tada!!!

while we were redoing the kitchen last winter we had decided to get a new table and chairs.  I sold the 40's drop leaf that was warped and beginning to loose it's veneer.  We bought a set at the Restore planning to paint it.  AH hated it from the start, yes he was there when we bought it.  We discussed what we both wanted and after much talk decided a long farm house table with turned legs that would sit at least 8 was the best compromise.  I started looking on line and in local stores.  I did find exactly what we wanted until I checked the price tag.  Just under $3000 for the set.  No way was that happening in our house.  Neither one of us are status conscious needing fancy expensive things to make us happy.  We turned to the solution that we reach so often, we would make it ourselves.  I found a guy on E-bay that did turned legs and we bought the rest of the wood at a big box store, total cost for materials $200, that included the stain and finish.  Throughout the summer I kept my eyes open for chairs that would work.  Lucky timing at a half price Goodwill sale yielded 4 chairs, a stop at a grocery store parking lot fund raiser found the last 4.  They were all solid and well made but needed refinished.  That was the only disagreement we had with the whole project. AH is one of the "if it's wood it must stay that way" kind of people.  I think anything but the most valuable antiques are fair game for paint. With a wood floor and some large natural wood antique pieces we did not need any more wood tones in the room.  With a coat of satin spray paint and new seat covers on the padded chairs they look great. Total cost for the chairs including 4 cans of paint $61.  total new dining set cost $261 and about 20 hours of labor.  It was finally finished yesterday and took it's place in our home where it will stay for years to come.  thanks to my wonderful, talented husband for spending the time making just exactly what we wanted.

AH put the top and legs together in the house.  If it needs to go out it will need to be taken apart.

Kerig jig and pocet screws for a strong solid table

We deliberatly made the top preworn to match the rest of the room

give thanks

I'm taking some time off for some much needed rest and recuperation.  A quick trip to the big city where the high point will be seeing my granddaughter.  Thanksgiving with family and friends with all the preparation will follow, starting on Thursday and going until Saturday.  Maybe a  quick movie or ride to see the festival of lights in a nearby town. One place you won't find me is shopping on black Friday, there isn't a deal out there that could get me in the middle of all that greed and crazy!!!! I love the holidays but they sure do get hectic.
Remember as you're stuffing yourself with turkey and pie to give thanks for the food you have.  When your kid or mother gets on your last nerve give thanks that you have family nearby to celebrate with.  When the house is a disaster give thanks that you have a home to live in.  Most of all give thanks for all the blessings in your life and try to become a blessing for someone else.  We live in a scary world that gets uglier everyday.  Sometimes it's hard to find things to be grateful for.  Take a minute, put down your phone, game or Ipad turn off the TV and really look at all you have and how rich you really are (if you think I'm talking money just quit reading now).  In this country even the poorest among us have more than most people in the rest of the world we should never take it for granted.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

little table

This table was another rummage sale find for $3.  The fabric top was a mess but I just tore that off and added a new top after giving the frame a quick coat of spray paint.

snowman pictures

I have done snowmen pictures similar to this for family and friends but I used windows as frames.  I had these frames given to me so I decided to make more snow people.  What's nice is these frames hold the backing on with turn knobs on the back.  It would be simple to paint something else for year round use then turn the snowmen around to the front for the holidays.  both pictures are original designs, acrylic on wood.

The caption reads star light star bright please don't let me melt tonight.

This says do you see what I see

last show

We had our last show of the season this past weekend.  Even if I hadn't said a word you could tell.  The house looks like a bomb went off. the sun-room and guest bedroom are almost impassable and there are no left overs in the frig because I haven't been cooking much.  While there will be some orders to fill up until Christmas things should calm down around here.  I am physically exhausted and mentally drained.  I love the people we meet during shows and hanging out with the other vendors but I'm always ready for the shows to be over.

At this show we have a tight 8X10 spot with vendors bumped up against us.  At least it's on a corner so we can have customers on each side.

We don't have room for our tall shelves so everything must go on the tables.  It starts to look cramped and messy so we need to straighten up hourly

I don't know how we missed getting the table cloth down to the floor on this side.  One of my pet peeves are tables that aren't covered so you can't see the junk piled under them.

wicker plant stand

This wicker plant stand started out in a a natural color, but is was blah and uninspiring.  I started dry brushing on layers of paint.  When the first layer of white was dry a added soft blue and aqua together.   To dry brush pour a little puddle of paint on a paper plate.  Dip just the tips of your brush into the paint and brush most of it off on paper towels or news paper.  Brush on your surface and let dry.A couple of pieces need glued then this beauty will be off the the consignment store.  Cost $3.00 for the stand the rest was paint I had on hand.  I could see this in a bath room for towels or extra toiletries.  I could also see this couch or chair side to hold magazines or needle work.

table redo

I bought this pair of tables for $15 at a sale earlier this fall.  They are well made and in great shape. I could have left them as is but decided to do white paint and some stripes and a number for a little flair.  One says the number 3 for my 3 sons the other for 5 for my 5 grand kids.  Some times it's fun to send out a little bit of your story with the projects you do. I did the stripes by taping off narrow lines then using a big soft stencil brush to add the paint between the tape.  I used paint a couple shades darker on stencils for the numbers.

show angels

Never try to convince me there are no angels, I've had them by my side this past weekend.  When my partner Kathy told me her husband was being hospitalized I had a few moments of panic and oh CRAP!!!  Our biggest show was last Friday and Saturday and I knew I would never be able to do it on my own.  I emailed several friends and withing minutes I had enough coverage for the entire weekend.   I feel so blessed to call each of these women my friends and I'm so grateful for their help.
You can't see the halos or wings but believe me they are  great angels here on earth.  I didn't get a picture of Andy or Kathy's brother Gary,  a big shout out for all the heavy lifting, set up, packing up and reloading the trucks and van after the show.  We couldn't have done this without you.

Joy helped with making product and packaging all fall and despite a bad back she helped unload, set up and manned the booth all night.

Pat is Kathy's sister in law and our supper sales woman of the show, she was amazing.

Donna is not only my favorite teacher to sub for but now that she is retired she has helped me make product, bag and tag and given up part of her weekend to help us man the booth.

this incredible women has been with VCB from the beginning.  She always shows up at the shows usually with lunch or dinner in hand, she is one of our new product testers, worked the booth all afternoon and helped with take down.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

really big show

This Friday and Saturday is the biggest show that Kathy and I do for VCB.  Held at the Fluid Events Center in Champaign.  Hours are Friday 3-9 and Saturday 9-5.  There are hundreds of booths of hand crafted items perfect for gifts or yourself.  Hope to see you there, we are the crazy ladies in purple, come by and say hi for free samples of some of our fabulous products

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sign of the times

The holidays will be here before you know it, shopping for those days has already begun.  In between prepping for our VCB shows I have been busy getting furniture ready to take to the consignment store and cranking out signs.  Home Again is very careful about protecting their artists work.  I make all the big signs because I was the first to have them, I can't do windows except in a couple of ways because someone else was already doing them.  I like the idea that the shop won't be filled with people doing all the same things.  Here are just a couple of my holiday signs.

This is neutral enough to be left out for the entire fall season.  It can hang or be propped against a wall.

Luan, stencils, free hand holly and stain make a great holiday sign.  The frame is 1X strips stapled to the board for rigidity.  The small print says wishing you. and it is 2'X2'.

I've sold several of these signs in the last couple of years.  Instead of leaving just the black painted letters I went over the stencils with silver after the black was dry.  I love the little bit of shimmer.  I usually toss a Santa hat on the top corner for a pop of red.

happy birthday

Today is my father, Richard Kings 92nd birthday.  His body is slowing down but his mind is as sharp as ever.  He can tell you stories from long ago or today, is up on current events and loves to solve the worlds problems with AH or my brother.  Love you Dad, I hope you have a great birthday with your favorite dinner and  lots of pie.  See you soon.

new product

I'm always trying to come up with new ideas for products or designs. These butter bombs are my answer to the bath bomb craze.  I used a standard bath bomb recipe then added cocoa butter, shea butter, jojoba oil and vit E to make the bombs very moisturizing.  After molding them and letting them dry I put the in cup cake wrappers, then into clear bags with a sparkly ribbon just for fun.  They sold well at our first show.  What a fun hostess gift or stocking stuffer these would be.