Cottage & Family:
Laurie Annas Vintage Home

Today I just

wanted to show you

a couple of clever

uncommon Farmhouse ideas ~

I have some things on my website

from a local artist who

does some of the most

creative things ~

Just paint and bling

some gardening tools and they

work perfectly inside too!!

I also wanted to show you

a super cuteness candle holder

idea that my son in law did ~

You've gotta love a son in law

who gets junkin' and recreating!

Also I wanted to say

congratulations to April for

winning the giveaway at

Funky Junk Interiors to our shop!!

I wanted to revisit this tutorial for

LaurieAnna's Farmhouse Friday

because it can be used on

so many different surfaces and is

perfect for farmhouse decorating ~

Since I have burlap around and

buckets around I thought it would be fun

to recreate that look ~

Here is a quick tutorial on how to do them ~

It is super duper easy!

1. Cut a piece of burlap a size that would fit

your bucket ~ I cut it then fray it a bit ~

2. Paint an area on the front of your burlap

that is larger than your number stencil ~

It doesn't matter what brand paint you use ~

This is some I had ~

3. Lay down your stencil and paint it in whatever

color you would like ~ I used black ~

4. After it dries then I used Modge Podge

on the back of the burlap ~

5. Place it on your bucket and

smooth out the bubbled areas ~

That is all and it is super quick !

Make sure and visit the

Tutorials link at the top

of this page for other tutorials ~

I LOVE going to First Monday

Trade Days in Canton Texas!

Every month it is something

I so very much look forward to ~

Even though I knew it was hot,

I left my house with a good attitude

and told myself that I would

just stand the heat because

I LOVE Junkin' !

I hit the grounds with my

trusty cart {a necessity there },

my ginormous ice tea and anticipation

of the treasures I would find ~

I drove in and saw ohhhhh maybe

5 vendors when there are usually 75 ~

But....I knew there was cool stuff

even with the 5 vendors and there

was still another HUGE area to hit ~

The next area had about half of

the usual but still some neat things!

I NEED a chicken coop and that cute

little bicycle and all the awesome

galvanized stuff, a gazillion

old keys, a stack of drawers and

birdcage ~

COOL STUFF !

Has anyone done anything awesome

with a chicken coop ~ I want to see :)

I didn't buy any of the big stuff

because I was on a mission for my

website and big stuff is expensive

as craziness to ship ~

After about 2 hours I thought

I would die of heat stroke

so I went to my most favorite

place to eat because it looks healthy,

you get free refills on ice tea

and they have a HUGE fan!!

Ohhhh and the buffalo head rocks!!

{not really, I don't like dead animals

but it is so Texas }~

After I ate I was revitalized

and ready to hit the junkin' trail for

HOURS more ~

Well I lasted about one more hour,

saw sweet Daphne and Dorothy that were fun

to chat with and decided heat stroke

was definitely setting in ~

Dang it!! I so wanted to last

for sooo much longer but

it was kind of miserably hot ~

{110 degrees and it is humid...bleh!!}

Next month I am definitely going

on Thursday so I can visit

LaurieAnna's Vintage Home,

Girls Gone Junkin and some of

my other favorite shops that aren't open

on Wednesday and have air conditioning ~

I talked to my mom, in California,

while driving home and she

told me that she was kind of chilly

because the ocean breeze was blowing

in and it didn't feel like summer

{which she loves }~

I would be loving some ocean breeze

right now :)

Right before Christmas I won a really

cool French Loaf Server from

LaurieAnna's blog ~

I love it !! I put some Christmas ornaments

and vintage Christmas tag in it when I got it

and just changed it to Valentine's and love it

that way too ~

Thank you so much LaurieAnna!!

The lighting stinks for pictures today.....

I have a confession ........

I am ready to take down my Christmas

decorations and start creating again!!

It feels like it has been forever since I have

been able to really focus on sewing, flea marketing,

painting and doing all those fun things that I love ~

Last Thursday I got to do one of my

very favorite things and that is to go to Canton, Tx

to First Monday ~ It is soooo much fun because it is

a treasure trove of junk and also of

gorgeous shops and booths ~

I love to visit LaurieAnnas shop when I am there ~

I have said before that it is so gorgeous

it takes my breath away

and brings tears to my eyes literally!

Every single thing she sells

and every piece of display she has is beyond beautiful!

I got to chat with her a little this month,

she is such a sweetheart and is beyond talented!

I wanted to come back and get some pictures

but we had to leave earlier than expected

so sweet Daphne let me use some of hers ~

Daphne has beautiful pillows and bags

in Laurie Annas shop and

also on her own website ~

So while I am waiting for flooring and not decorated yet

I will continue to dream through

beautiful shops and photographs ~