~my shop space at Ruffles & Rust Square~

First of all let me start by saying I have no idea what the heck I am doing.

This is all new to me.

I've never had a shop space and it is a little intimidating being surrounded by all these fabulously talented people!

I set up my space yesterday~the shop opens TODAY!

I did take some photos of my space though, the first one being a pair of old white sap buckets filled with burlap coffee bags.

I mentioned in a previous post about some tote bags that I was making.

Here is one of them.

I started out with organic cotton bags and dyed them in coffee.

Then I added paint splatters, vintage fabrics, you name it, it's all on there!

I love how they turned out.

They are one of my new favorite things.

~ eat cake~

why not?

I have a bunch of old books I am selling in bundles.
I love how these look just about anywhere.


This old riding horse has a great patina.

In the background you can see some cross pillows I made out of old wool army blankets.

Of course I have a lot of vintage silver plate silverware.

I don't think you can ever have too many.

A huge stack of ironstone platters and plates.

And lots of white dishes.

I made some less traditional union jack pillows using scraps of feed sacks.

Love the colors in these!

I'm thinking great 4Th of July decor....

I also made a ton of burlap pillows.

Some are the typical natural jute color and some are off white with grey lettering.

Lockers anyone?

18 to be exact.

I really wanted to keep this for our home, but I just couldn't find a good spot.

More union jack pillows in muted colors and a couple signs on old wood.

Tons of little vintage bottles in aquas and pinks.

Little white pitchers.

I have a couple of these great vintage seltzer bottles in great colors.

And some really heavy cement candle holders.

Totally winging it, but we will see what happens.

Everyone in the store has such great pieces, if you live close by, please make the trip over to Snohomish.

xoxo

~chippy, rusty, crusty, & old~

I have noticed a trend around our house.

I have a lot of rusty, chippy, old wood and metal things.

I am drawn to things with this patina.

I found this medosweet dairy crate at a yard sale.

It is the perfect shade of grey and butter yellow.

Right now I have it on my kitchen counter holding various bottled beverages.

Before that I had it on my night stand with magazines rolled up in each slot. This old ledge is in our guest bath.

I added the brushed nickel knobs to match the other hardware in the bathroom, but I think these look fabulous with old hardware.

I LOVE this stool!
I think I have mentioned that before.
My son uses it when he helps me in the kitchen.
It has a great blue grey patina and is full of rust.

Here it is again, a little closer up with a pear tart we made together.
Am I making you hungry?


This old wood tote is a piece I will keep forever.
I paid $30 for it at a flea market, a total steal if you ask me.
Not only does it have the creamy white paint chipping off, but it also has that great old rusty metal with the old nails~and it's really large......

l.o.v.e.

It has been on our dining table, in our living room on the coffee table,
and now it sits on our kitchen island holding fruit.

And last but not least.
The $22 bench I just about died over at a garage sale.
If you are new to my blog, I will tell you this.
It wasn't even for sale at the garage sale.
It was propped up next to a barn knee deep in ivy and weeds.
I thought I'd offer the nice lady $20, as I really couldn't tell what it was.
I thought I would just get some scrap wood to make signs or frames.
She agreed on $22.
Done deal.
There wasn't room in my car, so I came home dropped off the kids and went back.
{please don't call C.P.S. on me, they lived through it just fine}
When I got back there it was waiting for me in the driveway.
Not covered in dirt and weeds anymore, but covered in chippy pale blue paint, and awesome curves.
I could have kissed the lady.
I may have hugged her~she was super nice.

Originally I was going to make a cushion for it, but I just couldn't stand the thought of covering up any of that gorgeous wood!
So now it sits behind our sofa in the living room.
It matches our new lamps perfectly.
cost breakdown:
dairy crate~$5
towel rack~$30 including the new knobs {home depot}
metal stool~$18
wood tote~$30
&
huge long beautiful bench~$22
having all these things in our home~priceless
{sorry, I had to say it}
xoxo

RUFFLES AND RUST SQUARE OPENS TOMORROW!

~changes in my dining room~{and the silhouette giveaway winner announced!}

I am sure you know by now I can't keep a room the same way for any amount of time.

I love changing things up.

I do it when I score something on sale, when I see a photo in a magazine, when I see a good idea on a blog. In this case, it was a very cool stencil I got from here, and the sign I posted about yesterday. First up~the stencil.

Love it.

I didn't want it to stand out too much or be too busy so I chose just to do it on one wall and very tone on tone.

It took me one day, very tedious though because I was stubborn and chose not to take down the shelving to do it.

Going around the shelving was a big pain.

Lesson learned.

Since the wall had such a graphic pattern I wanted to keep the accessories on the shelves to a minimum.

I hung my sign.

Then I picked up these 2 crusty old looking lanterns at T.J. Maxx for $12.99, along with the candles, which were $9.99 each.

Too funny the candles were almost as much as the lanterns!

I found this LONG wooden "thing" at an antique store.
I love the detail on the edges.
It's almost as long as my table, but fits perfectly in the middle.
I like how the wood ties in with the wood on the sign I made too.
I filled it with ivory candles from Ikea, a few bottles from T. J. Maxx and a little fresh greenery in the topiaries.
The pots the topiaries are in are from T.J. Maxx as well and were a whopping $2.99 each.

A good friend of mine gave me this huge Pottery Barn urn.
The handle broke off so she didn't want it any more.
I am just going to turn it around and no one will even notice.
The dried hydrangeas came from one of my favorite stores near me.



Here is a close up of the T.J. Maxx bottles.
Not sure what I will put in them yet, if anything.

Ok, now for the fun stuff.
I picked a winner for the silhouette giveaway using random.org.
I still don't know how to copy the text from that website~sorry.
Anyway, the winner is...............
the writer of the blog
No Place Like Home!
Congratulations!
Please email me your info.
Have a wonderful day everyone!
xoxo

~a sign with special meaning~

When my sister in law tragically died several years ago, my husband and I were given this special trunk she had sitting on her front porch.

We took it home and placed it under one of our favorite trees outside, next to the walkway, so we could see it every time we came home.

Recently we had to take the tree out due to root rot and the possibility of it falling on our house~yikes!

Before the tree guys came out, I dug up the old trunk and brought it inside.

Over the years the weather had taken it's tole on it.

It was rotten and falling apart.

Then an idea came to me.

Not wanting to throw it away, I decided to turn it into a sign for our home with a saying that makes us think of her.

My friend suggested this saying and I think it is perfect. I love all the imperfections.
The best part about it to me is that the rusted keyhole on the top looks like a heart.
I never even noticed it until last night.


I'm hanging it today, and as the anniversary of her death approaches, it will be something that I know will make us all smile and think of her.

xoxo

~a rather delicious dessert~

Yesterday it snowed here.

It snowed like I haven't seen it snow in a long time.

The kids played outside from 9-7, only coming in for hot chocolate and to warm up by the fire.

Once they came in for the night and got all warmed up, we made these yummy peppermint patties to go along with, yes, more hot chocolate.

I will say, it is a good combination!

{sorry about the typos in this recipe, my keys on my laptop are sticking} I found the recipe here,

and photo,

mine didn't turn out as pretty.

But they are oh so good.

I think we'll make these again on St. Patricks day with green food coloring.

Thanks for all your kind words on the new adventure I am setting out on.

I am beyond excited!!!

xoxo

~more exciting news~ {ruffles & rust square}

I couldn't be more excited!

So far 2011 has been really good to me.

I just about died when Timi called me and asked me if I would be a part of this new shop going in.

I think I said yes before she even explained it all to me.

I would like to introduce you to the new Ruffles and Rust Square, opening on or around March 1st in Snohomish Washington. A article was written up in the local newspaper that I thought I would share with you.

Weathers is opening a new 3,000-square-foot store in March at the corner of Avenue D and First Street in downtown Snohomish in the former Black Cat Antiques space. Weathers’ venture will be a joint one with Annie McDowell, the owner of Annie’s on First, one of the most well-known antiques shops in Snohomish and recently named the best antiques shop in Western Washington by KING 5 TV.“We’re excited for this new little shop to open up,” said McDowell, who will continue to operate her store in addition to the new operation, which will be called Ruffles & Rust Square.“We are putting a new spin on an old concept, an ‘antique mall’ of sorts, not your granny’s antique mall. You won’t find partitioned-off sections, heavy Americana furniture or rows and rows of collectibles,” Weathers said. “We will have 3,000 square feet of the hottest trends of vintage-inspired home decorating and garden.” Ruffles & Rust Square will feature about a dozen vendors, plus parking lot sales, book signings, crafting classes and trunk shows by some of the most popular Etsy.com sellers in the Northwest, Weathers said.

I am so excited to have been asked to be a part of this!

Much thanks to Timi and Annie!

As soon as I set up I will take lots of photos, I promise.

This is going to be so fun!

xoxo

~silhouette sd giveaway~

I couldn't be more excited to bring you today's giveaway!

This is a big one, My Sweet Savannah's biggest giveaway yet valued at $375!

One lucky winner will receive:

A Silhouette SD, 1 roll of black vinyl, 1 roll of frosted vinyl, 1 roll of transfer paper and a Home Décor CD of cuttable images!

Now, if you are the impatient type and want one right now, you can head over to silhouetteamerica.com

and buy this same bundle for the discounted price of $225,

through March 1st with the promotion code:

SAVANNAH

I will be back later this week showing you what I have made with mine~yep, I got one too!

Just look at all the things you can do with this little machine:

Print out on vinyl and stick anywhere for custom art work.

Make greeting cards.


Embellish apparel for that custom look.

Easily transform your thrift store vases into beautiful pieces of etched glass!

Make adorable paper products including these cute cupcake cuffs.

Are you a scrapbooker?

Then this is right up your alley.

Look at the amazing detail!

How about a temporary tattoo?

And my fave, more vinyl decals, printed out in fonts you already have on your home computer!

There are also tons and tons of other downloads available on their website,

and freebies once a week.

Head on over and check it out!

See more great ideas and tutorials on their blog as well.

So spread the word, tweet about this, facebook it, and blog about it........

and to make your chances even greater at winning, check out this list of other blogs also having the same giveaway:

The diy showoff

my repurposed life

sugar pop ribbons

vintage revivals

c.r.a.f.t. {creating really awesome free things}

happy money saver

lee lou blogs

the bragging mommy

and

the domestic diva

All you have to do is leave me a comment. I will pick a winner using random.org on the 27th!

Good luck!

xoxo

~what to do, what to do~ {and a winner}

It's noon here and it has been snowing all day.

The kids are home on spring break.

So far I have made 3 vintage tote bags {more on that to come}

ran 4 loads of laundry,

completely gutted and cleaned out my master closet,

started to stencil my dining room walls {more on that to come as well!}

made breakfast and lunch for my two little munchkins,

tackled a couple design consultations,

vacuumed, and did a load of dishes.

Phew!

What's up next?

Well, we are making these.

They look heavenly, and the kids love to help me bake.

Nutella Chocolate Chip cookies

Photo source

A chocolate chip cookie, with the best addition ever – a swirl of Nutella.The ultimate cookie.
ingredients:2 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 cup butter (1 stick)1 cup sugar1/2 cup brown sugar2 eggs1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla1/4 cup Nutella1-1/2 cups chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prep baking sheets with silpats.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, the sugar and the brown sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla until combined.
Gradually add the flour until the mixture is combined.
Then mix in the chocolate chips and the Nutella – I don’t like to fully combine it, ’cause traces of Nutella is always is a good thing.

Drop by Tablespoons onto the prepped baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.

I also have a winner to announce for the beautiful cage doll!

If you are the writer of the blog

The Adventures of Stig and Lolo

please email me, you are the winner!

Please come back tomorrow for my BIGGEST giveaway yet!

xoxo

~think outside the box~

What does a Sharpie, happy tape, & contact paper all have in common?

They all make great alternatives to wallpaper!

Check out this great chevron wall made out of contact paper at

sabbespot.

Wow! Ever heard of happy tape?

Check out this gorgeous entryway, made completely out of tape!

Have you ever thought of using a Sharpie to "draw" on your wallpaper?

Don't have a steady hand?
Use a large stencil......

A gold Sharpie was used here, they come in a wide variety of colors.

Over at Gus & Lulu you
can see this gorgeous bathroom .

Looks like wallpaper right?

Nope, it's done with a Sharpie and an overhead projector!

Wallpaper is such a commitment.

If you don't like it after you get it up, or if it peels, or goes out of style, it's really hard to take down.

With Sharpie wallpaper, you can just paint right over it!

I just might have to try this myself somewhere!

xoxo