Rustic LOVE Sign from Barnwood

If you have been around here any time at all, you know that I love barnwood signs.  I didn't have one yet for Valentine's Day.  So I just had to make one.  My rustic love sign....

I cut out a heart from brown paper.  The letters came from a pack of post it letters for poster board signs.  

For this one I tried out the crackle finish from Martha Stewart.  It is available at The Home Depot.  I will warn you that the directions say to apply over a primer.  I didn't.  I wanted the barnwood to show through the cracks.

 The Martha Stewart product is THICK.  It needs to be applied like spackle with a putty knife.  I just used my pieces to mask the area off I did not want painted.  I did not even tape them down or anything.

Apply an even coat and then sit back and watch the magic.  As it drys, it crackles!  Lovely chippy paint in one simple step.

 You can see the crackle in this up close pic.  Plus the barnwood peeking though!  Yippee.....I heart rustic...

 I added this to my Love banner and DIY tobacco basket.... 

 I will talk some more about this area and Valentine's Day decor next week...y'all stay tuned!

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~Thanks for stopping by!~

~Angie~
The Country Chic Cottage

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Building a Barn -- mini size....

My house has turned into a parking garage.  For those of you that have little boys, that sentence might make sense.  There are tractors, cars, trucks, etc parked in various spots all around my house.  It makes me want to literally pull my hair out.  When I realized that Santa was bringing even more items that would need to be parked, I realized something needed to be done.  Today and tomorrow I will highlight my solutions to the parking issue. 

The first solution came via my hubby.  He suggested building a barn to park all of the farm equipment in.  Since my decor is rather rustic to begin with, a barn in the living room made perfect sense to me.  It gives the toys a "home".  An excuse to put away your toys every night.  "Park your tractors in the barn before bed."  So hubby built a barn a few days before Christmas.  A huge 48 inch long barn... 

I broke out my Decoart paints and painted it in green and white -- just like Daddy's barn.  The barn resides behind our couch and so far is working like a charm.  Tractors get parked in the barn and not in my foyer.   

Need another "more discrete" solution for the parking problem?  Stay tuned as tomorrow I will offer you another solution.

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~Thanks for stopping by!~
~Angie~

The Country Chic Cottage

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Vintage Ladder Quilt Hanger

I couldn't let that great vintage ladder I got for my Christmas card display go back to the barn.  So I came up with a plan.  I have some great quilts but no way to display them.  Let's face it...having them stacked in the closet is not doing them justice.  So I took my vintage ladder and used it to display my quilts...sort of like a quilt hanger...

 Like a quilt hanger but oh so much better!  Chippy paint, worn wood, I heart this ladder!  And it is perfect up next to the vintage quilt perfection....

I leaned it up against the wall in my bedroom... 

It made this corner look amazing!  Do you have your quilts in a closet?  Get them out and display them proudly! 

  

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~Thanks for stopping by!~
~Angie~

The Country Chic Cottage

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Vintage Ladder Christmas Display #tulipshimmer @ilovetocreate

I needed a way to display my Christmas cards this year.  I racked my brain one night trying to come up with something.  That morning I woke up and told hubby "I need a wood ladder".  I didn't think we had one but I really needed one.  I spent all weekend dreaming of how great a wooden ladder would work.  And guess what hubby came dragging up Sunday evening??  Gosh it is great to live on an old farm with rustic goodies....

I also had a box of goodies from Tulip in my arsenal of craft supplies.  They were kind enough to send me some products to review.  I had their

Tulip® Fashion Glitter™ Shimmer Transfer Sheets  and the Tulip® Fashion Glitter™ Shimmer Fabric Paint.  Time to get crafty!  I played around with the transfer sheets first.  These things are amazing!  You just trace and cut out your image.  Then you can iron that glittery goodness right to fabric.

See how cute is a softball player silhouette in glitter!?!?!  Any softball player would be happy with this one!

But I decided to dress up my vintage ladder with the shimmer fabric paint....

Pulling out my fabric scraps.  I cut some red burlap and white sheets into squares...

I then painted "Merry Christmas" onto the white squares.  I used two coats of the shimmer fabric paint as directed on the package.

I ironed all of my white fabric pieces.  Then I broke out the twine and some glue dots...

Using the glue dots, I put the white fabric on the red burlap.  Then adhered them to the twine.

Tied onto my rustic ladder it is the perfect accessory!  See those mitten ornaments??  Those are from a great friend.  She made me 12 for the 12 days leading up to Christmas.  We get to start peeking in them tonight!  The kids are beyond excited. 

So there you have it!  My rustic ladder Christmas card display.  Loooove!  I might just have to find a permanent home for that ladder after Christmas.  What do y'all think?  Any rustic ladder lovers out there?

Tulip sent me the products to review.  The project, ideas, and opinions are all my own.

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~Thanks for stopping by!~

~Angie~
The Country Chic Cottage

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Barnwood Furniture -- My Desk Hutch

It is finished!!  I have barnwood in my living room!  And not a little barnwood...a lot of barnwood.  We (okay hubby did and I held things) made a hutch for my desk in the living room out of barnwood.  I adore barnwood and furniture made out of barnwood...so this one has me swooning...

Let's talk inspiration.  My inspiration was this picture from pinterest that apparently has no source.  If you know the original source let me know.  It is a bookshelf made out of apple crates.  So of course I will be linking up with Young House Love and their pinterest party!!

Amazing.  Gorgeous.  But I have been on a crate hunt for months.  I can't buy enough crates to make this on my budget.  So what is a poor farm girl to do??  Welllll....there was enough FREE barnwood to build one!  So we took inspiration from the bottom 1/2 of the above pic and came up with my hutch...

Let's all appreciate a little before pic for a second shall we...don't judge mkay??

And now that same area after...just keepin it real in the fact that I have a plan for that bookshelf to the left but I am not quite there yet.  That will be a post for another day.

For today I will focus on the gorgeous barnwood!!

The wood is the real thing.  Completely authentic.  I could not even tell you how many years old real.  That patina is all natural, weathered, worn, lovely...

We built the box first, then added dividers, then put a back on.  The back replicates the crate concept with spaces in between the boards.

It is totally imperfect because the wood is totally imperfect.  This is not perfect lumber from Lowes.  It is aged and imperfect and has nail holes and knots and well....it is just yummy!!

The desk that sits in front is the same one we have had for years.  We bought it unfinished about 16 years ago.  We stained and polyed it and have never done anything else.

So it really is slightly worn and rustic.  I considered altering the desk but instead I decided to make the hutch match the rustic nature of the desk.  The desk frankly is small.  The hutch concept gives us more room without spending any money.  Okay we had to run to the store for more screws...$3 was the cost of the hutch.  :)

I had hubby turn the imperfections OUT towards the front...

You can't BUY details like this...

The slats that cover the back even have rustic and imperfect edges...

This spot is on the left in the very front at the bottom...a perfect rustic touch to put the computer cords through...

Now if you crawl up under the desk and take a peek up her skirt.  You will find we used some leftover "perfect" lumber as the base for the hutch.  I know you probably won't be crawling around under my desk.  But just in case you were wondering how it is all held up...

My old school covered encyclopedias found their way into the hutch.  And no I am not done with all of them...

Look at the cozy little home for my Silhouette and all of her accessories...

The books I found thrifting a few weekends back add even more of that rustic farmhouse look.  The printer got moved to that little bookshelf on the right. 

More storage spots were just what I needed.  I am going to try to tame the chaotic mess that has become normal in this area of my house...

I heart baskets if you can't tell.  I did not buy anything special to put in this shelf.  Just pulled from what I already had...

BONUS...I gained a new place to decorate!!  The top of the hutch might become my new favorite place to display...

Thrifted crates, bottles, books and a sweater pumpkin...

A touch of milk glass and galvanized was required...

I am in love!!  The best part....everyone uses the back door at my house.  This is in a straight line of sight from the back door.  Perfect!!  Plus it totally reminds me of something you would find in Restoration Hardware.  I am totally ready to add barnwood to every room of my house.  Seriously.  This is probably enough of a statement in the living room but I am just wondering what room is my next victim!  



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~Thanks for stopping by!~

~Angie~.
The Country Chic Cottage

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