Well That Took Longer Than I Thought It Was Going To.

Today's title refers to a joke between the hubby and I.  In 18 years, we have never undertaken any project where that sentence was not uttered by one of us at the finish line!  Obviously today, it refers to the length of time since my last post.  Now I can finally spare a few moments to blog again.  The decorations are finally put away.  Yes, our tree was still up as of last week, but is now outside providing shelter for small wildlife.  And, speaking of small wildlife, our bunnies are here and providing us much entertainment, but that will have to wait for another post!

My most recent obsession with upcycling is in full swing, fueled by my love of all things old.  I have to thank my dear, departed mother for instilling my love of antiques and cottage style.  She was probably the most prominent of my style influences.  My sister's style is quite different, however, I also find great inspiration from her as well.  I guess if you combined the two, you end up with my style, if you can call shabby-cottage-minimalist-lodge a style!  And, I really don't believe you can.  I digress… my mother was an original upcycler.  She wasn't nearly the hoarder that I am, but she did tuck things away to breath new life into someday.  She turned baskets and cigar boxes into purses; constantly rehabbing furniture....  from her, I learned to look at  objects with a repurposeful eye (yeah, I know that's not a real word.  Neither was upcycle; a word which spell check wants to change to epicycle - I don't even know what that is… I'll have to look it up). 

Most of my current projects seem to revolve around books.  I'm constantly on the prowl in the thrift stores for old hardbound books to use in my store displays.  Stacked up, they provide the varied heights needed to properly display merchandise.  I had the idea to turn one of them into a box.  I googled for some basic instructions and found a treasure trove of ideas for upcycling books.  Now I can't seem to stop myself!  I haven't even gotten around to the box yet!  Maybe later today…

It started with the flowers.  We receive at least 30 thick, full color catalogs every year from our vendors.  I've always felt pretty horrible about throwing them away, and they make the trash soooo heavy.  But what to do with them?  Flowers!  Tons of them.  The leaves are also repurposed!  It is ribbon used to tie sets of napkin rings together.  When we receive the product, we untie them and sell them individually.  I've saved hundreds of these ribbons over the years!  I knew I would find a purpose someday and they are the perfect color for rose leaves.  Ta da!  

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.  Here's a link to Patty Scheaffer's blog, where I got the idea.  There is also a reference on her blog to a tutorial if you want to try to  make some of these.  http://pattyschaffer.typepad.com/capture_the_details/2011/02/paper-rosesspring-branches.html

She attached a bunch to real branches like beautiful spring buds.  I love that idea - that will be next!  And maybe a wreath… who knows?

Apple and pear are made from paperback books.  Old, trashy romance novels and other cast-offs that no one really wants to read!  They were usually printed on really cheap paper that has aged nicely.  You have to choose carefully, though.  Many old paperbacks have turned brittle and you can't bend the spine without the pages falling out.  A touch of paint along the edges and a stick for a stem!   I've made a cute little mushroom too, but can't seem to find that photo.  It will have to wait for the bunny post.  The little heart garland is made from the leftover paperback pages.

The book page flowers are from an old German book that was in unsalvageable condition.  I grabbed it at a garage sale because of the beautiful type.  It's perfect for these flowers.  The pages are quite yellowed, but I aged the edges with a pigment ink pad after the flowers were made.  So pretty!  I'll take a close-up shot today when I go in to work.  Thrift store terra-cotta pot has a nice patina, but I need to find instructions on how to get that minerally-mossy, used look on a pot that doesn't have it yet… other than planting something in it and letting it age… anyone?  

Until next time..... which I promise will be soon!

So, here I am again. Gonna give this blogging thing another try. I last tried to blog in 2008 while we were building a house. I posted once. Just once. Fabulous. Yay me.

This new blog is tied to my business, The Mad Moose. We have 2 stores: The Mad Moose Fine Mountain Furniture and Accessories and The Mad Moose Home & Garden. I will mostly blog about the latter as that is "my" store. The former being "my husband's store". Believe me, we are involved in both stores nearly equally, but the Home & Garden store is my baby.

The first store is very lodgy and sportsman oriented. We carry log (mostly aspen, some hickory) furniture, and taxidermy. Our kitchen, bed, and bath decor items feature a lot of moose, bear, and elk. The second store is more garden oriented, with an emphasis on cottage style & country chic. I guess you could say it is more feminine. We still have a few moose & bear items, but no taxidermy.

When we opened the 2nd store this summer, my goal was to incorporate some furniture rehabs and upcycled items into the inventory to help show customers how to achieve a shabby chic, cottage style in their own home using our products. Unfortunately, just starting up a 2nd store really stole most of my time. Now that we're in the off season, I hope to spend some more time on my rehabbing and upcycling. The plan is that I will blog about it here, and you can follow the progress of each item from find/pick to it's eventual arrival in the showroom! Some picks go right into the showroom so there won't be much to see! I am in the middle of a rehab project with 2 small matching tables right now. I'll try to post about them soon.

I spent the summer refining my buying and deciding what stays and what goes. We have limited space in the H&G store so we can't waste an inch of it! I really only had one major dog this year which turned out to be the rubber floor mat bases and the interchangeable inserts. They are actually a great product, but since most of my customers are tourists, I think they were just too heavy and bulky for them to take with them. The mats also take up a lot of real estate, so they are ON SALE NOW! Got to get them outta here and make room for something else!

Another thing I have not had the time for this summer that I need to get busy with, is posting H&G items on our website. This too will be coming soon.... I hope.

I hope all of our customers, friends, and countless complete strangers will find some small measure of enjoyment in this blog!

Moosie