Monday, April 30, 2012

Weathered Boards.Barbed Wire Rusty Junk Welcome Sign


Our Community will be having garage sales in May so I have been gearing up for that. This affords me the opportunity to gather up some of my junk treasures, re-purpose/up-cycle them and offer them for sale and hopefully reduce my inventory of stuff. I have been feeling really creative, so making some neat stuff.


 
Several years ago I bought a five gallon metal bucket that was crammed full of pieces of tongue and grove boards. I put a plastic bag over them; sat them behind the shop and forgot about them. I had lots of old hooks and these old boards, so set out to make something out of them.

 In the bucket were some fantastic blue boards ... they were great !! We cut one long one in half and glued them together.


 
 
While searching for some old glass knobs,  
I found these beautiful, painted blue gate hinges. So ... this is what I/we, Mr. Z and I created. 

   

The old rusty barbed wire wreath was perfect to hang from the center glass knob using a burlap bow. Love the rusty "5" to tuck in the wire. The little blue bird feels right at home in the rusty iron dipper.

  Rusty jail keys look great hanging from the hinges. I guess this is just a rusty Welcome sign. I was really pleased with the way it turned out.
 
Great for hanging some junky stuff or just about anything.  
The WELCOME is hand painted ... sanded the lettering a little to age it.
  

Enjoy ...

Linking to: 
 Funky Junk Interiors


Cowgirl-up Tuesday Linky Party


Linsey with The Farmhouse Porch
Anita with Cedar Hill Ranch
Samantha with Crafty Texas Girls

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6754342657_1dfeab94c7_m.jpg  Mrs. Hinds showcased me:
Mrs. Hinds Class Show & Tell Showcase.




 


Blessings .....Audrey Z.



I was a "That's the Ticket Linky Party" give-away winner


I won Rusty and Redone’s give-away ! 

On March 16, 2012, I  posted my "Repurposed Sad Looking YellowMetal Industrial Cart for TV Table" blog on "THAT'S the TICKET -Linky Party"  hosted by: Shannon @ Rusty & Redone, Angie @ Knick of Time, Carrie @ Lovely etc. and Gertie @ The Old Block House. So different and so well organized.

Not only was this a fun party, but they all offered fantastic give-aways that I liked, so I entered although I seldom win anything. 

Shannon at Rusty and Redone's give-away was a $20.00 discount on any item in her Etsy shop.
Wow ...  I would like that because I love what she sells. 

Well … I was the lucky winner.
Shannon gave me the option to buy something on her Etsy shop with the $20.00 discount or since we live about thirty minutes from each other I could come early and shop her Spring Open House Sale scheduled for May 4th/5th. 

Which do you think I chose to do? 

Yep ... the Open House Sale and I could bring a friend. This was great for me and Shannon too. 

Well, last week, I finally got over my four weeks of oak allergy and trekked off to Fredericksburg, Texas to shop her sale. 
***This is just one wall ... see why I wanted everything!

What fun ... you should go if you live nearby. She has some real special stuff, well organized and fun to shop.
  
Well, I know you are anxious to see what I bought ... I had to restrain myself because I wanted too much.
(click pictures to enlarge)

I bought two small metal wheels that I had seen in her Etsy shop ...
a nicely painted "BASKETS" sign ... perfect to hang over my baskets. Who would know these are baskets as they have such a heavy protective coating of dust ... so I needed this sign!  

 
a wonderful architectural piece of a column ...

... a lovely pink sock darner ... and Bingo cards.(not shown).

I was so anxious to put these items to use that I forgot to take a before picture. 

 
So here is how I used my treasures.
 Make believe this green rail off a vintage kid's wagon is a fence or gate. The little rusty wheels look great mounted on them. Makes me think of a ranch gate. This is attached to an old oak drawer from an antique desk and makes a neat shadow-box. 
You can see the pretty pink sock darner tucked in the bottom of the shadow-box. Love the time-worn look. I will add it to my collection of sock darners.

 The white pedestal looks wonderful tucked in with my small plants. Paint is white, chippy and so perfect. 

I did an little painting and aging on the drawer/shadowbox, but not too sure I like the paint job. I first used it to display a plant then displayed my old wooden rooster and tucked and old cement bird in the corner and laid a rusty key in the bottom. I kinda like this look.
Bingo cards will be used later in some project.

I don't usually enter give-aways because I never win ... but so glad I entered this one!

I hope you will visit  
Shannon at Rusty and Redone.   
 or her Etsy Shop 

 She is a sweet lady and posts interesting blogs.   

Blessings,
Audrey Z. 

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

New birth of Spring..Flowers and Bird Watching

Nothing says Happy Spring any better than to watch a little bird care for her young.
   
I had this pottery bird house sitting on my patio and usually stop it up so birds will not build in it because that hole is the only place to clean it out. This time I forgot and this little Wren made her home there. I had hoped to see the baby birds, but they were deep in the nest. Notice how long her beak is to reach way down to feed them. In the second picture, you can see the food she brought. 

Here are a few of my flowers that have shown up for Spring.  

Snapdragons that I planted two years ago put on a good show this year. 
  
 
 This is a low growing Mexican Petunia.

Native yellow and white honeysuckle.


 
Hummers love this Coral Honeysuckle





 Lamb's Ear or Jerusalem Sage just starting to open ... below ... full bloom. Notice how fuzzy/wooly the leaves are.
   
Can grow into a very large bush.



 Mock Orange ... 
tall bushes that line the fence..




My Favorite ...
The Sunflower ... we have several that came up from a seed planted by a squirrel or dropped by a bird. 


 Not perfect but beautiful ...

This little Sparrow is fresh out of the nest. He is sitting on the walk just outside our workshop and kept looking up at the birdhouse and seemed to be saying ...
"Mama, mama, where are you ... come help me ... how do I get back up there?" He would stretch his wing and fall over on his weak legs. He would try to walk and topple over. I felt sorry for him, but knew that Mom was close by. He was always looking up.  



Better picture of Mother Wren with food for the babies. 

Have you been enjoying the freshness and new birth of Spring?  

Blessings,
Audrey Z.

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