A Few Projects

Although our focus has been on the rearrangement of our booths, storytelling performances and a workshop last Saturday, garden work and mowing grass, I've also had several projects in the works. 

Here's a few of them:

A friend sent me photos of pictures made with buttons and the idea fascinated me, so I had to give it a try. Here's my first attempt. More will follow, as I found this a relaxing craft, almost as good as a jigsaw puzzle.

Then there is this hutch that took over the kitchen. I am 95% finished with it, just need to paint the underside of the removable shelves. The photo was taken after the first coat of General Finishes Lamp Black milk paint. Three more coats, then 4 of General Finishes Hogh Performance Top Coat followed. This should be in our Ravenswood booth by the end of the weekend, and I will be happy to have my kitchen back!

I'm not even halfway with this dresser that's dominating the log room right now. Some repairs needed to be made on the drawers before I could proceed. Larry's finished with that part so next week I'll get back to this one. It has the most beautiful mirror! The finish was destroyed on this piece so paint was the best option. I'm layering three colors and distressing and then using an antiquing glaze, so this process takes a while.

Not the prettiest piece I've ever painted but...we needed a good place to store Larry's movies. I was using an old china cabinet we'd bought for $5.00 at an auction and repaired. You can kinda see it in the rear of the above photo. It really did not suit our needs and it was in the way of the door. When we rearranged our Ravenswood booth we realized that we had this TALL wood shelf. It was white and needed painting, so it got a few coats of General Finishes Tuscan Red and some Top Coat. I still need to top coat the movable shelves, and then I can call this one done! I think it will work very well for us, although it's kinda plain.

Then there's this one, and I'm not loving it. We saw the idea online: take an old door, attach a bench/shoe storage box, a shelf and some hooks and voila! A hall stand. But this isn't looking like I envisioned, partly because Larry's vision (rough and primitive) and mine (shabby and kinda chic) were at odds from the get-go. We'll see if I continue to work on it, or if it's one of those start-all-over things.

Our deck is an awesome place to paint. Birdsong all around, sweet scents of flowers, bloom everywhere...the only problem is the itty bitty bits that fall out of the trees or blow on the wind and get in my paint! Yuck.

Tomorrow we're back to booth work, but maybe by Sunday I'll be painting again. There's nothing quite like seeing a piece transform from thrift shop junk to something anyone would be proud to own.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Projects, Projects, Paint and Paint

I am working on all the piled-up projects that have been waiting for good weather to paint. This weekend I got several things done:

The white tray was red and green and it didn't sell that way so it got a coat of white. I think I posted a pic of it before. This weekend I painted it with yet another coat and distressed it a little. I added 6 clay pots to it, and then displayed it in my booth with these other items. I'm happy with the way it looks now-much more inviting.

The table below was in bad shape. Someone's dog had chewed unmercifully on the legs and on the edge of one of the tiers. Former owners had also burned places in the finish and dripped candle wax and red wine on it. After much discussion, Larry and I agreed that the best thing to do was to paint it white. I sanded the bad places as well as I could, cleaned off the wax, sanded and coated the whole thing with a deglosser to be sure paint would stick.

 I love the way it looks now. It's not perfect, but can't you see it in a bakery, a florist's shop or as a display at a wedding or party, loaded with flowers, cupcakes or other goodies?

This little stool was one of those cases of taking a sow's ear and turning it into a silk purse. Well, maybe not silk, but certainly good serviceable cotton. The stool had ugly red naugahyde from the 40's tacked over the top, and the base was badly abused dark-varnished wood. When we took of the nagahyde, we found a rich maroon velvet with rotting silk ribbon trim. The velvet was rotting too so off it came in a great cloud of dust and dirt--to reveal this pretty, old brocade fabric. I used some Resolve to clean it a bit; the corners are worn but I think the fabric is just too unique to remove. It's been patched together, and the base was built of leftover scraps of lumber--clearly a project by someone who had little but made the most of what they had. The ribbon trim was rotten so I removed it, painted the base a chalky black and used crocheted ribbon trim around the edge.

Another beat-up stool; this one had varnish on it along with lots of paint drips and scuff marks. I'd had it in my booth before but it didn't sell so it's home for a makeover. I sanded it and primed it, then used the same black paint on it. I may paint a barn-red star on top, or I may leave it as is, with just a good coat of wax.

 Two tall candleholders were painted dark brown. I didn't like it and painted them bright white, then added some antiquing finish to them. I'm not sure it I'm done with them or if I want to do more.

The magazine rack below was one of those throw-in items an auctioneer will sometimes stick you with. I didn't want it and had it in the Goodwill pile, but since I had the paint out I decided to paint it and see what happened. I tried white first--bad idea. It showed every single defect in glaring detail. So I got out the black, and painted the little heart cutouts with barn red. I sanded the black here and there to add distressed touches, and found the white underneath was actually a good thing after all.

Still to do, among many other things, is this little telephone chair we picked up Friday. It looks great doesn't it?

 But turn it around...

Oh dear. Someone knocked a hole in the back. Larry has glued it and filled the damaged area with wood putty. Next I will sand that whole rounded section, and then paint it to match the seat on the chair. It should look good, I think, and once more be something someone would be happy to have in their home. I hope.

Time to get back to painting!


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Input Needed: Mirror Project

I'm coming to the collective brain again for your thoughts. I painted these mirrors the other day and in my mind I thought they would look great with a three-color approach.

They were stuck in the 70's with its black and gold finish.

I saw them with white in the centers, turquoise around the inner edge and green on the outside.

It was one of those good ideas that ends up being a lot of work. You know the kind.

So here is the finished product.

I don't think I like it now. I think they need to be all white with that turquoise center. My husband likes them as they are.

So repaint, or leave it alone? If I repaint, I'll have to redo the distressing, and if I do that some of the green will be revealed in the process. I'm not sure I'm going to like that either.

What do you think?

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Chair Work

That used to mean I was at my job in Charleston, stuck at my desk in an office with bars on the window and a view of only the feet of passersby. Now it has a complete different meaning. Check out what I've been doing the last few days.

All of these chairs were U_G_L_Y. They'd been shed-stored, were dirty with rotting fabrics and lots of dirt and spiders. I got them for a great price, and Larry began his theme song: "Where are you going to put them? What are you going to do with them? I can't blame him--he's usually the one figuring out how to fit stuff in our storage areas. Right now, my house looks like a used furniture store because I have several things in here that are either done and ready for a booth or are waiting for me to work on them. At least I got the ones below almost finished. I am terrible at remembering to take before photos, but perhaps my description above gives you some idea of what they looked like.

This chair was in a dark wood finish with a plastic seat. It's a folding chair, which I thought was pretty cool. I immediately saw it in some funky color--and when I found a gallon of this green half price at Wal-Mart, I knew I'd found the right color. I found the fabric for the seat at Wally World too.

I just love the way it's going to look. I just need to wax it and attach the seat and it's done.

 This next chair was also in dark wood finish, and had maroon velvet fabric on the seat, with gold tassels on the corners. I kid you not. When we removed the fabric, there was some rotting silk and nasty padding underneath, so all that had to come off too. I still have to put new padding on this one and attach the fabric, then put the seat back on. I covered the little stool with matching fabric. It, at least, is finished!

This chair had peeling dark veneer on the center panel, and LOTS of spiders. I used a heat gun to peel away the veneer, sanded it well, and went with a chalky black. I had the tapestry seat cover on hand, and I really liked the way it looked on this old timer.

Next project, as soon as I tie up the loose ends on the others, is this set of chrome chairs. They have wood-framed cane backs and padded seats that desperately need to be recovered. I'll paint the backs white, and bought red vinyl to cover the seats. These will go very well with a dinette table from the 50's that Larry fixed up.

That's what's kept me busy lately, along with booth work, getting the early garden seeds in the ground at last, and a trip to Wheeling to pick up the coolest old glider chair. I'll post pics of that soon. Another project waiting on us!

Linking to Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, We Call It Junkin and Green Willow Pond today.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

The Red Chair, and a Thank You

You remember the red chair, the one I was having trouble deciding on seat covering for? I tried many fabrics after asking your advice--black and white, oriental, some with bits of purple in them--but nothing seemed right, so I kept looking.

Then my friend Sandy sent me a message: "I have exactly the fabric you need!" We met for breakfast last week (what a good excuse to get together!) and she showed me her fabric. I was surprised, I admit--it wasn't like anything I had in mind. But the more I looked at it, the more I liked it. So I took it home and tried it out.

It looked fine--creamy white with a large print in greens, reds, oranges, browns and golds. It was dramatic and bold.

There were two problems, though: when I put it on the chair, the red wasn't quite right, and there wasn't enough of the fabric to cover all of the seat. But now I had a better idea of what colors I needed to look for, and I found them in this fabric:

And then I put it on my chair:

I. Love. It. And I would never have looked at this fabric without Sandy's colors suggestion.

Chocolate-y brown with lighter undertones, cream, green browns and red. It will be at home in a wide variety of decorating styles.

Thanks to all of you for your input and thoughtful comments. Any one of them might have worked just as well, but this is the one that said "YES!" to me.

Now, on to the next chair, and one that will be a lot easier to complete. I think.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Vintage Thursday: Back to the Paint Job, and Banana Bread

I know, what a combination, right? I had to wait for the paint to dry so I decided to make banana bread while I wait. The black shelf is almost finished but the little cradle is done--because I decided to leave well enough alone.

After painting it pink, I thought I would dry-brush it with white and then do a little sanding and antiquing to make it look older. But then I thought I'd like to see it with the blankies in it. And you know, I like it just fine as it is so I'm finished. I think. What do you think? Should I do more with it?

I wanted a rough primitive finish for the shelf--you know, something that might have been on the farmhouse back porch, or perhaps in the cellar piled up with canning jars. That kind of look. I think I have something close. I am learning as I go and this time learned one thing that didn't work: Elmer's glue for a crackle medium. According to one site, the glue is supposed to produce awesome crackle effects. I'm sure she's right, and I probably did something wrong because I tried it on the top, and no crackle. I decided to back away from that idea for now and do some experimenting before taking on anything as big as this shelf with the glue.

So I moved to the next idea: using Vaseline to distress the paint. I rubbed it on places where I didn't want the white paint to stick and then painted. I used something very close to a dry brush technique to give the paint that old, weathered look I was seeking. You can see the places I applied the Vaseline.

Then I sanded it, and that removed the paint that was over the Vaseline. I think it worked pretty well and gave me something close to what I was looking for.

Next time, I will use either a blue or gray undercoat; I used flat black on this and I like the finished result all right but think the blue or gray might have been even better. Or green. Next time! All that was left to do to this shelf was wax it, so I did that and added a few things from around the kitchen to see how it would look on display. I think I like it.

My banana bread recipe card is probably 40-45 years old. I remember writing it down when I was first learning to cook as a young bride, and it was one of my first successful baking efforts.

Over the years I made it so often that I didn't need the card--that was in the days when my sons were all little boys with huge appetites. Now I make it so seldom that I need the card. With bananas the price they are today, I only make it when I luck into some on the markdown shelf. The recipe works as well today as it did when I was first trying to find my way in a kitchen.

Banana Bread

1 cup mashed bananas (takes about 3 medium bananas)
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 tablespoons cooking oil
3/4 cup milk
(add nuts if desired--maybe a 1/4 cup? I added pecans today because I had some that needed to be used up)

Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat until well blended (about50 quick strokes) with a fork. Pour into a greased loaf pan (9x4) and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool slightly on a baking rack, then turn out of pan and place on the rack to continue cooling. Wait til it cools down to warm before slicing. Good, good, good! You can also bake the batter into greased muffin tins for banana muffins. The cooking time would be much less, probably 20 minutes or so.

Yum! And a nice reward after all that sanding, painting and waxing.

Linking today to A Vintage Green, Colorado Lady, Coastal Charm, Open House Party and Rurality Blog Hop. Have fun visiting these great sites to see what's going on in the world of country living, vintage, crafts, and cooking. All good things!

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Some Days My Mind is Blank

I stare at the screen and wonder what to write. I haven't cooked anything spectacular; today is all about canning brown beans and chili. The weather is being weather--snows, then melts, then snows, then rains and once in a while we see the sun.

Since getting home from the workshop Saturday I really haven't gotten into any new projects--I worked a bit on my booth in Ravenswood, did the grocery shopping, housework, laundry. Just ordinary life.

Today, besides canning beans, I'm painting that little cradle I showed you last month.

It is now pink, as many of you suggested when I asked for ideas; I am thinking about dry-brushing it with white and then antiquing and waxing it to give it a little of that aged look.

I did find a small mattress, pillow and quilt for it at Goodwill. Will wonders never cease?! The quilt is in blue, white and pink so the green on the cradle had to go for sure. I think it's going to look cute when I'm done.

I'm also painting a rough shelf we found at a junk shop. It was painted yellow and when I sanded it I found it had also been orange (!) and gray. Maybe it was in an automotive shop? I've painted it flat black and will try my hand at crackling it with white tomorrow. I have a mirror that I might try with that too, on the frame which is currently dark wood but I want to see how the first effort turns out first.

The next project for me as far as storytelling is a day at an elementary school that includes creative writing classes with the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. I will be putting in some time planning for that this week and next; I love writing with kids and have missed it since the writing group I had at my branch library lo these many years ago. That group was actually the reason I got back into writing. Kids are inspiring, at least for me.

So that's been my ho-hum, but still satisfying days. We haven't been to any auctions, and the best find recently was a doubletree with the attached singletrees (if you don't know what these are, here's a photo of what I'm talking about). We found it at the Goodwill over in Ohio! I am always surprised by what turns up in the thrift stores.

Tomorrow I will share pics of today's projects if I get them finished. For tonight, I think it's movies by the fire and listening to the little peeps pecking about in their box. Sounds like a fine evening to me :)

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.