Exciting finds!

I started to name this post "hooked on thrifting" but decided against it as I didn't want to tip off Mr. B. ha! (No, really dear, I'm not, I promise - hiding my crossed fingers behind my back) :o) It is so much fun to see what you can find.

Anyway, I dropped in our local GW this week and look what I found- all for under $20!

A large grapevine wreath ($4 - can't buy one this size for that!), a couple of small rustic Christmas signs (forgot to take pictures of them -they'll show up in a later post), this cute little basket....

Boxes that look like old suitcases:

Not sure I'm going to leave them original. I like the shoe design but I was thinking of painting them with my own design. They're cute though...

And then this little toolbox. I've seen so many posts on these things and this one is just screaming for a makeover.

It's little and was someone's first project. See, it says so on the bottom.

I don't know who Noble is and if he ever made anything else but thanks! I'll enjoy making this into something for the B Farm or to use in the art studio. Hopefully, I can work on it this week as I'm trying to get ready for ChalkWalk in Round Rock the first weekend in October. I'll be selling my Christmas cards, prints of my artwork, and some of my originals. You can see them here and here. 

I will be taking a break next weekend to go to Canton's First Monday Trade Days. My daughter, sister,  and niece are going with me. Mr. B declined, imagine that! :) Can't wait to see what I can find. Let the fun begin!

Have a blessed and relaxing weekend!

Cecilia

Burlap pumpkins and a decorating dilemma

Good morning everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend! Mine was especially blessed as we finally got some much needed rain and I got to spend Sunday morning in the nursery at church. (love getting to hold the babies). During these times, I am reminded of how blessed I really am. My heart just overflows.

Anyway, I decided to show how I did my Burlap Pumpkins. They were so much fun to make and I love how they look.

I began with a craft pumpkin - I got mine 1/2 off - still a little pricey but better than paying full price for them. I need to find a cheap source so I can make more. I got a white one and 2 orange ones.

Next I cut my burlap into strips...wasn't too picky about the width - made them wide and narrow. I cut several before starting. Then using hot glue, I covered the stem with dark brown burlap on the white  and the large orange pumpkins and white on the small natural one, then adding a strip at a time, wrapped the pumpkins until covered, gluing as I went. Yep, my fingers were covered in glue and burlap fuzz. Oh, the price one pays for cute decor! LOL

white pumpkin with white burlap

I used white burlap on the white pumpkin ( spray paint an orange one white if needed) and natural on the orange ones. Next I cut a leaf shape from fabric (you can use silk leaves if you have some extra ones from your garlands) and glued that on at the base of the stem. Lastly, I took some old, rusty wire and curled it to make a stem. This I punched through the pumpkin since they are foam. Tada, cute rustic pumpkins!

On my buffet at home before taking them to the Farm

This was fairly messy with the burlap and glue but I sure like how they turned out. I almost kept them here for my city home but knew they would be perfect for the farmhouse so that's where they ended up. I placed them on the mantel with Fall foliage around them.

my rustic pumpkin patch

Which brings me to my decorating dilemma: the fireplace. It is all this brick. I like it but can't seem to find the right thing to place on the ledge so things show up against it. Painting the brick is not an option. There is only 24" from the ledge to the ceiling so it's hard to find a picture to put there. I could paint one, I know, but I want to see what y'all suggest. Please help! 

Here's what it looked like when we bought the place

another view

after painting the paneling - left the trim natural per husband's request

I did spray paint the brass trim with Oil Rubbed Bronze. I can't seem to get the
marks off the back of the surround so it looks blotchy. 

I'm going to paint the wood trim white around the brick (Mr. B has agreed), but as you can see from the pictures, stuff doesn't show up against the brick. I tried a narrow mirror but it was too narrow and didn't help. It's driving me crazy. Maybe a rustic, white sign? What do you think?

Happy Monday!

Cecilia

Linking with:

Debt Free Mommy making-space-mondays-link-party-15
A Stroll Thru Life 133rd-table-top-tuesday

Coastal Charm nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no131
One More Time events are-you-in-mood-to-party-share-it-one
Farm House Porch welcome-to-week-33-of-cowgirl-up

It's Fall at the B Farm

 It's Fall at the B Farm...sort of. The temperatures were cooler this weekend for our visit ( yay, for cool fronts coming through!), so much so, I was actually chilly Sunday morning. My husband thought I was hilarious for feeling cold. Really? Doesn't he know after upper 90's/100 degree weather, 70 feels downright frigid? lol! Felt so good! Anyway, I'm looking forward to the leaves changing color -sometime in November - ha! but I can make the house look like Fall before then.

So I brought my Fall decor stuff with me to decorate. It was fun to do for the first time here. I started at the entry with my new entry table, then moved on to the fireplace, and made a wreath for the wreath holder I'd made. All done in between breaks of staining the bed frame and sanding the dresser. Enjoy the pictures!

white burlap runner with Fall decor

changed my chalkboard plate sign and added a "new" lamp from GW

Old books 

My little blue bird of happiness!

changed the vine on the little gate to fall leaves
and added a fall candle ring to the wreath

Added the vase, watering can, and leaves

my burlap covered pumpkins - easy to do!

Crow added in a nod to the crows around the farm

top of fireplace

close up of lantern with barbed wire wrapped candle

Fall Wreath on wreath holder

Close up of wreath

The table also got some faux pumpkins and gourds added to it and the kitchen counter got a Fall arrangement added to the wooden bowl. Fall is definitely my favorite season! Now I just need to do my city home....

Enjoying the cooler temperatures,

Cecilia

Linking with these great parties:
A Stroll Thru Life 132nd-table-top-tuesday
SavvySouthernStyle - Wow Us Weds
A Diamond in the Stuff time-to-shine-party-no-85
Lavender Garden Cottage: cottage-style-linky-party-10

coffee cup lamp

I have seen some great teacup lamps on  Pinterest and various blogs. One of my favorites is from Lisa at Recaptured Charm. Go check out her blog; she has amazing projects! She inspired me to make a cup lamp for the B Farm's kitchen!
Since my theme seems to be chickens and coffee, I searched thrift stores for the perfect coffee cups with, of course, a coffee theme or chicken theme. I found 4 cups I liked - 3 with a coffee design and a soup mug with chickens on it. All were $1.99 or less.

My choices for the lamp

I decided to drill holes in my cups since my husband was willing to help me. For a tutorial on how to make one without drilling, you can go here: Country Living teapot-lamp-project.

I played with different arrangements of my cups and decided to eliminate one to keep it the size I wanted and only use the soup mug and 2 coffee cups - one in a similar color to the mug and the other in a contrasting color. Then we assembled all our tools:

drill, masonry bits, glass bits, sharpie to mark where to drill, tape, water, and of course, the cups and saucers.

Mr. B used a small bit to start the hole. (He drilled slowly until the hole was started.) I held the mug( not sure this was smart but oh well!) and squirted water on the piece as needed. Fortunately, most would hold a small pool of water on the bottom. (*Just a note of warning: this is definitely a two-person job unless you have a way to clamp the piece down securely. Also the drill gets hot and heats the water, so be careful! Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes.) Once the hole was started ( put tape over spot to allow drill to grab), he switched to a larger bit to make the hole the right size for my rod.

Mr. B's holding it here, then he had me hold it so he could keep the drill steady

It was slow work. Mr. B finally switched to the glass bit as it was sharper than the masonry bit. He didn't put a lot of pressure on it - didn't want to break the cup. I also had him drill holes in the two saucers. (These were inserted between the cups for stability.) Lastly, he drilled a smaller hole on the side of the bottom cup for the cord to go through. This was the trickiest part - I propped it with a board under the handle to help stabilize it.

Lastly, I took all inside and washed the grit and grime off. Then using a lamp kit I'd bought plus extra lock nuts, I threaded the cord through the side hole of the bottom mug and then up the rod. Then I assembled all the pieces, holding them together with lock nuts. Lastly, I glued the bottom mug and saucer together so they couldn't come apart...the rod doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the mug as the cord has to have room to exit out the side. In reality, that mug didn't need a hole in the bottom - just the side. Oh well, live and learn!

The shade is one I found at Target - covered in burlap, of course! I added the trim to spice it up a bit. Cute, don't you think?

Of course, all this was done here at my city home so when I got to the farm and placed it on the counter, it was too high! Ack! Mr. B suggested I get the wooden crates out of the shop and make a table to set it on, so I did. ( He really does have good ideas! ) I placed it in the corner of the dining room (it needed something anyway as it was feeling way too empty!) and ta da!  Perfection!! Still part of the kitchen decor and found the perfect use for my crates. ( happy dance)

here it is lit up

good use of the crates!

Colors go with my mugs!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the whole dining room. Take my word for it, it looks great in that corner!
What do you think?

Glad you stopped by for a visit. Tomorrow I'll show how Fall has come to the B Farm!
Cecilia

Linking with these parties:
DiyShowOff- diy project parade-51
"Life on Lakeshore Drive"
Debbiedoo's
CoastalCharm nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no130

Off to the farm

Hurray! We're going to the farm this weekend! Can't wait! Need to take care of a few things while we're there. No. 1 on the list is to have the exterminator come out and treat for scorpions again. I do NOT like them coming into the house. I know I'm in the country, people (it's what everyone keeps telling me), but I don't have to put up with stingy things creeping around. ugh. So, I'm glad the bug man will be out to squirt his magic dust around. :)

Just posting this picture is making my skin crawl!

Of course, it's time to decorate for Fall so that's also on my to do list.  I've been dragging out all my Fall decor to see what I have and want to take:

Pile of stuff!

Then there's the new pieces I've been working on:

new wreath and burlap covered pumpkins

And the thrifted makeovers - like my kitchen clock. It was just plain metal so I used a Sharpie to draw on it and added the sweet phrase:

Good Will find - paid $1.99! Drew cups on with pencil to start with

Then outlined with a Sharpie

Added details and a cute saying! Ready to hang in the B Farm kitchen

And I've gotten my mom's bedroom furniture ready to stain. The bed frame needed to be reglued so Mr. B did that the last time we were there.

Thank you, Bruce!

 I'm using a blue wood stain as I want the grain of the wood to show and blue was Mom's favorite color! t's going to be beautiful. I've already done the stool for the vanity. Here's a sneak peek:

Same fabric as curtains

Can't wait to show off where it's all going! Have a wonderful weekend!
Cecilia