Farmhouse New Year

This is our favorite piece of salvage and the inspiration for our blog name.

The history behind this sign is that
Hubs and I were at our favorite place to shop for Primitives,
Crawford's Antiques in Soquel, CA.

We each had gone different directions when we arrived at the store
& minutes later, I found him standing in front of this sign.
He looked up at me and said,
"doesn't this name sound just like our lives? "

With all of the happy activity here at our home
with DIL, grandkids, extended family, friends, dogs & cats,
we sometimes hum a famous circus song amid all the chaos!

Famous for its cheerful, upbeat, happy music at the circus,
a calliope is musical instrument fitted with steam whistles,
played from a keyboard.
This wonderful, old wood sign was taken off the side
of a rolling calliope circus wagon.

So, when Hubs realized this sign spoke to him
of our chaotic, happy lives, it just had to come home with us.

It hangs over the entrance to our family room
& reminds us of the wonderful, crazy life we have made.

~Happy New Year to ALL!~
May your New Year be blessed with Health & Happiness!
(and... lots of salvage, junk & creative ideas!)

Farmhouse Christmas

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle all the way!
We have joined these parties!
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Trash to Treasure @ Reinvented
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Home for the Holidays @ Southern Hospitality
Christmas Trees Unite @ Funky Junk Interiors
Christmas Tour of Homes @ Nesting Place

We have decked the halls early enough this year
to truly have time to enjoy the beauty & peace of the season.
The shopping is almost complete, wrapping is well under way
and the first of two Christmas parties,
here at Calliope, is just two days away.
We are so glad you came by for a visit.
Come on in & take a look!

OUR TREE

I wanted to change up our tree this year, so when I saw a fun tree topper at Grandinroad I was excited to give it a try.
It had a crown of branches, berries & snowflakes.
I called to order it as soon as I saw it,
but was told it was already sold out! gr-r-r-r!
So we studied the picture and decided we would try to replicate it.
We used birch branches from our yard,
two packages of snowflakes from Michaels,
some crystal berry picks I have had for years
& some twig wreaths we had in our craft stash.

WE. LOVE. IT!

THE FAMILY ROOM

We all enjoy the family room.
It is so cozy with the fireplace & coffered ceiling.
We all enjoy the flat screen TV & we all play lots of Wii in this room too! The child's rocking chair was my sons, 33 years ago.
Wow, could it really be that long ago?

We live just 5 miles from Duarte nursery,
one of the world's largest grower of Poinsettias.
It is a breath-taking place to visit every Christmas season.
Their greenhouses seem to go on forever with spectacular colors & styles.
The plants add such a holiday cheer to our home and yard!

The piece we placed over the sofa
is a vintage piece of exterior dental molding from an old Victorian home. We think it has the perfect chipp-i-ness & lots of shabby appeal.

This room was part of the original farmhouse built in 1948.
We left the original hardwood floors & fireplace,
but the 8 foot ceiling felt way too low.
Hubs suggested we raise the ceiling and coffered the edges.
We painted it red and added the ceiling medallion over the chandelier.
I'm not sure the ceiling will stay red much longer,
but I do love it at Christmas time.

THE GREAT ROOM

Our 8 foot entry door opens directly into the Great Room.
The ceiling is vaulted to about 18 feet.
One of our favorite parts is the eyebrow window
we purchased at a salvage yard.
I love it when the moon is full & it shines through.
(we will post about all our salvaged windows after the new year)

Again, we decorated with one of our favorite pieces
of vintage architectural salvage!

The antique barometer and the vintage pine bench
are both treasured gifts from our Aunt Joane.
The print is a signed & numbered,
Al Rounds painting of the Lion House corner
in Salt Lake City, Utah.
My friend Rieta & I each purchased one
on a special girls-only trip years ago.
Her number is lower than mine, but she saw them first!

This antique cabinet was purchased at an annual antique fair
held in an elementary school play ground in Modesto, CA.
Several dealers had made offers
but we were the only ones willing to pay the $100 asking price.
It had been painted and someone had attempted to strip the paint.
We love the patina that the half paint, half wood, look gives it.

We love old windows...
this one we purchased from one of our favorite sellers on eBay. ShabbytownUSA.

Hubs & I are suckers for vintage red & white quilts!
The carolers sit next to our CD player.

The little tree is wrapped in burlap
& we borrowed the antique railroad lantern from Aunt Joane.
Love old suitcases & things made from twigs & sticks!

The star wreaths were purchased from Pottery Barn a few years ago.
The Santa ornament is a vintage reproduction we purchased
at one of our favorite stores, Wisteria in Soquel, CA.

Our Santa figure was purchased at the Country Folk Art Show
from one of the artisan's at Stone Soup Santa Co.
We love the individual detail of each Santa
& enjoy displaying ours each year.

The Reason for the Season.
We celebrate the birth of our Savior,
Jesus Christ.
We love our print of a painting by artist Greg Olsen.
We display it all year in our home
as a reminder of His Love & His sacrifice.
We love Him.

This buffet got a make-over
when we participated at a Procrastinators Party
being given at The Inspired Room.
Melissa has a great blog with loads of eye-candy & fabulous ideas.
We posted about the buffet here.
The antique French shutters were a birthday gift from Hubs.
We decorated this year with Hubs vintage 1950's Christmas village
complete with houses, trees, church
& skating pond with all of the cute lead figurines.
This was a gift from his 2nd Mom, Ruth Horn.
We cherish it!
Christmas pictures of our grandchildren hold center stage
watching over all the activities.

We are so glad you stopped by to see our Farmhouse Christmas!
We wish each of you & yours
Merry Christmas
and a
Healthy, Happy New Year!

P.S. While I have been writing this post,
Hubs has been busy finishing an early Christmas present for me.
It involves an old wood ladder, two vintage lanterns,
airline cable & electrical cord.
He was inspired by something he saw in a PotteryBarn catalog.
Be sure and check back next week.
IT IS AWESOME!!!

Farmhouse Christmas Wreath

~Our Front Porch Country Christmas~

With our love for all things vintage, we designed our front door wreath around a pair of antique boot stretchers.
Attached to a fresh pine wreath from Costco, we embellished the metal boot forms with frayed burlap and matte satin ribbon.
Tassels are all the rage right now, so we decorated our boot stretchers with a tassel we fashioned from velvet & organza ribbons, burlap, crystal beading & strips of torn drop cloth.
We attached the tassel to a rusty bell & tied it to the wreath.
I get tickled every time I look at it!
Like whiskers on kittens, this has become one of our favorite things.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Continental Calliope!

We've decked the Halls & are anxious to share it all with you soon.

We are linking up with the following great blogs
Be sure & take a look at then all
you'll love them!

DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Show & Tell Wednesday @ Blue Cricket Design
Celebrate the Holidays @ It's So Very Cheri
Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented
Get your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog

farmhouse dream kitchen

Updated Thursday 11/19/09
We are thrilled to have been featured as a favorite over at It's So Very Cheri
She is such a sweetheart!
Be sure to take a look at her delightful site.
Thanks Cheri!!


This is my dream kitchen... unfit and fabulous! This style is called "unfit" because the room is put together with lots of different parts with nothing manufactured or matching. In this case it is all vintage, salvage and found pieces. There is a mix of materials, wood, stone, stainless steel, copper & iron. (See here for another kitchen post.)
In designing our kitchen, we wanted to create a warm space that was a tribute to our love for all things vintage.
We started by finding the two base cabinets at Water Street Antiques in Jackson, CA. They are European raw pine and we knew they would anchor this wall perfectly.


The Thermador 6-burner commercial-style range we purchased on eBay. It was the previous years model from a show room in New Jersey. Even with shipping we really scored a great deal.

The upper cabinets, Hubs constructed in one day on the back of his pick-up truck. ( the workshop had not been set us then). The heavy crown molding he used was salvaged from a furniture shop. We wanted open shelving to display our collection of vintage pottery pitchers and bowls.


The hood & mantle over the range is in my opinion one of Hubs sweetest transformations. The mantle was found at an antique store in Modesto, CA called Lulubelles. It was on markdown and I just fell in love with the patina. I knew Hubs could do something great. The corbels are from TJ Maxx, we found them on sale & thought they had possibilities. The copper hood was the very best find. We went to a barn sale out in the country & found lots of goodies. As we were leaving Hubs happened to see a piece of copper sticking up out of some weeds. It was an old copper hood. When Hubs asked if it was for sale, they said it was, for $5.!!!! So within a matter of about 2 months, shopping and gathering from lots of different places, we had found enough inspiration pieces for Hubs to create this fabulous hood & mantle.
The black iron stove back-splash is actually an old vintage stove back from a wood-burning stove. We found it at the Turlock Flea Market. Actually we found two of them, the 2nd is still waiting in the barn for the right inspiration. We really love the iron rope edge detail & the corner acanthus leaves.


Hubs is currently working on the most fabulous island, It will have a bowling alley floors will be the butcher block top and he is using old wainscoting for the sides & back. In Moss Landing, CA we found an old bin cabinet with 12 drawers that will anchor the island. In the meantime we are using a cool old sorting table from a cannery as our island. It has worked well but the new island will be spectacular!

The wall between the great room & kitchen has a wonderful vintage beam, hand hewn, from Pennsylvania that we found at Crawford's Antiques in Soquel CA. Hubs built it in so that it looks like it is structurally supporting the wall. The corbels on the sides are another Turlock Flea Market find. They are very old and full of patina!

Even our lighting in the kitchen is vintage. We found this fixture at a friends barn sale.
I am such a lucky lady to have a husband with such talent and vision!
Our kitchen was a real labor of love & I enjoy it each and every day!


We are linking this post with the following super-fun parties.
We hope that you will take a few minutes to enjoy all of their great links
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Toot your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow
Its So Very Creative @ It's So Very Cheri

a headboard drop cloth slipcover

DIL is re-doing several rooms in her apartment here at the calliope. Her bedroom is the first to get some changes. She found a beautifully upholstered headboard, that fit perfectly, but the fabric was intended for a little girls room.
So we bought another drop cloth from Home Depot. (click here for our post on the dining room chair slipcovers we did from drop cloths also) We washed it, used lots of Downey fabric softener in the rinse and dried it in a hot dryer to shrink it. Then we measured, pinned and sewed the cutest dang slipcover for it!
Her room is still in transition, so in the meantime this waits at our house for the big reveal with all the goodies in the room. Soon, we hope.
The dog in the picture is Piglet, their Boston Terrier. She seems to be asking "where's the rest of the bed? I'm ready to jump up for a snooze!"

BEFORE

AFTER




Cost to make... $13.00 and 2 hours of our time!!!

We are linking this post with the following super-fun parties.
We hope that you will take a few minutes to enjoy all of their great links
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Toot your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow
Its So Very Creative @ It's So Very Cheri