CHRISTMAS AROUND THE MOON'S

Merry Christmas.

Thought I'd show you some of my Christmas Decorations

around my house.

Hope you enjoy.

This is my new coat rack decorated with my sparkly trees.

Whoooooo's ready for Christmas.

This lamp gets changed with the seasons.

Now it's full of Christmas balls.

It's kinda hard to get a good shot of my mantel,

but this look will carry me not just through Christmas

but through the whole winter season.

I thought this arrangement showed up really

well against my wood wall.

One of my all time favorites is this mercury glass tree.
It sits in my kitchen window.

I got it at Homegoods years ago.

I decorate our tree with ornaments as old as way back in my childhood.

There's plenty of ornaments that my kids made

and now my grandchildren.

I do buy one or two new ones each year.

This is our moon tree. There are a few stars but

the majority are moon ornaments. I buy any moon

ornaments I can find each year. And they are hard to find.

My son-in-law always makes me a new moon ornament

each year.

This is a pottery nativity scene that I've had for years and years.

The stable was made by my dad.

It sits on my piano table.

This is a shallow cabinet that my dad built 

probably 30 years ago to fit in a special spot.

I just put some natural greenery and berries

in with my blue and white collection.

Well that's the end of my tour of decorations.

Merry Christmas to everyone

from my home to yours.

Hope you enjoyed.

Happy New Year.

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

NEW/OLD TABLE DECORATED FOR CHRISTMAS

Though I'd share how my new/old table is decorated for Christmas.

I "borrowed" some branches of magnolia from

a neighbor and cut some berries from my nandina bushes.

Then put them in my green mason jars.

Here's another view.

I replaced the big leather chairs I had before

with some white ones I had in storage.

I can seat more around the table with these.

Plus they don't take up as much room visually.

And they make for a brighter look.

With the bench I can easily seat 14.

If I put 2 on each end it becomes 16.

Well there you have it.

I think she looks especially festive and lovely.

I love this table:)

Mightier than the thunder

of the great waters,

mightier than the breakers of the sea-

the Lord on high is mighty.

Psalm 93:4

FANCY PIANO PEN

Well, just when I thought nothing else

would be made from "the" piano,

my dad surprised me with a pen.

I call it the Piano Pen.

You remember the old piano don't you.

Ain't she a beaut!

Well it started again with the wood from the piano.

My dad has a friend who makes beautiful

ink pens from all different types of wood.

My dad took some of the wood from the piano

and cut it into what they call blanks.

Then the pen man does his magic.

A beautiful pen.

Here's a few more pics of this beautiful pen.

This was a sweet surprise:)

But if we walk in the light,

as he is in the light,

we have fellowship

with one another,

and the blood of Jesus, his Son,

purifies us from all sin.

1 John 1:7

PIANO BOWL

Well it's time for another project from the old faithful piano.

This time it's a bowl. 

Made by my 92 year old father.

This is the finished bowl.

Here's what he started with. 

Some wood from the old piano cabinet.

Planed down and ready to use.

 And in case you forgot what the piano looked like,

here's a pic of the old beauty.

She has produced a lot of beautiful items.

First he starts with this pattern.

 He cuts the pattern apart and attaches the pieces to the wood.

He then cuts out the pieces with a band saw.

Here's a look at the pieces that will become a bowl.

He then glues them together.

And then a bowl is born!

He then sands out the rough edges.

Here's a look at the inside.

Another pic.

An outside look.

A little history recorded on the bottom of the bowl.

I think this is a great keepsake from that old piano beauty.

Thank you old piano.

Hope you enjoyed this.

May the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight.

O Lord, my Rock

and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

COAT RACK FROM PIANO PARTS

I still had another project I wanted to make from some

left over piano parts.

This coat rack is what I came up with.

 Just a reminder of the old piano I had to work with.

Be sure and notice the legs.

Here they are removed.

This is wood from that old piano that was ripped 

and run through the planer.

 I wanted a coat rack for guest to hang there coats

because we didn't have a coat closet at the front door.

This is what I came up with.

Following are pictures of a few different angles.

A close up.

I painted it white, then sanded it a bit

to distress it.

I thought it needed a bench

and I just happened to have one.

I just recovered it in some fabric I already had.

I'm a fabric hoarder in case you didn't know that.

The hooks are iron. I got them at Hobby Lobby.

They of course were 50% off so they only

cost me $2.00 each.

That's a great deal!

Isn't that a pretty piano leg.

It sits at the bottom of the stairs right by the front door.

Very handy!

If you'd like to see more furniture made from that old piano

you can see a piano table here and a piano island here.

Hope you enjoy.

The Lord will indeed give what is good,

and our land will yield its harvest.

Psalm 85:12

MAKING A NEW/OLD FARM TABLE

What started out as making a new table top to set over my old dining table

(I wanted a more old looking table)

turned into making a whole new table.

After examining the legs of my old table I was unsure if they would

securely hold the weight of the new table top.

My old table was an old antique that my dad had made longer for me.

It was also very dark and I wanted to lighten up my dining room.

And since basically the only thing missing after the table top was constructed

would be the legs I just went for it.

New table it was.

And here it is.

Since I started from scratch I could make it not quite as wide as my old one.

Which I had always wanted and I made it a touch longer.

It's now 11 feet by 42 inches. 

Here's how my dad and I made this table.

First we got our lumber from our neighborhood sawmill.

We loaded it up in his trusty "old" truck.

Man it was a hot day that day.

We ran each board through the plainer over and over to get each

one the same thickness.

That was a dirty job.

And VERY noisy.

A lot of shavings were produced.

But not wasted.

I bagged them up to use in my chicken coop.

All stacked up.

We then proceeded to make the frame for the table

and attached the legs.

We did this in his shop.

We then loaded it in his trusty truck and took it to my dining room to finish.

That was quite a site.

 A really old man and his skinny old daughter manhandling that frame.

But we got her done.

Well here it is, all laid out in my dining room

ready to be assembled.

After pre drilling holes in the cross braces I attached them to the boards

for the table top.

I used a metal vice to pull the boards together

 before screwing in the screws on the braces.

Then we turned it over ( it was HEAVY)

and evenly cut off the ends to the proper length.

Talk about a mess, I had one.

I also had to sand down the top (again) with a belt sander

in my dining room.

MESSY

My house needed cleaning anyway.

Before I turned it over I wrote the history of this table on the underside.

And here it is.

Before having the finish applied.

I decided to use tong oil on the top to bring out the richness of the wood.

Here you can see the difference on the left side where the oil has been applied.

I decided to stain the legs a dark walnut to match the chairs

and contrast with the floors.

Here's the side of the table with the bench my dad and I made last fall.

Since I had so much cleaning to do after all that sanding

I decided to go ahead and decorate for fall.

I love fall.

Here's the final result.

My new/old farm table.

Hope you like it.

Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is,

and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls...

Jeremiah 6:16

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