A Softer Shade of Sunny

Living in the northwest, I appreciate a sunny shade of yellow.  My house is, in fact, painted a pale yellow.  In all the right places, yellow makes me smile. . .

But somehow, these dining chairs weren't making me smile.  And really, are they yellow? Are they gold?

I snagged them at the Goodwill.  I actually had to ask a lady sitting on one if she intended to purchase it, because I wanted it.  Turns out she was just waiting for her husband.  And judging by the look on her face, the brightness of these chairs blinded her to their potential.  But not me.

One thing was certain--they needed a little help before they could really shine.

A coat of white paint, antique glaze, and a new outfit went a long way to brightening this pair up. . . or toning them down. . .

Now they are all kinds of lovely.  Their new, but economical, upholstery gives the pair a more casual style than the gold velvet.

Bleached drop cloth never looked so good. . . unless you count the hundred and one other people who are creating great pieces with the aid of inexpensive canvas and a little craft paint.

As usual, now that the transformation is complete I realize how great they look in my house.  Too bad they are not long for this room.

They are headed to the shop, along with the pillow and cute little drop top table. . .

. . . which used to look like this:

Although I originally purchased it for my daughter's room, I think it needs to sit between these chairs and look adorable.  And in case it isn't small enough, the top has a release knob that lets the top drop to the side and store away in small spaces.

Luckily I took lots of pictures to remind myself how cute they all are.

One of these days I will purchase furniture I can actually leave in my house.  You might have noticed this room is lacking a little somthin' somthin'. . . like a sofa, or a chair or two, or tables.  But the rug? That's staying!

Giving Thanks

How do you define gratitude?

I for one, am very grateful lately. My life may be insanely hectic these days, but I have been particularly blessed this year.  I try to remember that as I run around stressing out.

Apparently, I am not the only one thinking along these lines.  When Lisa and I put together our Harvest Party last month, we came up with a Thanks Tree for our centerpiece.  We liked it so well that we decided to create a Thanks Tree Kit to sell at the shop, so others could enjoy it.

We started with half a dozen. . . and they sold in two days.  So I created a dozen more and have more in the works.  I love party planning, and the idea of hosting Thanksgiving dinner and decking my house out is  festive fall decor, with delicious scents wafting from the kitchen and hoards of family members milling around, helping with the fixings and enjoying each other's company. . . yeah, I love that.

However, I live eight hours from my family and being one of eight children, and the only one farther than an hour from my parents pretty much means I NEVER get to host family parties.  It makes me sad.  'Cause I KNOW I could throw a mean party.  Thanksgiving dinner. . . oh, one day.

Many of you, however, might get that privilege this year.  For those of you not within driving distance of the shop, you COULD buy a kit from the Etsy Store, OR, I'll tell you what we did.

Gather a bunch of sticks from your yard and plunk them in a big vase.  Be sure they fit beneath your light fixture on your table.  For fun, and since this is about defining our gratitude, we rolled up some vintage dictionary pages and tied them to the branches with sisal twine.

On our tree we used some of  my weathered clothes pins from my clothesline.

I like the dirty, aged look they have acquired over the years, but for our kit, (and if you don't have lovely weathered clothes pins) we purchased brand spanking new (and cheap) clothes pins. . .

. . . sprayed them with white spray paint. . .

. . . and rubbed a little stain on them.  A few even stuck to the newspaper and some print was left on the clothes pin.  I dig that, so I left it.

Then we cut out oak leaves from recycled looking paper and aged the edges with Distress Ink:

On a few we wrote words of thanks.  On the rest, have your guests write things they are grateful for.

All that is left is to deck out your thanks tree.  And for fun, we hung a little moss here and there just for aesthetics.

Have you taken time to give thanks lately?

Linking with CSI Project

It's beginning to look a lot like. . .

Have you been to a store lately?  Apparently the Christmas season is upon us.  Tinsel and holly are filling the aisles. . . or rather large blow up santas and light up . . . everything, are filling the aisles.  But not at our shop.  For now it is still filled with harvest fun.  Need a Thanksgiving centerpiece? Some fun fall oak and dot garland? A corn husk wreath or leaf felt place mats?  A canvas harvest banner? That's what you'll find if you come shop our booth (along with great furniture and all year round decor, of course).  After all, it IS still mid October.

Halloween is a little over-rated in my book, but Thanksgiving I LOVE.  It's autumn, it's family, it's great food.  Really, what's not to love (except perhaps the inevitable rain)?  But honestly, Thanksgiving kind of gets the shaft.  Things go from haunted orange explosion straight to blown up snow globes that my dog barks at all day (not in MY yard, mind you).

That being said. . .

As creators and sellers of seasonal stuff, we must think ahead.  And since we are participating in a holiday bizarre that gets stocked October 28th, we are getting in the holiday spirit around here.  Not too much happening yet, but I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of winter whiteness, soon to be headed your way! And just to mess with my mind a little, I even listened to Christmas music while I worked today.  It feels a little sinful thinking of Christmas in the midst of my most favorite time of year.

As much as I LOVE fall and Thanksgiving, I dive right into the Christmas spirit the second I wake up the day after Thanksgiving (though I don't go seeking that spirit among crazed, bargain seeking, sale shoppers. . . if you know what I mean).

How early to you start pulling out the Christmas decor?  And how do you decorate for the season?

Introducing Our Little Corner. . .

It may seem like you keep seeing all the same stuff every time I take pictures (largely because we haven't listed any furniture on etsy), but with luck it will all sell and we will have to come up with new stuff.  For now, however, here is our setup:

I really appreciate JoAnn, the owner of Camas Antiques, matching the paint to our decor! That was rather nice of her.  Clearly she has good taste as well as being extremely nice.

As you can see we have plenty of room to fill in, but we are off to a good start!

No rest for the weary.  Once we fill up our space here we will get right to work making things for the Christmas bizarre we are participating in all November and December.  Stay tuned for more on that.

In the meantime, here is a glimpse of the outside of the shop. . .

And the quaint little tree lined street. . .

. . . dripping with flowers AND filling up with lovely fall leaves! Love it!

Once I have better pictures I will give you a more intimate tour of our space.  For now, wish us luck!

MOVING DAY!

Lisa and I are moving into the shop today.  We will be sure to take loads of pictures and post them tonight. Wish us luck!

**Random fall picture. . . because it's fall, and fall makes me happy and so does moving into our space in the shop!**

Catch 22. . .

It is always good advice to find a job doing something you love.  My dilemma was/is always narrowing it down to one thing.  I am still dealing with the desire to be a writer/photographer/decorator/shop owner/party planner/bakery owner///. . .  you get the idea.  In the same vein of thought, with regards to our shop, I think it is important to always sell things that we love.  I love that while working on items for the shop, Lisa will occasionally burst out with, "I love this.  I would totally buy this for my house!"

That's sort of the point, of course.  We choose/create things to sell, BECAUSE we love them.

It does, however, create a minor issue.  I often want to keep things meant for the shop.  In fact, a few things I bought before setting up shop, with intentions of making over for my house, have made their way into the sale pile.  For instance, I bought an ugly little stool for my daughter's room.  It had medium brown wooden legs and a hideous brown print vinyl cover with a pleated ruffle trim--also out of the ugly brown print vinyl.  It was, in fact, so ugly my husband thought it would be funny to spray paint the word "poop" on the top of it. . . BEFORE I took a before picture.

This is where I would normally show you a before picture.  I LOVE before and afters, don't you?  But that picture is one of the many lost on my crashed hard drive, so you can't really appreciate the transformation this little stool has undergone.  So without further ado, the after:

I wanted something simple and clean, yet girly and fresh. . . and different.

Can I just say mission accomplished?! Now the only dilemma is I want to keep it.  I can almost justify it by reminding Lisa that I did originally purchase it for Hannah's room.  Or at least I can try. . . which I did.

 (That Windsor chair? Another thing I am having trouble deciding to part with. . .and that pillow. . .? It's unhealthy really.)

That is where having a partner comes in handy.  We keep each other on track.  Otherwise the two of us might just have a house full of really cute stuff and a shop full of. . . nothing (not to mention our wallets!).

But for now, this little number is my favorite. . . until something else I almost can't resist comes along.

Moving In. . .

Clearly my programs took the slow boat to my house despite the reassurances that that they would be overnighted to me.  Oh, well.

Despite that little hiccup, Lisa and I are pleased to announce that we are moving into our permanent location next Tuesday at Camas Antiques.  We have been busy little bees keeping our etsy shop stocked and getting things ready for the shop.

For those of you who haven't been to Camas, or don't live nearby, here is my little plug:

Picture a quaint small town with a picturesque setting on the Columbia River and a downtown area with historic homes encircled with mature trees and lovely hedges.  4th Street, where the shop is located, is tree lined and charming.  Hanging baskets drip flowers all summer from the street lamps, colorful maple leaves blow across the pavement all fall, and twinkling Christmas lights herald in the holiday season.  Fairs, markets, classic car shows and more fill the streets throughout the year. Boutiques, flower shops, cafes, a nursery and a historic movie theater are but few of the attractions along the street.

In case you couldn't tell, I LOVE Camas.  A home I dream of living in is mere blocks from the shop.  At this point it is likely clear that I am excited about our new location.

All our industry has been piling up in my house. My guest room is less than accommodating. . .

Wreaths, pillows, dishes, chalkboards, German glass glitter letters, Thanks Tree packets, and more are piled about.

 And pieces of furniture are tucked into various nooks and crannies in my home.

Some of these pieces I am growing attached to!  But come next Tuesday, it's all going to fill our little 10' X 6' space.  I hope it will all fit!  Feel free to come over to the shop and see how it all works out next week.