Shed Plan

Monday, February 24, 2014

MRS Ps CRAFT ROOM store display

WELCOME TO MRS. Ps CRAFT ROOM

she has jars and bottle, books and paints,

she has lavender and burlap, fabric and crates,

she has boxes and bins packed full of nice things

she works in this room the whole time while she sings

Im here to confess creating these rooms isnt as easy as we make it look.

Trying to define a specific room inside a larger space has its challenges,

but after struggling we have built a work space for Mrs. P to create in.

Annie Sloan Fabrics - top right / typography bag - middle / burlap sacks - bottom left

When Carrie and I started trying to create Mrs. Ps craft room inside the store

we found picking the right furniture difficult as well as the placement.

Craft rooms are a relatively new idea and something we all wish we had but

finding the space and setting it up can be daunting.

Every new home comes with an on suite, not many come with a dedicated craft room.

all items shown in photo avail for purchase at The Passionate Home

Figuring out what you want to do in the space is critical to a set up that will work.

Mrs. P enjoys taking time to sit and read Annie Sloan books like this one called

Creating the French Look, so a comfortable chair is a great idea to include in the design.

love this owl!!!

Whether you are painting some mason jar vases, building a vintage photograph lamp shade or making

lavender satchels, you need to figure out how big your work surface should be. We have used a small

dining table and easily filled it with all sorts of things you would want to spread out while you are creating.

I brought in this French Provincial Server that I just finished to show how different pieces can be

used in different spaces. Also find fun and creative ways to store your supplies for easy access and

to keep your supplies out in the open so you can see what you have to work with.

Knowing what I have to work with helps me be even more creative.

Lavender satchels - top / soap from France - bottom / vintage mason jars - right

Have you heard the news? Mrs. P has ...

The Passionate Home is going to have stencils in stock very soon!

Its the kind of stencil she will be using to create all those grain sack images on pillows,

upholstery, tea towels, furniture and anything else she can think of.

Take a cue from Mrs. P and be unconventional and surround yourself with the things you love.

Just in ... a small selection of Apothecary jars

For some clever ideas check out the new store display in person,

Mrs. Ps Craft Room at The Passionate Home.

THE BENEFITS OF DARK WAX tuscan blue server

One of the main ingredients of the finish on this server is Annie Sloans Dark Wax.

My goal is to play with my paint finishes and colors a bit more than building.

Building is my ultimate favorite part of what I do but Ive been yearning to step out a little.

Im sharing so many close up shots of this finish so you can get the true idea of how

rustic and lovely it is.

Im here to tell you though it is hardwork and messy but I love it, and this

piece would be staying home if it was the right size for our little trailer.

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Let down today

I wake up this morning early without an alarm clock excited about my new saw. According to the tracking information the saw should be delivered sometime today because it is already in town so it just needs to be trucked over to my shop. I even called UPS Frieght yestarday afternoon to ask for an approximate time that should be expecting the delivery, they told me that were no sure but would call back withing 30 minutes. Well of course I never heard back from them, until today....

This afternoon at 3pm I recieve a call from UPS saying that my saw will delivered the following day......... So that means that I wasted an entire day waiting for nothing! Nothing was accomplished!

We will see how tomorrow goes.................

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Groovin!!!!

Im soooo loving doing these mid century pieces!! I dont know what it is about them!

I dont have them in my house and Im not crazy about 60s decor (I grew up with

it for Gods sake!). But I just like rehabbing these pieces. Theyre fun. Kinda like the 60s!

These are nice and solid pieces they made back in the day. This one used to house a TV. How very

cool this must have looked! Love the tambour doors which were quite the rage back then.

I sanded the old coating off to reveal the natural wood veneer. Sanded smooth again. Then I applied

a dark walnut stain to the areas I wasnt painting. (Yes I did sand that door,,,by hand,,,one groove at

a time.....sigh) I use a wood Seal Coat by Zinsser. Its a shellac base non wax formula. I swear by it.

Look at how smooth it came out. When you use the wood sealer, its like painting on ice. The paint

goes on better and doesnt get absorbed into the wood. So if somewhere down the line, someone

wants to restore this, they can without having to hog down the wood. Use the wood sealer before

you paint your mahogany. Stops the tannins from bleeding through.

I thought about covering the bottom in glass mosaic tile, but I dont think it would make much difference in the price. And that would have been hours of extra work. So I found some extra fabric, and adhered it to a piece of luan. Voila!

Goes great with my mosaic mirror I made eons ago. I think Ill sell that too!

Groovy man!

How I am making money online

In October of 2008 I created my first real (non-free) website, Sailing and Such. My intentions were to help other sailors and information that I had been looking hard for, easier to find. Mainly, this information was about sailboat project, sailboat maintenance and anything to do with sailboat work.

Once I created the website, people started visiting and complimenting the site and saying what a great idea it was to have a lot ofthat kind of information in one place. I really enjoyed the comments and they made me work harder and make the website larger and larger.

Then, I started reading up on making money online and I registered for Google Adsense which was a great decision. I wasnt getting alot of traffic to my website so I really havnt made all that much money in the first three months but its a start. Making any money online is a great thing to me and the website is something I do not have to actually "do" to make money, it just does it on its own.

Now, I am venturing into something called PayPerPost where I plan to post articles on my blogs about certain products and stuff, and get paid for it. We will see how it works!

My dream is create a steady income online so that I can someday live on sailboat and cruise wherever it is warm!

BEDROOM ROYALTY the royal nightstands

We have many ppl come visit our showroom to find a treasure for their home,

but recently someone brought me a treasure for mine.

Sweet Jessie came to visit and brought me the beautiful begonia Ive used in

styling these photos.

THANK YOU JESSIE!

Styling photos has its challenges and its perks.

One perk of this occupation is having a good excuse to buy pretty things.

The challenge is ... having too many things.

When you can find a good set of nightstands that you know will look great

once finished and styled, youre eager to get started.

But dont forget you have to double all your work,

and do everything twice!

Spray painting in spring on the wet coast can also be tricky.

Its not always quite warm enough or dry enough.

But when they are finished the reward is double the fun.

One last thing to share ...

Etsy Shop is now open

check it out at the link below

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Firstfinds?ref=pr_shop_more

For those of you who dont know much about ETSY Ill explain all about it next time.

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Saturday, February 22, 2014

Chicken Coop Ideas For Building One From Scratch

Chicken coop ideas arent as difficult to come up with as you might think. You do not have to be an qualified farmer or engineer to build an appropriate dwelling for the new chickens. The excellent news is that quite a lot of chicken pen blueprints can be found for you to purchase, or you can even make your own. Provided you follow some high-quality blueprints, constructing your hut shouldnt be overly demanding.

The Right Way to Put together Your Hutch

There is no right way to build a chicken pen. in reality, chicken coop ideas include all forms of shapes and sizes. A few are incredibly basic, whereas others go to more effort to make the coop look more impressive.

What you really want to think about is how big you would like the coop. This depends on what number of chickens you ultimately need to tend.

Using Ready-Made Blueprints

Ready-made plans are fantastic for planning chicken coop ideas. But it is advisable be sure that theyre detailed enough and cover all features of the plan. They should also be uncomplicated to follow, so as to create a well-made coop regardless how knowledgeable you are. After all, you need your run to be secure for the chickens, and to last over time.

Dont merely buy into any old series of plans. You want to make sure that they come with precise dimensions, instructions for adding ventilation, adding windows as well as nesting boxes. All these are critical features of the new coop. There are even several styles of coop, such as the A frame, the box structure and more.

You need to ask how much cash youll manage to spend on the coop, what number of hens youll be taking care of, if youre likely to be doing all of the work yourself, and how much familiarity you have. Some coops are considerably more upmarket than others, and these could be best off left to another person to put together. However, if you wish to lower your expenses and just would like something that will keep the chickens secure, then building an easy design on your own from scratch should do the job perfectly.

It doesnt matter what you eventually choose to construct, there are actually a huge number of chicken coop ideas on hand if you have a look around. The best news is that building your own chicken coop can really help to save you some huge cash, and it will only normally take you a weekend to construct it!