Grain Sack Pillow

I love the look of burlap and the roughness of grain sacks.They are everywhere on the internet. I've sold several of these grain sack pillows and burlap table runners in the shop but we've sold out so I've got to make some more. I love stamping the grain sacks and giving them some "personality".We've got to get crackin' with new merchandise and painted furniture as we move in our new booth in Chattanooga in just 2 weeks!! This is going to be a large 20x20inch pillow. What do you think? Isn't it cute?

Prime Time!

It's prime time and I don't mean on TV!! We're painting up a storm... and the first thing we do to a piece is de-gloss with liquid sander and then PRIME with Kilz. After those steps, it just depends on how the piece speaks to me as to what color, distressed or not, etc. The desk you see was stained dark, it is being painted black satin. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

There's one in every crowd

Each year , for the past several years, in August we "experience "the World's Longest Yard Sale and this year was no different. It's unbelievable. If you ever get a chance to go, do! You can see a little bit of everything on this sale. Yesterday , while out, we saw several old pedal cars and even though we weren't in the market for one we stopped to look. It seems most of the old ones run about $250, except this little jewel! She would "run a man"- $650!! Gosh, I don't think my first real car was much more than that!! I guess it's all relative.

450 Mile Yard Sale

It's that unbelievable time of year again! The first weekend of August each year. Time for the 450 mile yard sale, beginning Thursday going thru Sunday, there will be thousands of "yard salers" in our part of the country( SE USA) looking for a bargain or a treasure.It's been going on for years and has been written up in magazines and segments done for HGTV. We only live about 30-40 miles off the sale route of Highway 127 so we make"day trips", being so close we can come home at the end of the day to our cool, air-conditioned home and sleep in our own beds! Awesome! This year we need to really buy alot of treasures as we now have 3 booth spaces( stores) that need items/furniture .I'll keep ya posted with comments and pictures.

"Style on a Budget "Follow up

About 2 weeks ago, we bought a very simple corner cabinet,in very rough shape. Then... and Now...

Ahhhhhh.... lavender.

Are you a lavender person? I think you either love it or hate it. I love it and it has so many wonderful qualities and smells so nice and clean. We've been selling dried lavender by the scoop and lavender products for the past 6 years. Lavender has been shown to slow the activity of the nervous system. Therefore, lots of people spray their pillows with lavender spray or put a lavender sachet under their pillow to promote relaxation and improve their sleep quality. Many appreciate lavender for its fragrance in soaps, candles and lotions. We carry a wonderful line of lavender products by Sweet Grass, http://www.sweetgrassonline.com/ in both shops. The word lavender comes from the Latin root, lavare( to wash) , our best seller is a packet of 3 lavender laundry sachets, you are to throw one in the dryer with your sheets to give a slight scent of lavender to your clean bed clothes.

Saved!

Recently I ran across the coolest book, an early 1920's child's dictionary! Very fun graphics and interesting definitions, i.e., Alaska still being a territory.Anyway, I had a cute side table with raised "booboo" on top where a raised decoupage had been and no amount of sanding would take care of it. So... taking my lead from my blog friend Tracey at http://acottageindustry.typepad.com/ , I decided to "starch "these children's dictionary pages on the top of my table. It turned out great!Tracey tells you how to do this on her blog! What do you think? I think I saved the table!