Deck the halls...?...

Hi Everyone!  I know it's the middle of June, but it's beginning to look A LOT like Christmas around the workroom.  I know it's early, but I've already started working on my Christmas line.  I'm trying really hard to get and be a head of schedule for my fall craft fairs.

It's not that I put it off, I work on getting things ready for them all year long in between projects for clients and life, but then I always run out of time.  I vowed last year, that I would make a realistic schedule and stick to it.  My word of the year is DO. So I'm doing!

I always enlist the help of my mother on the Christmas line.  She is the queen of spray paint, among other things!  And she does such a wonderful job.  I don't think I could get it all done without her help.  We divide up the work load.  I get everything ready and deliver all the wooden cut outs and anything else that I want her to work on and she tackles it like a pro.  Her "shop" is called Donna's Do-It Shop.

 I took over several large boxes of things for her to work on less than two weeks ago.  I told her how I wanted things painted and which twine to use as hangers for each and when I needed certain pieces back (July for one box, August for another and early September for the last one).  Two days later she called me and said "This is Donna's Do-It Shop, I have the first part of your order ready for pick-up."  Two days later I picked up that box.  A couple days later she was done with the second.  I haven't picked that up yet.  So now the pressure is on me to finish up all of the pieces that she has started for me.  She's trying to get a large hunk of it done before Dad's surgery and then the rest she can do while he is recuperating or once he's fully recovered.

I started working on my portions of the projects, the detailed painting and I had to put a Christmas movie in the DVD to be inspired to paint snowflakes and snowmen.  It's just hard to be thinking Christmas when it's 90 degrees out.  But at least it gives me something to work on inside when it's too hot or windy to be out in the shop.  I'm hoping for some good shop time this weekend.  And to spend some quality time with Dad on Sunday for Father's Day.  Thanks for stopping by!

Gift for my mom...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you all had an enjoyable Mother's Day.  I did some work out in the shop today and then I went to my parents to spend some time with my mom.  The first thing I did for my mom was to buy and plant flowers in her raised brick flower bed.

 They will look much better when they adjust to being there and grow a bit.  But it's a nice start.

At this point, Mom thought this was her gift.  But I had to borrow the pick-up truck and head back to the farm for the second part of her gift.

 This is what I made for her for in front of their house.  It is made entirely out of reclaimed/recycled cedar.  I didn't spend a penny on this.  The reclaimed cedar was in the barn (thank you Grandpa for saving it) and my brother moved it to my wood shop (the old wooden corn crib) about 6 years ago.  I've used some of it to build my sister-in-laws bench but I've been saving all of it for something really special.  I decided to use it for my mom since it was from the farm that my mom grew up on.

 I added the birdhouses to the end posts since my mom loves birdhouses.  The back looks like an old picket fence, but it wasn't.  I got the cedar boards from my aunt and cut them down to make this. 

 The seat is made thick and solid.  It's an actual 2" x 13" piece of board.  They don't cut them like that anymore.

 The birdhouses are removable so they can be painted a different color then the bench easily.  I didn't drill the hole completely through either since my mom doesn't want a bird to try to move in.  It's just indented so she has a place to glue the nesting to.

And here it is out in front of my parents home.  I gave it to her unfinished because I didn't know how she would want to finish it.  I didn't know if she'd want to stain it or paint it or what color.  I think she's going to paint it to match the front door.  And then paint the birdhouses a different color.  So I'll have to wait to show you the finished product.  And I can't wait to she how she finishes it.  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:
Catch-as-catch-can-74 @ MyRepurposedLife

Birthday present for Mom...

Hi Everyone!  My mom's birthday was this week.  And even though she didn't feel good, we celebrated her birthday with a little gift party!  We'll do something else for her when she's back to her usual happy, fun self!  My mom had mentioned several months ago that she needed another footstool for the living room.  She had gotten one a few years ago, but my dad has sort of claimed that one for himself, thus leaving my mom with out one.  So I made her one.

I  had this stand between my love seat and recliner and it is just proportionally the wrong size.  And if you look closely at the bottom of the left leg, it has been chewed on by one of the puppies.  So I had an idea....

I cut the legs off from just above the stretcher making it almost 11 inches tall.  Which is the standard size of a footstool.

I painted it black to go with the accents in her living room.  And when my niece and I were shopping, I picked up some sage green, heavy duty fabric to upholster the top of the stool and some upholstery tacks.

You can see in this picture that I used the tacks on the underside of the top rather than stapling it.  I thought it would give it a cleaner look.

I gave it to my mom on Tuesday night and she was thrilled with it.  And my dad was happy too because now he didn't have to share the other footstool.  And I got to repurpose that small side table into something practical and nice and I still have the bottom part to work with...I wonder what that will become...?  Well, thanks for stopping!

Busy weeks....

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  Sorry I've been absent the last week and half or so.  My niece has been here and the weather has been horrid!  Too hot to get anything done in the shop so I've turned my house into workspace, more than it had been.  My mom has been sick for 10 days!  She's actually been sick on and off since the middle of May and it finally reached critical stage.  She hasn't been able to keep much of anything down and she finally went to the Dr last week.  It took lots of tests and a week of waiting for results to discover that she has a parasite.  They think she caught it when they went to my nephew's graduation.  They were able to give her medicine on Wednesday that she's to take for 3 days and if she isn't better by then, the next step is to be hospitalized for some knock you down kind of medicine.  She has zero energy, but that's because she hasn't been able to keep food down.  So we are hoping that by tomorrow she'll turn the corner on this and start feeling better.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

My mom was to take my niece back to school shopping, but since she wasn't able to, I took her.  I don't have any children so that was an experience for me.  Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me.  Our first stop was to Goodwill where she found the majority of the clothes she bought.  And I made a find too.  I got this wooden bowl for 2.99.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, but it looked so lonely on the shelf that I just had to bring it with me.  They had a really cool dresser that I would have loved to bring home to paint, but we didn't take the pick-up, so there was no way to get it home and I had to keep telling myself that I was there for my niece and not for furniture!

We also got fabric to cover the headboard that I'm sending home with her but I'll share that with you later.  I upholstered it Wednesday night, but forgot to take pictures of it.  Now that things are getting closer to being back to normal around here, I'll get back to projects and posting on a regular bases again.  I haven't even had to time to look at all the great posts I've missed.  I'm looking forward to getting caught up on all that you've been up to.  Thanks for stopping by!

Lastest finds and a sneak...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I wanted to show you the finds that my personal picker, Aunt Barb got for me.  She called me last week wanting to know if I would be interested in some headboards that she found and of course I jumped on those.  Then she came across a few other goodies and she wouldn't even let me pay her for them.  What an Aunt!  My mom and nephew went to see her earlier this week and my mom brought my treasures to me!  I am so blessed!

My mom and the van loaded.  Don't let my dad see this!  He thinks I have enough stuff already.  So as soon as we unloaded the van, I took pictures of my loot and then put them all away.

An antique large ironing board.  What great patina!

A rectangular headboard.  It can be a bench, or signs, or....

 Spindle head and foot boards.  It's hard to tell, but it sort of reminds me of bamboo.

 Two antique medicine cabinets.  What to do with these???  Any ideas out there?  And another headboard.

Look at those extra large spindles.  They are from an antique table.  I can't wait to make something with those.  Two table leaves, I see large signs in their future or maybe a bench, or...

This is a small headboard.  It's pretty short, so I can't decide if I'm going to make a bench or something else from it, like a message center.  Any thoughts?  Well, a big thank you to my Aunt Barb for finding and giving me all these great things, for free!  and my mom and nephew for bringing them all back and helping me unload the van.  I so do appreciate it!  My aunt also had old  yardsticks that she had put out in the trash can at the curb when my mom mentioned I was wanting some and she went out and rescued them before the garbage men arrived, whew!  Thank goodness.  But she forgot to send them, so I'll get them next time!  

I'll get back to sharing new things, but I've been busy with my nephew.  Here's a sneak peek at what he had I have been working on.

I'm working on a tutorial on this one.  Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Mother's Day....

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there and especially to my mother.  I will be spending the day with my mom and dad to celebrate Mom!

Thanks for being such a great Mom!  Enjoy your day!