Category Archives: DIY

Restoring The Addie!

Restoring The Addie! Can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to unveil The Addie. Let me give a little history.

I have so many wonderful memories of this cabinet. It was my Great Aunt Addie Cazee’s and she was given it when she got married and set up housekeeping in the early 1900’s. If I recall, and I could be corrected, I think it was given to her as a hand-me-down as well, so it wasn’t new to her at the time. Trying to put a timeline on the piece has been difficult but we know it is at least 120 years old, possibly dating back to the 1880’s. I had never seen another like it but yesterday, imagine my surprise when I was perusing Pinterest and eBay and came across one that was identical! I contacted the owner who didn’t have much information on that piece since it wasn’t from their family. They did say that they understood it to be 1880’s so I am hanging around that mark.

I have tried to research the period and some will call this a cupboard or hutch but we have always christened it a pie safe because of the screened holes in the side. Years and years ago, ladies would put their baked goods in a pie safe to cool them and also to protect them from critters and little ones.

Aunt Addie gave this piece to my grandmother, Mamaw Cammie, many years ago. She had it as long as I can remember and it was filled with the Franciscan Apple dishes, all in perfect condition to this day in my mother’s china cabinet. You are probably familiar with these beautiful pieces!

Franciscan apple dishes

It is not clear, among the siblings, how I ended up with the pie safe. My sister will inherit the dishes, priceless pieces. My brothers received several things of my grandfathers when he passed away. But I hold to the reasoning that I was given the cabinet because I was the only one married at the time and the first one to leave home! (smile) However it worked out, I have had it for over 20 years in my home and used it in its original condition. (Here it is in my garage after its move to Tennessee and right before it was painted.)

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This treasured piece still had the original wavy glass in the doors and original screens! The knobs are the only thing that have obviously been replaced at some time and both sets of doors had a key lock of some sort with a hook on the inside to hold the other door. (Note that we had already begun sanding a bit before I took these pictures…I wasn’t thinking of a post!)

pie safe

Restoring The Addie

Restoring The Addie

Restoring The Addie

Restoring The Addie

Since the priceless treasure (to me!) is always going to be in my family, I decided I wanted to do a Pinterest makeover with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint! I had read countless articles and watched so many Youtube tutorials that I felt I was an expert before I began.

Not.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is not chalky at all but there are so many benefits to using it on a piece like this. The one that sold me was that I didn’t have to do one blessed thing to it if I didn’t want to. No sanding, no preparation whatsoever! Yet, I did sand the inside a little just because the shelves were so rough and there were a few areas, especially on the doors, that needed smoothing out. But with Annie Sloan paints, there is no need to remove the stain or varnish or even old paint!

I wanted the cabinet to be a darker gray, so after consulting with the stockists at C’est Moi in Brentwood, Tennessee, and looking at some pieces they had painted there, I decided to mix the colors Graphite and Old White together.

Restoring The Addie Restoring The Addie

Restoring The AddieEasy peasy! Annie Sloan paints are so smooth they are easy to mix together for just the right shade. There are several grays in her line, but the Paris Grey seemed too light and had a touch of blue. The French Linen had a little too much taupe, or it seemed to me, so I opted to create my own.

So easy to apply, and one coat was all it took to cover The Addie! I applied Old White to the inside back wall, don’t you love the plank boards on the back?!

Restoring The Addie

We decided, for now, to leave the doors off. I have always had the doors on and usually opened but wanted to try something different. I did go ahead and paint and finish the doors in case I ever want to put them back on. You know it is a woman’s prerogative to change her mind!

Now, I knew this needed a finish and I had read countless opinions about what to use. Annie Sloan suggests her wax for finishing unless it is a “high traffic” piece, then most furniture restorers preferred a polyacrylic coat of some sort to help protect against scratches. This would be especially important on something such as a table top. Since my cabinet was going to house my every day dishes and that would mean quite a bit of “in and out” use, I decided to apply a polyacrylic coat. I chose Modern Masters Dead Flat Varnish, purchased on Amazon. It was easy to apply, and even though it goes on milky, it dries perfectly clear. I gave it two coats for good measure.

Restoring The Addie

But even after all of that, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the result. It needed something and I was sure that Annie Sloan White Wax was the answer….and it was!

Restoring The Addie

Using the round wax brush, you basically can brush it on any old way, in small sections, then wipe it back off with a lint free cloth. The idea is for the white wax to get into the crevices and details of the furniture. It lightened up the piece a bit and gave it a weathered, slightly distressed look, which seemed appropriate for something so old! Tutorials and experts say “Wax is always last” and The Addie now has plenty of protection against daily use.

What do you think?

Restoring The Addie

Restoring The Addie

The Sweetheart still has to install the new screens. We didn’t want to just leave open holes and wanted it to be as authentic as possible. The old screens probably could have been cleaned up and reused but one of them was just about to rot completely away.

The hardware was discovered at Hobby Lobby. If you ever need knobs or draw pulls, good grief, they have a fabulous selection. It took several trips and returns before I found the one that I thought fit the cabinet and the period pretty well. I see I didn’t take any pictures inside the bottom part of the cabinet, but rest assured, it is beautifully painted and all cleaned up as well!

Restoring The Addie

You can see the hints of the white wax in the details, I simply love the light distressing.

Restoring The Addie

The Addie

One more time, here is the cabinet/hutch/cupboard/pie safe before and after with just a few Pioneer Woman Vintage Bloom dinnerware pieces to give some color…can’t wait to finish decorating!

 

Restoring The Addie

 

 Family fun FridayNap time creations

Vintage toddler rocking chair makeover!

Many of you have followed along with our miracle story of Baby Norah. She is set to arrive with fanfare on April 2, unless she decides to be fashionably late or surprisingly early. Either way, we are ready. You can read the God-story here.

But long before there was a Norah, or even Mommy Rachel, for our family and the last 34 years, there has been Norah’s soon-to-be Daddy, Kyle. He was our first of My Three Sons, the first grandchild on my side of the family and probably a little spoiled, which is okay, right?

Kyle’s first Christmas, 1981, his paternal grandparents bought him and his best-friend-for-life-and-cousin, Jeremy, the cutest little rockers that were just their size. Shockingly, it is one of the few things I have kept over the years and even more shocking, Kyle didn’t remember it.

rocking chair

kyle in rocking chair

Fast forward from 1981 to 2016! Norah Jayne’s baby shower was fast approaching. I had crocheted her a cotton blanket, ordered her a handmade crib mobile from Etsy, bought stencils for her nursery wall and Poppy even made her a blanket ladder…not to mention the outfits we have not been able to resist. But I just didn’t have that personal item that I wanted to give.

And then I remembered the chair.

Trust me when I say I am not a DIY regular. We used to operate our own Etsy store a few years ago where we made Pottery Barn style cubby shelves and shipped them worldwide. But again, that’s been a few years ago and this was a little more detailed.

Perusing Pinterest, there are so many cute makeovers that it wasn’t long before I could envision what I wanted to do for Norah’s.

The nursery is soft cream’s, pink and green so the chair had to match! I started out by sanding down the entire rocker and then applying a primer. After that, it was on to three coats of a creamy white. Then I began to add in some pink on the sides and the top.

I wanted a chevron pattern on the seat, which was a little more difficult, and not quite as defined, since the slats in the chair were further apart. The Sweetheart, a.k.a. Poppy, bought me some Frog Tape, someone somewhere is a genius for inventing this! It was simple to line up the tape on the seat and then I just painted over it all with the light pink. You then remove the tape while the paint is still wet and the lines were crisp and clean! (You can see the yellow tape underneath the paint here.)

chevron rocker

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After that, I decided to add in some green stripes to the sides with regular painter’s tape. It was a little more difficult to remove and to place it perfectly straight. Actually, it just about drove me crazy! Wrapping the tape around and then trying to remove it without touching anything else was a nightmare for me but with a little touch-up you would never know I had so much trouble.

For the final touch, I wanted to personalize it and wished I could have painted her entire name across the back of the chair (and I did try!) but it just wasn’t working out so I went with a wooden letter N for Norah, painted it the matching green and then set to attaching it to the chair. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to stay with super glue, hot glue or Gorilla Glue! Poppy finally had to get a small screw and attach it. Now she won’t be so likely to pull it off either.

Ready for the reveal?

Norah's rocking chari

And here it is in Norah Jayne’s nursery…

Norah's Chair

Vintage Toddler Rocking Chair Makeover

Here is Rachel at her shower on Saturday…such a great day!

rachel

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Best chicken and wild rice soup ever!

(Hope in the Healing uses affiliate links and ads to help support this site. Read my full disclosure here.)

1380237_10201166074611540_1944128159_n I have this friend. She is bubbly, beautiful and shows the love of Jesus every single day. She is a wife, mother, grandmother and pastor’s wife to a wonderful congregation somewhere in the Midwest (smile). Kim Buerky can also flat-out cook! At one gathering in their home, she made this chicken and wild rice soup and I have asked her to share it with me several times only because I lost it the first time, was overseas the second time and thought I was going to have to call her again but finally found it.

There are several different versions on the internet of this Northwoods Wild Chicken and Rice Soup. The one identical to Kim’s was originally published as Northwoods Wild Rice Soup in Taste of Home Christmas Annual 2011. Some call for ham and others even have bacon, but trust me, this is one soup that doesn’t need either!

chicken and wild rice soup

When it gets colder outside, the leaves begin to fall and the wind is crazy like it was today, I want soup. I’ve already made chili and tortilla soup and just woke up this morning thinking of Kim’s soup. It’s easy to make, not too many steps and you will be enjoying this comforting, creamy and delicious concoction in no time!

Best chicken and wild rice soup ever!

What you will need:
1/4 c. butter
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz. fresh, sliced mushrooms (not from a jar, people!)
1 medium carrot, chopped or grated
1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups of chicken broth
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 cup cooked, chopped or shredded chicken
4 oz cream cheese

c75ab70e-705e-46eb-8a68-e723e9357742Melt butter and add onion, mushrooms and carrots.

Cook and stir over medium heat until carrots are tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper then add chicken broth all at once. Stir until bubbly. Add evaporated milk, the rice, chicken and cream cheese. Continue to cook over low heat until the cheese is melted.

This recipe makes four servings but I always double it. Hey, who doesn’t like leftovers when it is this good?!

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Nutritional Facts: 1 cup equals 320 calories, 20 g fat (12 g saturated fat), 80 mg cholesterol, 482 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 16 g protein.

Winter is on the way…what are some comfort foods that you like to make during colder weather?

If you allowed your family to vote for their favorite meal, what would it be?

Gathering around the family table to share a meal is one of the most important parts of the day. Granted, it is not always feasible but it should be something that we work toward. Have a blessed day and go make this soup!

Kingdom2

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