Stenciled Windows

One of the biggest selling items in my antique booth are these vintage

windows that I stencil.  They are so much fun to do and no two are

exactly alike!  I love the look of the old wood windows and the wavy

glass.  The most popular stencil theme seems to be coffee and that's not 

really surprising with all the coffee bars going into kitchens these days.

This window was a custom order and shipped to New Jersey.

I had never shipped one before and was so glad to hear it arrived safely! 

♥

Mid Century White Matte Pottery

My spring cleaning project for this week was to

wash this pottery and give the shelves a fresh coat

of paint.  And I gathered a few more pieces from 

around the house so they would all be together!

The more the merrier, right?

I picked up the leaf shaped plate at an estate sale 

this week and it's the finishing touch!

The shelves used to be white and I'm liking the flat

black much better!  These shelves are above

my washer and dryer.  They make doing laundry

just a little bit more fun!

♥

Fresh Herbs

My rosemary and chives are still going strong

after bringing them inside for the winter!

But the rest of my pots slowly succumbed to

the dim light and dreariness of the past season.

Last week I planted new seeds and 

have enjoyed watching them sprout.

Cilantro, thyme, and dill.

The basil, mint and Italian parsley haven't

sprouted yet. Hmm.  I'll give them a few

more days and might have to try again.

♥

Three Tiered Tray

I've had a fun day in the studio, just me and my power

tools!  I'm turning a box of old enamelware dishes

into new and exciting creations!

♥

Repairing A Sweater With Embroidered Flowers

I did a fun little thing on my project list yesterday.

One of my favorite sweaters had a hole in the sleeve

so I got out of some embroidery floss and made a daisy

chain of sorts that sealed up the hole and climbed up

to my shoulder.  Very easy and fun...and my sweater

gets to live to see another day.

♥

Pumpkin Puree

I still had all those cute little white pumpkins

from my Thanksgiving decor.  I put one out for the

squirrels but they weren't interested!  So I roasted 

and pureed them today.  I think I'll make some pumpkin

bread tomorrow and the rest will go in the freezer!

Isn't it pretty?  It's lighter in color than orange pumpkins

and the taste is milder.  I halved the pumpkins, removed the

seeds and roasted them at 350 for 90 minutes.

I used my food processor to puree it all when it had cooled,

adding a little water to smooth it out to the right consistency.

♥

A Charging Station

For a while now we've needed a spot near the inside

garage door for The Mister to throw his keys and wallet.

He also needed a designated area to charge his iPad

and cell phone!  When the parakeets died a couple of

months ago, I knew I wanted to turn that corner

into a spot to meet those needs.

This is in our family room and there is a door beside the

staircase that leads out to the garage.

And this is also where the chalk board ended up!

The table came yesterday and I had fun putting it together

and lugging it to the back of the house. haha.

The bamboo charging station came from ebay.

It has a well in the bottom to house all the cords.  

The lamp and table are from overstock.com.

Now.....what to do with the bird cage!

It's big, beautiful and on it's own stand.

If I had a spot for it or a creative way to use it,

I would be more likely to keep it.

So whether it stays or goes is still to be decided!

For now, I'm loving the way this corner turned out!

It's another check on my resolution of 'a place for

everything and everything in its place'.  Yay. 

♥

Suet Pinecones

♥

Guest Room Reveal

 I finally have the guest room finished!

Nothing like the big kids coming home for a

weekend visit to get me to tie up the loose ends!

Until earlier this summer I had been using this room

as you would an attic....for storage of extra furniture,

items waiting to be sold in my shop, auction finds

and unfinished projects.

Since this room might get torn up and partially used

to enlarge a bathroom next summer, I didn't want to put

a lot of expense into it.  I just refreshed the paint that

was already on the walls, used Taylor's old bed and

used quite a lot of things around the house to finish it.

I made the chair cushion and headboard fabric from

an old comforter.  I made the peg board from an old piece of

wood and glass insulators.  I painted the guest house

sign on an old piece of wood.  The little white lamps

were from my bedroom when I was growing up.

The big metal basket is to hold the extra bed

pillows when the bed is unmade.

All of the artwork I already had.

The metal cart in the closet holds extra blankets and

some little extras like bottled water, tissues, etc.

I found the little luggage rack in the auction trash and

changed out the straps to match the decor. The bedding,

end tables, mattress, throw, fan, decorative pillows

 and dresser I got online.  (overstock, etsy, ebay and amazon).

It's a soft, relaxed feel that doesn't look too new, which

was what I was going for.  

The big kids are on their way...getting here late tonight!

I'm going to take a little blog break while they are here!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

♥

Painted Acorns

♥

Girl Power

I spent the weekend working on making a guest room 

out of our spare bedroom.  It had been used as a storage

room...an attic, really....full of projects waiting for me

to tackle, boxes of auction finds to be put in my shop,

our Christmas tree, extra furniture, etc. 

I worked all week on emptying the room!

I had some honest discussions with myself on what

projects I would seriously do in the future and which

ones probably wouldn't ever happen.  A few boxes of

things went to the thrift store and a few boxes of things

were listed in my etsy shop.

Then the fun came!  I did some online shopping for

mattresses, night stands, a dresser, bed linens, pillows, etc.

Overstock.com is my favorite for that kind of thing!

This weekend I put a fresh coat of paint on the walls

and steam cleaned the carpet.  Then I got out my girlie

power tools and put together a dresser.  It was a huge 

thing with 8 drawers, a tracking system, and hardware.

Fortunately it came with good instructions. haha.

Hopefully this week all the deliveries will be made and

I can finish putting it all together!

♥

A Little Veggie Garden

Part of my working outside last week was to get the

veggie garden planted.  We can have frost in the night

through mid-May, so it's safest to wait until June to plant.

It's small and manageable, and just the right size so we
don't have crops that are too big for our family.
I have a little space left and I might put in a row of carrots
and baby kale, but for the most part it's done.

Oh, and various and sundry cats to keep the rabbits from
nibbling on things!  That's always helpful!

♥

A Little Potting Corner

I made myself a spot on the back porch where I can keep my 

gardening stuff.  I needed a place to keep potting soil, pots,

seeds and tools...and a place where I could repot plants.

Last year www.missmustardseed.com shared an idea for using

an old nesting box for shelving and I saved the idea and kept

an eye out for nesting boxes at the auctions.  Unfortunately,

I never found one and the ones for sale on Craig's List were

either more than I wanted to spend or twice as big as I needed.

I ended up finding one on ebay.  It's not vintage, but does the trick!

The table, stool, wood box, crock, drain dish, tray, planters

and pots are all from the auction trash over the years.  And some of

 my new tools were a gift for Mother's Day from Taylor and Lauren. 

Looks pretty good, doesn't it?  I worked out there this afternoon

and it was so convenient to have the bag of potting soil on wheels

and everything at my fingertips.  Now I hope we're done with the

frost at night so my little plants here can stay outside!

That maiden hair fern will come inside, though...I repotted her

and I better put her back in her normal spot or she might

throw a fit and drop her leaves.  Finicky diva...haha...

♥ 

Movin' On Up

My little pot of succulents got an upgrade today.

I divided them and repotted them each in their own planter.

They're waiting here on a shelf until it's warm enough to

go outside for the next few seasons.

I think I heard some happy sighs and the stretching of

legs....er, um...roots.  :)

♥

Vintage Dictionary Illustrations

So, I was feeling a little creative last night.

I'm always bringing home vintage dictionaries from the

auction trash and decided to use one in some

kind of repurposing project.  

This was a Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 1947,

with nicely yellowed pages, and charming

hand drawn illustrations.

The spine was broken, so don't worry about me cutting

 it up.  It was begging to be useful again! :)

I've had this duck for decades, back when ducks were 'in' along with

hunter green and burgundy....so 1990's! 

 I covered him in the illustrations using Modge Podge and a little paint brush.

I applied two coats over the whole thing and let it dry overnight.

Who knew applying something vintage would bring him into the 

21st century! haha.  I intended to put him in my etsy shop,

but I'm having a hard time letting go.

I'll enjoy him a few days and see how I feel then.

He's large...would make a gorgeous centerpiece on a dinner table.

Maybe in a tray with fall colored leaves for Thanksgiving?

Or a wreath of holly around his neck for Christmas?

Hmmm.....

♥