An Update....

Hi Everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  I promised you an update on things earlier this week so now seemed like the best time to do that.  As you all know, I have been busy getting ready for the craft fair.  Well, that was this weekend and now I'm sitting here, dog tired and relieved that it's all over.  It went well.

I really didn't know what to expect since I had never been to this fair before.  It was a two day fair which I had never done before either.  I'm happy with how I did.  I learned a lot and now know what I would do differently.  I promise to share pictures with you soon. I met a lot of really wonderful people (especially Lynett and Heather) and made some contacts that may result in some orders.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one.  I will share more of the details soon.  I have a lot of things to share with you!

So now on to the other news.  It has been a really long week and we (my family and I) have several more long weeks a head.  My dad hasn't been feeling like himself for a while.  He went to the doctor this week thinking that his bad back was getting worse and they discovered he has an abdominal aortic aneurysm (they call it a triple A).  Which if it would rupture...well, let's not go there.  So my dad is having surgery on May 8th to repair it.  And we are all on pins and needles until then and waiting.  It's been pretty stressful around here but the distraction of the craft fair was good.  He goes tomorrow (Monday) to have a CT scan so they can determine which type of surgery they will be able to do.  We are all praying for the easy surgery (through the groin area) instead of the major surgery.   In case you don't know what an AAA is, it's what the actor John Ritter had, only his ruptured and they didn't diagnose it until it was too late.  We are VERY thankful that my dad's doctor discovered it in time to do something about it.  So if you could all say a prayer for my dad, I would really appreciate it.  I will keep you updated.  But now I really need to go to bed.  It's been a long week and weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Posting

Hi Everyone!  I need to apologize for not posting anything in the past few days.  I have been busy getting ready for the craft fair this weekend.  I was so busy I neglected to post that I was Guest Posting today at Craftionary.  So if you get a change stop by and say hi to Hani and check out the flag tutorial.

I also have some other issues going on in my family and I'll share more of that soon.  But I just wanted to apologize for not being around this past week.  I do have lots of new things to share with you when I return.  Thanks for stopping by!

Holly

Door sign...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are having a great week.  Do you remember this door I showed you a few months ago that was given to me?  It's a solid core door that came out of a home that was torn down.  My original plan was to use this in my home since it's from the same era, but I decided to use this one for other purposes.

I cleaned it up and then I cut it up.  Yes I said I cut it up.  I almost didn't, but since I have two others, it didn't bother me so much.

 This is what I did with the middle section of the door.  I cut it apart, sanded it and added chair part pegs to it.

 Then I hand painted the welcome and the love birds to the center.

I love the chippy look on the edges.  These are some of my favorite pegs.

 I put a sealer on the sign to keep the paint from chipping anymore.

This is one of my favorite signs.  I love the fact that the door parts are still intact.  I would love to keep this one but I have no wall space for it.  So it will be going with me next weekend to the craft fair where it will hopefully find it's new home.  I got a lot done today on my day off.  But unfortunately, I didn't finish any of the things I was working on.  I have more projects to finish after work for the rest of the week.  As always, thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/2012/04/catch-as-catch-can-70.html 
http://simplydonewright.blogspot.com/2012/04/all-stars-linky-party-1.html 

Barn sash windows...

Hi Everyone!  I hope your week is off to a great start.  Have you ever heard of barn sash windows?  Around here, these are what are called barn sash windows.  It's just a simple single paned window.  I didn't know that they were called that until I was having a conversation with Uncle Bill and he was telling me about some and then two days later I found these leaning up against my shop door.  They were from Uncle Bill.

They are old and dirty but in great shape.  And they will be great once I clean them up.  Thanks Uncle Bill!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one yet...

But I'm thinking of turning this one into a door for a cabinet.  We'll see if that actually happens.

 

And I thought I'd show you the bench I started working on and hope to have built tomorrow on my day off.  I have so much to do tomorrow.  The fair is going to be here before I know it.  I only have two days off left and this weekend to get everything done that I have planned.  I dropped some wreath stands off at my parents house so my mom could paint them for me.  This weekends storms really put me behind schedule.  I have a lot of work to get done.  And I need to get back to it.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

A baseboard sign...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all having a great weekend.  We made it through the storms, now if the wind would just stop blowing!  I need to explain my absence last week.  I had every intention of sharing some of the new things I finished after getting my saw repaired, but things just didn't happen the way I had planned.  I had orders to fill (which is a really good thing) but I was a bad blogger.  I didn't get pictures taken of all the those orders.  So I didn't have anything to share.

Here's a section of baseboard I was given a while back by my aunt Barb.  It's old but in great shape.  And this is what I did with it....

I painted it with ASCP in Old White.  Then sanded it.

I added these pegs to it.  The pegs are from the spindles of an antique Jenny Lind headboard that my aunt Barb gave me that was in pieces.  I cut them apart and turned them into pegs.

Then I hand painted the numbers above the pegs.

I'm happy with the way it turned out.  I will be taking this to the craft fair in a couple of weeks.  The only thing I have left to do is add the hangers on the back.

I started working on a bench last week but haven't been able to get back to it.  I need to finish that and make another one for the fair.  Hopefully the wind will die down so I can be out in the shop this week.  I have a lot to do.  Thanks for stopping by.

Weather Update....

Hi Everyone!  Well it was an eventful night last night.  We had three severe storms roll through.  The dogs and I spent some time in the basement.  It's not really a basement, it's the original root cellar to the house that has had a cement floor and walls put in (after the fact) but it is wonderful to have.  This house has seen countless storms and tornadoes and has stood the test of time (thank goodness).  And we made it safely through last night.  But it was a long night.  I'm so tired today that I haven't been able to motivate myself to do much of anything.  And so are the dogs.

Today, we've been under a wind advisory and it's almost as bad as the storms last night because it's been constant all day long.  I didn't have many limbs down last night, but they've come down today.  Mostly likely they were broken last night and just coming down today.  I've also lost some shingles off the house.  I am in need of a new roof I'm afraid. 

The town of Thurman, Iowa which is not that far from where I live, was hit last night.  It's a very small town (250 or so residents).  100% of the buildings in town sustained damage.  75% of the buildings were destroyed.  And luckily, no fatalities.  A few injuries including a semi driver that pulled off the interstate (which is not far away) and was injured when his semi overturned.  They were all very lucky.  But now the clean up begins.

And if the wind would just stop blowing!  I guess we are paying now for the decent winter we had.  But it could have been so much worse last night.  I can handle spending time in the cellar and listening to the wind blow and the lack of sleep if it comes with minimal damages and surviving.  I'll be back later with a project I completed last week.  I just wanted to update everyone.  Thanks for all your emails and comments of concern.  And as always, thanks for stopping by.

Severe weather and tornados...

Hi Everyone!   I'm coming to you from the basement!  I hope you are all safe and having a better Saturday than I am.  We have been under a tornado watch most of the day.  We've had several severe thunderstorms roll through here.  We had a tornado warning hit this afternoon and the dogs and I headed to the basement.  The dogs are lying together (which is unusual) on the comforter I put on the floor.

We had another tornado warning and a severe thunderstorm warning come out.  The sky looked green so we headed again to the basement.  We've been here for a little over a half hour so far.  It hasn't been fun.  I hate storms.  We'll be here for a bit longer I'm afraid. They are talking about 60-80 mph winds.  I hope things are better wherever you are.  Hopefully things will let up soon and I hope to have some new projects for you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

Door wreath alternative...

Hi Everyone!  This weekend I was in one of my grain (storage) bins looking for something else, when I came across this picket fence welcome sign I had made a few years back that didn't sell.  So I brought it inside and made some chances to it.

I almost forgot to take a picture of it before I started working on it.  I remembered after I  started sanding the birdhouse.  It did say welcome on it, but the paint needed to be touched up so I sanded it and then repainted it and the pickets.  And this is what I ended up with.

 I painted just the face of the pickets white and repainted the birdhouse the same green color.

 Then hand-painted the Welcome and the flower on the birdhouse.

 I decided it needed a little bird so I cut one out and painted it blue.  Then added a sprig of apple green pip berries.

 And here it is hanging on my back door.

I like how it's been refreshed and the bird and berries were much needed additions.  I think I might have to keep this one.  But I will probably end up taking it to the craft fair at the end of the month.  Well, now I must head to the lumberyard so I can pick up some lumber for the supports for the benches I'm making today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Spring wreath....

Hi Everyone!  I hope you had an enjoyable weekend and a great Easter.  I spent the weekend working on projects and getting ready for the fair at the end of the month.  And I have projects to share with you!  But first, I want to show you the flowers I got for my aunt Marge.  My parents had Marge and Uncle Bill up Saturday night for dessert to celebrate Aunt Marge's birthday.

 I just love daisy's.  They make me smile.  And don't you just love this color of purple?

So now onto one of the projects I finished.

 Now that my saw is fixed, I've been trying to get caught up on all the things I started working on before it quit working.  And this was one of them.  I made this little picket fence out of paint sticks and a piece of 1x2" board.  I cut the paint sticks into pickets and glued and nailed them to scrap pieces of 1x2" boards.  Then painted it white and added a bit of antique medium. 

 Then I added them to a grapevine wreath with green and cream pip berries.

 Then I added a couple of dragonflies and a butterfly that I painted.

I think it turned out kind of cute.  And I'm hanging it on my front door until the fair.  Now I just need to build a couple of wreath holders for the wreaths I've made.  Tomorrow is my day off and I have several benches to build so I'm hoping for a very productive day!  I hope you have a productive week!  Thanks for stopping by.

Clear jars...

Hi Everyone!  I was out in one of the grain bins on my farm last night looking for a couple of windows I had put in storage and came across a box of jars that I had put there a few years ago.  One of the guys I worked with at the grain elevator gave me a box of jars a few years back that I never really looked at.  I just brought them home and stored them and sort of forgot about them.  But when I saw them last night, I thought I had better take a look at them.  And look at what I found....

...these wonderful clear Ball jars and a couple of other jars...

....This one is especially interesting....

....One half gallon jar....

...and four quart Ball jars...two of them are slightly squared...two are round....

...and one is just clear.  I haven't cleaned them up yet, but thought I'd share anyway....I'm glad I came across them last night, they've been in storage much too long and need to be brought out, used and enjoyed.  I hope you are having a great Easter weekend.  I started working on a couple of new projects tonight now that my saw is fixed.  I'll be back out there again tomorrow after work.  Thanks for stopping by.

Back in business...

I am back in business!  And boy do I have a lot to do!  My saw started acting up a few weeks ago and I had to order parts, two brushes.  They took almost two weeks to get here, but they arrived on Wednesday. 

And tonight, my friend and coworker Shane came out and repaired my saw for me.  Shane opened it up and found that one of them had broken.  He replaced them both and now it's working better than ever.  It took him about three minutes to replace them.  Thank you so much Shane!

So now I can get back to work.  I've been a bit lost not being able to work on much and definitely not being able to make anything new.  I've got big plans this weekend to build, build, build.  And now that my saw is fixed, I have nothing to stop me.  I'm hoping to have some new things ready to share with you by Monday.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

New find....

Hi Everyone!  I hope your week is going well.  The part for my saw finally came in today.  My friend and co-worker Shane is going to install it for me...hopefully tomorrow night.  And hopefully this will fix it so I can get back to work.  It's starting to pile up.  If it doesn't work, then I have to go shopping for a new saw this weekend so I can finish getting things made for the craft fair at the end of this month.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Look at what I got today....my friend Judy gave me this sweet little twin bed set.  It's in perfect condition.

 The lines on this are great.  I love that it's a solid back headboard.  I have trouble finding these around here.

 And here's the footboard.  I love the fat spindles and the fact that it isn't a solid back.

 The rails are in great condition.

And I love the color.  It's a great yellow color.  The best part of all....it was free!

 I can't wait to turn this one into a bench.

I love the color so much that I'm thinking I'm going to carefully turn this into a bench and leave it this color.  I'm thinking of upholstering the cushion in some great fabric that matches the yellow.  Now I just need that saw.....I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this part fixes it so I can get back to work.  Thanks for stopping by.