"Wonderfully Made": June 2016

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Patriotic Porch & Jars

I'm a bit behind on decorating for the 4th of July but I finally had time to put up a few things inside and out. These are the great, vintage folding chairs I got in Door County a few weeks ago. I'll probably do more with the milk can but for now, it just got a paint job.

I've had this since we were first married. I think I got it at a country yard sale when we lived in Ohio. Gotta love my goose paint job -- screams '80's, right!? We've dragged this thing from place to place and I almost threw it out dozens of times so I'm glad I kept it. I just gave it a few coats of steel gray spray paint for now.

Has anyone tried this paint sold at Target? This was my first time using it and let me tell you -- I was SUPER impressed. It was 5.99 for a can but I LOVED how this paint went on. I literally did not have to wait between coats; it went on extremely smooth and did not drip AT ALL. It has a neat nozzle that locks when you're not using it and they have quite a few nice colors. They also have quarts and pints of chalk paint that is only 16.99 for the quarts (can't remember cost of the pints). I think I may have to give it a try considering how great the spray was. Anyway, back to my porch . . .

These pillow have a cute, summery print but I wanted to cover them for the 4th. I had a tablecloth that has too many stains on it to use so I cut that up. I didn't even seal up the bottom opening because the white fabric (just cut and not even hemmed!) is tied around and pretty much holds it closed. For the blue, I had some royal blue tulle that I used to make the puffy bow.

I had this piece of fabric so just draped it over the milk can and added a birdhouse I had. I wasn't satisfied and wanted more so I decided to gather up some of the jars I've collected and decorate them for the ledge.

I printed out different sized stars, cut them out and using Elmer's spray adhesive, pressed them onto the jars and spray painted them.

This adhesive is permanent (I know you can get ones that are not but this is what I had and it worked fine.) so as soon as I sprayed the jars, I waited just a minute or so and then peeled off the paper star.

Some of the jars had the residue from the adhesive on them.

And some had areas where the paint had leaked inside the star decal. This was an easy fix. I used a little bit of mineral spirits and a tiny, flat brush to remove this.

I didn't try to fully cover the jars in paint -- just gave them a light spray. Once the stars were "cleaned up", I added some ribbon bands at the top and battery-operated tea lights.

I had purchased this cute banner from the Dollar Spot at Target a few weeks ago. It works perfectly in my grapevine.

Jars, paint, ribbon and some battery-operated tea lights -- just a few things to make a nice, little "Patriotic" welcome!

On any given week (depending on how busy I am!) I love to participate in Linky Parties. These gals put a lot of time and effort into hosting these parties so I always want to show my appreciation by directing my readers to these blogs.

Monday

The Art of Home-Making Mondays

Metamorphosis Monday

Make It Pretty Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

Inspired Creations

Vintage Charm

Transformation Thursday

Friday

Simple and Sweet Friday

Home Sweet Home

Anything Blue Friday

Flaunt It Friday

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Chippy Shabby Heaven

You’re a “chippy-shabby” person. You’re driving down a road. You spot one of those “OH MY GOSH – I HAVE TO STOP HERE” places and if you’ve been married awhile, your husband has become accustomed to braking and adeptly making a quick u-turn to get this woman to where she needs to be. Last weekend, my dear man whisked me away to Door County, Wisconsin for our 32^nd anniversary to the B&B we had stayed in 30 years earlier on our 2^nd anniversary (LOVE this man!). If you’ve ever been to Door County, you know that there are lots and lots of cute shops and antique stores. BUT – this one was different.

When it says "Worldwide" . . . It MEANS worldwide. I practically fell out of the car trying to get to it all while my husband ambled inside. I was immediately drawn as if by built-in radar to these two iron/metal folding chairs. How great is that – they meet all of my ‘requirements’: Vintage; Metal; Unique and check out that price – how can you argue with 34.00 for BOTH? And did I mention that they FOLD??

There was so much salvaged wood and doors and ladders. Just look at the beautiful chippiness of this door with the blue paint showing through.

I meandered my way (heart pounding the whole time; mentally calculating just HOW much I could convince hubby to spend) around to the side of the building where I saw these beautiful iron and wood arches stacked up in neat piles.

Ladders . . . reclaimed wood . . .

This made me laugh . . . the tag says "Candle Holder -- or not". And when I saw this picture, I realized . . . I had meant to grab this and forgot. Poo.

While I was still browsing outside, my husband called me and said, “You have to come inside.” (This man knows me so well.) We were greeted by Terence who gladly began to recount to me all about the shop and how he acquires all of this great stuff. Let me tell you, this place is huge and filled in every nook and cranny with beautiful things literally from around the world (the sign does not lie!)

The building seemed to stretch forever (in a GOOD way!)

Terrence told us how and where he acquired a lot of the pieces but truly, there was so much, I couldn’t begin to tell you where everything came from. I do remember India, Vietnam, Germany, Hungary . . . But like the sign says, just ask!

There's that patient, long-suffering husband of a blogger . . .

Oh how I would have loved this metal box (Lavender is by far my favorite flower) but alas, my pocketbook was on “E” so I had to pass. And the moral of the story is: Make this your FIRST stop in Door County, not your last at the end of your vacation!

The store also has booths that are rented by individual vendors with lots of great vintage and antique pieces.

I saw this clothes rack giraffe and felt a rush of pure joy. I had the exact, same one in my bedroom as a little girl!

We had so much fun talking with Terence – half of the fun of stopping here is listening to his stories! Just so you know, it’s okay to “haggle” a bit with him but if it’s something from a booth or a vendor selling on consignment, he’s not free to haggle on those. However, he did give me 10% off of the chairs which was really nice.

I ended up with those folding chairs which are going to go on my front porch.

I also found this adorable, vintage clip on night light from the 1950’s. I immediately knew it would be perfect in my newly redone, retro kitchen. It’s an interesting piece. It really IS a nightlight but it’s funny because it’s all metal and that metal gets hot; also that it plugs in with a cord. My how safety standards have changed – haha! It’s the perfect little accent light though next to my sink.

My last purchase was this very interesting wooden crate/box. I’ve done a little bit of research (should have asked Terence about it!) and it appears it is German? The abbreviation Fa. means “firm” and the Gebr means “brothers” so maybe it’s from the Firm Brothers? The rest is a town in the Netherlands. I don’t know what it would have been used for (something for harvesting/carrying vegetables or fruit?) For now it’s on top of my suitcase/side table.

If you’re ever in the Midwest, and if you’ve never been to Door County – you simply have to go. In any season, it’s a beautiful place. AND if you are there – well, you would really be missing out if you didn’t make a stop at Bay Trading Company. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to shop and visit with Terence!