★ Primitve Painted Antique Sled ★

First off...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

I hadn't realized that it had been so long since my last post....
I have sort of been on hiatus (although I have been working on some things, most of which are either unfinished or need to wait until closer to Christmas for their unveiling).  However, I am finding things around my house that I have done but never shared.  One of those I will share today :)

I painted this sled sometime in the spring/summer this past year.  I purchased it and another just like it for $15 each from someone in my town that was selling them in front of his house.  He was a collector and was looking to clean out some things.  He asked what I wanted them for, and I told him that my plan was to paint them.  He said he had never thought of that before and said that was a neat idea :)  I painted the other one too but plan on re-painting it because I'm not crazy about how it came out.  I will wait to post that one until I'm completely finished!

I have been seeing a lot of relatively simple (and relatively cheap!) ideas for homemade Christmas decorations, and I plan to try my hand at some of them... so I hope to soon be blowing up your feeds again with new posts!

I wish everyone and their families a very Happy Thanksgiving!  If you're from the northeast like I am and are also in the midst of this lovely noreaster, please be safe in your travels!

  

★ Simple DIY Curtain ★

Good morning,
I have completed quite a few projects recently, but I'm sharing them one by one in order to spread them out.  It might be awhile until I complete my next one, as it's pretty large.  Unless you know already I don't think you'll guess what it is :)

This projects came to me on a whim.  Since we moved into our house 2 years ago, it has been a nightmare trying to find a curtain that fits the window on our kitchen door.  There was a hideous green and white frilly one there when we moved it, and that just couldn't stay... and leaving it uncovered was not an option, since I have a fear that someone is going to decide to come to the kitchen door and watch me.
After searching a seemingly endless number of stores (including online stores), I got frustrated enough that I bought a clearance curtain panel from Kohls and cut it (sloppily) to size.  It was there for almost 2 years.  When we finally painted our doors a few weeks ago, the mismatch in color started to bother me.  I wanted to get a different curtain that's color would match both the kitchen and the door (the old door was white, the kitchen is green, and the old curtain was green).  I got some homespun fabric the other day with a different project in mind, but when I walked by the kitchen door that night inspiration struck me.

It came out very cute and it was easy.  If you can sew (and have a little patience) you can do this!  I just had to cut the fabric to size, sew it to allow the curtain rod to slip through, and hem the sides.  Voila!  A cheap and easy curtain solution!

 

★ Art Show & DIY Vintage Milk Bottles ★

Hi everyone,
Well my Art Show was Saturday and I'm sorry to say it was kind of a bust.  Through no fault of my own, mind you.  I had a bunch of people who were planning to come around 1-2, but I ended up packing up at 12.  Oh well, there will be others!  I did manage to take some photos of my table.

My haunted house painting is missing from the table because it was with the other raffle items.  I don't know who won it (there were a few bids on it), but I hope it went to a good home!  I must say that after the fact, it was difficult to see it go.  But the proceeds went to a good cause.

You'll notice on my table the little milk bottles that I made on Friday night :)  They are even cuter in person and super easy to make!  Here is what you need:

- Empty "Starbuck's Frappuccino bottles" (you know, the ones they sell in grocery stores)

- Black & White Acrylic Paint

- Long paint brush

- Homespun fabric (for ribbon)

- Sharpie

1. Drink the Frappuccino (the caffeine will motivate you!) and clean the label off the bottle.  I soaked the bottle in hot water in my sink, peeled off the labels, and they scrubbed the sticky goo with an S.O.S. pad to get everything off.  It was pretty easy.

2. Paint the lid of the bottle black (or another color of your choice.  You'll need 2-3 coats of paint.)

3. Get a long paint brush that is thin enough to fit into the bottle.  I used a 1" flat brush and it worked pretty well.  Paint the entire inside of the bottle with the white paint.  Allow to dry a little bit and paint with a second coat.  (Since it's inside the bottle, the paint takes awhile to dry.  I wasn't patient enough to let it dry completely before doing the second coat, but it turned out fine.)

4. Cut a ribbon out of some homespun fabric.  I got mine at Joann Fabrics.  Tie around the neck of the bottle.

5. This step is obviously optional... the bottle looked too plain when I was finished, so I decided to write "MILK" on it with a sharpie.  I think it's cute!

Definitely a quick & easy Friday night craft project!

 

★ Don't forget! Art Show this weekend! ★

Hi everyone,
I know it has been awhile since my last post, and for that I apologize.  I've had quite a bit going on that has kept me preoccupied... BUT I'm very excited because this weekend I am participating in my first art show!  Please stop by and show your support.  I will be raffling off this painting.

I will be announcing the winner on my facebook page on Monday, October 14th.  I also had some cards made up that I'm going to give out on Saturday.  I hope to see you on Saturday!  I've listed the details again below:

Date: October 12, 2013
Time: 10AM - 4PM
Location: Roseledge Country Inn & Farm Shoppe
                418 Jewett City Rd. (Rte. 164), Preston CT 06365
Inn Website: http://www.roseledge.com/




 

★ Painting: Crossed Keys Tavern ★

Only one more day...
I'm in the midst of battling a miserable cold, and ended up staying home yesterday to rest.  Resting seems to consist of either sleeping or sitting there like a lump thinking about how lousy I feel... so I needed to do something to pass the time.

I modeled it off a photo of the old Crossed Keys Tavern in Ohio.  I was looking for inspiration, and stumbled upon the building.  It was built in 1802.  It definitely helped to keep my mind off of being sick yesterday.

★ Painting: "Abandoned" ★

Good morning everyone,
I got a few suggestions to paint a house with a Halloween theme.  I thought it seemed appropriate, since Halloween is creeping up fast!  I played around with a few ideas in my head, and took some suggestions that I received regarding my overall painting style into consideration (adding animals, etc).  I ultimately decided that a good subject for a "haunted" house would be one of those big, beautiful Victorians.  I know of 3 elaborately decorated Victorians within 2 miles of our home (plus at 3 least more that aren't so elaborate), so we drove by them for some inspiration.

This last photo is of the old Wallingford Victorian Bed & Breakfast.  It is currently on the market and I would LOVE to buy & re-open it.  Unfortunately we don't have an extra $750,000 laying around.  Shucks.  I actually think that's a good price for a fully renovated, 6093 square foot 1891 historic Victorian home with 7 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms... but nevertheless...

I knew that the painting was going to be a nighttime one, so I wanted some color in the house so that it stood out.  These Victorians are also notorious for elaborate, over-the-top details in them.  I knew that if I was going to paint a Victorian, it was going to be a "go big or go home" situation.  Andy & I both liked the colors in the first house photo, so I based my color scheme off of that one.

Overall, I'm happy with it.  I didn't plan on finishing it yesterday, but I took a half day at work because of a wicked sore throat, and finishing this helped me keep my mind off of the pain.
I added a spooky old graveyard for effect.  I got the inspiration from the old graveyards around, where the stones are asymmetrical (and some are literally just rocks).  I think I was successful in making it look old.  I also added random bats throughout the sky, and of course, a full moon.
I tried to brainstorm about what I could add to it, and thought about adding a black cat on the porch, but I thought that it might look a little too forced or obvious.  I like subtleties in paintings.  I didn't want this one to scream out "HEY!  I'M A HAUNTED HOUSE ON HALLOWEEN!"  I merely wanted it to be suggestive.  That's also why I didn't put Halloween decorations in front of it.  I really wanted this house to look like it had been abandoned, maybe recently.  I think my attempt was successful.  If I were walking a secluded area at night and came across this house, it would certainly send a shiver up my spine, and I would wonder what stories this house might have to tell...


 

★ Project Re-do: DIY Primitive Grubby (electric) Candles ★

If this were Tosh.0, I would be calling this a "web redemption".  Last year I saw a tutorial online for DIY grubby candles and attempted to make them myself (see my attempt here) only I didn't have all of the materials that the tutorial suggested (I used hot chocolate instead of instant coffee, and coffee grounds were the main ingredient in the coating).  They looked good at first, but very soon the coating started to crack off of the candles.  Pretty soon I had to throw them away.  While I haven't re-tried this on actual wax candles yet (although I do have some in my stash that I plan on making) I decided to try the project on some battery-powered candles that I had on hand this past Saturday.  So far so good!  No cracking yet!

These are the candles and candle holders before I did anything to them.  I tried finding brass or pewter candle holders at Goodwill, but I had no luck so I had to improvise.  I got these glass ones for $1 each at the Dollar Tree.



And these are the candles after I got my paws all over them.  I think they came out really nice.  Instant coffee is more expensive than I thought, so I just used acrylic paint to color the modge podge mixture instead, and used the instant coffee as my primary ingredient in the coating.  I painted the candle holders with black acrylic paint (3 coats) and tied a rustic ribbon around them.  I recommend spraying the candle holders with a sealer, since acrylic paint doesn't adhere well to glass, but I got lazy.  Eventually I will seal them, but they won't be handled too much.  I also painted the glass bulbs with a very thin layer of golden-yellow acrylic paint so that they give off a yellow-ish glow.  I haven't had them on long enough to see if it omits an acrylic-paint smell, but we'll see.  I super-glued them into the holders because they wobbled around a bit, and the batteries go in from the top, so the bottom doesn't open up.



Here is my tutorial:

Supplies:
- Electric/battery powered taper candles (I think I got mine at Christmas Tree Shops after Christmas last year)
- Modge podge (matte finish)
- Instant coffee
- Spices (I used allspice, cinnamon, & nutmeg)
- Ground coffee
- Glass taper candle holders (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
- Acrylic paint in brown & black
- Ribbon
- Super glue (optional - for gluing the candles to the holders if they don't stand upright)

Directions for Candles:
- Mix equal parts modge podge and water, then add some brown acrylic paint to tint the mod podge brown (don't worry if it isn't dark, mine was roughly the color of light chocolate milk).  You can mix in a jar for later use, or I just mixed mine in a disposable cup.  Remember you don't need a lot of it.
- In a zip-lock bag, mix together some instant coffee, spices, and a small amount of ground coffee for texture.  There's no science behind this - just use any combination you want.
- Empty the dry mixture onto a piece of tin foil and spread out.
- Using a paintbrush or sponge, apply the modge podge mixture around the candle.  Hold the glass bulb to keep the mixture from getting all over your hands.
- Roll the candle in the dry mixture until completely coated.  Apply more modge podge in sections that seem to be sparse.  Lay on a paper plate or tin foil and let dry for 30 minutes.
- When someone dry, apply a generous coating of the modge podge mixture to the the coated candle & stand candle up somewhere to dry (mine stood right up on the paper plate).  Let dry for 2-3 hours to avoid smudging the coating.

Directions for Candle Holders:
- Set candle holders on a piece of newspaper, and paint with black (or whatever color you choose) acrylic paint.  Allow the first layer of paint to dry (acrylic paint dries relatively quickly) and repeat process two more times to ensure an even coating with no glass peeking through.
- When the final layer is completely dry, tie a ribbon around the stem of the candle holder.






I will re-post a tutorial on how to make these with wax candles once I make them again myself.
Enjoy!


 

★ The Good Ole Durham Fair ★

I love country fair season.  I think they're just so much fun!  I love looking at the exhibits (especially photography, painting, and baking) to see what awesome things people come up with!  One of my favorite fairs is the Durham fair, which started yesterday.  It's only a few miles from our house, so a lot of the vendors there are from our town.  This year I have gone to the North Haven & Durham fairs with another something in mind.  I've made up my mind that I want to enter paintings in both of them next year.  The Durham fair specifically has a category for Folk Art (how perfect!) and I wanted to see the entries from this year to see how mine matches up.  Well... I don't know if I can effectively do that myself, since I'm sure I'm biased... so I'll let my readers be the judge.  We looked 3 times and all we could find were the 2nd and 3rd place winners of the Folk Art category.  I don't know where the 1st place winner was (kind of disappointed about that) but oh well, what can you do?  Of course I took photos!

2nd Place

3rd Place

So what do you think?  How does my New England Saltbox painting match up against these?  Be honest here!  I'm open for constructive criticism, because I really want to be able to compete next year!
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Also, I just had to get a souvenir.  I saw this clock and loved it immediately.  I think it ties in with our country decor, don't you?

I plan on starting my next painting tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll be able to finish it tomorrow night or Sunday.  I'm trying to get faster, but I don't want to go too fast and cut corners.


 

★ Autumn at Our House ★

It's officially autumn at the Horn household!
We went last night to the local farm down the street and got our pumpkins, gourds, hay bales, mums, and corn stalk.  It all barely fit in the car, but we made it home in one piece!  I was out in my front yard in the dark last night putting everything together.  People driving by must have thought I was a nutcase, but they don't know me very well, and how I get when I'm motivated to do something...  Andy & I just love decorating for fall.  He put out the metal pumpkins, haunted house, and turkey yesterday.  I have to give him credit for that :)

I can't get over how nice that new red door looks!

 

★Painting: Classic New England Saltbox in Autumn & NEW DOORS!★

Happy Monday!

I had quite a busy weekend this morning (although arguably Andy's was much busier).  I finished my latest painting on Saturday night, and I'm very excited because I think this one is my best yet!  I can't remember the dimensions, but I believe that it is a 16x20 inch canvas, which is quite large, so it will make the PERFECT showcase painting for the art show, especially since it's an autumn painting & an autumn art show.  The painting is based off of the Nehemiah Royce House, which is the oldest standing house in the town of Wallingford, where we live.

The house is now owned by the Wallingford Historical Society and is being restored to open as a museum.  When we first moved to Wallingford two years ago, the house was painted red.  Within the past year or so they have begun restoration on it by installing a new roof, new windows, and white siding (apparently they determined that the house was probably originally white), but I had to keep the red color, because personally I loved the red color on the house.  The house has a lot of history behind it, because George Washington stopped there twice on his way through Wallingford and made speeches to the townspeople both before and after the revolutionary war.  The house is simply beautiful and full of history!  The landscape itself was my own doing, but the house is based on that house in Wallingford.  It is now hanging proudly in our living room :)

Also, yesterday, we FINALLY painted our exterior doors, like we've been talking about (loosely) since we moved in two years ago!  Both doors were white, which was boring since the house is also white, and the paint was flaking and chipping drastically on both doors.  It wasn't very high on our priority list since it was only a cosmetic issue, rather than a structural one.  But it's finally done!!  My dad helped us sand the doors almost down to the bare wood, since the paint was chipping so badly, and we primed and painted them.  The front one is like a barn red, and the back is a royal blue.  So much better than dirty, chippy white!  The hardware on both doors, as we found out, is solid brass.  The front door hardware was painted black, so I got some black paint and touched it up, and I painted the hardware on the back door to match the front, since it was very tarnished and didn't want to come clean!