The Linen Rack

The decision was made to put the stain on the new linen rack. So it is a tad darker than it was before. Of course I had Steve put the hangers on the back and hang my shelf. I uh wanted it to be even on the wall and not on a down hill slope. LOL I really like how it turned out. Be aware the wall is not done yet, but I wanted to share where I put it.



Yeah yeah I don't like the wire either from the lantern, but I'm not going to direct wire it here at the rental. Anyway, I have not showed you my linen stash that I have. Holy moley!!!! This is only a few of the many that I have. Most of them are doilies that are too country, but they were all handmade by my family so I keep them. I picked out a few that I LOVE and OK forgot I had. LOL. The crochet table cloth (I think) hanging in the back I bought many years ago really cheap. I thought I had gotten rid of it, but I found it in the back of my closet. Imagine that I actually found something in MY closet. Girls you have no idea how much stuff I have shoved in my bathroom closet.







I took some other pictures of the rest of the linens but they didn't turn out. It is late and I don't want to go flipping on lights in the hall to take pictures and wake up my kids. (Yes I'm typing this Wednesday night and it will post today Thursday while I'm at work.) I will retake pictures in the daytime and re post them.

Next, on the agenda is to get my bowls hung. I am having the hardest time deciding on where I want them. Living room or kitchen???? hmmmm...

I had a question posed to me last week while I was in one of my favorite shops that has got me thinking. I was talking to a fabulous lady, who LOVES prim as much as me, and she has been following my blog. She says she's addicted to reading all of our blogs. LOL. Anyway, you know who you are ;-) She asked me if I would have a crafting day at my house every month or so. She asked if I would be willing to teach simple projects. You know painting techniques, stitching, or whatever. Just a way for ladies to get together and have fun, craft, eat, and socialize. Almost like the scrapbook ladies and stamping up ladies do. I think this is a fabulous idea. Even if only a few of us get together on a Saturday and craft it would be so much fun. Right now I'm aiming towards the end of March as I have a lot going on in February. If any of you girls who live near Wayne County would like to join us drop me a line. The more the merrier. LOL. Obviously I'll post more later about the projects we will be doing.

Oh and a clarification on my last post. The pitcher is not peeling it is just the way it is worn that makes it look like it was peeling at one point. It is just the patina. I looked on the bottom and it is real pewter according to the stamp.

I am trying to catch up on blog reading, but when I'm at work all I have is my phone and for some reason I can't leave comments on some of your blogs. Rest assured though I am reading. There have been some awesome tutorials lately that I've seen thank you for posting them ladies.

A New Creation and Flea Market Find

This past weekend was my Saturday to work and for my kids to be with their Dad. I don't get much done over these weekends except laundry and cleaning now and again. Well it happened that here in my neck of Ohio it sorta warmed up... ok upper 40s and it was raining. We were actually in a flood watch. Steve looks at me on Sunday (my day to get things done) and says what do you want to do today? He says wanna go to the flea market and antique shop? Now how can I turn that down girls? Well sure let's go. I only found one thing to purchase. Of course I found a lot I wanted, but most of it I can't afford. LOL. I will show you what I did buy later. We then went to Bishop's. For those who read my blog near Wayne County you know Bishop's. They have the BEST onion rings. It is just a little place on the outskirts of town on State Rt 30 & State Rt 57. Yummy!!!!! I always digress for food. LOL. Anyway, we decided it was to cold and rainy to go anywhere else. So back to my home we went.

As I sat on my duff for most of the rest of my day I decided I was bored. Out to the garage I went to look through my scraps of wood. Whenever Steve makes me stuff he keeps the scrap because you never know when you might reuse it. Ho hum... boards the right length for signs. No... that's not what I wanna make. Hmmm.... my upstairs hallway needs some pizazz. I got nothin on the walls except for a lantern on my candle shelf my daughter keeps knocking off on to the floor. What to make what to make... a table will stick out to far. She knocks stuff off of shelves. (I know you are asking yourself how does anyone knock stuff off of walls?) Well, my kid is not really awake in the mornings and sometimes at night she isn't watching and walks to close to walls. She continually knocks their school pictures off the stair wall. So I must be very careful what I put there. Hmmmm.... what's this??? This just might work... (my car was actually washed and waxed the night before by a guy at work woohoo!!!!)



With a little Steve magic (ok his tools and strength) notice I didn't say his idea??? This was my idea (alright I confess the back boards were his idea so we can hang it) and my paint magic... LOL



See what it is yet???? Yep you guessed it a linen rack... Now this is not the true color... It is black with a dry rubbed bamboo on it. It is more of a green/tan. I'm still deciding whether or not to rub stain on it or not.





Now I just need to hang it tonight after I decide about the stain.

The only thing I bought at the flea market was this little pewter pitcher. You all know I am a sucker for pewter. I would really like to find a few more plates, but I haven't seen any for a long time. This little baby was $2.00. It is peeling and there is a dent, but I don't care it looks used and that's what I want.



Now off to get a few things done like start on my swap. I have some ideas, but just haven't started yet. Grrrr... hmmmm what will she like. ;-) Blue maybe??? Many of you know who I'm talking about. If not skip on over to Char's and find out. Otherwise I need to make some phone calls and schedule some appointments then meeting Steve for lunch.

The Goodwill Reveal

Remember when I told you in my last post I had bought something at the thrift store for $5.25 after much debate? It was the item that was still there after the weekend that I thought about it. Well, it is done thanks to Steve. I really wanted to do it, but he was excited and wanted to see it done.

So... the before

Nice bright and shiny gold...ewwwwwwww



So Steve tried to straighten out the arms so that it sat straight on the table and ended up breaking one of the welds. I was mad and walked out of the room. Uh hello please be a little more careful with my high dollar items here. LOL. Anyway, he fiddled around with it and got out some JB Weld (or something like that) that is a liquid weld and smeared it on to fix the arm. It had to sit for 24 hours before anything could be done. While I was at work the next day he sanded up the light to prepare for paint. Out to the garage it went for painting... The next day after work he stopped at the prim store here in town in search of new light bulbs which he bought. He hung my light and decided the bulbs were to dim for the dining room. So back in the bright bulbs went.

So the reveal... tada... I still need to darken the white plastic sleeves or find new candle looking ones to complete it. But I love this more "colonial" look for the dining room.





Other than that not much going on except Steve and I have decided to be "in a relationship" as they call it on Facebook LOL. And yes I'm on Facebook if you wanna be my friend email me and we'll get hooked up. It feels corny calling someone your boyfriend again. LOL. Unfortunately, though what I thought would happen is happening on the new fire department I'm on. I am being scouted out by the men on the department. I've had two ask me out. I thought I made it clear that I was there doing a job not looking for a husband or boyfriend. Uggghhh... I told Steve though what is happening and he seems OK because I told him I never wanted to date another public service person again. Anyway, I need to get going and get something done today since I work tomorrow again.

Goodwill Goodness

I have a confession to make. My New Year's resolution was to not go to the thrift store more than once a month. Well, I broke it. Really did you think the junk (oh wait treasure queen) could do without. I do blame it on my son though. He was really bored on Saturday so I asked him if he wanted to go. He likes to go and look too though he moves a little quicker than I do through the store. I also joined Char's swap so I needed to start looking for my items to redo. We went to one of my favorite stores in the next town over and I picked up these goodies...

They ranged from $.35 to $.50 a piece. I got two more that I'll show you in a minute.



I LOVE the big chunky heavy hoops when I stitch. This baby was $1.00.



And my favorite... not quite real redware, but close enough for me $1.50.



I also was eyeing something else, but didn't buy. I knew I would love it if I redid it. I just couldn't decide whether I should buy it. I thought about it all weekend and after talking with Steve I decided. I can't tell you what it is because I went back today and it was still there and it was meant to be. I bought it for $5.25. I want to wait to show you until I redo it. We also went to the Goodwill on Saturday, but they had absolutely nothing. I also went to another Goodwill today and found two things, but until I decide if I will be giving these to my swap partner I am not going to show them. LOL

Now on to the other two candles I bought... I used the old left over candle wax from a yummy cranberry candle. I used the tin can double broiler method melted it down brushed it on the candles then rolled it in coffee grounds and a mixture of cinnamon and cloves.

They are a baby blue and orange. I know it's hard to tell.



I can laugh at myself here... I just saw the dust on the black wrought iron... LOLOLOL Here they are all redone.





This is a side note on the house. Yes my name is still on the mortgage because I gave him one year to refinance and get my name off of it. This was part of the divorce negotiations. The only thing he (and his girlfriend) wanted was the house. Yes they sent me text messages on my phone saying those exact words. Of course that was fine with me because all I wanted was my kids. Little did I know at the time the divorce was finalized he had already stopped paying. Live and learn. He did ask the mortgage company for a payment modification and is waiting to hear an answer. Until then I risk wage garnishment and telephone calls for collection.

Where Does Time Go

I know it has been awhile since I lasted posted. I have no idea where time went. I planned on posting Wednesday, but I was here and there running around and crafting all day that it just slipped away. So I am hoping you didn't give up on me. LOL.

Back to Wednesday...

I finished my last bowl... if you'll remember this bowl.



It is now this bowl...







Now I am at the point of trying to figure out which ones I want for my wall. Please let me know your opinions. You all know I value them. I, with the help of Steve, will be drilling holes in my bowls this weekend and I only want to do three of them. So please cast your votes.

#1 All 3 of the new ones I just painted...



#2 the top one is a bright green that I will be darkening with stain... if chosen



or #3 same thing as #2 top bowl



I really can't decide so please tell me what you think.

I finally finished hand quilting the blocks of my quilt. After trying to figure out how to do it, and many nights of only a couple blocks at a time, and getting a callous on my thumb it turned out OK. I think. LOL



I now need to decide how to do the borders. I don't want a fancy design obviously. I also don't know how or what to make my lines with to quilt on. I want the lines to wash out obviously. If you have any hints please let me know so I can finish up my fall quilt. LOL. yea yea don't say it I already know. PROCRASTINATOR!!!!!!! LOL



Last night my microwave blew up while my children were here alone. That was a treat to get a call at work from my kids that the microwave is smoking. I have no idea what happened but my son was making microwave mac n cheese with no metal on the bowl. Next thing I know they said it was smoking. They called Steve first(before me) and he told them to unplug it from the wall and open the windows. So they did then went next door to their friends house til I got home from work. I open the door and the container had basically melted and the mac n cheese was black and hard as a rock. The microwave was old and had been acting up so I don't think it was my kids. LOL. But man did it stink in my house. It was worse than burnt popcorn!!!!! So now I have to buy a new one. Oh well, I've seen them pretty cheap at Wal-mart though Steve says he has one in his basement we can use.

OK a little venting. Short and sweet I promise ;-) I just found out the house my ex and I bought (that he is living in) has not had a payment made since September. The bank is calling my job looking for me to make the payments. The property taxes and insurance are paid out of escrow and there is not enough to cover them. I am so angry but my hands are tied and I can't afford the payments either. Looks like foreclosure here we come!!!! GRRR...... and I'm not even living there!!!!!! OK Done... short and sweet.

Home Day Makeover Day

As I told you I am finally off for a day this week. It's back to work tomorrow yuck!!!! The bad thing is we had a snow storm go through last night. It ended up not being as bad as predicted, but still bad enough I drove 35 mph all the way home last night after work. I HATE driving in the snow. I talked with one of my bosses this morning and another one of our ambulances went off the road this morning and had to be pulled out. Many of the schools were cancelled around here except ours. My kids were so mad when I woke them up this morning to go to school. The nice thing is I signed up for a phone alert through our TV station in Cleveland to alert me when our school is actually closed. So no more watching TV just wait for the phone to ring.

Hello winter... out my kitchen window...



If you look closely you will see the sidewalk where we shoveled once..



Anyway, I decided to stay in and clean and do laundry. I hurried through my cleaning so that I could do some crafting and would have something to show you. Later I need to pick up my daughter from school then I have a meeting with the human resource department of the local fire department. Once this is over I am an official member and one of two women on the department. It is only volunteer for the time being so if I show up I do if I don't, I don't. Blah blah blah enough about that.

On to the make over... once again everything was already in my stash. I bought nothing new!!!! 8 days into the year and everything I already had.

Before... not quite my style






After..... prim beautiful!!!!!! Sorry about the glare on the pictures

#1 black, barn red, with raw sienna... and of course dark stain...









#2 barn red, brown with dark stain...









Wait til I decorate with them and I'll take more pictures. Now question to any of you who have your bowls hanging on the wall. Do you have holes in the bowls or do you hang them another way? I've seen some of you had pictures of this but I don't know where to begin to look. I would like to do that with these. Please let me know or send me pics. Thanks so much everyone.

It's a Blustery Kind of Day

Here at the Homestead it has been bitter cold and snowy. We have maybe 4-5 inches of snow on the ground. I thank my lucky stars that I don't live in the Ohio snow belt like some of my readers do. Sorry ladies... I know some of you up in Ashtabula county have 33 inches. It has been snowing here all day the wind is kicking up and it just feels cold. This is my 4th day off in a row and since the kids went back to school I thought I would stay in and start using some of my fabric stash. I have been working on my quilt but my poor fingers are sore and peeling. So I decided it was time to make something else.

Yesterday was an all about Mary day. LOL. I thought all we would be doing was going for breakfast, but to my surprise my son and Steve said we could go wherever I wanted. YYYIIIPPPEEEE!!!! But to my dismay no camera. No laughing but we went to the Country Pride restaurant at the TA truck stops. They have a great buffet on the weekends. Of course my son loves looking at the "big rigs" coming in and out too. We finished up a bit before noon and decided to head towards Medina, Ohio. Of course along the way were two antique stores that didn't open until noon. We decided we could hit them on the way back home. So onward we go to the outskirts of Medina to a wonderful Colonial store called Primitive Keepings. I wish I would have had my camera but here is their website to enjoy. www.primitivekeepings.com. I have decided I need a bigger house and need to be rich. LOL. I could have taken one of everything, but bought nothing. Steve couldn't believe the prices on the furniture and is making plans to build some things we saw and sell them much cheaper. I could see the wheels turning and the smoke rising from his head. LOL. Off we went to the Tractor Supply Store for the boys to look around and to Wal-mart for some needed supplies. So then we got back to the two antique stores and once again wish I had my camera. One of the vendors was there trying to sell me a wonderful blue antique cabinet for 20% off. Still out of my price range but they had some beautiful stuff. I saw lots of pewter but the prices were a bit steep. The once place had a whole back of the store full of old wood and windows and doors. BUT they were all sold!!!!! GRRRR... Anyway again I bought nothing. Aren't you proud of me? Last stop was the Seville Antique shop. I haven't been there in a long time. Oh my!!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much good stuff they had. I was in heaven. On the way out was a couple who was talking to the shop keeper and I happen to overhear the conversation. They were talking about the Judy Condon books and I said that there was a new one coming out and the man turned and said I know and I have all the rest of them. As the conversation went on the lady turned and said I'm just getting ready to send some of my pictures to Judy in hopes of being in one of her books. She showed me the envelope all addressed ready to go. Who knows maybe I'll see their home in future issues.

Anyway, I saw some beautiful settle benches yesterday that were awesome. Some of them had cushions so Steve and I decided mine needed a cushion too. So this morning I found some awesome material measured, cut and sewed a cushion and another pillow case to match.

The pictures don't show the true color. It is a linen type cloth that is a brown color. I wanted to stuff it with rags or saw dust, but I didn't have enough of either so I settled on stuffing. Lumpy stuffing that my sister used for Halloween in my nephews Mr. Potato head costume.





Ummm... the easiest pillow sham ever. I used the left over fabric from the cushion and a pillow form I already had. This is my new seating area for stitching. Can't show you all of it yet.



I wanted to work on a few more projects, but Steve didn't leave the heat gun here. Do you think he did that on purpose? LOL. He never knows what I'm going to get into while he is not here. I already told him he had to show me how to use the power tools and that I was going to make something. He told me to draw up the plans and that he would help me. No I can't tell you yet what it is, but I'm excited. Oh and the living room and dining room decorating is just about done. I'll try to get pics soon. Hope you have a great Monday and I work the next three days so I won't be back til Friday.

Bathroom Makeover

I didn't post yesterday due to the fact I was taking my Christmas decorations down and putting them away. I am working on redecorating my living room and dining room so no pictures of that yet. However, since my last post I have decided to "Be happy with what I have" and redecorate my bathroom. Everything you will see I already had in my stash of stuff. It is not completely done and I have ideas of what I want, but it will wait until I get me other areas livable again. LOL.

Now imagine your bedroom closet... you know how big that is right? Well, my downstairs bathroom off of my kitchen is not much bigger. It is probably five ft by five ft (57 inches by 67 inches per my son). I can stand in the middle and touch both walls at the same time. LOL. So obviously pictures aren't easy to take. I did the best I could.

This is before... I never took the time to decorate it even though I have been here a year. I thought that if I didn't decorate it that I wouldn't be staying here for that long. So, now that I have come to terms with the fact we will be here for awhile it is time.

That closet is my kitchen gadget storage. Nothing like thinking your mixer and electric skillet is in the bathroom. LOL. I wanted to paint the room, but I couldn't wait that long to decorate it. So I washed down the walls and began to decorate. I actually did it the day of my last post.







Like the fan in the ceiling it has never worked since I moved in.



Pretty boring huh? And yes the door barely closes without hitting the sink.

Now on to the after... I normally DO NOT do themes in rooms, but I decided to do something out of the ordinary. HMMMMM imagine that me out of the ordinary. LOL.

I have had this in my basement for a long time. As many of you know I am not into hearts anymore. So keep an eye on this piece in other photos.



Of course a picture with the lights off. LOL.



OK you can see better now. Sorry about the ugly green towel. I didn't think about it being there when I took the picture.



I know I said I don't like hearts. I need to look through some more of my stuff and replace the candle holder. I think I want a little light or something.



I'm trying to get the whole wall for you to see, but the bathroom just isn't big enough so I broke it down in the next pictures.



So here is the new window. I saw something like it in a Country Sampler I think where someone had it in there bedroom. But I thought this looked good here.





This was a tought shot. I was actually sitting on my toilet(no not doing that LOL) taking this picture. This is behind the door in the corner. There is no better way to take this picture. Not sure I like it yet especially the candle holder, but I am still working on the dining and living room so more than likely it will move around a few times.



I too saw this somewhere either in a magazine or book or in one of your homes. I can't remember and couldn't find it again when I was looking. Only the quilt was hanging on a door where ever I saw it. I'll have to show you how I have it rigged up in another post.



Like I said it isn't done and I have a few more things to add to the walls. I'd like to do some Americana (or as Steve calls it my patriotic room lol) stitcheries for in there. We shall see how long it takes for me to get them done. It's OK I have time!!!! OK I apologize for the spelling mistakes for some reason my spell check isn't working today.