Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 77

 

Happy FARMGIRL/GUY FRIDAY # 77!  

 Welcome back to your favorite blog stop of the week! 

It's time to go call'n on all of your clever home, garden and farm friends to see what they've been up to all week.

 As I visited each of the 63 entries last week it was easy to see that harvest season is well under way on many of your homesteads and farmsteads. 

Your posts on putting up, canning and cooking your crops garnered the highest amount of clicks last week! 

There's a similar trend on the 

FARMGIRL FRIDAY RECIPE BOX PINTEREST BOARD.  

Your delicious canned goods are getting pinned right and left!

Here are  most clicked top three!

Forgotten Way Farms Eat Like a Peasant earned 34 clicks

Country Kitchen

 Little Homestead on the Hill  was second in line with 32 clicks for her post Adventures in Homesteading  

 and the Little Acre that could enjoyed 31 clicks 

for her post Storing Food for Winter and Beyond.

Congratulations on all your hard work! 

Now it's time to link up for another weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!

Who's hungry for more wonder- FALL ideas? I sure am! 

Here are the rules for the Farmgirl/guy Blog Hop!

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals,  quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!

2). Leave your entry in the Mr. Linky space to your  Farmgirl Friday post.

3). Please include the Farmgirl Friday button ( or link back here ) in your post and remember to share this hop with all of your blogging friends!
4.) Enter up to three entries per hop!

 DON'T BE SHY~  

Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop!

 We want to get to know you better! Have a great week and I'll see you on the hop! 

PS. Let's gather more farmgirls for our hop! Scroll down and copy the code ( where it says get the code here ) and place it in your blog post.

October National Painting Month

  June is too cool and wet. July and August are waaaay too hot ( and often too humid ) and September is National Sewing Month so, by the blogging power vested in me I hereby delcare October as National Painting Month for every DIY'r on the blogging block! October is the best time of year to get your shake, rattle and roll on! The kids are back in school, there's just enough daylight and warm fall weather left to get your paint 'n groove on inside and out!

 Now's the time to start/ finish this years painting projects before they end up on next years to do list! Are you with me?  Good!

All of the following images are past DIY projects which have been painted in late September and October through the years.

Barn Red Shed

 I've been rocking to Little Big Town  and rolling the ceiling all day here at Dandelion House.  I know it's just a ceiling and don't worry I'm not going to bore you with photos of it. It was a ( have to ) left over project from last year. I had the paint and everything last fall but, as soon as the time change went into effect all I wanted to do was cook, eat and blog and not necessarily in that order.

Sunkist Color Washed Walls

  On my honor, this year is going to be different! Besides, I couldn't stand to look at that dingy ceiling of ours one more minute.  Do you make our a fall to do list?  I wrote about my fall  list here and by golly I've got one of the biggest painting projects checked off!

Trash to Treasure Hall Tree and Faux Brick Wall

China Hutch, Bar Stool and Walls 

Master Bath built in Cabinet and textured/glazed walls

Barn RED Shed and the Little Red Hen House

October is my very favorite time of year to paint! The living room is next, then some small furniture pieces and a few left over smaller projects too!

 If you could paint one thing this month what would it be?

Let's get those projects checked off the list in time for Turkey Day! 

 Leave me a comment and tell me what you're painting right now!
'll be back tomorrow with some Basic Painting 101
tips and my pom poms...

I'm gonna hop over to Tilly's Nest for the Down Home Blog Hop! Maybe they're doing some painting over there too! Also hopping with the Clever Chicks here!

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Do you have a dark hallway or a room that gets very little daylight in your home? We did! Consider removing a solid door and adding a French door in its place! We did just that in this easy  trash to treasure project. 

* when your paint is dry and before hanging the door use a small craft knife to remove the protective paper on the glass panes and any remaining paint. Do this OUTSIDE!  It will be easier to clean up all those small paper strips and pieces. 

Our Den was dark and needed more light so we decided to lighten things up by purchasing a new/old French door at a Contractor’s Supply Warehouse. New French doors can sell for 200 – 300 hundred dollars. This one cost 75.00 and with a little elbow grease and some spray-paint we had a new door and a view into our den that goes straight through to the outside. Not only does this door add the light we were sadly missing into the den but it makes the hallway lighter and brighter too! Now we can see and hear our young composer while she plays the piano. 

It’s not an antique. It was most likely rejected by the contractor or homeowner.  It came primed so all I had to do was sand and paint it to match the trim in the rest of our home!

 

 To add some vintage charm to our home I am up cycling all of our out- dated brass door knobs to my new favorite paint finish for metal. Oiled Rubbed Bronze. I was inspired to try this painting technique after seeing Michelle Rayburn's amazing chandelier makeover on her blog 
Trash To Treasure.   This door knob was my guinea pig! I love the results!

  I used Rust-o-leum primer and paint for the door knob.And a satin latex for the door in Ralph Lauren’s Sail White to match the rest of the interior paint trim in our home.  * spray painting door knobs or cabinet knobs can be tricky because they don't lie flat. I used a box from the bakery to hold these door knobs upright while painting. Let them dry right in place until you install them. A shoe box would work well too. 

New Oil Rubbed Bronze finish with a touch of sparkle! 

* New door knobs in this finish can cost between 20- 30 dollars plus 7.00 or more for a package of three matching hinges x how ever many doors you have. For a few cans of spray paint at roughly 4.00 a can you can save- save -save!   

Tip: Before you purchase a  new/old door for your home be sure to measure the height and width as well as the width of the door for the new one to make sure it will fit and that any alterations needed are reasonable for the project! Measure the opening top to bottom too. We had to adjust the hinge placement slightly but that was all.

To find your new/old French door see if you can locate a Contractors Warehouse or Re-modelers Outlet  in your area.
I hope you liked this creative recycling project!

Thanks for stopping by the Dandelion Workshop today!  

Deborah Jean 

I was TICKLED PINK with this project so I linked up with Holly at 504 Main and other tickled pink bloggers to share the fun! 

ARTFUL Nesting~

"A house is made with walls and beams. A home is made with love and dreams."  Author Unknown 

We humans have nothing on our feathered friends when it comes to making a nest. What better place to take our homemaking "cues" from than birds? I think we can learn a thing or two from them when it comes to creating a home that gives it's inhabitants a feeling of safety, functionality, comfort and beauty.

We found this nest in our back yard still attached to a fallen branch.

Birds are smart, CREATIVE, resourceful and efficient when it comes to home building. They use what materials are " on hand " and they build with intention and purpose.  They use only enough materials to get the job done and they never go over budget. The bird who built the nest above struck gold behind our shed when she came across some lovely strands of blue tarp. Its carefully woven into the over all design and adds just a touch of panache'. Our feathered friends have an instinct for comfort and safety with an eye on esthetics's, while at the same time providing a strong foundation for their young hatching's until it's time for them to fly away...Sounds like the ideal home doesn't it?

There's an ART to building a nest and no shortage of books and TV shows to advise and inspire us in our own nesting efforts. 

Fall is a natural nesting time for homemakers. Much like spring cleaning but with thoughts of  soft to the touch blankets, quilts, throws and comforters. If any of these treasures are handmade and hold special memories all the better. It's always a comfort to reuse an old favorite! Although, purchasing something new that gives you the feeling of handmade or timeworn will work too! Mary Jane Butters has created just that in her BED-room collection.

This duvet with it's washed blue back ground in combination with the faded warm autumn tones in the flowers did it for me! It's from this years Pottery Barn Bedding collection and when I saw it, I knew it had to be mine ours! How long has it been since you updated your bed linens? If it's been a while, perhaps it's time to start looking around for something that makes YOUR heart go pitter- patter too!

It's a great time to DE-clutter ( a work in progress here) and make room for only those things that will nourish, enrich and comfort you during the coming months of late fall and... dare I say the W word ?

You know. Things like a soft fleece robe, or your favorite pajama's. If you have neither, find the next sale at your nearest department store and treat yourself. No more tattered robe and slippers for the head home maker. A heated mattress pad for the deep winter ( there I said it ) months takes the edge off of cold sheets and makes it easier to get comfortable before falling to sleep. I'm all for Soul Mama's hot water bottle idea too for a sever case of frosty toes.

There's nothing better than glowing candlelight on a stormy night when the electricity has gone out. Or just because to cast a romantic glow over the room. 

Kerosene lanterns (antique if you can find them) throw out more light than candles and work great for lighting an entire room if you have more than one. It's fun to play games by candle light too! 

Create a quiet corner just for you to gather your thoughts, write a note by hand, a poem, blog, book, screen play, musical, plan a garden or day dream about how you can make small changes in your home to cozy things up! Nesting is not just for the BIRDS! 

Bring a little more
safety, functionality, comfort and BEAUTY home. 

•  Clean out a drawer or a closet and donate or toss unused items.
•  Paint a room or freshen the paint on your trim and doors.
• Clear a book shelf, add a new one, or both.
• Help your children clear and organize so they can transition into the next season with zest too! 
• Create a mini gallery of favorite photos and art in a hallway or stairwell wall. ( children's art makes a wonderful addition to a family gallery ) 
• Study a birds nest up close and let yourself be amazed!
• Now your ready for those new fuzzy slippers and a cup of hot ??? 

Happy Nesting! 
I'm linking this post top Heidi's Fall Harvest Blog hop!

Deborah Jean...