"Beaded Fruit"

Oil Paintings 19 & 20 -- "Pink Ponderosa" and "Apron & Tomatoes"

 I don't eat (or grow!) tomatoes,

but they are so gorgeous.

I did each of these paintings in a day.

6"x6"

 The pink ponderosa was OK.

And only took about 30 minutes,

which was awesome.

This one took a couple of hours and is my favorite so far.

I didn't "overdo" any parts of it.

And I like the red, white and blue colors in it.

Flapper Girl Mannequin Head

I have been out and about junking,

and have not been very good about documenting it.

Yesterday I spent the good part of a day at an outdoor auction.

Nothing went cheap, but I did manage to purchase a few things.

Maybe I will share a few more of the treasures I bought.

But this 1920s flapper mannequin head is my favorite.

I am selling her on ebay.

Oil Painting #18 -- "Atomic Red Carrots"

8x10.  I didn't do them justice.

They are so beautiful.

I don't plant veggies, but I am planting some of these this year.

Oil Painting #17 -- "Purple Iris"

I'm not in love with it.

But I do like the cheerful colors.

Faith Grain Bin Planter

One of those projects that take months to accumulate the pieces,

and even more months to put them together.

The grain bin has a hole in the bottom,

so it will make a great planter.

Industrial Cross

 I am always on the lookout for a wooden cross that I can

add some old hardware to. 

I bought this one for $3 at a flea market last weekend.

Outdoor Booth Ready For Spring Open House

Indoor Antique Booth Ready For Spring Open House

More Spring Buntings / Garlands

 I found these die-cut cards while looking for 

fabric to whack up for my first bunting.
View that post here.

I found some cloth yoyos,

and cut up a gift bag for the printed paper.

 I had enough to make two strings of garland

for my indoor booth at the Spring Open House.

Camp Flea, Ozark Missouri.

This was one that a fellow dealer made,

from cardboard and ruffled butcher paper.

Too cute.

Spring Bunting Bonanza & No-Sew Tutorial

My antique mall is having a Spring Open House this weekend. Last night (at the last minute) I thought I should make a spring-themed bunting (banner - garland - whatever) to hang in my outdoor booth.  But I didn't want to sew or spend any money on it (talk about limiting).

I got rid of so much of my "stash" when we moved, so I had a hard time finding any springy fabric.  But after much searching found a small piece of barkcloth type fabric which I feverishly cut into triangles at 11 pm last night.  I spent sleepless hours planning how to make a sturdy, weather-resistant and cute spring bunting with them.

Epiphany #1. They must be ironed (time consuming and torturous), and must be stiff.  So I found out from Martha Stewart how to make your own starch.  One cup cold water and two tablespoons corn starch mixed thoroughly in a spray bottle.  Spray it lightly on triangles before ironing.  Martha warns that the starch can attract bugs and mold. Nice.  Well, I'm not leaving it up forever.

Epiphany #2.  They must be double sided.  (Be able to be viewed from both sides.) This immediately cut my length in half.  And meant I needed to glue two triangles together. After considering hot glue and fabric paint, I ended up using elmers glue for this. Trim overhanging edges.

Epiphany #3.  I actually would have to purchase something.  The rope.  Jute I had on hand was just  not thick enough.  I bought 100 yards of laundry line from Dollar Store for $3.50.  I only used half.

Epiphany #4.  Attaching the triangles to the rope would have to be sturdy + cute.  That is a tough one.  We had steady 40 mph winds last week.  My outdoor booth is under a roof, but still gets blown around.  I did a double assault.  I poked a sharp knife through the triangles on either edge of the short end (not too close to the edge).  Then I was able to attach the triangles to the rope with torn strips of muslin.  In the center of this on one side I did a big old obnoxious safety pin which went though both triangles and the rope.  These are not budging.

Postscript:  I found enough supplies for indoor spring buntings.  So, for eight hours today I worked like a wild woman on the above bunting, AND THREE MORE.  The house was in chaos by the time I came up for air.  I am exhausted.  I'll show you how they turned out later.

Vintage Signs For Spring

 We had a rainy day, and I thought it was the perfect time to

crank out a few spring signs.

 We got this vintage box and lid at a flea market last weekend.

I decided to sell them separately and stuck a price tag on each.

And added the lettering to the inside of the lid.

When we put barnboard baseboard in our mudroom,

I told our workman to take all of the leftover wood for his wood stove.

But he thought I could use these two pieces for signs,

and he was right.

All are heading to my booth this weekend for the

Spring Open house.

Oil Painting #16 -- "Red Veined Cabbage Leaf"

I didn't like it so much,

therefore I spent way too much time trying to make it "better".

Maybe 5 hours.

"Convex & Concave"

"Post & Barbed Wire #3"

Oil Painting #15 -- " Red Cabbage"

Definitely my fave so far.

It only took about 2.5 hours and

I enjoyed doing it.

Loving My Mudroom

This is how the mudroom looked when we previewed the house for the first time.   And yes, that is a bar in the middle of the tiny little space.  Three of the walls were the dark rust color.  And the fourth wall did not know what it wanted to be when it grew up -- stone, wood, window, door?

 
Then we made some improvements last September, which you can read about here.  The huge limestone bar top was gone by this time, and my husband was chipping away at the stone base.   We finally hired one handy man to remove the rest of the bar base, and another one to piece in the tile that was missing. 

 And here is the same north wall after completion.

The corrugated metal covers the whole hodgepodge wall.

The wash tub took the place of the giant whiskey barrel sink.

We painted all of the dark rust walls a light gray, 

which really lightened it up.  All of our tools (and much other misc) are stored in the lockers.

I found this green industrial barn light shade in

my stash, and we installed it above the sink.

This mid-century work table has been in my family

since it was new.  Like the rest of the mudroom --

small and hard working.

Oil Painting # 13 -- "Nine Eggs In A Carton"

This one only took a couple of hours.

I did it on a torn-off book cover and enjoyed doing it.

"Frisco Line Bike Trail"

Oil Painting #14 -- "Hen & Shoulders"

I ended up really liking the head.

The body seemed a little flat and two dimensional.

I forgot to erase pencil marks before taking the photo.

"The Old Flatrock School"

"Spring Almost Sprung"

Oil Painting #12 -- "Parrot Tulip"

If I were only interested in making a buck,

I would paint flowers all day long.

This only took a couple of hours.

I enjoy it, and they come easily to me.

Unfortunately, I am interested in stretching myself --

so will only paint flowers 1/6 of the time.