Wooden tote makeover

I miss you all!!  Three and half more weeks till school starts up again... gonna spend a couple of weeks just catching up on y'alls blogs then!  =]  Thank you so much for still coming by and visiting me although I have been too busy this summer to stop in and see you the past couple of months!

I spent last week at Falls Creek.  Copied from their website... "Nestled in the heart of the Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma, Falls Creek has become the largest religious youth encampment in the world.  More than 45,000 young people will attend its seven weeks of encampment every summer".  I just love being a sponsor for our church youth group, it is an awesome time!

I wanted to share with you another makeover I squeezed in earlier this month.  I bought this unfinished wood tote many years ago at Hobby Lobby.  It was painted green from when I went through my hunter green/burgundy stage in the early 90's.  Anyone else go through those colors, hehe?

I sanded it down just a tad bit, leaving most of the green.  Then I painted it mustard with a black overcoat.  From there, I just applied ebony Bri-wax with steel wool and as usual... the combo sanded it down for me while applying a beautiful patina!  In a few spots you can actually see the green and I really like that.

Here is the finished tote sitting on my kitchen counter.  It's filled with a hodge podge of treasures I found while out antiquing this spring and summer... except for the Lord's Prayer plaque which I've had for years.

I believe the round metal piece with holes in front to be a toaster.  If I'm wrong, please let me know!  I passed on that piece all spring and summer long until I finally decided one day to bring it home with me.  For only $3, how could I go wrong?  The little wooden/metal cutter behind it was only $4.95.  It's like a miniature slaw cutter and so cute!  The cutting board was only $2.

My newest obsession... butter paddles!!  I don't know why, but I saw these and just had to have them.  Don't you love when something jumps out at you and you immediately become addicted??  Lol!  I found the four butter paddles in the same day at different places for a total of $16 for all.  The grooved ones are so neat but I really like the one in front that has a faint impression of words.

To add a little pop against my dark red walls, I added a black tin at the end of the kitchen counter.  I had been eyeing this type of metal ware at Hobby Lobby for the past year and they finally marked them down 66% so this large container was only $6.80.

So here is what my kitchen counter looked like on this day that I took pictures.  Of course it's been tweaked since this day...

The six drawer cubby is perfect for batteries.  With four tech junkies living in this home we seem to go through lots of batteries and they are even the re-chargeable kind.  The charger fits perfectly in one of the drawers.

Then on the other side of the sink is this

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, school will be starting in three and half more weeks.  Summer is flying by!  As much as I cherish fall, I really want these last days of summer to be full of family time so I shall be back with you all soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit and taking the time to comment.  I love knowing that you took time out of your busy day to let me know you were here.

Enjoy your lazy days of summer!  We sure are!  =]