Winner!

The winner of the Moss Covered Bird is Michele for The Scrap Shoppe! Congratulations!

Floral Chair

Click Here for Giveaway! Ends October 27th!

A fabric store in the area is going out of business. All the fabric they carry has to be ordered. That may be why they are closing. I happened to stop in the other day to see what they were getting rid of.

I asked if they were still selling things and they said yes but the material still had to be ordered. I asked if I could buy the sample. They said yes.....and it was cheap!

Since redecorating my craft room and moving my toy box turned storage chest in there I needed to put something in my hall.

I found a chair that I bought to sell then decided to keep it for that space. Does that ever happen to you? I just fell in love with the lines. Then I upholstered in my new material!

These are the colors in my hallway. So I painted the chair in Aubusson Blue and lightly distressed it.
I knew this would look great next to my painted hutch.

I think it is the perfect touch for the room!

The best part is that the whole project cost $14!!

I love projects like this,

It now makes walking into the house a cheerful welcome! 

Would you have kept it or sold it?

Toxic Vintage Bottle

Don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY going on right NOW!!

Halloween is fast approaching and I am ready for some spooky fun! I think it is one of the most creative holidays. I didn't get into it as much this year but I did managed to pull off some things.

I bought some vintage brown bottles awhile back and I knew they would look great with some labels from The Graphics Fairy!

Who could resist some arsenic and lace!

I just love these little bottles. Great for decorating! I just modpodged these little babies!

It has just the right creepiness for Halloween! I put them at Blackberry House so check them out! Also check out the new holiday hours!!

I will be doing a Vintage Halloween fest at The Art Barn in Rockvale Tennessee! Hope the weather holds out for us! So if you live here come out and enjoy the fun! For kids of all ages!!

Giveaway! {October}

I believe it is time for a Giveaway!! 

I decided to giveaway this popular item from the Barn Sale. I had to make more and I will save one for you!! I recently added the door/wall decoration to my Etsy Shop! This is to celebrate!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and wouldn't extra blessings be wonderful!! Maybe even a Christmas gift for someone special! That is where my moss covered birds come in.

Actually you can customize this to whatever you would like it to say! So what do you have to do to win this wonderful prize?

1. Press the GFC Follow Button or Linky Button and let me know you follow me! 1 entry
2. "Like" my Facebook Page with your personal page and share the giveaway 3 entries
 

That is it!! Easy peasy!! YOU MUST leave comment here to qualify letting me know you did the above! The contest will run till October 27th 12pmCST.  Please make sure I have a way to contact you!!

I appreciate all of you for being here! Thanks so much!!

Good Luck!

Simple Halloween Mantle

First I would like to thank Donna from Funky Junk Interiors for her post on Bella Rustica. She got a cute picture of us and gave us a shout out! She is so much fun!

This year I have to be honest and say for the first time I didn't get into all of my Halloween decor. I hope this doesn't mean I am getting old!! I just wanted to do it simple.

Remember my Bee Clock I made? Well I tried to sell it at Bella and it didn't sell so I just incorporated it my Halloween Decor so it wouldn't be sitting around. Plus secretly I love it!!

I did manage to get out my Pier I Knock-Off Pumpkin. I even bought some cute little pumpkins and painted them white. All and all it is simple.

Simple is ok sometimes isn't it? I mean really we put so much pressure on ourselves to do it all! Sometimes you just have to give yourself a break. This is my break. I have been so busy with everything else so I kept it simple!

I really like the clock above my fireplace. It may be a keeper!

I also want to thank all of you that voted for my Craft Room Design!! I did not win but I really am honored to have been a finalist.

Hope you have an amazing day today!

Free Halloween Decorations

Decorating for any holiday can be expensive. There are several things you can do that can help with the cost.

First, you should look around the house and try to re-purpose things you already own.
Another way is to bring the outside in. I like to use branches and pine cones. You can spray paint branches and use them to create different vignettes.

One of my favorite things to do is use paper. Last year at Halloween I cut black bats and mice out of construction paper that I had left over from kid projects. I taped them to the walls and fireplace. I created a Sleepy Hollow Mantel. I even used some to create this chalkboard. The scrap wood I had in the shed!

This year I went to The Graphics Fairy and browsed her great graphics!

I downloaded her Man in the Moon graphic and grabbed some of my pastels.

I then got some scrap brown paper that was used for packing and began to draw it on.

It isn't perfect but that is ok! Just draw it and have fun. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece!

When you are done you have a free decoration to hang on a door or wall. Now I have to decide where I will hang it. I think it may need a spooky witch flying by.

Remember be creative with things you already have. It doesn't have to cost and arm and a leg, you just need an idea and a little creativity! We are so lucky to have great sites to get free graphics from too!

What did you do this holiday that was free and easy?

Coffee Sack Stool

I love the different patterns that you can find on burlap coffee sacks. Sometimes there are beautiful colors and artwork. I have done a few things with coffee sacks in the past. I made and sold all of my coffee sack pillows. I made and sold coffee sack totes and coffee sack aprons. I even lined a beautiful display case with one.

One of my recent coffee sack designs was covering pumpkins. I did stamped pumpkins and coffee sack covered ones. They were a big hit at the barn sale.

One other project I did was covering a vintage stool.

I just love the graphic on this one. One thing I tried to do was to keep it off center. I felt it made it more interesting to look at. I also loved the wrapping of words on the side of it.

Here is another angle. I love the colors too. It made a huge difference from the boring covering that used to be on it. It makes a great foot stool!

What do you think? Have you used Coffee Sacks for anything?

I feel a giveaway coming soon! Be on the lookout!!

Grey Buffet (A Change Can Do You Good}

I usually don't go for furniture with basic lines. Mainly because I love details and accenting them with paint and wax. I normally by vintage pieces too.

When this buffet became available I could see that paint could change the feel of the piece.

I knew I would keep the pulls but I wanted to paint them. I use oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

I also used Annie Sloan French Linen and dark wax to complete it.

 I love the farmhouse feel the paint and waxes added to the finished piece. Of course a little distressing adds to the charm.

This was one that never ended up at the Barn Sale. It sold before I could get it there.

This piece made me realize to think about all the furniture I come in contact with. Whether it is vintage or not, the change can do it good! Someone out there will be interested in it if it is done well and adds character to their home.

Have you ever bought a piece like this? Did it go from plain to pizzazz?

Back From Bella {Barn Sale Recap} Part 2

 Part 1 Here


Did I tell you how much work went into this? Whew! I had so much fun meeting so many of you but it sure was a lot of work. I don't like to do things half way so making the booth look good was a top priority. In the end, I would have change a few things to lighten it up a bit. I did have a ton of compliments on the design and pieces that filled it so I take that as a success!

This was the after Picture courtesy of Angie The Country Chic Cottage

Remember the before?

I wish I would have taken the after sale picture and you would have seen how much was gone. Lots of small pieces. The largest thing sold was that chippy cabinet. Next year I would not bring so many big pieces of furniture.

So I left of with the dinner on Friday night with all the area bloggers and the gals that came in for a visit.

We took a group picture of some of the bloggers that were there. You may recognize a few!

This picture was taken by my friend Michele from The Scrap Shoppe.

Note to self: Do not take pictures when covered in barn dirt and after several weeks of no sleep!!

Several bloggers participated in a blog panel. They even went to area booths and create a room with the merchandise they gathered.

Saturday was our busiest day with lots of customers and purchases! It was also the day we sold most of the smalls we had left.

I spent some time with Sandra from Sawdust and Paper Scraps. She is a sweetie!! She made me laugh modeling around the barn!

She is too cute!

Sunday was wrap up. Sales were slow and the thought of packing up made me even more tired!!

It was hard to say goodbye to my new found friends! I will miss them.

Here is some eye candy for you!

I didn't sell that clock and I am glad because I am using it in my Halloween Mantel!!

Hope you enjoyed that post!

Back From Bella {Barn Sale Wrap-Up} Part 1

Another event that truly whipped my butt! It was a lot of hard work but extremely rewarding at the same time.

I arrived on Tuesday at The Milky Way Farm with 20 something pallets to install with my friend Dan. That is when I got to meet a wonderful lady and friend to the blog world Donna from Funky Junk Interiors. 

I looked at and lived with a room full of stuff for weeks. This is my dining room that I cleared out to fit all my stuff!!

On Wednesday we arrived with a loaded down trailer full of furniture and smalls. Dan helped measure out the spaces with the coordinator Linda.

This was the booth before. As we started setting up the pallets to create the space. Anyone that does this, pallets are a real inexpensive way to build a structure.

This is the after UGH! Now we had to start displaying and organizing. We arrived on Thursday morning to start our creation of our space!

 Building was tricky since there was nothing to bolt on to. I had two 14ft old ladders that we leaned up to the rafters to make an A frame out of. We put a 4x8 across it to hang lights. I added my arbor from my backyard to create an entrance for interest. I also had a place to hang my sign. I attached an old crib rail an hung the sign from that. Then I created some of my brown paper flowers to hang around it. This was a huge success since it could be seen as you entered the barn.

 I shared this space with my long time friend Vonda. She has always been very creative and I knew we would fit well together. She has started a blog too! Please go send her some love and a nice welcome at The Brassy Begonia

This was the set up of the ladder. Don't you just love that light!!! It was hard to get good pictures with the light coming in from those windows.

Friday was opening day! It started with the early birds.....and it wasn't us! We showed up a little late and I was rushing to get caught up all day!!! It didn't deter us though! We still had tons of customers and sales!!

Friday night some area bloggers and others like Rhoda from Southern Hospitality and Sandra from Sawdust and Paper Scraps joined us at dinner. We enjoyed talking and laughing about our blogs and all the opportunities that come in to play. I even shared a dessert with the group!! Donna enjoyed it the most!

She is a hoot!!

It was so much fun to spend time with these fabulous people! Don't want to bore you with too many pics so I will end it here.  Or you can click here to see part two!

I am still cleaning all the dust and dirt off everything from the barn!! 1st time = learning experience!!

What have you learned from participating in this kind of event?

Would you do it again?

I would love to hear!!