Country Living Fair 2016

The Fair season is in full tilt!
It was absolutely perfect weather for a Fair the past couple of days. The Country Living Fair is nestled in the Hudson Valley right now and it's chock full of amazing finds, ideas, and talent!

Be still my heart. 

Farm ART! 

I love the bandana decor theme. And along the vending booths are some real show stoppers!

OH EM GEE! A leather upholstered carriage bench!!!

Great ideas and crafting supplies.

Repurposed doors, windows and other architectural creations.
And, too many booths of amazing work to get all gah-gah about.
Wagner is there with spray painting demos and tryouts. (Loved the color this lady chose.)

Hundreds of booths and tons of country living eye candy!

And more  WOW!

Gah! Look at this display creation in red! Super creative isn't it? The museum and some antique vendors stopped me in my tracks too often to count.

Check out the wooden bicycle.

Painted furniture... everywhere.

This old wooden truck was being worked on in a garage area behind the museum. 

Just around the corner, the blacksmith guide was very knowledgeable. We gained some tips and news about some upcoming events.  (Yes, he is cropped out. Someone else did not want his photo included, so this is what I can show. But, I can relate, I'm not photogenic either.)

From the outside of the booths, it looks lightly populated.

But I can tell you... it's standing room only IN the booths!
I could hardly get photos done.

Catching live cooking shows is fun and full of personality! The Fabulous Beekman Boys, Josh and Brent were fantastic with tips about cooking with fennel yesterday.

Oh, and the food of course, was delicious everywhere. We really enjoyed the London Broil sandwiches. The Lime Fizz was very refreshing. I'm going to make some myself at home. It's a nice break from lemonaid.

Special home goods like pickles and sauces were also very yummy. We just HAD to bring some home.

Happy to report... I already put this Hot Raspberry Chili syrup on greek yogurt this morning. Oh man, what a breakfast treat that was!

Mama didn't get a new pair of shoes, but sure did become a fashion statement with some new summer attire... like this lacy cowgirl top and light sweater. Top Shelf Jewelry makes everyone feel special with their linen bags to take your new treasures home. Check out the sweet key charm bracelets the clerk gave me! Too sweet!

You can spend each day and not see everything. If you're like me, you take your time scoping out all that you adore and the day is already over. I've got lots more photos but the post is long enough.

We left before dinner time to hit up some of our usual favorites in the Hudson Valley. Farm stands and other flea markets were still open. So off we went.

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your visit with me to the Country Living Fair. The big Dutchess County Fair will be coming up later this summer, so we'll stop over again. Hope you'll join me!

DIY Pulley Light Fixture

I always wanted a pulley light fixture since the first time I saw one. They look amazing in industrial and farm style designed rooms. But, they are a little pricey to buy. I swore when I got a pulley that I would make one.

Well, the time has come! I scored a pulley from a yard sale. While I'm in the middle of redoing the kitchen, the timing couldn't be better!

It was a little dirty and rough.

So I cleaned it up and sanded it down to smooth it out.

Then rubbed coconut oil into it.

Since the pulley was ready, I grabbed my electrical light fixture stash for parts to put this whole pulley lighting together.

I had a flush mount canopy and a mounting bracket that was do-able. Worried about weight, I bought some toggle bolts for mounting them.

Then I needed two identical corded sockets and didn't have any on hand. So after looking around I ended up buying 2 mason jar cord kits. Perfect, because the lids are vented for heat. I also bought 2 Edison Style light bulbs.

As for shades, I was cutting bottles and jars with hopes to use milk bottles. After cutting several to get a couple of them with smooth cuts, the jar was too narrow for my hands to screw in the bulbs.

Ugh. I ended up with mason jars which was fine because it was my second choice.

It's important to use open bottles and jars due to fire hazards. Those jars just screwed onto fixtures without venting scares the BeJeebers out of me.

Once I had all of the parts prepared, it was time to assemble the whole fixture.

I mounted the bracket with 4 toggle bolts into the ceiling. According to the manufacturer, each can hold up to 50 pounds, I just wanted to make real sure that nothing was going to come falling down on anyone. Once the bracket was secure, I mounted the canopy. ( It came from another ceiling fixture in my junk stash.)

Before hanging the pulley from the canopy, I fed the corded sockets through. Then added some linked chain to weave the cords through. The chain was another security measure. The links were easy to open and close back with two pairs of pliers as I attached it to the canopy.

At this point, I was able to hang the pulley from the mounted canopy and run the cords to the wall where the outlet is located.

Then the exciting moment... adding the shades and the bulbs!

Ha!!! I did it!

It is so pretty that it makes a great accent light in the room.

Little accomplishments bring such joy, don't they?

Little things that make life fun are worth the time.

I'm so excited to finally have this little dream come true.

Have you wanted to make one of these or similar?

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A Refrigerator Cover Up

I'm redoing the kitchen and the one thing that annoys me is...

this BIG white refrigerator! I really can't relocate it and it's... well, a necessity. So we have to keep it. 

Here's the crime scene.

It's blowing out the kitchen here! Something had to be done. I had to hide it. Or try to. 

I thought a chalkboard on the side might dress it up. Plus, it would be really handy. So... I scored this vintage wooden frame at a flea market and it was almost the right size to use for the chalkboard. 

And then there was a big "a-ha moment", my dear, Watson! Beadboard under the chalkboard would give a finished look. Kinda' like a faux wall. Hmmm... this could be a good cover. 

I cut and resized the frame. Then cut the beadboard panels to fit on the refrigerator. 

Then glued the boards together and added duct tape for more support over the glued areas on the back. 

Both the frame and the beadboard needed to go onto the refrigerator. Deciding to make it non-permanent, I glued on magnet tape and round heavy duty magnets.

While the glue dried, I applied chalkboard contact paper onto the upper part of the fridge where it would be framed in. 

When the magnets were securely glued, I just placed the wooden frame over the chalkboard. Then placed the beadboard under the chalkboard frame. The magnets cling both sections onto the fridge very well!

The results: A great solution to the problem! 

A huge chalkboard that's magnetic too! Perfect for appointments and other memos.

Reminders can't be missed staring at your face each day. I think I like it. It's a keeper.

It's organized and has a much better appearance.

Of course, painting the kitchen cabinets white helped blend the fridge into the room for a neater look. 

I'll reveal the whole farm style kitchen redo next week. I'm still finishing up. (Too many things going on and not enough coffee this week!)

This little project was super easy to do and ended up as a very inexpensive cover up. Don't you love the idea of keeping track of reminders in a convenient area? 

Interested in the chalkboard roll or the beadboard ? This is what I used.

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