Christmas Market Success...

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So this past weekend I took part in a local vintage Christmas market with 20 other vendors!... the first annual Vintage with Flair Christmas Market... It was quite a success so I expect it will be taking place again next November...

I wasn't sure how it would go as 90% of the vendors items were mixed together throughout the venue... would things fit?... would it all set up together and flow?... there were a few individual vendors who, because they were selling smaller jewellery pieces, had their own spaces and they also took payment for their items right in their "booths"...  but everything else was running through a central cash area...

It was a little nerve-wracking setting up... not knowing... really knowing... the other vendors... moving vendors items around during setup... placing peoples items... everyone has their own way... ideas about how they like their pieces to look... to be displayed... I had to shuffle a few things here and there throughout the day to be sure that some of my pieces were being seen... there was so much at the start of the day it was easy for pieces to get lost in there!... 

For most of the day I manned the cupcake table... it was a nice way to chat with the shoppers... and man where their shoppers!?... the first two hours were B-A-N-A-N-A-S... and then the rest of the day it was steady with treasure hunters...

The lineup to get checked out in the first hour went down one wall... turned at the corner... and then up the length other wall!... luckily the lineup moved very swiftly... the ladies taking payment and packing up treasures were amazing on Saturday... I'm sure they must still be recovering!...

I had some very Christmassy items... narcissus bulbs in jars... giant lux paper wreaths... buntings and garlands... 

...and vintage jar snow globes... THOSE MOVED FAST!... I know it's obvious that people will be looking for Christmas items at a Christmas market but these items really disappeared right away... I was legit surprised how quickly they got scooped up!... 

I did learn that other "non Christmas" plants at a Christmas market just don't really move... they're much better suited for Spring and Summer events... Noted folks!... more narcissus next year ;)

The couple of furniture pieces that I brought were a hit as well... My first item to go was the tea trolly!... and of course the chalkboards and chalkboard trays... the window chalkboards seem to be a harder sell... 

I'm not sure if they're harder to picture in one's nest?... they're a little less ordinary than a gold framed chalkboard... 

One thing that I think really helped with the chalk boards was to have them chalked up with sweet sayings... and seasonal greetings!... 

...really showing people what they can do with these reloved pieces!... what do you think?

Now that the event is over I've got a few of the final items upon the Feathering My Nest Facebook page...  as I'm clearing out the last few items that I currently have on hand to make way for the new... Things are moving quick on there now so pop over and check out the sales!...

There are so many more items that I wanted to make for this past weekend's event but time just did not allow it... I just had to get some sleep... and well working for the man burns up about 9 hours every weekday!... ha!... so be prepared to see a ton of goodies at my solo sale in March!... yep... and stay tuned for details and sneaky peaks of the pieces that will be available at that event!...

Were you at the Christmas Market in Red Deer Lake this past weekend?  What did you think?  Are there things you would improve?... Things that you really liked?... Things you would like to see more of at an event like this?... Things you would like to see less of?... let it rip folks!... these events are for you and we're here to give you what you are looking for to feather your nests!...

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!...

xo

Lacey

FATTY FATTY FAT FAT Paint!... Coffee Table Relovin...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

I'm in love!... it's a uber thick chalk paint... it's CANADIAN made!... this is awesome!... I can use a paint product that I love AND support this amazing little Canadian company :)

Have you heard of FAT Paint?  Have you tried it?  What do you think?

...it's low VOC... not smelly at all... you don't NEED to strip the thing that you are going to paint so usually minimal prep is required... although it's always good to do a little test patch if you want to be sure how it will adhere... I've not had any issues yet... it always sticks!... Once painted you can just lightly sand to remove the brush strokes to have a nice solid painted piece... or sand a little more to distress the finish... it sands so easily and beautifully... and THICK!... omg!... two good coats of paint and BAM!... it's solid!...

I chose the colour jute for this coffee table refinish... I love the names of the colours... the colour names punch me right in the heart... sea glass green... ocean spray... Ooooh how I miss the ocean...  

Last Saturday I decided to tackle this coffee tablet that'd been sitting in the basement for over 8 months... yeah I know... I got two coats on... and gave it a light sanding all over... yeah see that picture above where the table legs are sitting on little squares of cardbaord... my dining area is currently my painting area... I have a very patient and understanding furbear who puts up with the house all cluttered up with extra furniture!.. I even sanded this inside... I had the vacuum on while I sanded and ended up with no dusty mess when I was done!... It worked like a charm... it really was too chilly to head outside to sand this one down...

After sanding it got a nice coat of clear wax in preparation for the mixed dark wax... I've made a jar of half dark / half clear wax for lighter items like this table... this way I avoid streaky stained messes of going at it with straight dark wax... I've fallen in love with this coffee table now that it's been sitting in our living room since last Saturday... but she's destined for the Vintage with Flair Christmas Market that is quickly approaching!... 

Oh and here is a sneaky peak of a countdown cubby that I've built and painted... and dark waxed!... I went at this one with one layer of clear and then straight dark after to give it a little bit more of a dirty old look... this little beauty will be debuting to the Christmas Market as well... she just needs a little more work and she'll be done...

The end of working for the man today can't come quick enough!... I just want to get home and get working on projects!... and tomorrow is my EDO so I get three full days this weekend of project work time! :)   Welll two and three quarters... Jan and I are going out dancing Saturday night... WEEEE!... We've not been out dancing together since July!... look out feet you've got some serious work to do!... hehehe... what are you getting up to this weekend?...

xo

Lacey

Burlap and Cotton Lace...

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I was a bad little blogger while working on these two pillows that are going to feather Katie's nest along with the sweet little refinished cupboard… 

This is the ONLY progress shot that I'd taken during the whole process… 

But a quick breakdown - 16" square old out of date pillows… burlap and a backing fabric (old bed sheet) cut into 17" squares… I like a big fat seam allowance when I'm sewing burlap… 

Before sewing the pillow together I line the burlap sides with the sheet fabric a little closer to the edge than what the final sewn seams will be - just to ensure the burlap is good and secure and isn't going to fray away…

With these I also hand ruffled with a basting stitch and then pinned the lace to pieces so that it would be held where I needed it to be while I hand stitched it to the burlap that was already sewn to the burlap and it's backing… then I added a second piece of lace… pinned it as closely as I could but as I hand stitched it on I made sure it was up nice and close to the first piece that was sewn down… 

I'm really pleased with how these little beauties have turned out!… I'm going to have to make some for us now!… 

 I hope you're having a sweet weekend and a beautiful last day of summer…

xo

Lacey

Refinished Wash Stand...

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Here she is!… 

Introducing one sweet little beauty of a cupboard…

She was in a goopy state with the layers of many years past paint jobs…  Four real thick ones to be exact…  cream…  pinky…  greeny…  and then the last glossy white…  and if you know me you know that I love to paint things white and cream…  BUT!…  I have a problem with runs and goopy paint jobs… 

I really underestimaed the amount of prep on this piece… You know that Annie Sloane would stick to an eel so I could have just slapped the paint straight onto this as it was…  BUT being that the previous paint was so thick I felt the need to strip it down to the bare wood…  knowing this would produce the best results for the finished piece…  this turned out to be most true in regards to the bottom front detail…  once it was stripped and refinished the details just POPPED!…  no longer was its beauty buried…

Before I go to far though let's back up a little and start at the beginning…  this little beauty was quite a charmer even in her previous state…

She had some nice natural wear and tear but she needed some polish… 

All the hardware was removed…

These little towel bars remind me of the towel bar that was in my maternal grandmother's house when I was a child…  these ones were in rough shape and the request had been made to remove them for good… 

Next came the stripping…  I used my handy dandy Milwaukee orbital sander with a variety of grits of paper…  starting of course with the rougher grits of 80 and 60 and working to a 120 and then 220 to prepare the wood for painting… 

Some sanding words of advice…  if you do not have a respirator then be sure to get yourself some dust masks…  you do not want to be breathing in the dust…  also keep a shop vac handy…  it makes for easy dust cleanup!… 

For fear of sanding away the detail of the bottom strip I made a trip to Home Depot and upon the advice of one of their worker bees I came home with a can of Smart Strip…  an eco friendly stripping product!… 

I taped off the area to be stripped and placed some plastic underneath to catch any overspray…  As the layers of paint were really thick I went through the spray stripping process twice on this bottom detail piece and then got into the fine areas with a small scaper to ensure that all of the stripping product and paint was removed…  finally I gave the wood a wash with water and a sponge to ensure all of the stripper was removed…  it was definitly worth the time to do this twice…  what beautiful results from this product!… 

No I was not endorsed in any way to talk up this product…  unfortunately!…  hehe…  it just worked really well…  and if I can share that information and help someone out with a project they're working then AWESOME!… 

I also gave the stipper a try on the original hinges…

I dropped them into a glass jar with some of the stripper and gave them a wash down after…  they came pretty clean and with a wash they were paint free!… 

On this project I went back to Chalk Paint - Annie Sloan to be exact… I really prefer the chalk paint over the milk paint… I love the thick thick paint...

Sp after the complete stripping it was time for paint…  and of course I chose Annie Sloan's Old White…  but this time I tried something new after…  but before that!…  so excited I keep getting ahead of myself…  It got a good sanding so that the final finish was nice and smooth…  I really love a smooth paint finish on a piece like this… 

Also…  I marked out all of the holes before the final finishing…  some painters tape, Lacey math, and hole drilling and the hardware holes were ready… 

This finish on this sweet little cupboard is completely new for me…  I practiced on a test piece first... and am I ever glad that I did!… 

So the new for me process on this was was using Annie Slone Dark Wax…  I do not recommend putting dark wax straight onto a light painted piece!…  hooooo boooy!…  what worked best was to wax the whole piece with the Annie Sloane Clear Wax FIRST…    once that was on I went back in with a coat of the dark wax…  BUT!…  I didn't use straight dart wax!…  I cut the dark wax with some clear…  I made a half and half mix in a small glass jar…  mixed with a wooden paint stick… The glass jar is really great becuse you can make mixes…  see them and store them easily!…

How have your experiences been with Dark Wax products?…  do you have any learned adviced that you can share?… 

Once waxed and buffed the hardware went on and voila!…  she's been reloved!… 

This piece came to me with the hardware chosen…  and the pulls worked so beautifully with the warmth of the dark wax finish…  These pulls are from Lee Valley…  if you have a local Lee Valley lucky you!…  if not you can order online!…  they have some amazing hardware… 

The rough hand hewn ring pulls chosen for the top drawer and door are quite graphic but still warm in their colouring and primitiveness… 

The dark wax beautifully nestles itself into cracks, corners and ridges…

I found this 12qt stoneware bowl above on a recent treasure hunt… along with the Sunburst crock below and couldn't resisit getting them in a few shots with this darling little cupboard…  they go together like milk and cookies…

Enough of my jibber jabbering… here are a few detail shots… 

Now I said she was all done…  again getting ahead of myself…  I couldn't see this one completly refinished on the outside without some loving on the inside…  the inside was also in some rough shape…  

This piece has truly been loved and well used for many years…  you can tell by all of the beauty marks left upon her…  but a quick measure and a few cuts of some fresh thin board and BAM!…  brand new drawer bottoms…  much more inviting for precious things to be laid upon…

Now she is complete…  and ready to go back home to Feather Katie's Nest!… 

I hope you enjoy her even more now Katie!

xo

Lacey

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