Six Million Dollar Man Makeover Monday

     My husband loves that show.  I even got him the doll for his birthday one year (I don't think he would call it a doll).  You know, the one where you can look through his eye that works like tiny binoculars.  I wouldn't say it is my favorite show.  You all know my favorites! ;) But, I must say, when I fix things and create make-do's, it does make me hear that opening theme to that show. I can make it better than it was before.  Here are some Steve Austin make-do's that are simple fixes.

First, let's start with the Goodwill reveal.  I hadn't been there really much of the summer. But, what a score!

 

This little firkin really caught my eye.  It was only $3.  I loved the old needlework on the top.  It was definitely handmade.  I am not sure, but I think they reworked a plain firkin the make this little covered one.

There were some issues... The lid was a bit worse for wear and the wood on the firkin was REALLY scratched. The needlepoint was a bit dusty.  So, time for a little "Steve Austin Makeover"...

     So, how do you fix the scratches?  Well, I had some Antiquing Medium in Apple Butter Brown.  It is almost empty because I use it for everything.  I decided to rub it into all of the scratches.  It worked great! Yea!!!!  But, the wood lost some luster when it dried. Awwww.  So, then it was time for an appearance of my other best friend, Miss Modge Podge.  I coated the entire thing in the Matte Modge Podge (Which really still has a slight gloss to it).  That sealed the deal. I even used the MP to fix the lid.  The sides of the lid aren't perfect, but that's prim for you! Finally, I took one of those felt lint brushes (from my husband's sock drawer.  Shhh.  Don't tell him.  I put it back!) to the needlepoint.  I worked out some of the dust, and then I just used a damp cloth to finish the job.

Oh, isn't it so dear and sweet! Better than being in the musty basement of Goodwill!

The other was easy- add candles and hang!  I always wanted one of these. I think they are a prim necessity. $2!  And when I flipped it over, there was the original sticker from the store- $39! What a find!  Yippee!

 

Here are 2 last make-do ideas for you...

    First, a flag holder from an old floral frog. I have two different ones.  I love them, but I am not sure how to display them other than sitting on a shelf.  I have been seeing a lot of finials with flags poking out of them, and I love the look.  So, why couldn't this work with frogs?  This shaped frog works best because it has a center hole so that you have a more balanced effect with your flags.  My squarish one didn't work as well! I bought some $.50 flags and coffee stained them a bit.  And, well, there you go!  Easy!

      This next one requires a drill with a wide bit.  My husband did the drilling for me.  I had seen this make do idea somewhere- eBay, Pinterest, a magazine... Who knows?  You lose track when you do a lot of browsing.  SO ANYWAY, the idea is not an original one for me. I bought an old hammer from a flea market for $3.  Looks prim all by itself! I measured the diameter of one of my prim nubby candles so that Steve could select the right drill bit.
Before...

 After...

 

 So, there you have it!

     You know, we are a lot like Steve Austins.  Broken.  Not useable.  EXCEPT, by the grace of God, we are remade into something that GOD can use.  Only through HIS power, mercy, and grace.  Not on our own strength or by our own designs.  Steve Austin didn't remake himself.  Someone outside of himself had to do that. God's love and power is way beyond the technology used to fix that man. No matter how much we are broken- spiritually, emotionally, physically- we can be used by God.

Isaiah 64:8

"But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
    we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    we are all the work of your hand."

 Blessings and hugs, dear friends!  

Heather

How is your weekend going?

Hello, Dear Friends!
    How are you all?  Are you all having good weekends? It is good to read so many blogs and hear that the weather is starting to improve! The weather here is getting milder!  It is actually supposed to be in the 70's this week, but it is also supposed to rain. Plants are trying to open.  They just aren't sure if the weather is going to stay warm.  It is as if they are opening one eye, just to check...

     Taking my car to get a little problem fixed at the dealership provided a good excuse to visit some thrift and antique shops near there. My mom was more than happy to support me in this adventure! :)

Fun Finds...

     There is a barn that is 3 minutes from my school that has sales on Fridays and Saturdays once the weather is nice.  I picked up the picture and little black and red shelf for $10. Now, I say when the weather is nice.  It was FREEZING in the barn!  So, I spotted two treasures, and we darted back to the car and put the seat warmers on!

The apothecary jar and pewter porringer were a steal at a local thrift shop for $5 total! Woohooo!

Tin Candleholder- $1 at Goodwill.

Some of you love brown transferware like I do.  Found this little vase for $2 the other week at our Re-Uzit Shop!

Fixins'....

Hubby was so kind to paint this wall a darker shade of the color on our other walls.  I am hoping to convince him that this color is so lovely that the whole foyer should be this color.  I just love it!

I got the picture for $2 at Goodwill.  I love the prayerful attitude of the husband and wife as they thank God for the harvest of their potatoes.  It did have more light "peachy" tones to it.  I just took some antiquing medium and brushed it on in spots.  It is a good way to age newer prints. I also darkened the frame.  Then, I finished it with a coat of matte-finish Modge Podge.

  

I have been loving finding cheap little boxes and covering them with cloth and making little pantry boxes.  There were some great tutorials on Pinterest.   I have made 3 so far with scraps of fabric. Here are two that I had made.  For the square one, I covered an old gift box with snowmen on it.  So, pretty inexpensive makeover.  Free box, a little fabric, and my best friend, Modge Podge.  You can us a little cinnamon or antiquing medium to age it.  The tutorial suggested shoe polish.

 

Took some wood nubbins from my dad's woodshop.  Hmmm... What to do...

A Pause for a Canine Commercial...

     Charlie told me to stop and take his picture.  He is reaching 6 months and puppy chewing is kicking in.  He has cut the toy inventory down by half.  Generally, anything that has the word "Tough" on it, especially if "tough" is spelled incorrectly, well, just isn't.

This is where I was working on this post some.  In the hallway (note toes), on the floor, throwing food at Princess Bailey to get her to eat her food before Charlie did. 

Charlie says, "If she doesn't want her food, I'll eat it!" He says this as his food lies on the floor on the other side of the gate.  They both want each others' food.  Talk about the grass being greener!

A Word from Our Sponsor...

Next, to a little splurge/obsession- this ice cream ROCKS! It is butter cream ice cream with chunks of wedding cake and swirls of raspberry filling.  Oh. My. I may or may not have had some midway through this post.  Would you like a dish?  I will share.  Truly.

Breaking News...

     Okay, so I had to pause from my post.  Bailey and I were sitting on the couch.  All of the sudden, our one back surround sound speaker flew to the floor.  Ghosts? Nope.  A chewing Charlie under the couch, pulling the wires from under the floor moulding.  I pulled out the couch.  Hmmm. 2 separate wires when once there was only one.  Good thing my daddy taught me how to splice wires.  Never know when that skill will come in handy.

     And now, we will be "going off the air" for now (Do you remember when TV shows actually stopped at midnight?  I can barely remember a flag and the national anthem playing and then "Boooooooooooop...") However instead of our wonderful anthem or an annoying boop (really, okay, this is a sidebar conversation.  What was with the boop?  Why did you need that awful sound to tell you that there would be no more shows on until morning? They should have just recorded nails on a chalkboard and been done with it...), our sign-off is the sound of two dogs snoring...

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Have a wonderful night! Big hugs, blessings, and prayers for you all!

Love,

Heather

and Bailey

and Charlie...

P.S.- My eBay listing ends tomorrow night.  I am going to relist them one more time.  Whatever doesn't sell, I am going to get rid of at my garage sale in May.  So, if there is anything you are interested in, please let me know!

Hi! *Cough*- Get out your Lysol...

     Well, they've gone and done it.  They've given me the flu, those rascals.  Well, this will be quick because the heads a'poundin' and hands are achin'...

     First off, thank you so much for your participation in my "50+ Followers Giveaway" and your Farm Show captions! I have enjoyed reading them!  I am trying to comment as I get energy, but I wanted you all to know how much I appreciated the time you all took to comment.  Your school stories have warmed my heart and made me just bust out laughing.  Some of you were quite the stinkers!

     Oh, I noticed people have been saying that they are having trouble getting pictures to load on Blogger. Is anyone having problems getting others' blogs to load correctly.  When I click on one from the feed, it loads just the post with no other pictures or sidebar items.  But, if I go to the top, and click on the address and just reload it, everything shows up.  I don't have to do this with anything but blogs.  My own even loads weird.  Some of the side bar items are suddenly ginormous!!!! Errrr... Methinks we all need to have a kindly sitdown chat with Mr. Blogger.  

     I found some random pictures on my Ipod that I have been meaning to post. They are quite random, but hey! That's how my head feels!

Warm blessings and hugs!

My "snuggle nurse" taking a break from taking care of me. Sound asleep.  Snoring.  My husband took good care of me too.  Took the day off to care for me. Made me soup.  Then, our microwave died.  Guess it got the flu.

Husband's Christmas present from my brother. It's a nightlight, but Steve thought it would look great on my prim tree.  Every New Year's Eve, my brother and sil come over and we watch A Christmas Story.  We have been doing this for years. Years.  He has only been married for the last two. So, I made a test this year.  I just copied and pasted questions from the internet (ones without answers- I am not a cheater!).  We had to take the quiz, switch tests between families, and then grade them as we watched. And rather than just put the number wrong at the top, in true teacher form, my brother and I automatically calculated the average and letter grade as well.  Steve and I got a C.  They got a D. Hah!

The Noah's Ark birdhouse is a gift from my SIL.  Isn't it adorable? I have it by the tree still (Yes.  It is still up.).  I am trying to think of the best place to put it.  It is definitely an anchor piece.  I think I need to drill a hole in the back and light it.  What do you think?

I found this tin Noah like 3 days after getting the present.  I found it at Good Will!  How perfect is he???

Weather for next week (almost 50 today, by-the-way...)... Guess which day I have recess duty? Ugh.

Well, thanks for stopping by and looking all the way to the end... Reward? Gold Star Question is up! Now, go Lysol your computer. :)

Heather

Happenings...

Newest pinkeeps- I love the wooden one- a old treen cup with carved rings!

 

Making Signs- Printer, Carbon Paper, & Paint!

Goodwillin'...

Wreaths- Target, $1 for 2.  Pumpkins- Goodwill, $.50

 

The beginnings of Sandy (Although she has not made landfall yet.)

Check out my little stove- it's my smore maker and some vintage pans... Hope I don't have to use it!

 

How much rain we have since this morning (It is now 11:30 am).  I am tracking it on my chalkboard in the hall. Rain and wind picking up.  It is not supposed to be here until tonight.  Already scary now. I am going to go take a shower, make brownies, and cook chicken before the power goes out.

Well, I am all up-to-date now with my posts!  I am praying for you all, and I hope you are all safe and well! 

I will leave you with the song from my childhood that has just popped in my brain the last few days...

"How Can I Fear?”

by Ron Hamilton (Patch the Pirate)
 

 WHEN SHADOWS FALL AND THE NIGHT COVERS ALL
THERE ARE THINGS THAT MY EYES CAN NOT SEE,
I’LL NEVER FEAR FOR THE SAVIOUR IS NEAR;
MY LORD ABIDES WITH ME.
HOW CAN I FEAR? JESUS IS NEAR,
HE EVER WATCHES OVER ME.
WORRIES ALL CEASE, HE GIVES ME PEACE.
HOW CAN I FEAR WITH JESUS? 

WHEN I’M ALONE AND I FACE THE UNKNOWN
AND I FEAR WHAT THE FUTURE MAY BE,
I CAN DEPEND ON THE STRENGTH OF MY FRIEND,
HE WALKS ALONG WITH ME.

HOW CAN I FEAR? JESUS IS NEAR,
HE EVER WATCHES OVER ME.
WORRIES ALL CEASE, HE GIVES ME PEACE.
HOW CAN I FEAR WITH JESUS?

JESUS IS KING, HE CONTROLS EVERY THING;
HE IS WITH ME EACH NIGHT AND EACH DAY.
I TRUST MY SOUL TO THE SAVIOUR’S CONTROL;
HE DRIVES ALL FEAR AWAY – AWAY – AWAY!
HE WATCHES OVER ME
I WILL NOT FEAR……..WITH - - - - - HIM. 

Blessings,

Heather