Vintage By Amy

My it has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog.

A long time.

My weeks and days have been filled with crafting, sanding, painting, staining, sewing, and restoring.

It has been busy...but so much fun!

The last few Saturdays I have been busy with bazaars!

My booth name: Vintage by Amy.

I created a few business cards and added my blog address...so I decided I need to start putting entries back into this blog.

The majority of my booth is refinished furniture...here are two of the pieces before I started restoring them.  The chair and desk were both in need of a HUGE restoration.

I sanded, painted, recovered and...here she is BEFORE...

The burlap chairs in this next picture turned out AMAZING. 

I loved them....and was not sad to see if they didn't sell.

But, a sweet, newly married couple bought them to go around their farmhouse table.

The booth is full of wreaths, Christmas decorations, homemade cards, banners, and so much more.

There are so many fun pieces I have restored...table and chairs, dressers, desks, and chairs...

but one of my favorite pieces was this buffet.

Scott, my furniture guy, from uptown Westerville gave me this little beauty.

She was missing hardware, missing hinges and looked like she had been neglected for years. 

This is her finished.

She sold to a sweet young family who was super excited to take her home.

I kind of miss her.

She was in our garage for a few months because we couldn't find the right outward hinges.

They had to be special ordered...we found that out after visiting every hardware and home improvement store in Columbus.

I love the turquoise color.

One of the best parts of the booth is hanging out with my oldest daughter.

She is so helpful and LOVES our special days together.

She really likes it when her nest necklaces sell...she earns all the money from those!

She does an amazing job setting up the booth, talking with the customers, and taking money.

It's so nice to have an extra hand around.

If you are interested in purchasing anything from the "store" please let me know!

I would love to sell any of the items I have available.

If I do get enough requests for online sales I will consider opening up an online store.

So, if you like it...write me a comment!

Adison's 6th Birthday!

My "Baby" turned 6 on Wednesday.

What a joy she has been in our lives!

From her sweet smile, her little dimple, and all the way to her creative imagination...

I LOVE YOU MY LITTLE ADISON!

She wanted a simple "Tea Party" for her birthday.

With a few of her closest friends.

Here is her good friend Gisele.

I love this picture.

*makes me smile.

It was so windy...and the balloons weren't cooperating for pictures...

but she decided to just have fun with it...I love that about Adi.

I had a great time decorating for her little tea party.

We had cupcakes, cookies, rice crispie treats, and a whole lot of candy to eat.

And a cup of tea...but most of glasses were still full when we cleaned up.

Here are her good friends:

Addie, Alexis, Gisele, Bella, Claire, Adison, and Taylor.

Who says you have to have a small candle for your birthday candle?

I couldn't remember where all of my candles were...so we just found a big one.

Guess what...it worked!

And it kind of made me smile.

Where did the box go of candles for parties? 

Present time!

She was so excited...so were the girls! 

We made bracelets. 

We made a little frame of a picture from the party.

Loida and Bella...

If you know my friend Loida...she LOVES getting her craft on! 

Here is Adison's frame and picture.

She has TALENT. 

Kalie and Ethan were bummed that we had the party while they were at school,

so we decided to have an after school party too.

We invited all of the neighbor kiddos to enjoy the

CHOCOLATE  FOUNTAIN!

It was a fun filled day.

The best part was seeing my little girl so happy.

She brings so much joy into my life...

I was so glad that I could help her celebrate.

Adison, I hope this year is as sweet as you are.

Chores Chart

Allowance...the Hubby and I have had lots of conversations over this word.

We have come to a realization and that it is our job as parents to teach our children the importance of money.

How to save it.

How to spend it.

How to give to the church.

We have decided to not use the word allowance...but COMMISSION.

HA...we are the mean parents!

Here is our thought process...

there are jobs that we think that the kiddos should do without getting paid...

daily chores.

Then there are the chores that we want them to do to really help out around the house.

Weekly chores, so that they will learn responsibility.

We read that you should give the kiddo 1/2 of their age for their "commission."

So...my 10 year old will do 5 jobs (at $1 each) to earn $5.

If she doesn't want to do them that week...she doesn't earn the money.

Some of the weekly chores will stay the same, but others will change each week, depending on what needs to be done.

I used an old window and a dry erase marker so that I could change them easily.

The K E and A are my kiddos initials.

I am hoping this chore chart, the "commission" and teaching our kiddos about money is effective.

Do you have any suggestions? 

How do you teach this valuable lesson?

Easter Egg Hunt(s)

Easter is a great time of year!

I can't explain the amazing gift of Christ's death on the cross with out being in awe.

Absolute awe...He loved me so much he died.  So that I could live for eternity with Him.

I am so glad we celebrate this day...and thankful we can celebrate His gift every day!

Our neighbors: Steve and Michelle and their daughter Samantha, invited us to the Genoa township

Easter Egg Hunt.
It was cold...

but the kids forgot the temperatures when they saw the 14,000 eggs waiting for them to gather.

14,000 eggs...

that's a whole lot of candy!

Ethan, Kalie, Adison and our neighbor Samantha.

Adison was GEEKED at all of her eggs...notice she decided she should use a t-shirt bag instead of her Easter basket...this bag held more eggs!

The kiddos "De-Plastic Egged" their candy and recycled their eggs for next year!

I love our community!

On Easter Sunday Morning we had our own little Easter egg hunt.

With no where near 14,000 eggs.

No way...I am Dutch!

Noah, Adison, Kalie, Anika, Brenna and Ethan all ready to gather!

My kids are into erasers...fun crazy erasers...so there were a few of those in the eggs...

to lower the intake of sugar.

The girls were pretending to put on their lipstick and paint their nails.

These two cousins are best friends and I love that!

I pray that you all had a great Easter.

We enjoyed every minute of our day to celebrate Christ's Resurrection!

Blessed with Family Visits...

Moving away from our family and friends has been hard.

***sigh and a little tear.

But, thankfully, they are amazing at coming to visit us.

Matt's parents came for a wonderful weekend.

We relaxed a lot because Kalie was not feeling so well.

We went to the Eddie Bauer Surplus store, out to dinner at Yabo's Tacos, and a little more shopping.

We shalaxed with books and coffee...

My parents also came and we put them to work.

They weren't interested in shopping and more shopping.

So, we worked on the chair and our window bench...which I know, I still need to blog about.

Me and my Mama sewing the cushions to the bench...well, she sewed and I watched.

Still LOVING GENEVA!

Matt and Erin and their fantastic kiddos came to visit us a few weeks ago.

We had a great time visiting the Eddie Bauer Surplus and Outlet store, laughing a lot till wee hours of the morning, and eating a TON of Pioneer Woman recipes.  YUM.

My sister, Lori, and her family came TWO weekends...one on their way to Florida

and another on their way back from Florida. 

The visits were short but... oh, SO SWEET.

We loved just playing together...

and of course eating.

(...can we say more Pioneer Woman recipes?)

Easter weekend we had an egg hunt.

and begged them to stay longer.

If you haven't been here yet, when are you coming?

We would LOVE to have you!

A few Recent PROJECTS...Book Lamp and Matt's Chair!

A few weeks ago we made this book lamp!

Yup, we made it!

HGTV did a little tutorial on it here:

Stacked-Books Table Lamp Video

I loved it...and so we went on a hunt for old books.

Our Westerville Library has a section that hardcover books are $1...

so we picked up 10 and just started playing with them, stacking them, and then rearranging them all over again.

My brother in law gave us a few of these old wire baskets that his dad collected eggs in.

We cleaned it, but decided to leave the old paint look.

What do you think of our light?

My parents came this past weekend!

I love my parents...

They love to keep busy, so we decided to work on our kitchen.

My dad built an INCREDIBLE window bench for the nook.

My mom, dad and I sewed a cover for the long cushion.

and Matt...well, he was feeling left out so he decided to start working on the 11 year chair project.

He sanded, restrung, and de-horse haired/strawed the old cushions.

He sanded some more.

We found this king rocking chair by the side of the road and Matt fell in love.

But, he didn't know how to restring, recushion and felt a little overwhelmed.

BUT, DAD to the rescue!!

Dad recushioned...while Matt continued to sand.

It turned out fantastic.

Matt calls it his C.S. Lewis chair.

(The kids have to ask permission to sit in it...at least for the first day.)

Doesnt' the lamp and new chair look like they belong together?

Pefect vintage harmony?