NOEL Letters from Scrap Wood and a Grapevine Wreath

A friend asked me if I could use a few small grapevine wreaths that she was getting rid of. They had some decorations on them and I figured I could make something out of them,  so I said yes. They've been hanging out in my craft stash for a while now  and I finally decided what I could use them for. They would be perfect as the "O" in a word.

Cutting Board Repurposed into Ipad Stand

When I ran across two cutting boards at a thrift store recently, Susan came to mind. Susan from Homeroad. She has a fun blog with a ton of great inspiration. This project is a copycat. It is an Ipad stand made from a cutting board and a Scrabble game tile holder. You have to check Susans versions out here. I just love them.

Old Porch Post Repurposed into Coat Rack

Last year, while visiting my parents, I noticed that they had a few salvaged porch posts in their barn. I immediately had a vision for one of them, but it took me a while to act on it. I pictured it with iron shelf brackets added to the bottom, so that it would stand upright and iron hooks added to the top to create a coat rack. I also pictured the coat rack being painted white. The vintage market that we did earlier this month had a shabby white, turquoise and pink theme to it  and this coat rack that I had been thinking about for quite some time was going to fit our theme perfectly!

Vintage Jello Tins and Molding Candle Holder

I'm still working on getting unpacked and organized from the Vintage Market that my mom  and I shared a booth at this past Saturday. It was such a beautiful day and a lot of people came out to enjoy it and do some shopping. We were super busy all day and very thankful for each person who took time to browse our booth. Click here to see our booth. We worked on numerous projects to get ready for the market and this is one of them.

It is a candle holder made from a piece of salvaged wood molding and vintage jello tins.

Cabinet Door Repurposed into Mason Jar Wall Vase

During a recent trip to a thrift store, I picked up 4 matching cabinet doors.   I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with them at first. I was thinking I would make a sign of some sort, but because of how small the middle portion of the doors are  I decided to turn them into wall vases.    

   

Handmade Ruffled Drop Cloth Wreath

A few weeks back I was sent a picture of a beautiful wreath with a note asking if I could make something like it.   After thinking about the wreath for a few days, I came up with an idea. I could recreate something similar using fabric from a drop cloth and an embroidery hoop.   This is the wreath I came up with.  

Scrap Wood turned into Fall Yard Signs

It's that season   FALL   You know what that means. Cooler temps, leaves turning brilliant colors, fires crackling inside and outside,  pumpkin scented candles, pumpkin desserts and fall festivals every weekend.     There is a hugely attended Harvest Day Festival this Saturday in Inman, SC. It just happens to be the town where the antique store is located that I have a booth in.   I have been working on stocking up my space and making a few things to sell outside at the festival.   I've been wanting to make some fall signs and finally got around to it. I used some of our scrap fence boards to make a few signs this week.  

 

 

Handmade Fall Drop Cloth Pumpkins

With so many fall festivals, vintage markets and craft shows coming up  I've been busy making fall decor pieces.   I wanted to share these cute drop cloth pumpkins and how I made them.  

 

 

How to make Your Own Cotton Boll Branch Wreath

I'm in love with the cotton boll branches that you see often in home decor right now. Not to mention how pretty fields of cotton are.   I decided to make a wreath using cotton for the Fall show I'm doing this Saturday.    

 

 

Another Thrift Store Bread Box Makeover

The last two weeks have been busy working on Fall projects for a quickly approaching craft show, keeping my booth at the antique mall stocked and tidy and working on custom barb wire wreaths for a wedding in Colorado.   I have fit in some time to do a couple thrift store makeovers too. Here are two of them.  

 

I know, another bread box.

It seems I run across these often and they always sell quickly, so why not.

 

A New Look for Vintage Farmhouse Pictures

Most of the time I buy old pictures for the frames, but this time I bought two old pictures for the prints.    

Homemade Hummingbird Feeder Water

We had a rainy Sunday here in South Carolina and I spent some time rocking on the cabin porch watching our hummingbirds.   We have eight of them that have been frequenting our feeders daily this summer.   I tried to get a few pictures of them to share with you. I thought I would also share my easy recipe for the homemade sugar water that I make for them.    

 

How I Remedied an old Medicine Cabinet with Glass Etching

Well I did it. I tried glass etching for the first time on the mirror of an old medicine cabinet.   Wow was it easy.   The hardest part was lining up the vinyl stencil, it took me numerous tries to get it centered.  

 

Handmade Farmhouse Signs

Last week a friend stopped by for a visit and a quick lesson on using a Silhouette Cameo machine. I say quick lesson because I have barely tapped into everything that this machine can do.   I'm anxious to see what she creates using her Silhouette. She's super talented. She quilts, paints, repurposes and has an adorable daughter, Zoe, who makes an occasional appearance. You can visit her blog The Speckled Dog here.   After her visit, I was motivated to use my Silhouette to make a few new signs.    

 

 

Handmade Drop Cloth Rag Wreath

I have made numerous burlap ribbon wreaths this past year using wire forms. (you can see some of them here) While working in my shop one day last week the wire wreath forms kept catching my eye. I got to thinking about what else I could make with them, other than the burlap wreaths  and then it hit me. I could cut a drop cloth into long 4" wide strips and use it as the ribbon instead of the burlap. Well, that's not what I did, but I may still try that idea soon.   Here's what I did instead.    

 

Horse Collar and Horseshoe Sunflower Wreath

Last Christmas I made a wreath out of an old, worn, leather horse collar . I added a couple old horseshoes to it, some greenery and a burlap bow. It really turned out nicely. Feel free to take a peek at it here.   Recently, I found another horse collar at a flea market for a reasonable price, so I brought it home.   I had a couple more old horse shoes and decided to make another wreath. This one is perfect for Summer and will even work into the Fall.  

 

Barnwood and Beadboard Patriotic Flags

Holidays and big events always seem to get here sooner than you think they will, or at least they do for me.   I had so many ideas for projects for July 4th. These barnwood and beadboard flags are finished up just in time.    

Sunflowers, Garden Progress and Keeping the Deer Out

Today my husband and I celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary!   It has been quite the ride so far.   He took this beach girl from a condo across the street from the ocean in South Florida  to the base of the Blue Ridge mountains in upstate South Carolina.   I miss the ocean terribly and hopefully we'll move back to it one day... ...but for now, I'm a country girl.    This country girl has been learning how to grow a garden these past few years. I started a 4'x4' raised bed container garden 5 years ago and each year since I've added more raised beds, but this year we decided to grow a traditional row garden.    

 

Dirty White Cabinet gets a Fresh New Farmhouse Look

I mentioned earlier this week that I worked on a little white cabinet to put in my booth and here it is.  

 

 

90 Mile Yard Sale and an Old Cutting Board gets a Patriotic Makeover

This past week was super busy sorting and cleaning all of the treasures that I brought home from the 90 mile yard sale my mother and I went to last weekend.   I'm proud to say that I have organized and cleaned everything. The items that I purchased for my Etsy shop are listed (some have sold!) and the items I purchased for my new booth space are displayed there.   Here are a few of the pieces that I added to my Etsy shop.

Old Wood and Metal Pulleys

Super Easy Patriotic Burlap Banner

During a trip to Hobby Lobby this week, I spotted this ready made burlap pennant banner. It was 1/2 off, so I purchased it.   You can easily make any kind of banner you would like. I decided to make a patriotic banner to add to my window booth space.  

 

 

Vintage Seed Sorter Upcycled into a Memo Board

Now that I have my new window booth space to keep full,  I've been making more of an effort to frequent flea markets.   Recently, I found this cool vintage seed sorter. It is a perfect combination of weathered wood, rust and galvanized metal.   As soon as I saw it I thought it would make a unique magnetic memo board.  

Nautical Wood Paddle Makeover

The saltwater in my veins always draws me to nautical decor.

I'm especially loving the use of vintage oars in home decor right now   and....   I found a pair at a flea market recently. They are from the New England area and have perfectly weathered blue paint on them.  

(here they are, in the right corner in my new booth)

 

Patriotic Burlap Wreaths

What better way to show honor to the soldiers and families that sacrifice so much for our freedom, than to display symbols of the freedom we have because of them.   As we take time this Memorial Day to remember and thank our heroes, past and present, I thought I would share a patriotic burlap wreath that I made.    

 

 

Free Chair Turned into a Planter

Free is good right?   That's what I thought when I spotted an old chair outside of a thrift store with a sign that said FREE.   I kind of felt guilty taking it because I didn't purchase anything there that day, but I had great plans for that chair and couldn't help myself.  

 

Spice Drawer Apothecary Cabinet Makeover

Just wanted to share a spice drawer cabinet that I madeover this week.   I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit and do two colors.    

 

Repurposed Old Wood Crate and Clothes Hanger into a Spring Caddy

A dirty old wood crate spoke to me at a flea market last year and I took it home.   I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I liked it.   I like it even better now.  

 

 

 The idea hit me last week to add a vintage clothes hanger to the crate to turn it into a caddy

and I already had the perfect vintage hanger!

 

Handmade Burlap Wreaths and My First Spring Festival

Well, tomorrow is the big day!   I'll be hosting a booth at a Spring festival, at a local antique mall.   I've been busy preparing for it this week and wanted to share a few of the wreaths that I made for the festival.    

Burlap wreath with white sunflowers and a burlap bow

 

Cabinet Doors Repurposed into Dairy Signs

Where has the time gone. This past week has flown by, but it always does when you are at the beach!!!   My husband surprised me with an unexpected blessing. He was asked to deliver a car to Fort Myers Beach, Florida. We were only responsible for our food and lodging, they were covering gas, a rental car and paying him for his time driving down and back! We couldn't pass up the opportunity and so we were off. It was a long drive, but sooo worth it!   This beach girl was back in her element! We were able to spend a lot of time walking and relaxing along Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva Island. We enjoyed great meals at waterfront restaurants and soaked up as much sunshine and warmth as we could before heading home to more freezing temps.     Now we're back home and back to working on projects. The project I decided to work on first was repurposing two old kitchen cabinet doors. I picked them up at a Habitat Restore in Blue Ridge, Georgia a couple weeks ago, while visiting my mom.   

    They started off looking like this.

Branding and More Burlap Wreaths

Projects haven't been a top priority this week.   Branding has. This has been on my mind for quite some time and I'm finally working on it. I've been making sure that my blog, Etsy shop and my social media accounts have a cohesive look.   I've also designed my business cards and ordered them. I still need to design thank you cards and I'd love to get a stamp with my logo on it and a few other items that I want to include in my Etsy packages.   Here's a peek at my business cards.   (front)   The front is pretty simple. The back has all of the pertinent info on it.

Red Repurposed Cabinet Door Chalkboard

Last week I mentioned that I had been in a red and black mood the week before.   This is the last project that I completed that week that I wanted to share with you.     It is a cabinet door that I picked up at a Habitat Restore. It was just an unfinished wood door frame with a hole for a knob.  

Barb Wire and Horseshoe Wreath

I am very blessed to be great friends with my mom. She lives about three hours from me in western North Carolina.   I was able to spend two days with her last week and like always, I came home with goodies.   Two barb wire wreaths were some of the goodies from this trip.    

    Some time ago, my brother had been visiting with her and was helping my dad with some of the fencing.   There was some old rusty barb wire they tore down and didn't need, so rather than disposing of it, he rolled it into wreaths for her.    

Spring Daffodil Watering Can Centerpiece

Here in South Carolina we have been super blessed with warmer temps these last few days.   It definitely makes it feel like Spring, especially when daffodils are blooming everywhere.   I brought a little spring indoors today by creating a centerpiece using daffodils, a rustic wood tray and a few thrifted watering cans.    

 

 

I found this set of three cute watering cans last fall

and purchased them to use this spring.

 

Headboard Repurposed into Bon Appetit Sign

Last week I mentioned that I had been on a red and black kick.   Today, I want to share one of the red projects I finished.  

 

 

 

This sign started out as part of a headboard.

 

Springtime Floral Wreath in Galvanized Container

I've finished up a couple more of those projects that I had started last week. I seem to have been on a red and black kick.   I'll be sharing those projects soon, but not today.   Today I wanted to share a little more Spring inspiration!  

I'm a sucker for anything galvanized,

so when I found these containers for 80% off last summer I grabbed four of them.

Burlap Easter Spring Wreath with Nest and Eggs

I was so inspired last week by the burlap wreaths that Sharon from Elizabeth & Co. created that I had to make one!   Sharon has been nicknamed "The Queen of Wreaths" and if you check out her blog you will see why.     I just happened to see her Spring wreath post a few hours before I was heading to Michaels. Talk about perfect timing!    

 

 

Repurposed Vintage Pie Tin Cloche

What a crazy week. I feel like I've started a million projects and haven't finished any. Do you ever have weeks like that?   (maybe that means I'll have a lot to share next week, as these projects come together)     Here's a fun repurpose project I did complete this week.  

 

Thrift Store Bunny Makeover into Faux Chocolate Bunny

Last Spring I made an Easter centrepice for our cabin table that had a faux chocolate bunny in it. (you can check it out here)  

It was my version of one Martha Stewart had made.

 

 

I had searched for the faux chocolate bunny for a while before I found one at Hobby Lobby.

I checked this year and haven't found any there yet.

A few people have asked where I got the bunny from

and because they seem to be hard to find I thought I would share an inexpensive option.

 

 

You may already have everything you need to make one.

 

I Joined the Chalkboard Bandwagon

We all know that chalkboards have been super popular lately.   I finally decided to try my hand at making one.   Last year I found the perfect frame for a chalkboard, but I tucked it away.  

 



Vintage Style Handmade Horse Boarding Livery Sign

My makeover Monday project for this week started off as a plywood cut out silhouette of a running horse.   I found it at a thrift store for $3 and thought it was neat, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it.    

(it wasn't painted when I bought it, it was raw plywood)     This horse had been stashed away in my workshop for quite a while and then... ...inspiration struck!   I decided to create a Livery and Boarding sign, using the horse as the focal point.  

Our Cabin in the Snow

Just thought I'd share a glimpse into our world this week. We are in the northern part of Upstate South Carolina.    

 

 

Makeover Mondays - Trashy Bread Box

I've been giving a lot of thought to establishing some weekly series blog posts.   My thoughts are going kindof like this: Makeover Mondays: thrifted finds that were given a new life Tending the Garden Tuesdays: gardening projects, ideas and tips What We're Up To Wednesdays: current projects around our cabin Tasty Thursdays: a recipe using something in season from the garden Frugal Finds Fridays: my favorite frugal find(s) that week   With that said - here's my first official Makeover Monday project:   A wood bread box from my dads work. He saved it from being thrown away because he thought I might be able to "do something with it".  

 

Valentines Day XO Hugs & Kisses Pillow Covers

Just before Thanksgiving I made pillow covers from ticking fabric. I added vintage images to the front of these pillows by printing the images onto creamy white duckcloth fabric.   They turned out really cute, you can check them out here.   I also made 4 solid pillow covers out of the creamy white duckcloth fabric  to coordinate with the ticking pillows.   Today I decided to turn two of those solid pillow covers into Valentines Day pillows.    

 

My 2nd Silhouette Project - Barnwood Cowgirl Up Horseshoe Sign

While I was staring out of the window of my workshop, hoping that we would get some snow today, I noticed the box of old horseshoes, that my neighbor gave me, sitting on my workbench.   They got my mind thinking about what else I could make with them.   With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I had the inclination to make a sign that said LUCKY,  using one of the horseshoes as the U.   but then, I thought, what about a sign that said COWGIRL UP. That would be more my speed.   Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a cowgirl, unless owning a few pair of cowboy boots and line dancing qualifies.  

 

I cleaned up a piece of barnwood that I had leftover from building the kitchen cabinets in our cabin.

(you can check out our barnwood cabinets here)

How I Upcycled a Sweater into a Valentines Day Wreath

Have you seen all of the things you can makes with old sweaters?   I've hesitated to try my hand at any of them because I wasn't sure about sewing something bulky on my sewing machine.   Well, today I tried, and I'm super happy with the results.  

 

I had a white sweater that I was going to wear on Sunday

and when I put it on, I noticed there was a gaping hole right under the turtleneck.

I don't know how it got there and I hope it wasn't there the last time I wore it.

Thrift Store Makeovers and My First Silhouette Cameo Project

It's cold outside and there isn't much happening in the yard sale or flea market world right now. Which makes it a perfect time to stay warm inside working on projects.    

 

Rustic Valentine Banner from Scraps

Do you decorate for Valentines Day?   I'm trying to decide if I'm going to or not. We live in a small log cabin and I've been looking for rustic ways to add a touch of LOVE for the holiday.     Here's a rustic Valentine banner that I created from scraps.  

 

 

The wood hearts are cut from a piece of a vintage fruit crate.

 

Horseshoes and a Chunk of Wood get a New Life

Remember a while back I made a beautiful winter wreath from an old horse harness? You can check it out here.   I used horseshoes as part of the decoration for the wreath and I had a few extras.   I also had a rescued chunk of rough sawn wood, that I saved from our burn pile.   I knew that I wanted to make the wood piece into a candle holder, but the idea to add the horseshoes came when I laid the chunk of wood on the counter in my workshop next to the box of extra horseshoes.  

 

Cabin Chronicles Part 12 - Reclaimed Barnwood Kitchen Cabinets

This project was my favorite part of the construction of the cabin.   Building the kitchen cabinets from salvaged barnwood!   A quick story on the barnwood. The wood was milled right up the road from us by a neighbors dad. It was used to build one of his barns in the mid 1900s.  His dad passed away a couple of years ago, well into his 90s. The barn was starting to collapse and our sweet neighbor asked us if we wanted the wood. Are you kidding me? Of course we wanted it! There was only one catch, we had to take the barn apart piece by piece and denail the wood. What a wonderful blessing for us and it keeps his dads barn living on.