Headboards and more headboards....

Hi Everyone!  I'm busy getting ready for the Holiday Open House at my Studio in a couple of weeks.  I have to finish making a few shelves, some wooden ornaments and spindle trees.  I still need to rearrange the furniture in the studio (it's full).  And I need to decorate the Studio for Christmas since it is the Holiday Open House.  My Mom is helping me get ready for it (thanks Mom!).  But in the meantime, I thought I'd show you some headboards that my friend Lynett and my Aunt Barb picked up for me recently.

 I love the large turned posts.  I'm not a fan of the lattice work but I'm thinking that needs to be removed and the center pieces upholstered.

 This one is large.  Not only is it long (it's a king size) but it's tall too.  I'm thinking of just painting it and leaving it as a headboard instead of turning it into a bench.

I like this spindle bed.  The foot board is missing it's finials on the sides of the center piece but I think I can find away to replace them.

I love it when I get matching ones.  These are actually bunk beds.  I love the solid backs.  I can't wait to work on them.

 I love this one.  It didn't have a foot board but I have one that I think will work.

I know it's not a headboard, but it is bed related.  It's a Jenny Lind crib that I can take apart and use in a lot of different projects.  I will be busy this winter working on different projects with the headboards.  What would you do with them?  Thanks for stopping by.

Recent finds...

Hi Everyone!  I have the best Mom!  She went shopping in a near by town and picked up a couple of items for me.  So today's recent finds are a half gallon blue ball jar (sorry no picture), a headboard and foot board and a stool.

 I love this twin bed set.

 It is super heavy and solid.  And doesn't it have great lines!

 I can't wait to turn it into a bench.

 This wooden stool is in great shape...but the vinyl seat cover, not so much.

 The legs are solid and in wonderful shape.  I can see it painted a bold color.

 The seat is wooden and I'm thinking it needs to be stained with a graphic maybe?

It's a sturdy stool and was only $4.00.  Great finds Mom!  Thanks so much!  What would you do with these?  Have you had any great finds lately?  Thanks for stopping by.

Headboard city, the sequel...

Hi Everyone!  Can you believe all the things my Aunt Barb, aka the Free Stuff Fairy brought me!  If you missed it, check it out here.  I got 16 head or foot boards.  Can you believe it!?   So here is the line up of headboards...

 Here they all are together, just after we unloaded the van.

 As I put them away I lined them up for pictures....There are full size ones....

 ....a queen size...and a couple of twins....

 ...some are great and ready to use right away, some need a little TLC and others will be pieced out for parts.....And a few of them are my new favorites and I can't wait to get my hands on them!

 Like this twin.  Isn't it grand!  It's missing one of it's decorative pieces....I'll have to remove the other one and then add something back to them since there's no way I can replace the one that's missing.

 This is a full size set.  I love the way the headboard looks like two  seat backs.  It makes it look so unique!

 I love this one!  It's really thick, solid and sturdy.  I can't believe someone drew on it.  I bet some child somewhere was in trouble after doing this!  It also came with it's rails and they are in great shape.  Maybe it should stay a bed?...maybe?.....maybe not.  We'll have to see.

 I love this foot board.  I can just imagine what the headboard looked like....too bad I don't have it.  But it's in pretty rough shape.  So I'll see if I can fix it and if not, then it will be pieced out for parts.

 I really like this one.  I think it's definitely calling out for a saying to be painted on it.

And these two twins are great.  They are a little short to be a bench but will either make great arms for two benches.  Or the legs will be used on armless benches and the the rest of it can become one of the headboard shelves with pegs that I've been making.  So those are the great headboards and foot boards that my Aunt Barb, the Free Stuff Fairy brought up this weekend.  Thanks again Aunt Barb!  And thanks for stopping by.

Free Stuff....

Hi Everyone!  I had to show you the free things I received recently.  The day of my Open House, my Aunt Barb brought me several things and wouldn't let me pay her for them.  Thank you very much Aunt Barb!

 Look at these great twin size headboards.

 I love the details on this white one.

 It reminds me of one I had a while back in full-size.

 This is a set that the posts were cut off about 5 or 6 inches.

 I love the posts and the solid back.

 And I love this little foot board.  I'm thinking of separating these two into different projects...we'll see what happens.

 And this poor little yellow one has seen better days.  It has a board attached to the front although I'm not sure why.  And it appears that someone has tried (although not very well) to fill the slots of one of the legs with putty where the frame would attach.

 But I love the detail on it.  I'm thinking that this one won't become a bench....I can see doing something special with it.

My aunt also came me a bag full of sheet music books.  Thank you so very much Aunt Barb for the great items.  Now I have lots to work on!  Have you gotten anything for free lately?  Thanks for stopping by.

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.

A new bench...

Hi Everyone!  I know some of you are tired of seeing headboards turned into benches, but I'm getting ready for the first fall craft fair and benches are a staple for my booth.  I got this headboard and foot board at the junk place that is no longer there, this past spring, you can see the original post here.

It had a piece missing from the foot that has been gone for a long time.

I used Kwik wood to fill in the missing portion and I filled all the other other cracks with wood filler.  Then sanded as needed.

I cut apart the foot board and then started building.....that was back in May...then it was set aside until after Dad's second surgery.

I spent time a couple of weeks ago when the weather was cooler to finish building it but neglected to take any pictures of it.  I painted it in Ivory latex paint and sanded it with my orbital sander to lightly distress it.

When I got home from work tonight I upholstered the seat in this fun paisley fabric.

The pictures are a little dark but then it's getting dark outside and I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to photograph it.

 I think this fabric is fun.  And here you can see the distressing...it's minimal....

 ....and a close up of the fabric.

I will be taking this to the Apple Jack's Fair in Nebraska City in the middle of September.  And I hope it finds a new home.  But if it doesn't...it will fit in nicely in my new studio.  So either way it will be a win/win.  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:
http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/2012/08/catch-as-catch-can-86.html 
http://www.504main.com/2012/08/tickled-pink-no-112.html 
http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/2012/08/shine-on-fridays-42-and-giveaway.html 
http://alderberryhill.blogspot.com/2012/08/make-scene-monday-37.html 

Mirror, mirror and new finds....

Hi Everyone!  I hope you're all ready for a great weekend.  I will be working on my studio.  I need to get this finished so I can get back to work!  I'm getting behind on building up my inventory.  Plus I can't wait to have the chaos done.

Last week my co-worker Keith (the one that rescued the athletic baskets from the dump, you can read about that here) asked me if I wanted an old, large mirror.  Uh YES PLEASE!  He is remodeling his bathroom and took down this mirror and didn't want to just throw it out and he knew I might be able to do something with it.

 It's attached to some plywood and is in excellent condition.  I'm going to add some beefy molding to it.  I just need about 8 more hours in each day to get everything done.

 A shop opened in town recently that has used stuff.  It used to be a junk place that was too packed to walk through and where they left things sitting outside in all kinds of weather.  But now a new owner has come in and cleaned it all up, inside and out.  My mom stopped there the other day and told me I had to stop.  So I did on my lunch break.  I got this headboard/foot board for $5.00.  It's really short so I think I'll piece it out instead of making a bench with it.

I also picked up these six yard sticks for $1.00 each.  I've been looking for yard sticks.  I think I might have enough now to make something with them.

 The two tall ones are 48" sticks from Earl May Seed and Nursery.  If you're from the mid-west you might have heard of it.  Earl May Seed Company was started by Earl May in Shenandoah, Iowa (which is where I live) in 1919.  Shenandoah was the epicenter of the seed and nursery business back then.  Earl May's family still lives here where they still run the family business which has Garden Centers in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas.  A little bit of history there.

Now I need to get back to painting my studio.  I hope you have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.