Shopping the Farm. Again.

Just when I think I've scavenged all I possibly can from our farm

I find more!

Look at that old tool box! It needs some TLC, which I was more than prepared to give it, but my husband claimed it.(Which is probably fair since it was his family's farm. But I might go scout things out on my own next time.)

I thought this looked like an old movie film reel, but it's probably part of a pulley system.

These little oil cans were a fun find. I love that yellow one.

 The old cabinet door has the best old hinges. Just the right amount of rust.
I think it would make a good hand painted sign. 
Did you find anything good this weekend?

Thanks for reading!

My Laundry Room

This really is my favorite room in our house. Our master bath is a close second. 

(In fact, they sometimes trade spots.)

The thing I really like about this room is that I got to choose  every. single. thing.

in it. 

(And I like it all, except for one thing, and you'll see that at the end.)

No hand me downs. No ugly but useful things you have to keep.

Lots of vintage stuff.
I wish I had before pictures. We did this room before I started blogging.

Let's start on our immediate left.

Yup. It's a garbage can.

Woohoo!

The laundry room is really just a small room off the kitchen, no door. 

I have to keep it here. I thought it might as well be cute if we had to see it.

Then we have the washer and dryer. 

With this old door/shelf above it. (I have a thing for old 5 paneled doors) The door was exactly the right size to fit in that spot. 

Another thing that just works out.
The buckets hold cleaning supplies.

And the laundry hamper. I made the liner a little too small, and the clothespins help keep it in place. Some day I'll sew a band of coordinating fabric around the edge so it will stay put without the clothespins. (that keep popping off)

The small door above the hamper opens up in our master bath. That way I don't have to carry the dirty laundry all the way around the house. 

This little container is supposed to be a salt cellar. I use it to hold laundry supplies that aren't so photogenic,like stain stick. 

(oops! There's the stain stick!) 

The curtain hides the water heater. I made the curtain from a cheap Walmart sheet. I hung it from some old coat hooks.

I love those coat hooks.

Then we have this little enameled metal cabinet and my laundry rack.

The cabinet holds things like garbage bags, cleaning supplies and matches.

The rack is one of the handiest things I've ever made. 

We use it a lot.

When we aren't using it

it can fold up flat against the wall.

Right next to the laundry rack is the door to our mudroom.

My husband did all the trim around the door.

I love that style.

And this is the entire room.

(I do NOT like the medallion above the light fixture. I bought it because it was the only one the store had. I'm still looking for something better.) 

And that concludes the tour!

(Tips for the tour guide can be left at the front desk before you leave.)

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
 

Things Just Have a Way of Working Out

I had another post ready to go for today, but for some reason I kept feeling like I should post something else, and this is it.

My father in law always used to tell me that time fixes everything, and that things have a way of working out.

(He was an awesome guy, and I really miss him.)

As I get older, I can see that things really do have a way of working out.

In big ways and in small ways. 

For instance, this tablecloth.

 I got it at an estate sale. I didn't have a place for it, but I thought it was really pretty. I love the crocheted lace on the ends.

See how perfectly it fits the table?

I got the table a full year and a half after I bought the tablecloth.

It fits like it was made for it.

And these drawers.

I was a little bummed that the drawer pulls didn't match. Then my brother, who gave me the drawers, wrote and asked if I wanted to trade the silver pulls for some of his brass ones. 
(um, YEAH!) 

And Friday, I took this girl 

to tour a university wants to attend this fall, only to find out that the department she was interested in was already full. But the right admission counselor had the right answer for her. She's going to take a semester of business classes, then start her program next spring. Since her goal is to own her own business, it's a perfect solution. She's actually excited about the accounting classes.

And then after a disappointment this weekend, I was feeling kind of low. 

Discouraged and really down.

And you know what?

I've won three giveaways this week!

THREE!

It didn't fix the disappointing situation, but I sure felt a heck of a lot cheerier.

So anyway. I'm kind of rambling. But I do believe that we all have someone looking out for us. I know I do.
Sometimes it's like things just fall into my lap and the feeling that there's someone (I believe it's God) pulling strings for me is hard to deny.

I just believe that things have a way of working out.
And I'm grateful for all of it~the big things and the small things.

Have a great day!

 

I'm Mad at My Amaryllis

But before I tell you why, I'm going to ask for a favor. Please, please, PLEASE
 will you change your settings so I can reply to your comments by e-mail? I feel so bad when someone asks a question and I have no way of answering it, except for here in the comments. I don't think that's very effective, since I know I never go back and check the comments after I've already commented. If you don't know how to change your settings, click here.


So back to the amaryllis.
It won't bloom.

It won't even grow! 

I planted it 4 weeks ago. I watered it. I put it in a sunny spot. 

Nothing.

Nada.

And I was really looking forward to having it bloom. It's supposed to be pink.

I'm not ready to give up on it yet, so I moved it to my kitchen windowsill. 

But I was still bummed that I wouldn't have anything blooming, so I gathered some supplies.

This isn't a new or original idea, but I think it's a pretty good one.

Some branches, some silk flowers with really little blooms, and

 my trusty crusty glue gun.

Pop the flowers off their stems, and start gluing!

I tried to glue some on from every angle, and I made the bottom blossoms bigger and closer together than the top ones. These flowers came in two layers, so I just used more little flowers layers to make the blooms bigger, and used only one layer for the top blooms that I wanted to be smaller.

I also clustered more flowers on the bottom pretty thick.

The results were more realistic looking than I expected.

I put them in the pot that last years amaryllis came in. (and that one was gorgeous, unlike this year's slacker.)

 It's something more fun to look at than a shriveled up old bulb.

(Stupid amaryllis)

 I put it here~the hardest place in the house to photograph.

 Thanks for reading!

Meet My New BFF

Paint pens! 

Have you used them?

HOLY MOLY do they make life easier!
 I used one to make a sign yesterday.

I used this piece of wood that came out of an old five panel door that fell apart.

I sanded it, cleaned it up, and stained it.

Then I had this. I printed off what I wanted on to be on the sign, and then

I positioned the words onto the sign and taped them in place.

I used a ball point pen and lots of pressure to trace the letters.

That left indents in the wood that I filled in with the paint pen.

This would only work on soft wood. Check your wood first before you decide to use this method. 

Before you use the paint pen, there are two things~

You have to press the tip of the paint pen onto a piece of paper before you use it, and make sure you hold the pen upright before you take the cap off. It can splatter. After you're pressed the tip of the paint tip down and the paint is flowing, you're good to go.

(I'm not going to show you that part. I didn't want to mess up the sign with the paint pen in one hand and my camera in the other.)

The lettering was too white for me (because all I could find was a white paint pen. And no, you can't see the sign yet. I'm building some anticipation here. I want drama!) so I glazed the whole thing with some gel stain.

That I watered down.

And here it is! I need some practice, but this was such a fun way to make a sign that I'll be making more.

The grain was raised on the wood, probably because it got really wet when I washed it. I sanded the letters lightly so that would show.

I hung it above my chalkboard.

I thought it would look cute with the clock plates. 

Thanks for reading!

Nantuckit Furniture

Some readers have asked where I got the chairs

 and sofa in my living room.

 I ordered them online from Nantuckit Furniture Company almost 4 years ago.
I was a little nervous about ordering what was, for us, some very large ticket items.
I saw their adds in Country Living, and I'd read some good things about them. And since I couldn't any slip covered furniture locally, I took a leap of faith and ordered from them. (The fact that they had a special on shipping when I ordered helped me make up my mind, too.)

They turned out to be an awesome company.
They were very nice on the phone, even when
 I dithered for weeks on what fabric to use for the slipcovers after they sent swatches.

I got something washable, since I HATE steam cleaning upholstery.  
(it's worse than cleaning the fridge.)
 I ordered down filled cushions, which I love on the sofa but don't love so much on the chairs. I think since the chair cushions are smaller, it doesn't make much of a difference in comfort, but the down bunches up in the front of the cushions. I don't like how it looks so I'm always beating the cushions back into shape.
I wash the slipcovers 3 or 4 times a year.

I'd like to order more slipcovers this year. Something for summer. 
They have a good selection of fabrics.
These caught my eye.

But I'm sure I'll have to dither for a few months before I make up my mind.

Overall, I'm very happy with my furniture, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy more from them.

Have you ever bought furniture online?