I've got to quit stripping.

It's so bad for me! Plus, I'm horrible at it. I make zero money.

I'm stripping these corbels for Layla Palmer. She asked me to help her look for corbels several months ago. I found these in Tennessee and they are fabulous, but she wanted them stripped. I should have taken them to Cullman immediately. Instead, I waited until the last minute and tried to do it myself. I went to Lowe's and bought all the supplies.

I took it all over to Ashlee's....she would know what to do. We sat in her driveway: me stripping, her making some AWESOME teacher gifts. Watch her blog this week. I bet you will see them there! (wink)

I was struggling. We went inside for a sandwich and I got a phone call. It was Garlan asking me about an ad for the Southern Makers event book. I told him my dilemna. He tried to say I told you so, but I stopped him and he told me to get to the store and he would put them in the strip tank. Ahhhhh....hero!

I packed my bucket real quick and headed north!

I was planning on meeting Layla and Kevin at 3:00 to help with a project they are working on...check out this post to follow along with this particular adventure! The corbels are for something totally different! ;)

I went straight to the wood shop and Roger helped me tell Rojelio that I needed these corbels stripped. I pulled 4 out of a garbage bag and he threw them in the tank. Wow. Really? He wears and apron and these really thick long gloves so his skin won't burn. I was over there with my camera in one hand and phone in the other. Roger told me to step away from the tank! I decided one weapon at a time!

I'm not sure why Rojelio doesn't have his gloves on here. He needs to be careful! Dipping and stripping? much easier!

He was dunking them and using a bucket to pour the stripper over the corbels.

 Wow, can you believe how it just bubbles up? I just wanted to reach in and peel it all up! I can't wait to see them come out of the tank!

I left them with him and went up front to meet up with Layla and Kevin. I was surprised to see Myra, from My Blessed Life, come in! She had her sweet baby boy with her. He is SO cute! She was meeting them, too. We spent the rest of the afternoon out at the wood warehouse with Ryan finding, measuring, and pulling wood. Loaded it all up for them to take home and realized it was too late to get the corbels. We told them all about the Southern Makers event and they are planning on stopping by...so, we will deliver that weekend! A fun day. I really love helping people find their treasures at Southern Accents.

Christmas Mantel at Hansel and Gretel

I always have so much fun decorating my house for Christmas. Since we have moved, I have been chomping at the bit wanting to get all of my decorations from the storage units. It really stinks to not have my Christmas closet anymore! Shelves to the ceiling held all of my rubber maids! I also kept 3 trees in there! Only one was out of the box and standing. Now, I have to drive a few miles down the road and load up the car and a trailer and then make another trip to get it all to Hansel and Gretel! I really didn't mind this year since it was a new house and I could re-do everything! I had lots of fun over Thanksgiving weekend when my fellas were off in the woods hunting. I had the house all to myself and got so much done!

I have this HUGE fireplace. It's like chateau-in-the-mountains-huge! I can literally stand inside! I didn't really have an idea of what would make it onto this monstrosity. The area from the mantel to the top is not very big. It's just really wide. As I was opening all the boxes on the porch, I found my Penny McAllister collection. This stuff is gorgeous, y'all! I absolutely love it. It's all handmade and since she passed away a few years ago, my pieces have become even more special to me.

The window painted like a santa belt and believe spelled out is courtesy of my talented sister, Natalie! She made this for me several years ago and it's one of my favorite pieces!

A close up of a few Penny McAllister pieces and my favorite wood Christmas Tree!

There is a smaller den off the kitchen at Hansel and Gretel. We use this room a lot. It's where homework gets done and dinner gets eaten! I wanted some real garland for this mantel, but haven't found any. Maybe someone has extra and they want to share? Or maybe, I could actually go and buy some. hahahahaha, I'm still in my pj's and it's 2:15!

This mantel has a few things on it from my first decorating attempt. That window...it's one of my favorite pieces, the clock, the 4 and the small foundry pattern were all there before. I added John Connor's first kill. It was hanging over the mantel last year with a Santa hat! Oh, that shed was there before, too. I just moved it over to allow for those fun trees to have a spot! 

The two frames are from one of my favorite frame makers, Leah. That santa is part of my collection that is in another room. I needed a space filler and he fit the bill! I picked up those two small reindeer in Tennessee at Marshall's. I am loving reindeer this season!

I'm linking this Christmas mantel to:

Architectural Corbels

I've always loved corbels. You will find intricate detail on many corbels and some will have no detail at all. I'm drawn to the more detailed ones. These are very popular right now in home decor. You will see them under top cabinets or under a bar top.  Check out some of my Pinterest boards for lots of ideas! I love to see them for shelving or as an entry table. If you can find them large enough, you can use them as a table. A friend of mine, Layla Palmer, you may know her from her awesome blog, The Lettered Cottage! She has just moved into a "new" cottage! I am going to love watching her re-do this cute house. She called me last week looking for corbels for a desk. You can see the post of her inspiration here. I found several options for her......but, none that were perfect! She has another idea for her work corner and I'm sure we will see it soon! I still have her on my  when-I-find-some-cool-ones list because I know she may need some for another spot and she has a friend looking, too! I really enjoy helping people find that perfect piece! My favorites are one-of-a-kinds. That's why I like architectural salvage stores so much. They have an ever-changing inventory and I  know that eventually, they will have that perfect piece!

While looking for Layla, I found a few loves of my own! Southern Accents has a few singles.

They usually come at a better rate. Most have a project that requires two. Me? I would hang a single one on a wall and be DONE! I may still add a couple of these to my collection! One may have my name on it...I need to check on that! I did notice after I had Garlan going all over the store taking pictures for me, these were featured on their facebook page!

 They also added these....I love these. I want to cut these and re-make them! Or just add to them.....

They have more simple lines, but I think in a kitchen they would be beautiful under top cabinets. Of course, you would need really high ceilings!! (not at the Hansel and Gretel house :()

This morning I get a text from someone with a 423 area code. Signed Tim. Woah....do I know a Tim? I couldn't think of one that would have corbels! I tell him I love them and he tells me he is in Sweet Water, Tennesse.......my MOM! Yay! I asked her to be on the look-out for me last weekend. She was on an antique junking trip of her own! I was so excited! I called her and asked if she would pick them up for me. Did a little dealing and decided to buy all 5! I know I can use them or hook them up with a new home!!

I did buy these last weekend in Atlanta at the Country Living Fair. I just got them out of my car this morning to take a photo. I have NO idea what I'm going to do with them! My husband would say they would be good fire wood! rude

A few other pictures of corbels. These are concrete. Can you say h-e-a-v-y!

These are from The Depot. They need a bit of TLC!

Do you like corbels? Have you used them in decorating? Maybe you have some in your barn, like me, and just haven't decided the perfect place for them!

Stripping is Hard Work!

This week is crazy busy. Oh wait, that was last week and the week before.....you know the drill.

I worked with Dawn at the farm today in her cute, red, horse barn. We were stripping furniture. Um..not fun. The end result will be fantastic. Today's work, terrible!

 We also picked up a beautiful butcher block from France circa 1830. It is gorgeous! Not sure why I didn't get a pic of it. I will next week! I pulled out my new camera and was taking a few photos and realized Dawn is, like a professional photographer. She was all you need to put your fstop at blah and your shutter speed at blah. What's your ISO set on? Let me see it....yeah, whatever. Maybe I will learn a thing or two from her! I did take a few pics and then left my new camera on the chicken's window. I hope they took a few of themselves! They are a fuzzy group! I will have to share that tomorrow. I'm meeting her in the morning to get it and heading to the creek to get some updates on the Creek Party!

 Let's talk about Saturday. Emma and I got up at 6am to go to her gymnastics clinic in Huntsville. Talk about a long day!

I dropped her off and went to see a good friend from High School who tears down barns he sees along the side of the road.....seriously.......like, pulls up and asks if he can tear it down and haul it off. They say yes, he works for a couple of days. I reap the benefits! You can too! He has several beams  that would be amazing mantels!!

 I also have several ideas for these shorter pieces. Think bench, coffee table, side table. I just took pictures of what he had and if you need something or when I decide what I need, he will measure and find the perfect one!

This one will go to the Creek Party! house. I'm getting it from Southern Accents. It's like 6 sided! Very different and cool! We only need it to be 9'10". It will have to be cut. I guess we will just cut from both ends. That way we can save most of the character!

Let me know if you need rustic, salvaged pieces. I love helping everyone find the right piece for their space!! Helped a friend find a corbel today. I know it will be perfect. Just have to get a few closeups to show her tomorrow! My brain is full of inspiration all the time. I love that now I have Pinterest so that I can keep it organized. I swear I pulled up 10 ideas today to show Dawn and it was so easy because I had them all pinned to the perfect board!!

hi there

How much fun is a blog? It's so hard to sit down and type something out for me! Why? I have no idea. There is so much fun in the world and I guess I'm just enjoying it!

I have been a little busy with my little business. It is growing a little...just enough. It still fits in with my personality and I think that's what I love most about it. It's still all things that inspire me! I've been doing lots of social marketing for a couple of businesses. You all have heard of my little secret place in Cullman, AL.....Southern Accents Architectural Antiques.

I can't ever get enough of that place. I was there yesterday and hung out with a couple of really cool decorating/DIY bloggers, maybe you've heard of them, Kevin and Layla of The Lettered Cottage? They are as adorable in real life as on their blog! If you don't read their little corner of the web, check it out....soon. They are about to hit the big time! A production company is working on a pilot for HGTV all about them! They came by the store back in the spring and went home to work on the Reading Room Redo....aka.... Gym flooring made super cool.

We just recently built a piece of art for their upcoming "It's Fall Y'all" link party. It's adorable, they are adorable, you will be adorable when you link up your decor to the part-ay!

In all of this linky party business, we have been talking to the producers about what they will need from us for the pilot that is filming......NEXT WEEK! They are using some fun stuff that is going to look GREAT in the house!

When they came up yesterday, we went through the store and found a few other "pieces" they might need for the pilot. I loved every second of helping them make choices and giving them ideas of what might work. I could get used to that! Hopefully, the show will be picked up and they will be re-doing houses all over the south!

If you need help getting your business out in the Social Media mix...Modern Info Media is who you need to call! I would love to talk to you about it!