Be still my heart.....

I have loved this piece of furniture from the moment I laid eyes on it.  I knew we could be happy together. 

I instantly pictured it in my life, sharing my space, letting me adore it for the rest of my life. 

The only problem was...I didn't own it.  It wasn't mine.  It was someone else's. 

Oh, but I dreamed about it.  It would fit into my home, assisting in so many ways!  But I instantly thought how it could love our family so well in the area of a coffee bar....another deep love and passion of mine.

And then....one random day, I asked my amazingly talented friend, Jeff, if he thought he could make one.  "Sure, he could try."  We talked about how much money it might be and realized it might cost a couple of hundred dollars worth of wood. 

And for now, that wasn't a possibility.

But God is a God of possibility, isn't He?

Jeff came across some fence wood from a neighboring house.  They were replacing their fence, and there was actually nothing wrong with the old fence. 

So with free wood, Jeff's amazing talent (and many hours!), and his sweet, giving heart....

TA-DA.....

Isn't it amazing?!  I love it!  I'd marry it, if I could.  :) 

I haven't yet painted it, but how close is THIS to the original picture?!

(My pictures do not even do this fabulousness justice!)

He even put glass in the upper hutch!

AND a light underneath! 

Let me catch my breath....

I wish I'd taken an up close photo of the cute little tray he made, too.  I have the PERFECT spot for it...my coffee table.  And I needed something just like it to go there.  I'll come back to that with pictures later.

Jeff, you are a talented man.

And a dear family friend.

Thank you for your blessing.

And thank you, Colleen, for loaning Jeff's man hours to work on this.

You're both so special!!!

A little table in need of love

I was driving with my husband yesterday...and suddenly saw this in front of someone's house:




My husband, who had already started turning the car around, looked at me and said, "We're going back to look at that, aren't we?" He knows me so well.

I can see the swan in this ragged little ugly duckling, which by the way has about 82 layers of previous paint on it.


Cob webs....
Somebody has been hiding this little gem away.

It EVEN previously had some sort of cow on it, right smack in the middle of the front panel. I can't imagine why they took the cow off.


But the top of it has a really cool pattern in the wood.

Stay tuned for the big reveal.....

More OPJ finds....

This was a fun find.

I picked them up from a guy in our neighborhood for $20 (all 4 pieces). I'll show you where they end up finding a home in my house. It sure will be fun trying to figure it out!

I absolutely adore all things "chippy". (Except toe nail polish, of course...which I frequently have)

I thought this piece would look great on the wall next to the herb garden we're starting outside. What do you think?

It doesn't take much to delight my heart. And OPJ ranks high on the list!

Make it a great day.