feathering our nest

By on January 17, 2014 in Home

Busy, is the word to describe today…and yesterday.  I love days like this.  We have been in a flurry of finally getting back to unpacking, painting and getting started with decorating.  With snow falling outside, it’s the perfect time to work on inside projects since I know that soon enough spring will sneak up on us and I will have every minute counted getting a new garden and farm going here.

We are done painting the living room (except one wall which is really high and no idea how we will do it without a ladder), the dining room and the kitchen.  I finally got around to staining the farmhouse table I had made nearly two years ago now and the shelves I meant to put in our Florida dining room are now up in our new dining room.  I will be sharing tomorrow, when hopefully there will be adequate lighting to take some pics.  In between the painting, staining, hanging shelves and reupholstering the two chairs that I scavenged last year to go with our table, I decided to sneak in some decorating projects.

I had pinned this from Pinterest and in my attempt to make the things I actually pin, as well as needing some love for this little corner of our family room, I made this sign.  It is made from lumber probably left over from building all the decks on this house and it is super heavy but it was made from materials we already had and I love it.  Next time, I would use pallet wood which is lots lighter but what is done is done.  When I brought the wood inside, Poppa gave me the “oh no you didn’t” look and I totally understood.  The wood was almost black and it was totally frozen from being behind one of our out buildings.  An hour by the heater and a good scrubbing followed by a white washing and I was ready to make a sign.  Eddie cut the boards down to the size I needed and I attached some wood leftover from the boys Ikea beds to the back for support, tied a long piece of jute to the back and drew and painted the words on.  I don’t have a stencil, so I made one.  Erica and I took turns painting in the letters until our backs would start to hurt and then I would start doing some of the other projects until I felt up to painting again.

So much more to do but I should probably slow down a bit and take a nap with my baby…that is a project worth all the projects in the world.  See you tomorrow for some pics of the finished diningroom 🙂

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thrifting break

By on January 13, 2014 in thrifting, Uncategorized

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The painting is going quite well, though slow.  Matthew is teething and wants nothing other than to be with his momma which means lots and lots of painting breaks.  Add to that an invitation from a friend to go to a Brad Paisley concert (funny thing is I only know one song of his) this weekend and an unexpected thrifting opportunity and well, I just hope to be done sometime this week.

A few nights ago, Poppa and I were watching a movie and he mentioned that he knew someone whose grandmother had passed away when we moved here and they had to clear out her house by the end of the month.  He mentioned being asked by the family if we were interested in anything they had for sale.  Upon further inquiry (by me)  I found out that an estate sale was being planned but nothing had been sold yet.  I begged him to find out if I could go have a look before the sale and the next day we planned for the boys and I (my favorite thrifting partners) to go and visit.

A chance to go through the whole house before anyone else?  Yes, please and thank you!  Oh and the painting you ask?  What painting?, would have been my answer.  So, yesterday early morning, we headed out.  We went through cupboards and closets, basements and attics, bedrooms and the largest craft stash I have ever come across.  Unfortunately for me, it was paper craft and that is just not something I have ever been interested in but if I had, coming across thousands of stamps and die cuts probably would have done me in. Four hours later we emerged with our treasures.

In the basement in a very back corner, I found a box FULL of vintage buttons (I am still on cloud 9 by the way), a few vintage fabrics, baskets, a lovely vintage table cloth, a box full of antique clothes pins (which will be offered in my store soon since I already own more than I need)  lots of sewing notions, vintage toys, a quilt rack, another vintage sewing machine (goodness, ‘I think that makes 6 now) an oil painting for the dining room and a few more things that escape my mind at the moment.

The sewing machine was a necessity, I promise.  I just took in 3 of ours to get serviced after my favorite sewing machine died during the holidays.  I have one more that needs new belts and so I actually do not have a sewing machine to use for the next three weeks.  I could not pass up the great price on the one I bought.  When I tried it out, it was such a pleasure to sew with and the girls are quite tired of my hogging up their machines.

On the way home from our private estate sale, the boys begged me to go to our favorite treasure hunting spot, Tickled Pink.  We waisted, er spent another two hours getting lost among all the vintage treasures.  If you are ever in Louisville, you must visit them, you will never have more fun anywhere else. It’s is one of my favorite places to be.

On the way home, I started thinking about the estate sale.  I thought about what would happen to my own stash if I passed away.  I know my daughters would use it but it still made me think about how I need to use the things I have, make something with it or pass it along.   I thought about how many times I have come across button collections at these types of events.  I don’t want someone to come across my buttons and take them to store in their own home until they too pass away.  These buttons will find homes, on handmade clothing I make for my little ones.  They will get used.  I think it’s time for a Craft Manifesto.

For now, I am going back to painting, though that vintage sewing machine is calling my name.

 

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