Craigslist Freebie

Mark found this on Craigslist today. It was free. An old built-in kitchen cabinet from a home built in 1928.

These doors attach to the front. A brass latch and two porcelain knobs are the hardware.

We plan to fix this baby up. Some additional pieces of trim will be added. The bottom of the cabinet will be cut and leveled and I will be painting it for sure. What color would you paint it? I was thinking maybe a robin's egg blue or another pastel...or maybe a sunny yellow like the cute cabinet they show on the intro to the show Cash and Cari  (a new favorite).

Not sure if I will keep it. I may fix it up and sell it. I'm already maxed out with lots of furniture and little space. However, I do have a soft spot for old cabinets.

I'll keep you posted as this project progresses. Please let me know your ideas and thoughts. Have you ever scored something cool for free on Craigslist?

Until next time,

KayteeJane 

Vintage Post Cards

I like to collect old post cards and display them around my house as mini works of art. They are great reminders of days gone by...when a beautiful card with a handwritten sentiment would be brought to your doorstep. I can only imagine the excitement the recipient must have felt upon receiving such a card.

Here are some that I’ve collected over the years.

Local post cards:

These 2 cards were probably sold in my hometown back in the 1900’s. They were printed in Germany and have embossed flowers and glitter. One is postmarked 1909 and the other is postmarked 1908. I bought mine on ebay.

Want an interesting memento from your hometown? Do a search on ebay using your town name. It is interesting to see what you find.

Another ebay find. This picture post card is from the elementary school that I attended as a child. No, I didn’t attend there at the time this pic was takenJ. This building has since been converted into an apartment building.

Another Local Card found on "the bay" – This one shows an illustration of a church which still stands in town and is now the church my family and I attend. Back then it was The Presbyterian Church of Oakmont. Now it is Riverside Community Church. On the back side it reads “Printed for the 5-10-25 cents store, Oakmont PA.”

Embroidery Post Cards

These cards feature embroidery on fabric mounted inside a paper frame.

This one reads “To My Dear Mother” and has a liftable flap.

On the back side is a handwritten note from a son to his mother. (Love his penmanship!) "Do not worry. I am all O.K. But I got very seasick comming across. With Love, Your son."

Wonder where he was "coming across" from? The post mark is gone on this card so we can only speculate. Maybe he was a veteran from a foreign war?

Love birds stitched on thin, translucent fabric.

Birthday and Congratulations Greetings sent via post card.

A card sent to a Sunday school student.

I bought this card as a souvenir from a trip to London 10 years ago. I don’t have dogs but thought these 2 faces were hard to resist.

I love what is printed on the front. It says: Watching and Waiting For You! That is how I feel about each and every visitor that stops by my blog. I'm watching and waiting for you too.

Thanks for allowing me to share some of my collections. This blog is my modern-day post card of sorts, addressed to your door.

On the back I've written…

Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you soon.

Love,

KayteeJane



Picture Jars

Here is an idea I saw in a magazine.

I thought it was cute so I tried it with some of my own pictures.

Find some vintage glass canning jars.

For one of the jars I used a flower frog to hold the photograph up inside the jar.

In the other jar I didn’t need to put anything inside because the photo was large enough to stand inside the jar without help.

This jar holds a picture of my grandmother Hulda and her sister Martha.

This jar holds a picture of my dad when he was a boy and in a band.

Sitting proudly on display - out of a box and out where all can see and admire.

Until Tomorrow,

KayteeJane

Update: I received a question in my comments asking where I got the jars. I bought these jars at an estate auction last summer. At the auction there were several boxes of canning jars up for bid. Before the auction started, I looked through most of the boxes and there was only one box with vintage jars. When the time came to bid on the boxes, I had to "fight" to get the box of vintage jars against an Amish man who was also buying canning jars. He was buying all types of jars and didn't seem to care if they were vintage or not. Fortunately for me, I was the victor of the box of old jars- at a steep $4 for the entire box :) - Since that time I have seen similar jars in antique stores. They are usually very affordable. I liked these because the glass was clear and the jars have unique shapes. The other jars that I have left will probably be used in my kitchen to store dry goods.

Thanks for the great question!

Vocabulary Cards

I found these cards at an estate sale.

Since I like vintage ephemera and paper stuff I bought them.

Inside the box there are 100s of small cards - each with a different word.

Not sure what age/grade these were geared for.

I decided to take them out of their box and display them on a glass dish on the coffee table. I think they make interesting conversation. These would be fun to have out at a party to start discussions - especially when the word has a funny definition or is outdated to our current vocabulary.

What neat conversation pieces do you have around your house?

Leave me a comment to let me know.

KayteeJane

Hello Again...

Hello Friends,

Sorry I haven’t posted for several days.

Life has been crazy lately…I’m sure you understand.

Wanted to share some photos of some crafts I made this past week.

I am involved in women’s ministry at my church with a group of ladies called “Girlfriends”. This past weekend we attended a women’s retreat. I made these ribbons to give to the women there to remind them (and us all) that we all have gifts to share and that we are all GIFTED in one way or another.

The ribbons are supposed to look like old-fashioned trophy ribbons –like the kind you would get at the county fair. I made them with strips of fabric ripped from an old white sheet. They are a tad bit floppy, but I wanted to try making them out of fabric instead of satin ribbon. I stamped the word GIFTED using alphabet stamps.

The picture came from The Graphics Fairy. This is a great resource for vintage graphics to use in your art.

These totes were given away for a raffle prize. I just love me a good raffle sometimes – don’t you? I made them using a YUDU machine. My dad bought me one last fall. It is pretty fun. The plain cotton totes were only $1 each at Pat Catans craft store. These would make great party favors for a child’s party. Buy the totes and some fabric markers and let the kids design their own totes and then take them home.

To those ladies that I met at the retreat, please don’t be strangers.

I loved meeting you all.

To everyone…remember, you are gifted in one way or another!

Don’t you forget it!

KayteeJane

More Kitchen Floor

The floor project continues to progress.

Here is a picture taken just after the 2^nd coat of polyurethane.

Overall the floor turned out pretty good considering that it is over 100 years old and previously had linoleum tiles and carpeting on top. There are some water stains on the floor – you can see the dark spots near the wall. Luckily this area will be covered with cabinets so it won't be showing.

The house stinks like fumes and we've probably killed several brain cells over the last few days – all in the name of home improvement!

Once the floor dries we should be able to move our cabinets in. Hooray!

Stop back soon for more updates.

KayteeJane

Kitchen Floor

Here are some pictures of how our newly-sanded kitchen floor came out:

Here is Mark running the floor sander.

Covering the floor is a layer of old tar paper.

After several passes over the floor, here is what it looks like now - before being stained. 

This is the hallway located outside the kitchen. It was covered in linoleum.

After pulling off the tiles the sticky black tar paper underneath had to be scraped and then sanded.

Here is the finished floors - before staining.

I think they look great! This weekend we will be applying the stain & polyurethain.

Surprise Mom!

After snapping a few pics the other day I downloaded them on to my computer...only to find these as well.

Can anyone say HAM?

Smiles!

:)

KayteeJane