My Simple Fall Blocks

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.

  
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Funky Junk

Another Chair Make Over

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.



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Our Hand Made Rustic Bin

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.

 
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So Now I've Got A Wood Scoop

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.

  



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Vintage Style Cutting Board

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.


  
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Craigslist is NOT for the faint of heart!

I'm sure sometimes when you come to read my posts, they may leave the impression of me standing on a soap box (preferably a vintage one) spouting my displeasure with certain misfortunes in my life. Well, brace yourself - here we go again.

As the title implies, this is going to be a rant about Craigslist. Not Craigslist in itself, but the sellers/buyers that you encounter through this site. I guess it's like the Walmart of the internet, you're gonna get all kinds. 

I've bought and sold a bit on CL over the past few years, and typically have not had any problems - until the past 2 weeks. On 2 separate occasions I was the FIRST to reply to TWO separate ads for furniture. The first time was for a set of tables that very closely resembled this table I had done last year. I have regretted selling this table to this day.

French Postage End Table

So imagine my excitement when I came across an entire set for my own home! Long story short, the man sold them out from under me claiming he got his emails mixed up. Really? How do you mix up emails when each one is different and shows a date & time? Yes. I want to call you a few choice names.

The next one gets even better. 

I found 2 oak end tables posted late Sunday evening. $5 each! woo hoo! I know I was the first to call, by phone. Talked to the man & MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO PICK UP for a day & time that HE set up with me for Tues. night (he told me they couldn't do it on Monday). It's a 30 mile drive for me to get to this place. With the price of gas and our time in a pick up truck with 3 little girls, it's not a cheap trip or a joy ride.

So now we're close to the house, but when I call the guy to ask exactly where his house is, he proceeds to tell me that the tables are sold and that "he got confused with all the calls." WTF! How do you get confused when YOU set up the time with the FIRST caller? (ME) I will tell you what, if I didn't have 3 little girls in the back seat of my truck, I would have unloaded on him with words that would have made a sailor blush!! I was H-O-T hot!

Why are these people doing this?? Is someone else telling them that they'll give them more $$ for these items if they sell them to them instead? That would be my guess, but you know what? That's wrong. If YOU set the price and YOU make a deal with someone already, then that item is sold and that's the right thing to do. I don't feel as though I should have to pay for their stupidity. I hope Karma comes back to bite them in @rss! I do believe in Karma. I even ask myself if I'm getting paid back for something I did wrong to someone else. If I did, then I didn't realize it at the time.

The story doesn't end totally bad though. Apparently Karma felt Murphy's Law had had enough fun with me for the time being and decided to step in on my behalf. Bless her heart (I'm assuming Karma is a female, cuz they don't say "paybacks are a b!tch" for nothin'- wink wink)

As we were sitting somewhere near the vicinity of where the person lived that had these $5 tables, we spotted a bunch of junk sitting out by the trash cans there by the road.  There was some good stuff there and my hubby hopped out & proceeded to dig through all the stuff. He has been curb shopping looong before I ever started. He got some speakers, scrap metal and some yard tool we'll try to sell in a garage sale.

Here is what I picked out.

Look at all this good stuff we got!! I didn't get any tables, but I did get two of my favorite style of chairs!! YES! One chair has a broken support, but it's fixable and I'll make it into a decorative planter chair, but the other one is in great condition. 

I think the birdcase is home made, but it's still kind of neat and needs a little work too. The basket with the silk plant inside was included. Not sure of what kind of condition it's in yet.

 

I seen an idea on Pinterest that I want to try with this galvanized tub that was sitting there too. It may not turn out as nice as the one I seen, but I want to give it a shot anyway.  Not to mention, you just don't pass up a FREE tub!

This metal mailbox. I LOVE the name on the side! (maybe a little clue that someone was watching out for us with this find) I think I'll keep it there. It's another Pinterest idea I hope to try to make.

 This dirty, grungy dartboard that is in otherwise new condition.

It even came with darts that were new in the package. I may clean it up to resell or gut it and redo it more rustic. The selling it is easier. 

If you look on the seat of one of the chairs, there's a couple of wire hangers with the cardboard tubes. I used to throw these away, but now they have a new purpose for me and I'll be showing what I do with them in the near future.

I just love the back style of these chairs! I want to keep one.

 

I guess sellers/buyers on Craigslist don't have to care how badly they handle their dealings, since there is no accountability on that site, like on Ebay or Etsy.

So, has everybody had at least one bad experience on Craigslist or have I just hit a couple of bad ones in just 2 weeks?

 

  

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