TOMORROW night on Early Work Mercantile...

Many of you may remember all the stories I told of Steve the Chipmunk. He was my little pal for a few years until his demise caused by our neighbor's cat. :> (

Chipmunks come and go around the ol' Countryfolk Keepsakes homestead. But Steve was very special to me. I especially miss him every spring.

So in honor of Steve the Chipmunk, I'd like to introduce you to "Tamia."



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Miss you, Steve.
♥

Wow!!! What a job...

My sweet hubs and I decided to start our faux tin ceiling kitchen project yesterday.

Our first hour consisted of trying to get our chalk lines snapped on the ceiling. With the odd shape of it our measuring and math skills were definitely something to be desired. ((giggle))
Just call us Dumb and Dumber. We were amused at our stupidity and laughed uncontrollably the whole time.

Then as I was posting a comment on Facebook I heard my hubs yell out, "Awwww, I'm the dumb *ss!!"
So he figured out his fuzzy math and we corrected the mistake.

The faint chalk line was our original one. Neither one of us were liquored up when we did it. But by the look of that chalk line, we should have been.



For some reason I had blue chalk marks on my back. Still don't know how that happened.



Then we slowly put up the tiles and continued to laugh the whole 8 hours we worked on it.



Man, I can't even begin to tell you how we cut some of those tiles. Upside down and backwards... it was nuts!!!






So we still need to finished the tiles along some on the perimeter. We also need to put up the crown molding.





But we are extremely happy with how it looks so far.

I'll keep you posted and share photos when it's finished.

:> )

Yippee!!

I am happier than a tick on a hound dog!!

I wasn't sure if the faux tin tiles could be glued directly onto our textured ceiling. So I emailed Global Specialty Products (the company who makes the tiles) and sent them photos of our ceiling.

Their response was absolutely!!

So if you have a groovy, dated ceiling like this...





You can glue the faux tin tiles directly to it!

After reading the good news in their email, I made a quick Home Depot run to get the brand adhesive they suggest to use.



Okay, I'm ready!!!
Now if only my hubs was.

I'm hoping to get crackin' on this project next weekend. So I'd better start buttering him up today.
I'll keep everyone posted.

Happy Saturday!

:> )

I have another home improvement project in the works...

I've always admired original tin ceilings in old farmhouses.

When we were searching for a farmhouse, we were down to two. The first one had a beautiful tin tile ceiling in the kitchen. I was smitten! Unfortunately, the farmhouse we bought didn't have it. That is until now.

Well, truth be told it's not tin. It's faux tin. They now make "genuine imitation" tin tile ceiling panels.

Ta-dah!



But I'm not sure if it will be easy as gluing them up. Since our kitchen ceiling isn't smooth, I may have to put up furring strips first. Of course I roped my sweet hubs into helping me before he even knew. ((giggle))

I am sure I don't know how to do any of this. (what else is new?) I do plan to blog a step by step to share with my other novice DIYers. (How hard can it be??)



It will cover the groovy 1970's swirled ceiling. But I will leave the vaulted shiplap ceiling in the dining area.



I hit a house sale a few weeks ago and finally found the perfect writing desk for my keeping room.
It's actually a small table but hey, it was exactly what I was looking for!!
As you can plainly see, Tommy and George are quite happy too.



Speaking of Tommy and George... I've added Jimmy (Madison) and Johnny (Adams) portraits. I'm still working on Alex (Hamilton). He too will eventually adorn my wall.



Ben has his own little corner...



Here's another house sale find! I've been looking for a "candle stand" for the longest time. Found it where I found the desk. Yippee!



So that's what's been going on at the ol' Countryfolk homestead.

We still have a ton of snow on the ground, but I'm hoping to see nothing but muddy grass soon!

:> )

"Ironically, rural America...

has become viewed by a growing number of Americans as having a higher quality of life not because of what it has, but rather because of what it does not have."
~Don A. Dillman

Yep.
:> )

TONIGHT on Early Work Mercantile...

Meet Hannelore... A Folk Art Spring Hare.


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Hope to see you there!!

:> )

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Brrrr...

Man, we are in a deep freeze but that hasn't stopped me from painting the living room... again.

But in my defense, I "had" to. ((giggle)) Actually, I finally got rid of the sofa my hubs picked out 5+ years ago. I "lovingly" referred to it as "the gigantic, brown turd in the living room."
Don't get me wrong, it was comfortable. But it was waaaay too large for the size of the room and it did not go with the look of our late 1800's farmhouse. At all.

So I (ummm) "we" did some furniture shopping. We ended up picking out two over-sized, cozy (colonial style) wing back chairs. I must give credit to my hubs for suggesting wing back chairs. I was going to go with a wing back sofa. They are made by Lancer AND they are made in the good ol' U.S.A. Woo-hoo!!



My sweet hubs also suggested the blue star fabric!! Shhh... He would be mortified if I mentioned his fantastic eye for decor. ((hee hee))





If you've never stopped by my dear, talented friend Carol Roll's Etsy page, you must! I have a wonderful collection of her little imps.



I am still changing things on the walls. I'm driving my sweet hubs crazy but hey... he married me. **snicker**

Stella is still a little unsure about the new chairs. I know she misses sitting on the back of the gigantic, brown turd and looking out the window.
Oh well...



Happy February, Everyone.

Stay warm!!!

:> )

Happy Super Bowl Eve!!!

But I have to admit, my sweet hubs and I don't watch the Super Bowl. Please refrain from tomato throwing and cursing.

But I will also admit the Super Bowl is a good excuse to order pizza and chickens wings! So I'm considering it. Minus the football game. ((giggle))

Guess what else is happening this Super Bowl Eve??
I'll have new offerings on Early Work Mercantile after 6pm this evening.
Here's a peek...

Myrdith.



Little Miss Echinacea.



Just click on the Early Work Mercantile banner below to go directly to my page.



Those who know me, know come January I start getting the itch to paint, remodel or move furniture around. Well I didn't disappoint!

After getting two new wing back chairs, I decided to repaint the living room. My guess is it's the 1200th time I've painted that room. Okay. That's a bit of an exaggeration. It's more like 1199th time. ((giggle))

I'll post photos of the room next week.

Have a terrific weekend!

:> )

Oh Boy!!

The bunnies sure are busy around the ol' Countryfolk homestead.



I thought I heard the Newlywed Game theme song in the faint distance...

;> )

I'm looking forward to creating new Countryfolk Keepsakes for 2015!!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!!

:> )

A Countryfolk Christmas...

Be merry.
Be bright.

:> )

YaY!!! We got lots of snow...

Now it feels like Christmas.

:> )

I'm slowly decking the halls...

Boy! I can't believe Christmas is a little over three weeks away!

I was hesitant on decorating like I do. But I know my parents wouldn't want me to wallow in sadness missing them this holiday season. So I won't. ♥

I started with my little Americana tree. This tabletop tree was my mom's. Although slightly battered and extremely crooked, I was able to prop her up and decorate her in a little Americana glory.
I think Mr. Franklin is pleased too.



What better tree-topper for an Americana tree than a United States (pocket) Constitution. Perfect!



The past few months I've admired those really skinny "pencil" trees. They aren't like the skinny scraggly alpine trees. These are skinny yet full.

So I decided to go for it!!



I must admit, I liked it. But I wasn't really loving it like my old, slightly chubbier tree. But it is starting to grow on me.
Even though it took me the same amount of time to string the lights and decorate it, I LOVE the room we still have in our living room!!

So I'm off to do more holiday decorating to make my parents proud.

I'll be back with more photos.

Remember to be merry and bright.

:> )