Free stuff....

Hi Everyone!  I'm still trying to recover from this weekend. Tonight I thought I'd share with you the great new free items I got last week from work.  I work at a plumbing shop and in the backroom there's one of those to die for cabinets with lots of drawers and cubbies on top that we all drool over.  Well, two weeks ago the guys decided the drawers just weren't working for them anymore and they destroyed it.  I wish I had been able to take a before picture.  It was fabulous.  I ask the guy destroying altering it what the plan was for the drawers.  And the answer was to break them up and put them in the dumpster.  So I asked my bosses if I could buy the drawers and to my surprise, I was told that I could have them.

 There are 6 of these drawers and 8 others that haven't been emptied yet, but I'll get to have those too.

 These large drawers are almost 36" x 30".  The wood is solid, thick and heavy.

 The middle size drawer is 24" x 30" and the small ones are 14" x 30".

The bottom of each drawer is old bead board and in really great shape.

They all still have their handles and label markers.  I have ideas for some of them and can't wait to show you, but I'd be interested in hearing what you'd do with them.  Now I must get to work on some custom orders.  Thanks for stopping by.

The fair....

Hi Everyone!  It's been a long and fun weekend!  The Arbor Day Fair was this weekend.  I didn't take as much as I normally do since I'm having the Open House for my Studio in a month, but I did take a variety of items.  It was a good weekend, but not a great one. Just a warning, this post is picture heavy but I thought I'd show you what my booth looked like.

 Set up started Friday at 4pm.  Mom, Dad and I were there a little before 4 pm ready to set up and get out of there as early as we could.  This little bench was the first thing we unloaded.  Just as soon as it was set down, it was sold.  It had a twin that I brought last year to this same fair and the gal that runs the fair bought it and bought this one too.

 My little headboard turned shelf with pegs sold as soon as we set it down too....also to the same gal that bought the bench.  The two items really went well together and were the very first thing you saw as you entered the room.  I could have sold them both to at least 4 or 5 other customers.  They stayed in their spot the whole weekend and brought me several orders and a wonderful new business contact (I'll share more on that later).

 I took a couple of mirrored windows (none of them sold).

 These bead board frames were new this year and two of them sold.

 The black chicken wire frame came home with me.....

 ....as did this green backless bench with storage in it and a stained top...

...and so did my bird bench...

 ...I sold a few sheet music rosette magnets...

 ...and one white and one grey crate, several of the plain pillows, several chicken wire frames, and the numbered peg sign...

 ...the foot stool was liked by a lot of customers, but came home with me as did the large window mirror...

 ...as did this bench with storage that was painted with dark walnut paint (I've already decided to repaint it in Old White)....

 ...I sold a set of wooden love birds in white...but the rest came home with me...

 ...these burlap rosettes on clothes pins were also attached to the message boards, but the packaged ones didn't sell...

 ...and neither did the tree slice numbered tags...

 ...or the blank note cards...

...and neither did these hand painted totes...so it seemed like I didn't sell much, but I did okay and I'm alright with the amount of items I brought home...they will all be for sale at my Open House next month.  So now I have to replenish some of the items that sold and finish working on my studio to get it ready for the big sale.  If you happen to be in Southwest Iowa over Memorial Weekend, please feel free to stop by and say hello...email me for directions. 

I want to say a great big thank you to my parents for all of their help and support this weekend.  I couldn't have done it without you!  And now, I'm going to sit back with my feet up and rest for one evening before I start getting ready for the Open House.  Thanks for stopping by!

Crates galore...

Hi Everyone!  One more night of work and then everything gets packed up in the U-haul trailer and unloaded at the fair in Nebraska City!  I only have a few things left to finish and then I will pack it and move what is still in the studio out to the shop so it's easier to load tomorrow.  But tonight I thought I'd show you the crates that I made.

 I built these out of scraps from the wood shop.  I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of them plain (bad blogger). 

 But once they were built, I took them over to my mom to paint.  I mixed up a blue grey paint for two of them.

 And white for the other two.  Mom painted them and then I picked them up and distressed them.  I added casters to the bottom of the grey pair...

 ...but I haven't added the casters to the white pair yet...it's on my to do list tonight.

 It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the white ones have been distressed and waxed with both dark and clear wax.

I'm happy with the way they turned out....so simple but so many uses....what would you use them for?  Well, now it's time to get back to work so I can finish my to do list and get to bed early.  It's a big day tomorrow.  I work until 1pm, then load up and head to Nebraska City to set up for the Arbor Day Fair.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
http://madeinaday.com/2013/05/02/made-u-look-linky-69/ 

New footstool....

Hi Everyone!  I'm getting closer to being ready for the fair this weekend.  It was a long night last night but very productive!  One of the things I finished last night was this little footstool.  It was too dark to take pictures of it last night, so on my lunch break today while the dogs were running around the yard I hauled this outside for photos.

 I made it using 2x4's for the main body, jute webbing, foam, batting and duck cloth fabric. 

 The legs are square corner Queen Anne legs that I painted black, distressed and waxed.

 I'm really happy with the way this turned out.  So now the question I've been contemplating is, do you call it a footstool or an ottoman?  Ottoman seems so formal to me.

I will be taking this to the Arbor Day Fair in Nebraska City this weekend and hopefully it will go home with someone.  Now I need to upholster a couple of bench seats.  I have a much shorter to do list for tonight and I'm already half way done.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2013/04/catch-as-catch-can-119.html 
http://madeinaday.com/2013/05/02/made-u-look-linky-69/ 

Little grey bench...

Hi Everyone!  There's still so much to do before the fair this weekend but I thought I'd take a moment for show and tell.  I had a little time on my lunch break today while there was a little sun to take some pictures to share with you.

 I built this bench out of 1x8's, 1x6's, 1x4's and 1x2's....all of which I had on hand.

 I cut the boards, glued them together, and attached the cross boards using screws.

 Once it was built, I took it to my Mom (without the seat) to paint.  I mixed up the color, it's a grey blue that doesn't look this blue in real life.  Mom painted it for me and then I did some light sanding of it.

 I put together two 1x8's for the seat, sanded it and painted the underside of it white before attaching it to the base.

I painted the top and then hand painted the tree branch and the bird in black.

I still have to wax and buff the top which is on my to do list for tonight.  I will be taking this to the Arbor Day Fair in Nebraska City this weekend.  And now I need to get back to work.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/2013/04/under-100-linky-party_24.html 
http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2013/04/catch-as-catch-can-119.html 

Getting ready for a show...

Hi Everyone!  I know it's been too long since my last post.  I've been busy getting ready for a show next weekend and an Open House next month.  I've done so much already and have just a little bit more to do.  One of the things I worked on last weekend was a  foot board shelf.

 My original intent was for this lone foot board that my Aunt Barb gave me to become a peg sign like I made last year.

 I had planned on doing something like this with it.....

 I had cut the legs down and was getting ready to cut the wooden pegs for it when I happened to look at it upside down and decided to change directions....

 ...I cut the legs down to match the bottom of the cross board, added the brackets, beefed up the cross board and added the top board (a 1x6) to turn it into a shelf.....

 ...I added the pegs I cut from an old Jenny Lind baby crib...and gave it to my mom to paint for me...

 ...Mom painted it in Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint...then I sanded and waxed it...

I added D hook hangers to the back and now it's ready to go to the fair and hopefully to a new home.  So that's just one of the things I'm taking to the show...there's so much more to show you...but that will have to wait for another day.  Thanks for stopping by.

Seeing red....

Hi Everyone!  It was a good building weekend.  I was busy working on inventory for the Arbor Fair in a couple of weeks.  Sunday I built two benches and a couple of storage boxes and tonight I made all the cuts for a third bench which I plan on putting together tomorrow night.  But tonight, I thought I'd show you one of the signs I made recently for a client.  I've made a couple of these Fresh Produce signs in green.

 I like it in the green.....

 ...but I think I like it even better in the red.

I created a special mix of red for this sign and I'm really happy with how the red turned out.  It took me three coats of red to get the coverage I wanted and I careful scraped away the red to reveal the white and black layers that were beneath the red.  If I had sanded it, it would have given the white a pink tint, which I really didn't want.  I wanted it to look like it had chipped off and I think it turned out well.  So that's just one of the things I made recently.  Thanks for stopping by.

Painted windmill blades...

Hi Everyone!  I tried working out in the shop today but it was so windy that it sounded like the roof was going to detach, so I couldn't stay out there for very long.  But I did manage to get a few things built.  The push is on for the Arbor Fair (the last weekend in April).  Tonight I thought I'd show the before and after shot of the windmill blades I got about a month ago.

 I saw it at a sale and just had to have it for the garden bed underneath my picture window.

I knew when I bought it that I was going to paint it red.  I got the Rustoleum spray paint out in Colonial Red and went to town.

 I painted three coats on the front and back and then finished it off with a clear gloss coat to help protect it from the elements.

I had to put it out in the garden bed to see what it would look like.  And now I just need for it to get a bit warmer so I can put out the flowers.  I have some other plans too, but those will have to wait.  I need to get back to work.  So much to do and the time is flying by.  Thanks for stopping by.