Digging Out

Here I am!  I'm slowly digging my way out/through a growing pile of goodies that need some love out in the workshop.  Slowly but surely I'm moving my base of operation back out to the garage.  I think I'll be able to spin things up a notch here really soon.  Which is good news right?!

I have also been busy on a couple of custom orders so I'll try to reveal those if I can very soon.  But today I do have a lovely hutch to show you.  No "before" pic, but this is nothing most of you haven't seen before.

A nice 1960's era Maple hutch in a nice medium brown finish.  Remember?  Well, you're going to have to cause I completely forgot to take a before shot.  Let me say, it was in pristine condition, which is a joy to work on after several pieces in rather shakey shape!

I used this hutch to try out the Benjamin Moore Aura paint I know Cassie at Primitive & Proper uses.  It is wonderful, wonderful paint, though there was a re-learning curve after so many months of Chalk Paint use!  The color on the outside is Wedgewood Gray, I dearly love this color.  A little bit blue, a little bit gray, and all good!

Look at the pretty, delicate knobs I found to use on the top.  Do you detect the interior color?  Hmmm.

Yes, this is BM's "Harvest Moon" color.  It doesn't seem to read quite this bright to me in person, or maybe it's just the bright sun kicking it up a notch!  But I love the colors together.  I love the little bit of excitement and fun it adds to this hutch.  I think these two colors play nicely together. What do you think?

The knobs on the bottom of the hutch make my heart go pitter pat.  Wanna see them up close?

Gorgeous little baby isn't it?!  These were a great find from Hobby Lobby.  Man I love that they carry so many fun hardware pieces these days.

So here is another shot of the pretty little 2 piece hutch.  And I'm off to work on something new!  I really need to work on some blogging skills...you know like posting once in a while.  So when I'm in the middle of lots of little "fires" I might just have to post something other than furniture!  Any good ideas on what I should chat about?  As long as I'm not just sitting here talking to myself!

Have a great rest of the week!

Deb

Linked to:

http://missmustardseed.com/2012/03/furniture-feature-friday-link-party-5/

http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2012/04/be-inspired-link-party-13.html

http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2012/04/poww-82-furniture-link-party.html

Feature and Spring Mini Prairie Market!!!!!

Thank you so much to Stacey of Embracing Change for the feature on my Springing Forward cabinet!  It still strikes me as amazing that people from all over can look at my little ole stuff on this blog thingy.  I sound like I'm 100 and have lived in a remote cave I know, but I'm still blown away by the wonderful people I've "met" through this blog land.  Thanks Stacey for hosting a wonderful linky party!

Now, for those of you who live anywhere near the Greater Omaha area, or those that like a good road trip,  the Pairie Market is going to have another sale!  We shortened our name to Prairie Market, from Prairie Pickers & Peddlers Market, for obvious reasons ;-), and we will be hosting a 1 day Mini sale.
On Saturday, April 28th, from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., the 4 ladies who make up the Prairie Market will have a sale full of restyled furniture, antique and vintage finds, jewelry, home decor, and other handmade treasures!  There is more information in the Prairie Market button at the top of my blog including the sale address.  We, Suzanne, Tammy, Kirstin & Deb, hope you will join us and find some new and exciting items for your home or gift giving needs.  We decided with Mother's Day around the corner and Spring's arrival we had better be gearing up for some fresh new looks for you and your home!  Thanks to all who came by last year.  We had an absolute blast meeting and greeting old and new friends, and we were so gratified by the show of support and the response you had to our sale.  We can't wait to see you again now and then in the Fall when we hold the larger market sale.

Here are a couple of pictures from last year's Fall Market to remind you of all the great goodies we put together.

Hope to have some new reveals up by the end of the week. 
Enjoy the day!
Deb

Shine On

Good Friday folks!

After a morning of fog it is nearly perfect here this afternoon!  It doesn't get much better than this for mid-March.  Recently in my thrifting I have been fortunate enough to find some pretty silver footed bowls.  I have another a rather weird obsession with bowls, be they wood or metal.  I love having them around and filling them with fun objects.  Like seashells, potpourri, baseballs, marbles...you get the idea.  To be honest I love the silver bowls with a nice patina on them.   They make me think of lovely vintage trophies you see on display at the schools, which I'd love to find while I'm out digging for treasure by the way.  Sometimes I find that some pieces of silver have a tarnish that translates to a spotty hot mess.  You can literally see the fingerprints of all who have ever handled them.  I seriously regret not taking a before picture of my little bowls, but here is one that has a nice mellow patina.  Imagine that the dark color was covering it like chicken pox! 

I plan to leave this bowl as is, in case someone else appreciates the been around for a while look.

I searched for a solution to clean  up two other bowls without having to buy another "super chemical" cleaner like many of those out on the market.  Here is what I found, and I was amazed by both the simplicity and the results. 

Simply use a large stock pot, line the bottom with a sheet of foil.  Fill it with enough water that it will cover your item when it is submerged.  Bring the water to a boil.  After my water began to boil I just turned the burner off as it will stay hot quite long enough to work with.  I worked with one bowl at a time and submerged it carefully with some rubber tipped tongs so as not to scratch the finish.  Then I sprinkled on the magic dust (baking soda).  I repeated the baking soda sprinkling until I was seeing the results I wanted.  It did not take much, nor did it take long.  It seems the chemical reaction of the baking soda releases the tarnish and the foil at the bottom of your pot attracts it.  When I cleaned one bowl I replaced the water and foil and repeated the process.  After removing a bowl I'd rinse it thoroughly with water and dry it off completely.  See the results here.

They look line new don't they? 

Look at the baseballs reflected inside!  So there you have it a little tip for the weekend if you have any "too tarnished" pieces to work on.  Beats all that hand polishing!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! 

Deb







Springing Forward

As much as I am ready for Spring, I have to admit the "spring forward" an hour time change kicks my tail every year!  How about you?  At any rate, this rather unusual early warm up here on the Prairie has definitely got me thinking spring like thoughts.  After having completed a whole slew of projects in old white and french linen I was ready to slap some color on my next victim piece.  Here is a nice oak cabinet in it's before state.

Pretty, but let's make it SPRINGY!

Here is the 2nd layer of paint

  After the 3rd layer of paint...

And all finished up!  Really this was a very straight forward project.  Nothing needed repairs, or filled, or even overy sanded.  I used Annie Sloan paint for my first coat so good adhesion even on that poly finished stain. 

After letting it cure I sanded way back to show through the various layers and exposing some of the stined wood too.  I wanted it to appear as if it had been around the block for a few years!

Look at that Peacock color!  Now I knew that I liked it, but wasn't sure if anyone else would.  That's the way it goes with some things and I'm ok with that.  Ha, I had taken it out to the garage to let that wax finish completely set up and a sweet young couple came by to pick up a desk they wanted.  Her husband walked right past the desk and spent most of the time checking this piece out.  They ended up going home with both pieces, and I think everyone was happy! 

I know it made me happy that someone liked this little cabinet as much as I did!  Yup, it's Springtime!  Bring on some color!

Have a fabulous week!

Deb

 Linking to these wonderful parties:

http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2012/03/poww-79-furniture-link-party.html

http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/2012/03/be-inspired-features-and-link-party-10.html

http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com/2012/03/creative-inspirations-linky-party-5.html

The Bee Twins Older Brother Comes To Visit

It was a dark and stormy...morning, when the Bee Twins Older Brother slunk out of the shadows and into...more shadows.  Ok, it was a crappy day to take a photo, but it was on my agenda and so by golly I muddled through it.  Sorry, but I'm tryin' to stay on schedule with my turn arounds before the Mr. takes away my keys and blocks CL from my computer. 

Older Brother was part of the set I purchased several weeks ago.  Here he is.

Large, chunky, and solid, solid Oak.  This is a truly functional piece of furniture.  See these gorgeous knobs?

It's a nice drawer for remotes, manuals, more remotes, and lots of other goodies. 





BOTH ends open up for even more storage.  Think games, a blanket or snugglie, magazine storage.

Nice and deep storage...with air holes in case the little people in your house decide to "hide" the cat in there...or their little brother.  It does have safety piano hinges that I had not reattached when I took the photos...in the dark and stormy light. 

This Bad Boy is going to be for sale at the Mini Prairie Market coming up soon.  More on that in a later post, but hint, hint there's a Prairie Market button at the top of the page.

Look, beadboard panels, sigh.  Aren't they dreamy? and Cottagey? and Beachy?  This is one hansome Older Brother!  Color is AS Old White, distressed, and waxed to within an inch of his life! 

Have a great day!
Deb

Awww Shucks!

Nikki at A Kreative Knack gifted me with a very fine award today.  Nikki's blog is chock full of wonderful projects.  I'm rather partial to her zebra dresser, but I also really appreciate her awesome upholstery pieces!  Go check her out.


The word Liebster is a german word meaning "favorite" and the award is designed to recognize and promote blogs that have less than 200 followers, aaaaaaaand there's 5 rules that go along with it:
1 Thank the person that gave it to you. Thanks a Buch Nikki!
2 Link back to their blog
3 Put the award in your blog
4 Present the award to 3-5 blogs with less than 200 followers
5 Leave a comment to let those blogs know that you've recognized their awesomeness!
Here are a few blogs I am enjoying right now, and I feel deserve this award...Check em out and show some love!
These ladies are some of my hometown buddies and business partners.  They are awesomely talented ladies and dear friends.  Enjoy!
Kathleen athttp://karymade.blogspot.com/
Suzanne athttp://www.srobinsnest.com/
Tammy at http://theprairiepixie.blogspot.com/
(I'm hoping we can entice Tammy into posting again soon, so fill up her comment box with some encouragment!! ;-) )

Enjoying an early Spring day, hope you are too!
Deb

Double the Fun

Do you know how many "double" title ideas I went through?  A bunch I tell you, but for some reason I kept coming up with a way that they could have been taken wrong and I don't want THAT kind of traffic coming to my blog expecting something very different!  This is what I do have, two side tables, finished. 

I stumbled across a set of side tables and a matching coffee table.  The coffee table is still in process, but I thought I'd show you these cottagey cuties.

These are solid oak and have a certain rustic feel with the paneled type top.  Actually I first thought "Beachy", but let's face reality here.  I live in a totally land locked state smack dab in the center of the country.  And while we do have some lakes and lake houses (lucky ducks!), there just isn't normally much demand for true beach themed furniture.  Sad, but true.  However, we do have cottages, and decorated with a cottage theme is definitely here too.  Voila`, a nice rustic side table with a french graphic in the center.

At 26 inches diameter these are a perfect lamp table, but would also work nicely in a bedroom as a nightstand, or even in the center of an entry hall as a drop zone table.  They ar painted in AS Old White, lightly distressed, and the graphic is a lovely bee with an oak and tulip garland wrapped up nicely with a bow. 

Graphics from The Graphic Fairy, and the pattern was applied with the pencil transfer method and then finished with a permanent fine, .05 and .01, marker.  One thing I would always recommend is to test ahead of time your marker on a scrap piece of painted wood to make sure that it will not smear when you are applying whatever finish you desire.  I found that my paint pens smeared, a sharpie did not and my Perma pens did not, but always, always test yours first independent of my tests.  I applied 3 coats of Minwax furniture paste wax to the top and the rest of the table was also given 2 coats. 

If you look closely you can see that the oak grain definitely shows through on these tables.  I'm totally down with that.  I think it gives it a great deal of character.  I should have the coffee table up for a quick post later in the week, and then I'm off to find something I can use some color on!!  I'm feeling the need for a break from the neutrals for a bit. 

Have a super week!
Deb
linking to:
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/2012/03/piece-of-work-wednesday-furniture-link.html