bait and switch it on

 just popping in to say hi,

i've missed you all,

and i so appreciate your sweet, caring comments regarding

my dad's passing and the grieving process.

mr. 1829 and i were able to get away for 8 glorious days

to sarasota/siesta key, florida the last week of april. 

it was just what i needed to regroup,

get some much needed vitamin d and rest.

now that spring has finally arrived in the northeast, 

(our area had a record rainfall in april of 8.53 inches)

we are getting our lawn mowing caught up,

 flowers planted, gardens cleaned out, veggie's planted,

and so on.

i have a long list of to do's to finish before mid-june,

so i am up and going every morning to

git er done!

 and now to show you the reason for the title and what i've been up to...

 i've created a few things this past week. 

it feels sooooo good
to get my brain and hands working on a project!

and this happens to be a super easy one.

a peek inside

socket attachment

love the red handle...

illuminating dontcha think?!

 our screenhouse...

a repurposed corn crib

our summer set up

a new light fixture...

all because of some spring cleaning

and a desire for a more vintage look.

necessity is the mother of invention!

still have some tweaking to do but for now,

the screenhouse is clean, neat and ready for use.

my daughter said she'd consider sleeping out there this summer.

let the fun times begin.

linking up to

 

LeT ThErE Be A LiGhT!

I have been diligently working on a "junk marriage" of sorts for our kitchen.  We have had an old vintage light fixture above our sink which use to have a schoolhouse-style globe on it.  However, the light wasn't, shall i say, very illuminating.   

First, I removed the globe hoping to find a clear alternative but due to the age of the fixture there wasn't any to be found with the right neck-size opening.  Then  I removed the 20 MeeLLION layers of paint with my trusted friend, Multi-Strip, to reveal a beautiful patina of metal...possibly brass mixed with some other silver metals.  

Here's the before and after in the pre-shade state:

We lived with the fixture stripped and globe-bare for many months UNTIL I had a "light bulb" moment.   I purchased a lot of 3 vintage metal light fixture shades last year off ebay that were horribly coated with latex paint and chipping, no actually they were shedding they were so bad.   I again took my trusted friend, Multi-Strip and behold they too were beautiful underneath all that ugliness.  Now, the next step was to figure out how to connect the two parts together.  Enter another fav: JB Weld to the rescue!

Here's a test run for alignment.

 click on pics to enlarge

 

I then took the part of the electrical light socket that screws on and JB Welded it to the shade as seen in photo.  This way the shade would be secure and easily removed for any possible electrical work in the future.  Once the weld was cured (allow at least 15 hours) it was ready to hang.  (Mr.1829 helped with this part - remember to ALWAYS turn off power to the outlet.)

Here it is in all its loverly, vintage, industrial, patina'd goodness:

Total cost: $5 (for shade-everything else I had on hand)

What do you think of this repurpose, re-use and marriage of a vintage fixture and shade?

 

For me it is a perfect match of industrial, farmhouse & thrifty goodness!

CoMpAred to WhAt?

I was over at The Lettered Cottage (scroll way down) taking a stroll around several posts back and came upon the link for the Country Living/Hudson Goods giveaway.  Oh my!  Have you ever checked out Hudson Goods????  Their stuff is so amazing...industrial, rusty, vintage...love it!   And then.  oh my.   I saw.   THE light.   at Hudson Goods.  oh my.  it was so.  so. unique!   

Ok....reality check...it is $149 and basically it is rusty wire on a single bulb pendant with cloth covered wire.  Could this not possibly be made for practically peanuts compared to their cost?  Nothing against Hudson Goods but a girl's gotta do what a thrifty, bargain hunter, junk-lovin' girl's gotta do and that is make it yourself!  I just need to "find" all the components, which may be as close as my own house & Home Depot.  

Of course, I'll just add this to my LONG list of to do's   ;)

Besides this incredible light, I perused the website and found this stool

(Hudson Goods $259)

which looks very similar to this stool

(the1829farmhouse  $15) 

Don't you just LOVE it when you find that you have the latest, greatest in home decor and spent hardly anything on it?!   The above stool was found at a moving sale last summer from a couple who were heading south.  I also found a beautiful Boston rocker in gorgeous condition for a mere $25...woohoo!

What have you found in your possession that has been featured on a website, magazine or catalog??