Winter Wonderland?

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I can't believe it has come and gone already. Andrew and I visited family and friends in Illinois for several days and had a great time. I loved every minute of catching up with childhood friends and extended family. It truly was a great holiday!

My parents have a beautiful house on amazing land and this is the view from the back porch typically this time of year:



The only time of year I really appreciate snow is right before Christmas. We have been fortunate to get back to Illinois every year for Christmas and most years it is a white Christmas...but this year was an exception! Rather than snowing banks and icy rooflines, it was sunny skies and less frigid temperatures. Was pleasant for winter but didn't feel so much like Christmas! 

This year's view

My parents' resident polar bear, Zoey, was happy enough despite the lack of snow. She was busy protecting sheep most of the time but found a few moments to slober on the visitors.

Andrew flew into Peoria on Thursday and we made a detour through Washington to check out one of my favorite area shops, Step Back in Time. Here are just a few shots from the store - their furniture is simply amazing. Good thing I don't live nearby!

I bought the cute chippy blue ladder in this picture! I see a drive to IL in my future...

Beautiful old barn door

This cabinet is so perfect for dispaly!

To all my Midwestern friends, this store on the old square is worth the trip!

Another stop on my trip was the Old House Society in Bloomington. So many recommended this architectural salvage store, and I couldn't resist visiting on my way home from running errands in town before our extended family gathering. I am glad I stopped! Got a few small salvage pieces and a great old typewriter in its original carrying case. Look at their oodles of salvage!

Thanks for the recommendation, friends! A great store and one I will visit whenever I am back.

Beautiful Barns

With a business and blog name like Barn Chic Antiques, one might figure I love old barns. The drive home from 'town' is filled with so many and I just had to capture some of my favorites.

Look how stunning that wreath looks on this old white barn.

 

I admire this barn on my summer runs and was glad to be able to get outside for one [slow jog] this winter too! Even remembered my camera so I could get a picture of it.

This great tin roof is on our neighbor's barn.

Around the farm

My mom does such a wonderful job of decorating. Inside is stunning, and she even takes the time to decorate outside as well! This year she said she bought an additional Christmas tree (for $16) at a home improvement store and then cut up the tree to use for swags and decore. Way more affordable than buying the greenery! As always, beautiful work Mom!

I want to bring this building (our former play house) back to Texas with me...

Here is the sweet little tricycle I bought my mom for an early Christmas gift. It has been out since Thanksgiving and my Dad just noticed it was there. 

Her second tree on the porch - love the galvanized steel bucket it sits in!

Hard to tell from the picture, but the centerpiece is made from barbed wire!

 Speaking of barbed wire, here is another present I got for my mom. The mom of one of my former students makes these - isn't it awesome? Wish I could make such nifty things!

My stylish sister Mary!

Thank you, Andrew, for making the trip home with me!

Though the landscape wasn't as expected, we have a great trip and are so fortunate to have so many loving family and friends to visit. I hope you all enjoyed your celebrations and created wonderful holiday memories wherever you were!  

-Sarah

A simple and delicious holiday treat

This is a rare post about something I made in the kitchen. As many know, especially my husband, I am no chef. And when I do put together a meal, I am much more of a fan of Sandra Lee's semi-homemade concept rather than any recipe calling for things made from scratch.

I do enjoy simple baking; my 7th and 8th graders (and husband) love my brownies (ok ok they are a mix, but I mix them really well), as well as this super easy and quick treat. All you need are some white chocolate melts (I chose white, green, and red to be festive), pretzels, and m & m's. In case you're wondering, I didn't make any of these ingredients from scratch. The melts can be found at any craft store like Michael's or JoAnn's.

Preheat oven to 350, set out pretzels on baking sheet, and cover each pretzel with a chocolate disc. Place baking sheet in oven for about two minutes, remove, and put an m&m on each melted disc. The mix of sweet and salty is perfect and the holiday colors are very festive. A great recipe for novice and unadventurous cooks like me ( or your eight year old).

 

And then your family members can write messages to one another.

Happy holidays to you and yours!

How the booth is stacking up

One thing I love about my antique mall is the ability to check daily sales online each evening. When I first moved in, I would live for 6:30pm which is around the times the sales post. My husband dreaded that time, as my evening mood hinged on that report! I have learned that there are good days and slow days, and some nights I even forget to check. Nonetheless, I still get excited when I log on to see if I sold anything. Friday evening I logged on and saw that I had sold the rusty metal cabinet and all but one of the larger suitcases stacked next to it. Yay! But I also knew I needed to get to the mall first thing Saturday morning to fix up my small space. When I got there, this is how it looked:

Things were piled everywhere and there was a big empty space where the cabinet stood. I spent a good twenty minutes just trying to find all the things that were misplaced from the cabinet and also items that just get moved around throughout the course of the week. Then I  started plotting how I would arrange my new merchandise. Before I started bringing it in (with the help of the awesome Austin Antique Mall staff - they are ready and willing to help at all times!), I attempted to redo the burlap wall covering behind the vacant space. I got out my trusty staple gun and started stapling to the wall, though no staples came out. Then I remembered that I was all about safety the last time I used it and I had taken the staples out like the directions said to when it isn't in use. Finally found them in the depths of my 'tool tote' and spent a good five minutes trying to figure out how to load them. Geometry wasn't my best subject and I even would guess I wasn't very good as a toddler with the shapes you had to fit into the right slots. I gave up and put the burlap away for another time. I had too much pride to ask for help on that task. I am already known as the 'blonde Sarah' at the mall (they claim because there are two Sarahs and the other is brunette...), and I didn't need to reinforce the stereotype.

Turns out I didn't really need the burlap to cover the ugly peg board wall as the new merchandise pretty much covered it all. I am loving the 'stacking' technique; with only 77 square feet of floor space, I need to make the most of my 7 by 11 and stack up. Like many of my decorating techniques, I picked this idea up from lots of other creative vendors. Shopping is as much about learning how to display things I already have as it is picking up new merchandise. Here are a bunch of pictures of the new setup.

This is a tree in our neighbor's front yard. Austin has gotten some much needed rain over the last week, and our trees are finally turning. This is seasonally confusing for me. I put the pumpkins away and got out the poinsettias, and now it finally looks and feels like fall.

Well, one week until Christmas! I am very much looking forward to seeing friends and family and taking a trip back home to Illinois. May your coming days be filled with great people and fun times!

Have a chic week,

Sarah