Signs, Signs, and More Signs...

Here are some of my recent signs:

Shara :) Pin It

More Recent Signs

This holiday season just flew by. I was super busy making signs for gifts that I didn't even have a chance to take good pictures of some of them. Here's what I accomplished this past month.

A funny Christmas sign for the wine lover:

A couple of signs for a local firefighter and his family:

Made this one for myself. I wanted to add a fun touch to my winter gallery wall.

This one I made for myself as well.

This one was for my Mother in Law.

A couple lucky Grandma's received these ones for Christmas:

Love this version of the coffee one, too.

Shara Pin It

My Latest Sign Creations

Sorry I have been out of the blogging world for over 2 months. Life happens and being a Mom to 3 comes before anything else. I've continued making signs over the past few months and thought I'd share them with you here finally.

More new designs in the works that I will share with you shortly.

Shara Pin It

Farmhouse Table Complete

I've been dying to own a rustic farmhouse table for what seems like forever. I love the charm and rustic appeal they bring to a space. Farmhouse tables are not cheap however. I've seen prices from $600 to upwards of a $1000. That is just not in this girl's budget, especially with 3 kids at private school this year. I've been eyeing DIY plans for one over at Ana White's blog for over a year. Why I waited so long to take the plunge is beyond me. I think I was nervous and I wanted to make sure the hubby was on board. After selling off a bunch of kid stuff this summer during the great summer clean out, I finally had enough money to get the lumber.

Let me just say there is nothing like the smell of fresh cut lumber. We purchased the lumber at one of the big box stores and my husband cut the lumber with his table saw. You can have them cut the lumber for you at the store, but I wanted to make sure we were as accurate as possible so we decided to cut the lumber ourselves. The lumber along with screws, a countersink drill bit, wood glue, wood putty, sand paper, stain and a brush was just under $130. Much more budget friendly.

We used the plans found here minus a couple of modifications (like not using a middle stretcher):  http://ana-white.com/2013/04/plans/happier-homemaker-farmhouse-table . The size was perfect for our smallish space while still giving us plenty of room for the 5 of us to spread out. It took about 2 weeks to build. We started with gluing the end stretchers and letting them sit for 48 hours. We only have 2 large clamps so we had to work in sections.

And yes, we built it in the kitchen. Our garage is too full of other "projects" there just isn't enough space. It ended up working out just fine though.

For the top, I picked out the lumber with the most knots and rustic charm I could find. After we built it, we moved it outside so we could sand and stain. I used a stain and poly in one which I hadn't used before. It went on really well and wasn't as runny as a traditional stain. I chose a Dark Walnut color to match with other pieces I have done in the house. It took 3 coats to achieve the color I was going for. The stain dried relatively quickly and I did end up applying 2 additional coats of wipe-on poly to the top just for added protection from my 3 kids.

I also refinished the farmhouse benches that came with our old table. The tops were in bad shape and were not the right color. The cherry colored top just wasn't working. I bought more lumber and built the new tops. Here's a before:

And here's an after (before I painted the bases white):

I love how the bench tops and table tops match now.

This table is everything I had envisioned and more. It will be treasured in this house for years. I'm so glad I finally took the plunge. It looks fabulous in the room...now to redo my kitchen cabinets and the space will be perfect!

Thanks for stopping by!
Shara Pin It

A Sweet Sign

After moving the TV to my gray buffet, I need something to go on the wall above it. The wall was screaming for a handmade sign. Earlier this year when I built my rustic shelves, I had originally envisioned 4 shelves but only 3 made the cut. So I've had this extra stained board lying around the garage just waiting for inspiration to strike.

I decided to use the board since it was the perfect size to fit over the TV. I created a Home Sweet Home stencil using my Silhouette machine and then painting it with acrylic paint. I then distressed it to give it a worn, rustic appearance.

Here's the sign before being distressed. Don't mind the random feet in the picture.

Here it is above the TV. It fits perfectly in the space.

I added a painting that was my Grandma's to the help fill in the space next to it. Don't mind the random dog bone. :)

What do you think? I love the look of the stained wood with painted words. I haven't done this kind of sign before but I see a lot more in my future.

Shara Pin It

A Perfect Accident...A Bench Make Over-

My husband would say I'm a hoarder and I have to admit I probably am when it comes to furniture. But when I find that awesome deal on something, it's really hard for me to say no. Our garage is chalk full of projects waiting to be transformed. Trust me, you don't want to know (just ask my neighbors). So when I came across this porch bench for a steal of a deal, I couldn't pass it up even though I knew I had no room for it in the garage.

One sunny April day came through the Pacific NW and I was itching to paint. So I gave this bench a good sanding and spray painted it a lovely leafy green. I wish I would have taken pictures of it. It turned out good and I was happy. And then the rain came back and my garage was full so there it sat, outside on my back patio for the rest of the spring. April showers can bring May flowers but around here April showers usually just bring May showers, too.

When the weather finally cleared up and I got back around to it, the paint had chipped a lot and there were aged spots. I sanded off the chippy paint and discovered just how awesome it became. The aged patina and the perfection of the chippy-ness really made the piece. The character was something that you can not duplicate by hand. I was stoked! I finished it off with a dark wax to seal it and add to the character. I love it so much more now!

And yes, I decided to keep it. After all, I'm a hoarder.

Shara Pin It

New Life for a Sweet Little Hutch

I had been looking for a smaller sized hutch for months now to fit in a space off of my breakfast area. The space is only 42 inches so finding a hutch that A) Fit and B) Had a farmhouse feel C) Was a reasonable price was proving difficult. I finally stumbled upon one on a local FB buy/sell group and I pounced on it. I knew it had everything I was looking for but needed some TLC.

Here she is before:

It's hard to tell from the picture but there were a ton of scratches and the knots from the pine wood were showing through plus it was a terrible overall paint job. So I set to work. I started by stripping off the paint on the lower cabinet base. I wanted a stained wood top. I got the paint off and finished it with a nice sanding. I then stained it using a dark walnut stain and applied 3 coats to get the color I was going for. I love how rustic the pine wood makes the top look. Fits perfectly with the farmhouse style I was hoping to achieve.

Next I started painting. I decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite and set to work. (The picture is after the first coat)

Then I painted the inside of the base using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Cream. I love fun pops of color inside cabinet doors. Don't mind my pile of laundry! ;)

And this is where I hit a snag. I ran out of graphite after 1/2 through the top piece. I contacted my local stockist and of course it was out of stock and on back order. Instead of waiting a week or 2 to get more, I decided to change things up all together and I repainted the whole thing using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Gray. And you know what, I loved it even more. The lighter gray really made the wood top stand out even more. Sometimes, second choices just work out better.  See isn't she perfection!

And here she is all finished and ready to party:

 I changed out her knobs with some black with bronze knobs to tie in to her bronze hinges. I also distressed it slightly and the graphite color came through which I love.

I painted the back of the inside with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg. I wanted my milk glass collection to really pop.

I also used chicken wire instead of the original glass to add the the farmhouse charm of the piece.

I'm absolutely in love. I cannot wait to build my farmhouse table and refinish my kitchen cabinets to tie the whole space together. So, what do you think?

Hope you have a crafty week,

Shara Pin It