DIY Sewing Table

This little beauty has been a work in progress for longer than I originally intended.  But boy, oh boy am I glad with how she turned out!

I scoured Craigslist and thrift stores looking for the perfect combination of look and sweet deal.  It came one day when I happened upon this cutie online for a song and a dance.  Well, not even.  Just a song {and I can't sing}.  Only $7

 

I started by sanding the whole thing down.  My husband fixed one drawer and leg, which needed minor repairs.  I gave the whole thing a coat of a warm gray color, but the top left me stumped for quite some time.  I'm glad I stewed on it for a while rather than going with my first idea {painting it solid turquoise and stenciling a repeating pattern on it}.  Instead I designed a custom, vintage-look, chick hatchery logo with our farmette name.  
 
I painted it on, and then distressed the whole cabinet.   For me, distressing adds the warm look of ...

"I've been loved for years."  

 
 love love love




I clear coated the whole thing & added the cute knobs I found on clearance {yeah baby!} for like $1 each.  I love the smoky color and glass look.

I paired it with a traditional chair I found while thrifting {a $5 steal) which I painted black and reupholstered.  {pics on FB later}

BEFORE

AFTER

Seeing how this turned out makes me want to get cracking on my other painted projects :)

A recipe to share

So I've learned this year something I hadn't known previously.  My pioneer spirit is something I did not stumble upon, but rather it was bred into me.  My mom tried {and failed} to post this to my blog, but I thought it was so cute that her and I are kindred spirits in yet another way that I just had to share it!

Me, my sister Stephani & my Mom.

"You come by that Pioneer Spirit naturally. Your Aunt Jill and I used to call this the "squirrel syndrome" because we felt like squirrels, scurrying around to gather everything and put it away for the winter. Your take on it is lots more elegant, but it's all the same idea --- wanting to use what God has provided in the garden to fill shelves and freezer for the winter. We always thought it was because we grew up {up north} where it wasn't unusual for the power to go off for days on end if a heavy winter snow or ice storm came through, but maybe it's just in your genes naturally."

How cool is that?  Why I never picked up on this growing up, I don't know... or maybe I did subconsciously and only to have it emerge now that I'm an adult living in the remote-ness of rural life.  At any rate, I love it!  And I'm glad it's a part of who I am - bred in, learned or whatever!

And with that, I'll leave you with a recipe from the same fabulous lady {a.k.a. My Mom} who was quoted above... We call it CHILI STARTER, but really, it's stew starter of any kind. :)

2 tsp salt
4 quarts peeled & quartered tomatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1 TB sugar
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper

Combine all the ingredients above and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10-20 minutes.  Process in your canner or freeze.

Then just bust it out when you need to add some flavor and filler to your soup or stew !

The pioneer comes out.

 I'm sure I've shared before that deep down inside of this girl is a pioneer woman screaming to surface.  And it seems like this time of year, that side of me comes out even more.  There's just something about the crispness in the air that makes me want to hunker down and get ready for the long winter months to come.  Harvesting the crops, canning, prepping the garden, winterizing the house and yard... you get the idea.  I find myself daydreaming about life in pioneer days when a long summer's work was hoped to be enough to sustain the family for the winter.  Fortunately, today's luxuries don't have us as frazzled as I imagine the pioneers were.  Our homes are heated without having to store up wood all summer long.  Grocery stores carry food 24-7.  And telephones have us a phone call away from emergency professionals if needed.  I'm thankful for those luxuries, but I still have this pull in my heart to be reminded of our "roots".  

My garden at this time of year may not be pretty, but it's still producing!  A few more batches of salsa, stew starter & applesauce and we can put her to bed for the winter.  Then I can sit back with a cup of joe and wait for the first big blizzard of the season to hit, where I can stay snug and warm inside my toasty warm home and enjoy the beauty God showcases outside.

Coming soon to Cherry Blossoms & Chickens

For quite a few years now, my creations have been under the name Legacy Design... which has served me well!  However, as I transition my business and art focus to functional re-purposed design, I felt it appropriate to give my business a face lift.  So now, instead of Legacy Design, my business will be:

Farm Chic

by Cherry Blossoms & Chickens

farm

 [ faarm ] 

1. of or pertaining to rustic or rusty materials used to house livestock or hay.

2. old, weathered, distressed and well worn.

 

chic

 [ sheek ]   

1. stylish: stylish and elegant
2. style: fashionable style and elegance

So, you probably have some questions about this transition.  Hopefully I'll answer them below, if not, please feel free to contact me!

Q:  What happens to www.legacydesigncreations.com?

A:  It will remain active through the next renewal cycle which will be early 2013.  After that it will no longer be active.

Q:  How will I find out about what Farm Chic has to offer?

A:  Very soon, my blog will have an area called "SHOP Farm Chic" where you can see what's available and see locations to buy locally.

Q:  What about your photograph letter art?

A:  I will continue to do my photography letter art on an as ordered basis, however, I will no longer carry them framed.  Individual images will be available for purchase for only $3 each. 

Fox 11 - Pallet Sign TUTORIAL

I really feel blessed that I've had the opportunity to share my creations on WLUK Fox 11 4 times now {but who's counting??}  And now that you're reading this, it means that either you follow me already and like to see what I'm up to, or you're checkin' me out to see what I'm all about!  Either way, I'm glad you ventured over here.  :)

 

Thrifty Thursday: Pallet project

This morning I shared a fabulous, easy & thrifty project that you can make at home.  If you especially liked the pallet sign, you'll want to revisit my post about other things pallets are good for.

Maybe you didn't get to see me live this morning, so here's what I did!


The project stems from something that's all the rage right now.   Pallets!  You can score them for FREE, so if you tell me that you made this, but had to buy a pallet, I might just have a heart attack.  Seriously.

What you need:
1 {FREE} pallet
Paint {again use the sample sizes from Lowes}
A saying that you love.
Clear lacquer
Screws
Pry bar & hammer

Use a pry bar and hammer to disassemble the pallet so you're left with just lengths of boards.

Line them up and cut them the size you want.



Use extra boards to hold all your face boards together.

Other than screws, all your materials should come from the FREE pallet!


I have been pinning several fun sayings and phrases that I love, so I went to my "Great Sayings" board for inspiration for this piece.  I sketched out what words I wanted where, and what colors I wanted {although you can do this in just one color if you want and it'll still be fabulous}.



Now you can do the lettering a number of different ways.

Free hand.     Stencils.      Projector. 

I used a projector {snagged one at a sale for only $5!  Boy has it come in handy!}  I printed out my lettering on a transparency and projected it onto the pallet and traced and painted it from there.  A little time consuming, but hey, when you get results like this, who cares!!

When it dries, just clear coat it and hang it up!  It will fade and weather if exposed to the elements outside, but for a project this easy and thrifty, it's not too bad to have to change it out every few years!

And nothing goes to waste.  I used the cut offs and scraps from our pallet dis assembly to create some mini signs for my upcoming art shows!  How cute is that?

CB&C goes all Design on ya

EDITED TO ADD:  P.s. I feel it necessary to clarify that the time spent with my husband was not romantic in nature. Thus I was not being disrespectful to him or to our relationship by letting my mind wander. The massage was to relieve my achy back and in trade he got to watch the History Channel during the massage - something I don't care to watch with him. I call it a win-win! ;)

I was lying in bed last night trying to enjoy the back rub my husband was treating me to, when this blog post was running rampant in my brain.  For a moment, I seriously considered stopping the massage and hopping up to get the laptop!  Wha??  Then I thought better and just let the thoughts roll around my noggin while I tried to relax.

Here's the deal.  I went to school for design - back in the day - before having 3 children and choosing to be a stay-at-home-mom, over being a "working" mom.  {I tread lightly with that word, knowing we SAHM's DO work.}  But you get what I'm sayin'.  As of late, be it this quirky, bit-of-everything, blog I've started, or Facebook networking, or that I'm just putting my design skills out there more, but I've had WAY more opportunities to give design consult than I ever imagined.  And guess what?  I love it!!  I've done a funeral reception, consulted on a nursery & child's room for the same family, did sketches and a living room color/design consult for a friend, was recently pulled in to help with a kitchen table makeover, designed a shabby/mod baby shower, and have started the beginning stages of consulting another through a future living room re-do.  *whew*  My "portfolio" of sorts is growing, and word is getting out that I'm someone who knows enough about what I'm doing to come to when you need help.

So, what do I do?  Should Cherry Blossoms & Chickens become a primarily DIY & Design Blog?  Should I start charging for my consulting?  {confession:  I have such a hard time charging people for things.}  But if I'm to make a lifestyle out of this design stuff, maybe I need to consider it?

So there you have it.  I've spilled my guts to you.  My innermost desires and worries.  What you do with this information is your business LOL  If you have tips for me, I'll take them!  For now, I'm going to mull this over and try and decide where God is leading me in this stage of my life.

Blessings!

I'm featured!

My friend decided to feature me and my Thrifty Monogram project in her blog newsletter!  How cool is that??!!??

Check out her Creative Crafting blog to see my feature!