My mom's tree...

Hi Everyone!  After our Thanksgiving meal, I put up my mother's Christmas tree, so I thought I'd show you how it turned out.  I made her the tree topper star as well as the snowman ornament in the middle of the tree.

 I really like how it turned out.  And she was very happy to have someone put it up for her.

I also gave her one of the trees I had left over from the craft fair.  Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Jenny Lind headboard bench...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I am spending today with my nephew Ridge but I thought I'd share with you one of the benches that I made for my last craft fair that did not sell.  This is what it started out looking like.  It is a Jenny Lind headboard.

I made this one armless since I did not have a footboard to go with it.  I took the feet from another headboard (one that I didn't like and used the back to make a sign out of it) to make the front legs of this bench.  Then built the frame work.  I had originally wanted to make storage in the seat of this one, but I ran out of time.  But if you look at this, it only needs the bottom of the storage part.  Maybe I will rework this one and add storage to it.

I painted it with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Graphite with a little black paint added to it to darken it a bit.  I upholstered the seat with my usual fabric choice (it's just been so popular).  And I added the saying to the bottom, Sit Long, Talk Much, Laugh Often.  But since it didn't sell, I think I'll finish off the storage in the seat and then it will be ready to go for next year.  Well I'm off now to spend quality time with Ridge before he heads off to Marine Basic training!  I hope you have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by. 

When in doubt...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend.  My dad and I picked up my nephew Ridge from the train yesterday and I'm so happy he's here.  I have to work today so he's spending time with my parents.  I wanted to share with you one the signs I made for a client in the middle of getting ready for my last craft fair.  It's a gift for a friend of mine to give his sister.  He wanted something that said wine in it and this is what we came up with.  I hope his sister likes it.

It has a base coat of wine and black then a top coat of white then has been sanded to reveal those colors.  I hand painted the lettering in black.  It's a simple font, but I think it works.

I thought it was a clever saying and I think I might just have to make one to go in my shop.  Well, thanks for stopping by.

Live, Laugh, Love sign...

Happy Saturday Everyone!  I hope you all survived the shopping yesterday.  I had to work, so no shopping for me.  I wanted to share one of the signs I made for my last craft fair that did not sell.  It's one of my favorite sayings.  I made one of these in large scale for the Red Oak Craft Fair and decided to make one smaller for this fair. 

I will be adding this to my Etsy shop, so if you're looking for something like this to give as a gift to someone, look for it here .  Thanks for stopping by!

Black Friday....

Hi Everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving day.  I had a nice day!  So are you one of those early morning Black Friday shoppers?  I am not.  I'm not real big on crowds and since I don't have children, my shopping list is actually pretty short, so I don't make it out for those great deals.  But I'm always amazed at the stories I hear.  Plus, I have to work today.

Etsy shop

In case you're looking for something different to give as a gift, I have added some signs and Christmas ornaments to my Etsy shop.  Or if you need a handpainted sign to give as a gift, send me an email.  I just had to get that plug in there.  Thanks for indulging me!  And thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!...

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you are all celebrating with family today!  I will be with my family and after dinner I'll be putting up their Christmas tree while my mom puts up the rest of the decorations in her house.  Because of course it has to be ready for my nephews visit on Sunday!

So I hope you are enjoying your day.  What special things will you be doing?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Small tree stool...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  Can you believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving?  And then the Christmas season will be upon us.  Are you ready for it?  I wanted to show you one of the things I took to my last craft fair. 

It's a little decorative stool with a tree back.  I've sold one other one a couple years ago and decided to take this one to the fair this year.

I added the rusty sign that I painted Happy Holidays on.

Here it is at the Craft fair.  It actually sold the night before when I was setting up my booth.  But my customer left it there until the next day so others could see it.  Sorry about the plastic in the background of that picture.  That's the table where I store items I'll need that day like bags and plastic bags to cover the trees with.  Thanks for stopping by.

Storage bench...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I will be spending the day in the shop trying to get orders filled.  But I wanted to show you the bench with storage that I built for this last craft fair.  I showed you the in progress pictures of it a couple of weeks ago.  Here's what the headboard looked like.

And here it is built and painted with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Old Ochre.

I then waxed it with clear wax. 

And I upholstered the seat.  I left the plastic on it at the craft fair as little kids with sticky hands love to climb all over them if their parents aren't watching.

This bench sold fairly early to a nice young couple with a couple of kids.  I think the storage in it was the kicker.  I love to watch people when their making that decision to buy.  And I get almost as excited as they do when they say they are buying something.  But let's face it, it's a big purchase, literally!  They left it at the fair until almost the end of they day when they came back to pick it up, so a lot of people were able to see it.  Must get busy now on those orders.  Well, thanks for stopping by!

Small bench...

Hi Everyone!   Happy Monday.  I wanted to show you one of the benches I took to my last craft fair.  Do you remember me showing you this as I started it?

It's a twin headboard that I decided to make armless and with storage.  I also didn't make the seat as deep as I normally do as I've heard several times people say they want a bench but just don't have the space for it.  So this one is not deep but just the right size to put your shoes on.  Plus it has built in storage for an entry way to store you gloves.

This is how it turned out.

I can't tell you the color of the bench because it's a color I mixed myself.  I actually painted it first with Annie Sloan's Chalk paint in Coco, but it was too dark to go with the fabric for the cushion.  It just made it look dark and flat.  So I mixed a color with some paint I had on hand and that was the wrong color.  It had a slight green color to it which was not the direction I wanted to go.  So I mixed a country tan and antique white with a drop of black and came up with this color.  Which I think worked better with the fabric.

And here it is at the craft fair last Saturday.  Unfortunately it did not sell.  My mom made the cushion for this bench for me.  I'll be storing this for a while.  I'm trying to find a fair to go to in the spring.  All of the ones I attend are in the fall.  So if I can find one, then I'll be a bench up on my build list.  Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Wonderland Window Art....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday!  I hope you are all doing well and gearing up for the upcoming holiday season.  It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week!  Where as the time gone?  I wanted to share with you one of the things I made and sold last Saturday at the Craft Fair.  I painted another window.  If you've been following along, you might remember that I picked up a bunch of windows for FREE that were curb side when they replaced the windows in a beautiful Victorian home by my parents home.

I painted this one on both the front and back of the window.  The face (the eyes, noses and mouths) were painted on the front side and everything else was painted on the back side of the window.  The hardest part was painting the letters on the back since they were backward, but I think it turned out pretty well.  It sold right away at the Red Cross Craft Fair.  I wouldn't have minded taking it home with me, so maybe I'll have to make one for myself.  Hope your weekend is great!  Thanks for stopping by!

The end of fair season...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I know I've been missing this week.  Last Saturday was my last fair of the season.  It went pretty well.  The parking lot at the facility was all torn up so there was limited parking which I think hurt as there weren't nearly as many customers as there normally were.  I still managed to sell quite a few things including a bench, lots of tress, and some one of a kind items.  I'll show more in the next few days.  One of the things that sold right away was Hank, the snowman post.

The gal that bought him was so excited when she saw him and picked him up right away and said she just had to have him.  It always makes me smile to see people get excited about their purchases.  So I know he went to someone who will appreciate him.

I ended the day last Saturday with several orders so I had a total of 10 things I needed to make.  I managed to cut that to 4 on Tuesday and then picked up another order on Wednesday.  Tuesday I started getting a cold and by Wednesday morning it was a full blown cold.  So needless to say, I haven't gotten anything else done this week besides going to work.  I'm feeling a bit better today, so I will be hitting the shop this afternoon to get going on these five orders.  I need to get them done soon! 

I got some exciting news on Sunday.  My nephew Ridge, who is joining the Marines and is leaving in December, will be coming here for a few days!  I am so excited.  I was afraid I wasn't going to get to see him before he left. 

I bought him a train ticket and my parents and I are picking him up a week from tomorrow.  He'll be here for a few days and then my parents will take him to meet his Dad where he will stay for a few more days before heading back home and then leaving for boot camp.  I'm so proud of him and can't wait to see him!  So I must get things done despite my cold!  I hope you all have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Sheet music wreaths and ornaments...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  I've been busy getting ready for the craft fair this weekend and one of the things I've been making are sheet music wreaths and ornaments.  I first made these last year and they were a big hit and I've made them for every craft fair since and they go over very well.  So I thought I'd show some of the ones I'm taking to this fair.  Sorry about the pictures.  I always hang them in my dining room until I'm ready to box them up and unfortunately the walls are all antique white, so the wreaths don't show up as well in the pics. 

I make large, medium, and small wreaths and ornaments.

And I love how they all turn out looking different, yet similar.

I like the double row wreaths and the single row. 

I've even made tree toppers.

I know that sheet music wreaths are all over blogland and I'm not showing you anything you haven't seen before, but I enjoy making them and it seems that my customers enjoy them too.  They are great "filler" pieces in my booth at craft fairs since most of booth is filled with furniture pieces.  The sheet music I've been using is all from 1891-1893.  It has great color and the pages are in really great shape.  A few folded edges and a couple of small tares on a few pages, but nothing terrible.  And one of the things I love are the hand written notes on the sheets.  With instructions on how to play it or to learn this piece.  It was obviously used by a piano teacher.  I just wish I had taken some pictures of the notes.  But I've used the last sheet of music, which makes me a bit sad, but the really great news, is my Aunt Barb has already found some more for me and is sending it to me.  So thank you very much Aunt Barb!  I can't wait to get it!  Well, thanks for stopping by. 

A peek...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday!  Here's a peek at something I've been working on.  I'm not finished with it yet, but so far I think I like it.

It is a board left over from a headboard that I took apart.  I added large pegs that I cut from a broken chair.  Then I  had an idea to add a small message center to the board by using a small frame, wire and clips.

I painted it with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Old White, but I haven't waxed it yet.  I am thinking of adding numbers above the pegs.  What would you do with it?  Thanks for stopping by.

Numbered peg board...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I want to share with you one of the items I've been working on for the next craft fair.  The fair is next weekend and I can't believe it's almost here!  And that it's the last one of the season for me!  Even after the fair is over, I won't be finished yet as I have about 7 orders that I need to fill.  Some large and some small, but luckily my clients have been patient with me. 

This is made from a recycled baseboard and pieces from a broken chair.

I added the numbers instead of a sign since it was long and there wasn't much room for words.

I haven't made one with numbers before and I like how it turned out.  I painted it black and the numbers in white.  I alternated the larger peg with the smaller to give it an interesting look.  I will be taking this next weekend and hopefully it will find a new home.  Thanks for stopping by!

Hawkeye Fans.....

Hi Everyone!  The weekend of my big Craft Fair something else excited was happening.  My brother and his family (minus my niece-she's not a fan) went to an Iowa Football game.  I have a very dear friend, Craig (Happy Birthday!), we've been friends for 13 years, who has Iowa Football season tickets and is nice enough to share them with me and my family.  My dad and I usually go every year and we give the other two tickets to my brother and his wife for their birthdays.  But this year my dad and I did not go.  Instead we gave all four tickets to my brother and sister-in-law so they could take their boys. 

 This is outside the stadium.  My nephew Ridge has never been to a game.  He lives in southern Missouri and I bought him a train ticket to get to his dad's (his car is not reliable).  Ridge is leaving for the Marines in December, so this trip was extra special.

 My nephew Quinton got to go last year with us because the game we picked was late in the year and at night and boy was it cold, so Dawn did not go.

 Now there's a Hawkeye family!

There is a Hawkeye train that takes you from a parking area a couple miles away and stops at the base of the stairs outside the stadium which makes parking and getting there so  much easier.  This is my brother and nephew on the train.  The Hawks won so a great time was had by all.  It would  have been even sweeter if Dad and I had gotten to go, but I was busy at the craft fair.  Next year.  Thanks for stopping by!