Reclaimed Wood Breadboard

I have been drooling over this breadboard for a while now.
It's from the Miss Mustard Seed blog, one of my favorites!
She's so fun and inspiring and I love her style.

When my son Taylor decided a few months ago that he wanted
to get into working with reclaimed wood, I knew exactly
what I wanted him to make for me!

I sent him a picture and he brought over a gorgeous big old

heavy piece of oak.  It looks like it was a wide stair tread or

part of a barn in it's former life.  I drew the pattern I wanted

with chalk and he cut it out and gave it all a good sanding.

I gave it one coat of Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil

and this is how it turned out!  Isn't it cool?

I've already requested a small one to layer with it, maybe

in a lighter color.  I'm thinking clear furniture wax instead

of the oil will give the lighter contrast I want.

He's eventually going to open an etsy store

and when he does, I'll be sure and let you know!

♥

Chocolate Egg Tray Repurposed

I got this old chocolate egg mold from the auctions last year.

 I had a fun idea to use it as a drawer insert in my kitchen.

Fortunately it fit exactly in this drawer and now holds a few

 small kitchen things like birthday candles and toothpicks.

I like the way it rests on the sides 

 and my cutting boards can still lay in the drawer!

♥

Salt Cellar Pin Cushion

I brought home a few vintage crystal salt cellars from the

auction trash recently and thought it might be fun to upscale

them to pin cushions.  It literally took me 2 minutes to make

this cute little thing!  And I think the little cellar is happy to

be rescued and given a new life. ha.

To make one, you need a scrap of batting, a scrap of fabric,

a rubber band and some glue.  I wrapped the fabric around the

ball of batting and held it in place with a rubber band.  Then I

trimmed off the excess fabric and glued it into the cellar.

I used hot glue, just so I wouldn't have to wait for drying time.

Lauren and Taylor had chosen gold and grey for their bathroom colors

 and I recently saw this little sewing basket that would match.  

I thought it would be nice to provide Lauren with a few supplies so she 

could sew on a button and make other little repairs.  

I didn't want it to look too granny-ish....she's more contemporary

 in her style than the vintage and the antique. :)  

I filled it with thread spools in a rainbow

of colors, safety pins, straight pins, needles, a measuring tape,

some spools of ribbon and scissors.  

And, of course, the little salt cellar pin cushion!

It's just too fun giving little gifts for their first little home!

Repurposing a Carafe Holder

Last week when I worked at an auction I got to look through and take any leftovers that I wanted. I told you about the dishes, but I also picked up a few other things. One was this silver-plate carafe holder. I had an idea for a unique use for it, so I brought it home!

Here is my canister of coffee beans. Nice. Typical. Boring? Well, yeah, kind of. :)

So I inserted an old canister that was missing it's lid, added a cork top that

was missing it's bottom and put them all together to make something a little more fun.

The Mister asked me if my coffee tasted better with the beans coming out of my new container.

I said, "Maybe!" :)

♥

Repurposed Sweater

Several months ago I saw a blogger turn an

old sweater into a throw pillow. While I was

at the thrift store last week, I bought a few

sweaters with repurposing in mind. This one

was too big for any of my men and it had a

big hole under one arm. It was $1.00.

After running it through the laundry, I cut off the

waistband, sleeves and neckline. Leaving the side seams

in tact, I machine stitched the top and bottom...

...leaving enough space to squeeze in a pillow

form. Then I stitched up the hole by hand. Very comfy! Then I noticed that the sleeves had some potential! With the cuffs already there, they could easily be made into mittens! So I cut out the shape and stitched them up on the machine! Perfect!

Mexican Tile Coasters

A few years ago, while in Playa del Carmen, I picked up a few

beautiful hand made tiles in a quaint little shop. You know how

expensive hand made Mexican tiles are here in the US! Well,

these were only $1 each, so I brought a few home with me!

Last week I rummaged through my workroom and found pieces

of cork that I cut slightly smaller than the tiles and attached to

the backsides with my hot glue gun.

They make perfect coasters...with a wonderful vacation memory!