Antler Love!

Awhile back I saw some antlers on Miss Mustard Seed's blog.

I got so excited!  Let me explain why.  I'm a gal who grew up in the country with a dad who hunted.  I wasn't too into the mounted heads but I really did love the antlers!  It seemed a little "hick", though.  So I put that love behind me until I saw MMS's blog.  Who knew antlers could be so sophisticated?!

So I'm back in love!

Now, where to get some antlers?  Enter the men of my life!

(Sorry about the quality of this pic.  It was taken with a Blackberry.)

Saturday morning my boys (and man) headed to western Oklahoma to go hunting for White Tail Deer.  No luck that morning but they stuck around and gave another shot that evening and...

Well, I'll spare you the "could be construed as gory" picture of my manly hubby and my boys with a rifle and formerly breathing buck but suffice it to say, I've got my antlers!

Here are some great ideas on decorating with antlers.

Photo Source:  Savvy Southern Style

Photo Source:  Country Living

Photo Source:  Unknown

Photo Source:  Casasugar

Photo Source:  Pottery Barn

Wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving!

A Thrift-ful Week

Does anyone else out there crave a good thrift store shopping trip the way I do?  It's like an addiction for me.  I used to go multiple times a week but hubby said "no more."  Now I only go every couple of weeks or so.  I do pretty good for a few weeks then it turns into a compulsion!  And when I go and don't find anything good, I have to keep going to more stores until I do find something.  Then if it's a good find, I feel like I'm on a roll and need to find more stuff which leads to me searching out more stores!  Now if that doesn't sound like an addiction...

Well, this week in pursuit of getting my "fix" I found some new thrift stores.  I'm too embarrassed to say how many miles I traveled just to hit some new stores.  Probably far enough to spend in gas what I saved by shopping thrift stores!

Anyway, I found what I think is some good stuff so I thought I would share.

Here's what I found at my local Goodwill.

I'm thinking I'll frame it and layer it on my mantel for Christmas.  It was a whopping $.50.  I wish this was what my house and barn looked like.  Oh, well.  I also picked up a couple pair of flannel pajama pants for a a buck a piece.  I love a pair of comfy pjs!

After grocery shopping in OKC Friday, I had just enough time to swing by another Goodwill.  I picked up this piece for $4.99.   (Sorry, this isn't the greatest picture)

It's in pretty good shape but I plan on taking it apart and using the hooks and the numbers on some different projects.  The number plaques and the ends of the hooks are white porcelain.

Friday afternoon I headed over to the Habitat for Humanity Renovation Station for some old hardback books.

They have the cheapest prices on books I have found so far.  Each book was only $.50.  I'm going to take the covers off, tie them up with twine and use them for decor.  

At one of the new stores I found I picked up these pieces.

 I paid $7.48 for this little urn.  It's cast iron!  I couldn't believe how heavy it was when I picked it up!

And this tray from an old tool box was $3.49.

I have a lot of red in my house and thought this would be cute with some candles or plants or knicky-knacky type stuff on the mantle or coffee table.  I love old, rusty, beat up stuff!

Then at the Goodwill "mother ship" I found this wooden candle stick.  It was $1.99.  It was strange walking into this huge store and only coming out with this one, small item.  But I've been on the hunt for something like this specifically.

I plan on using it to make another cloche on a pedestal.

After leaving the GW I was headed home when I drove past another thrift store.  There was a bunch of stuff out front and I just couldn't help but turn around and go back.  Once I stepped inside it was almost like an episode of Hoarders!  It wasn't a dirty place but it was packed with stuff!   I kid you not, they could have had a store twice the size and still been stocked full.  It took a while to get through the store because of all the stuff but they had great prices and I found these things.

I was very excited to find this silver ice bucket.  A few months ago I spied one like it at another thrift store for $25.  I didn't buy it thinking I didn't want to spend that much but ever since I've been wishing I would have gone ahead and gotten it.  This one I snagged for $9.99!  Yea for waiting!  It should polish up nicely.

And this rusty old milk crate was only $5.  I'm thinking of using it in the living room.

Well, that's what my thrifting this week looked like.  I felt like a junkie sneaking around town hitting every thrift store I passed.  Fortunately, my habit isn't very expensive!

Cheese Cloche Redo

Okay, I really wanted to title this "Nacho Cheese Cloche".  Get it?  Not yo cheese cloche? Anyway, it was funny in my head.

I found this great blog, Maiden D'Shade.  She shared how she turned a cheese cloche and a candlestick into a wonderful pedestal cloche.  Well, it just so happened that I had a chunky candlestick I had picked up at Goodwill and a cheese cloche I snagged at a garage sale a few weeks before.

So I busted out my saw (note the line around the fat part of the candlestick) and cut down the candlestick to the fattest part.  The proportion seemed to make more sense when the cloche was setting on it.  Next, I sanded it down and glued the two together with my trusty E6000.  This stuff holds everything together!

Once that was done, I spray painted it gloss black, my go to color.  By the way, if you haven't tried Ace Hardware Premium Enamel spray paint, you haven't lived!  This stuff is my new favorite spray paint!  Not to mention I love shopping at my local store.  The are so helpful and friendly.  Ha!  I just had their commercial pop into my head..."Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man."  It's so true!

Anyway, a coat of black paint and this is what my cheese cloche and candlestick turned into!  A cheese cloche on a candlestick!

I still think Nacho Cheese Cloche is funny.

Thanks Kim from Maiden D'Shade!

The Big 4-0 Bucket List

Dear sweet readers, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.  Work, school, kids, blah, blah, blah, right?  I'm still trying to figure out how those other bloggers do it all!

Anyway, let me explain today's header.  I have a birthday coming up in December.  This will be number 39 for me.  Now, I'm not the kind of gal that is afraid of getting older.  The way I see it, my life as a 30-something was soooo much better than my life as a 20-something.  And since I seem to be trending up, I say bring on the 40s!

Everyone gets older.  It's a fact of life.  Embrace it.  It's coming regardless (God willing!).

I have gray hair.  And I seem to be getting more everyday!  But you know what?  Everyone gets gray hair.  That's what happens when you get older.  I don't try and cover it up with hair color.  It is what it is and I'm not ashamed.  Why would I spend money trying to cover up what most women of my age have?  I'd rather spend my money going out to eat dinner (I do love a nice dinner)!  I'm rocking this gray, baby!

And guess what else?  I've got stretch marks, too.  But that's kinda like getting gray hair.  If you've had babies, chances are you've got stretch marks.  They're my battle scars and I love them.  I've earned those bad boys!

Okay, I'm stepping off my soap box now and getting back on the subject.

So this bucket list of things to do by the time I turn 40 isn't one of those "dreadful" things but more of a "marking a milestone" kind of things.  When I decided to do this, I had a hard time coming up with stuff.  I guess means I'm doing everything I want to do already!

I still have about a month before my birthday, but here's what I've come up with so far:

1. Knit my husband a cable knit sweater. (He's been asking for one of these ever since I learned how to knit a couple years ago.  This is the year!)
2. Sew myself one article of clothing I will actually wear out of the house! (I took one semester of sewing in Home Ec in high school and made a jumper that was awful.  I haven't really sewn much since so this may take the entire year!)
3. Be completely self employed.  (I currently only work part time but would love to make my blog and my etsy shop my full time job, which means replacing my salary with etsy sales!

Not much yet.  I'm trying to keep it on the "cheap".  No big, fancy trips or skydiving here.  Just some things that I feel will enrich my life or give me a sense of accomplishment.  Anybody else done this before?  What did you do?

My latest projects

I don't know about you, but I can't have just one project going at a time.  Kinda goes back to the ADOSD (Attention Defecit, Ooh, Shiny Disorder!).  I start something, then start something else...then start something else.  You get the picture.  The good news is, I can put out lots of finished products at once!

So here are some of the things I have finished.

I'll start with my favorite.

I found this beauty on Craig's List.  It used to be in a hotel.  Solid as a rock!  I knew I wanted to try out the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on this.  Love that stuff!  I'm definitely a dedicated user now  It makes distressing a breeze!  The paint is expensive but well worth it, in my humble opinion.  Still trying to convince hubby to let me buy the high dollar wax brush!  The blue drawer was kind of an after thought but I love it!  This is for sale in my Etsy shop.

I also finally got a few things (that I already had made) staged to list in my shop.

I was taking pictures of my word signs to put in my shop when Ruby found her way into the picture (she may have had some help).  This isn't the best pic of the signs but it sure is a great pic of my boy and his chicken!

I collected these signs from the Hobby Lobby clearance rack and thrift stores and decided to cover them in scrapbook paper and antique the edges with ink and add a ribbon.  I just laid the letters down on top of the paper, traced it with a pencil and cut them out using scissors and Xacto knife.  Next I glued them on using Mod Podge.  Super simple!

Here's my recent obsession...pallet shelves!  I'd been kicking around this idea for some time in my head when a pallet was left at the dumpster of my church and I texted my hubby to have him bring the truck and we loaded it up.

I now have 3 of these shelves (one sold last week) and a good half dozen more pallets.  This one is being used as decor on the back fence by my patio.

Here is another side of the ever versatile pallet shelf!  This one is on the kitchen counter holding cook books and such.

This one is being used as a hanging book shelf.

And how about this cutie?!  I call her the "little sister" of the pallet shelf.  She's about half the size and perfect for a desk top or hanging in a small space.  This was the idea of a friend of mine who loved to pallet shelf but needed one about half the size...genius!

And I hate to admit, but I have about half a dozen more pallets waiting for me in my backyard!  I told you I was obsessed!

So that's what's finished.  And as always, there are more projects in different stages of completion in the garage!   I'll post as I complete!

Why is shipping so hard?!

A couple posts back I showed you the coffee table I made and (finally) listed in my Etsy shop.  One of the reasons it took me so long to open my shop and list some things was because I wasn't sure how to figure out the shipping costs...especially for an 80 something pound coffee table!

I found out that the USPS won't ship something that big and most freight companies charge an arm and a leg to ship.  Well, did you know that Greyhound ships packages?  Pretty cool!  They have a website that is pretty user friendly and it tells you where they have stations and what the price will be and when the bus leaves, yadi-yadi-yada.

Anyway, I was pretty pumped to have sold the table and excited to be sending it to CA.  That excitement started to wain as I began the whole shipping process.  The trip to Budget Box and Bag this morning went pretty well. The gentleman there was very helpful.  He looked at the picture of my table and suggested a couple items to use to pack it.  He also mentioned that he has other customers who ship stuff via Greyhound and they've had much success.  Yeah!

Okay, so my packing supplies are purchased and I'm headed home to do the "handling" part of shipping and handling.  Let me just say I know why they charge for that!  It took me two hours and four hands to wrap that puppy up in bubble wrap, cardboard, packing tape and stretch wrap!  I was literally sweating by the time I was done!

But my spirit is still high!  (I forgot to mention a very important detail.  Remember the napkins I sold on my shop?  Well, I underestimated the shipping and ended up paying more than twice as much as what I charged the customer.  Well, I ate that cost and chalked it up to experience.)  I still have $100 left from the shipping amount I charged my customer.  Now it was time to take it to the bus station!  Hubby agreed to go with me (since this was my first time and I didn't know if they would help unload it and I wasn't sure where the bus station was).  I opted for the bus station in El Reno, which is a relatively small community.  My other choice was the downtown OKC bus station and the mere thought of going there made me urp up a little.  No thanks!  I don't do the downtown traffic and one-way streets!

Well, we arrive in El Reno and guess what?  They don't ship packages from there anymore!  REALLY?!  Ugh!  Looks like I'm headed downtown after all.  But that's okay...I still have my security blanket hubby to drive me. So off we go to downtown.

Once we get to the downtown area, Hubs is playing tour guide and pointing out all the buildings of downtown and we miss our exit!  So two extra miles out of our way we go but I'm not driving so it's okay.

We double back and hit downtown and there is TONS of road construction going on...nice.  Then hubby pipes up, "I'm pretty sure the bus station is somewhere in this area."  What?  You don't know where the bus station is?  Okay, full blown panic now!  Oh, wait.  There is a giant sign that says "BUS".  This is good.  But wait, it's not the new bus station.  But people are standing out front.  Maybe we are in the right place.  Where do we park? All these thoughts in about 3 seconds.  Now you see why I don't like to drive downtown.

I go inside and wait in line and when it's my turn, I ask and praise God, I'm in the right place!  My breathing is deeper now and my pulse has slowed slightly.  We go outside and load it on a carrier and they take in the back.  I go to the counter and he asks "Did you label it?"  What?  No I didn't label it.  I don't know what to label it with!  I thought that's what we would do here - together - you and me!  Seriously?

Pulse going up, breathing shallow!  "That's okay.  Let me get you a label."  Pulse going back down.  Oh, snap!  I put the receiver's address where I should have put my address!  "I think I messed this up."  Breathing is shallow, palms are sweating.  "It's okay, I'll go get you another label.  It's your first time."  Yeah, and maybe my last!

Okay, label is filled out correctly.  I hand it over and confirm the receiving bus station.  He asks what the package is and how much insurance.  He begins typing on the keyboard and this is where I think my breathing stops all together.  The moment of truth.  How much will it cost.  Remember I said I still had $100 left for shipping?  Will I come in under the mark?  Total to ship to San Fernando, CA - $104. 80.  Now I know I'm only over by about $5, which isn't bad, but I still underestimated my shipping.  Not to mention it took me a quarter tank of gas.

So I'm 0 for 2 on the shipping thing.  But I did learn a lot.  If you have never used Greyhound PackageXpress but are considering it, let me tell you what I learned.

• The PackageXpress website is really very user friendly (except they still show El Reno as a shipping location!).
• I weighed my table unwrapped and it came in 9 pounds less than what they weighed it at the station wrapped.  I'll just add 9 pounds to my next estimate.
• Be sure to enter the value when you are getting your estimate online.  This will make a difference in how much it costs.
• Allow about $10 for a fuel surcharge.  This should be about right.
• If you do all of this you should be within just a few dollars of the actual shipping cost.
• The beginning of the month is busier than any other time of the month (that's what the guy at Greyhound told me).  This will slow down the delivery of your package (it only gets on board if there is room in cargo after all the passenger's luggage is loaded.)  He told me weight makes it slower, too.  I don't know why but apparently it does.

I told my husband that he is officially hired as my shipping and receiving guy!  If he can't take me and my furniture to the bus station, we don't go that day!

And on top of all of that craziness, this afternoon a suspicious package was found about one block away from the station we were at and they evacuated downtown.  REALLY?!

My First Etsy Sale!

As you may recall, I finally opened my Etsy shop on Sunday.  I had a few things made up to list including the coffee table from my last post and a this set of cloth dinner napkins.

Well, today I'm busy packing and shipping my first sale!  Yep, two days after opening my shop I sold these great napkins!  My crafty husband has an Etsy shop that he opened a couple of years ago so he could totally relate to how excited I was!  What a great start!  I'm even more excited now to start working on some other projects!  I'm searching this week for some dining room chairs to refurbish for Little Bit's teacher.  Does anyone else love Craig's List as much as I do?

So today will include a visit to the post office to ship these napkins off to Edmonds, WA!  A big thank you to the gal who bought them for supporting "hand made".  And a big thank you to my followers for sharing in this exciting moment with me!