Free stuff...

Hi Everyone!  Have I told you how much I love free stuff?  Well, I absolutely love it when friends, family, friends of family give me things for free with the idea that I can make something with it.  And boy does my aunt Barb help me out by giving me free stuff.  In fact, the things she gives me is usually really cool free stuff.  She sent these and several other bags of goodies that I haven't gone through yet to me via my parents.  She had an ancient cupboard in the basement of one of their rental properties that she wanted me to have, but it was much to difficult to get it out of the basement, so she took it apart.  And I got these doors.  Love them!  Can't wait to make something with them.  I'm thinking signs. 

I'm not sure what the little white door came from (in the 1st picture) but it's cute and could definitely be a darling sign.  Now to figure out exactly what it should say.  What would you do with these?  In case you can't tell, the doors are made from Wainscotting.  And boy are they in good shape except of course for the spray paint.  I've got to get busy getting ready for my next craft fair so hopefully I'll get these signs done before then.  Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas trees......

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are having a great weekend!  I'm busy getting ready for another craft fair.  I wanted to share with you the trees that I made and decorated for the last two craft fairs.  My uncle Bill gave me a stack of spindles that the local lumber yard had thrown out because they had gotten wet and their customer wouldn't accept them but worked just great for this project.  When my nephew was here this summer he helped me cut the spindles in half and make a base for them.  And then we drilled a hole in the top for the tree.  My mom helped me by painting the bases of them.

And here they are with their lights and decorations.  I left some of them plain.  And decorated the rest.

 I took 12 of them to the craft fair in September and came home with three of them.  And I took 21 of them to this last craft fair and came home with 6.  So I think I did very well.  I sold all of the plain ones at both fairs, so I think I'll have to take some more plain trees to the next craft fair in a couple of weeks.

Not all of the trees have spindle bases.  Some of them have a wooden base that I wrapped in fabric or burlap depending on what was on the tree.  I decorated them with the wooden ornaments, some rusty bells, snow flakes, cloth angels and pip berry garlands.  I've already had Mom working on painting more bases for me so I'll be taking them to the next craft fair on November 12th.  This will be last craft fair of the year.  Speaking of which, I need to get back to work and finish some project for this next fair or else there won't be much in my booth.  Have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by.

Wooden Christmas Ornaments...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are having a great day!  I wanted to share with you some of the ornaments we've been making.  And by we, I mean my mother and I.  Mom has been a lot of help in this department.  I took decorated trees and ornaments to the craft fair in September (I know it's early but believe it or not they sold very well) and then to this last fair a couple of weeks ago.  So I thought I'd start out by sharing the ornaments.  I'll show you the trees tomorrow.  I know the pictures a little hard to see since I neglected to take pictures of the ornaments before the fair.

I used these and others to decorate the trees that I sold.  I'll have to get them out and take some better pictures of them.  Thanks for stopping by.

Armless headboard bench....

Hi Everyone!  Do you remember when I showed you this headboard and said I was going to make my first ever armless bench?  Well, I made one and took it to the Clarinda Craft Carnival.

I took apart another headboard that I wasn't crazy about the posts on it and used the back of it to make that Welcome sign with the pegs and I used the bottom of the posts as the front legs of this bench.

I painted it black since it seems to be the most popular color of the benches I've made.  I upholstered the seat and there it is.  And boy did everyone love it.  I put extra foam in the seat to make it comfortable.  To me it looks less like a bed and more like something you would see at a furniture store.  I had a lot of interest in this but some of them want to see it with storage in it.  So I'll try that next.  I was really happy with the way this turned out and I think I'm going to get some orders for this style of bench, which makes me very happy.  And the fact that it sold at the Clarinda Craft Carnival makes me giddy!  It was a good day!  Now I have to get to working on things for the next fair.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2012/03/sat-nite-special-link-party-125-benches.html 

Classic Headboard Bench...

Hi Everyone!  Do you remember this headboard?  It has the classic lines that has been so popular in the headboard benches that I've made.  It's not the beefiest one I've made which is Big Bertha that I made for the waiting area of Gary's Garage, but it's her little sister Betty.  Yes I give names to most of the benches.  It's easier to refer to them that way. 

 So this is how Betty turned out.  Can you believe that this is the only picture of this bench completed that I could find?  I know I took several others of her completed in the shop but I can't find them.  So maybe I deleted them, thinking that I had already uploaded that set of pictures. 

I painted it black and my mom made the cushion for me.  Thanks Mom!  And of course everyone loved her and she was the second bench to sell at the Clarinda Craft Fair.  I left the stencil off of this one for a different look and it was very popular.  It is so sturdy and as my mother would say, "It's so sturdy it can hold an elephant."  I try to make them to last!  Which is why I think they are so popular.  Well, thanks for stopping by!

Scrap wood....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!  So what do you do with a bunch of scrap wood pieces?  Well, I turn them into block signs.  I made this bunch from left over pieces of 2x4's that I cut down into blocks.  My mother helped me out by painting them and then I handpainted them with winter words and snowflakes. 

I sold a few of them at the Clarinda Craft Carnival and gave a few of them to my mom and the rest I'll take to the Red Cross Fair.  What would you do with some scrap pieces of wood?  Thanks for stopping by.

A snowman....already?....

Hi Everyone! And no, we don't have snow here or anything, but I've been dealing with Christmas and winter themes since August in preparation for the craft fair season.  I wanted to share with you one of the things I made and took to the Clarinda Craft Carnival.  Meet Hank the Snowman Post.  I started making these last year for my mom and my bosses' wives.  Hank is made from an old post that my Grandfather had saved from the farm.  He has a hat with a bell hanging on the end and a snowflake to finish it off.  He also has his scarf  and gloves in case it's just too cold out.

Hank is painted white with an antique glaze and a painted on face.  Hank enjoyed greeting all the folks at the Clarinda Craft Carnival last week but sadly, no one bought Hank.  So he came home with me and we'll try again at the Red Cross Fair in a couple of weeks.  Maybe someone there will want to take him home.  Thanks for stopping by.

Signs........

Hi Everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend.  Mine was sure busy.  I wanted to show you the sign display filled with signs that I took to the Clarinda Craft Carnival.  I did mostly my usual signs that everyone seems to like but there were so many that they are stacked on top of each other on the shelves and some we put on the seat of a bench.

 Plus the bench looked a little lonely with out them.  Then as signs sold off the display piece, I moved them from the bench until there were only a few signs left.  I started out with 22 handpainted signs and sold all but three.  Every sign on that display piece sold.  Two are left that were on the bench, plus the square Family is key sign that is off to the right of the big Welcome sign are the only ones left.

 So if I plan to take any signs to the Red Cross Craft Fair, I need to get busy!  It's a good problem to have.  All of my free time will be out in the shop for the next couple of weeks.  So if I'm not at work and you're looking for me, I'll be in the shop.  Thanks for stopping by!

Bench update....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday!  I hope you are having a great weekend.  I am still trying to get caught up on things and get started on the bulk of items I'm taking to the Red Cross Craft Fair on November 12th.  It is my last fair of the season.  It's been a good season so far.  Do you remember this bench?  I took it to the fair in Red Oak, but it didn't sell.  And I said I would repaint it if it didn't sell at the Clarinda Craft Carnival....

Well, here it is at the Clarinda craft fair and guess what.....it sold!  In fact it was the very first bench to sell that day.  A really sweet gal bought it without even batting an eye.  She saw it and loved it and by 9:00 am it had sold.  It sat in my booth until they came back to pick it up somewhere around noon and I could have sold it four more times.  I knew if I were to find the right buyer for it, it would be at that craft fair.  I'm so happy that someone else loved my vision for that bench and I hope she enjoys it as much as I have.  So now I have to get busy making more benches for the next fair and I only have two more weekends after this one to get it all done.  It's a good problem to have!  Well, thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2012/03/sat-nite-special-link-party-125-benches.html 

Window art....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  There's been a bit of Christmas around my house since August.  I began working on Christmas decorations to take to the last two craft fairs that I've attended.  I started with ornaments and thanks to my mother for all of her help!  I'll show you those soon.  I wanted to show you what I did with a couple of these windows.  I got these curbside this winter when I went to my parents house.  I think I have 10 windows of varying sizes.  They came out of a Victorian home that got all new windows.  So no money spent, just the way I like it!

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, until I decided to turn them into window art.

 I didn't paint the frame at all.  I just cleaned the window and removed some of the weather stripping that had been added and duct tape from one of them.  And then on the back side of the window I painted Frosty.  And of course added the saying and snowflakes.  I put a glass paint sealer on over the entire window to give it that frosty look.  I really like the way he turned out.  And he sold right away last weekend.

And then of course I had to paint Santa Claus.  This isn't the best picture because of course you can't read the words.  It says, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night."  I think he looks pretty good.  I've never ever even attempted to draw Santa Claus so I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  I only put the glass paint sealer on the painted parts since I didn't want the glass to be frosted on this one.  I love the way the snowflakes turned out on both windows.  Santa sold last weekend which made me really happy!  I have a few non Christmas ideas for a few of the windows, but I think I'll have to make another one for the next Craft Fair which is November 12th and will be here before I know it!  So I've got to get busy!  Well, thanks for stopping by!

Headboard sign...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I hope you have all had a great week.  I've been trying to get caught up on things since my big craft fair last Saturday.  It was a great day and I'll share pictures and details of the day in the next couple of days.  Meanwhile, I want to show you one of the things that I made for the Clarinda Craft Carnival.  Here are the before pictures.

 I took apart this headboard so I could use the posts as legs for an armless bench that I made (I'll be sharing this with you too.)  I didn't like the top of the posts (sorry no picture) so this was not my favorite headboard.  But once it was apart, I loved the bottom of the posts which I used on that armless bench and the back of the headboard made a great sign.

 These are more parts of the broken chair that I used on another sign.  So I decided to use them as the pegs for this sign.  I attached the pegs and painted the whole thing in Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Old White.  And then handpainted the lettering in black.

This was the only picture I could find of it and it was taken at the craft fair.  There are seven pegs across the bottom, alternating between a large peg and a little peg.  I really liked how it turned out and it sold early in the day on Saturday.  In fact, I sold all but three of the signs that I took.  So it was a great day for my handpainted signs.  Thanks for stopping by!

Completed storage bench...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday!  Since I'm working out in the shop today finishing up on the three headboard benches that I've been working on, I thought I'd show you how one turned out that I shared with you about two months ago.  I finally completed it.  Do you remember how it looked?  It has storage in it.  Well, I finally got around to painting it.

Don't mind the cattle in the background.  I forgot to take a picture of it before I took it to my last craft fair.

I'm happy with how it turned out, but I think it might be too much for the people around here.  I took it to the fair in Red Oak a few weeks ago and I had a lot of interest in it and lots of comments on how much they loved it, but no one loved it enough to take it home with them.  I'm taking it to the Clarinda Craft Carnival and hopefully someone there will love it.  Otherwise, I think I might have to repaint it.  I'll let you know what happens.  Do you think it's too "out there"?  I've never painted a scene on a bench before.  I painted it with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Country Grey and then I painted the tree limbs and birds in black.  I wanted them to look more like a shadow falling across the bench than a detailed scene.  I'll just have to see how it goes next weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Headboard city....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  Sorry it's been a week since I posted anything but know that I've been hard at work getting ready for another craft fair.  I have to admit that I haven't been that good this past week of taking pics of the things I've been working on, so I will definitely have to get some great after shots to make up for it.  My next craft fair is next weekend.  It is the big one for me.  This year is the 52nd year of the Clarinda Craft Carnival.  It has gotten so big that it is held in five different locations around town.  I am located in the Pavilion which is a block off of the main town square.  People come from all over to participate and to shop.  So I've been spending every spare moment trying to get ready. 

 So I thought I'd show you the headboards that Mom and I picked up a couple of weeks ago that I'm now turning into benches.  Mom found a great used furniture store to find headboards.  And since I buy so many from him, he gives me a great deal.  All of these headboards are full size.  I haven't done anything with this one yet.

 I'm currently working on this headboard and I'm making my first ever without arms.  I took apart another headboard that I wasn't crazy about that I've had for about a year and am using the posts to create legs and then I have plans for the back of the headboard, but you'll have to wait to see that.

 I'm also working on this one for a client.  After I picked these up, I emailed her pictures and let her decide which one she wanted and this is the one I thought she'd pick, my mom thought she'd want the next one, but I was right.  I could just see her with this one.

I'm also working on this one and should have this one and the armless one all ready for the craft fair next weekend.  Don't you just love the posts on this one.  I'll show you the after pics just as soon as I can.  And hopefully it will go home with someone that loves it, next weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Frames and a Fan....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I wanted to share with you a few things that I got recently.  I was on the hunt for a few frames and these are what I found.  I'm still looking for one in between the large one and the next to large one, but I haven't found it yet.  But look at that large one.

 Someone had painted it pink.  I got it from a local antique dealer and he had already done most of the stripping off of the pink paint.  The corners all need a bit of work, but nothing I can't handle.  I can't wait to get started.

 I got all four frames for $30.  Which I was happy with considering the size of the large frame.

 And look at this fan.  I've always wanted one of these.  I found it hiding  under a table at this local garage sale place that is so racked and stacked with stuff that it's hard to find anything or even walk through the building.  I got the fan for $15.00 which I was very happy about.

So there are my recent finds.  I am busy out in the shop this weekend working on a couple of benches for a client and for the upcoming craft fair on the 15th.  The weather is perfect for working in the shop.  I hope you are having a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.