Newest Members to the Family Farm

We are now the proud owners of 4 lovely female chicks. They are spending some time indoors with us until it is warm enough for them to be outside permanently.

We are very excited about our little egg producing compost piles.

DIY Upholstery Project

It's not done, and it won't ever be perfect, but I am happy with the results. I found this chair on Craigslist and felt like it had good bones. I am self taught at reupholstering, and at some point I would love to take some classes. Until then, this is what you get. I still have some work on the cushion, and then wood base and legs came unfinished, I sanded them with fine grit, and then used some wax-n-feed, I have decided to go back in and use med. grit then fine, and then some danish oil in dark walnut- I think, maybe med. walnut, we'll see. The base is still not attached to the chair so it is easy to work on. I then chose an army green canvas for the upholstery. I loved the color and the durability of canvas, but I had never worked with canvas to upholster, and I have to say I don't think it is the easiest to work with, not much give.

I had to go back to the fabric store and decided on some burlap to finish the back. I thought It would give it more of a rustic look and since I could already tell the project would not end perfectly, I decided that I could get creative with it. Instead of using tack strips to finish the side and back I chose more rustic upholstery tacks. I am very happy with the project, it's a very comfortable chair, and even with the frustration of the curves, I loved the time I was able to spend using my hands and being creative.

I will post more finished photos when that time comes.

New Couch

I have been spending my free time recently on a few projects. The first, is trying to get our family room back together.

We purchased a new couch, since the other one was way too light in color for our active family. I had been keeping an eye out for something smaller and easier to clean. Not much had surfaced, so I continued to clean our cream color couch, and talk about how my life would be much easier if he had a leather couch.

So, cut to the chase and I had a morning to myself and decided to make a quick stop at the local Salvation Army, and there it was just being wheeled off the truck. I said " I'll take it!". I was then told that there was no manager in for the day, and it couldn't be priced, therefore I couldn't purchase it. I asked when a manager would be in to price it, and was told the morning. I was just sick to my stomach. There was the couch of my dreams in perfect condition and I had to leave empty handed. The people working there were very sweet, despite me being crazy about some old couch, and they told me to return in the morning first thing and It would be mine.

I got home and told my husband and spent the rest of the day worrying about who else would see my couch and who was also going to show up in the morning for a chance at this great sofa.

I got to the Salvation Army at 8:30 am, the store opened at 9. Me and Baby J camped out with our Starbucks and portable DVD, and believe it or not we were the first ones in the door that morning. I put Baby J on the sofa as to mark our territory, and I went in search of the manager. I told her we would like to purchase the couch, and she told me we would have to wait till she got around to pricing it.

At this point I knew, and my husband also pointed out that my eagerness was going to get me gouged. We patiently waited until that little paper tag was placed on the arm of the couch, and I took a deep breath(I had already decided what my limit was) $29.99.

We took the couch and ran.

Your Barn Door is Open

Or closed. My crafty husband spent quite a bit of time working to hang a door that he found being pulled out of a rehab. The door is old and weathered, but the glass is still in tact, no cracks. He put the door on a rolling closet track and after a couple of tries, the door rolls smoothly and now closes off our sun room. I couldn't be happier.

Axe Men

That pretty much sums up the weekend. We had two trees we needed to take down this weekend. My husband worked on one Friday in the beautiful weather, and in the crappy weather, my Brother-in-law, and Father and husband spent the day cutting away. These are pictures of how my back yard looks now. I have to say it is a good feeling going into spring with a fresh start.

We only took the trees down because we had lost half of each tree in storms, and they were going to come down at some point, and better on our terms.

New Treasures

I have been doing some estate sale-ing, and thrifting, and even some alley scavenging. Here are a few pictures of some things that are new to me, That I have brought home in the last couple of weeks.

Labor Of Love

Driving through an alley this weekend, I saw this buffet, dumped, and water logged. I first got out took a look and seeing in what disrepair it was I took the knobs, since that was what I liked most about it, and went on my way.

I got home proud of my vintage white enamel knobs, and trying to decide where they would go, and this buffet started to haunt me. Its beautiful woven grass inserts, distinct legs, and the fact that I left it alone in the alley, on a cold wet day, NAKED.

So, as the story always goes, I called my partner in crime and after a cheese burger, there I was in the back of the Rover, trying to hold the back door closed and keep the buffet from falling out the back end(we were to lazy to move the car seat, so the buffet would fit all the way in) and we were on our way home, through the alleys.

I spent some time with Feed-N-Wax and steel wool, the drawer fronts cleaned up pretty well, but the top was rough. I scraped, then used a little stripper on the though spots, and then sanded with fine sand paper, to finish with two coats of danish oil.

It looks great, now I need to do the rest.

I thought I was the only one

Scanning through Modern50.com this afternoon, I paused to look at the chandelier, and right there I noticed the bench. That's my bench.(except I like my hairpin legs better)But I thought I was the only one that had used old scaffolding for a great new bench, oh well.

Bench Press

Here are a few pictures of one of my new benches. I have wanted a slat bench and haven't been able to find one that I could afford, so this weekend when we found this old scaffolding for $5 we grabbed it and loaded it in the car.

I loved the worn weathered look of the wood, the drips of paint all over, and the fact that it was expandable. My husband said that his grandpa had a couple of these back in the day, and they were placed on the rungs between two ladders.

I started by sanding with fine grit sandpaper to remove the large flaky paint drips, and then finished with steel wool and Feed n' Wax, bees wax. I then purchased the hair pin legs at our local vintage store and pre-drilled holes and then used wood screws to attach the legs. I am pretty proud of my little bench, and the whole family loves it.
* I still need to take pictures of the cool bench I found in the alley, we are already using by the front door, and needless to say it has crap allover it right now.

Freestyle Pickn'

For those of you that are not familiar with American Pickers on the History Channel, freestyle pickn' is a term used when you see something you like in someones yard, and you stop, knock on the door, and ask if they are willing to sell whatever it is that you were interested in.

Today was my first freestyle pick. If you remember my anniversary gift, you know that my husband has been a picker in the past. Not me however, I have eyeballed many a front porches, but never had the nerve.

Today was my day. I had many times before seen this lonely shell chair parked in a backyard, while on my way to a loved thrift store. Sitting in the rain, piled with leaves, amongst an array of walmart patio furniture, out of place, and not being loved for the modern classic that it is. I had pulled around to the front of the house a few times, loosing my nerve each and every time.

Today, with not a whole lot of luck at the thrift store, I told myself I was going to leave a polite note about how I would love to buy the chair and my phone number, and hope that something would come of it. Well, lucky for me there was someone outside, and I was able to jump out and profess my love and beg and plead to bring the chair home with me, to live out the rest of its days warm and loved inside my house. The woman laughed and thought it was funny that I had such an interest in her patio furniture. She said it was her fathers, when he was alive and had run out of room for it in her house.

So, my promise of loving the chair they way one should love an Eames design(and a crisp $20) and the chair is mine. I did a little cleaning with vinyl conditioner, and you would never be able to tell this chair had lived anytime outside.