Noel

 Noel, Noel, the angels did sing....
This is one of my favorite Christmas decorations.  Every year I put out my ceramic angels.  I've had the one in the middle since I was a little girl.  I started collecting the little ceramic dolls (most of them Josef Originals) when I was six.  A friend of my mom's gave me one for my birthday.  I have quite a collection now, but I think the Christmas ones are my favorite.  For most of the year they are in a cabinet that my grandfather built, but this time of year I display them on some shelves between the family room and living room.  Funny thing about that cabinet, mom antiqued it back in the '70s in emerald green with black glaze.  A few years ago I had it refinished in a red mahogany thinking why would anyone paint it like that.  Now I am painting and glazing furniture, and Pantone's color of the year is emerald.  Go figure!

Well, I was happy to finally get a blog up.  I really do live in the styx, so far this week the power was out, my satellite feed for my T.V. has been out all day today, and I just got my satellite feed for my computer back about an hour ago.  It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house.
 

Merry Christmas
 Linking to:
beyond the picket fence 

Where Did Burl Go?

 Where did burl go?  No not Burl Ives, famous for Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, but the beautiful markings on the front of this stereo cabinet.  I found this last summer while in a garage sale slump.  Have you ever been in one of those slumps where you check out dozens of sales and can't find anything?  It gets pretty discouraging.   I was on my way back from yet another overpriced, uninteresting sale when I saw this sitting in a yard sale, that I almost drove by.  The neighborhood was a little dicey, but this piece seemed worth checking out.  I didn't realize what it was until I opened it up. 

European Mount Deer Stand

I am posting a couple of different things today, first this project of my husbands which is the most creative.  The plant where my husband works was shut down for two weeks over Thanksgiving.  That left a lot of time for a man that can't sit still for two minutes.  So what's a guy to do?  How about making a custom stand, to mount a deer a coworker got this year. 
First he found this stump in the woods that was all twisted and gnarled, and ingenious guy that he is, he figured it would make a great stand for the mule deer Phillip got this year.  So out came the chain saw and the project began.

 Here is what the stump looked like cut down and in the process of removing the bark and scraping the wood down.  He did all of this by hand with chisels. 


















Then he made an outline of the bottom of the piece, and cut a base out of some rough sawed wood that he planed.  He drilled some holes in the bottom of the log and filled it with concrete to stabilize it and then attached it to the base.  He was still unsure of what the mounting plate should look like, so we went on line and found one that was in the shape of an arrowhead.  As I said, creative guy that he is, he figured out the design, estimated the size, made a pattern and cut one out.  He even beveled the edges to give it more character.  You have to understand, he did all of this without the deer head for a reference.  Calculating the angle of the mounting plate was one of the biggest challenges.  He used a picture in one of his outdoor magazines, cut off a few inches of the top, and somehow came up with the right angle.  He stained the base and mounting plate in golden oak and finished it with some poly. 
Here it is with the deer mounted on it in it's home.  Not only Phillip liked it, but his wife and daughters did too.  The plant is going to be shut down for another week after Christmas, I wonder what he will come up with then.

RH Style Zinc Dresser

 A couple months ago I wrote about a paint technique that I happened on while messing around with some old paint, when I revamped an old silverware chest (silverware chest to art box).  I found out later that Restoration Hardware has a finish for a line of their furniture called Zinc.  I am in love with this look.