Cabinets...to paint or not to paint?

Gun Cabinet

As you all know I have this cabinet...it was my Honey's gun cabinet he made in high school...I have always loved it...just not the gun part or the 1980's finish on it! Well...keeping everything in storage for so long, it got mildew damage on most of it...I bleached it, I washed it...I even sanded it a little trying to get the mildew off. Nothing worked...so I ended up priming it with Kilz Primer trying to stop the damage...and that is how it sat for the better part of a year...

Primered repurposed Gun Cabinet

 I put on my best Honnaaay Hat and begged for repurposing this cabinet...well, being the generous, loving sort my Honey is? He gave it to me to do what I would...
I took it apart and took out the "gun racks"...and put in two shelves from the wood I had taken off the wall upstairs...the planks are fabulous! They are 1/2" thick cedar with beveled tongue and groove. They have remnants of this house on them...paint, paper and knicks...rough on one side, smooth on the other...loads of character!  I was at a loss as to what kind of finish to use to incorporate it into my house...I wanted white but I didn't want everything to be matched...I like the crackle finishes but my patience level is low...I could paint the whole thing bright white, cream...but then we are back to picking paint.....uh uh...that is the worst thing someone could go thru while trying to redo their house! I love the time worn finishes..chipping paint...worn corners...but it is hard to achieve the affects of time and have it look like it is authentic...
In my internet travels, I have saved pictures of various cabinets and display units...I have had this picture for the whole year I have been here:

I just love it...it's old..worn...beautiful! and it suits my aesthetics and my plan for furnishing my English/Cottage style living room...

As I have referenced before...I have a heat gun...they are the most wonderful things! They zip paint, varnish, any kind of finish off anything...they make nice, neat little paint chips to vacuum up or sweep into a bag...and they also burn your fingers...:) I am a testament to that...you really have to pay attention to what you are doing...Anyways...I decided to go with the above cabinet...it has everything...wood...white...old...worn...character!

Shabby Chic paint job

And this is what I ended up doing...taking the paint off...

repurposed weathered wood cabinet

White shabby cabinet

reused weathered cabinet

I am going to ask Santa for a palm sander...so I can finish sanding it down to bare wood with only flecks of white like my inspiration cabinet....my poor lil arms are tuckered out! I also think it needs a beadboard backing or a color inside?  My Honey LOVES it...


http://www.countryliving.com/homes/makeovers/room-makeovers-vote 

Free, recycled...repurposed....

I was asking the Honey how much it snowed last night...he was in a panic to snow blow the drive way...he is home today as he smashed his whole hand with a 3lb sledge hammer yesterday and had to go to the hospital for x-rays...I really thought he broke his wrist because it was swollen to the size of one of his shoes...they are very large shoes...it wasn't broke, thank goodness, but it was purple and like I said...large....

I was arguing with him about his need to run a piece of equipment that required two hands...as he only had one..and he felt the need to say..."I still have two hands..."  AAAAAH! I used the tactic I always use when he argues...I feed him...then he gets all sleepy and TA DAH...Nap time....

So...anyways...I kept thinking about snow....why did he think we got so much snow and went to look out the front window....and I saw this...

My new...SNOW METER....yep, I am thinking that is the best use for the bird house I have ever had and obviously the previous owner didn't appreciate the value of it either...as it was in the dumpster....I would say we got about 9 inches last night....better go scoop out the mail box so the mail man does not have to trudge thru it....

Rugs...they are EXPENSIVE!

Well, lately I have been researching rugs...I want one so bad for my living room...one of the big piles on the curb last summer...had a rug...an old, nasty, orange...yucky, filthy...stiff...I don't think there are enough icky words to describe this rug I found on the curb....my friend that was with me? she looked at me like I had two heads when I grabbed it...."YOU REALLY DON'T WANT THAT, DO YOU?" The longest UUUUUUGGGGHHHH came out of her...and she is a little lady...the UUUUUGGGHHH was way bigger than her whole body! And...it made me put the rug back in shame....think twice...well...I thought about that icky rug all day....something said GO...GET...THE...RUG....so I waited til dusk, slunk back there... and snatched it....really fast...so no one would see me....I took it home...holding it with two fingers...stood there holding it with two fingers so it wouldn't touch anything...filled up the washing machine with bleach, soap...more bleach...and stuffed it in there...that rug...was a 1950's Mamie Pink Bathroom Rug...and it matches my bathroom...to perfection! The little lady with the gigantic UGH? has since asked me where I got it...my face turned as pink as that rug when I told her...she laughed at me...but I am so glad I went back and at least tried to salvage it...it looks darker in the picture than it is...but it is in great shape!

But a living room rug? It has to be large....and it has to have the right colors....and to me? it has to be round....and they are between 600 and 1800 dollars for a real braided rug...I can't bring myself to buy a plastic one from the chain stores...and I can't bring myself to work outside my house long enough to save for a rug...a 700 dollar mattress? yes...rug...no....priorities...

So what does one retired...back to the land...semi granola tight wad do to get a rug?  She gets on computer and researches a way to MAKE ONE! YAAAY hand made!  and she searches thru her treasures and multiple boxes of saved "I will never use this"... stuff.....

Now...last year I delved into little rugs...rag ones... and I found out how to make a toothbrush rug out of scraps... and I made the tool required... out of a hanger and duct tape.....I made it out of old sheets I found in this house...there was only one problem...I have never crocheted or knitted much..my stitches are uneven and I still have no idea how to "increase" at the corners so the rug lays flat...somehow, somewhere...you have to put extra stitches in to make the rug lay flat....well...my cute toothbrush rug made an awesome....sombrero...with plenty of air circulation holes...

This is what they should look like....

and they will with lot's of practice...and knowledge...about increasing...I am still going to redo my sombrero into a rag rug...some day...

So...after more research...I turned to a different technique...one that was more my style...one that did not require a whole lot of....patience...or learning new concepts...my brain just cannot...at this point...accept the information on increasing...but I know how to braid...I have a little (well...big now..) girl! With hair...that always looked like she had rolled around on the forest floor for weeks at a time...so braiding was a way to deal with her and her hair!

Hmmmm...what to make a sturdy braid rug out of that is, of course...inexpensive...(I am trying to delete the word cheap from my vocabulary...it just sounds, well, cheap...haha)

I actually didn't have to think long...lot's of material...it's going to take lot's! Ummm...sturdy...absorbent...soft...neutral....thick...and of course...inexpensive.....Painters DROP CLOTHS!
I went to the hardware store and picked one out...9x12...it was different than my curtains as it was ivory colored but it had a grid in it...the grid being the same color as my curtains! and one table cloth that I have been keeping forever cuz it's purdy....and it has the prettiest red in it!

 I worked on the table cloth first...I ended up with a few jagged strips before my Honey went and got me a pair of pinking shears....and a pair of real scissors! I now have REAL scissors! I promise not to cut wire or straw bale twine with them...I promise not to use them to pry open pain cans...and so on and so forth...

Pinking shears are a wonder...they make it so that your material does not fray when you cut it! but I found that I liked the fray...it gave the braids a lot of texture..and it looked antique! I folded all the strips over to make 1" strips and ironed them, then sewed them closed...besides not liking having to make sure my toothbrush rug strips were all right side up...the little strings drove me crazy!   I ended up with strips that had a nice neat fringe...all right sides showing... to braid together...This was the center medallion for my red accented living room rug...

These are basically what I am after...they are both hand made....and I love the way they look!

I wanted to use the table cloth because...remember all the comments on my living room post? My want to use that red lady picture as inspiration and also the English cottage look I was after?  Using the browns and golds and warm colors with all the white was suggested! this cloth has all those things! but they are muted and it looks so vintage!
I tried sewing it together at first...my fingers were raw and bleeding by the end and remember the Barbie clothes we made in first grade? The back side of my rug looked like those Barbie clothes...the Amish would have seriously kicked me out of the colony if they saw the way this was put together!  So more research...you can get a blunt end needle to "lace" them together...I used my toothbrush tool and upholstery thread.

Just to make sure I had no "sombrero" effect? I ironed the crap outta the braids...they are all flat and they lay FLAT! So to date...I work on it a little at a time...here is my first attempt at braided rugdom...

I am going to make this rug approximately 8ft round....and I am also going to add different material to the braids...more than likely? My curtains are going to be a rug because I really, really want Toile or a pattern material for the curtains....but I might just keep them and add some accent material to them...whatever is left over? I am adding to this rug...it won't be BLAM in your face matchy matchy? but it will have tidbits that match!

Sorry the picture is so dark!

So that is what I am up to at the moment...Whadya think?

THANK YOU!

I had a succession of posts planned out and most drafted...BUT my internet service, as always was inadequate...soooo...I went cable...it was a hard decision for me...being the tight wad that I am....but my tight fist...opened slowly...and I called the thieves...I NOW HAVE DIGITAL INTERNET! and my service is constant....YAAAY! 

A hulking brute came thru my tiny house...drilled a hole in my 100 year old molding and stuck modern technology right thru it! I have to admit...that hurt...but I am getting over it...

I also wanted to say...THANK YOU for being loyal to me...when I planned this blog I knew what some of the problems would be with accessing it all of the time as I had my wireless service for awhile...I planned this blog so that if anything happened and I had to fork over more money for service or have any other problems....that this blog would be able to help defray the costs...and it is...I put Google ads on here not hoping for much but hoping that it would help if those things happened...

Thanks to you...our blog is up and running...the ads you all have so generously tolerated are generating an average of 16.00 dollars a month and I will be using it to pay for the new service...I thought you all should know that because this is OUR blog and I feel accountable to ALL of you...

SOOOOOO! Thank you! and I hope you all know how much I appreciate you and am grateful for your comments, ideas, thoughts and that you all read it!

GREAT BIG HUGS FOR ALL OF YOU!

Thanksgiving

I was sitting today...lamenting that it is almost 13 months since I have been here...Thanksgiving is tomorrow...and I STILL don't have this done...or that....or that...or....so I decided it was time for a reality check...I went back over the pictures of this house....mostly looking for inspiration...and to reminisce...to get my buns moving into doing SOMETHING!

But...I started feeling a little shamed....looking at my pictures...and I started thinking..."self...you are a paradox"...Ungrateful on the eve of giving thanks....for all you have...I have utterly worn out my Muffins...all my pictures are of them working...or sleeping...because that is what I asked of them....Nothing like a little humility to show you the way to a change of attitude!

My Muffins...my boys..my loves...

My beautiful Grand Babies...

I was sitting here utterly thankless for what I have...I needed to change my view of things....

Same views...different attitude...

From Ungrateful....to the true spirit of Thanksgiving...A picture paints a thousand words...and these? paint THOUSANDS upon thousands....Thankful? ABSOLUTELY...