old pickle jar

I have a large old pickle jar my aunt gave me.  It's been sitting around here and there but I never really knew what to do with it.  I have nothing on my coffee table in my den in progress so I thought I would use the pickle jar to top off the coffee table.  I like it and it gives some height to the area and stands out in a good way.  I added some pea gravel and small stones (less than 3 bucks a bag at HL) and a simple white candle. 

Simple.

vintage ladder and the color red

I really like ladders.  I have a couple but I want more.  I would love to have one like this.  Look close, see the one with the spring like rungs?  Cool. 

Rose at Confessions of a Curbshopaholic

And one of my favorite blogshots ever is this one:

Tina at Rubies Place

So, I really wanted to participate in Donna's Saturday Night Special "ladder" theme party over at Funky Junk Interiors because I like ladders too!  I knew I had a great little ladder to bring but I had to find it because we are moving things around in our little cottage and the cute little ladder was "taking a break."

Here's my little white wooden one but that's not the one I'm looking for...and I'm certainly not looking for the huge silver extension ladder.

This one is kinda cute but it's not the one either.

I like the old galvanized detail so maybe one day I'll paint this little cutie but for now, we still use this as a real stepladder.  So, where is that other cute one I really want to use?

Oh, I think I see it!

There it is, right there...in this really bad picture because I'm such a bad photographer.

That's better!  Now you can see it.  Cute, huh?  (Grace, I know you would like it better if it was blue and a less rusty:)

I like the rusty and actually it is a very pale bluish white.

Now, of course to take it to the party, it needs a little something.  Since my favorite color is red, I think I'll add some of my favorite red things.

That's better!  Love a little red around my cottage.

See that cute little birdhouse with the metal red roof?  Target.  Yep, Got it at Target last year on sale for less than 10 bucks.  Love that.

Little ladders make great bookshelves...especially for old red books!

This sweet porcelain teapot (cause I only drink tea!) was painted by my grandmother. It's one of my favorite things!  There are some of those wooden tops from my father-in-law's childhood that I keep moving all over the house.  I wish I had about 20 more of those!

vintage ladder and the color red

If I can do it...easy make your own signs

I love old signs.  You know, the kind that look like they have hung out in the weather for a hundred years.  Those are getting harder to find and when you do find a good one, it can be expensive.  I've seen many bloggers recreate old signs so well that I couldn't tell the difference.  To do it well, it looks like a lot of work.  I just don't have that kind of patience.  If I decide to do a project, I like to do it fast and get instant gratification.  I have never made a sign before but on a whim I decided to give it a try.  If you like to do things the right way, just turn away now.  I'm sure this will go against all rules.  If you like fast and easy, stay tuned.

Do you remember this sign I posted about last week that Jennie found?  Maybe if you squint your eyes you can make it out.  For those of you under 40, this is what everything will look like in a few years.

The more I squinted and looked at that sign, the more I kind of wanted one.  It's cute.  So, with leftovers I had in the garage, I gave it a whirl.  Here's what I did.

I started with a piece of cheap wood the size I wanted for my sign.  If it has "issues", that's okay.  It will add to the "character" of it.

I like thin wood.  I don't know why.

I sanded the edges just enough that I wouldn't get splinters in my fingers while I handled it.

Then, I spraypainted it a quick good coat of creamy white. I like satin finish because the next layer of paint won't adhere perfectly to it.  There's so much spraypainting going around blogland, I hope you all have one of those spray handle attachment thingys.  They are awesome.  I have two, an old one and this newer one. 

Here's what it looked like with one coat of spray paint. 

Then, I pulled the little craft paints out in the colors I wanted.  Notice they are Yard and Garden craft paints.  Why?  Because it's what I had at the time.

I didn't wait for the spraypaint to dry completely before swiping on some pale blue.

I thought the blue was a little too plain so I mixed a bit of green and blue together and swiped that on too.  As you can see, none of the paint was applied perfectly.

Then, using a pencil, I wrote out what I wanted to write on my sign.  I did this so I would know how to space my lettering.  It's easier to erase pencil lines than paint.

Then I freehanded the letters with black craft paint.  Looks pretty bad right now, huh?

Now, sand the heck out of it.  Sand as much as you want. 

 

Finally, I glopped on some dark poly stain.  Leave it for a bit or take it off immediately. 

I took it off pretty quick because I am IMPATIENT!

That's what it looks like up close.  Not bad, huh?  I made three of these in about 30 minutes or so.

Total cost: free (because I had this stuff laying around).

This one is my favorite. 

Here's my version of Jennie's cottage sign.  Kind of cute.  What do you think?  Does it work?

 

I'm so darn happy with it that I think I'll link it to some of my favorite blog parties listed below on the right or above on my blog party page.  If anybody makes any, I would love to see them!

What you can do with some good ol' chippy moulding

Old moulding...I love it.  I like the layers of color, the chippy paint, and the rustic, primitive, simple look of it.  Find a great piece of old moulding or wood and you can do quite a lot with it.  One tip before you start:  since some of the old moulding could be painted with lead based paint of years gone by, I always seal it with a good coat of clear, non-yellowing poly or sealer to make it a bit safer. 

Behold the piece the below...

This piece is a few feet long and well worn...just the way I like it.

It's been all over my house, usually hung horizontally as a make shift chair rail.   Right now, it's leaning in my entry until I decide how I want to hang it there. 

What could you do with such a lovely piece of wood?  How 'bout this? Below is one of my favorite pieces.  It hangs in my entry.  It's easy to make.

Take a piece of old wood or a board.  If it's not painted the same as the moulding, paint it and distress it.  Then cut four pieces of moulding, 2 for the ends and 2 longer pieces for the top and bottom.  Miter the ends at 90 degrees so they will form a corner and then frame the piece of wood.

If it's not perfect, who cares?  Another word for imperfection is character.  I like stuff with character.

Find some old doorknobs and screw them in.  Notice that these don't even match...again, it's called character.  I used to stress over matchy-matchy.  I would have probably looked everywhere to find 5 or 6 knobs that were identical.  Those days are over.  Mismatched and imperfect = character.

If you are lucky enough to find moulding from an old window or door or whatever has the old hardware still attached, you can use the hardware to attach chain for hanging.  Another tip:  I'm not sure how strong the old hardware is so although it appears this is hanging from the chain, I also have secure hardware on the back of the wood part that is hanging from a stronger nail you can't see.

It looks like this piece was first painted with a pale blue-grey that peeks through the creamy white paint which is peeling off. 

So what else could you do with old moulding and wood?  How about this?

This is an old piece of raised panel wood with original paint.  Write what you want it and hang it up! 

These letters are painted on freehand. They're far from perfect like you would get with stencils but look so cute that way.

You just can't get this kind of character with new wood.  It's much easier to start with an original piece of already chippy wood.  The hardest part is finding the wood or moulding but many times people just throw it out so if you keep your eyes focused, you might find some for free!

I'm going to link this is up to some of the great blog parties listed in my link up top.  Can't wait to see the ideas others have to share this week!