Uncategorized

Creating Nightstands

Big Red Barn Blog

When we moved into our house we bought or made new furniture. One thing we didn’t think of was nightstands. It turns out nightstands are pretty convenient. We went five years without them because we just couldn’t find the right ones. Last spring when the restaurant I work for closed down for six weeks I had some free time. My dad is pretty handy and he was nice enough to help me build these beautiful nightstands that helped complete our bedroom.

We had some scraps of wood from building our table and chandelier that we made into 2 x 2’s. These pieces would be the frame of our nightstands. Once we had all of them cut we started screwing the fronts and backs together. It took a lot of measuring and sanding to get everything to fit perfectly. I definitely wanted a drawer so we left space for that. We then made the drawers and put a latch at the back to keep it in place.

After assembling the nightstands we needed to sift through some of the scraps to find tops. We had to find ones with no holes and that were long and wide enough to cover the nightstands. When we found and cut the perfect tops we had to sand and seal them. While waiting on the tops to dry we stained the bottom frames. My cats loved to curl up in the nightstands until we finished them up!

When the seal and stain was dry we glued the tops to the base and let that dry. I would say it was easy but these took quite a bit of time and effort to get them to look this good. I am so pleased with how they turned out and the fact that we didn’t have to buy anything to make them. There is something that feels good about recycling things you would normally throw out and make them into beautiful pieces of furniture!

-Cristie

Decorating

Country Life Front Porch Refresh

Big Red Barn Blog

Do you see photos of front porches on Pinterest or other social media sites and wish you had the time and money to refresh your front porch in the same manner? We live in a converted metal building with a very large covered front porch.

I use the same approach to the outside of my house as I do the inside of my house. Reuse, recycle, refresh! Use everything you can and be creative!

New chair cushions can be very expensive. After an extensive search, I purchased new cushions at Big Lots. I love the colors and the whismy of the flowers! The turquoise pillows were purchased at Big Lots as well. Discounters like Big Lots can be half the price of other outlets.

The edging around my small flower garden in front consists of vintage bricks picked up here and there at garage, estate, or farm sales. They are a historic nod to your city or state. The crocks were deemed unusable because the smaller crock has no bottom and the maple leaf crock has a very large crack. I filled them with dirt and planted perennials in them. These are perfect for your garden!

The glider was found at a garage sale for $10! It had MANY layers of paint – red, yellow, white, and green. I decided to distress it by simple sanding and gave it a clear coat. I found a perfect cushion at a local discount store, and then found new pillows at garage sales.

All of the tables and chairs were found at local garage sales. Garage sales are GREAT for finding outdoor furniture. If you don’t like the color, consider a quick change with a can of spray paint.

We love feeding and watching the birds. We found most of our feeders at local sales. Most estate sales will have lots of bird feeders. Look in the garage and in sheds for feeders. I make my own humming bird food with boiled water and sugar. It’s a 4/1 ratio of water to sugar. Bring water to a boil and then add the sugar. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Then fill your feeder. I try to change it out once a week.

Finally, the hot tub! Full on retail and worth every penny!! The Airstream look trailer is a Payne County legend, but that’s a story for another day! We really enjoy our porch and outdoors.

Jackie

Uncategorized

Strawberry Jam

Big Red Barn Blog

This week I had some good friends offer me some strawberries from their garden. They had a ton that they were not going to use so I thought I would can some jam! I love the canning process so any excuse to use it I take full advantage. I am also a huge strawberry jam fan so it was a win win.

First thing when canning is to sanitize your jars. Luckily I have a sanitize setting on my dishwasher so I just popped them in and ran a load. This setting does take some time so make sure and plan that part out ahead of time. Getting your canning bath ready can also take some time so you will want to do that before you start making the jam. My parents gave me this huge graniteware water bath canner and it has been a lifesaver. You will need to fill it with water about two-thirds full and turn the burners on high.

Now it’s time to start making the jam. You need to rinse your strawberries and remove the stems. Next you place them in a bowl and either smash them by hand or use an emulsion blender. I used an emulsion blender because I like a very smooth jam. You will pour the mixture into a stock pot and add your butter and fruit pectin. Bring these ingredients to a boil stirring constantly with a wooden spoon then add your sugar. Bring this mix to a boil again and boil for one minute then remove from the heat. Skim the top of the jam to remove the film.

While you are making the jam you will want to boil a small pot of water and throw your lids in until you are ready to seal the jars. While the lids are boiling start filling the jars with the jam. I use this canning funnel to keep things clean and efficient. Fill each jar leaving about half an inch at the top.

Place a lid on each jar then put a ring on and hand tighten but not too snug. Place each jar in your canning bath and put the lid on. Leave them in the bath for about 15 minutes. Remove from the bath and set on towel. You will hear each jar pop ensuring you that your jar is sealed. Let them cool and enjoy! We love to can and will have several recipes coming your way throughout the year!

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups smashed strawberries
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 packet fruit pectin (1.75 oz)
  • 7 cups sugar

-Cristie

Collecting

Mixing/Matching Dishes and Glassware

Big Red Barn Blog

While picking and thrifting, I often find random dishes, glassware, and flatware. I will find one or two pieces, but not enough for a set. That’s what got me started mixing and matching dishes, patterns, colors, etc. I LOVE the green dishes with the birds in the center (above). It’s made by Noritake. They have been making tableware for almost 100 years from Japan and are still in business today. I do not know the maker of the the bottom glass plate, but really like the pattern and the way it looks with the Noritake.

The next grouping picks up the pink from the flowers and looks great together. The bottom plate is a piece of green depression glass. I really like the vibrant pink. Matching colors can be challenging. Of course, all greens, pinks, blues, etc., do not look great together. I often think things will look great together, only to get home and find it’s not so great! You can take a photo with you that can help in matching colors.

I’m also not a big depression glass fan, but really like to use it with other dishes. It provides a neutral piece to tie all of the colors/patterns together.

When displaying cups and saucers from your collection, I always struggled with what to do with all the coffee/tea cups. One thing I found that works to corral the cups is a bowl. It can match or not. Both look great!

There are MANY, MANY beautiful patterns on dishes. Have fun with this. One of my customers at the Big Red Barn selected cups and saucers that didn’t exactly match, but worked together to have a tea party/birthday party for her daughter. It was inexpensive and fun. These work great for cocktail parties, appetizers, dinners, etc. Don’t be afraid to try something. You might be surprised how much you love different combinations!

Jackie