Weekend Wrap-Up

I've decided to do my first ever weekend wrap-up! ♥

I know some of my peeps do a weekly wrap-up, 

but this is my little twist on a blogger favorite.

We usually get up to a lot more around here during the weekend - at least when it comes to my little workshop.

FRIDAY

We were treated to some of God's awesome power with a fantastic lightening display and peals of  thunder:

just before we took Noah to go see...

AVENGERS

Greyson and Ian both got to see "Hunger Games", so we made it up to Noah and got a little one on one time with him as well.  

With so many kiddos, we like to do special things occasionally with them by themselves so they feel...  Well...  SPECIAL.  ;)

It was a fantastic movie...  Although now I have to listen to Scott picking on me about redheads...  and leather...  the "Black Widow"...  "So, can I call you Natasha?"  {eyeroll} 

Yeah.  

On and on and on all weekend.  

I told him I could dye my hair red, squish myself into some black leather, but I'd probably look more like sausage in a casing.  HA HA HA

SATURDAY 

We spent mowing...

and mowing...

and mowing...

our 6 commercial client's properties.  No, I don't have the oh, so exciting pictures of that- except that it was on our new mower.   But, I did get a little bit of a sunburn.  :)  

Saturday night, we went to Menard's and bought all the plywood and 2x4s we needed to complete the interior and exterior of the barn.  

We picked out the track lighting for the interior and priced it.  

Plus, I picked up some other little goodies for me to get crafty with:  

Canvas drop cloths and a new glue gun.  YIPEE! ♥

SUNDAY

Brought tons of work.  I know, I know...  We're not supposed to work on Sundays and as I did, I had mental images of my barn burning down or the grass being fried by the sun.  I'll have to tell y'all the story about my grandpa and his beans sometimes.  

We, as a rule, do NOT work for WAGES on Sundays.  

Bad things happen. 

Really.  

Just ask Scott.  LOL

So while my boys were doing this:

Greyson really doesn't like me taking his picture...  He knows it'll end up on here.  LOL

I did this:

More.  Mowing.

It takes about 2.5 hours to mow our 4.5 acres, not to mention mowing the ditches and weed-wacking everything.  I only handle the mowing and the boys pitch in on all the other stuff.  Thank goodness.  

But I'm not complaining...  

I love to mow! ♥

Thanks to my boys' hard work - and me pitching in at the end of the evening (until like 10 pm) the workshop looked like this:

♥ The south side windows had been reframed 

and covered with plywood in preparation for the house wrap.

♥ The interior walls on both sides were finally 

completely completed with the metal, plywood, and insulation.

♥ And as a bonus, Scott took the time to give me a 

cheesy grin that he knew would wind up on here.  ;)

Sunday night/Early Monday morning was spent: 

~throwing together a very late dinner of cheese quesadillas~ 

~washing two loads of clothes so the kids would have clean clothes for today~ 

~falling asleep on the couch while watching Iron Man~

(Only to wake up at 4 am to throw the second load in the dryer).

Please tell me I'm not the only mom who does this.  :P

I'm T.I.R.E.D and frustrated 

because the workshop at the point where its looking worse before it looks better - and because of all the time we're putting into it...  

The entire yard is suffering.  I hate that part.  :P

But, I know it'll get there.

 Until then, I'll just content myself that the workshop (with its always thumping music) is now the way cool hang out spot.

and at least the yard itself looks good...

Thanks to all the dethatching, fertilizing, and overseeding (link) Scott did earlier this spring.

and the fact that the finches  ♥ their new food.

Because its always good to find the silver lining and be happy with what you've already managed to accomplish. ;)

XO,

Keeping it.... ummmm... REAL.

Have you ever done a craft that no matter what you tried it just wasn't working for you?

Yeah.

I had one of those days.

Two days, actually.

Yesterday.

And today.

I wasted almost two full days on a project that 

I will probably throw in the burn pile.

Really.

See, I found this really cool old wooden thing.

I don't know what it is.

I'm thinking it was a gate.

Ya know...  Before they made swinging ones?

That fit into a gap in a barn stall?

Yeah.

I think that's what it is.

Scott's not here, so I can't ask him.

Anyway...

Here it is:

I found it inside the walls of the barn, when we pulled off the old wood 

to install the insulation and plywood.

And I thought...

This would make a really neat sign.

Like, a welcome sign for my studio.

So, I spent an hour scrubbing off 

a hundred years worth of dried manure and cobwebs.

Waited patiently for it to dry.  

(Okay, I put a fan on it.)

Sanded it a little bit.

while getting my DIY Network fix (at least the afternoon wasn't completely wasted.)

I gave it a wash with ASCP "Pure White".

And then attempted to make the cow parsley like Annie Sloan makes in her book.  

Ya know...  with the torn cereal box strips?

Yeah.

Not as easy as she makes it sound.

Then I hand painted on the word welcome.

And went outside...

Didn't have time to do anything with it because we had YSF Football sign ups and I volunteered to man the check out, so I left it.

Brought it in this morning and thought maybe it just needed a little contrast of darker paint here and there.  

Maybe a little bow...

Yep.

Stared at it.

Took it back inside.

Painted over the horrible hand painted welcome.

Thought I'd try the freezer paper transfer for the first time a'la 

Karin at Art is Beauty.
(click link above to see her awesomeness)

Yeah.

Not as easy as she makes it look either.

(I now have a new profound respect for the stuff she turns out.)

Painted over the wax paper transfer.

Google burlap bows.

Take it outside for the third time.

Yeah.

Stare at it again...  With loathing.

Left it there.

Uploaded the pictures.

Tweaked.

Pic-Monkeyed the death out of it.

Still couldn't make it look good.

Needed a blog post for today.

So, here ya go.

I'm going to take a nap now.  :P

Have a great weekend, y'all.  

I think we're going to have s'mores tonight.  ;)

XO,

Homemade Chalk Paint Recipe

I've had a lot of requests lately for my recipe for my 

Homemade Chalk Paint.

So, I decided just to make a post about it, so I can now refer everyone to a link.  :)

Its actually not my recipe.

It was given to me by Val from 2ndEssence 

and it works like a charm.

So easy.

So simple.  

So cheap.

That's all there is to it.

It adheres to anything.

It doesn't have the initial smoothness of ASCP, 

but it does sand out to a very nice finish.

Its pretty much my go-to when I'm not using ASCP and it was all I used before I made the financial commitment to purchase Annie Sloan's original version.

Here are some examples of the many, many things 

I've painted using this recipe.

It has made re-doing pieces soooooo much easier.  

And inexpensive.

If I had a blog post available for the piece, I provided the link to them.

So you can see the befores and know just what this recipe can do for you.  :)

Dumpy Thrifted Desk

Bland Dining Room Table

Gaudy Gold Mirror

Antique Lady's Writing Desk

Vintage Pine Chimney Cabinet

Daddy's Rocking Chair

Pleather Thrifted Footstool

Vanity Bench

Antique Washstand

Thrifted Ladder

and one with a combination of ASCP and homemade chalk paint - you know, for the project that eats more ASCP than you planned and you're in a little bit of a bind...

China Cabinet

See...  There's just no end to what you can do with it.

And you can mix up all the colors of the rainbow.

So, that's why even though I'm primarily using ASCP now, I don't think I'll ever quit using homemade.

Because, you never know when you just might find a piece of furniture that's telling you to give it its own special color.  ;)

XO,

Junk Jubilee

The text and picture I sent to Scott on Saturday, 

pretty much summed it up...

In heaven here!

And I was.

Des Moines, Iowa 

2nd Annual

Junk Jubilee

via Junk Jubilee on Facebook

A little after 7 am on Saturday morning, my good friend, Sonia and I headed off on a two and a half hour drive in search of fun, crafts, and junk.  And I think I can speak for both of us when I say we definitely found all three.

I was in awe when I first walked into the 4-H Building on the
Iowa State Fair Grounds.  

First impulse?

Just to start buying, buying, buying.

Thankfully, Sonia's cooler head prevailed (she must have seen the manic look in my eyes) and she suggested we try to find the ASCP stockist first and get that necessary purchase out of the way.

Thirty minutes later and we were loaded down with 

4 cans of paint (Old White, Pure White, Coco, and Duck Egg Blue), 

a tin a light wax, 

a color card for future clients,  

Annie Sloan's "Quick and Easy Paint Transformations" book.  

Necessary shopping D.O.N.E.

Now, for the fun stuff!

I really wish I had brought my camera, so I could show you all the wonderful booths that had their wares displayed.  

Such creativity and in some instances, pure genius.  

Although the vendors would probably look at me a little odd, if I was snapping off pictures of their creations.

One thing that kind of took the fun out of it for me was realizing that I can make a lot of the same things.  

Before I found my crafty side, 

I would have been snatching up stuff right and left.  

Its no fun knowing they've already "found" the stuff, probably paid a reasonable price for it, and then marked it up to make a profit.  That kept running through my head a lot.

Guess I'm a certified thrifty junker now.  ;)

So, I just browsed, took mental notes, 

and only picked up a few things that I really wanted.  

I actually came home with quite a bit of money in my pocket and if you know me, you know how rare that is.  

Money tends to eat holes through my pockets.  

You'd think it was made of acid or something.  

As I showed you yesterday, I bought chairs to match 

the oak table that Scott got at the auction on Friday.  

I think the table will sell easier as a set.  

So, it was a total investment purchase and my most expensive one of the day.

And the rest were smalls that I bought totally for the pleasure
looking at them brings me.

You can't tell in the picture, but the cabinet is a lovely aqua blue.  It drew me in the first time I walked by it and I kept thinking about it for the rest of the morning.  

When we walked by it again 4 hours later and it was still there, 

I just went with the impulse to buy it.  

Although I KNOW I could ask Scott to build me a simple cabinet like this one, the apparent age of it is what drew me in.  Its going to be a great place to keep all my crafting supplies, since the chippy cupboard is staying in the house.

I scored three lovely flour sacks, all with the same shade of green writing.  I was also specifically looking for the letter "H" and anything that could spell our name.  

The little type set letters are solid lead and fantastic!

The two large spools are going to make sweet candle holders once I paint them.  And if you've been reading me long enough, you know I'm a total sucker the Blue Ball Jars.  Although this time I did shake it up a bit a buy one Atlas.  ;)  

I think this brings my collection up to seven.  

I'm gunning for twenty.  Or maybe more.  

Yeah.  Probably more.  :D

And my final two purchases that I have to share with you are my most favorite.

I absolutely adore this burlap pillow tied with a tea-stained ribbon and adorned with two fabric rosettes.  And since I can't sew, I was intrigued with how the edges were hand sewn and will be attempting to make a few myself.  

I wanted one I could look at for reference.

And finally, a large metal "H" that will soon find its 

home on the front of the aqua cabinet.  

Even Scott admitted that with its patina, it looked pretty cool.  

If I had been thinking about it, I should have gotten two P's for Prairie Patina and the "H" could have stayed in the house.  

Oh well, there's always next time.

So, I cannot wait until the workshop is done and I can start displaying some of this stuff.  

And I can't believe how much I am looking forward to hunting for more.

Sonia and I had an absolutely fantastic time and 

I can't wait until we can go to something else like this.

And next time, Sonia...

You're buying more than a metal letter!

;)

XO,

Auction Awesomeness

In yesterday's blog post, I mentioned that Scott had bought me lots of goodies at an auction this weekend.  

What I didn't tell you is that he went to two.  

Yep.  

Two.

We had so much fun together and with some new friends of ours.  

I can't wait to do it again.

Here's what we got:

Don't worry.

You know I'll give you the break down.

;)

First up is a couple of pieces that I wanted personally.

I'd been wanting a small table and chair set to go in the south end of my living room, so the kids to have a place to eat their snacks and stay off the couch.  ;)  This fit the bill perfectly.  Scott kind of got a little miffed and told me to let him do the bidding because he thought I gave too much for it.  LOL

Then we bid on a farm-style hutch, but it went too high.  

But, we got the second one.

Its got great bones, is very sturdy, and has a working interior light. 

The doors and drawers work flawlessly.  

It'll get a Prairie Patina treatment, some new hardware, 

and will be up for sale in probably a month.

If you're local and would like me to 

custom paint it for you, let me know.  

I'd be happy to do so.  :)

I didn't even realize he got this next purchase for a song...

I had Greyson stand behind it and hold it up, since the ground isn't level.  LOL  

Its missing the door, but I'm seeing chicken wire.  The face is going to get a burlap and paint treatment.  It runs, has all the weights, and the pendulum.  

It'll be the perfect addiction to someone's shabby country decor when I get done with it.

Now, the next purchase was the one I was ecstatic about.  

So much so that Scott gave me a look to pipe down.  HA HA HA  

Guess you're not supposed to show how thrilled you are when you win something.  

Oh well, who knew there was such strict auction etiquette.  :P

Is she not the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen???!!!

I'm really going to hate selling her.

Flawless condition.  And look at those details!  However, I had to promise Scott that I would indeed sell her, if he won her for me.  

Poo.

Then, he really started to get on a roll.  

We were in the antique section and he was after everything.  

So much so that I told him to stop bidding because I had enough to keep me busy for the next month.  

LOL  

I had popped outside to make a phone call to check on the children, 

while he won this table.

The chairs I bought this weekend at Junk Jubilee, specifically to make it a set.    

I think they're getting a paint job.

A little more distressed than I'd like, but perfect to complete the set.  

And the final item we won, I was super happy over.

I tried to talk Scott into letting me keep it for Eva, but he reminded me that we were buying to sell, not to keep.  

Something tells me I'm going to have trouble remembering that a lot.  He'll keep me on the straight and narrow though.  LOL

And now for the second auction he went to...

Yes.

There's more. 

Believe it or not.

Our school district just recently opened our new middle school in August, so they auctioned off lot of stuff from the old junior high.  A friend called to remind me, but Sonia and I were already on our way to Junk Jubilee in Des Moines.  So, I called Scott real quick and asked him if he wanted to stop over and see if there was anything we could get for my workshop.

And he did.  

Somehow, he and three other men lugged this solid wood cabinet down from the third story and loaded it into our trailer.

Its totally perfect to store all my paint and supplies.  

Price?  

$5.00!  

Can you believe that????

Then, he scored this metal table for a DOLLAR.  

I'm serious.

And also this wood desk for a dollar.

He bought it with idea for it to go out in the workshop, but I'm thinking of covering those holes, topping it with barn wood, giving it a little shabby paint, and using it for a sofa table.  

I think that would totally rock.  

The legs are solid wood, but the top is veneer, so it would totally work.  I tried to buy 5 or 6 more by e-mailing the jr. high principal, but they were all sold.  

Darn.  :P

So, did my hubby not do good or what?  

I am so very thankful for him and sometimes I have to pinch myself that all this is happening.

Here's a picture of him in action yesterday:

We got all the metal on the ceiling and he must have drilled three hundred screws in - and we're not even close to having all of them in that need to be.  

Twelve hours yesterday.  

Whew.

I videoed him last night measuring and drilling.  

You can see how tired he looks - and preoccupied, 

but he still gave me a thumbs up. 

Although when I showed him the video later, he said he didn't remember doing it.  

Poor guy.  

I have never met anyone with the work ethic of my husband - 

and I am so blessed by it.

So, we're hard at work in every spare moment trying to get the workshop done.  I can't wait to fill it worth furniture.  We've already got a good start on that...

 as well as items that inspire me - like the few things I bought at Junk Jubilee with Sonia on Saturday...  but that's tomorrow's post.

Until then, y'all...

XO,