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!

Twin headboard bench...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend.  When I get done working today, I plan on being out in the shop working on a bench for one of the guys I work with and getting started on making some wooden canvas'.  I love being busy.  Today I thought I would show you the twin bench I made for the Arbor Craft Fair that I attended last month. 

I love how this one turned out.  Here it is at the craft fair, waiting to go home with someone.  I decided to branch out of my normal benches and used a different color on the bench and different fabric.  I know it's difficult to tell because the seat is covered in plastic (to keep it clean) but it's black and cream and a very pretty green.

Here's what I started out with.  A bed set that my uncle Bill gave me.  In fact he gave me two sets...which is good because the style was very popular.  I started out by cutting out the center spindle on the footboard since it was in the way when I went to cut it in half.

I found the center of the footboard and drew a line across it.

I carefully cut the footboard apart on my miter saw, turning it around to cut both the top and bottom boards.

Then I built a frame and secured the footboard to the headboard using glue and screws.  And that's when I forgot to pick up the camera again.  I primed it and painted it almond.  I cut the seat out of plywood and upholstered it in my new favorite fabric.

I took it to the fair and got a lot of wonderful comments on it.  So many people looking at it and inquiring about it and taking my business card.  But it didn't sell on Saturday which actually surprised me.  But on Sunday, not more than 10 minutes after arriving, the gal that was running the show came up to me, very serious like and said, "Holly, I need to talk to you."  I thought she was going to tell me something bad or that I did something I shouldn't have....but instead she said, "I want that bench."  I almost starting laughing because she was so serious.  So I put a sold sign on it and she went to write me a check.  I headed to the truck to bring in a few more pieces including the ladder basket.  Which she also bought. 

One last look at the almond bench.  I can't wait to use it's twin to build a bench.  Isn't it sweet.  I know it went to a wonderful home.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a nice Mother's Day.  I can't wait to give my mom her gift.  I'll share it with you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.

Barn sash window cupboard...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all ready for a great weekend.  I plan on being out in the shop as much as possible because I have orders to fill!  YEAH!  And since it's Mother's Day on Sunday, I plan on spending some time with my mom.  I promised you a couple of days ago that I would share this little cupboard with you. 

Here's a little closer look at it at the craft fair.

I took this to the craft fair a few weeks ago but brought it home with me.  And I'm not sad that I did because I love it!  I don't think anyone really realized it was for sale since it had the soap dispensers in it.

I started with this.  It's a barn sash window that I shared with you a few weeks ago that my uncle Bill gave me for free.  He rescued it from going to the dump.  Let me tell you, it pays to have family that own the sanitation department in town.  This window was dirty.  I cleaned it up and found that it was in really good condition.  I don't know why anyone would throw this away.

I decided to make a hanging cupboard with it.  I started out with a box shape and put the shelf where it would line up with the muntin bar.  I secured the box together with glue, a few nails to tack it in place and the screws to really secure it together.

Then I sanded it and painted it white.  (Sorry I don't have anymore of the building pictures.  I was getting behind for the craft fair and forgot to take more pictures.)  I cut a piece of luan for the back and painted it a very light blue.

Then I added the window with three hinges.

I also had to paint the window.

Don't mind the paint job on the inside of the window...it wasn't perfect and I didn't mind because if it had been painted a hundred times it wouldn't have been perfect either.  Well, that's my story anyway.

I added a little wooden knob that I painted white.  I thought I was done with it and as it was sitting in my living room, I liked it sitting on the floor so much that I had to readjust the base of it so it sat nice and sturdy.  (Again, sorry no pictures of that part.) 

Now it can either sit or be hung on the wall.

I really like this little cupboard.  I thought it looked so cute in my booth holding the vintage ball jars.  And I'm glad it came home with me.  I can enjoy it for a while longer.....  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:
Catch-as-catch-can-73 @ MyRepurposed Life 
All stars monday@ SimplyDoneWright 

Craft fair pictures...

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are having a good week.  Dad is recovering nicely and has his follow up appointment today.  Hopefully that goes well and in four weeks or so he'll be able to have the AAA repair.  I worked out in the shop a bit yesterday.  I have orders to fill which is wonderful.  I have to get caught up after the craft fair and Dad's appointments and surgery.  I thought I'd show you a few of the pictures from the fair and then follow up over the next few days with some of the things I made for it that I haven't shared with you before.

 I left for a while on Saturday to take my dogs out and my dad sold my trio of paintings.  He made a deal and grouped them all together.  I hope they found a happy home.  I'm actually kind of sad that they sold.  I guess I'll have to make another set for myself.

 This big bench sold on Saturday.  I was really sad to see this one go.  I loved this bench and if I had a place to put it, I don't think I could have sold it.

 Surprisingly, I only sold one sign over the two day fair which is really unusual.  I normally sell out of signs rather quickly.  The only bright spot to that is I don't have to remake a bunch of signs.

 This little fence and birdhouse also didn't sell.  One lady was really interested in it but I came home with it.

 I'll post about the little cupboard in a day or two.

 I have some new signs to share with you too.

 I brought home the wooden flag.  I'm not sad about that either.

 This was a very popular bench and I got a lot of great comments about it.  It sold first thing Sunday morning.  I loved the fabric on it.

 My storage box/coffee table didn't sell either but I love this fabric too.  I have an order for another one with a different cushion on it so I will be swapping out the top for the new one so I don't have to build another base yet.

 I sold a couple of those cheese cloches with birds nest and eggs.

 One of my best selling items were the soap/lotion dispensers.  This is what I did with a lot of those jars I was given by my mom's friend.

 I also sold several of these jar lamps.  And the love bird coasters.

 I was actually kind of surprised that I only sold one of the numbers and none of the wooden boxes or trays.

I sold some other items that didn't get set out until later in the day on Saturday or on Sunday and I didn't get pictures of them in the booth.  It was a good fair.  I had quite a few sales and I got some really great leads on things for the future.  I also got a few orders and hopefully a few more will come out of it too.  I met some really wonderful people and can't wait to do it all again here in September at the Apple Jack's Fair.  The couple that run this craft fair also own the craft shop in the mall and after we had brought in a few of my items, they stopped me and told me they wanted my things in their shop.  So that was great to hear.  We'll see if I can afford the booth space.  Now I really have to get working on those orders and start replenishing my inventory.  I will also try to get caught up on all of my favorite blogs that I've missed the last few weeks.  Thanks for stopping by.