Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Lots of Red on the Hoosier!

Looking back I realized I haven't posted a picture of my Hoosier cabinet decked out for Christmas in THREE years!  What happens every year?  I fail to plan and run out of time and energy.  Well, it's coming down to wire again, but I am making it happen!  Sometimes this blog is my only record of what I've done from year to year.  I should keep it up for that fact alone!  So here it is:


Blown molds on top this year...last year it was vintage children's books.



Angels in place.


Pink-faced Harold Gale Santa.


And a very wild-eyed Santa watching over the working elves!  Too much caffeine, perhaps?

This is such a hurried post, but at least I did it!  I have more things I'd like to share, if time allows!  So come back if you have the time!


Please check out the other posts for Rednesday over at Melody's blog!  I'll be checking them out, too...late on Wednesday.  I have a full day of shopping in store for me!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Christmas Cards Are a Hangin'

Today I want to show you how I display my Christmas cards.  I've been doing it this way for 5-6 years and I've never blogged about it!  It's a not really an original idea, but it is a good idea.


It's amazing how festive the kitchen looks when all the cabinets are filled.  I will admit this picture is from last year...the card are still coming this year.  Also, this picture doesn't do the idea justice.


I've used this same ribbon year after year.  It was dumb luck I chose one made of this organza-type, sheer material.  I can push the brass fasteners through it easily and the holes almost disappear when removed.


So everything gets recycled the next year...well, except the painter's tape.


Which is my method for attaching them to the cabinets.

I wish I had an entire kitchen picture for you.  You'll have to take my word.  It looks great!

Thanks for stopping today!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Funny Thing About Kneehuggers

They seem to multiply.


Are they clones?


If not, there seem to be a lot of twins!


Even triplets!


If they aren't clones, there's an awful lot of hanky panky going on at the North Pole!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

My Find of the Year!

I hinted about it, in my last post and here it is...my find of the year!


After years of hoping I'd find one (cheaply) it finally happened!  An aluminum Christmas tree! A 6-foot Sparkler, in the box!  I bought this at an auction in July.  The heat was stifling and the auction was held in an old farm building...a hen house I think.  Everything was pretty dusty!  Oh, was it worth it!

 I acquired the revolving tree stand 3 years ago in THIS haul.  Making the picture complete...



The color wheel!  I bought the day after Thanksgiving this year off of Craigslist.  It had been listed and relisted because of the damage.  Since it was damaged I was able to negotiate a very nice price.

To top it all off, my family allowed me to decorate with it this year!  No real tree, just my aluminum beauty!  I normally have "my" tree down in the basement.  Well, with Jake off at college we decided to take the simple approach.  I don't know if it will ever happen again, so I am enjoying it!

This is not my entire inventory of vintage ornaments, just some of the better ones.


Kenna's favorite.  An elephant with a rider.  Very interesting.  At least it's pink!

A Shiney Brite, clear with tinsel.

Indents.

Pinecones.


Beautiful flowers.


And a very...

merry...

Christmas!

Thanks for stopping today!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Rednesday - The Whole Kit and Caboodle

I had the foresight to take a picture before I started decorating this year.  A picture of everything Christmas that I acquired since last year.  Now, compared to many of the bloggers I know, this pile is small.  What can I say?  I live in Iowa...there are more pigs than people in this state!  This pile is the result of me hitting the garage sales every week from last frost to first frost!  Auctions?  Didn't go to many this year.  Estate sales?  Too pricey around here.  So, practically everything here came from a garage sale.


A couple of exceptions:

The Santa with the pencil in the very center.  I bought this from Laurie just a few weeks ago.  Love him!

A few items that belonged to my great aunt and uncle.  She passed away just a year ago.  I was fortunate enough to get a few of her things.

So, I thought this would serve as a fine Rednesday post!  I guess Rednesday has changed hands a few times since Sue hosted.  So, this will be a first for me.  Please check out the Rednesday posts on Melody's blog!


Oh...I just I just realized...this isn't my entire haul.  I have a pile of things to list for sale....oh boy!

Oh...and come back!  I will have posts of all the decor around the house.  I acquired a really special item this year and I am excited to share!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

A Really Big Project...Completed!

     I cannot tell you how happy I am to have this project done!  This one was over a year in the making!  It all started when I borrowed my father's table saw.  I was three-quarters done and I killed the saw!  To be fair, my dad said the ball bearings were ready to fail and I happened to be the unlucky one using it when it did!
     So, everything sat, for over a year, until my dad bought a new saw (thanks Dad!)  This fall the work resumed.  It's about about mid-October.  I am working feverishly to get it done before the cold weather and my pending surgery!  Yep!  I had surgery.  I had a hysterectomy the first part of November.  Another disruption in progress.  I had to take two weeks off.
     Mid-November I start working again!  I worked some really long days and was very tired some nights.  I just kept saying to myself, "Why is this taking so long?"  I was tempted to take some short cuts...maybe not be so diligent about filling holes...maybe skip the primer coat.  No, I tried to do it right.  Well, as right as a non-trained, novice carpenter can!
     So, here is the fruit of my labor!


     I built this 8-foot table out of some porch posts that were a curb find about 8 (?) years ago!  The entire top, other than two trim pieces, is made from cedar pickets and pine cross pieces salvaged from my daughter's bedroom remodel.  Which is a partial explanation to the time invested.  I ripped down each picket and screwed them together using a Kreg© jig.  The bookshelf on the far end and the cubicle under the table came from pickets, too.


     Love the legs and since I cut the posts in half...I have another set!


     A close-up of the top.  I hope you can see the pickets.  It's not completely smooth.  I made a conscious decision not to plane the top and keep it a little shabby.

 
     The end of the table, where I have the bookshelf.  I have more stuff to store here!


The cubicle which I had to compromise on.  To keep the apron on the table I had to put the cubicle unit behind it.  I purposely didn't do it as a built-in to allow more flexibility down the road.  Oh, and yes...I built the shelves specifically to fit these swim baskets!

A couple things I'd like to add, other than attaching the legs, I did all the work myself.  My dad helped me with those.  I wanted to make sure they were stable.  Hubby doesn't care for this kind of stuff and thinks I'm crazy...he may be right!  Also, since most of this was salvaged, the whole project cost me about $20!  The cost of those two boards and a box of screws.  Everything else I had on hand!

So, that's it!  I have more pictures...close-ups of my ribbon cabinet, magnetic caddy board thingy and my ink pad storage, but you can see those in the first photo.  Now, to do some playing in this room!

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me get this off my chest!  Whew!  So glad to be done!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Last of the Halloween Projects

One thing I know about myself, when it comes to many projects, I'm a 90 percenter.  Meaning I get to the point where it's 90% done and I lose interest.  Or I become obsessed with the final details and think I will find the perfect thing to finish.  A lot of times this works in my favor, I do find a great way to get the project done.  Other times, I settle.  So, here are a few of the Halloween crafts I've been holding onto the past two weeks.


My tree.  It needs a lot of work.  I need to join a swap and get some better ornaments!  This year Kenna asked if we could make a popcorn chain, so how could I say no?  She rarely wants to craft with me.


I am happy with my raven from the Dollar tree.  I added the hat and the sash, of course.


My side hutch.  I had to take this picture before my family ate all the M&M's!


I picked up this skull at Walgreens a few years ago.  It's about as goulish as I will go.  It creeps out my friend, Cathy.  I made the Boo blocks a while back.


These are Pumpkin-On-Stick.  I grew these two years ago and dehydrated them.  They were very bountiful, but prickly!  The stems and leaves had some vicious thorns, so I haven't grown them since!


This is one project I obsessed over.  I wanted an x-ray of a human body to put aside my skeleton keys.  I ended up having the best results printing on vellum paper, using the "slow drying ink" and "fast print" options on my printer.  Before this it was putting down too much ink.  Push came to shove and I needed a way to display it.  I settled on a quickly made frame using paint sticks and tacks.  I would love to change this, but for now, it will do.


I had to borrow these skeleton keys from Kenna, she collects such weird stuff for a person of her age!  I stamped out the card, of course.


My mantel is a little bare this year.  I purged a few items after last year.


A photo I embellished.  I struggled for a word add.  Call me strange, but I didn't want to disrespect this lady by using "wicked" or "witchy" so I went with "vexed" and I'm happy with it.


A few jars from an auction box lot.  I found the labels on the internet.  I know the arsenic came from The Graphics Fairy, can't remember where I found the other one!  Notice my spun head girly that I got from Laurie!  Love her!


Last new addition, some cuties from the Dollar Tree!  I like 'em a lot.

That's it.  I probably should have divided this up into at least three posts, but knowing me, it's better to just get it out there!  Hope you all are enjoying this October.  Before we know it, the chill will be here!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

My Halloween Hoosier

Yep, I'm still alive!  I finally had a few things I really needed to share.  I had a creative burst of energy.  Lots of Halloween ideas swimming in my head.  A few Saturdays ago I worked all day on those ideas.  I still don't have everything made but here's a few that found a home on my Hoosier cabinet.


An overall look...


I covered my vintage cherry canisters with text print pages that were zig-zag stitched together.  Then, stenciled some rats from Martha Stewart.  The letters are silver embossed, mounted on frozen concentrate juice lids.  I glued magnets to the back of each letter, to attach them temporarily to the canisters.


More vintage goodies...an orange enamelware pan with Scrabble letters, a Gurley jack o'lantern candle and a flocked Halloween card.




A few Gurley candles mixed in with some very similar vintage Airwick Air Fresheners.  These were a big score for me two years ago in What Cheer!  They were in the boxes.  I bought every style the vendor had and she made me a deal.  I could just kicked myself for not buying all of them!  She made me a really good deal!



Apples in a cupcake tin.  An easel made from an old fork.  If you aren't aware...a few lines from the witch in the movie Snow White.


I'm super excited to share this rosette (or medallion) I made by piecing together different designer series papers.  I simply butted the edges together and zig-zag stitched over the seam.  I added Scotch tape over the seam in back, just to prevent any tearing of the paper.


Here's a close-up.  Please look past the breaks in the black paper!


I've always wanted to make one of these punch art pumpkins, so here's my chance!

I have more areas of the house to share, I just need to add those finishing touches...