SNOWY DAYS

Well, a storm finally hit us and our ground is covered with the white stuff.  I'm not big on snow, so snowy cold days generally find me indoors where it's warm and dry.  Since I have been house bound the last two days I have been sewing.

As I have shared, I am a big 49er fan and found that I was in need of some new winter shirts, so after perusing my fabric stash this is what I came up with.  I didn't have a pattern for sweatshirts, so I took apart an old shirt I had and using some brown paper bags, cut my own pattern.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.

 

I also finished up a Halloween greeting for the expectant trick or treaters in a few days.  I cut these letters from chipboard using my Cricut and covered them with some Halloween fabric scraps I had on hand and sealed it with some decoupage, then glued them all to a piece of ribbon for hanging.

I hope it doesn't scare off the ghosts and goblins !!!!!

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF MONTANA.....WITH THE COAL MINERS DAUGHTER

What a week it has been...............Road trip and Loretta Lynn.  Hasn't left much time for my "junk" stash, however, did manage some sewing and preparing for my little Trick or Treaters.  I want to share with you some of  my Montana

A church in the middle of nowhere ...........

and a place where the deer and the antelope play !!!!

 

My early birthday celebration, an evening with Loretta Lynn

 

 

I'll get back into my stash in the coming week, have lots of plans and will share as I get them completed.

 

 

ROAD TRIP........YEA !!!

On a road trip, currently in Bozeman, MT heading towards Yellowstone.  Weather is gorgeous this week, but a storm is due in next week.  One thing I have learned living up here is you have to take advantage of good weather when it's here.  Being able to adapt plans to weather can be a challenge to some but in my world everyday is Saturday, therefore here I am.  I have been working on sewing projects for Christmas gifts this past week and thought about getting into my garage stash to work on some things but this road trip came up, so I have gone through some past projects and thought I would share this little "pink" bench. 

This is a very inexpensive piece of furniture, but I recovered the seat, added new drawer knobs, painted the wood, removed the decorative metal sides and it now fits my décor.  Enjoy !!

CHEAP DECOR

I'm all about expressing yourself into your home.  I try to do this in my home everyday.  I don't shop the stores much for my home décor and love to add little accents at little to no cost.  One of the ways I have been able to accomplish this is decorating light switch plate covers.  A little fabric or scrapbook paper with some decoupage and you can add a little something special to any space.

These are two light switch plates in my house, the top one is in my dining room and the bottom one at my bar.  One is paper and the other fabric and they go with the theme in the rooms.  Remember it is your home, so make it special just for you !!!

FINALLY FINISHED !!

Have been working on Grandma's new robe for awhile now and even though I am trying so hard to complete one project before starting another I have allowed myself to get sidetracked quite a bit this past week.  Today I made an all out effort to finish this robe, her birthday is coming up and this has to be mailed, so I can now pat myself on the back.

Whenever I am making something for someone I always worry, will they like it, is it the right color or style, will it fit.  It doesn't matter if I'm sewing, crocheting, painting or building something that fear is always there.  Often times I get to see my item on the person or in the home I made it for, however, there are times when I just never know, those are the times that I wonder.  In order to turn a blank canvas into something beautiful or useful you just have to have confidence in yourself and your ability and hope someone else appreciates the beauty, work and love you put into your pieces.

IT'S HUNTING SEASON

Not growing up with a father, brother or grandfather that ever did any hunting, I never gave the sport much thought.  But now living in rural Montana where they actually reschedule high school football games and close schools for youth hunting it gives me a new perspective.  I'm quite certain I will never have the desire to spend my day in the cold tracking an animal to shoot, but my husband and son are avid hunters and as I looked out my window today I was reminded of the importance of this sport when I spotted young hunters on the hills by my house.  Normally these kids would have been preparing to play their football game tonight, but they did that yesterday so that they could spend the day with their fathers and friends and rifles searching for the wildlife.  Antelope season opened last weekend, but deer season opened today just for youth, it's like a state holiday for these kids,  and hunting is taken very serious.  My husband and son each got their antelope last week and are making plans to begin their hunt for the perfect deer.  I think the deer know when hunting season begins as they make their way down from the hills and into our yards this time of year, so every evening after the sun goes down and the streets go quite I can watch the deer come get an evening meal on all of our greenery.

This is the antelope that will be coming to my house this year after he is mounted and can hang on my wall.  My husband knows me well enough to know that animals go to processors before they come home and a picture is all I need.

WHAT IS IT ?????

Sometimes items intended for one purpose are the perfect piece to use for an entirely different purpose.  This is true in this little wine cabinet I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago.  It was a kids wood project in school and although he had finished with the building of the piece, he never completed the details and painting.  I picked it up for a couple of bucks and out to my garage stash it stayed until I finished my master bath, now it not only provides extra counter top space, but also is a handy place to store towels.

I painted it to match the existing cabinets and now not only does it hide some exposed pipes, but serves a useful purpose as well.

There are many ways to display a treasured piece of art other than hanging it on the wall and this used artists easel is one way to do that.  Although I have no idea who the original owner was of this piece, I picked it up at an auction and it still bears all the paint splatters of its previous owner and now holds a very special piece of art work in my living room.

My philosophy is never look at an item for its intended purpose, but rather what it could be.

OTHERS CREATIONS

I have been suffering from a cold for a few days now, not much energy to do things so I thought I would share some things made by others.  This was a broken dining room chair that was made into a dog bed.  I got this from a friend of mine a few years ago and I just love it and as you can see "Willie" is rather fond of it himself.

Morgan Coach Lines is a series of wood carved wagons made by my husband.  These two wagons are getting ready to be delivered to Creighton Block Gallery in Big Sky, MT

WELCOME TO LAZY SUNDAYS

Today was just one of those days that I just didn't want to do much of anything.  I have been working on a crochet project I hope to have completed in a couple of days and will share when I do.  What I did manage to get done today was a fall wreath for my door

This wreath was made completely from yard sale finds, an embroidery hoop, scrabble tiles and fall floral items.  I can't go to a yard sale, flea market or auction and not pick up these types of items.  It's always nice to be able to put my found items to good use.

HUNTING WIDOW

Well, it's official Antelope season began today, and I guess deer season is following soon, from my past experiences I will be home alone a lot in the next month or two.  I have never been one to understand the need to shoot something, but my husband and son take on hunting season with a passion, so I have grown accustom to it.  After finishing my daily chores this morning I found myself wondering what project I should get myself into.  Apparently I wasn't feeling too crafty, so decided I would get my grandkids trick or treat packages ready for the mail.  I had to first find and pull out my stash of goodies.

I follow a number of craft blogs and do take ideas from them.  I found this a few weeks ago and saved them, off to my printer I went and printed out these labels for "PUMPKIN POO"  

After I filled the bags and attached the labels, they came out like this 

Then  had to get everything ready for the mailman next week

With alot of time still on my hands, decided I had better get busy with Grandma's robe, as her birthday is in a few weeks, at least I can say I got it all layed out and cut today, will work on the sewing tomorrow 

When I designed my sewing/craft room the most important thing for me was a cutting surface,  my room has a table in the center,  I can lay out patterns and cut with ease, among many other uses.  Have I said how much I love this room.

RESIN, RESIN, RESIN

A few years ago I decided to learn to work with resin.  I had seen so many things using that product, but had never worked with it.  Started with some small jewelry pieces and worked my way up to my new living room side table I shared a few weeks ago.  The type of resin I use is a two part epoxy and I have never had it fail me.

This a canvas covered with fabric with some rhinestones added to it (as you can see in the close-up), then topped with resin to give it a hard shiny finish. 

Took a picture frame, cut a piece of plywood to fit it, added some handles and legs, painted it, decoupaged a print in it, then topped it with resin, making a perfect tray.

Thinking of my grandkids and Halloween, I used a silicone mold, glitter, paint and resin and came up with these little magnets for their Trick or Treat bags

Resin is not a project to be rushed, it requires a lot of practice and patience.  Air bubbles are your worst enemy with resin, I use my blow dryer and a straight pin to remove air bubbles, however, I have learned you only have a limited time in which to work out the air bubbles, so give it a try, start small and remember practice makes perfect.

WAITING FOR PAINT TO DRY

I don't know about anybody else, but when I am working on something I just hate waiting for the paint to dry.  Since I am trying really hard not to have too many irons in the fire at the same time, the time I spend waiting for paint to dry really tests my patience. 

Today I set out to finish my little stool project.  This little green stool I had purchased at a yard sale last summer for just a few bucks

Not really a bad piece, but totally not my style.  A few years ago I had picked up a couple of burlap potato bags at a yard sale and really wanted to use them on something, so after a few days contemplating how this stool should look I came up with this

The padding on the inside of the stool was just too worn to be reused, so after taking this stool apart I needed to re-pad it before covering it.  The metal plates on the backside that the legs screw into were rusted, requiring the use of WD40 and channel locks to unscrew the legs, once they were all apart I cleaned everything and painted all the metal surfaces the same green as the legs. 

 

SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERYWHERE ARE SIGNS

I love signs, they can be fun, funny, sentimental or serious, but they all convey a message.  I started learning some sign making techniques a year ago and as with anything the more I do, the better I am becoming with them.  Here is a sampling of some of my signs

I was not blessed with an artistic ability, so when I am doing something that requires lettering or a picture I have to have help.  I have my Cricut machine, which is a cutting machine, so with sign making I prepare my wood, add some lettering paint and wax and after several steps over the course of a few days I have another treasured piece.

FALL IS IN THE AIR AND IN MY HOME

First let me share the items I picked up at Sunday's auction, I can already imagine the finished projects, anxious to get started on these

Since I have been known to have a lot of things started I am making every effort to complete one project before starting something new, so today was donated to finishing my fall decorating.  While perusing Pinterest last night I came across a project I just had to try and with hunting season almost upon us and as much a part of fall up here as leaves falling, I knew the direction this needed to go in and could fit in with my fall décor.  I started with this

and finished with this.  Love the results and how it fit into my fall table grouping

A black and white photo of two of my favorite hunters floated in some vegetable oil in a mason jar, how cute and simple is this.  Already thinking of all the other things I could do with this information.

How it came together with my fall table décor

Remember my pickle jar candy dish, well one was so cute, just couldn't help myself and did a couple more, now need  more candy to fill them.  Another fall grouping

And a little hint of the next project I am working on, but will be a couple days before I can get to the finished product

 

TOO MANY AUCTIONS

Okay, so two days in a row at auctions took it's toll on me.  Still haven't unpacked the truck from yesterday's auction, will do that tomorrow and post a picture of the goodies I bought.  Didn't get much yesterday, but a couple really nice pieces of furniture and didn't even come close to spending my budget for the day.  I decided today I would empty out the craft/sewing boxes I bought at Saturday's auction, well that turned into an all day event.  Scored a whole box full of wooden spools along with tons of scissors, threads, pins and lots and lots of ribbon and lace.  As I was attempting to put things away, it became apparent that I needed to do a little cleaning up of my sewing/craft room, so that is where my day went.  Although it was late and I needed the light on to take pictures, I thought I would share my special space today.

These pictures represent most of the room, but not all of it.  I have come to the conclusion that I need to quit buying things I think I need.  I need to have everything I need for any project I want to do and I think I have succeeded.

ESTATE AUCTION - DAY ONE

Spent the day today in Monarch, MT at an estate auction.  The couple that lived there have moved onto assisted living and they lived in the old school house and had a lot of hobbies.  Monarch is not that far from us, 25 plus miles, but it snowed there the other day and snow was still on the ground, so it was a day to put the thermals and gloves on, but it takes more than a little bit of snow to keep me from spending 8 hours sitting outside at an auction.  I have to attend these things with a budget in mind and a constant reminder that I need NO new hobbies.  So with my $50.00 in hand this is what I purchased:

I didn't even spend my full budget today, so I will have a bigger budget for tomorrow's auction.  I have been wanting to work with some chairs and today I hit the jackpot, all but three of my chairs are children's chairs and two of them old school chairs, so they will be fun to refurbish.  I haven't gotten into my boxes of sewing/craft items, but so much of my sewing/craft stash come from yard sales and auctions, but for just a couple of bucks who can leave behind all that lace and ribbon.

 

Tomorrow's auction is in Great Falls and should be a warmer day, probably just as long, but should be able to leave my thermals at home.

I LOVE PINTEREST

This morning I was thinking it was time to start doing some re-decorating for the upcoming holidays.  I don't get too carried away with all the holiday décor anymore since I no longer have small children at home, but I do enjoy making changes with the seasons and still love the holidays.  I knew I wanted to make a few new things and  I love Pinterest and all the ideas I get from there.  After a quick review of my pinterest boards I went digging in my junk stash and craft room and came up with all of this:

Didn't have a lot of time today to devote to making and crafting, but was determined to finish at least one project and this is the beginning of my autumn/Halloween décor.

A yard sale candlestick, a saved pickle jar and a round wooden knob, a little glue and a little spray paint and I have a cute new candy dish.  I love the way it came out.

 

HEY, NO SNOW FOR ME

Don't have much winter experience in Montana, but in my opinion September/October is way too early for any snow.  Now that I've said that, let me tell you how excited I am that this storm didn't hit my town.  Cold and gray all day, but no rain or snow, however, the weatherman did say it came down fairly close to me.  Knowing this storm was coming, I had planned to stay in today, which I did, had planned on making Grandma's robe, but once I got into my sewing room I realized I had some unfinished projects, decided I should finish those before starting any new ones.  I am blessed to have many granddaughters of various ages and sizes.  I loved making clothes for my daughter when she was young and am having even a better time now sewing for my granddaughters.  This is what I finished up today and just can't wait to see them in them.

I want to share another of auction finds today, I purchased this for $5.00 at auction about 4 months ago and when I finished my master bath I realized I had a place and need for a bench or chair.  This is an organ bench, you know the kind, the lid opens for storage and was covered in a tufted brown vinyl.  I don't have a lot of before pictures of items I have already completed, but will be certain to get before pictures on new items.  After I finished with that rickety organ bench this is what I have in my bathroom and it serves the exact purpose I need.

I'm excited to know our weather is going to be turning nice again just in time for not one, but two estate auctions I intend to attend this weekend.  One Saturday and one Sunday and weather in upper 60's to low 70's.  I'll be sure to take pictures of my finds and share them.

SNOW IN MY FORECAST !!!!!

For the second time in about a week a storm is coming our way and my local weatherman says I could see some snow tomorrow.  Last time the snow hit the surrounding mountains but not where I live, hopefully tomorrow's will be the same.  It won't last, but am anticipating a cold wet day tomorrow.  Today was the perfect fall day, high 50's, sunny and no wind.  Took advantage of the nice weather and started planning a new project for tomorrow's storm.  My grandmother wants a new robe.  I bought the fabric awhile back, but just didn't have a pattern I thought would be appropriate for her, even though, a lot of the patterns in my stash had belonged to her.  So decided to go to Joann's Fabric store today to get the pattern and as tempting as it was I walked out of the store with only my pattern and one more piece of fabric (for another project I have in mind).  Since I have spent the last two days running errands and shopping I haven't done any new projects, so thought I would share with you one of my favorites from several months ago. 

This is my TV "dresser".  If your house is like mine you cannot bring yourself to toss all those VHS tapes and have collected a lot of new DVD's.  Well, I needed a place to store them out of sight.  I picked up this 70's dresser at an auction in Columbia Falls, MT a few years ago, it is a solid well constructed piece of furniture, but wasn't exactly my style, but exactly what I was looking for.  I painted it, outside is a dark brown and drawer fronts are on off white, purchased new legs, raising it about 5" from its original height.  The drawer pulls were originally large square wooden ones same blonde color as the wood, I replaced them with some round shiny silver ones and for about a total of $65.00 I have a brand new piece of furniture and it serves the exact function I was hoping for, holds the new TV and hides all the other stuff.  I love it !!