh, and guess what? There's going to be 36 more later too.

Here is one that I made.

I figured I'd include the size in case anyone asked.

Of course, this isn't everyone's taste, but I'm hoping it's a good seller. Oh, & did I mention that I only get 3 hours to sell for this next show?


This Metal Star is also a Magnet

The Bottlecaps are made into magnets

Then, I decided I could just make a magnetic memo board in a bit more of a shabby chic style, because I know some people that like that look also.

I have one more chalkboard made, but it's all just the basic black with the same stained frame style as the first one. It will be for sale, but I'm also using it to display the magnets that my daughter made to sell.

One more is painted and waiting in the wings for a frame and that may be all I get done for this round since I don't have anymore wood prepared for frames. The wood I used for these was also free because my hubby picked it all up from somewhere & had to be cut down. I sanded them all then painted or stained them in with Minwax Aged Oak gel stain. It matched well with the vintage ruler I used for the one in the first photo.

I was hoping to get some pillows made, along with a new tablecloth for my booth space, but my sewing machine is messing up, so I'm not sure any of that will happen.

Check back frequently this week as I will be posting pretty much every day to share the new stuff I've been working on.

Parties I'm linking to:
Funky Junk

Vintage Style Cutting Board

2013-04-06T13:25:00.000-04:00

Does anyone frequent here enough to remember my March 2, 2013 post on the 3 treasures I found at my local thrift store?

These 3 treasures?

Well typically, I'm a huge procrastinator! If I don't start on something immediately, then I tend to let things sit around, at least until I get a good swift kick to jump start me. It's usually deadlines or I've been made to feel guilty by my husband (who is a bigger procrastinator than me most times) that gets me motivated to finish stuff.

Heh! Not this time! I actually had one of those items in that picture done BEFORE I even posted about buying them, and I didn't wait that long to post about buying them either - like 2 days.

And truth be known.....I now have a 2nd one done at the time of this post writing! Woo hoo!! I'm on a roll friends!

But today, it's all about this one

Just like the title said, the Cutting Board. It doesn't look very vintage here though, does it? (for all the admirers of the wood scoop, stay tuned...)

I love the old look it had, however, it was pretty pale in color. I adored its versatile looking style. It looked like a cutting board and was all marked up like it had been used as such, but it also looked like it could be made into an old wood sign.

Would you believe I actually passed on it the first time I seen it in the thrift store? Luckily, so did everyone else that had been in there during the week that passed.

Ta-da!!

Doesn't it look more interesting & all rustic now? I really like how it looks sitting there on top of the Primitive Style Breadbox I painted up last year.

The large gaps are what really made me want this slab of wood.

I like the primitive look it has now. I tried to make it look as authentic as possible. Since it was a cutting board, I wanted a design that gave it that country kitchen look and feel. I chose Flour as my jumping off point. Since I usually use my own wood cutting board to cut my home made noodles on, which of course, requires flour. I don't even remember if I found an image online that said Old Glory Flour or if I just used the "Old Glory" part and added an "e" at the end of the word old, then the word flour, plus the scroll & the stars, but it must have been something similar to that. I created the design in my Silhouette Cameo Designer Studio program. Gosh, I love that thing!

I stenciled on the design in black paint, distressed it, then stained over everything with Minwax Aged Oak gel stain and sealed it with a spray on Matte sealer.

This gives you a pretty good idea of how used and loved this cutting board really was. Who ever donated it probably would have kept it if they knew it could be made into this, don't you think?

I hope it finds a new happy home that will appreciate it and display it proudly. Of course, if it didn't find a new home, it's safe to say it looks pretty good in mine.

Parties I'm linking to: