WWW - This Week's Finished Project

For the past few days I have been working on refinishing a bread box that I purchased from Goodwill last week. I didn't get a before picture, but it looked brand new. It is a Kamenstein bread box that had a natural wood finish. I'm sure you've all seen these. I paid $5.00 for it. I thought that was a bargain. Well I got out my trusty can of black spray paint and started working on it outside. It would have been finished much sooner, but when you get home from work late and with the windy spring days we've been having lately it took more time to accomplish. It's finally finished and I have it on my kitchen counter waiting to use.




I wish I had one of those spray can adapters that Janene showed us this week.)

If you read my sister Deb's blog today, she mentioned how she cannot work on just one project at a time. She always has several projects going at once. Well I guess it's a family trait, because I am the same way. I have so many things going on at once, sometimes I can't focus on what I should be doing next. I still have my six kitchen chairs to finish (the table is done and waiting for the matching chairs.) I purchased my fabric to reupholster the seats but won't be able to do that until I finish painting them.

I made a prairie bonnet and hung it on my shaker peg board shelf today. One more empty peg to hang something from. What will I do next..........?




One last thing I worked on today. I was trying to make some homemade soap. I think I need alot more practice. If anyone has a special soap recipe they want to share, please let me know. This is a picture of some lavendar soap I made using a basic hand-milled soap recipe. I'm waiting for it to set up in the molds before I unmold them.




The other soap is a pomegranate scented glycerine soap made in one of the molds that I used to make pantry cakes. They were the perfect soap size pans.




To see what others have worked on today for Whatch Workin on Wednesday, go to Leslie's blog at My Country Home.

Wall Shelf Makeover

This is a 48 inch shelf and painting that my daughter had bought at a craft fair. She offered them to me because she no longer had room for them in her new home. The shelf's original finish was a light pine stain. I repainted it black and primmed it up by sanding the edges, then rubbed on some walnut stain, followed by a light coating of paste wax to finish it up. I hung the shelf in my hallway and decorated it with the black prairie doll (this is the doll I have listed on Etsy, prairie dress, and herb ditty bag that I made. Then I added a few other decorative items. I had purchased the little basket from a thrift store, and the pip berry wreath I bought at the last craft fair I attended. I have a pattern to make a prairie bonnet that I also want to add to one of the pegs, so this is still a project in the works.

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

I've been feeling left out of the loop because I haven't been able to participate in "Whatcha Working on Wednesday" because I work all day. I guess it's better to be late than never, so I'm submitting this project now for WWW.

Almost every evening I work on cross stitching while hubby watches TV. I've been working on this Thanksgiving piece for about a week. I was thinking about possibly using it for the bib on a vintage type apron. The stitching is almost finished. I'll try to post the finished item next week.

Go to Leslie's blog to see what other bloggers are working on.

Vintage Bears for Sale and Kitchen Table Update

My daughter is in the process of downsizing her collection of vintage bears. She asked me if I would list them on eBay for her. There are two Bearington Bears and one Boyd's Bear for sale. Click on the "My eBay" in the right sidebar to go to my eBay page. They would make a great Mother's Day gift.

I haven't posted anything on by blog during this past week. It's not that I'm getting lazy, but I'm trying to finish projects that I had started. I am finished working on repainting my kitchen table but still have to finish repainting the six chairs to match. What a long process it is when you work days and have to wait for the many coats of paint and poly to dry. I'm not going to post a picture until I'm completely finished. I still have to find a fabric to reupholster the seat cushions. Does anyone know a good on-line fabric store that sells upholstery fabric? I'm not having much luck in my area. My only fabric store around here is Joann's and they don't really have any "prim" fabrics on their upholstery racks. I made a "prim" prairie dress that I will be hanging on my peg board shelf that my daughter donated to me this weekend. I also made a small embroidered herb ditty bag which will hand on one of the pegs. I need to repaint the shelf in my favorite black paint. You'll see a photo when it's finished.

Yesterday my daughter Jenn and I went to Buckler's Craft Fair. It's a country craft fair that travels around the southern states throughout the year. They come to the Fort Myers area four times a year. They always sell such wonderful country/primitive items. We were disappointed with this one. There were not as many vendors as we've seen in previous years. I guess the economy is having an effect on crafters also. Needless to say, I only purchased a pip-berry candle ring which I will also hang from my peg board. Usually I would find unique wooden items such as peg board shelves, quilt racks, wood cabinets, etc., but this time nothing drew my attention. Even the handmade quilt vendor was not there.

Well it's time to get out my paint brush again. Then maybe I'll downsize some of my crafting supplies that are taking up all the room in my sewing room closet and list them on eBay today also. I'm looking at a large plastic container filled with Christmas ribbons that I had bought to make bows for glass block lights a couple of years ago. If anyone has any use for them, check out my eBay later today. They are perfect for Christmas wreath bows.



Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Look who hopped in today

When I first saw the Jack Rabbit designed by Tammy at Rock River Stitches, I just had to have one for my spring display. I asked Tammy to let me know if she would be selling more of them and she agreed to make one especially for me. He arrived in the mail today and he is such a handsome little guy. Check out Tammy's blog. She makes some wonderful primitives and sells them on Etsy and her own website. She also sells her own patterns on Patternmart. Thank you Tammy. He is precious!

I found a treasure!!!!

I was browsing around the local Kiwanis Thrift Store last Thursday, just wasting a few minutes before I had to be at my dental appointment. I came upon this old black box decorated with strawberry decals. It looked like something that I could repaint and "prim up". At the same time I was wondering what this would have been used for. It had a $3.00 price sticker on the outside. Should I take a peek inside?



Are you ready?



I hit the mother load of vintage recipe clippings and handwritten recipe cards. As a collector of cookbooks - both old and new, I could not pass up this treasure. At the same time it reminded me of a blog posting I had seen a couple of weeks ago. Someone had taken an old handwritten recipe and framed it in an old reused picture frame. I told myself "I can do that too". So here is what I did with one of the typed recipes in the collection that was obviously a treasure to someone years ago.



What a perfect way to use up some of the old picture frames we always seem to pick up during our Goodwill shopping sprees.

Bathroom Shelf Redo

IN THE BEGINNING
THE END RESULT

This is the "during" and "after" photo of the shelf I refinished for my guest bathroom. It still needs another "needful thing" added, perhaps a prim candle.

I made a jar of handmade soap balls yesterday to add the display, thanks to Lisa from Primitives From Above. Her recipe is so easy and inexpensive. I already had the oatmeal and soap on hand, then I used a recycled spaghetti sauce jar and attached my own handmade coffee-stained label and topped it with homespun and a jute string. Although it still needs a little more tweaking, I'm happy with the way it turned out.

How thrifty is that? I only paid $5.99 for the shelf.

It's spring.....almost time to start planting

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I've been spending any free time I have working on refinishing my kitchen table and chairs.

I'll be working on my table again this morning, but in between coats of paint and adding the final coats of poly, I'll be working on these other projects as well - more thrift store finds that I will be refinishing. I didn't get a before picture of the wall shelf, but it was painted with a white gloss paint. I plan to hang this in my guest bath when finished. The other item is a spice rack which I will be primming up also. I've been looking for some vintage spice jars to add to it when done. I saw some on eBay but I think I'll check out Goodwill first.

Bathroom wall shelf



Spice Rack

I keep talking about my table. Maybe I should show a before picture. As you see from the picture the finish looked horrible. After sanding down to the bare wood I stained the top and I still am not very happy with the results. It looks too blotchy with areas that did not accept the stain. I painted the table legs in black, so I will probably just repaint the entire table top in black also to match the legs. Then I will be repainting my six chairs and reupholstering the seats. I'm still looking for a fabric to use for the seats.

Check back later to see the results.

BEFORE


In the meantime, I found some time to make a primitive doll that fits in perfectly with the title of this posting........almost time to start planting. This 20" doll is ready to go out in the garden to start planting her seeds. I just listed her on etsy.