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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Before & After: A dresser saved from the dump.


Last weekend I revived a dying 1930’s dresser. I assumed that it was going to be a fairly straight forward and easy project, but it turned out to take quite a bit of time. Grrr. I’m happy with how it turned out, and I’m even happier that I was able to save the fantastic Art Deco hardware.

Here it is before:

During:

Everyone refinishes furniture on their kitchen floor, right?

I decided to use Martha Stewart “Barn Red.” I make my own chalk paint, but that is the base that I used.

After the chalk paint, I used Valspar Glaze in “Mocha.” I bought this at Lowe’s. A little goes a long way.

The hardware needed some love and elbow grease. I used steel wool, baking soda and vinegar, baking soda and Dawn and vinegar, baking soda and water, more steel wool. You get my point; it took a while.

All said and done….

XOXO,
Abby
P.S. This dresser was not saved literally from the dump. As in, I did not go to the dump and get it. Rather, it was close to being headed to the dump. I don’t even know where a dump is. But if I did, it wouldn’t be beneath me to go there. And look for a dresser.//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

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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

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