Date Night?

 

Does this happen to anyone else?  

You start out planning this great date day, and suddenly you are ripping out carpet and ooohing and aaahhhing over the wood underneath?

 So, you spend the next 8 hours enjoying eachothers company while pulling out staples and tack strips and taking turns sanding.

Dinner and a movie is over rated anyway, right?

Rocking the day away

Meet the newest addition to my day.  

She started off in rough shape, but a little lovin' and she might just be my favorite piece of furniture.  

I can see a peaceful future for us, gently rocking away our morning quiet times together.  

Here she is after a few repairs, a little sanding, and a new upholstery job...

Don't be fooled by the serene look of these pictures though.  I'm sitting in her right now, while two little boys are right outside that window shouting orders at each other.  They are busy with the work of taking apart toys and using "spare parts" to invent a hay baler.  Nothing quiet about it!

On another fun note- Kai and I went thrifting this week and picked up these tin nesting containers.  On a whim I checked online to see what they were.  

I couldn't tell if they were new or old, they are in such great shape.  

Turned out they are vintage, and sell for 20 times what we bought them for... say Whaaaaat?  

I love treasure hunting!

Before and After

It's amazing what a little time and a can of paint can do...
 This lovely etched mirror recently got a new life,

as a chalkboard for organizing our meals.

This desk, which believe it or not started out even more 70's looking than the picture here shows...

became this fun little laptop desk.

 with some of my favorite fabric as drawer lining.

And this coffee table... (which I can't rotate the picture for, bah!)

 Got some fun color!

Finding old furniture has become a family affair with Peter and the boys helping out. I love how excited the boys get about finding something to remake and how they love to be a part of the process.  Leif is especially into helping work on and find new pieces, which makes me smile.  It's such a neat thing to be able to share what you love with your kids and see them respond with enthusiasm!  

Thrifty Finds....

A while back, Peter took me on my favorite kind of date.... treasure hunting at the thrift store!  We have a great little thrift store in town, but when we are feeling serious about it, we head to a huge one on the west side of the cities.  We scored!  

 A well loved paper cutter....

 Funky metal file, always fun for storage...

 beautiful Dansk pan... perfect for stir fry night, and its aqua!!!!

 Vintage globe for my budding collection...

 vintage buttons and funky fabric...

 wooden hangers-

I'm dreaming up a crafty use for these, 

but for now they will make a fun way to display the boys art work.

and of course we brought home a mass of picture frames to work on, but they aren't nearly as exciting!

Happy Hunting!

Wise Owls

These fun owls made it into the shop last month!  They have a dictionary page background, vintage measuring tape accent and some bright ABC fabric I've had for a couple of years now. 

The green frame is a new *to me* paint choice, and I'm loving it!  It works well with the bright primary colors.  Leif packed another one to school for his teacher.  He is done with Kindergarten- how is that possible?!  He had a great year, and an amazing teacher.  

Stars

These little stars are perfect for a graduate!  

Bright colors, fun textures and an inspiring verse to guide them on their journey.  

Philippians 2:15

{You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world. Let your lives shine brightly.}

New Lamp

Hello! 

We are still here, alive and well!

I've been working away at making items for a shop in a nearby town.  

I haven't been posting much because I figured there are only so many owls and birds you'd like to see :)

This month I've been trying to finish up a few more furniture and lamp projects, 

so we'll try and get some posts going again!

Here is the latest lamp.  

I found the base at our thrift store in town, 

and it has had a few different color lives, but I've settled on black.  

It might still get a coat of gel stain before it makes it to the store for some more depth.  

Have a great weekend!

Life Happens

LIFE...

This is our kitchen sink right now.  Yes, that's a vice grip for a handle.  

Roll with it, right? 

 Have you ever bought jam just for the jars?  

These will make some good apricot chicken too ;)  

A movie later, I have a big stack of circles punched and ready to be sewn into lamp shades. 

My stack looks so puny in the picture...it's a ton of pages...really.  

Good thing it's supposed to warm up so I can get some spray painting done on the metal frames.

 The boys and I made a Joanne's run today (along with Menards for a new sink faucet!), and guess what? Flannel was super cheap!!!  

So we HAD to find four prints to bring home.  

Some pj's and a couple of pillow cases just waiting to be made.

The lack of Blog posts means I've been getting lots of work done.  

Just a couple from yesterdays sewing...

And this has been our favorite excuse for extra snuggle time lately...

Happy weekend!