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!

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!

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...

Rednesday - Christmas again?

It has been soooo long since I have posted anything for Rednesday.  I have some pictures taken, it's the motivation I lack.  Well, I have rededicated myself to posting, at least once a week.  C'mon, how hard can that be?  So, last week the garage sales finally started to pay off.  It's now a weekly ritual that my mom, my dad and I hit the sales.  It's a great day.  Coffee, talk and treasure hunting!

One thing I can seem to count on, Christmas.  I always find Christmas items (as my last post confirms.) This week didn't disappoint.  Half my haul was Christmas.

 
The candle has no cord, but how could I pass it up for 25¢?  The ornaments were a good score, that my mom found before me, but she let me have them, thanks Mom!  The Santa is kind of a sad story.  The lady told me it was her husband's when he was a boy, and now he's 40.  What?  He's too old for Santa?  I gladly took him home.  The dictionary was another 25¢ item.  I plan to use the pages for craft projects and making cards.  The trowel, another 25¢ item!  I hope to make something similar to Jane's towel holder, fun stuff!  I also scored a couple pillow forms, but I didn't think you needed to see a picture of those.

So, not a lot of goodies this week, but enough to wet my appetite.  This week looks to be good.  Lots of sales listed. so I hope I have a really great post for you next week.

In the meantime, make sure you head over to Sue @ It's a Very Cherry World.  Our wonderful Rednesday hostess.  You'll get your red fill for sure!

A Really Good Auction....A Rare Find.

My post title is little deceptive.  I didn't acquire a rare find.  The fact that it was a good auction is the rare find!  It seems I hit a really good auction only about once a year.  Really great auctions are getting harder and harder to come by.  I knew when I saw the online listing it was decent, but I had no idea it would be this good.  I almost didn’t go!  I had slept terribly that night and could barely get myself out of bed.  In fact, I only arrived 15 minutes before the start time, when I usually like to be there an hour before.

I could (and did) write a really long post and the trials and tribulations of this auction.  The dealers from hours away, the long wait I endured until they got to the items I was interested in, the bidding wars I lost.  I'll spare you the long and sorted details and get to the heart of it.  I came home with a car-load of stuff!  It was the Christmas motherload!  Despite the dealers from far and wide I got these boxes on the cheap!  I was on cloud nine!

Here's what my kitchen center-island looked like when I unloaded.

Sunday morning it came time to sort.  I sorted and sorted.  It became mind-boggling the amount of stuff!  I had to take a break and clear my mind!  Monday the sorting resumed.  Garage sale piles, Ebay piles, keep piles.  Decisions, decisions.  I've tried to make this post as neat as possible, so you are probably only seeing about a third of it.  I may break it up into a couple posts, too.  However, this is the bulk of it.

Trees of all sorts.  I counted 37, I think.

Knee-huggers.  All sizes and types.

Glass Garland.  Some still in the package.  Wow!

Tinsel garland.  Some old, some not.

Would you call these icicles or some sort?

A super assortment.  The figural vase was in one of the first boxes I bought.  When I won the lot at a great price I thought it could be the beginning of a wonderful day.

Picks, bells and all kinds of crafty goodness!

Trims of all sorts!

Amazing, isn't it?  I wish I could say that a full week later all this stuff is neatly sorted, priced and packed but it's not.  It simply migrated to the basement, piled along the walls in boxes, bags and flats.  This will be a big job for some time to come!

President's Day - Altered Box

Happy President's Day everyone!  Funny thing, I wasn't thinking about posting today.  This morning I took my coffee down to my craft room and was looking for something to work on.  I've had this vintage box for a while now.  I finally began playing with it a few weeks ago, when I quickly ran out of inspiration.  As I was working on it today the light bulb went on!  The perfect motivation to finish it and post!

The image was found on an internet search which took me to Encore Ephemera. 

My husband would give me a hard time if I decorated for President's Day!  So, packed away 'til summer it goes!

Under the Gun!

Well, my foray back into the blogging world hasn't been as seamless as I would have liked.  I've been trying to keep up with Reader, leaving a few comments and I still feel I'm falling short.  It's not helping that, I have TWO blogs, let me tell you.  Still, I am determined to get in this post before Valentine's Day is over!

The Hoosier cabinet was spiffed up a bit, with mostly vintage bird Valentine's.

Hanging them off this ribbon allowed me to show off quite a few.

I was scrambling for an idea for the few baseball themed Valentine's I have.  This idea is very mediocre, but it has potential.  It's a handmade pencil holder I bought at a garage sale for 50¢ and the copper rods that came out of my library card catalog cabinet.  It's been up for a few weeks and I've never taken the time to tweak it....never got a better idea.

Thanks so much to Sonya @ Dime Store Thrift for this wonderful wreath idea.  I finally got around to making one.  The whole time I was constructing it I was certain it would end up in the trash!  I didn't think I had enough bulbs, I was unsure of the bulb placements.  I ended up loving it!  Truth be told, though, my technique leaves a lot to be desired.  When I hung it up, everything shifted and two balls fell off.  Another is broken and still holding on.  This picture is AFTER this happened.....so don't look too close!  I figure I'll fix it after the season.

Whew!  Mission accomplished!  Feels good.

PS- After checking out my post, it seems to me my pictures are blurry.  Plus, the pictures were a bit on the small side.  I changed a few things and made them bigger....are they too big?  I'd love to have your input.