King of the Castle

When we had our booth at McKinney Trade Days, I bought an old flour sack from one of the vendors. It was stained and dirty, and I had plans to turn it into a pillow. Unfortunately, it was necessary to wash the stains out, and the dyes bled a bit when I did. Despite that, after a good washing, it looked better any way.

So, I sucked it up and ironed the sack until it was crisp and wrinkle-free. Then it sat on top of my washing machine for a few weeks.

Today, I finally found a soft feather pillow (fairly large at 19" x 19") that fit the width of the sack.

So, after some pinning and cutting and sewing, I finally have a pretty cool, one of a kind pillow!!


As with just about everything I make, this one is for sale in my Etsy shop if you are interested!

My Latest Hang Up

I bought this old pulley at Canton Trade Days. It was dry and ugly. But I had big plans for it. I brought it home and sanded it down to bare wood. Then I stained it using Minwax brush-on stain in dark walnut. When it was dry, I polyed the entire piece, wood and metal.

I found a bracket at WalMart that is meant to used with hanging plants. The small wheel on the bottom of the pulley (where a rope would normally wind) was a perfect fit.


The large hook is now where I hang my hand towel by the sink.


Thinking outside the box for your household decor is fun and unusual--try it!

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy holidays to everybody!! I hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas with your family!

It's Like a Puzzle

1. Old green gear2. old barn fan3. old shutter or barn wood or maybe a clear acrylic top....(undecided as of yet)

no picture at this time

The result will be a pieced-together coffee table. The wood will have a hole drilled through the center so that the fan shaft can go through. The green gear will go on top of the wood, welded to the shaft, so that you can turn the gear and thus cause the fan blades to spin underneath. Ahhhh. A breeze for your feet. Just what we need in the Texas summer!


I will post a picture of the finished product in January when I get around to completing it!!

Enlightenment

My hubby and I looooooove industrial furniture and we found these amazing lamps at auction a few months ago. I have purchased alot of parts at Canton and estate sales, and I will soon be making some just like them!!!!

Prize Worthy

These are easy to make--the hard part is finding the horse ribbons!

I bought the oval frames at a garage, and simply removed the glass and sanded off the original brown stain. Then I sprayed on a Kilz primer. After an hour, I sprayed on a coat of antique white paint. I went back later and applied a swipe or two of walnut stain as a glaze. It goes on dark, but after some rubbing, it fades to a nice glaze finish.
Once the frames were painted, I used the back of the frames to cover with cotton batting and a natural-colored cotton duck. I just hot glued the batting and the fabric on. Then, refasten the backing to the picture frame.
As a decorative embellishment, I hot glued on some vintage millinery velvet flowers to the top of each frame.
Pin the horse ribbons in place and hang!!

Instant wall decor for that horse lover in your family!

Mean Green

I purchased a green cabinet at Canton First Monday last spring. I loved the beautiful green paint and the wooden latches and the gate hardware. My husband, Aaron, couldn't see why in the world I just had to have it!! He kept asking me where I thought I was going to put it!

It was originally a mechanic's cabinet from an old shop in Texas.

It sat in my garage for months and months. Finally, I found a welder in town who made a base for it.

Now it is an amazing side table. And one of Aaron's favorite pieces of furniture!