I heart old barns

I heart old barns...and old houses...and apparently old churches and school houses, too.

Many of you know that we have a passion for antique and vintage everything. Give us something that is rustic, rusty, patina-ed, and chipped and we'll consider it well loved and find it a place to be enjoyed.

We have made a very fun and successful small business out of connecting people with vintage and repurposed items. To further support our obsession, you should know that we live in an late 1800's limestone school house and we bought a historic church. And, I have been known to pull over to the side of the road to take a picture of an old place that has character. I love making up stories about the history and the people who lived in or used the space.

For this old barn, I don't need to make up much of the story. It used to stand on my grandparent's place. My dad owns the property now.

This old red barn always had a commanding presence in the farm yard and was used until the quonset was built.

This photo was taken on the weekend of my grandparent's sale. Even then, we knew that the barn's days were numbered.

And, it did fall down. My husband took this photo this summer. We didn't want to see the barn go to waste, so my dad and husband put some effort into salvaging some of the wood.

From the pile, they pulled some of the best boards and worked to get some of the flooring recovered.

A work in progress. We'll be back to try to recover some more.

And, the load for the trip home. This wood is now being repurposed into signs, benches and table tops.

For those of you who enjoy a beautiful, old building, here are a few images to enjoy.

 This is a lovely old barn that used to sit on Highway 24. I took this photo shortly before it fell down.

 This limestone barn was on Flush Road near our house. It was pushed over by the owners. I loved it in the background of the purple carpet of blooms. I think the purple blooms were actually weeds, but still really lovely. This photo was taken in early spring.

This might be one of my favorite photos...taken in Morris County near a camp where some of my student leaders held a retreat one spring. This is exactly the kind of place that I adore for the history and at the same time it haunts me. Why was it abandoned? Who lived there? How did they live?

Fall at the studio

It's beginning to look a lot like fall at our studio!

We are gearing up for some of our favorite shows. Check out our show listing and as always, we keep our "sometimes hours" at the studio or are available for shopping by appointment. You can also see our booth (and a lot of other great booths) at Eclectic Charm in Manhattan.

September 25 & 26
Fabulous Finds on Highway 99
Treasure abound all along Highway 99. Stop by the studio for some great vintage shopping.

September 25 & 26
Pumpkin Patch Arts & Crafts Fair
Get your fall fix at the 42nd annual event. We will have some hand painted signs and small furniture items with our friends with Eclectic Charm.

October 3
Kansas Barn Sale
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hesston, KS

Handmade cards, baby and birthday

 I love to make cards, but often find that I don't have the time or patience to get out the supplies and get something done.

Saturday morning was a whirlwind. We had a short window to run three miles, eat breakfast, hustle to the studio to meet someone who needed to pick up a table, work on organizing the studio and then back home to can tomatoes. And, in true Lehning household fashion, I decided to make baby and birthday cards for some gifts right in the middle of all of it. There is no explanation for my choice of timing, but in the end, I think it worked out well.

For the baby gift, I wrapped two books in maps. For the card, I found some of the rosettes I had made from book pages - added a little vintage looking paper and then got brave and tried some hand lettering.

I tested it on my husband. He promised me it didn't look ridiculous, so after wrapping the books with some natural twine, I tucked the card in and checked one gift off the list.

I needed a birthday card and felt inspired by the first card. After selecting some paper that coordinated with the gift bag, I used another rosette to make the embellishment. Gift two down.

I had two other birthday gifts to wrap for my nieces. I had already picked out ready made cards, so went with them. Now, if I can just get all of the gifts delivered!

Stocking up - fun, affordable find

Every once in awhile, you find something so great and so affordable and so useful that you can't resist.

Last spring, I ran into Target for one of my trips to restock the house. It is too irresistible to skip the dollar bins near the front of the store.

Tucked in a top corner, that was a bin full of these awesome looking cards. The designs were so fresh looking and included just the right mix of thank you and generic cards.

So, I stocked up...

and then promptly went home and put them in one of my favorite wooden tobacco boxes.

For someone who likes to write notes, having new notecards is one of the biggest treats. A fun, affordable find!

Some assembly required

We got inspired by Jenni Bowlin's July post where she featured the Micro-Billy by Cardboard Safari mounted in a vintage cigar box.

I was intrigued.

Perhaps, it is because I am a little starstruck by Jenni. I tell my husband all the time that I want to be her friend. Her style and eye for putting together vintage items in the most balanced and beautiful arrangements are the gold standard for me.

So, seeing this fantastic looked buffalo together with one of my accidental passions in collecting - tobacco-related items - had me from the beginning.

We ordered the Micro-Billy and the Tex and Toro, too. They shipped flat - brilliant and a little terrifying. How does it go from flat to 3-dimensional?

Once you open the package, you have to punch out all of the pieces. This represents Micro-Tex before assembly.

And, meet Micro-Tex. You might notice that Micro implies there are other sizes. And, you are right! You should check out the different sizes on the Cardboard Safari Etsy page.

The details is amazing, including the paper ear tag!

My favorite! I love this bison head.

Just so you can see the detail.

And, the toro. The detail on the horns had me a little scared.

Cool, right?

And, just so you can see all three together. We had a lot of fun putting them together and look forward to maybe trying some more. Perhaps, this winter when things slow down.