2010 November

Project Diaries Volume 10

November 28, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 2 Comments

Thank you all for linking up your projects last week!

Although Thanksgiving kept us all busy, there were a couple of entries I must brag about:

A.K.A Design transformed this gorgeous buffet and hutch. Isn’t it stunning?

Sue at Uniquely Chic turned this antique into a beachy blue dresser. I love it!

Okay, your turn!

Please remember these oh so simple guidelines ~
* Be a follower and/or subscriber to Stories of a House.
* Add the Project Diaries button to your post (second one in the sidebar).

* Add the URL of your post, not your general blog URL.
*Please only link up home decor and furniture related projects

Filed Under: Project Diaries

Thanksgiving at Our House

November 26, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 6 Comments

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

I want you all to know how thankful I am for my blog friends, especially because last year

I didn’t know people blogged about the things I’m also interested in. You all truly enrich my life.

We hosted, as we usually do because I LOVE doing Thanksgiving.

I made two turkeys – one regular and one organic.

We didn’t taste much of a difference – if anything, the non-organic one was a little better.

I also tried Pioneer Woman’s brine which smelled great,

but there was little difference between it and my standard salt water solution.

(Sorry, P-dub.)

The Little Women helped my mother in law with the rolls, also Ree’s recipe.

To quote Cousin Eddie, they were gou-ou-ou-ood.

We used the good china and bought good wine, instead of two-buck-Chuck.

Everything was yummmmmy.

But the best part was spending time with our family, and giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

That, and laughing until we cried watching Elf after dinner.

(The wine helped.)

Filed Under: About Me, Family, My Home

Two Finished Pieces and the Vintage Market

November 22, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 14 Comments

This weekend, I joined Tara, Cassie, and Ann Marie at a Vintage Market in Camp Verde, 75 minutes north of my house. I missed the first successful day because of work, but joined them on day 2, and it was such a pleasure meeting these girls. I think the weather and winds kept people away that day, but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Meet Tara and Cassie, who ran the show. Thank you, Tara, for putting the whole thing together, and Cassie for unloading and reloading the truck. She was a pro.

Meet Ann Marie, who drove from Prescott to be there. It was fun meeting her, and now her husband can call me her ‘real’ friend instead of her ‘pretend’ friend.

I brought whatever would fit in the truck, which was only 4 pieces.

We paired the chairs from another vendor with my turquoise table, and it sold.

I brought this dresser which I hope would make Miss Mustard Seed proud, as I shamelessly copied her vintage sheet music idea.

You may remember the before. I did strip the entire thing to refinish it, only to discover it had been painted and refinished before, and there was paint stuck in the pores that I couldn’t get out, and it didn’t look good. I did get most of it off the top, so at least got to keep some of the tiger oak.

I brought three different knobs to choose from.

I also brought this old provincial chest which I painted a soft pink, and kept the original hardware.

Before

Two of my girls came with me, and weren’t bored for one second.
They ran around helping pick up pieces that the wind was blowing over.

It was a great time, and I would definitely do it again!

Linking to:

Filed Under: Antiques, Before and After

Project Diaries, Volume 9

November 21, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 4 Comments

Welcome to another week of inspiring projects!

A personal thank you to all who joined the party last week.

Life has gotten in the way of me posting (for 2 solid weeks now), but I do have a finished dresser and chest to share tomorrow.

Here are two highlights from last week:

Melanie at The Frosted Gardner shared this beautiful antique buffet that reminds me of the one I just did. Her pieces are always beautiful!

Michelle at Shell’s Shabby Shack turned this antique dresser into a t.v. stand.

I love it, and what a great idea!

Okay, your turn!

Please remember these oh so simple guidelines ~
* Be a follower and/or subscriber to Stories of a House.
* Add the Project Diaries button to your post, pretty please (second one in the sidebar).

* Add the URL of your post, not your general blog URL.
*Please only link up home decor and furniture related posts.
*Seasonal recipes are also welcomed!

Filed Under: Project Diaries

Project Diaries, Volume 8

November 15, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 5 Comments

Welcome to another week of inspiration!

I’m working on some projects myself, but went a few days doing nothing because I lost the tip to my spray gun – and thought I’d lost my mind right along with it. Yesterday I decided to just paint with a brush and went to stir a can of paint only to gleefully discover the tip rattling in the can.
So, today I am getting busy!

Thank you for all who linked last week. Oh, the talent that is out there….

Kirsty at A Little Bit of Sanity and a Lot of Chaos actually built this farmhouse table.
I love farmhouse tables, and this one caught my eye right away.

Paige at Faith’s Place tackled her stairway by ripping out the carpet and installing this custom treatment. (I’ve been begging Romeo to do this forever.)

Katie at Impatiently Praying for Patience made over this amazing desk with a chalkboard top.
I’m so doing this!

Okay, your turn!

Please remember these oh so simple guidelines ~
* Be a follower and/or subscriber to Stories of a House.
* Add the Project Diaries button to your post, pretty please (second one in the sidebar).

* Add the URL of your post, not your general blog URL.
*Please only link up home decor and furniture related posts.
*Fall recipes are also welcomed!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Dear Mr. Police Officer,

November 13, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 18 Comments

——-

I have a great deal of respect for our law enforcement.

As a helping professional myself, I didn’t like you, though.

I know your type. You are the kind who enjoys trying to intimidate cooperative citizens.

And you probably thought you ruined my day, but you didn’t.

To me, there is a difference between following the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law,

and that our society has blurred the whole thing.

I know you have a quota to make.

And that you don’t know that I am an exemplary citizen,

who pays taxes, votes, and is raising 3 more exemplary citizens.

And that I always want to abide by the law.

Like, if I discover I left something in my cart without paying for it after getting to my car,

I will go back in and pay for it, even if it’s just a pack of gum.

I realize you didn’t know that I left my 3 girls to be at work at 6:30.

And that one of them called me in tears about something that was a pretty big deal.

And that I thought about her all day and couldn’t wait to just hold her.

I know you didn’t share my excitement when I got out of work an hour early,

because I had plans for me and my little girl.

10 minutes before we met I went to my folks’ to pick up the girls,

but the gate was not working.

Nice of you to tell me that you didn’t care.

I had to drive around to find an alternate entrance.

I know, I know, you don’t care, but I missed the left turn to get into the alternate entrance.

You see, I am a total loser when it comes to finding things, and I have ZERO sense of direction.

That doesn’t mean I don’t obey traffic signs, though.

I went to the next light and saw this sign:

I also saw you.

It is a personal goal of mine not to break traffic laws, especially in front of a cop.

There was absolutely nobody behind me, so I wasn’t stopping the flow of traffic to turn around here.

Being the rule follower that I am, when I saw this sign in the median, I interpreted that to mean that it was to protect a minority of people who might consider turning left into all those trees and bushes. In my estimation, a no u-turn sign would be more appropriate than a no left turn.
I’m just sayin’.
Like this one which was the next light north, and why I chose the aforementioned light to turn around.

Now, that’s a sign that tells me what I can’t do.

I mean, there’s not one but TWO signs, in case I missed the first.

I thought I was good. Really, I did. I know you think I’m stupid.

I’m very left-brained and I look for signs to keep me out of trouble.

Maybe you’re right and I’m wrong,

but I still believe I made a reasonable and prudent decision and didn’t put anyone in jeopardy.

You asked if I saw the “huge” no u-turn and no left-hand turn signs.

I assured you that if I had, I would not have chosen to ignore it.

I started to doubt myself that the u-turn sign actually existed.

You looked at my insurance card, and informed me that it expired yesterday. Oh, the luck.

During the 8 hours it took you to write the ticket,
I had time to call Romeo who told me where the insurance card was.

I was so flattered when I told you where the card was, and you said you were going to give me the benefit of the doubt on that anyway because THAT was an “expensive ticket.”
Gee, thanks, pal.

I happen to know that you are not a benefit-of-the-doubt-kind-of-guy,
and have access to insurance databases.

You informed me of my 3 options.

Guess which one I’m choosing?
Oh, and you can’t give me a ticket for telling all my friends about you.
We still have the 1st amendment, at least for now.
I will see you on December 7th.

———-

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Before and After :: 1920′s Antique Buffet

November 9, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 36 Comments

I know I say this a lot, but this is my favorite piece yet.

I found this antique buffet/sideboard on CL, and called to ask the usual questions,
including if it had always been in a smoke-free environment.

She said “no, it hasn’t…”

Because of that, I offered $25 less, and she accepted. I drove out to take a smell look.

If the smoke smell was bad, I knew what kind of primer I could have used to cover it up.

But, when I got there, there was no smoke smell in this little lady.

It needed some repairs and wood filling, which wasn’t too bad, and although I could restore the top, the base was trashed.
Yes, I know, I know, you don’t paint over antiques.
That is, unless it was not well taken care of and is beyond repair, which was the case with this.

Here she is after stripping the top, re-staining it, and painting the base BM Bone. This has become my favorite white for furniture, as it is not glaring, yet doesn’t have any yellow in it.
It is a soft, mellow white.

I looooove her.
I kept the original hardware, and painted it black.

I staged her with a 70 year old mixing bowl

(which I found at at a garage sale) filled with limes.

I am lucky to have a neighbor who always brings me lots of fresh limes.

I love the top, which has a beautiful, hand-rubbed finish.

Have a great day!

Filed Under: Antiques, Before and After, Finding Furniture, Furniture, Paint Colors, Products I Like, Thrifting, Wood Finishing

Project Diaries, Volume 7

November 7, 2010 by Christa @ Stories of a House 12 Comments

Welcome to another week at Project Diaries. You guys truly impress me so much each and every week!

Right now I’m working on this little lady for the Barn Sale in a couple of weeks.

I remembered the before shot after I had started the repairs and stripped and halfway stained the top.
Someday, I’ll learn.
I’m furiously trying to crank out pieces to bring!

Let’s look back at the awesome talent from last week:

Kristine at The Painted Hive shared her Tea Trolley with vintage sheet music. I love this, it is such an amazing piece! Kristine is an incredibly talented designer. Too bad she lives on a different continent than me!

I fell in love with this table that Leslie at Rustic Whimsy did for her anniversary. She and her hubby stayed at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel on their honeymoon. What a neat anniversary gift!
I could hire her for romance lessons.

And Katie at Impatiently Praying for Patience did a fabulous job on this china cabinet. Just look at the backer board – don’t you love it? The even more amazing part is that she got it for FREE!

Lori at Projects Plenty has a great eye for design and really knows her stuff. We have been virtually decorating each others’ homes for the past several months since we met through the online friendship service known as blogging. She saved a ton of money by refinishing her staircase herself to look like metal. She had to tape each and every one of the iron spindles, and clearly has patience the likes of Job. Before you go to her blog I must remind you of the 10th commandment: ‘Thou shalt not covet.’
All kidding aside, major eye candy ahead.

Okay, your turn!

Please remember these oh so simple guidelines ~

* Be a follower and/or subscriber to Stories of a House.

* Add the Project Diaries button to your post, pretty please (second one in the sidebar).

* Add the URL of your post, not your general blog URL.
*Please only link up home decor and furniture related posts.
*Fall recipes are also welcomed!

* Mosey on over to the other blogs and leave some lovely comments!

Filed Under: Project Diaries