Instagram Happenings

I'm not sure how many people actually look at or read my blog anymore.   

I have been posting on Instagram for at least 5 years.  I have found it quicker and easier to share things.  I was never a writer, so blogging for me was more pictures than anything.  Here on the blog is where I shared my 'how-to projects'.  Lately my 'how-to projects' have dwindled. Instagram has made it easier to share my projects and my home.  I have added an Instagram Button in which you can follow me now on Instagram.

Occasionally I may post a project on here in the future, but I am more likely to post on Instagram weekly or more.

So....please click the Instagram button to your right and Follow along!

Spindle Feathered Tree DIY

I found these cute spindle legs from a table which had these glass claw foot feet.  

I grabbed them at first because I knew hubby would like to use the claw foot for a cane topper. 

 And..... he and my older son did use them on their canes.

Good job guys!

That left me with the spindle legs.  With Christmas crafts on my mind, the thought of a feather tree hit me as I was moving the spindles around in my garage.  I quickly made a base for the trees, screwing it to the spindle..

I had these pieces of greens from a project years ago.

I drilled holes in the spindles, alternating sides to tier the tree.  I then used hot glue and glued them into the spindle.

For the ends I added some Styrofoam balls with wire.

So Prim...

So simple...

So me ....

Three Corner Cabinets DIY

Not wanting to pay the price of an old corner wall cabinet for my living room, I settled on the idea of making my own.  I found these cabinets on Craigslist .  I was only going to get one, but the guy was wanting to just get rid of them so he threw in an extra corner and that odd shaped filler piece.

You can see from the collage how these cabinets were supposed to be pieced together.  I thought that the center filler piece would make a neat primitive cabinet.

They all had these footers on them that I had to take off and fill in the holes with wood filler.

I also removed the trim and added some framing piece that was missing.

After sanding them, I made some doors for all three out of planks of wood--some new wood and some from an old toy box.  I carved the locks and door knob with hubby's wood carving tools. (oldest son did start me out on the locks because he was worried I'd slice myself again)  I bought some neat hinges and just painted them.  I used chalk paint as a primer on the hinges first and then painted them with Benjamin Moore's Woodstock along with the cabinets.  I then stained all 3 with Min-wax's Espresso.

I love the way they turned out.  My favorite one is the 'filler' piece that I turned into a cabinet. I also love the character the stain brings out in the door made of the old toy box planks.

I kept the small one for myself and hung it in my dining room.

It just fits  :)

DIY Fireplace Surround

 I am so excited to share this with you.  

We moved here 2 years ago this past July.  From the first moment I walked into this Colonial Revival home, I have wanted to make a surround for this fireplace.  It just looked incomplete to me....sooo much brick.  

I have been searching Pinterest for ideas since day 1.  I am glad we waited 2 years, you wouldn't believe the design ideas I have gone through and changed over and over in my head....Panels or no panels?  In the end we, hubby and I and our "Architect Son", agreed on a very basic shaker style surround.  This house is very basic in its woodwork and baseboards too.

I am going to share with you our journey of building the surround.  

We are by no means professionals. 

So please forgive us if we didn't do something just right.

First we did research on Code for leaving so many inches of brick and not protruding out so many inches and measured accordingly.  

With 1x2" boards for our 'Skeleton', 

we used screws and liquid nails to attach the wood to the brick.

Next we used a 3/8" sheet of plywood for the "skin" to cover all that brick.

Tacking it in with brads.

 Now for the fun part!

Using a nail gun, we attached a solid piece of 1x12" cut down to 1x10" board for the top part.  For the 'legs' we used a 1x8" board cut to length.  We turned the 1x8" on its side to mock up the baseboard at the bottom of each 'leg'.  

The previous owner had leftover trim for the baseboard which made it super easy to figure out.  This made it match up with our current baseboard. With it being a corner fireplace, we had to cope two of the angles on the quarter round at the very bottom of the baseboard. Our oldest son and Architect son carved and figured that all out for me.

Love Homeschoolers!

 I am a visual person so I'd like to share the different phases in pics.

 We added crown to our Living Room and Dining Room too.

Here it is today!

I painted it in Benjamin Moores' Whipoorwil. (That $10 can I couldn't resist on buying!) 

I love it!...so much brighter!!

I am super excited.  

The fireplace looks like it has always been like this.

If you try to build one on your own, take lots of pics.  

It helps as reference for us nonprofessionals :) 

Waxing No. 49

No this is not the 49th piece of furniture that I waxed.

It is just what was painted on this crate.

This fantastic old wooden box was given to me by a friend who was sure that I would know exactly what to do to make this a nice decorative piece.  It has so much character for an old crate/box.  Just look at the handles on the side, the two compartments on the inside, and the great stenciling which shows the original use for this box. 

 I decided to wax the box to bring out all of the amazing worn detail accrued over the many years of use.  First I lightly sanded it to get rid of any splintering edges and then vacuumed it out really well.  

Using Annie Sloan's Dark wax and a cheap $1 brush, I began to wax the piece.  I was so excited to wax over the stenciled part, because I was so sure it was just going to pop.  I even recorded it so that I could share the process.  

UNFORTUNATELY, I was so wrong!

Instead of popping, the stenciling disappeared.

So when waxing over old lettering be Cautious!

Here's the video:

Despite my huge mistake,
the wax really made this crate/box a beautiful piece!

I just feel terrible that the white lettering is gone.

Thank you my friend, you know who you are :)

Cookbook Holder Made from Cutting Board

It all started with this.

The lady informed me that this little metal stand was wide enough and would hold my cookbook. After all it was standing up in the store when it was stacked together with other metal stands of its kind.  When I came home it would not stand up on its own.  I then added the book and the book fell forward.....No support whatsoever.  

I was upset that I even put money into this.

 Then I remembered this little cutting board I found at the thrift store.

I thought it would make the perfect thing to mount my stand to.

I needed to add something to the board for support.

Perfect!

I knew I wanted to wax the cutting board to bring out all of the cool markings in the board.

Exactly the look I was going for! 

I love how worn it looks!

 I realize now that I am so happy it was a flop in the beginning.  

It's a true decorative and useful piece now. 

I believe the total cost for board and metal stand was $5.

$5 Lamp Before and After

 I have been in search of the perfect lamp for my piano.  I needed one that would blend in with my decor yet give good lighting for the pianist.  In my search I found some great options, but they came at a cost that really was not going to work for me.  

 Then I came upon this beauty!!

She caught my eye.  I took a double take...hmmm...looks like candle holders and it looks colonial.  

Oh!  and the price is $5?!  I'll take it!

Would you buy it?

 I thought I had some candle covers that would fit over the light fixtures, but they were too small.  Plan B was to grubby them up with my mixture of coffee grounds and cinnamon...smelled good:)...and apply with glue.

Here is a pic of before and after they dried.  You can see the plastic cover is chipped.  No problem!  You cant see it anyway!

 I painted the lamp with two coats of Annie Sloan's Graphite, letting it dry 24 hours between the two coats because I just wanted it to adhere well with less coats.  It did not chip at all!  I then waxed it in dark wax.

 It buffed up so lovely!

The lighting in the first pic is too bright.  The truer color is on right pic.

 Before and After:

Now would you buy it?

It fits this space perfect and the lighting is amazing!!

Kitchen Scale: My First Use of MMS Milk Paint

I have only ever used latex/acrylic paint and chalk paint to paint furniture.  I have greatly enjoyed using chalk paint on furniture pieces for the simple fact that there is no sanding required.  I have always wanted to try Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint because I really like the chippy/distressed look and I really like her colors.  I had a friend give me some Real Milk Paint to try and I painted a few little pieces, but I really didn't understand what to expect.  I read up on MMS Milk Paint and watched her videos to learn more about milk paint. I finally decided to try out MMS Milk Paint.  

I chose the color Kitchen Scale.  

I believe the color was named after a kitchen scale that 

Miss Mustard Seed owned.

Here is my adventure with MMS Milk Paint:

It all started with this.  A mixture of a hutch top and dresser.  I wanted to paint them the same color to blend the pieces together.  I was concerned that the milk paint would chip on the hutch and the green/gray would show through especially since it had two layers of Hunters gray and the original red color that I bought it as.  Plus I had a coat of stain over the gray.  I didn't think the green/gray would look good through this Kitchen Scale color and I thought it would not blend the two pieces together with the natural wood work chipping through on the dresser.

I did hand sand the gray paint with a piece of sand paper--not sure if that is what helped the milk paint to grab and stain into the wood or if it was just because the hutch itself is pine and pine seems to absorb a lot.

I followed the directions carefully almost, but on the first coat of the hutch I forgot to let the paint set for at least 10 minutes to let the paint dissolve and the pigments to come together.  I did notice some yellow streaks because I did not let it dissolve.  For the rest of the coats, I did let it set.

I was a little disappointed that the hutch didn't chip at all.  I ended up distressing it with sand paper and dark wax.

I also purchased Hemp Oil to try on the plain wood.  I sanded the top of the dresser and applied the oil.  The wood was a little too light in color for me, so I did mix it with some dark wax.  It tinted it a little, but I am not sure if the wax really took.  The Hemp Oil may have resisted most of it, because when I buffed the top, a lot of dark wax was on my rag. 

I really wanted that deep green-blue look that I saw in pictures of other pieces painted in Kitchen Scale.  The paint honestly reminded me a little of Annie Sloan Duck Egg, but when I applied the clear wax, that deep tone popped!

The dresser on the other hand chipped like crazy and I love it!  They both reacted the way I had hoped.  Having the top being more solid and not showing the green/gray color helps them blend as one piece that 

"aged over the years"

I really like dark wax on pieces.  

I like the distressed look on furniture.  It makes me relax :) 

To me a piece doesn't feel finished without the antiqued look...just my opinion.

Here it is before I buffed wax.

Here they are together!

I am not sure why the top of the picture is tinted yellow. 

 It is probably the way the sun was coming in the room

We Built a Garden Fence

A few of you have asked me to share how I built my garden fence.  

So here it is.

This is how my garden looked last spring.  I was so excited about my cold boxes I built.  I still have English lavender growing in the one box.  Little did I know then how many bunnies come and feast on my flowers and plants.  We did get some fruit from our labor, but I wanted to have a fence around my garden this year to make sure those bunnies stay outside the garden!

 I could not have done this without a sweet friend that shared her pear tree trimmings, my hubby, and my son.  

1. First we cut some thicker branches to use as stakes, and we staked them around the garden area.  These stakes are what we attached the chicken wire to, using zip ties.
2. I wove the extra branches through the chicken wire at the ends of each section to look like it is woven between the stakes. I wanted the garden to look rustic and natural--chicken wire kind of takes that look away from a garden.
3. The next group of pics shows how I made a frame for the gate and added chicken wire to the back.  I finished it off with the woven sticks just like I did to the sides of the garden.
4. Finally the last collage shows my "hinges" and "hook" I made out of craft wire to attach the gate

 Here is what it looked like on Saturday after my son and I built a trellis for our beans to climb.  He also is working on a stone path in there too.  The sides are thicker looking up close than what they appear on this photo.

I think I am going to gather some more smaller branches to weave around the sides to make it look thicker.  I just don't want the sides to get too thick that they cast shadows on the plants.

Wax Malfunction--Not for every piece

Okay, to give the wax some credit, 

I was not smart enough to think this through when I applied the dark wax to the table top. 

I was very impatient, after all this was a new to me table that I purchased to have just in time for Christmas dinner and gatherings.  I needed it finished, and I needed it done in one day.  

HAHA!  My one weakness 😉

Here is the dark wax finish.....So beautiful and so soft and that is what I forgot!  

So soft that when hot stuff comes in contact with wax bad stuff happens! 

 So here are the original Marketplace pics.  I didn't realize how scratched up the surface was until hubby brought it home.  I knew that I wanted to darken the top and paint the legs anyway, so I decided to strip and sand it down.  After all Christmas was just around the corner.  Our other table was 3' x 6' and this one measures 3'8" x 6' with (2) 18" leaves to go on either end, giving us so much more room for guests to sit and food to be placed on the table. 

 I finished the top in one day!  I was so excited!  

I could wait until after January to paint the legs now that the top was beautiful! 

I was so foolish (still am).  

Wax is not a good finish on surfaces that are used with hot dishes, 

plus I did not allow any curing time for the wax or any other finish.  

After Christmas I decided that I like the darker Espresso stain vs the Oak or early American stain that I had.  

I stripped it again, sanded, and this time stained the top.  

I added poly and let it cure for the time it was to cure. (Good Girl!)

Here are the different stages it  went through.

I painted the bottom of the table in Annie Sloan's Graphite; I only used dark wax over the Graphite.

 Here it is how it looks today.

The poly still chipped and bubbled at spots, which never happened to me before.  

I was wondering if it had something to do with the stripper I used. 

 I did clean it with mineral spirits before applying the stain. 

 Hmmm...don't know.

A New Year and a Sign For a Friend

Happy 2018 everyone!

I know I am a little late. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  I really enjoyed the season this year. It was so nice to actually enjoy our family, our friends, and our home.

One of my favorite things this Christmas was having a fire in our fireplace.

 It was the first time we used our fireplace since we moved into our home in 2016.  It was wonderful just sitting there with the hubby and kiddos, listening to Christmas music play in the background.
~
The holiday season passed by quickly, and we found our selves in the longest cold snap.  We found out some pipes in our house do not like it when the temps drop below 0 degrees...no major problems though.
We recently enjoyed some warmer weather; with that came an energy in me to finally work on a sign that a friend of mine had been ever so patiently waiting for.

I glued two boards together, sanded it down to the natural wood, and then let her choose between the stains that I had on hand.

I am not a natural at calligraphy, so I must cheat with fonts on the computer. (Using the Charcoal Method)

When I printed the words off, the spacing didn't look like it was correct between the letters in the word Tractor. In this pic (above) you can see that 'Tractor' doesn’t quite look right, and I was hoping to fix it as I applied the paint marker, but I really didn't do a good job. 

This is why special orders make me nervous.
HOWEVER
My friend was sweet enough to like it no matter my flaws.