Metal topped table

Here she is in all her glory!!!!  I really just want to keep her now that she's done....:)  but alas she 's going to Winsome Cottage and will be going home with some other lucky person...

Here's a little "before" reminder.....

 My husband did all the work on the galvanized top.  If you haven't already noticed from other posts on the blog he loves working with metal.

 Nice little corner pieces to protect the edges all smooth and clean looking...a nice detail that finishes it all off.

 Nicely aged surface that is sealed for use.

 I really wanted to change the knobs out for something fun but they had to be cut off for that so I left them.

 I'm really happy with her --curious to know what everyone else thinks!  

I'm going to do one more thing for the chairs before I post some pictures of those girls.  This week was painting :) Next week will be back to sewing.

Inspirations

 I have a serious addiction to looking at certain decorating magazines.

 I'm sure this has no influence on me always wanting to try something new around my house....right?!?!?!?

 The thing I find interesting is that once I look at something it gives me other ideas.

 All of these pieces are from Sundancecatalogue.com

I could decorate my whole house with their furniture---

 All of these pieces are gorgeous.  Although I 'd much rather have something that has some authentic age to it, I'm not against making something look that way.

 I just like to look at all of it.  And appreciate the simplicity of it.  Less is always more.

Some new endeavors

Here's how she started....

Here's how she looks right now...I'll be glazing soon and I' m also going to sew some little dropcloth seat covers.  She has a twin too!

And we're re-doing this table.

So here's our little table experiment.  We are topping this with aged galvanized metal.

Not done yet but this gives you an idea.  And I'm getting excited....

Stay close...there's more to come.  Some exciting new opportunities for VanHook & Co.

Sofa is FINISHED!

 This is where the light shines down from Heaven and choirs of angels sing ;)  I won't lie~~ This project was pretty time intensive.  I was really pushing hard to get it finished.   

 I cannot even begin to tell you how much I am lovin' this look!!!  And apparently Doodlebug is digging it too...that would be chocolate he's eating.

 And showing me his feet.  For no apparent reason.

The whole look is screaming "comfortable" which is definitely us.  Now that it's done it feels really great to look at it!

 The piping is kind of a pain but I think it makes the look.  Especially around the curves and corners.  And my one and only complaint about the videos...no instructions for sewing the cushions.  And it was a little tricky.  I did an envelope style cover.  You have to pin the top to the side.  Sew.  Then pin only part of the bottom.  Sew. Then pin the rest of the bottom.  Sew. You can't pin it all and get it off the cushion.  And kind of hard to get the cushion out if you want it to fit closely.

Of course it's like anything else.  You learn as you go.  Wouldn't want to tackle this again anytime soon but I keep telling myself....$53.  Two new pieces of furniture.  A new sofa alone would be close to $1000.  So it was worth it.  Now that I saved all that money --I have GOT to do something about the mini blinds in the living room.  

Dining room Slipcovers

Yeah I know~~ and I'm actually getting *really* close to finishing the slipcover for the couch believe it or not.  These I made this week-end..:)  

Because as I was sewing the pillow covers I laid one of the flour sack towels over the chair in the dining room and you know what that means...

ANOTHER idea!!!!  I've actually wanted to make new slipcovers for these since the last ones fell apart finally.  The rattan or whatever it is that's woven on the seats sheds like crazy and also makes little splinters.

And I actually had linen in mind but these are beautifully light and airy...perfect for summer.  Not to mention washable, and only $1 apiece ~~so $3 a chair.  Even BETTER!!! Guess which of the above is Doodlebug's seat?!!?!?!?

Decorating

This is my favorite from our folding chair collection... So I decided why not have it out all the time.  We usually just pull them out for extra seating.  Now it's in our bedroom corner with some happy little daisies....

Added some bull clips to the wall for Doodlebug to hang some of his artwork.  He's very prolific with the "art" so this is a great way to show some off!  Sometimes it's something we can't hang up....

This would be a lincoln log train ---of course!  Still working on the sofa slipcover.  I have most of the pieces cut/torn and have started piecing it together...it's a sloooow process with little ones!

Winsome Cottage

Today I got to spend about half the day working for a friend of mine who runs a lovely shop called Winsome Cottage in the little, antique town of Waynesville, Ohio.

I love to go in her shop and look at all the "finds" gathered in one spot.  She and her husband love to hunt for treasures amongst flea markets, garage sales and other various places.  They like to take pieces that need a little TLC and recreate them by painting them.

I'm in love with the piece below....really and truly in love...thinking of all the many places that could go in my house!

Every time I go in there's something I didn't see before.  So many little details to look at.  The lamp is GREAT!  And I'm also in love with the green stools....

Love that little silverware caddy and those spa blue placemats would look so good on my kitchen table....

SO much fun to meet people and talk with whoever comes into the shop.  I feel blessed to have her as a friend and it has been so nice to see her start her business and watch the LORD bless it and make it grow!

She's on the move to a bigger place that is also in a better location....very exciting!!!

 To go along with my new "look" for the living room I decided to slipcover my pillows instead of buying new ones.  

I used some flour sacks--- L.O.V.E.  So summery and light and airy...Except for the one on the left with the ties they are envelope style covers.  I had two on hand and then $1 apiece at Target.  Can't beat that.

And a little stenciling with some acrylic paint and scrap material from the drop cloth.

The whole look of this is so comforting.  Really relaxed looking and cozy.  And being able to wash all of it makes it even better!!!!  I'm already thinking about being able to change them for fall and the holidays....flannel, felted cashmere...some yummy fabrics.  I've washed and dried the two I bought for the sofa, but I'll be working at Winsome Cottage the next two days.  I'm ready to get going on it before I lose my momentum!!!

Slipcover love!

 I 'm a huge fan of Miss Mustard Seed's blog.  She rocks.....and she did a 6 part video tutorial on how she slipcovers chairs using drop cloths.  (You can click on her yellow button on my side bar and do a search on her blog if you're interested in watching those.) So I watched them and decided to take the plunge.  This is what I now have  {$17 well spent}!

 Several reasons for doing this.   The biggest being that I can now "wash" my furniture....if you have children you know what I mean.  I'll let you know how it holds up to the washing. 

 The next reason ---my furniture is hand me down from my younger sister who graciously gave it to me when she bought new furniture last year.  So I'd LOVE to be able to buy something new but when I look at the prices on sofas that I like.....uuuhhhh yeah it's gonna be awhile before I can afford to buy something.  And I don't really want to buy something anyways having two small dirt making machines. Back to the first reason--- I can wash it!

 This is the FIRST slipcover I've ever sewn.  I've done alot of sewing.  However I've never done anything this large....I was pretty intimidated.

 I'm THRILLED with how it came out.  I'm not a fan of the "frumpy" look of store bought slipcovers.  Not to mention the price of those too.   I haven't sewn on the ties in the back yet but I pinned it so I could do photos.... 

The sofa is next!!!!  I took some "during" photos and learned some things along the way see the "HERS" page if you're interested.
Check out the "HIS" page for a new copper bowl in progress...
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