10 DIY Amazing Twine Projects (that you need to try, right now!)

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Sarah

Does anyone else have a slight obsession with twine, lately?! I love it! You can basically take any object, one that you don’t especially care for, wrap it in twine, and get a whole new look! It’s really like one of the easiest and least expensive décor hacks out there…

Did you know that twine is actually composed of two or more smaller strands that are individually twisted, and then twisted together, to make a larger strand.

I actually just had a flashback to my childhood years, and I think my fascination with twine may have all started when I was young and to keep busy while my parents were working in the fields on the farm, I would twist and braid pieces of bailer-twine… (And that’s how it all started?!) Continue reading →

A Christmas Home Tour featuring some of my favorite Antique & Vintage Collectibles

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Sarah

Oh Christmas! I started decorating for Christmas really early this year, and shopping! But somehow, I’m just finally finishing now… And Christmas is almost here! Oh life!

This year, I decided to head out to The Project Pile sitting out in the garage and pull out some of my favorite pieces that I have been saving for certain rooms in my home, that I just have not gotten to yet. And I’m actually really excited to finally share some of my precious finds with you!

Now, let’s get to the home tour! (Lots of pics for you this year!)

I started out with my tree this year. I posted about this earlier, in an article called Why I decided to spend a little more money on my Christmas Decor!

(And oh my goodness… I just noticed the little red fuzzy hanging out in this pic! Photo fail! LOL!)

My whole “white-feather” Christmas tree was inspired by this mini white feather Christmas tree, that I purchased last year at the end of the season.

This little tree gave me the idea to create a garland out of white feather boas. If you like this look and would like to learn how to create your own, you can check it out here.

I put my tree in a new spot this year. (I think I actually might have put one tree here the first year that we moved here, and had three trees because I was in some super-crazy Christmas-spirit-trance! That was also back in the days before kids…)

I’ve started referring to this section of the house as the “teacup room”, since this is where I now am able to display my beautiful antique teacups.

Two from my grandmother, and two from my mother-in-law, Judy… I just love them!

I also have my barn windows hanging in this area of our home.

These were used for the seating charts in our Autumn Harvest Barn Wedding!

Now… moving into the dining room!

I really wanted to incorporate a few of my antique pieces into my table setting, so I used this antique wood and copper tray that I was able to pick up a few months ago… And I finally got to use my antique bowling pins! I picked these up in Michigan a couple of summers ago, and they’ve just been sitting in The Project Pile, waiting for the perfect moment to shine!

Over on my antique buffet I finally decided to pull out some beauties that I have been saving for my laundry room… But it currently has a leaky ceiling, so that definitely needs to be fixed first!

(Psst! Like my pears?! They’re kinda Christmasy, right?! A partridge in a pear tree!!!)

I found this pretty glass washboard at a flea market two summers ago! It’s going to look pretty stellar on my laundry room wall! Someday…

I also found this beautiful antique laundry roller at the same flea market. I paid $50 for it, but I have seen them online for up to $600! Total score! It’s also going to look awesome in my future laundry room makeover!

Up above on my oak shelves, are some pretty stoneware plates that my good friend gave me to put up there when I first got the shelves. I haven’t done any research yet, but I’m betting that they are pretty old too!

I’ve also got a few pieces from my antique bottle collection mixed in on these shelves, as well as the massive cast iron and wooden antique pulley from the farm where I grew up.

All of these bottles were personally hand dug from the fence-lines of the 179 year-old farmhouse. These are just a few of hundreds that have been found! (Someday maybe I’ll actually get to cataloging them!)

I’m so happy that I’ve finally started pulling some more collectibles out of The Project Pile, so I can actually enjoy them in my home, as well as share them with you!

Here’s to looking forward to seeing what I can dig out for next time!

Last Minute Thanksgiving Vignette!

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Sarah

Even though our Canadian Thanksgiving has already come and gone, the American Thanksgiving is just around the corner… That’s why I thought that I would take the time to put together a very simple Thanksgiving Vignette to share with my American friends and family!

My mom recently gave me this really neat candle holder that is made to sit within a wine bottle. I decided that I wanted to try to build my vignette around this… And instead of using a wine bottle, I would use one of my antique bottles from my collection! (I love my bottles, and I get really excited when I get to use them!)

Next I decided that I would use this new serving tray that I just picked up last week. I found this beauty in the old train station in the little town of Stirling where I grew up. The trains and tracks are now long gone, but the old train station is still standing and over the last few years has been filled with beautiful antiques and collectibles, and is now one of my favorite little spots to hit up and see what I can add to The Project Pile!

This tray could be very old, or it could be vintage… I still have to do my research, but can’t wait to find out! I also still have to see if I can find a way to buff out the scratches, but we’ll save that for another day. Any suggestions?!

The next thing that I added to my tray were the cobs of corn. I snatched these little guys off of the stalks that I have out on the front porch, and haven’t had the heart to take down yet.

I also had some left-over mini pumpkins and gourds, so I added those to my vignette as well.

I then played around with the placement of my antique bottles and the candle, until I came up with something that I liked.

I didn’t want to cover the entire tray, because I just love how pretty the patina is, but I still had a lot of bare space on the tray… that’s when I remembered my little supply of bittersweet that I had stocked up on earlier this fall. I just added a few sprigs here and there… and – voila! All finished!

It really took only about 10 minutes to throw together this Thanksgiving vignette, and I really, really like it! I hope you have enjoyed this post and feel inspired to create one of your own!

A Rustic Fall Front Porch, using Some of my Favorite Antique Pieces!

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Sarah

I’ve been waiting all summer to get out there and decorate my pretty front porch for fall! To start off, I decided to head out to the old junk pile… ahem… I mean Project Pile, to sort through and pull out some of my antique pieces that I haven’t got to use yet…

This old ladder was actually the main inspiration piece for this fall front porch design! I had purchased it a couple of weeks prior to use in the new baby’s room to hold quilts. My main intention was to chalk paint it white, but I really just didn’t have the heart to paint over it’s beautiful, old-looking patina, so I decided to use it for fall instead! I may or may not end up painting it in the future… we’ll just have to wait and see!

I grew up on a cash crop farm, so of course, I am quite partial to beautiful cornstalks. Since my family’s farm is about six hours from our home, I ended up purchasing these beautiful stalks from a local farm market in town.

Same with these giant, gorgeous pumpkins, and the straw bale. Do you like my fall wreath on the front door?!

I made it just last week and I think it really works well with the rest of my décor. You can find out how to make one just like it, here!

Last summer I found this big beautiful picnic basket at a garage sale for five dollars! I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, so I was really excited when I came up with the idea to set up the straw bale as a picnic area! All that I used was my fall-ish blanket from the dollar store (total score!), my picnic basket, a lantern, for some romantic ambiance… and some of my antique bottles in the beautiful wire basket that was given to me by my wonderful sister-in-law, Julie!

To dress it up a little, I added in my antique wagon wheel from my parents 180-year-old farmhouse, a piece of rustic barn board from the gorgeous barn that used to reside behind my neighbor’s house (The Creek Line House), and of course, some mini-pumpkins and gourds!

More mini-pumpkins and gourds were placed onto the ladder, because let’s face it… you can never have enough mini-pumpkins and gourds!

My lovely antique milk-can is also from my parent’s farm! It’s extra special, because it’s one of those projects that my dad and I did together when I was younger… Painting it white and blue! To keep it simple, I just added in some sunflowers in a mason jar, for an extra pop of color! (Just ignore that green extension cord hanging out in the background!)

After finishing up decorating, I noticed that I was missing one key element… A door mat – and did I have the perfect one? Of course not! So I needed to be a little bit creative here, and put on my thinking cap… Then it came to me! I had a couple of pieces of barn board cut into the perfect shape for a mat in the garage… I wasn’t quite sure if it would work or not, but decided to at least try it… And, I love, love, love how it turned out! Definitely extra-rustic!

And well, that’s about it… my very rustic fall front porch. Antiques, plus fall harvest items, plus fall foliage, plus a pop of color and a little bit of creativeness!