Severe weather and tornados...

Hi Everyone!   I'm coming to you from the basement!  I hope you are all safe and having a better Saturday than I am.  We have been under a tornado watch most of the day.  We've had several severe thunderstorms roll through here.  We had a tornado warning hit this afternoon and the dogs and I headed to the basement.  The dogs are lying together (which is unusual) on the comforter I put on the floor.

We had another tornado warning and a severe thunderstorm warning come out.  The sky looked green so we headed again to the basement.  We've been here for a little over a half hour so far.  It hasn't been fun.  I hate storms.  We'll be here for a bit longer I'm afraid. They are talking about 60-80 mph winds.  I hope things are better wherever you are.  Hopefully things will let up soon and I hope to have some new projects for you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

Door wreath alternative...

Hi Everyone!  This weekend I was in one of my grain (storage) bins looking for something else, when I came across this picket fence welcome sign I had made a few years back that didn't sell.  So I brought it inside and made some chances to it.

I almost forgot to take a picture of it before I started working on it.  I remembered after I  started sanding the birdhouse.  It did say welcome on it, but the paint needed to be touched up so I sanded it and then repainted it and the pickets.  And this is what I ended up with.

 I painted just the face of the pickets white and repainted the birdhouse the same green color.

 Then hand-painted the Welcome and the flower on the birdhouse.

 I decided it needed a little bird so I cut one out and painted it blue.  Then added a sprig of apple green pip berries.

 And here it is hanging on my back door.

I like how it's been refreshed and the bird and berries were much needed additions.  I think I might have to keep this one.  But I will probably end up taking it to the craft fair at the end of the month.  Well, now I must head to the lumberyard so I can pick up some lumber for the supports for the benches I'm making today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Spring wreath....

Hi Everyone!  I hope you had an enjoyable weekend and a great Easter.  I spent the weekend working on projects and getting ready for the fair at the end of the month.  And I have projects to share with you!  But first, I want to show you the flowers I got for my aunt Marge.  My parents had Marge and Uncle Bill up Saturday night for dessert to celebrate Aunt Marge's birthday.

 I just love daisy's.  They make me smile.  And don't you just love this color of purple?

So now onto one of the projects I finished.

 Now that my saw is fixed, I've been trying to get caught up on all the things I started working on before it quit working.  And this was one of them.  I made this little picket fence out of paint sticks and a piece of 1x2" board.  I cut the paint sticks into pickets and glued and nailed them to scrap pieces of 1x2" boards.  Then painted it white and added a bit of antique medium. 

 Then I added them to a grapevine wreath with green and cream pip berries.

 Then I added a couple of dragonflies and a butterfly that I painted.

I think it turned out kind of cute.  And I'm hanging it on my front door until the fair.  Now I just need to build a couple of wreath holders for the wreaths I've made.  Tomorrow is my day off and I have several benches to build so I'm hoping for a very productive day!  I hope you have a productive week!  Thanks for stopping by.

Clear jars...

Hi Everyone!  I was out in one of the grain bins on my farm last night looking for a couple of windows I had put in storage and came across a box of jars that I had put there a few years ago.  One of the guys I worked with at the grain elevator gave me a box of jars a few years back that I never really looked at.  I just brought them home and stored them and sort of forgot about them.  But when I saw them last night, I thought I had better take a look at them.  And look at what I found....

...these wonderful clear Ball jars and a couple of other jars...

....This one is especially interesting....

....One half gallon jar....

...and four quart Ball jars...two of them are slightly squared...two are round....

...and one is just clear.  I haven't cleaned them up yet, but thought I'd share anyway....I'm glad I came across them last night, they've been in storage much too long and need to be brought out, used and enjoyed.  I hope you are having a great Easter weekend.  I started working on a couple of new projects tonight now that my saw is fixed.  I'll be back out there again tomorrow after work.  Thanks for stopping by.

Back in business...

I am back in business!  And boy do I have a lot to do!  My saw started acting up a few weeks ago and I had to order parts, two brushes.  They took almost two weeks to get here, but they arrived on Wednesday. 

And tonight, my friend and coworker Shane came out and repaired my saw for me.  Shane opened it up and found that one of them had broken.  He replaced them both and now it's working better than ever.  It took him about three minutes to replace them.  Thank you so much Shane!

So now I can get back to work.  I've been a bit lost not being able to work on much and definitely not being able to make anything new.  I've got big plans this weekend to build, build, build.  And now that my saw is fixed, I have nothing to stop me.  I'm hoping to have some new things ready to share with you by Monday.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

New find....

Hi Everyone!  I hope your week is going well.  The part for my saw finally came in today.  My friend and co-worker Shane is going to install it for me...hopefully tomorrow night.  And hopefully this will fix it so I can get back to work.  It's starting to pile up.  If it doesn't work, then I have to go shopping for a new saw this weekend so I can finish getting things made for the craft fair at the end of this month.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Look at what I got today....my friend Judy gave me this sweet little twin bed set.  It's in perfect condition.

 The lines on this are great.  I love that it's a solid back headboard.  I have trouble finding these around here.

 And here's the footboard.  I love the fat spindles and the fact that it isn't a solid back.

 The rails are in great condition.

And I love the color.  It's a great yellow color.  The best part of all....it was free!

 I can't wait to turn this one into a bench.

I love the color so much that I'm thinking I'm going to carefully turn this into a bench and leave it this color.  I'm thinking of upholstering the cushion in some great fabric that matches the yellow.  Now I just need that saw.....I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this part fixes it so I can get back to work.  Thanks for stopping by.

New finds...

Hi Everyone!  I hope your week is off to a great start.  I am in the process of getting ready for my first ever Spring Craft Fair.  I've only ever done fall shows so I'm having a bit of trouble deciding what exactly to make and take to this fair.  It's one I've never been to (not even as a shopper) so I really don't know what I'm getting myself into.  And it's a two day fair.  Again, something I haven't done before.  So I also don't know how much stuff to take.  I am trying to make sure I have enough inventory and a variety. 

On that note, one of the things I've been taking to all my fairs are my version of a message/picture board.  Which I've shared with you here and here.  On my lunch break today, I stopped by one of the antique/junk shops to see if he had any frames available..and this is what I walked away with.

 I could make them, but why not recycle existing frames, if I can find them.

 Some of the time the frames are very ornate, but this time they all have simple lines.

 But I like the variety of shapes and sizes.

 This one needs a bit of work but I couldn't pass up the price.

 And this one is oak, but I have no problem painting it.

So with some paint, wire and clips, these will all be turned into my version of message boards or for pictures or art work.  There are just so many possibilities.  I will show them to you once I'm done. 

If it doesn't rain tonight, tomorrow my dad and I will be putting fertilizer on all the pastures.  We won't be getting calves this year due to the high cattle prices, so instead we will be putting up hay.  And since Spring arrived so early here, if the rain holds up, we should be have several good cuttings of hay. 

This is a picture from last year.  So hopefully we'll see sights like this several times this year.  We're hoping for a good hay year.  And the part for my saw will be here later this week so hopefully I'll have some new projects to share soon!  Thanks for stopping by!