and i found a flower in a field

a field of cars and people
rows of concrete, paint, and steel
manhatten, is where it grew
 - the avett brothers
 
Tonight I worked on taking pictures for my farm table reveal. Not a photography expert here, and the fact that I only have windows on one side of my apart, and that side is NOT the dining room, plus the fact that it's dark when I get home, does not make for good picture taking.

But, before they die, I wanted to share with you my pretty pretty flowers. They make me happy! The rusty, warped, absolutely perfect milk carrier is from an antique store in Wilmington, NC - bought just for this!

What is it in your house that makes you happy - the item you just love to look at?

oh baby, i love your way

want to be with you night and day.

Yeah, ok - I have no idea why that song popped into my head for this post. Maybe because it has to do with love. Maybe because I'm so in love with my Valentine's wreath. Whichever, it's catchy. 

This past week I've been scrambling to finish some projects before my extended family came to see my place for the first time. This is one of 'em - our new Valentine's wreath. 

I saw this gorgeous Valentine's boxwood wreath on Pinterest, but I couldn't find any boxwood stems at Micheal's and the boxwood wreath available at Target was 40 freakin' dollars - and I'm cheap, so I opted for trusty burlap!

I thought of this wreath idea while walking through Micheal's, grabbed the supplies, and rushed home to make it! I painted the C in a flat white paint for CraneFarms, stained a few wooden hearts in Kona, poked a Queen Anne's lace (fake) flower into the burlap, tied a red gingham bow, and topped it off with a cute burlap flower pin I found at Micheal's. I really don't want to take this down!

 Have you made a Valentine's wreath this year? I'd love to see! 

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I need your help!!

 

A few years ago I was lucky enough to pull out this piece of furniture from a barn - for $3!! The only problem was the top wasn't attached, and it was a terrible color of pink. Just terrible. But, I thought I'd paint it and make it into a cute bedside table.

I'm sure that was about 3 years ago, and until a few days ago it still was that terrible shade of pink. 

To give you some background, as much as I love painting furniture, there is only one piece that is painted in my house, and I didn't do it. My style is changing from dark primitive colors. My goal is to end up with a mixture of white, wood, and rust (and some color mixed it - like red in the kitchen).

So, after attempting to strip the paint off, I decided there was no use. The top of this furniture is NOT wood,  but instead plastic veneer (is that what's its called, I don't know...) Anyways, its hideously white and I hate it because I really wanted to stain the top of this piece wood. So now I'm stuck.

I went ahead and painted the piece, but didn't like it. I really didn't like the distressing job I did and I thought maybe white isn't what this piece needs (and this is my favorite white paint, I'm so let down), so I painted some blue on it to see how that would look. And honestly, I don't think I like the blue either. Maybe it just needs to be a funky color, maybe that's what defines this piece. I have really been wanting to buy Ce Ce Caldwell's Destin Blue.

Then I thought, maybe I'll get rid of the real top and make a wood top. 

***And here's where I need your help! Let me know your input, blue or white (or a different color), chicken wire sides or the original sides (as seen on the pink piece), wood top or original top, or any other ideas that you think would make this piece amazing! 

My husband really misses his night stand, so I need to fix it soon.  Your opinion is so much appreciated!!


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Miss Mustard Seed

Lovely White

This is my favorite piece I've done so far. This is the piece I would have kept (if I had room). This is the piece that I sold in a day!

By the time I was done, it didn't look like this anymore. But first, I took her apart to make the job easier.

 

Then, I got to excited and forgot to take pictures until I was done. But the process was sanding as much as I could. The varnish was peeling off in most places, so I brushed it off as much as I could, but the remaining would help make the perfect aged effect. The apron and legs were painted with brown primer and my favorite white paint that I talk about so much. I got the idea for brown tinted primer from a mixture of my experimenting with tinting primer myself with my paint and from reading Sweet Pickins Furniture. The table top was sanded and stained with walnut stain. The table was distressed (a lot of it was done only 30 minutes after the white paint was put on, it created a really cool effect), waxed with clear and brown wax. I sealed the table with medium gloss polycrylic. And now, I'm in love and she's gone.

Have you ever parted with a piece that you love dearly?

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Miss Mustard Seed