Rake Hooks

Let me start off by saying that I am not some brilliant gal filled with ingenuity. At least not with this. People have been using broken rakes and other garden tools as rustic decor long before even pinterest existed. That being said, I flippin love them. They make me swoon. Maybe even blush a little bit.

Our rake broke this summer because I regularly, aggressively, abuse it. Nobody will tell you I'm a gentle or graceful person, nevermind gardener. However, I didn't cry too much. This broken rake had another life in its future. After a quick wire brushing and scrubbing, it still looked perfectly weathered and worn but without the jagged rusted parts. Now... where to put it?

Years ago, the hubs and I made a chalkboard out of a poster from homegoods. It has been sitting in our basement for a few years waiting for a home. Finally I caved and put it in our kitchen. But it's so plain! I wailed. Hubs rolled his eyes. Practicality rules in our house. Aha!  The rake! Badabing! 

I can't wait to hang all kinds of cute seasonal decor on this beauty. But please note. Unless what you are hanging is very light, please use more than one nail, preferably one on each end of the rake. For your sanity's sake. Otherwise the rake will swing to one side and it will drive you batty. Learn from me.

But really... can you imagine all of the possibilities???  Ugh... wreaths, holly, garland, ornaments, fresh flowers.... you should put one in your house and share all of the ideas you come up with in the comments section. and we can have a little rake-turned-hook fan club.

Cheers,

Bridget

XOXO

Sewing Cabinet: Part 1

Hi everybody! My latest project has been taking me forever, so please bare with me and my recent infrequent posting.

My dad loves to woodwork, which my Grandfather taught him as he grew up. My Dad became a mechanical engineer, but to this day still loves to build, fix and tinker. Recently he made me a beautiful sewing cabinet! Complete with swing open doors, built in storage and an expandable work surface, it even has adjustable shelves and drawers so I can move them around. This cabinet is perfect. He even left it unfinished so that I could do the finishing myself. Which is what I’ve been up to for the past month or so.

I sanded and stained the cabinet first, then coated it with three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane, sanding with fine-grit sandpaper in-between coats. Sanding all those little crevices and panels was a *bleep but it came out great. Luckily we don’t have dining furniture yet so I commandeered the dining room for this whole project. Don’t mind the still-packed boxes in the back of the room. It’s a work in progress.

Supplies I used:
- Golden Oak Minwax oil-based stain
- Minwax clear semi-gloss polyurethane (three coats for extra durability)
- 220 grit sandpaper for smoothest finish between coats of poly
- Mask to help protect from fumes and dust from sanding…. also used a wet towel to wipe cabinet down after I sanded each side each time… kept the dust level down.

Before:

After Staining:

Finished (with the exception of the forgotten drawers… woops):

Much better photos to come in Sewing Cabinet: Part 2. Once everything is complete and I can put the cabinet in its place I’ll be able to get better photos!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
Bridget, XOXO

Beer Bottle Lights

One of Joe’s favorite new beers comes in the best bottles and I had to do something with them. I love the idea of using bottles for light fixtures and chandeliers. I can’t change the light fixtures in my apartment, but I did come up with another way to use these bottles.
We have more Christmas lights than we should (we got a bit over-zealous the last few years around the holidays), so I dug up a strand and took some time stuffing them into these bottles. It worked perfectly! The bottles look like they’re filled with fireflies – seriously makes me think of summer. If I had a place to hang them I could tape the tops to secure the bottles to the light strand and hang them like string lights. I really hope someone does that haha.


I took the labels off, but learn from me and do it first. It was a pain doing it after putting the lights in. The price I pay for changing my mind!


 

Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Bridget

Spoon Garden Tags

I’m big into porch gardening. Well, I guess I haven’t really had any other choice, so I suppose you can say I love to garden… and I do that gardening on my porch. I digress. This year, I have decided to plant more vegetables; there is something so exciting about growing your own food. To make something of sustenance from a blob of dirt and a seed is very cool. And very cheap. Ergo, very up my alley.
So this weekend I planted a few things; tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green beans, peas, broccoli, spinach, and basil. But alas, the problem with seeds is… you have no idea what you plant where once you walk away. I don’t own any garden tags, but I did find some old spoons (you know, stolen from the college cafeteria, hand-me-downs and camping-only utensils). And I love me some chalkboard paint.

What you will need:
Chalkboard paint
Spoons
Paintbrush
newspaper to protect your surface
Ok, here it is: paint the back of your spoon with the chalkboard paint. Give it two coats if you went lightly on the first coat. Let dry according to package directions. Write your tags in chalk. Reuse next year when you try new and exciting plants!

Did anyone else just notice that the article on the front page of this newspaper is a bunch of sweet ladies planting?

 

  

 
This is my little work station. It’s an old pie rack that my parents were going to throw out. I took the top off and use it as outdoor storage and a work surface.
I’m out of old spoons now, so I guess I’ll just have to go to Goodwill and rummage through the pretty old silverware :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,
Bridget XOXO

Refurbished Wooden Drawers

          The end of this last week into this weekend has been mighty busy for Joe and I as we prepared for the Coastal Lighthouse Run, a race that Joe organized and directed along with his work and Special Olympics Connecticut. All proceeds went to Special Olympics and the turnout was fantastic!! I am so proud of Joe – the race went very smoothly, with only a few minor hiccups!

          I made a fleece blanket to donate as a raffle item and I got numerous compliments on it, with many people asking if I sell my items. I was very flattered… and got to thinking. Would people really buy my projects? It certainly would help support my love for crafting if I could sell my items, but I only do this part time. Maybe I’ll look into Etsy and research my options.

         Anywho, my latest “project” has been a beautiful jewelry box/drawer chest (I’m honestly not sure what it really is) that I found at a thrift shop for $10. It’s all solid maple and handmade, but it was pretty beat up. So I sanded the whole thing down, restained, and refinished it. It might not look too different in the pictures, but it has really taken on a new life.  There is a beautiful burl on the top that really shines with the new finish. Take a look! J

Finished!

Thanks for stopping by!

Refurbished File Cabinet

Last weekend my Dad picked up a free file cabinet from the local dump. After calling to see if we might want it, he brought it home. I immediately started brewing with ideas. We are in desperate need of additional storage for our infrequently used junk… and my crafting supplies. Once I got it home it sat in my truck for a week. Finally, this weekend we got it out of the truck and up into the apartment and cleaned it up a bit. I decided to paint it with chalkboard paint and use it in our spare bedroom… this way we can hide AND label our junk drawers… Brilliant! Super easy and really fun project for Joe and I this weekend.

We used painters tape to block out a border, sanded the squares a little bit and started painting!

We Used:
$10 chalkboard paint
$2 paint roller and tray
Leftover sandpaper from an old project
Painters tape leftover from an old project

After a serious cleaning and removing some stickers

Joe loved the tape

All taped up and ready to go

Sanding

Love a man with a paint roller ;)

We were originally gonna paint the middle squares too, but changed our minds.

 We did three coats of the paint per the box instructions. Any oops’ that you see are probably from me… I got a bit excited here and there with the paint roller.

Taking the tape off was the BEST PART. Neither of us were willing to give up taking tape off to take pictures - so we shared and took an after picture instead. haha

Not too shabby!

Now I kinda wanna paint the rest of it… hmm... maybe blue or red or some other fun color! Joe would kill me. I think we’ll stick to the chalkboard paint for now.

Thanks for stopping by!