Barn Doors, Wagon Wheels, and Quilts

It's almost the middle of January

and I'm finally getting back into the swing of things

after the craziness of the holidays.

It's been six weeks since my last blog post

and I've been one busy girl.

I've been chatting it up on Facebook,

but have neglected the blog for a bit.

Now I'm back

and ready to start the new year.

Over Christmas break,

I was introduced to a new friend.

He's an Amish farmer and a rather nice guy.

As part of his work,

he deconstructs barns.

We've struck up a friendship

and I've taken photos of some of his items to list in our local Facebook swap group.

Along the way,

I've been fortunate to acquire some great new items from his finds.

More blue jars,

like the ones in the photo below,

these are the oldest of the blue jars,

handblown, slope shouldered, ground rim.

A few more of the old blue jars

Ball Perfect Mason

A small barn door,

probably from a loft.

It's been added to my Etsy shop.

An old wagon gate

I think this is going to have some hooks added

and made into a coat rack.

Steel wagon wheels

My ideal use for them?

Hanging from the ceiling and converting to a chandelier.

Unfortunately, that won't be happening,

but a girl can dream.

I found this incredible quilt.

Plans for it are still uncertain.

I have too many ideas for it

and need to narrow down the options.

EDITED:

This quilt is now for sale.

You can find it listed here.

 

Pretty quilt blocks,

which I found at the antique mall.

The blocks will also be added to my shop.

 A vintage animal comforter

with the animal blocks hand painted.

The images were from iron on transfers,

then embellished with paint.

It was just too cute to pass up.

I've been itching to go to an auction so bad!

There are so few auctions here in wintertime.

A multiple estate auction is scheduled in two weeks,

so it's time to get busy,

organize what I have,

list the items in my shop,

and make way for more.

  
 

December Finds

I haven't posted my finds lately.

It's been busy around here getting ready for Christmas.

We've been doing a bit of painting,

making garlands,

folding and glueing ornaments.

Last weekend, I found some wonderful things

tucked away in the back of a booth

at the antique mall.

There were also a few things that I'd "organised"

and hidden from myself

instead of putting them in my online shop.

I found these letter tiles zipped away in an old plastic bag

Tucked at the back of a booth.

Today, I took them outside

spread them out on my favorite tree trunk

and made words with them.

Merry Christmas

Star

Wish

Snow

Joy

Peace

Noel

Love

Faith

What an awesome find!

There were also
Bingo Cards

Bingo Numbers

and

Children's Alphabet Wood Blocks

Tucked away, I found some things

that were from my trip to Dubuque, Iowa

a few months ago.

Trio of Oil Cans

Mexican Flower Pots

so much like the one my granny used to have.

Drawers from an old watchmaker's desk

The desk was beyond repair,

so we salvaged the drawers from it.

  I've been needing to refill my shop,but the oh-so-shiny-things of Christmas time have distracted me. So now the shelves have a few more items,maybe I can squeeze in another project, or two......or three? 

Wood Dough Bowls

Months ago, I was inspired by a post from Angie at The Country Chic Cottage.

Angie had been wanting a dough bowl of her very own,

but they are incredibly expensive.

What does a DIY'er do when they want something?

They make it themselves!

Angie took a $1 bowl from the thrift store and created a dough bowl.

You can click on the photo above to see just how she did this.

So I've been looking at wooden bowls from time to time,
but never finding one I really liked.

Then last week, I came across some blah bowls.

They were sad with their brown and black colors.

They were crying out for somebody to give them color.

I couldn't wait to get them home and splash on some paint.

The base paint is a green oops paint from Home Depot.

Two bowls have a terra cotta over the green.

Two bowls have a yellow over the green.

After the second color was added to the bowl,

it was distressed with 150 sandpaper.

Then two layers of wax were applied to seal the paint

with a good buffing after each application.

The color is a robin's egg blue,

or maybe a turquoise,

or an aqua.

I'll be adding more upcycled and handcrafted items to my shop in the next week.

They'll be a little bit country, rustic, farmhouse.

Kinda like me.

Click to visit my shop

Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt

Occassionally, I find something that I really love

and hope to find someone else that will love it just as much.

A couple of weeks ago, I found a box filled with quilt blocks.

The box was bursting with over 200 pieces.

Sena, who I've not introduced you to yet, but hope to do so soon,

(She is wonderfully creative and uses her talents in helping others.)

identified the pattern as Grandmother's Flower Garden.

As my goal for the week is to FOCUS and get my Etsy shop refilled,

I took tons of photos this morning of the quilt pieces.

An Etsy shopper noticed my first listing for the pieces and was thrilled to see them.

With the second listing, she was even more excited.

With the third, she was hoping there would be enough for a quilt.

It looks as though the quilt blocks may have already found a new home

and will one day be made into a quilt.

I'm hoping that the buyer will share a photo with us.

I'd love to see the finished project.

Click to visit my shop

Before and After Sewing Table

A former coworker of mine manages a local thrift store.

She has taken my oldest under her wing a bit.

She lets him hang out and work on things.

He fixes her computer alot.

She and her husband feed him cheeseburgers and soda.

He loves it.

It's nice to know that he has a place to hang out

where I don't have to worry about

where he is

what he's doing

or who he's with.

Those are things that I've had plenty to worry over during his early teen years.

Sometimes my son brings me home treasures,

but this one I found while stopping in to drop off a snack.

I thought it was just a little bench,

needing a bit of paint and a square of fabric.

You can see it definitely needed something.

Not until our trip to Hannibal and shopping through the antique stores

did I know why the table had a lift off top.

It's a sewing table.

The top comes off and you can fill the inside

with your spools, needles, thread,

and whatever else you'd like to stash.

My boys would have hidden so many things in there when they were little.

I was always finding "little guys" hidden in the freezer, cabinets, drawers.

The table has now been given a coat of barn red paint.

This was topped with clear wax mixed with  black and brown umber paints.

I just stir up the wax in an old coffee cup with the paint until it's all nice and mooshy.

Then apply and buff.

After I'd already painted the table,

I found fabric on clearance for $3/yd.

The table top needed about 75 cents worth of fabric.

The table was free.

The paint and wax were about $2.

So my little sewing table costs under $3.

I really like this little table,

especially after finding that the top lifts off for a reason.

The things I could stash in there,

but the table is off to my booth,

which is filled to the brim.

I get to move into a second booth on the first,

or perhaps a few days early if I'm lucky before Labor Day weekend.

I love what I do!

 Fall is here and I'm ready to dive right into it I can't wait to hop into that first huge pile of leaves