Spring Entryway Decorations

The sunshine and warmer temps have definitely been inspiring. Our bright and happy Easter and Spring decorations have carried throughout the house. Here are a few pictures of the entryway.

Click any photo if you want to see it bigger!

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I don’t think I’ve shared a photo of this table yet. It was originally a dark cherry finish. The bottom has a glaze over powder blue and the top has been “crackled.” 

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This little lamb is so sweet, don’t you think? Plus, tulips in antique Ball jars is a no brainer. The chalkboard was picked up at Hobby Lobby and I used our barnwood vinegar stain from THIS POST to age the frame. Before, it was new and unstained. 

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This typewriter is a fave. I picked it up one year while on an adventure with my sister, Tara, at the Crabapple Antique Festival in Milton, Georgia. If you’re interested in finding other antique festivals in Georgia go HERE and HERE. (It’s an older post so the dates won’t be accurate, but you can put it in the Google-machine.) 

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Wait for it…Wait for it…

Once upon a time I painted my dining room three times in a weekend. Two of those times were in the same day. One of those colors was lilac. I make mistakes.

Enter: A chifferobe. This chifferobe started out in a cherry finish. And, well, no one wants cherry furniture right now. So since Ken and I were newbies to refinishing furniture, we sanded it. I can’t believe we did, but yes, we sanded it. Entirely. It took a lot of time. And then (embarrassingly) we used a vinegar barn wood stain on it. It was horrible.

After that the pig needed some lipstick, so we painted it white and put it in our antique booth. And there it sat. And sat. It got lots of compliments. And there it sat some more.

So we brought it home and put it in the garage. And one day I decided to slap some antiquing glaze on it, which was also horrible. It was so bad that it might as well have been cherry finish again. I cursed the chifferobe and spat on it (in my head) and turned my back on its ugliness for months.

Then last week I had a thought: Gray. And then I had another thought: Flat Spray Paint. Valspar sells some fantastic colors of flat spray paint at Lowe’s. So I picked up three cans and brought them home to introduce them to the chifferobe. But…gray is relative, apparently. And this wasn’t my idea of “gray” as much as “bluish ugly concrete primer color.”

So glad I quickly realized that the gray spray paint wasn’t the color I was looking for.

So, doing what I do best I went to Home Depot and picked out a nice shade of gray and mixed up a batch of “chalk” paint. And even though there was nothing wrong with the long mirror, I took it out. (hold the hate mail) I replaced it with some natural linen fabric.


We added a knob to the door after this picture was taken.

And now finally, finally, I love it. So I’m going to do what I do with all of my favorite pieces. I’m going to keep it (because I love it). At least for a few months until I decide that I love a paycheck more. And then I’m going to let one of you love it.

Mistakes are okay. They aren’t sins. They’re learning opportunities. I’ve made so, so many mistakes in my life. But I’ve also learned so, so much. I’m thankful for my learning opportunities.

Ephesians 4:22-24                
To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

XOXO,
Abby

Abby Smolarsky1 Comment

Either Oar {Beach House, Lake House}

A few weeks ago, Ken and I headed out on a Friday to see if we could pick up some antique and vintage items. We must’ve stopped at 6 garage sales, in addition to our regular spots where we usually find stuff. It was just one of those days where there is just not anything good. It was about time for him to head to work and me to go pick up the kids from school, and we were exhausted. On our way home we stopped at one last garage sale, and I’m so glad we did. We picked up a vintage coke crate in excellent condition, filled with vintage coke bottles, a beautiful, old rustic box, and two wooden oars. The oars weren’t old, but ever since I saw this picture on Pinterest, my brain had been coming up with tons of ideas.

Oar Rack from A Beach Cottage
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Since we found two oars, I decided to show you two different ways that they could turn out, depending on your preference.
First step, sand off the finish. On one of the oars, I sanded less in certain spots.
The oar on the left has been sanded. The one on the right has not.
I just love the character from this split in the wood. We’re all a little cracked up, aren’t we? 🙂
After the oars were sanded, it was time to re-stain them. Why would I sand off the finish and them refinish them? Because I want them to look old and rustic! 
The oar that I sanded less gets the DIY vinegar stain that I showed you how to make on the crates.
One day I will think ahead and wear gloves. 

On the other oar, I made a glaze using Benjamin Moore Studio Finishes clear latex glaze mixed with Benjamin Moore Hawthorne Yellow. I used a wet paper towel to wipe some of the glaze off while it was still wet.
After the oar with the glaze on it dried, I added a stain to it. I used Varathane stain in “sunbleached.” My goal was to get a weathered look. But you could use any color you wanted, depending on the finished look that you were going for.

Finally, both oars got robe hooks and hanging hardware.
Here is the finished product! I like to call them “Beach House” and “Lake House”. 
“Beach House”

“Lake House”

 Both of the kids said that they like the “Lake House” oar better. Ken likes the “Beach House” one. I can’t decide which one that I like. What do you like? Leave me a comment and let me know. If you like either one, will you please “pin” it to Pinterest?
XOXO,
Abby

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That’s just crate!

October is always really hectic at our house. It’s my favorite month of the year, and I always have a million fantastic unrealistic ways that I want to spend the autumnal season. I think October might be busier at our house than December. We have soccer games and family birthdays, not to mention the traditional pumpkin picking, carving, and eating that goes along with season. So when I registered to sell at a craft fair this month, I obviously wasn’t thinking clearly. I do happen to operate well on a time deadline, so you guessed it…another adventure!

I needed some way to display my wares at the craft fair. Not having a lot of extra time (see above) or money (see above), I wanted to do something fast and easy. I was inspired by these two guys below that I have used in vignettes around the holidays. The chippy red bench came from my sister’s garage sale about 10 years ago. And the green crate came from someplace like JoAnn’s or Hobby Lobby.

Next I did a search on Pinterest for crates. Don’t you just love Pinterest? Of course, I found some inspiration.
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First I found this DIY crate project from Vintage Chic.


Next I found some inspiration for creating a vinegar stain from The Money Pit

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I decided that I wanted to create some crates that looked like they were left in a barn. I gathered my materials, which included: two unfinished crates from Michaels, apple cider vinegar, a mason jar, a foam brush, some pennies, tea bags, and some steel wool. The crates were normally $12.99, but I used a 40% off coupon for each (purchased on different days) and a 20% off total purchase coupon. I found the vinegar, tea, jar, and brush at Walmart. The steel wool came from Home Depot in the paint department.


Don’t you love the patina showing on Abe? I have another project with these coming up in the future that I can’t wait to show you.

Step 1. Make the stain. Fill the jar with the apple cider vinegar. Add the steel wool, pennies, and tea. The website I found didn’t do it exactly like this. But I like to experiment, so I came up with my own stain cocktail recipe. I left it sitting on my counter for 2-3 days. You have to be careful with the tea, though, because it will mold. I took the tea bags out after a few hours.



Step 2. Sand the rough edges. (Oops, I didn’t picture my sanding block!) You will want to decide how much to sand, depending on how you’re using the crates. I wanted mine to be rough and old looking, so I only sanded the rough edges and splinters.

Step 3. Find a spot where you can get messy. This may be a DIY stain made with materials from home, but it is a stain. And it does. Stain. Even concrete in a garage. This would be great outside on the grass with some newspapers.

Step 4. Give the steel wool in the jar a few dunks up and down to get all of the fantastic color mixing through. Dip your foam brush in and, going with the grain of the wood, start brushing it on. The more coats you do the darker it gets. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look like it’s doing anything at first. The wood reacts with the ingredients and starts to change color. I did three coats on mine.

Here’s the before and after.


This was one of the easiest projects I’ve done. When I have time, I plan on adding some wording to the sides of the crates, either my company logo or something utilitarian like, “Peaches.” Don’t feel like you have the time for this project? No worries, you can purchase weathered looking crates online!

Let me know what you think!


XOXO,
Abby

P.S. Here is a great site to get steel wool from, delivered right to your door! Red Devil 630-0316 Steel Wool Course #3 (Google Affiliate Ad) //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

Abby Smolarsky6 Comments