Update On Stonecrest Cottage Guest House

Things have been progressing, even if it has been slowly.

Mostly steps that don't really show: heating and cooling,

water heater, electrical, plumbing.

This week has been a bit more exciting.

The front porch went up.

The replacement window for the front finally arrived,

and was installed.

The antique stained glass window over the porch roof was installed.

And now today we are waiting for the inspector,

after which we can get sheet rocking done.

Hunting & Gathering For The Guest Cottage

 I have not been very good about posting my finds for the guest cottage.

I got two of these lanterns for the exterior of the cabin,

they were on clearance at Lowe's.  I think I paid about $30 each.

These are actually chicken coop warmer lights,

they will be the lights over the kitchen counter area.

$120 at an antique store.

A good reminder that you should always shop at home first.

My husband scrounged around and find two barn doors in

our own shop.  This one will be the queen size bed headboard.

The other will be a rolling door for the bunk room.

I don't recall what we paid for them, not much because

I bought them for resale.

 After frantically looking for the perfect old front door,

he found one buried in our shop.  I will add a bit of

pizzazz to it, and it will be great.  This was here

when we moved in -- FREE!

 Love seat from thrift store -- $100.

UPDATE: this loveseat was too big.  We ended up ordering a new one from Overstock.com.

Left is sink for bathroom $30 from Facebook Marketplace.

This will be above the porch roof to let more light into

the kitchen / living area.  $200 from an antique store.

Three Vintage Photo Windows

 I bought all three of these windows last week for $4 each.

It is hard to find the multi-panel windows in such a good size.

I added "adopted family" photos to the first one and liked it so much
 that I also added photos to the other two.

 This one I did with all babies.

I should have taken some close-ups --

a couple of the mats had great graphics.

This was my "Be Happy" window.

It is not easy to find old photos of people who are smiling.

Salvaged Window Project

So we are getting work done in our mudroom.

This window had been covered with wood,

we weren't sure if the window was there anymore.

It didn't matter because we are putting corrugated tin over the 

entire mess anyway.  But there it was!

We are using the top one in the door of our chicken coop.

But the bottom one was fair game to re-purpose.

It did have a 2x2 inch chunk out of the wood in the bottom.

But I found hinges big enough to cover that,

and other vintage hardware bits to spice up the rest.

The window adhesive I purchased a year or so ago for $2,

Already in my antique booth!

Stenciled Winter Scene Windows

I picked up 10 identical vintage windows at an auction the first week of November for $1 each.  Woohoo.  Now what to do with them?  Especially this time of year, where time is short.  If I wanted to get these windows sold, I knew that I would have to do something fast and easy.

 I decided to stencil them all to look like the old fashioned

spray snow windows of old.

And I actually used vintage Christmas stencils on most of them.

Since the windows were all the exact same size,

I could basically just lift the stencil off for use after use.

(Well, that was the theory....)

It wasn't quite as easy as it sounded,
since I wanted to do several stencil designs.
And after doing more than one of each design,
the stencils starting getting "bendy".
So, some of the finished work didn't have really crisp lines.

 But overall, the idea worked well.
I did about two or three of each design.
With flat white spraypaint, so it should be good indoors or outdoors.

 This is the only one that I added a window adhesive to.
"Joy" was the only Christmasy window adhesive I had on hand.

 This stencil was a little more complicated.
So I only made one of this.

 And it is staying in my window through Christmas.

Last Weekend's Vintage Finds

All of these items came from one garage sale and an hour at an auction:

I generally have a hard time selling middle of the road glass light fixture shades.  But there was a stack of  FIVE at the garage sale for $1.  I ought to be able to make some money off of those.  Love the art deco one in the center.

I got this great set of eastlake brass door hardware, one of my faves to put on ebay.

Paid $3 for all, sold on ebay for $47.

I bought 13 porch posts, for $5. 

 I am trying to buy things that guarantee a profit.

Sold for $29.

Two old windows, always a guaranteed seller.

Paid $1 each.

Metal porch swing -- paid $8. You will have to picture it right side up, sandblasted, painted, and hanging on a porch somewhere in the Ozarks.  UPDATE:  Not just "somewhere" in the Ozarks, but on my own front porch. 

These two porcelain light fixtures came from the auction.  

 They will end up on ebay.

Repurposed Photo Window

I found this frame on my own front porch this week.  It has been hiding there since June.  We have been painting our house exterior this summer (it is looking so good!) and the porch is where we have been storing all of the paints and supplies (our house is a "painted lady" so there is alot of paint) -- and some vintage finds had just been forgotten behind that mess. 

 I had paid $15 for the window (ouch), because I bought it for someone else.  They ended up not needing it.  And my front porch was where it went into hiding after that.

(+) Cute hardware.

(+) Chippy paint.

This week I purchased a whole slough of high end wall adhesives  -- retail for about $28 each, I snagged for $2 each.  I was anxious to try one on a window.

(-) One broken window pane.

I chose an adhesive that I thought would fill three window panes nicely.  Overall I was pleased with how the adhesives stuck to the glass.  But you only get one shot to lay them down straight.  Do or do not, there is no try.

I already had a bit of an idea of what I wanted to do with the fourth empty window pane area.  A trip to Michael's produced: foam board (about $5 after coupon for 4 pieces) ; faux chippy wood paper (69cents); and a flat wooden frame ($3.00). You are right in what you are thinking...this is not going to be a big money maker for her.  I may give it as a gift so I don't have to worry about a profit.

With the addition of a photo in the frame, it would make a great wedding gift.

Four Small Vintage Window Wall Hangings

During our town city-wide garage sales weekend I picked up four little windows.

They measures approx 14" square, perfect size for adding adhesive wall stickers.

 I love doing this on small vintage windows. 

I have done it before ... click here, here or here to view others.

I had $2 in each, sold each for $22.

 I bought the adhesives from Dollar Tree.

Some I had to work on a bit to get them to look right 

in a square frame.

 As always, I used leftover wallpaper for the backing.

(Apply just like wallpaper).

The textured wallpaper shows a little subtle pattern when displayed on a wall,

but really pops when put in a window

My Vintage Bridal Show Offerings

My vintage store that I sell at is hosting a Bridal Show in next week.  I will try to take pictures of the vintage inspired ideas at the show.  This post is highlighting some of the items I am taking to the event.


My husband is usually the chalkboard artist in the family.
He made this for the event.

I had worked on three old windows a few weeks ago.

Painting the back of the window so that the wall adhesive graphics would pop.

After doing the windows that way, I started thinking about some

embossed wallpaper that I had leftover....

I actually just cut it to size and used the wallpaper glue to

adhere it to the backside.  So technically, the paper was

backwards.

But it was super easy to do and gave a great effect.

I did it for this one too.
Added handles on both.
For all of the above I used Dollar Tree
adhesive wall stickers for the graphics.

Sold for $24, had $5 in it.

 This was an assemblage of a board that I had,
old photo that I had, and a couple of Michael's letters
that I got for 50 cents each.
Spent about $3 for materials and sold it for $17.

For these last ones i used Dollar Tree wall graphics
alphabet stickers, spraypainted, then peeled off the stickers. 

Sold for $13, had $2 in it.

I was able to use some of the letters
a second time.

Spent about $3 on materials and sold it for $17.

Here are some of them in my booth.
Along with lace hankies, lace tablecloths,
frames and rhinestone jewelry.
Ready to roll for the Bridal Fair.

Upcycled Window Wall Decor

I am always on the lookout for small vintage windows.  It is so easy to transform them into wall art.

 I added a door plate and large knob to this one, but

it already had the great chippy white paint.

 This was a cabinet door that I got at Ikea for $5.

The wood looked so great that I just left it.

All adhesive lettering came from Dollar Tree ($1).

I added the handle to this little number,

but the white paint was original.

I used chalk paint on the back of the windows to make the

lettering pop.  I have a different idea for the next batch.