Mum's, Pumpkins and Gourds, Oh My!

I have been eyeing the racks of mums outside my local grocery store for weeks.  I have resisted buying anything because I knew we planned a trip to the pumpkin patch where there would be untold autumn wonders.  With the trip out of the way, I finally got to indulge my fall addiction.

 Enamelware, pumpkins, a wool blanket and a rocking chair...if that just doesn't scream fall.  However, let's be real.  That blanket isn't staying there.  With the farmer harvesting the field adjacent to our land and the gale force winds that blow across our yard during fall storms, it would just be a moldly dusty mess.  For blog art's sake, we will just pretend it is always like this.

 Isn't that gourd amazing!  The pumpkin patch was full of awesome gourds and pumpkins of every shape and color.

 I love minnow buckets.  Thrift Chick tells me I have enough, so I have walked away from several during our thrifting forays.  However,  I am not sure I can hold out much longer.

Don't you just love the lacy orange pumpkin.  Again the pumpkin patch came through in spades.  Forget the grandchildren I would have gone for just the produce alone!  The green thermos thing came from an estate sale.  I uncovered it in the barn and paid $2 for it.  It is not a thermos as there is no spigot.  It is very, very heavy with ceramic insides.  Anyone know what it is?

The next time I get around to posting ( I am a realist when it comes to my blogging ability!) we will head inside for a little fall decor.

Patty

A Tradition Revived

Every fall when our kids were little, we would head out to a farm to get pumpkins.  These expeditions included hay mazes, pumpkin painting, caramel apples and other great fun.   However, as they grew older, Saturdays become about sporting events and singing performances.  With the grandbabies now mobile, I decided to revive the tradition.  Alas, the pumpkin patch we used to go to is no longer in existence.  My assistant at work suggested a place just across the state line.  So this past Saturday, we all headed out.

 Ady was not thrilled with how dirty and heavy the pumpkins were.  We had to convince that she would not find a clean one.

 Abe , on the other hand, went for the smallest and easiest.  He could not be convinced to find one that was orange.  When we went to weigh them, the clerk just laughed and said, "That one is free!"

 Climbing on pumpkins is such hard work!  

 The adults got a little competitive at the duck derby!

 This was so much better than the patch.  Everything was clean and colorful.

 My DIL loves orange and when we spied the orange lacy pumpkins we said it was if they had been grown specifically for her.

 Grandpa was just a little too big for the barrel ride, but the grandkids loved having him on the train.

 Daddy's jumping sent Ady flying.

That will scare those silly crows away!

We all agreed it was well worth the 45 minute drive.  If you are near Convoy, Ohio, stop in at Lincoln Ridge Farms.

Patty

Tea Cart Redo

Several years ago I bought a yellow cart at an estate sale (half off on Saturday so $7.)  I wasn't sure what to do with it so I stuck it on our deck and put flowers on it.  The weather took its toll on it so I stuck it in our garage where my family used it for their various projects.  From weather induced rust to spilled paint to extreme dirt, it was in pretty sad shape.

   Over this last year, I have collected some odds and ends that I have neither display room or storage room for.  It occurred to me that this cart might have a second life in it.

  After taking it apart, I set about getting rid of the rust.  Did you know you can get rid of rust by wetting aluminum foil with water and scrubbing?  I kid you not, it works like a charm.

   After a little bit of elbow grease, the legs were good as new.  Then I sanded the trays to remove the spilled paint and rust the best that I could.  Next came a coat of primer.

    I just grabbed a can of spray primer I found in the garage.  It was sans lid, but for some reason, I assumed it was white.  I was a bit dismayed to see black when I started spraying.  However, it was a good move as the primer coated everything very well and smoothed things out.

  Then it was multiple coats of red gloss spray paint.  I took the extra time to lightly sand between coats.  I usually skip this step because I am in such a big hurry.  This time, I made myself slow down.  It makes a huge difference in the final finish.  After three coats, I put it back together an started the fun step of decorating.

   The cookie cutters came from two different places.  The red ones were from that crazy garage sale where I paid $5 for a box of random things.  (You can read about that here.)  The vintage metal ones came from this junk store Thrift Chick and I love to stop in and pick.  I paid 50 cents for 6 old metal cutters.  I recently saw the same ones for $4 each!  The cow creamer is not vintage.  I got it at Tuesday Morning.  I couldn't resist because it is just so kitschy.  

I have recently gotten interested in vintage textiles.  They are pretty pricey.  These tablecloths are just things I have picked up on those half off Saturday estate sales when the real antiques have been picked the day before.  On the plus side, I haven't paid over a couple of dollars for any of them.  The yellow cracker tin is really cool.   The lid has a glass knob filled with crystals.  It was designed to keep your snacks crispy and dry.  The lid is heated in the oven until the knob turns bright blue.  It keeps everything nice and dry until it turns pink which means it is time for the oven again.  Pretty nifty huh?

  I love how it turned out.  My husband is thrilled to get all these things off the counter where they have been for way too many months.  There is just something about a vintage to cart to show off your vintage finds.

Patty

Cheap Laminate to Mid Century Glory

We saw this in a Salvation Army.  It was marked $11.  It was cheap and ugly, but Thrift Chick has a record collection that is bursting at the seams.  I saw possibilities.


First step was to replace the legs with something a little more mid century.  I removed the old legs (they were simply screwed into the base.) and purchased new ones at Lowes.  You can buy the plates and legs pretty cheaply at any home improvement store.

Then I roughed up the outside of the cabinet with my sanding block.  Since mid century aqua is one of Thrift Chick's favorite colors, I bought a sample size of aqua at Lowe's (less than $3!) and gave the outside a couple of coats.  When I finished, I noticed the handles did not stand out at all.  I made a trip back to Lowe's for replacements only to find out that these handles were not standard size.  So it was back home for plan B.  I grabbed the leftover silver paint from Thrift Chick's diy project and gave them a quick spray.

Now they pop out!  Quite a difference from the sad little cabinet at Salvo, isn't it? Start to finish it was about two hours....minus the trips to Lowe's.  A pretty easy redo.

I am guessing by Thrift Chick's reaction when I finished it that she did not see my original vision.  She must have been humoring me when she agreed that it had potential.  She is a believer now!

Patty