Craft Room...A Sneak Peek

I decided to give you a sneak peek into my craft room.  It's in desperate need of a clean-up so I'm not quite ready to expose all of it yet.  The craft room is in it's early stages but usable and I enjoy spending time in there.  Of course I want everything to be "cute" (there's that word again) and my hubby thinks I'm nuts.  To me, making it cute makes it more enjoyable to spend time in and revs up those creative juices that I so desperately need.

For now, this craft room is temporary until I decide where it should be.  Originally, we had decided that my hubby would use this bedroom as his man cave - a place where he can watch his hockey games and hang all of his memorabilia.  As the upstairs was in disarray at the time, I had a thought...what if I just "temporarily" set up a craft room so I could at least get started on making things.  Oops, a year later I'm still in there.  We do have another bedroom that I might use instead but there's furniture in there so it may not provide enough space for my crafts.  So who knows what will happen but I'm going to enjoy my craft room for now.

I found this cabinet last year at a garage sale for $20.00 and fell in love with it.  It needs some work but I haven't decided where I'm going to hang it and what colour it will be.  I'm thinking of either stripping it and staining it or painting it an antique white, I like the blue also but it doesn't go with what I have for decor.  What are your thoughts?   For now, it will stay where it is.  The colour in this photo is probably closest to the true colour.

I love old hardware.  It will be cleaned up when the cabinet is refinished.

I found a few of these insulators at a garage sale last year for a very low price.  They're in the craft room for now also until I decide where their home will be.  I like the chippy paint on the cabinet, it adds to it's shabbiness.

As I commented in previous posts, almost every ceiling in my home is covered in textured wallpaper.  I actually like this design though.  It resembles old tin ceiling tiles but on a smaller scale.

My pattern collection.

Oh look...more wallpaper.  This one also has to go.  I like toile wallpaper and I actually don't mind this one but I believe it has been hanging there for a very, very long time and it doesn't match my decor.

I purchased this drawer at a garage sale for about $4.00 a couple of years ago, not knowing what I was going to do with it.   Actually, I still don't know but this is what it's purpose is for the moment.  If you're anything like me with decorating, it will change.

Does anyone have any suggestions for it's usage?  I did have my fabric patterns in it but just recently changed the set up.

I would guess that it's a drawer from an old desk, love the hardware on this too.

I saw this cute idea on the internet and decided to try it.  I love how they turned out.  It works great for storing those extra pieces of lace.

In this photo you can see a bit of my crafting/sewing table.  A couple of years ago I went to a garage sale and arrived near the end of it.  The owner had sold his cottage and was clearing everything out.  As it had been a rental, there were lots of older pieces in it and as it was near the end of the day, he started giving some things away.  This table top was one of these items.  I LOVE FREE THINGS!!  He said it came with the cottage and had been used as a table top at that time.  Eventually it was replaced with another table but they kept this piece in the cottage.  It appears to be an old barn or shed door.  One side is smooth and the other has tongue and groove and marks from large door hinges.  I placed it on top of some supports to create my work table.

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek.

This post has been linked up to:

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Vintage Charm @ Thrifty Rebel Vintage
Wake up Wednesday @ Sew Crafty Angel
Roses of Inspiration @ The Enchanting Rose
Thrifty & Vintage Signs @ Dagmars Home
Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.
Let’s Talk Vintage @ Bella Rosa Antiques
{Wow} Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts
Talk of the Town @ Knick of Time

What is it? The Big Reveal

So here it is...the big reveal LOL!!  This post is to provide you with the answer to "What is it?".  

I want to thank all of you for participating in this "fun photo" post.  I had some laughs over your answers and I hope you did too.

This is where it began that day, boiling my fabrics in tea to stain them.  Once I was finished staining everything, I decided to hang the fabric pieces outside to let them drip for a bit.  Due to the extreme cold, I knew there wasn't any way that they could dry but I at least hoped some of the stain would drip into the snow and not into my house.  I already did that once, and what a mess it left.   I took a few hangers out with the cloth pieces on each of them and hung them on a shovel handle.  The shovel was at a 45 degree angle and frozen into the snow bank so I knew it would support the weight, how handy was that?  (Not so handy if we needed the shovel).   I got busy doing other things and forgot all about the fabric.  When I went outside to retrieve them, everything was frozen solid.  There were a few doilies that had fallen off the hanger into the snow, this is what the picture reflected...a frozen clump of doilies.  The day I did this was when I posted BRRRR!  We had extremely frigid temperatures that day. 

When I am preparing a post, I take way too many photos then pick and choose from there.  I happened to take a photo of this one and once I downloaded it I thought, "that's disgusting!" I definitely can't use this photo.  Then I had an aha moment...maybe I could have some fun with this.  And so I did lol!! 

Congratulations to Karen @ Southern Gal Meets Midwest and Cindi at Cindi's Primitive Country Corner for their answer to the question, they were both very close and nearly got it right on.  Way to go Karen and Cindi!  Sorry, there's no prize today.  Haha, I'm a newbie remember?

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.  Below you will find what the actual item was.

So here it is...there was a large doily and a few of the small ones all stuck together.  In the end, it didn't do any good to hang them outside.  Once they thawed, they were still drenched.  And yes, there was a mess to be cleaned up after they drip dried IN the house.

What is it?

Hi there,

On my last post, I mentioned that I would be posting a photo for fun.  So here it is.  Please leave your comments on what you think it is and I will give you the answer on Monday evening.  This is strictly for fun so enjoy yourselves.  Make sure you read other people's comments in case they're hilarious or interesting.

It looks kind of gross to me.  I don't know about you but I see an eye and a long muzzle LOL!!

Have fun!!

Country Creations

Hi Dear Friends,

As most of you know, I have been working on some sewing projects in the last few days.  It's sometimes a struggle to get motivated on creating something but always rewarding in the end.  I'm famous for creating craft ideas in my mind but then I can't seem to get to my craft room to actually make it.  I'm sure some of you can relate.  My mind is often going 100 mph when in crafting mode so it can be frustrating when I do nothing about it.  Often, I don't know which idea to start on first...so what happens?...NOTHING!!  LOL!!!  It's always such a pleasurable experience once my sewing machine is finally purring away.  But as I'm sewing, I'm already mentally onto the next project and ohhh, that's not a good thing.

Here are my latest creations:

This pillow was a lot of fun.  I started this project with a design in mind but once I was piecing it together, it didn't look right.  So, I started to play.  This is what came out of it.  I'm pleased with how it turned out and I enjoyed the creative experience that came with it.

When I started to make this pillow, I wasn't quite sure what direction I was headed in.  I knew I wanted to layer some fabrics, I knew I wanted a heart.  Other than that, I really didn't have a definite plan.  When I'm making something, I usually make a template so I can adjust it then use it for future projects.  With this pillow, I just picked up some fabric and cut out a heart and then I did the same for the other hearts.  I was thinking of making a heart pillow but this one ended up being rectangular.  

I had no idea what I was going to do with the front of it, so...I started to play again.  This is how it turned out.

The cat coasters were made using a pattern that I found at Get Catnip Daily.  They were easy and a lot of fun.  Don't you just love free patterns?

I'm quite pleased with how this next project turned out.  As I was making it, I was struggling to figure out what I could add to it to make it more interesting.  I don't usually make things that are nearly all white but I think it turned out okay.  I added a hint of off white to make it more interesting.  As I found out, white doesn't photograph well LOL.

 The grain sack was created using a tutorial from Vintage Country Style.  I changed the measurements a bit but it turned out very similar.  The fabric was tea stained before it was cut out to give it an old, worn look.

 I didn't have the shades of paint that the tutorial recommended for the stripe so I used what I had on hand and mixed a couple of the colours.

 

I promised some photos of my new crafts, so here they are.  I don't know where my latest ideas will take me but I'm looking forward to finding out.  I hope you will join me on my next creative adventure.

For a little bit of fun, I will be posting a photo later this week that I would love for all of you to view.  I think it would be enjoyable to see your comments on what you think it may be.  Stay tuned for that. 

Linked to:
Roses of Inspiration @ The Enchanting Rose
The Scoop @ Cedar Hill Farmhouse
Hand Made Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings
Tweak it Tuesday @ Cozy Little House
Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.
Share Your Style @ Peeking Thru the Sunflowers
Wow us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Wake up Wednesday @ Sew Crafty Angel
Talk of the Town @ Knick of Time
{Wow Me} Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts
Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Creative Ways Link Party @ Posed Perfection

BRRRR!!!!!

Hi Friends!  Winter is finally here.  We had snow squalls over night and now it's a VERY bright, clear, sunny day...BUT...it's freezing out there.  Poor Katie ran out and back in as fast as she could this morning.  At 6:00 a.m. this morning, it was -35°C (with the windchill).  It has now warmed up to a balmy -27°C (with the windchill, -19°C without the windchill).  BRRRR!!!! I can't wait until Spring.  We have been very lucky this year because we haven't had the deep freeze until now, it usually occurs in January in this area.  Now that we're nearly half way through February, things are looking up.  I'm hoping this cold snap doesn't last more than a few days.  Can you believe we had temperatures of at least +10°C (+ 50°F) a short time ago?  My how the weather can change.

This birdhouse obviously isn't in use right now, they'd have to shovel their way out LOL.

I took this photo through the glass door last night, it shows some of the beautiful snowflakes falling down.  The birdhouse is actually large but I couldn't get near it due to the snowdrifts piling up against the door.

Today I have been busy staining fabrics as I'm hoping to make some crafts in the next day or so.  I'm also hoping to continue work on the dining room.  It's at a bit of a standstill right now.  I'll post the pictures once it's completed.

May you all have a wonderful day and enjoy the weekend.  For those of you experiencing winter...stay warm.

Some Prim Decor

Hey there, today I thought I would give you a sneak peak into my fireplace decor.  When my hubby and I were searching for a farmhouse, one of the more important things on our "wish list" was a wood burning fireplace.  We didn't get one.  Instead, the previous owners left an electric fireplace behind so this is what we embrace.  Currently it's in the bedroom and it will be staying there for now.  But who knows...I love to move things around.  I've had the same decor on it for the last 1 1/2 years so I'm thinking it's time for a change.  If you haven't guessed it yet, I love rustic primitive stars.

 

This decorative piece is one that my sister-in-law Debbie gave to me when my mother passed away.  Debbie and I had gone to one of our favourite stores while she was visiting.  After we came out of the store, she surprised me with this.  I will cherish it always.

I purchased this candle box at a local craft sale a few years ago.  I love it's primitive design and it gives off a nice primitive glow.  One day I may attempt to make some myself.

Since I had the camera in my hand I thought...why not run outside and take some photos.  There were some large fluffy snowflakes coming down so I thought I'd just walk around outside a bit and have some fun snapping some photos.  This photo shows part of my front yard and the field across the road.

This is out the back, the pond is a bit lower so you can't really see it right now.  Those are fake Canadian geese you see sticking up in the center of the photo, they're actually on land in front of the pond.  The previous owner left the geese behind and we haven't decided what to do with them yet.  They may fly away to a new home come Spring or stay.  We don't have very many ducks visiting the pond throughout the summer but we do see the Great Blue Herons which is nice.  Not so nice for the gold fish though.

We have had a very mild winter this year.  Even when we have snow, it's not near as much as other years.  We recently had a thaw and lost most of the snow cover.  It appears winter has reappeared somewhat today.  Our local groundhog and weather predictor saw his shadow this week so 6 more weeks of winter lol.

Katie was outside when I took my little stroll.  I thought I'd take a picture of her this time since she wasn't able to run off.  She wasn't impressed.  She kept trying to get away from the camera...and I didn't even have the flash on this time lol.  The fur babies are starting to run when they see me coming with the camera now, too many flashes I guess.

An Anniversary

One month ago, yes...it has been one whole month LOL, I hit "publish" for my very first post.  It was both exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time.  It's scary to put part of your personal life out into the abyss for the world to see.  I questioned my sanity then decided to just go for it.  I had already made up my mind that I wanted to do this.

I had never really paid much attention to blogs before this.  I know I had gone into different ones to read an article on crafts, decor, etc.  I usually found these when browsing through Pinterest (an addiction of mine) but I still hadn't really noticed what they were all about.  One day my sister-in-law and best friend, Debbie at She Graces Her Home in God's Beauty was telling me about a teacup exchange that my wonderful niece Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose hosts.  This caught my interest. A little while later I decided to go into Stephanie's blog to have a look.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I ended up joining the teacup exchange and thoroughly enjoyed myself, meeting 2 new teacup buddies in the process.  After looking at Stephanie's blog it piqued my interest so I began searching for more. I found some terrific blogs that reflected my interests and spent a lot of time going through them.  I was hooked and there was no turning back.  I wanted to do this too.  There were MANY frustrations along the way, I'm lucky my hubby didn't divorce me LOL.  Through this he kept threatening to write a blog about me writing a blog.  Stephanie was wonderful at assisting and getting me through the rough spots and I'll be forever grateful!

What were my reasons for deciding to create a blog?

1.  It would give me an opportunity to share things that I enjoyed such as crafting, decorating,                  renovating, nature, etc.

2.  It would hopefully allow me to meet people with similar interests, to enjoy and experience the            camaraderie of the blogging community. 

3.  I was hoping it would motivate me to get moving on house renos, painting, etc.  Things that I've          been wanting to do but just couldn't get started on.

4.  It looked like a lot of fun and I wanted to join in on that fun...LOL.

Well...this blog is still a work in progress so bear with me as I continue to learn.  So far it has been a very enjoyable experience.  I had heard the blogging community is saturated with wonderful and supportive people and I have found this to be true.  I'm truly amazed at how friendships are already starting to develop and in such a short period of time.  Everybody has been so kind.  

Thank you so much for your kind words and support that you have all shown.  I love reading your comments, it brightens my day.  Please keep them coming haha!!