Guest Post ~ Laurie from Heaven's Walk!

Hello everyone!  I have a special guest today!  Laurie from Heaven's Walk is here!  I met Laurie through blogging several months ago.  She is from Michigan as well and her home and gardens are beyond beautiful.  I love her style and to top it off she is just the sweetest!  If you haven't yet been to her blog, you must go treat yourself to a visit!

~

I am so honored to be guest posting at Maria's lovely blog today!
I fell into her Rusty Hinge world a while ago,
and found myself swooning over her gorgeous home,
drooling over her stunning vignettes,
and envying her amazing photography.
After discovering how many of the same addictions loves we shared,
we quickly became friends.

(I think we could start a store called "Grain Sacks R Us", 
but I'll save that idea for another time...)

  ~  ♥  ~



My first trip to the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore last month

was very successful to say the least.

Hubby and I spent hours digging, scrounging, peeking, lifting, moving,

gathering and tagging quite a few treasures there

and then stuffing them all in the back of my vehicle.

I was giddy.

He was feeling pretty proud of himself, too,

for tagging the find of the day.
(All of the time I've spent training him in seeking out potential French-Nordic decor is paying off!)

Unfortunately, this particular beauty wouldn't fit down the basement stairs

where I planned on working my magic on her.

So, she was relegated to the barn 

until the temps were warmer and I could start painting her.

There she sat, the poor dear,
next to my John Deere tractor
waiting patiently for me amidst the dust, hay, and cobwebs.

With our weather being so summery a couple weeks ago,

we rescued her, lovingly placed her into the back of our golf cart carry-all,
and drove her down to Hubby's workroom.

He set me up with his big, honkin' handheld belt sander

saying that my little palm sander would "wear me out".

Really?
 Okay...if you say so...

He left me to blissfully sand to my heart's content.
And sand I did.
I was thrilled to see how quickly that man-eating sander bit through that nasty finish.
Shhhh!  I just may have to confiscate this baby...

Now, don't hate me ~ because in my happy dance anxiousness to begin working on her

I forgot to take "before" photos.

I know.  I know.
Go ahead and call me a bad blogger.
I deserve it.

But just close your eyes and imagine a dark, extremely shiny, scuffed up,

drop leaf table...with metal claw feet.

Dark.

Extremely shiny.

Scuffed up.
An ugly duckling with pretty feet,
but definitely having potential.

Got it?

Ok.

After an hour of sanding with that he-man of a sander,
(great workout for my biceps)

I had most of that ugly shiny-ness removed.

I spent a couple hours painting her with a coat of ASCP in "Paris Grey".

She was looking better,

BUT

the pinky redness of that dark stain beneath started showing through 

even after my second coat of paint.

Agh!

So, I decided to go for more of a rustic-elegance look for this little lady

and dry brushed on some

Kilz.

Yup.

I used Kilz.

I swished it on the areas that the pinky stain was showing through,
then continued dry brushing the rest of it
here and there ~
even between her rusty little toes.

Next, I brushed on a coat of clear wax and let it dry overnight.

The next day, after a good hour of rubbing and buffing,
more rubbing and buffing,
and even more rubbing and buffing,
(another great bicep workout)
she slowly transformed into a beautiful swan.
A wonderfully subtle sheen emerged on her wonderfully Frenchy bleu/grey color.


Would you like to see how she turned out?

*Sigh!*

I adore "Paris Grey".
It's the perfect French bleu-grey.

She's currently residing at Doster Emporium in my sweet, little, white room
where I'll be selling my Heaven's Walk treasures soon...

BUT

I find myself in a dilemma.

I want to keep her.

I want to give her a home at Heaven's Walk.

I haven't the slightest idea where I'd put her.

But I want to keep her.

Badly.

I guess I'll think on it awhile.

She'll be a beautiful place to display items in my booth for now...




Thank you, Maria, for the opportunity to share a little of Heaven's Walk at your blog home today!  
You are a gem!
 (Now...about that store....)

[ Blessings ]

~

Thank-you very much, Laurie!  I so enjoyed your visit and you are welcome back anytime!
Laurie's blog, Heaven's Walk is stuffed full of more wonderful inspiration!  I hope you all head on over to say hello!



I will be back later with an Easter inspired post.  Have a great week!




Maria ~Rusty Hinge

Project Weekend

I am sorry that I am beginning all my posts with a weather update.  You would think I was a Weather Girl or something.  It's just that we have had such abnormal spring weather here as of late, but today it looks as if we are back to normal.  I awoke this morning to 29 degrees.  Isn't that a huge contrast to the summer temperatures we were getting last week?  Back to wearing coats and pants again (although on the upside, I can still keep my snow boots stored!) 

This past weekend was Karl's birthday.  But I am the one who got spoiled, look what he did for me!  He put up this gorgeous antique chandelier in our bedroom.  I have several vintage chandeliers, each one different.  They are slowly getting integrated throughout the rooms (as Karl dares to dabble with the wires in our old home!)  Last summer, he put up a bright colorful one with porcelain flowers in our kitchen.  I can't wait to show it to you another time.

Thank-you very much for coming back again.  I really must say it over and over!  You make my day and put a smile on my face with your visits and sweet comments!  You are a huge part of this blog; for a blog without readers can't inspire.  So thank-you all (I hope you don't tire of my gratitude because you will hear it again and again!)

I must send a huge thank-you to Jami of Freckled Laundry and Bonnie of Pink Stitches for featuring my finally finished grainsack coverlet!  Thank-you, ladies!








 Also, I can't leave without sharing that I just now received my copy of Souvenir in the mail.  I love it and I must instruct you right away to get a copy for yourselves!  You will not be disappointed in the least!  It is wonderfully written and the photos are indescribable, taken by extremely talented top-notch photographers.  I can't wait to go through it again!



Well, I should run since I have a magazine to read (and a house to clean!)
I hope you have a wonderful day!




Maria ~Rusty Hinge








I'm joining these parties:

Another Bucket of Blooms

Spring is definitely here!  We have had record high temperatures all week!  The sun is shining, birds are singing, and my garden has come to life!  It is very, very unusual to be in the eighties this time of year, and Karl says that we might yet get another snow storm (we usually aren't "safe" until mid April.)  I think more snow would literally crush me!  I love spending my days outside in my garden, and I would feel so deflated if I had to revert back to winter again!

I had mentioned that I love these old ice cream maker buckets of wood and I previously showed you how I filled one of them with paperwhites.  If you want to check it out again, you can see it *Here*.  Today as promised, I would like to show you my other one.  It sits on my stainless baker's prep cart that I repurposed into my kitchen island.  The bucket is filled with spring blossoms that will never fade because they are faux stems picked up at Hobby Lobby.  But they do look real, don't they?

I found this beauty at Olde Tyme Marketplace.  If you haven't shopped Beth's treasures, you must head over right now.  She really has an eye for finding just the right "junk" for everyone!

A stack of linen hand towels and rolled grainsack napkins sit in a round dough trencher.  I love these vintage dough trenchers.  They tell such a story with their hand carved lines.  If you ever have an opportunity to take one home, don't hesitate.  You will not regret it.  They are so versatile, and you can fill them with anything to accentuate your decor.   

If you look closely, (your eyes are not deceiving) you can see that my kitchen countertops are indeed red!  They came that way in my old farmhouse, along with a huge original cast iron sink.  But I will have to show that another day.  I was a bit hesitant to reveal any part of my kitchen to you, as I thought it all had to be updated before it could be seen.  It is very small and outdated (I don't even have a dishwasher!)  But it is growing on me and it is country in the truest sense of the word!  My home will always be a work in progress with so many projects to do, but isn't that part of the fun?  If any of you have an old home, you know what I am talking about.  What is your latest home improvement?  Do you have a long  "honey-do" list like I do?  I would love to hear about it!    

Well, there you have it, now you have seen both of my ice cream buckets!  Thank-you again, Beth, for this chippy white piece of deliciousness!

  And on a final note, there has been a lot of Pinterest talk about pinning photos with out permission and deleting boards.  I haven't decided yet what to do with my boards, but I love it when you pin my photos (such a huge compliment!)  So go ahead and pin away if you so desire without any reservation!

Now get out there and enjoy this beautiful day!  Happy Spring, everyone!

Maria ~Rusty Hinge

I'm joining these parties: