Blue House Farms Favorite Things & Farm Creations…

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Garden Signs..

I just love the look of garden signs!! Just seems to make the garden more friendly.  It’s as if you walk up and the garden is greeting you with a, “Hi! My name is…”  Probably sounds silly to some, but I love it!!  I decided my gardens needed some of these.  I was actually working on another project with my kiddos, that wasn’t going so well… You know how it is,  you see something on Pinterest and they make it look so simple and you dive in thinking, “If they can do it so can I!”  Well, it wasn’t working.  Needless to say we abandoned that project for a new one.

First, I had Nathaniel cut apart a pallet, we tried to knock the planks free with a hammer, but the planks we busting.  So out came the circular saw…  What I was left with were lots of smaller length plank pieces that’s when inspiration hit, garden signs!!

After all the pieces were cut I sanded them down because they were pretty rough.  I was pleasantly surprised by what lie beneath the surface of the wood planks.  The pieces were so pretty!!  I loved how the wood grain popped to the surface once all the dirt and grim was sanded away. 

Next,  I took a can of white spray paint and began to lightly spray the boards.  Another lovely surprise, the paint just ever so lightly coated the wood pieces making it appear whitewashed.  Perfect!!  I was thrilled!!

Once all the pieces were painted I printed out the lettering on copy paper just using the computer.  Then I took carbon paper and laid it on the wood plank, laid the printed garden words on top of the carbon paper and traced each letter with a pen. This left an outline of each letter on the pieces of painted wood.  Next, I used a black paint pen and filled in each letter attached the signs to stakes with nails. Tada!  Garden Signs!

 

 

 

 

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Plank Wall..

Over Christmas we decided to take on a little project.  Wade was off from work and we had already started our Christmas school break.  It is so nice to

have everyone home together for an extended amount of time, especially around the holidays.

Therefore, after spending 4 hours in our local home improvement store we landed on these pine planks (unstained).  The wall was approximately 9ft x 9ft, which we had painted previously.  However, I just wasn’t pleased with the feel of the room.  Still seemed to sterile.  You can see in the picture that the color on the wall is a bold color.  I believe it’s called Spa Day from Sherwin Williams.  Love the wall color, but the color alone didn’t warm up the space enough for my liking.

In case you’re interested, I used 3 different colors of stain, dark walnut, ebony, and grey.  I also mixed and layered the stains in different combinations to get the desired tones.  We chose not to use any paint color on the planks since the room already consisted of an abundance of white and the paint color on the walls.   Staining was accomplished over 2 days as to let the first layer set and to evaluate what the stain would look like once it dried.  Staining was super easy and I quite enjoyed it.  Wade took over from there.  We measured, cut, and placed each tongue and groove plank.  This process took much longer than the staining (sorry hunny).  However, because it was tongue and groove he only had to use a few nails to hold the planks to the wall.  I think this could easily be done over a weekend and we love the finished product!! Now the room is just about perfect!

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you like it as well….

Side note:  These planks are a 1/4 inch thick.

 

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Farm Signs..

I’ve only tried it a couple of times, but so far I’m pleased with the outcome. There are several different techniques to accomplish the same look, but I’m going to share the 2 I’ve tried…

The first sign I created is one for our chicken coop, we call it Le Coop. I used a piece of reclaimed wood, check out the blog post I made about it at  https://bluehousefarmsmi.com/2016/05/ . I enjoyed taking something that most would have thrown out and make it into a treasure. Very Cool!! First, I sanded the old paint down and then painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, then I used carbon paper to trace the lettering I had just printed off my computer onto the wood plank. After that I painted in the lettering. This proved to be the most difficult part as I  wanted my lines to be smooth, but it wasn’t impossible or so challenging I felt it wasn’t worth it. Here’s the finished product.  I did spray an acrylic sealant on it as the sign will be hanging on the outside of the chicken coop and exposed to pretty harsh winters and weather.

The second sign, I just finished… I used a piece of new wood, it measures 3ft, 1×4. Since it was a new piece of wood I stained it first with a dark walnut stain so that when I distress it the new wood wouldn’t show through.  After I stained it and let it dry well for 24 hours I put a coat of AS Old White paint on it and from there I followed the above instructions of printing of the lettering I wanted for the sign, and used carbon paper to transfer the lettering to the board.  Here’s where I changed my technique a little… I had read that you can use a permanent marker for the lettering, so I thought I’d give it at try. It worked pretty well. The only issue I encountered was when I went to sand and wax the piece I felt like the marker wanted to smear a little. By the way, before I waxed and sanded it I let it sit for about 8 hours, so it should have been dry. All in all, I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. I plan to hang it in our living room. Working on a collage to hang over the TV.  I’m hoping this will take away from the “one-eyed monster.”  I’ll post the collage once I’m finished.

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Old Windows & Sunflowers..

Our Little Blue Farmhouse was completely remodeled about 12 years ago, which was before we moved here, except the enclosed porch, which still housed the original windows- probably to many “which-es”, but I did it anyway. We replaced the original windows recently with beautiful casement windows… I should post the before and after pic for your enjoyment… Or for mine. Either way, here it is. I love them!!  

Since we replaced the windows I know have in my possession many many old windows. “What to do with them?” That is the question… Well, I was inspired, after much research and contemplation, to paint them. This is the first.  I love sunflowers and I think they are a beautiful representation of summer and can move me right into fall, which (he he) is my favorite season…

What do you think? These are available for purchase…

I plan to paint more, some with pumpkins, winter scapes… Who knows where I’ll take these. Any thoughts?

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Living Room..

I have just finished painting our downstairs living room. I used Sherwin Williams’ Agreeable Gray. I am very pleased with the softness of the color. The room is somewhat small and closed off from the rest of the house. I wanted it to feel warm, but not dark. This color was a good compromise. I will include a picture of the room completed, however, the lighting is such that the picture hardly does it justice.

 

This picture is the contrast between the new color and the old colorless color.

I also, added curtains. I had wanted to try making burlap curtains and that’s just what I did. I used fourgenerationsoneroof.com as my reference page and how to. Worked great!! I am very pleased with the way they turned out. The curtains allow light while still providing some coziness to the room.

Seriously, scissors, witchery tape, and an iron were all I needed to make the curtains. I actually purchased the burlap on-line and it came in one long roll. All I had to do was cut it to the lengths I needed for my windows. I found this to be the most cost-effective way to do it. The wait and gage of burlap it really nice as well. Not to stiff.

Here’s what the process looked like…

Finished room…..