Barnyard 2nd Birthday

I'm baaaaack!!  : )

We had a wonderful time visiting with my parents and a great time at our cabin getaway.  It was in the middle of nowhere and we had no signal for phones or computer or TV.  Just quietness.  It was nice.  But by the end we were ready for our noisy kiddos.  We had a great time together, but we were ready to be a family again.

 I cannot wait to show you all the pictures of the cabin later in the week!  So quirky and incredibly cute!!  Right up my alley and I suspect right up your alley, too, for most of you.  So check back for that, you won't wanna miss it!

In the meantime, I have no new projects to show you since I just got back from our little vacation, so I decided to share another party with you. Several months ago, well more like last year actually,  I wrote about our daughter's 1st birthday where we did a cupcake theme (see that HERE).  By the time her 2nd birthday rolled around we lived on a ranch and she was in love with horses and cows and animals in general.  So we decided to do a barnyard theme.

Now remember, this was years ago, before my blogging days so the pictures are a little lacking, but you'll get a good idea of it all.

We had the party at my in-laws home and this was what you saw as you walked up to the front door.  My cousin let me borrow her antique toy tractor, we bought a hay bale at the feed store, and I brought some of H's stuffed animals to set on top.  The "barn door" was ordered online.

Sorry We're Closed, Come Again Soon

I won't be posting this week because I'm taking a little break.  My parents are in town visiting for several days, and then this weekend Hubster and I are going to finally be able to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  We're renting a cozy little cabin in the woods for a couple of days.  Just the two of us.  No kids.  First time in a very long time.

(source)

To say I'm looking forward to it would be a huge understatement.  : )

See y'all right back here next week!

                                           

Fun Friday

Notice the title of today's post doesn't say, "Fun Friday Finds?"  Just "Fun Friday?"  That's because I'm taking a break from finding today and I'm selling instead.

We're having a garage sale of our own.

After sorting through the entire house, and every single box in the attic we came up with lots of stuff to sell.

And I'll be trying to sell some of my homemade strawberry jam.

Wish us luck!

                                   

DIY Topiaries Tutorial

Last week I gave you a peek at how I finished off the dresser area with DIY faux metal industrial looking letters and DIY topiaries.  I shared the tutorial for the letters earlier this week (that post can be seen {here}) and now, as promised, is the tutorial for the topiaries.

I purchased two of these forms from Hobby Lobby.  I think regularly they're $11.99, but of course, I used my 40% off coupon on them.  I briefly considered making my own forms figuring it'd probably be cheaper that way, but the truth of the matter was...I just didn't feel like it.  I didn't feel like hunting for all the right pieces in just the right sizes and then having to glue it all together.  I went the easy route and just bought the pre-made ones.

However, I didn't care for the fake looking dowel rods holding them together.  I wanted something more realistic looking, something that looked like a real stick, with bark and texture.

I've been seeing those projects on Pinterest where they've used hot glue to write a word on a glass jar and then they paint over it for a raised lettering look.  I used that same idea and added knot holes, gouges, etc. with the hot glue to give it texture.

Then I painted the whole thing a solid brown.

Once that was dry I used tan and black paint and lightly brushed, and dabbed, and swirled until I got the realistic look I was after.  I left the knot hole areas a lighter tan color to give the appearance that a branch had been cut off there.

I also purchased these bags of moss from Hobby Lobby - $5.99 each, but again I used 40% off coupons.  They can be found right next to the topiary forms in the store.  It took 3 bags for sure and maybe would have needed a 4th bag except that I discovered some off the exact same moss in a recent makeover project that I purchased.  

Been-there-done-that Tip - If at all possible, purchase all of your bags of moss at the same time.  Take your kids in the store with you to be able to use more coupons, or whatever you gotta do.  I purchased my 3rd bag separately from the other two, about a week or so later I think, and it was a different shade of green!!  I ended up having to pull portions of it apart and sort of mix in the new, lighter, shade of green so that one topiary didn't look completely different from the other.)

I took the moss out of the bag and sort of separated it into big chunks and little chunks, then I flipped the form over and started from the bottom just piecing chunks together like a puzzle.  I used a hot glue gun to attach them.  I didn't have a plan, it was just random and willy-nilly.

Once I got the bottom sections filled in around the dowel rod on both balls, I then flipped it back over right side up and finished it off.  It wasn't hard to do at all, just a little time consuming...and messy.  Be prepared to vacuum after this.  But I think it might have taken me an hour to complete one topiary maybe.

Once they were all finished they looked like this.  The cute little wash tubs also came from Hobby Lobby.  They had just the touch of rustic farmhouse I was wanting and bonus - the forms fit perfectly down in them!  Normal price on those $6.99 each.

Below, you can see more of the added texture on the wood.

So, this was somewhere around 2 hours of work, and after using 40% off coupons on all the supplies they cost me around $17 each to make.  Not bad when similar ones cost anywhere from $50 - $100 new/pre-made.

Oh, here's another little tip.  This moss is quite....ummmm....fragrant, so if you use it plan on it taking several days for the smell to wear down.

My only qualm with these is how in the world am I supposed to dust them?!?  I pondered this question the entire time I was making them.  Left brain was thinking, "These are going to be a pain in the tuckus to dust."  Right brain was countering with, "Yes, but they'll be so pretty it'll be worth it."  Right brain gets a little ambitious in the heat of the moment.  Because anyone who knows me well knows that I hate dusting.  I only do it when I know company is coming over.  Or if the neighbors start to complain of a smog-like atmosphere.  I despise it.  Did you know that they once tried to determine the age of the moon based on how much dust had accumulated on it's surface?  I wonder what century NASA would place my house in?

Ah well, I figure when the dust bunnies start shaping them into carrot shaped trees I'll just make new ones.  

For now, I'm off to prop my feet up and watch the dust collect.

                                                 

Linking up to:

Wow Us Wednesdays - Savvy Southern Style
Saturday Nite Special - Funky Junk Interiors

DIY Faux Metal Industrial Letters

Last week I showed you how I had spruced up the dresser in the master bedroom (see more about that here), and I promised I'd show you how I did the industrial looking letters.

I started with these cardboard forms from Hobby Lobby.  Originally $2.47 each, but they were on a 50% off sale that week.

I used a variation of the faux galvanizing technique from the Ikea kitchen canisters makeover.  I experimented on the back of them until I came up with the look I was going for.  

I started out by painting the entire thing with the Gun Metal Gray metallic paint.

Then I used a sea sponge type of thing and randomly sponged black all over.

I didn't get a good picture of this last step because the paint was drying so fast on that cardboard that I had to work quickly to achieve the look I wanted.  But I mixed a little regular gray craft paint in with the metallic paint and lightly smudged that all over (working in small areas at a time).  Then I used a damp paper towel to work it into the textures and to also remove some of it.  This left some areas with a bit of a dull aged appearance, and some areas still had some shine to it from the metallic paint.  

I finished them off by very lightly brushing some Burnt Sienna craft paint on to the edges to give the appearance of rust.

In this side shot you can really see how there was a bit of shine left in some areas.  I think that helps lend to the authenticity of them.

Pretty easy to do and total cost was $2.47 for two of them since I already had all the paint.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and if you use it for a project of your own be sure and let me know.  I'd love to see how it turns out!

(Tutorial of the topiaries can be seen HERE)

                                            

Linking up to:

Wow Us Wednesday - Savvy Southern Style
Saturday Nite Special - Funky Junk Interiors

Fun Friday Finds #3

My fun finds for this week are quite limited.  Early in the week I decided I was not doing my usual Friday garage sale loop.  I have a back log of SO many items waiting to be photographed and listed in my Etsy shop, I figured I'd be better off to spend those hours getting caught up rather than adding to the pile.

BUT... I did make a Goodwill stop early in the week, and on Thursday the kids and I were on our way back from the local bike trail when I spotted an itty bitty little garage sale sign.  I guess my car is so used to following them that it just turned the corner before I even knew it.  I had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Total spent - $7.10

This cute little vintage tray was from GW - $1.70.  I sold one very similar to it just recently, so I'm hoping this one will sell as well.

Cute little enamelware pot - .99.  It's the perfect addition to a set I acquired recently for....wait for it...free!  (A friend from church called me one day a couple of weeks ago and said she had a bunch of old stuff that was going to the thrift store and that I could come look through it and take anything I wanted.  I came back with lots of fun stuff.)  These are also destined for the shop.

Milk Glass Pedestal Mugs - $4.15 for six.  Aren't these just adorable?  I thought so.  I'm hoping someone out there in Etsyland thinks so, too.

Ok, now here's the one that made me all giddy inside and caused me to run next door to my neighbor's and make her listen to my excitement.  This is the one my car found.....all on it's own.

Antique Wicker Laundry Basket (made in Hungary).  This thing is big.  And beautiful.  And I almost passed it up because one of the handles is in disrepair.  But when I asked her how much she wanted for it and she said, "Oh...how 'bout a quarter?" my heart skipped a beat and the handle no longer mattered. In the trunk it went.

Funny story - speaking of trunks, last week when we were doing our garage sale shopping we had been in the car for a couple of hours and the kids were getting bored.  I started acting silly and began talking with an accent like I was Chinese trying to make them laugh.  I said something about needing to find more sales because I needed more junk.  My daughter, who is 4.5, piped up and said, "Mommy!  You don't need any more junk.  You already have enough junk...in the trunk."  She meant it quite literally because I had placed my purchases in the trunk, so she couldn't understand why I was laughing so hard.

I came home and did some research.  There is an almost identical one listed on Etsy for $165 and another one sold on Ebay for $115!  And I paid .25!!!  Can you believe that?  With a profit margin like that my immediate thought was to sell it because I couldn't think where I would have a need for it.

But....

Then I thought of this.

Or maybe even something like this.

And now I'm torn about what to do.

What would you guys do?  Keep or sell?

                                          

Linking up to:

Saturday Nite Special #138 - Funky Junk Interiors
Wow Us Wednesday - Savvy Southern Style

Dressed Up Dresser

The master bedroom is coming right along and I must say I'm very happy with the progress so far.  Today I'm showing you some improvements to the dresser area.

Remember my confession of how the area looked before this makeover started?

{sheepishly hanging my head}

And then I shared about some of the progress I made, and this is how it looked at that point.  It still needed some sprucing up, but it was such an improvement over what it had been before.

Well, now it has been spruced.

I don't remember how or why, but one day it just came to me and I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like.

Over the next couple of weeks after that I used my 40% off coupons at Hobby Lobby and gathered all the needed supplies to make the two topiaries and the two faux metal industrial type letters.  Real industrial letters would have been amazing, but the larger, free standing ones like I wanted cost more than I was willing to pay.

So, I used a variation of my faux galvanizing technique and painted my own (more details on that and the making of the topiaries coming soon).

I still have to find a lamp for Hubby's side of the bed, but for now a little spindle-turned-lamp that I bought last year is working out just fine (that was a $1.99 thrift store find by the way).

So, what do you think?  Do you like how it turned out?  Do you think the letters look authentic enough?  I'd love to know your thoughts.

* Tutorial for the faux industrial metal letters can be seen {here}, and the tutorial for the topiaries can be seen {here}. *

                                                                  

Linking up to:

Wow Us Wednesday - Savvy Southern Style
Saturday Nite Special #138 - Funky Junk Interiors