Nellie’s Barn Sale

So- I’m just NOW getting to catch my breath and start to recover.

It was an inCREDibly busy 2 months getting ready for Nellie’s.
But that was NOTHING to—
Wednesday- 
all the LAST MINUTE to-do-lists,
loading for the show, and the EXPERT SKILL of fitting it ALL in,
(in, on, behind—picture coming!)
Thursday-
the LAST, last minute packing,
the nerve-wracking drive there with an over-loaded van (no joke!),
getting laughed at on arrival for the CRAZY load,
OFF-loading & setting up.

See that sloping hill?  THAT was our challenging space.

Friday-
a BIG storm in the early hours that totally messed with us
the first morning and beginning of the show.
THAT was followed by temps in the 90’s & 100% humidity,
A N D- I lost a BIG sale when my Square card reader decided
it needed an update in the middle of processing!
(and she didn’t have enough cash or a checkbook available)

A scoop of FAT ELVIS on a peanut sugar cone softened the blow some.
◊ I passed SEVERAL people (bathroom break) Oooooooo-ing & O-M-G-ing over the ice cream they were eating—I HAD to ask.  “FAT!  ELVIS!”  So I went directly to the ice cream truck  –didn’t even LOOK at the menu board–  and ordered “One scoop of FAT ELVIS, please!”

O.  M.  G.

IN-CRED-IBLE beyond words!
I was totally in the “OMG’ing” camp!  ; D

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Bananas!

Saturday (cont.)–

ANOTHER storm, can humidity be more than 100% ???
We heard a lot of “I’m SO hot- I can’t think!”
as shoppers tried to decide on purchases.

–
We’d sold several big anchor pieces Friday and killed ourselves completely REsetting the 2nd morning.  In my exhaustion, I smashed my finger with the sledge hammer.  It’s NOT a show until there’s blood- right?

Show over, time to REload.
Drive the hour back to my bf’s.
Sunday-
Off-load HER U-Haul van,
load up a few extra things on MY van,
make the final drive back home.
Monday-
Off-Load van at the antq mall & REset my space with All New Stuff!
I still wasn’t finished when they kicked me out at closing.
Gas station & Car Wash with the van and return it to my GENEROUS s-i-l!
Tuesday-
Back to the antq mall to finish.
And finally–
START the recovery process! 

This morning I slept in to 7:30!
And now I’m writing you guys.
I have cool pics to share—as soon as I edit.

Until then, here’s a couple pics from our Holding-Sold area.

Catherine

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my “Adirondack” chair

This truly was
a FUN project—
but challenging.
It tested my carpentry skills throughout.  I cut MORE compound cuts 
(explained way below)
over the last 2 days
than all of last year!

THIS carcass used to look much like the chair below.  Just not nearly so nice as it came to me.
(a be-gloved, take a long hot shower at the end kind-of-knock-down chair!)

–

I actually only wanted it for PARTS, and the man giving it to me volunteered to knock it down (because it was gross).

Oh, I didn’t get off scott-free—I still had about 2K tacks to pry out.  Back in April.

Adirondack chairs don’t LOOK that complicated–but looks can be VERY deceiving!  Lesson learned.

Back in April,

–

sitting in the warmth of a beautiful, blindingly sunny Spring day, listening to the birds chirping

and prying out all those tacks—I was struck by how interesting the frame was and the idea of an Adirondack chair hit me.  For the Nellie’s Barn Sale.

I had a loooong and ambitious project list for the sale, so the chair only got a little of my time here & there.  The frame needed a LOT of reinforcement and repair and I needed to stew on the HOW-to of doing this.

Friday, with only 6 days left to packing-driving-off loading & setting up–I stopped everything else to give this my full attention.  I’d already been thinking about and formatting the seat slant, I just needed to commit and cut the wood.  The first of MANY challenges I would face.  

I used a lot of OLD deck boards.
1- because they were well dried for stability.
2- because it’s going to be an OUTDOOR chair.

I ended up creating the seat structure in pieces because of the numerous angles and cut outs–and because I didn’t have any BIG enough material at hand!.  Then I used my pocket screw jig to join them all FIRMLY.

I quickly realized that it’d be advantageous to sand & paint at each step!

-Saturday-

This was one L-O-N-G day of construction.  A day of compound cuts.
8am-9pm  with nary a break, and I was exhausted.

The slatted back—
CURVED at the top and STRAIGHT at the bottom.
The outdoor-use deck boards were only ¾” but not long enough to “force” the “twist.”  So I cut a lot of angles and doweled the boards in place at the bottom before nailing at the top.
I also ran ALL edges through the router table to restore the factory-rounded over edges.  Hence the 13 hour day.

The “worst” was fitting in the boards at and below the wings.  WoWza!
I patted myself on the back for my level of perseverance & tenacity, quietly thanking a lot of carpenters who generously shared their knowledge with me along my travels.
That hands-on learning helped me problem-solve these issues with confidence.

–

AGAIN- I sanded and painted before moving on.

Consumed by the challenges, I guess I forgot to take progress pictures for you to follow along- sorry.

∗ Incidentally- I worked on the back before the seat because of all the angles and doweling.  I needed that open space to work.

The seat—

I secured the 3 seat supports in place with 3″ countersunk screws.
I glued in plugs to conceal the screws then cut them flush.

The seat is wider at the front than back, so, MORE angles.  I started with the front-most board because of all the notches.

Both of those notches are ALSO compound cuts—the frame they abut is curved.

–

Okay– so without the progress pictures to share, you now see a “finished” chair.

A  D E E P  27″

Too deep- actually.
Normal would be 17″.
I fetched our 5’10” neighbor-lady to gauge the situation from a taller standpoint.
Yep~ still way too deep.

I grabbed a back cushion from one of the deck chairs–it made a huge difference.
It also changed my FINISH direction.  I planned on a navy & white cabana stripe theme, and an accent pillow!

So NOW I’ll stick with a clean white chair & stained seat.  Today I’ll go in search of a stylish back cushion!

Above is the “before I skirted the sides.”  See why?

I ripped leftovers to skirt the sides and a face plate,
plus a transition piece for the curved bottom-front.

Here are the detail shots-
hope you like LOVE IT -as much as I do!
Catherine

sorry about the length of this post—

-here are some details-

-and here’s an early FAIL.  The fully stained seat did NOT look good!

And you can take a seat in it this Friday & Saturday at
Nellie’s Barn Sale!

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Uncle Fred’s bed

So, long story short~

This was part of my late uncle’s bedroom furniture at Grandma’s house wAy down in IL.  I know –somewhere– there’s got to be a picture showing its original severely dark stain~but I can’t find it.

When we cleared out grandma’s in the sale to cousins, I brought it back to change things up in one of mom’s guest bedrooms, and painted both bed and dresser a soft white.  Seriously– this was already old hand-me-down stuff that moved from Grandma’s farm, up to her hill house, and then to mom’s.

It had a 1904 date on the back side of the headboard I’d never noticed before.

Above, painted a soft white for a lighter, shabby chic look in the guest bedroom.  Eventually, it got bumped for another 1930’s set.

Below, painted something funky for a teenage nephew to use for a while. . .

And then it all came back –again.  With no one else in the family having need of it—I gave the dresser a total makeover and sold it in the antique mall.  Remember this project?  (it’s near the end of the post link)

And finally– I’ve pulled the bed from storage for

one last REinvention before Nellie’s Barn Sale!

 

I padded and upholstered the headboard with one of my vintage grain sacks.  The foot board is just REpainted, but I did add vintage wood wheels—
I LUV them, they’re just fun, and it’s SO much easier moving a bed around!

I also added a padded back rest and tied-on seat cushion to this petite rocker (the neighbor gave me) with the leftovers from my
bed project—I think they look really cute together!

They’re already getting great attention and feedback from the Nellie’s Barn Sale pages and on instagram!
OMG–I’ll be packing Wednesday, driving & setting up Thursday!
Hope to see you at the show
Friday or Saturday!

Catherine

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Nellie’s Barn Sale!

OMG!  I don’t feel totally ready yet—about 80% there.

If you’re in the Chicago area, sure hope to

see and meet you there!

Catherine

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a Garden Chandelier

Someone owed me money for design work–

and [gave me] this chandelier as payment when they couldn’t pay up.  Swell.  Do you think I can pay the electric bill with it too?

It’s been hanging in the rafters for a long time now and HAS TO GO.  I can’t move on as long as it exists.

So I took it down–took it apart–and started with -blowing off all the dust & cleaning it up- and altering the faded black metal.  

Taking the fixture apart as far as was reasonable, I protected the rest of it in Press n’ Seal.  Absolutely a staple in my “tool box!”

I used a spray primer, and then two different whites.  I painted in sections with the crisp white, then immediately misted over it with an ivory so the color had more dimension.

It took several light coats to cover so I gave it a few days to thoroughly dry before trying to put it all back together.  I took pics as I took it apart to help me remember how!

Although it looked much lighter and fresher, it still needed something and-I had an idea! And more springs!

Hanging crystals would be totally–Wrong.
Glass globes–No.
Pseudo Globes–perhaps ?!?

I thought it could be playful–but STILL needed something.

That’s when I thought about a garden style.  So I did what some would call UNthinkable—I sprayed glue in specific areas and applied sphagnum moss.
To one side.  Like you see on a tree in nature.

And I sprayed the spring coils and rolled them through the moss on a table!

–

I’m still trying to figure out how to stabilize the coils better, they’re a bit tippy.

But I LIKE IT!

I think it would be fun in a bathroom, or a sun room.

Even a very stylized guest room!

Catherine

 

Maybe I’ll get SOME of my money back this way, right?

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a quickie!

∗ My mother’s OLD neighborhood is at the end.  The woman who’s family farmed all this land, and then sold to be developed into all these area neighborhoods long-long ago~ passed on Mother’s Day morning.

OUR family was the last to settle into this street of 11 families with 27 kids.  I was 6½ when we moved to this state-city-street.  And now my mother is the last of all those parents.  (my dad left the Air Force, and this put us about half way between grandmas)

As her daughter wraps up cleaning out the still-there old farm house (it’s already sold) I got a call to come look at some things~if I’d be interested!        ♥ RIP Marie ♥

I was gifted 2 chairs, 2 tables!

–

I really thought this small plant stand-side table was such a Cutie-pie!  But I could DEFINITELY improve upon it!  Beginning with a little extra zhoosh in the form of some small fleur dis lis appliqués.

–

I reached for my newly concocted “terracotta” paint!  I LUV it and will get some color-matched to keep as a staple.  Actually- I primed it before painting because it was one of those pieces that would bleed-through pink’ish.  NOT in a good way.  That white primer absolutely showed me that it needed a BURST of color!

A bit of sanding, appliqués, primer, 2 coats of paint, and a little distressing!

Doesn’t it look FABulous?!?

And it will be at Nellie’s!

Catherine

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is it a Trunk or a Foot locker?

I can’t believe there are still a few pieces remaining from the Ottilia Catherine’s Estate Sale a year ago.  Pieces I thought would have been 1st to sell.

This –trunk?– is one.

I’ve seen these things sell in the blink of an eye—but not this one.

So let’s FIX that.

It was scrubbed really well the first time around, but you still felt like you wanted to wash your hands touching it–yuck.  And maybe why it didn’t sell.

So THIS time around I wasn’t worried about detracting from its authenticity—I took it apart, cleaned it with another degreaser, and sanded.

And the yellow paint was still at hand (am I becoming a yellow-girl?).

 

Even after all that prep, this piece SUCKED UP PAINT

like a magic show!

But I persevered, was patient—and won the battle!  With about 5 coats of paint working clockwise around the trunk, on to the drawer, then the top–

× 5 in steady repetition.  ON PURPOSE.

I was painting in hot, humid conditions.  Just touching the trunk STILL made my hands “black.”  Whatever was STILL in the wood was soiling the brush and contaminating my paint.  But experience told me that if I kept layering on the paint while it was only tacky-dry, the multi-layers would fuse and it might seal in the film.  AND ultimately get me to the effect I wanted.  IT DID!

After the bleed-through stopped, and all the coats of paint–I left it alone for about 30 minutes.  THEN came some sanding with course paper around a sponge block.

The softer flexibility let me control the pressure to distress and “peel” paint off.  But now it will have to sit for quite a while to truly cure.  I may seal it right before taking it to Nellie’s Barn Sale.  It will have had 22 days to cure by then.

It’s a really cool trunk, but it’s kind of low—so I also went dragging through my wheel collection. . .

 

The color and the wheels definitely ADD TO ITS APPEAL!

I’m absolutely CONFIDENT it will FLY out of our space this time!

A NEW look for an OLD trunk!

It could even become a coffee table now!

Catherine

Hope to see you at the show!

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life. (aka~multi-tasking)

–

We’re in the countdown to Nellie’s.

23 days away.

My project list is ambitious—and loooong.

I’ll have some pretty AWEsome things to sell! (even if I do say so myself)  But they aren’t all finished yet~YIKES!  So I’m crazy busy!

Can I offer you a few pretty FILLERS?

Things are flowering again and greening up—YaY!

THIS is my kind of Purple ♥

~and those yellow “flowers” are back, ugh.

Yes~ Spring has Sprung!  But the clean up has to wait for the show.

Here’s a tease of just a few present projects—

I’ll share shortly!

–

–

But this guy-

he waits for no one

and nothing!

(he’s my surrogate dog)

Catherine

 

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back to those frenchy tables

THESE tables, that the neighbor gave me.

That I DEconstructed right away and am REcreating one into a sofa table.

I’m still working on that project, just not consistently because I’m juggling MANY projects for Nellie’s.

–

OMgoodness~ I swear, someone got paid by the screw putting this table together.

68 screws held this table together × 2 tables!

I now have a GOOD supply of screws on hand!

After taking everything apart—I decided to make shelves from the aprons.    I started with 3 -the 4th needed repair.  I cut the ends of each on a 45° miter and added sides.  I primed them, gave them a really sloppy paint job and over-sprayed the bottom edges with a darker shade of green.

THEN a twist!  I coated them in stripping solution just long enough to wreck the paint, and clean them off with a pressure washer.

They looked A-MAZ-ing!

Until I clear coated them.

It “washed out” the distressed effect and I don’t even have a picture to show you the difference.

I’m SO bummed.

–

I cut tops for each following their contours, and routed a simple edge detail to dress them up.  Gave them a very light stain and clear coat.

I know I said “SHELVES”

and they DO look great clustered together, but, I think they would also be pretty fabulous used as

a Bed Corona!

Catherine

 

A N D  they too, will be going to Nellie’s Barn Sale!

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so much to share~

I have a LOT of projects going on at once.  Seriously!

But the hectic pace, with two 1st communions, a school auction, and a piano recital in the mix has me running a little helter-skelter—

so bear with me, I’ll be right back to you!

But here’s a glimpse of the beginnings of my Nellie’s stashes—and there’s MORE!

Catherine

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