Stepping Back in Time

I've written before about my grandparents store, Cuzzins, and how influential it is in my childhood memories. Everything I remember about the place is comforting, so special and so meaningful to me. We had a chance to go back this past weekend because my uncle was having his 50th birthday party there. It's been at least 7 years since I set foot inside the store. Nothing is the way it was... but strangely, the feeling I have there is. There is one Coke cooler still sitting in the back corner. My brother and I kept it stocked with small and large glass bottle cokes, and other drinks too, but the cokes were all that mattered really. My grandpa drank small cokes all the time and ate Reese's peanut butter cups daily, maybe multiple times, which would be why he had no teeth! Not much that was original to the way my grandparents had the store furnished is still there. The wood stove remains of course and the thing was pumping out the heat Saturday night. It was always so warm standing in front of it. And we would stand as long as we could handle it and Grandpa would pull the front of our pants close to our legs on the back and make us jump from the heat! We'd also try to run past him when he sat in his recliner and try to not get swatted by his fly swatter, it was all fun and games. I walked around and went in the back where my grandparents lived. I stood in the kitchen and breathed in that musty old smell but only the best memories came flooding back.  Running out to play in the back yard while Grandma cooked, Grandpa riding us on the four wheeler through the woods, running down the dark hallway between Grandma and Grandpa's rooms, it was always so scary and seemed like it was so long. In reality, it's about 10 feet. Grandpa had a tradition of having bluegrass music on Saturday nights. Players would come from all around and pick, people would sit and listen, talk to each other and just have fun. In the winter when it was too cold to play outside by the gas pumps, the jam session would come inside to the "picking" room. The back door is signed by all the musicians who have come and gone through all the years of this tradition. During the party this weekend, there were three separate groups of musicians playing, two inside and one outside, and I stood there listening and caught myself looking around as if I could find Grandpa in one of those circles picking his banjo and leading the song. Or maybe I could see Grandma in her rocking chair by the heater. And as I type this post today, I have tears streaming down my face, because I could see them...in my memory, as vibrantly as if it were real life. I thank God for memories, for the time I got to spend with my grandparents, for this store, for the people who came in it and who left with a sweet memory just like mine.
I didn't take any pictures while I was there, and I did so on purpose. I want to remember the store the way it was, perfect, unaffected by time and circumstance, so whenever I want I can step back in time.

~Tara

The Other Furniture Project

After finishing up the buffet, Maddie and I decided to paint a small table that we also got from Bryan's mom's house. This piece was not as sentimental to him for some reason and he didn't object to us painting it. I really didn't have room anywhere in the house for it so Maddie got to be the lucky recipient. She's using it as a desk and it is really perfect for that for her.
Here's the before pic:

Maddie chose this periwinkle color and it does look really nice in her room that is an eclectic collection of all colors and things she loves. I will do a full tour of her room soon. Her room is one of my favorites in the house.

We found a pink chair for the desk and she's accessorized it to the max.
More pics to come...

~Tara

Restoring the Buffet

We recently were given an antique buffet that belonged to Bryan's mom. It came to us in pretty bad shape. It spent a while in our barn and also outside in a shed at someone else's home. It was pretty beat up and dirty. I researched restoring it and considered sanding and painting it but in the end decided to clean it up and go from there.

the buffet after being cleaned

badly damaged doors... we actually left these off the finished piece, they were just too bad off

gluing pieces back together

I started by cleaning it with Murphy's Oil Soap, at least 5 or 6 different times. It was so dirty that the water would turn black each time I scrubbed it. Once it was relatively clean and no longer smelly, we moved it into the house to finish it up and protect it from the weather and from being in the barn. I was still so scared to start the actual restoration process because this piece of furniture is one of the few things Bryan has that belonged to his mom. He was very hopeful that we could restore it to it's former glory and keep it as true to it's original state as possible, the way it was when his mom used it. Heirloom pieces carry such sentimental value that I wanted to do right by this old buffet and Bryan's request.

After doing my research, I decided to use a product called Restore-a-Finish. I found it at Home Depot. The buffet had some chipped up pieces that needed to be glued back down so that was step one. After the glue was dry, I started applying the Restore-a-Finish with a clean rag. Immediately I knew we had made the right choice. The old dried out faded looking wood came back to life beautifully. The next step was cleaning the hardware that was on the buffet. I just used some Brasso. After the Restore-a-Finish, a final step of applying a beeswax polish was done to seal the finish.

finally finished

some of my blue Mason jar collection and dried roses from Bryan's Mom's funeral in the clear jar

close up of the restored top

We are so happy with the results of this project. I am thrilled to have a meaningful piece of useful furniture in our home that was passed to us from my mother in law. I hope that we can look at the buffet and always remember the value all things have and the worth there is in taking the time to restore something. Whether that be a piece of furniture, an old truck (that's the next project), a relationship, anything, it's worth it.

~Tara

In Progress: Gallery Wall

Last fall, we had family pictures taken. Bryan and I had a few taken of just us. I had them printed and then did nothing with them. I just couldn't decide on what frame to use. I wanted to hang them in our bedroom and make a gallery wall on our only empty wall. After many months I finally chose a frame. Then I leaned them against the wall, afraid to hang them because I thought they would look small on the wall since I didn't have any other parts of the gallery wall I had in mind. So, after way too long of looking at them and worrying over it, I decided to just do it. I had two canvases that used to hang over the bed and that were covered in fabric. I ripped the fabric off and painted them pretty simply using the colors I hope to incorporate into the gallery wall.

this was the fabric that was on the canvas

Now I'm happy looking at the wall even though it's not completely finished. I'm on the lookout for unique things to add and if I need to change the canvases I can just paint over them. 

~Tara

Wagon Wheel

We have been living in our home for almost two years. I still am working on filling it with unique things that we love. I love having things that have a story. I posted a while back about my antique orchard ladder that I hang quilts on. My most recent find is an antique wagon wheel. My brother in law found a set of wheels and one broken one for spare parts at a local yard sale. I cleaned the most sturdy one up a little and put it on our mantle. It's extremely heavy so I really hope our rock mantle can support it for a while. Bryan assures me it's safe.

~Tara

Sweater Wreath

I recently saw this idea online and knew I could pull it off. It's a sweater cut into pieces and threaded on a wire clothes hanger. I had a couple of hours this morning to work on this project and I had a fun time doing it. Here's some photos of the process...

cutting the sweater into pieces, first wreath done

with some silver ornaments hot glued on 

hanging on the entrance side table

view from the front door

I think they are cute. They were easy to make and they used a sweater that didn't fit anyone and was about to be donated. Can't beat that!

~Tara

Antique Orchard Ladder

My sweetheart husband surprised me yesterday with something I have been wanting since we moved in the new house last year... an antique orchard ladder. I wanted it to be narrower at the top and old. We have an apple stand close to the house and he stopped there to ask about one. Luckily they had one they would sale and it is now mine. I have several heirloom handmade quilts that I wanted on display. And here they are...

The top quilt was made by my grandmother and is the one we used in our family pictures recently. It is one of my most treasured possessions. The second quilt belonged to my mother in law who passed away in January. The other special quilts are on the beds keeping us warm at night. Seeing these everyday reminds me of who they came from and where we came from. I love my home being filled with things that have meaning to us, not just random purchases to fill space.

~Tara