Versatile Award...

Hi Everyone!  I wanted to share with you the award that Jill @ Junky Vagabond thinks I'm worthy of receiving.  I was so surprised to find Jill's email in my inbox, along with several others with comments on my posts that I had to head over to her blog and I was excited by what I found there.  Jill has a great writing style which made me start from the beginning on her blog and get completely caught up with what she's been doing, so if you haven't seen her blog, go check it out.  Thanks again Jill!

Seven random things about me....

1.  I was adopted by two of the greatest parents a girl could ever wish for and am thrilled with the life I got to have instead of the one I started with.

2.  I have two chocolate labs, Bo and Bailey and am caring for their 5 puppies (anyone interested in a puppy?)

3.  I have a B.S. degree in Psychology.  (B.S. is to stand for Bachelor of Science not the naughty words).

4.  Since graduating from college I have moved 14 different times and have lived in 12 different cities in 4 states.  And now I'm not moving anywhere!  I have put down some serious roots and refuse to leave the farm.

5.  My good friend and I have the same exact birthday, she's 12 hours older than I am and we didn't meet until we were 29.

6.  I love snow and winter and fresh cold air and can smell when it's going to snow.

7.  I was once told on a job interview that I wasn't creative enough.  That I was too right-brain and analytical to be creative.  Can you believe it?  I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after that comment.  I was offered the job, but turned it down.  Which I still think was the right decision!

And now to pass the Versatile Award on....and the winner is.... a blog I discovered yesterday that is pretty new and doesn't have a ton of followers but that I really enjoyed, Lesa at Home Frosting.  Don't you just love her "Dream" Sign.  This looks like something I might have made and I love it.  I think I might even have to copy her idea. 

Courtesy of Home Frosting



When you get a chance, stop by and check out what else Lesa's been working on, I know I'll be keeping an eye on her blog.  Thanks for stopping by.

Farm Table Top...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I thought I'd share with you something I've been working on but haven't finished  yet.  I have several projects going on at once.  I need to pick up paint for the kitchen island, but I haven't quite made a decision on what color, so I've put that on hold until this weekend, so I've moved on to a couple of other things, including a gift for my cousin's daughter for her college graduation and of course Mother's day (both of which I can't share with you yet).  So instead I'll show you my version of a Farm Table.  I'm making this for my display area.  I'm not finished with it yet because I haven't decided on the right legs for it yet.  I have a couple of ideas so that it can be easily taken down and moved when it needs to be.

This is 100% recycled from the farm.  The center boards still have the bolts in it from when they where apart of a large swing gate that was used to sort cattle but has since been decommissioned and were just hanging out in the old corn crib, so I repurposed them without changing them much.

Now I just need to go through my stash of wood to find the "right" legs.  Nothing spoke to me earlier, but I haven't checked all of my wood storage yet.  I'll find them, I know they are out there just waiting for me to find them.  Thanks for stopping by.

A nest and silent auction...

Hi Everyone!  One of my co-workers is a member of the Iowa Ornithologists' Union and is hosting their annual spring meeting this weekend and asked me if I had any bird related things that I might want to donate for their silent auction.  Actually he asked me if I wanted to donate one of the puppies from my dog Bailey's recent liter.  I said no way would I donate a puppy, but I did have a nest he could have.  So before I handed this off to him, I thought I'd show it to you all framed out and ready to go.  I had originally shown this to you as a part of my nest obsession post, but it wasn't framed yet. 

I hope they make lots of money from it or at least I hope it goes to someone who will enjoy it.  Thanks for stopping by.

Easter dress and egg hunt...

Hi Everyone!  I just had to show you the cutest little girl in her Easter dress.  This is Chance Elizabeth.  She lives next door to my parents and came over for the Easter egg hunt along with my cousins children.  Chance is the happiest child I've ever seen.  She says hi to everyone and smiles all the time.  Don't you just love that dress?

Here she is enjoying the hunt along with my cousin's youngest child, Kennedy.

Don't you just love the pig tails?

I hope you enjoyed your Easter holiday.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Look what I got in the mail...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  I wanted to show you what I got in the mail on Saturday from Joan @ anything goes here.  Look how wonderfully it's packaged.  I had ordered a few things from Joan's Etsy shop that I had seen on her blog.

I just love antique typeset letters.  Joan added a wire circle to the top to hold pictures. I gave my mom one of the F blocks for Easter thinking she could put a picture of the family on it.  And I'm keeping the rest for myself.  Thanks Joan.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Table centerpieces...

Hi Everyone!  I just had to share with you the table centerpieces that my mother made for Easter.  Aren't they cute!  The flowers and eggs are sitting inside glass jars inside the container so the container can be used again and again!  My mom does it up right for every gathering, holiday, birthday, get together we have and this was no exception! 

Thanks for making everything special Mom!  And thanks for stopping by!

Eggs anyone...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed Easter.  I know I did.  I made this sign over the weekend and when I was done, I thought how appropriate this one is after Easter.  Did you color Easter Eggs or use the plastic eggs?  We did not color eggs, but I remember enjoying it when I was a child.

This board is about 30" long and isn't technically a scrap piece, but it is a little wonky (is that a word?).  It has a dip in the edge which is not good for somethings, but is great character for this sign.  I just had to add the three eggs on the end.  When I finish painting a sign and it's dried, I'm always a little hesitant to distress it, after all I just spent how long painting it, but I'm always happy I distressed it in the end.  So I've learned not to try to be perfect in the painting, that it's okay to not cover each letter perfectly and I think that just adds to the end result.  What do you think?  Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Easter...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Easter.  I hope you all have a great weekend and get to spend time with your families.

I will be going to my parents home on Sunday and meeting up with my cousins, my cousins' children, my uncle and of course my parents.  I hope you have a Happy Easter.  See you back here on Monday!  Thanks for stopping by.

Super sized desk...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I wanted to share with you the desk that I made for my parent's office.  Sorry I don't have any before pictures of their office because they had it all cleaned out and ready for their new desk when I got there to install it.  My parents had two desks in this office.  One for the computer that was a really nice desk but didn't have functional storage or writing space.  The other was one of those pressed wood put together kinds that had some writing surface and cubbies up above without doors, which meant everything was out in the open!  So, I changed all that.  I made them a desk with lots of counter/writing space and storage space.  Plus it sits nicely in the corner and wraps around.

Behind the two doors are these pull out drawers that can each hold up to 100 pounds of stuff.  The drawers have different size depths to them so that they can old different size items.  It's a super-sized desk but gives them more space than they thought they'd ever need.  And let's face it, you can never have to much counter space or storage.  I (and my mom) would have preferred to paint it, but I knew Dad would rather have it stained and it could always be painted later.  The desk comes in three sections for ease of moving, but we still had to take the door off it's hinges to get the desk in.  Like I said, it's a super-sized desk.  I hope they get a lot of use out of it.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

A green sign...

 Hi Everyone!  Have I mentioned my love of signs?  Well, I think I have a sign problem.  I love signs.  I love to make signs.  I could make a new sign every day.  Okay, maybe not every day.  But several a week.  This one is a little different than my other signs.  It's green.  The picture does not do the green paint justice.  It's a very pretty leaf green color. 

I made this the same as all my other signs.  I found the right size board from my stash of recycled wood.  Sanded it, painted it black, then painted a light coat of white, but then I did something different.  I was looking at my paint and saw the green.  And since I had already picked out the saying, green was perfect.  So I put a light coat of green over the white, let it dry and then went to town with my sander.  Since I had to go through two coats of paint to get down to the black, while leaving some of the white showing and of course the perfect green, it took me longer to sand and I was more careful with the sander.

When it was finally perfect, I drew the letters on, and then painted them white.  I let it dry and wasn't happy with the white.  It was missing something.  Then it hit me, the white letters needed a black shadow.

So I got out my smallest paint brush and painted the shadow in black.  I'm very happy with the final product.  Did I tell you I love signs?  I have a couple more that are almost done to show you later in the week.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Shelves...

Hi Everyone!  I love shelves.  I have so many shelves all over my house.  From the front and back porch to bedrooms upstairs.  They are all different sizes and shapes, some are decorative and some are more functional, some I've made and some my grandfather made and I even have a few that I purchased.  So I thought I'd show you a couple of the shelves I made recently. 

I love the shape of this shelf.  This is the most popular shelf that I make.  The next time I make one I'll do a tutorial for you. 

I love the rounded edge of the brackets.  It has a very feminine line. 

I like the sanded edges too.  This shelf looks great with a distressed finish too.

This shelf is a newer design for me.  It has a more squared, masculine look.

Do you have shelves in your home?  Are they decorative or functional?  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Primitive End Table...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I'm still working on my kitchen island redo but I wanted to show you the end table I just finished for a client.  I had made one of these a few months back that I took to the shop where it instantly sold.  My client saw it there and finally called me and ordered one for herself.  So before I sent it off to it's new home, I thought I'd share it with you.  I of course didn't stop to take pictures so I could write a tutorial because I was under a bit of a deadline to get it made.  Next time, I promise!

It's really a simple design but seems to go over well.  The top is made of several boards that I used my handy dandy biscuit joiner to connect them together, then I cut the corners with my jig saw so they were rounded instead of square.  After I painted it, I sanded all the edges and put a coat of sealer on the top, but only the top.  And there you have it.  Now it's off to it's new home.  Now it's time to get back to work on that kitchen island!  Thanks for stopping by.

Farmer's Market....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  I have a list of signs I want to make and an idea of what kind/size board it needs to be on and every time I find the right board, I just have to make that sign.  This time it's the Farmer's Market sign.  Unlike Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors, I don't have an elaborate story (here) to go with my sign.  I could try to make something up, but I think I'll just show it to you.

I started out painting the board black, then a light coat of white paint which I sanded off to reveal the black, which actually looks more gray than black.  I painted on my letters and then sanded them off again to give it that aged look.  Now my question is, is it Farmer's Market or Farmers Market.  I have seen it both ways.  I of course didn't question this until after I finished painting it and I didn't want to sand it off and start again.  I did an Internet search and have found it both ways on all kinds of signs.  So I guess I'm okay leaving it the way it is.  What do you think?  Thanks for stopping by.

Gifts for nephews and a niece....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday.  I hope you are all having a great weekend.  I'm working hard on my kitchen island remake along with a half dozen other projects and thought I'd show you the toy boxes I made for my niece and nephew.  I have 2 nephews and one niece and they all have received toy boxes from me.  But like usual, I can only find pictures of two of them.  My oldest nephew, Ridge was the first to receive one (that's one I can't find a pic of) and now that he's 17, we call it a trunk, not a toy box. 

My niece Vickie's favorite color is purple so of course I had to use purple on it.  It's painted white to match the other furniture pieces in her room.  I'd say that her toy box has the potential to grow with her into a hope chest. 

Quinton's toy box can grow with him too, but I think we'd have to remove his name from it and of course repaint it.  He also has two large shelves that I made him in the same color and a night stand.

Quinton likes to come up with something new for me to make him for Christmas every year.  I can't imagine what he's going to want this year....  Well, thanks for stopping by. 

Work in progress...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I thought I'd share with you one of the projects I'm currently working on.  I live in an old farmhouse that has very limited storage.  The kitchen cabinets (I'll show you the entire kitchen when I'm done) are on the south wall and go all the way to the ceiling.  And they aren't your normal kitchen cabinets.  They are totally built in and open inside from one cabinet to the next.  My grandfather and his brother made the cabinets.  I think they put up shelves and then faced them and made doors because the back of the cabinet is the plaster wall which in some places was crumbling when I moved it, so I had to address that first.  But the biggest problem is lack of drawers, there is only one drawer in the entire kitchen!  I've made attempts to correct this with rolling carts that had drawers, but I've never been completely satisfied. 

So I am starting over.  I have removed the kitchen table and am going to install a center island made from a base cabinet that currently has two drawers in it.  And the best part is that it was totally free!  One of my co-workers was on a job site where they were remodeling a break room last year and saved this cabinet from the dumpster, called and asked if I wanted it and delivered it to my shop for me.  He was thinking I could use it for storage and a work surface in the wood shop.  Thank goodness I've been too busy to set it up in the shop because now I think with a little work it will be great in my kitchen!

So here are my before pictures.  I think I need to build a base for it to sit on because it seems a little low.  And it needs a new back to it, I'm thinking homemade bead board.  I'm going to paint it a dark color so it won't show scuff marks because I'm making it so you can sit at it.  The top is going to be 2"x6" boards that I'm going to stain and give it that farm table look.  I'm going to make corbels or brackets of some sort for the top to rest on where it will overhang.  I see it finished in my minds eye, so now I just need to get started.  And I'm going to add a drawer where the sink used to be so I'll have 3 drawers.

As far as the inside of the cabinet, the double doors on the left have two shelves and the door on the right has none.  So my idea is to build pull out drawers so everything is easy to access despite the overhang of the top.  Then all I need to buy are the drawer glides and hardware and bar stools.  Or maybe all make a high bench for the back side out of old barn wood...?  I'll keep you updated on the progress.  I better get to work!  Thanks for stopping by.

Dining room shelves...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I'm working on a few projects but don't have anything completed to share with you, so I thought I'd take you on a tour of the shelves in my dining room.  My dining room is not your typical dining room.  When my grandparents first moved into this house, this room would have been the living room.  But in the 1960's, my grandfather added a living room onto the house along with a bathroom (the only bathroom had been in the basement which at one point was the cellar but that's a whole other story).  So this room became know as the front room.  It's the room that the front door opens into.  I will have to see if I can find pictures of the house when I moved it.  I turned this room into the dining room.  I added cedar shelves that go around the room up by the ceiling so I could display some of the things I found in the storage room or the crawl space in the basement.

I also added rope light that goes completely around the room at the back of the shelves to light the things on the shelves.  But it's kind of hard to see it (see the light peeking out behind the curtain to the right of the picture.  There's an old school bell, some old bottles, an antique iron, and an old wooden bowl to highlight a few items.

It's kind of hard to tell, but there is an antique stapler leaning next to the crock with the pip berry tree on it.

The container with the grapes hanging over it is an antique syrup bucket.

I have several antique scales, but this is the only one that would fit on this shelf.  The item that is cut off in the picture is an antique oil lamp without the glass chimney. 

My great-great aunt Nina's camera next to an old lunch box.  I should take those down and get some close up pictures of them.  They are both really cool.

An old enamel pot and lid, next to a wooden scoop and of course a birdhouse that my mother decorated and gave to me.

The jar on the left is filled with different sizes and colors of perm rods.  They belonged to my Aunt Nancy.  She was a hairdresser and her daughter cleaned them and put them in jars and gave one to my mom, to my brother's wife, and to me.  So every time I see them, I think of her.  The horse belonged to my great uncle Cecil.  He use to work at the local lumber yard and gave me a lot of wood and hardware that he had stored in his garage.  I of course made the dream sign on a scrap of wood. 

And of course a sign fits nicely on the shelf.  I don't have a picture of the room as it is now because I'm moving furniture around on the floor.  I'll take one and show you the before and after pictures once I'm done with it.  Well, thanks for stopping by.