Free Enamelware

I stumbled upon an old enamelware pot last week

while wandering through the woods.  More often

than not, the best finds outdoors are when you get

off the beaten trail!

 

Lucky for me, it has one perfect little rust hole.

My new-old planter would have perfect drainage!

 

 

 

I bought some potted daffodils from a tiny

greenhouse and gently transferred them out of

their ugly pot into the quaint planter.

This turned out to be an $8 project.

 

Here is where the planter sits now, on my entry

deck.  Such a cheerful burst of color.

 

 

Linking up to:

 

Coastal Charm

 

 

 

 

 

 



Darling Grey Table

I love a good soft grey.

For this darling old half table,

it worked out great with

two tones of dry brushing

over it for distress.

 

 

I put a good portion of time into sanding off the old

gold spray paint that covered this dainty table.

It became a labor of love, and to think it only

cost me $1 at a yard sale!

 

 

The legs on this old table and sassy curves are

what sets it apart from the other three half tables

I've owned.  It really is unique.

 

Linking up to:

Miss Mustard Seed

 



Bottle Top Sign

I wanted a unique sign for my booth display this spring.

This was good practice using my new jigsaw!

I traced & cut out the shape of Minnesota from plywood.

Then I sanded the splinters off edges & painted it.

 

 

The next step was so hard on my hands.

I should not have done it all in one day.

I used pliers to flatten out bottle tops.

Then my son helped me punch holes & nail them on.

About 135 tops went on this sign!

 

Here is how it turned out...

truly one-of-a-kind!

 

 

The wood was reclaimed from a house being torn down.

I painted over some vinyl adhesive letters cut on my Cricut &

after the paint dried, peeled them off to reveal the wood.

 

The bottle tops were punched with my new favorite tool,

the Cropodile II.

 

Linking up to:

ModVintageLife



Etsy Items

I'm still here,

 just getting busy

 spending time outside!

Spring is finally here

 & I can't resist

 riding four wheeler,

having campfires

& checking

my flower gardens.

 

I did recently

list three items on Etsy.

 

 

 

This Vermont made MAGAZINE RACK

is so stylish.  It holds a huge amount of

reading material!  I love the slender

spindles & oval shape.

 

Here is a pair of PAINT BY NUMBER oil paintings.

It's fun to offer a set, there are collectors of these homemade

art works & horse lovers in general!

 

Old cameras look great clustered around any

framed photograph or just on a shelf.

This bellow style TOWER brand "oldie"

would be fun mixed in with box cameras.

 

Favorite my shop on Etsy:

MinnesotaJunker

***OR***

Follow me on Pinterst:

Jane Oetterer

(or just my Etsy board)

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Huge Hoosier

I purchased a complete Hoosier cabinet from the local

junk yard during his garage sale.  Reluctantly I paid

his full asking price.  Many weeks months of work later, the

old piece of furniture was methodically refinished.

 

Originally, it all looked like the white chippy

bottom shown it the photo above.

 

I sanded down to bare wood,

because it was extremely chippy.

 This gave me lots of dirty work to do
during an extremely snowy & cold winter!

 

  A Fair amount of wood filler went into this project.

I also had to glue & clamp doors & drawers.

 

 

Amazingly, the old Hoosier still had ALL the original

hardware!  I like a rustic look, so I opted to tumble it.

This took off all the loose rust & peeling metallic finish.

 

I'm a huge fan of Valspar paint.  It doesn't dry tacky,

covers well, and is a great value.  Not to mention,

 it's available right up town at our feed store! 

 

Only two of the four glass windows survived,

 so I decided to remove the two middle doors

and leave that area as an open display spot.

 

The roller top was a labor of love.  I could only paint

a few boards at a time or the paint would glue them

together.  I draped them over the edge of a small garbage

can for just enough curve for it to dry right.

 

To my delight, the original flour bin was included.

 

It still had flour inside! Yummy.

The end cap was such a bonus,

since it could easily have been lost.

It doesn't screw on, just pushes on.

CRAZY....I know!

 

How pretty is the etched glass?

I tell myself not to dwell on the two broken

panes, but enjoy the surviving pair.

They really are the crown jewels of this Hoosier.

 

 

I should have taken before (how-to maps) 

pictures on the hardware & also the flour bin! 

 The doors needed lots of tweaking as most

 the hinges were slightly bent.  Years of use

can sure take it's tole, especially if this was

 used as kitchen cabinets & for rolling out

bread week after week, back in the day.

 

One last final battle was cleaning the enamel counter top.

The winning product was Bar Keepers Friend. 

It's slightly abrasive, but I didn't have to scrub very hard.

 

It turned out perfect...with a few rustic chips.

I love that it shows wear & has character.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

And now.....

The final reveal.....

 

 

I hear a chorus of angels singing, every time I see this thing!

 

And now here it is in my house!

 

 

 

metal bread bin

 

 divided utensil drawer

 

My paint colors were:

Valspar Elfin Green (2 coats)

dry brush ~Valspar Greenhouse (lighter green)

dry brush~ brown

 

Dry brush paint finish:

a great alternative to sanding/distressing

 

Linking up to:

Miss Mustard Seed