School Master's Desk

I think I may have mentioned my addiction  fondness of the Facebook Marketplace in my previous post.  I like it better than Craigslist for the simple fact that you can actually see the person you are meeting.

I found this lovely schoolmasters desk that needed a little TLC.  It truly was a joy meeting the owners. I was told it was from the 1800s and owned by his great grandfather who was a school teacher.  Whether or not he used it for that purpose, I do not know. 

It had some staining all around and rough wood at places.

I sanded it down inside and out.

I wanted it to look natural, so I used Annie Sloans Dark wax on it hoping that it would darken the filler that was all over it.  It did!

The last thing to do was buff it.

So beautiful!!

Gardening with our DYI Cold Boxes

I really miss our gardens!

Moving here,we have to start all over.

One of the things I wanted in my new garden was Cold Boxes.

My son and I gathered all kinds of scrap wood around our house and got started on building our own.  We found three windows on the Facebook Marketplace which is very addicting.

I painted them with some outdoor white paint we had.

We planted some Kale from seed in one and English Lavender in the other.

Here is some squash, dill, and a hanging gourd all from seeds.

So here is the beginning of our new garden.

We have found that too many bunnies live in our yard!

They love my oregano.

Kale is growing and my daughter also is trying to grow some zinnias too!
Hubby also built the stone wall in the background.  A stone wall must have been there years ago, because we found all those stones hiding under the bushes.  Great find for us!

My New Primitive Hutch! Project #1

Finally, we are moved into our new home!

We have been painting and fixing and painting some more.  The first thing I had to do was paint my kitchen cabinets.  I will need to post about them another time though.  Hubby was painting the living room and dining room while I worked on the cabinets.  I did not want to unpack anything unless the place that the item was going to be stored was painted and ready to accommodate them.  So in between cabinets and wall painting, I decided to work on my hutch. 

I bought this pine hutch at a consignment shop.  It is not old and was not primitive enough for me. The person that built it did not sand the edges.  Every edge was sharp and perfect.  I don't necessarily like perfect in my decor :)  The doors are also too country looking and not primitive.  I needed to change that too.

 The first thing I did was to take off the doors and tear off the "T" shape center piece.  In doing so, I gouged the top frame....oops...but wait, that will make it look more rustic and used.

 I had a white shelf top that I used as my new door frame.

Here it is sanded down and ready to take in some stain.

 I painted the hutch (right over the sanded red paint) in Benjamin Moore's Carter Gray.  I absolutely love that color!  You will see more of that color in my future projects.  I just added a layer of Walnut stain over that counter top, but other than that the stained part of the hutch stayed the same.  You can also see in the top right photo that I did not paint all the way to the edge of the center frame board.  This gives it that worn and aged look without sanding.

I finished it with Minwax's Dark Walnut (my favorite).

As you see, I made two new doors that go all the way to the bottom edge of the hutch frame.  To me this looks more primitive.  I also changed the hardware and painted and stained them too.

Here is a before and after.

What do you think?

It feels so good to be doing projects again!

Happy Sunday to you all!

Linking up with:

My Free Rocker

Last night at Work Party, I was blessed with this beautiful spindle rocker.  It was wobbly, so I knew we had to reinforce it. 

 Well, my Saturday was now filled with a little project.  

I knew Dan wouldn't do it till who knows when?  

I am a little obsessive when I want a project done:)  

I started taking it apart in hopes I could put it back together again.

  It goes so well in our home.  I really want to be able to use it in our living room.  That means people have to able to sit on it without falling to the floor.  Wouldn't that be a rotten thing to do to our guests?

 I told myself that if this doesn't work, it will have to be a porch decoration :( 

Dan helped me glue and put it back together.  Now it is clamped and drying.

The rocker has two right sided arm rests.  Does anyone have a clue why?  I didn't even notice it till I was putting the arms back on, and I wanted to make sure they weren't on the wrong side of the rocker.  I guess I had no need to worry.

I'll comment in a couple of days to tell you if it is sturdy enough to use in our living room.

I Love Quilting!

I've been busy this last week.  I was trying to fill an order for a friend.  I was piecing and quilting a runner.  I like to tea dye or coffee stain my quilts to give them an aged look.

After I finished that runner, I had to make a snowman felt runner also.  I really enjoy doing this kind of crafting. 
I love it that I can watch a movie in the evening and quilt.  Makes me feel like I am not wasting my time.

They are finished. Now I still need to work on some Christmas presents.  Time is flying.  There never seems to be much of that around--Time.

Scraps n Such

My craft sale is right around the corner.  I am getting excited and anxious because I still have tons of ideas in my head and time is running out.  One idea came last week.

Last week my father in law built new steps and did the trim work up in our attic.  He asked my younger two children to help carry out trash.  My ears perked up and right away I was searching the left over pieces that they were carrying out to the trash.  I said, "WAIT!  Don't throw that away.  That is great wood scraps!"  "Take a detour to the basement, now!"  My father in law laughed at me.  He knows I have a hard time throwing things away.  

After they left, I went right to work.  Creating something new from these scraps of trash. This is what I came up with.

I can't believe I built it.  I was so brave to use Dan's saw and nail gun.  It kind of made me feel tough.  I made some other little primitive boxes too.

Taking a Breather

This week Dan's parents are here.  Dad is working on the attic, and mom is keeping me company. 

 Since I have my craft sale during the week of Thanksgiving, I don't do any baking.  This week gives me a little breather from the intensity of crafting.  It also gives me a good excuse to bake.  Today Miles and I made apple pie and pumpkin pie for dessert tonight. 

They are so yummy!

Even though I am not focusing on my crafts this week.  I do have a goal of making penny rugs out of felt I bought at Joanne's.  I've never done this before, but I found a blog that shows you how to make them.  http://pennyrugsandmore.blogspot.com  I am going to try it.  I used her idea of using freezer paper to draw on before cutting out my circles. 

 Miles helped take the paper off and count them for me.

 Then I bagged each project to keep them organized.


I am slowly sewing them together, using the blanket stitch.  

I have one pack stacked.

This is how I am going to sew this group together.

My Mother-in-law is very good at knitting and crocheting.  She was working on snowflakes while I worked on the penny piles for my penny rugs.

It has been a nice break.  The attic is starting to come together.  Yippee!!

Homemade Treasures

I love those days at home where everyone is doing their own projects.  This past Saturday was like that. Bethany and Wilson were working at different people's homes doing odd jobs to raise money to be able to go on a youth trip to Empowered Youth.  Harrison and Miles were the only ones here.  Dan and I were building some benches out of the old steps that were in our attic.  Miles and Harrison were outside trimming a bush in our yard.  I had plans for those branches they were cutting and sawing down.  I didn't know that Harrison also had plans for the scraps of branches piling up in the yard.

When we were finished, Dan went on a bike ride.  I asked if the boys would help me take off the leaves of the branches because I wanted to make a twig wreath.  They are so sweet.  They willingly helped me do my craft.  Then Harrison asked if he could have the rest of the branches.  I didn't care.  It was garbage to me now.  I was so into what I was doing that I didn't realize what the boys were doing.  

So while I was making this:

They were building this:

Like I said in an older post, my children make the best of what we have.  I think this does come from me a little.  You see I love to make something new from something old.
The old steps in our attic turned into these:

This is what I've looked like for the past month.  I'm glad you didn't just stop in:)

I also wanted to use the old windows that were in our attic.

Do you think I should do something else to them?  I'm at a mental block.

Some may think my things are just junk.
My boys think this is the best fort ever.  I think it looks like a bunch of beavers moved into our yard.
I guess we all have our little treasures.