Driftwood fish...

Hi Everyone!  I had a wonderful client stop in at an Open House a while back and after seeing this driftwood fish that I made for the wall...

 ....asked me if I could make her one on a stand out of driftwood she collected from the Great Lakes.  Liking a challenge, I of course said yes!  And this is what I came up with...

 I don't have any in process pictures to share because once I got started I didn't stop to take any pictures.  I began by laying out the pieces on my worktable, moving and fitting them around until I was happy with the shape and satisfied that each piece would fit nicely together.

 Then the dangerous part...drilling holes into each piece to attach the dowel rod through.  Some of the pieces I had originally decided to use didn't make it pass the drilling process.  They fell apart.  So then I had to rework the design to incorporate a different piece of driftwood.

 The pieces are attached to each other not just by the dowel, but also by nails and glue.  The base is a piece of reclaimed cedar that my grandpa had saved.  I cut it down to size, sanded it and drilled a hole into the base for the dowel to go into once it passes through the large piece of driftwood at the base.  The piece of driftwood a the base has also been  nailed and glued into place.

I'm really happy with how this turned out and better yet, so is my client.  She loved it.  Now I think I'm going to have to dig through my container of driftwood and make one for myself.  Thanks for stopping by.

Over-sized Produce Sign...

Hi Everyone!  I had a request from a client to create my Fresh Produce sign that is normally 5 1/2" x 24" on a much larger scale....

It is 7 1/4" x 60".   I'm really liking it on the large scale.  I just might have to add one this size to my Etsy Shop!  And maybe make some of my other signs on the larger size (maybe not quite this large).

Here's what it normally looks like, only not in red (this was a custom order).  It's usually more like this....

I'll have to see what the other signs look like on a larger scale.  Do you have any signs in your house that are over-sized?  Thanks for stopping by!

A bench, crates and work exchange...

Hi Everyone!  I was going through my project pictures and came across pictures of a custom order bench and crates that my friend Heather requested.  We traded work for work.  I made her this bench and crates and she painted a windmill picture for me.

I made the bench and crates to sit under one of the headboard shelves that I made for Heather.  I took the pictures before I added the casters to the crates.

I made the legs out of 1x12" recycled pine boards that came out of my farmhouse pantry that I saved when I turned the pantry into my laundry room.  The boards had been in the pantry since the 1950's when my grandpa enclosed the porch and turned it into the pantry.

The top of the bench is made out of recycled 1x8" boards.  The bench was painted with a base coat of black and top coat of Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint and sanded and waxed.  The crates were just painted Old White.

And this is the painting that Heather did for me in our exchange.  I'd say I definitely got the better end of this deal!  Didn't Heather do an amazing job on this windmill!!  I sent her a picture of what I wanted and it's even better than the picture!  Thanks Heather!

I'm working on some new pieces but they're coming along kind of slowly.  I've also been working on some custom orders and painting walls for my mom.  I hope to have an open house later this month and the plan is to announce dates for the rest of the year, so stay tuned for more.  Thanks for stopping by!

Remade dresser...

Hi Everyone!  Today I'm reaching into my stash of things I've made in the last year that I haven't shared with you yet.  My dear friend Lynett picked up some dressers for me last year and I headed over one Saturday (last year) to pick them up from her.

Isn't it great!  Only problem is, when I got home the top drawer was missing.  I made one stop between my friend's house and home...at Menards.  And when I came out of the store, the drawer was missing.  I was upset, but I knew how to fix the problem...I shortened the dresser.

 I took the top off of the dresser and cut it down just above the divider between the 1st and 2nd drawers.  And then reattached the top.

 I added these side pieces to fill the slightest gap at the top and because there was just a little veneer damage at the bottom.

Then I custom mixed a very pretty shade of blue/gray and painted it.  Then waxed it.  I cleaned up the original hardware and reattached them.  And I love how it turned out.  You wouldn't even know it had originally been a four drawer dresser.  I took it with me to the Clarinda Fair and it sold as I was setting up my booth.  Thanks for stopping by!

Little Red Desk....

Hi Everyone!  I finished a new project today and just couldn't wait to share it with you.  My friend Lynett picked up this desk (I think it might have actually been a vanity) at Goodwill and brought it to me during my open house last month.  When I saw the picture she sent me I was excited until I saw it in person.

The top is really slick and shiny plastic and the drawer fronts are actually plastic too.  But it's a great size and I really like the style of it.  So instead of donating it to the local used furniture shop in town, I decided to see what I could do with it.

After cleaning it and sanding it, I gave the whole thing a coat of primer because of the plastic pieces. Then I painted it with two coats of red paint and a top coat of satin sealer.

I decided to try something I hadn't done, I took brown shipping paper, crumbled it up, then decoupaged it to the top to make it look like leather.  And sealed it with 6 coats of Furniture Mod Podge.

I also added antique medium to the pulls that were silver and gold to give them a gold/brown aged look.  It's different than anything I've done before but I like that about it.  Have you ever done the brown paper decoupage method?  And if so, did you like how it turned out?  I'm not sure I'd do it again but it definitely camouflaged that slick plastic top.  Thanks for stopping by.

Padded storage bench and headboard...

Hi Everyone!  Yesterday I showed you a headboard bench that a client ordered for Christmas for one of her daughters and today I thought I'd show you what my client ordered for her other daughter.

 It's a padded storage bench with lots of room inside.  My client's daughter came out and picked the style of bench, the color and a couple of fabrics but left the final choice to me.

 This was her favorite fabric so that's what I used.  Then my client called and had found a headboard that had some damage on it and was shiny white laminate and wanted to know if I could make it over to match the bench and repair the damage.

 And this is how it turned out (sorry no before pictures).  I was able to repair the damage by adding an additional board to the top of the headboard and filling in the damaged area with Quickwood.

The really neat thing about this headboard is the cutouts.  It comes with plastic, colored pieces that you can use to change the look of the headboard, but instead of using those, I used the same fabric as the bench.  And of course I painted the whole thing black.  I think they turned out well and looked great together.  My client liked it too.  Thanks for stopping by.

Headboard Bench....

Hi Everyone!  I've been busy working on orders but thought I'd show you one of the orders I completed for a client at Christmas (I know I'm just a little behind).

My client was giving it to her daughter for Christmas.  My client and her daughters came out to the Studio and picked the headboard, fabric and paint color.

Here's what the headboard looked like before I started working on it.  I removed the lattice and replaced it with fabric once it was painted.

I used the foot board from this set as the arms of the bench.  I cut off the top of the posts and replaced them ones that were more rounded to match the top of the headboard posts.

I love this fabric and had been saving it for just the right bench.  

I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Country Grey.  And I waxed it with both clear and dark wax.

I built the bench with storage under the upholstered seat.  I love how it turned out and so did my client.  Thanks for stopping by.

A New Chapter...

Hi Everyone!  I can't believe how the summer is flying by.  I certainly hope you are enjoying it.  Today I want to share some exciting news with you.  I've been busting at the seams to tell you about it, so much so that I couldn't sleep, so instead I decided to share my news one day earlier than planned.  A new chapter of my life is about to start...today is my last day of employment as a bookkeeper for a local plumbing company.  And tomorrow is the first day of my full-time self-employment!  I am throwing caution to the wind (it will be alright Mom), taking a chance on myself and following my dream of taking this little business I've started and seeing just how far I can take it.  Amazingly, I'm not nervous or apprehensive about taking this leap.  I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself (which is why I couldn't sleep).

It's been difficult the last couple of years as my business has grown to keep up with my job, my business, this blog, the farm and everything in between.  But now that I will be working for myself, I hope to do a better job keeping up with everything, especially this blog.  I have missed sitting down and writing.  I've missed the comments from you and seeing what you've been up to.

One of the things I have avoided doing on my blog is running any ads, but now that I'm self-employed, that just might have to change.  And at some point I might have to change platforms but that will have to wait for a while.  I have so many projects to share with you that I'm not sure which to share first.  I currently have 9 orders just waiting for me to finish/begin so that seems like the best place to start.  So look for me to be around a little more often.  I plan on taking you along for the ride as I navigate self-employment.  I know it won't be easy but I'm looking forward to the challenge.  And as always, thanks for stopping by.

Spring Open House.....

Hi Everyone!  I know it's been too long and I missed sharing with you all the projects, fairs and open houses that occurred throughout the fall and winter and for that I'm truly sorry.  This fall my dogs decided to have an unplanned litter.  Bailey had 13 pups right before Thanksgiving and in the middle of four weekends of Open Houses.  She had such a big litter and stressful delivery that only 8 of them survived.  And that was plenty!!!  They were adorable!  And all found homes by the time they turned 8 weeks old!

But this weekend was my first open house of the year.  And it's been wonderful.  I tried something different this time and opened up for three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Going forward I plan on having them about every month.  So on with the pictures!

It was a great weekend.  I want to thank everyone that came out despite the uncooperative weather.  It's always nice to see old friends and meet new ones.  There were a lot of new visitors this time.  I'm so grateful for all the support.  And a big thanks to my biggest supporters, Mom and Dad!

And as always, thanks for stopping by!  I'll try not to be gone so long!