Bits and Bobs

I love thrifting. I wouldn't say that I am a shopper, most of the time, but I do love to find old treasures and bring them back to life. You can read more here, here and here.

On one of our trips to either the kids' specialist or my mom's eye doctor, I found a gem at the little thrift store in North Battleford, SK.

Old cupboard window: $10

It's been almost a year of checking other thrift stores, antique and collectible shops, hardware stores and the like, looking for the perfect hooks to complete what I have planned for the old cupboard door.

The other day I was able to use an old gift card to purchase the perfect hooks for the job.

I plan to space 3 hooks across the bottom of the old cupboard door, for hanging keys or hats. 

I think I will wait until Husband can help me drill the holes for the hooks and hanging the door, but I do believe this old $10 find would fetch me a good bit more if I sold it at next year's Christmas Craft Sale. I haven't decided yet, it will depend how it looks, but there is also a spot for it next to the front door if I decide to keep it.

Have you waited patiently to find just the right element to complete a project? Or do you use whatever is available to get the job done?

Still Kickin'

Well, February is here and along with it the annual struggle to put one foot in front of the other. Temperatures have been -20C and colder for what seems like forever. I consider myself so lucky that I don't have to struggle my kids out the door to a sitter everyday so I can rush in the frigid cold to get to work. Having said that, the daily routine can get, well, monotonous when going outside or into the basement are taken off the agenda. That said, we can't play in the basement anymore because it is now framed and the stack of drywall takes up all the free floor space. As well, the garage is being insulated and I hope to be able to park in it within days!

Winter can wear on us, but as I tell my 4 year old, busy people are happy people. Just because we are indoors does not mean we need to mope or spend our time in front of the television (although that sometimes happens, AHEM!!)

Here are some shots of the projects that are taking place around here these days.

Crocheting dishclothes is the perfect busy-work while watching 'lympics with 4 year old :)

headboard stripped of varnish and ready for a good sanding.
I may have to leave it raw for some time-- 4 year old refuses to let me paint it!

I looooove how this $3 garage sale chair turned out.
It is the 2 year old's chair--painted--so that it can be hosed down after meals!

Did I mention I love this chair?

My little brown rocker that matches this chair is still at the farm and my kids fight over who gets to sit in it. I found this chair at the local charity shop, another $3 find. I stripped it and painted it red and gave it a rough sanding. The boys keep it in the bathroom so they can reach the sink to wash their hands.

The winter has gone by so much faster in our new home. We have visits from gramma and we go to the farm often. Husband is away working so staying busy is really important. How are you passing the time this winter?

Keeping Busy

A refresher: we purchased a Ready-to-Move home (RTM) and planned to move it onto family land near my parents'. A Ready-to-Move home is a completely finished home, in one piece, with no frame beneath it, that is built at a construction site and then hauled to its destination. It is painted, light fixtures and doors, cupboards, windows etc all installed. Ours did not come with appliances and we are building the attached garage on-site, although some homes come with the garage attached. In our part of Canada (AB/SK) the building boom continues despite reports of economic decline, and it is impossible--impossible--to hire contractors and all the trades out in the countryside where we now live. In the nearby city of 30,000 residents, one building suplies store told me over 900 houses are being built right now. Phenomenal. But absolutely impossible to hire trades outside city limits. We opted instead to have the actual building built in town and hauled out here. That left the basement to build, all the services to install, a road to be built, not to mention all the tree-planting and landscaping plans that we have. To sum things up: it is a pile of work but well worth it! As our RTM was being built I put the home that we were living in up for sale. You can read more about that here and here. Lucky for us, our home sold in a flash and we could move on to our next project. I have a wonderful, patient and generous family that welcomed Husband, the kids and me to live with them for the summer. It went well. Ther were moments with a three and one year old where I regretted ever putting us in such a position, but it has passed and we are in our new home and the lasting memories will be fond ones.

To pass time while the kids were sleeping, and to pass some rainy afternoons while they played inside the workshop, I busied myself with refinishing some furniture.

We purchased this old medicine cabinet at an auction sale and, with the kids along and the huge crowd there, we did not get to preview it before we were caught up in the bidding process. We bought it only to find the back was rotten. We stripped several coats of old paint, replaced the board on the back and I repainted it with a slightly distressed finish. This medicine cabinet will likely hang in our ensuite and I will update with photos when it is up. Do you refinish old furniture? Do you prefer older, repurposed pieces or would you rather shiny and new? I am finding that I like a mixture of both!