January 28, 2010



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One World One Heart Giveaway

In honor of OWOH and the Grand Opening of my new selling blog I am offering a set of primitive bowl fillers. This set includes 4 homespun hearts, each with a button tufted in the center. This set also includes a punch needled heart with a plaid homespun back. I have stitched a twine hanger to each heart so you have the option of using them as tree ornaments or removing the hanger to use in your favorite old bowl. As a surprise I am including one additional punch needled ornament which you won't get to see unless you win my drawing.

I only have 2 rules for you to follow to enter my drawing.

1 - You must have a blog account as this is a blog event

2 - You must leave a comment on this blog by February 15

then be sure to click on the pink ticket above to check out the other blog giveaways in this massive and wonderful event.

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Be sure to check out the Grand Opening of my selling blog at http://www.willowridgeprimitives.blogspot.com/

January 09, 2010

Before and Afters

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Before and After's

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These are just a couple of the before and after's I worked on just before Christmas but didn't get around to posting. The little triangular table cost me a whopping $17.00 at Somewhere In Thyme (antique/ re-sale shop). The size and shape of the table were a perfect fit for my space but the maker fell WAY short when it came to the finish. I gave a good sanding, staining, and matt finish and added the pine top to give it a new life.

The little candle holder is faux pewter (sounds so much better than fake, LOL) that I got for $1.00 and the little tin box was all of .25 cents.

We put in a 9 ft bay area when we moved in 1 1/2 yrs ago. We couldn't (still can't) afford to put in all new carpet but we needed to do something to the ply floor in the bay. A friend of ours (BHL Woodworking) had a pile of old barn wood in his work shop he let us have. Hubby planed it down, routed the edges, and walla! Beautiful new flooring in the bay. Originally we thought of it as a tempory solution till we could get carpet. But, we love it and plan to keep it. Kinda of makes a nice little staging area for both my antiques and the koi pond outside the window.





This is tacky faux brass wall sconce I got in a re-sale shop for $1.00. I gave it a very light sanding and sprayed it with some matte nickle paint. Next I gave it 2 rubs of ebony stain. The finishing touch was a light coat of matte finish clear spray. I have to say, it is a pretty darn close match to the real pewter hurricane on the sideboard below.








This cheese box isn't a before and after, but I thought I'd post it here anyway. In my last post I pictured another little cheese box with 3 candles and some rose hips in it. This is one of the other boxes I got in the same lot from the free column on Craigs List. Great dove tailing and patina on these boxes. Now that she is out of the drawer, my poor little dolly needs a dress.
Well, I am off to see if an antique ladderback rocker I've been eyeing is still there. Hubby told me to go get it for my birthday pressie. He's the BEST! And I am a chair addict. Big and small, full size and miniature. I love the lines and construction of chairs and they make a nice resting spot for other antiques and prims to sit on. Also picking up some stripper so I can honor one of my New Years resolutions and finish all the little 1/2 done projects around here before I buy any more project pieces. I also need some linen for a mini cross stitch. It's sort of qualifies in the New Years resolution. I bought a little easel for .25 cents at a garage sale with the plan of putting a small cross stitch on it on the side board in my front entry. I'll be the evening project while I am watching tv.
Until next time.......................

January 05, 2010


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PARDON MY DUST

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It feels like we have been working daily to remodel "something" for the past 30 years. Always living under a blanket of plaster dust. First there was the big old house in town. Not the best neighborhood but it was our first humble abode. It got some new walls, loads of paint, new carpet and a new bathroom. It was a big, old (built 1920's), city house. Hard to heat and even harder to pay the heating bills. We installed a new furnace and built a chimney and installed a wood stove which helped a lot. But, it needed way more than what was worth putting into in that particular neighborhood.

Our next house was also our next project. A cuter, smaller house in a better neighborhood in the neighboring city. It too needed a lot of work. I mean a "LOT" of work. More knocking down and replacing walls and ceilings, gutting a bathroom and kitchen to the studs, new furnace, roof, windows, and siding. But that house had the most beautiful woodwork (which of coarse needed to be refinished), a great floor plan, double lot, and a small post war house in the backyard. We were able to keep that rented out to pay for all the remodeling. Then we leveled that funny little house and put in a goldfish pond. We might have stayed there forever but we had CraZy neighbors on one side of us and a CraZy pit bull on the other side. So, after 20 years, we decided it was time to move on, and out, to the burbs.
The old house of 20 years












Now we feel like we are living in paradise, except of course for the snow. No more 2 stories with flights of stairs to climb for every little need. No more CraZy neighbors with loud parties and domestic disputes. This is the neighborhood I grew up in and for the first time in 30 years I feel like I am finally home. But even 70's ranch's need remodels and walls knocked out, LOL. At least they do if I am going to live in them!

I couldn't even wait for the Christmas tree to come down before starting the current project. The livingroom was separated from the front hall by 2 perfectly awful half walls. For 18 months I've been dreaming of the day that they would come out. Any pictures I took of the room were carefully take, like tunnel vision, between the walls so they didn't show. And, of coarse you can't "just" remove walls and be done. There is always that snowball effect. Where the walls stood there are blank spots with no flooring. Hmmmm......... guess I must now replace the ghastly navy carpet and stick on tiles with a new wood floor. But the flooring should be the last thing we do so it doesn't get damaged. I guess we better wrap the plastered support beam with wood to look like a wood beam and install crown moulding around the room first. Right? Now if only the budget allowed for new windows. Oh well, maybe next year.
Goodbye Walls! Bring on the dust.











No more tunnel vision
photography
The beam that needs
to get wrapped










Now it's time to start shopping for the new wood floor and trim work. I'm realizing it's not easy to find an affordable wide width plank. I know now that it will definately be engineered flooring in order to get a wide plank but I'd rather go that route than settle for a narrow one. Personally, I'm so happy that the walls are gone that I could tolerate the floor just as it is for some time. Just don't tell hubby I said that.

It hasn't been all work around here since christmas. I got a nice little bank roll for Christmas between my mom and my in-laws. Mom, sis and I started out the day after Christmas looking for some bargains. Not seeing any in our first couple stops we quickly turned our attention to antiqueing. The black chair in the front hall is actually a nice early potty chair I found at my favorite antique store. It took my Christmas money and then some but it was very reasonably priced I thought.

This past weekend there was a really wonderful indoor antique show downtown. The entrance fees were a bit steep at $8 ea plus $7 for parking. By the time you pay all the fees to get in you are already broke! I always wanted a porringer table to set in front of the sofa. I couldn't believe when I found one for just $100. BUT - right beside the porringer table was this other little table that just captured my heart. It had been refinished (as all his pieces were) but he had left much of the character and charm in what hand been a very well used and hand hewn table top. As the snowball effect goes, I now need to find a pewter (or Armetale) tea set to go on it. The coffee set on there now is on loan from my mother.




































This dove tailed cheesebox sitting on the table is just a lucky little find from the free column on Craig's list. I am a huge fan of Craig's List. I have several items I have either purchased or gotten free there. I have also sold and given a great many items. It's a great way save some money, clear out your clutter, and keep usuable items that you would otherwise throw away out of the landfills. I highly recommend it.

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