Red Handled Rolling Pins & Momma Groundhog

The pin on the left is from the Dollar Mart for $1.00. The pin on the right is a flea market find for $3.00 that was previously yellow handled. I painted both. The older one looks more glossy because of the previous coat it had.

 Today I'll share a super easy craft that really makes a difference.

 All it takes is 3 basic things:

A plain $1.00 wooden rolling pin from the Dollar Mart:

$1.00 at the Dollar Mart

 Some Barn Red glossy paint that I found at Big Lots.

Paint was $2.00 at Big Lots

 And a paintbrush.

Super easy as you see. Just paint on the red, glossy handles and let it dry.

I forgot to mention sandpaper above.

Ater this photo, when it all dried, I did go back with a little strip of medium sandpaper and rough up the handles a bit to give it a more worn look. 

And that was it!

What a difference a little red paint can make on a dollar rolling pin!
 I am a big collector of rolling pins. Mainly plain ones and red ones. It's hard not to keep all of these!

I price these Red Handled Rolling Pins in my
Booth#555 for $3.99

~*~

Oh, and before I go, I thought I'd share a few more pics from my yard.

Since my photo of my Momma Groundhog got a few comments in my Friday Five Random Things,

I thought I'd share a few more of her today.

Here, Momma Groundhog was posing for the camera.

And here she is on the far right, sitting with three little ones.

Yes, there's 3. Look close, the difficult one turned its head just as I snapped this. Kids!

 And then here she is taking it easy away from her kids.

I'm guessing this is Momma's relaxation time while the kids were sleeping or off playing.

 And up close a bit. She loves this spot. And seems to have no worries.

We can't bushhog or weed eat behind the trellis because that is where one of her little dens is they all come out of all the time.

BARN LUMBER CORNER FENCE #1

My barn wood corner fence:

Fall 2013

So here is a cute idea to make if you have some old barn lumber, or any old lumber for that matter, laying around.

2013

 I live out in the country and driveway vears off from a secondary street to a patchy half gravel and half concrete strip.  And down at the end of that there was really no eye catching anything to get attention, just big old space.

 So I had the idea to take some of our old barn lumber and sketch out a make do corner fence at each side of the drive.  

Here it was the first year after planting some pretties.  

They were barely growing in, but you can see some coming up.

Summer 2013, I think

Here it is the 2nd year:

Fall 2013

And here it was last year.

The hanging basket lent color until the big perennials grew in.

That is my doggie, Princess, trying to get cool by the new soil I had just put down.

 And here is the fence on the other side of the driveway:

Spring 2014, other side

Fall 2013

 They were simple pink morning glories that took off beautifully and kept going way into fall.

See, I get to walk through these everyday down on my way to check the mailbox.

I had to wait a bit on the right side one to be finished because we were short a wide enough board for the last corner. But I finally found one!

And I had to add this photo from February 2015. Look how beautiful!

One thing is for sure, it gives you a cute focal point in places that are bare.

And they are very easy to decorate in all occasions.

Summer time is my favorite though.

Just let all the flowers kinda take over like this:

This is my first link up to for fences and I have linked up this post with:

Primitive Wooden Spoon Magnets

I recently posted about how to make primitive, wooden spoons here: PRIMITIVE WOODEN SPOONS with step by step detail. It was a great project! And got lots of interest from many of you.

I have since revisited this idea and turned the crafting up just a notch by making them more interesting.

Here's how I did it:

I started off with plain, simple wood spoons found at Walmart in packs of 4 for around a dollar in the kitchen supply section.

I use a few of the same photos from previous posts when it is plain wood spoons so I don't have to take them for each craft post. lol. Just in case you are tired of seeing this same pic I use in my spoon posts.

Very cheap!

I bout about 10 packs of these. And then I paint them in a variety of colors. Here's a group of mine being painted in ivory white. I used spray paint this time because it was faster.

Just mix and match sizes and paint them in groups. Let dry for a few hours. Don't forget to paint the backs!

Sometimes though, for certain colors, you will need to hand paint on some craft paint for the base coats. This takes more time, but you have many great colors to choose from. I tend to stick to basic black, navy blue, wine red, okra yellow and sage green as base colors.

And then after you have a ton of all these colors ready, you're set for the next step.

You will need to paint over them with a second coat in another totally different color. Yes, I know sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, IT IS WORTH IT. It makes them look so much better.

And after that second coat, you will be ready to start some light to medium sanding. I use a light sand paper, nothing real heavy.

LOOK CLOSE at the REDish color one in the middle. Do you see how the black is the second coat? See when I took sandpaper and brushed off some of the second coat, it allowed the red underneath to show. And it makes it look older. I love it!

When I ran out of black spray paint, I brushed on some of that in the can too. I was worried it wouldn't sand off easy, but it did.

And after the sanding, I was ready to start hand painting some detail. I just looked around in magazines and online clipart for ideas in the primitive them and free handed them below.

Some I did a willow tree on, and old crow that I tried to paint, sitting on a crock. A simple bowl with a star and a window scene with shutters. And oh, a cute plate sitting on a shelf with a star in it. These took some time, about an hour to just do this part and lots of patience.

And then I was ready to add the magnet. I got the round ones from Walmart craft section cause they are stronger to hold notes and papers.

Just simply hot glue them on. The hold is super strong! And it dries fast!

And here's some that I have all finished and in my Peddlers Mall Booth #555:

I priced these for $2.49 each. I'm not sure if that is good or bad because I have none to compare them to. So far, I'm the only one that has made them in my area for sale. With such a strong magnet, I think it is worth it.

What do you think?


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Note: In case you don't want to do magnets on these: For the previous Primitive Style Wooden Spoons that I made and didn't turn into magnets, I grouped them in groups of 3 for sale, like this:

$30 Primitive Cabinet

It's still unfinished yet I still like it. I may leave it this way.

With the high prices of primitive looking, plain furniture in our area, I thought I'd give it a shot and make one. Try that is! lol.

Here's some simple shots I took as I went. So maybe if you want to give it a try, you can see it wasn't really that hard.

I grabbed my supplies at Lowes hardware store, in the unfinished pine section. Just using my eye to figure out what I wanted.

I cut some simple, upside down V shapes in the sides to give it a country look. Very simple. I used a jigsaw and just kind of eyed it.

The photo above is the top. I had to use two pieces of wood to fully cover it because I didn't have one wide enough.

Little crooked cutting, but it's okay. It's in a primitive, country theme. lol. That's what is so great!

I put some very thin sheet of lu-on board on the back. It is so thin it's very splintery. And I heard it is what goes down on floors underneath some, as a sub-floor. And cheap! Also found in Lowes.

And here it is, a $30 Primitive Cabinet!

Not positive just yet, if I'm going to paint it or not. I may leave it plain ole' pine for now and just see.

Happy Crafting Ya'll!

BARN LUMBER DISPLAY RACK

I needed something old and country themed to display my Country Sampler magazines in at my Booth #555 at the Peddlers Mall.

 

I took some short pieces of some aged barn lumber we had, and simply cut and pieced them together. In a type of form that he thought would house magazines.  And, in my opinion it’s ok!

After taking the photo, I sanded it down with some sheets of coarse sand paper and then sealed it with some craft sealer. I didn't want anyone to get splinters while reaching for the magazines.

I wish I'd taken a photo of it finished. If I did, I can't find it yet.....

And by the way, after being in my craft booth as a display item only, I had calls from the store that people wanted to purchase this. So I priced it for only $9.99 and it sold immediately. 

Here is a photo of the second one he made:

I loved the first one better, but with old barn lumber, hardly two are ever the same.