building vintage style

The Urbanfarmhouse Store

March 31, 2020 by christen Leave a Comment

My dear friend, June, opened up her very own shop about a year ago and it is just too adorable for words! It is located in this little house in Arlington and filled to the brim with farmhouse chic items and locally-sourced goodies! You cannot leave this gem without finding something for your home.

Dear June sells my oil paintings as well. It’s been very humbling and inspiring having my work, this type of painting, bought and hung in people’s homes.

For the safety of all, she has closed the stop and opened an ONLINE shop! I am so excited. She has curbside pick up hours.

Check out her sweet wares at The Urban Farmhouse Store

Here’s some of her finds below….

Thank you for giving me a place to hang my hat and buy my candles and decor, Sweet June! Love you! xo

Summer-Activity Caddy

July 19, 2019 by christen 1 Comment

I found the cutest, shabbiest tool box at Luckett’s Spring Market this year. It is wonderfully chippy with lots of little nooks and crannies on the interior. I have had it sitting on my kitchen table, filling it with fruit for the kids to grab. Of course, now that it’s the dog days of summer we need a bit more than fruit to get through!

I decided to fill it with activities that they can grab when I hear the dreaded phrase, “I’m bored.” As a introvered person that is never bored you can imagine how much I hate this phrase. There is always something creative one can get into.

I filled the caddy mostly with items that I already owned so I really did not spend any money. Some of the items I added were games, books, cross stitch kits, knitting needles and yarn, colored pencils, notebooks and a few little green faux plants to make it pretty.

My Fiona Tate happens to be the best knitter in the house. We love these balls of yarn that include about five colors. She’s taught everyone in the house how to knit.

I also love these Exercise Dice to keep kids entertained, exercising and hopefully tired 🙂

We love a good joke book over here and I recently purchased a few family devotional books to discuss over dinner.

The kids also have the option of writing everyone little notes with these sweet notecards that I purchased at The Urban Farmhouse.

I imagine I’m going to have to add and edit a few items as kids get, ahem, bored.

Filed Under: building vintage style Tagged With: antique tool box, antiques, Kid's activity caddy, The Urban Farmhouse

Adoptable Kitties

June 17, 2019 by christen 2 Comments

Hi, My long, lost loves! How is everyone? So I’m still moving around furniture, going to barn sales as well as trying my hand at watercolors and oil painting, raising humans and….saving lives. Cat lives. If you’ve followed me for a while you know that my pets always find a way into my photos and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bear

I started working at local shelters socializing and caring for cats and walking dogs. This Spring I started the foster process after wearing DH down!

It has been such a special experience and one that I will not stop doing for the rest of life. I’m primarily working with Homeward Trails, which is such a special organization. They seek out animals in need all over the county and outside of the US. They will take in as many cats and dogs as possible from shelters that cannot care for them. I’ve even received a request from a coordinator to grab a flashlight and head over to the 7-11 because someone spotted a mama and her babies hiding amongst the trashcans.

Since Spring is kitty season, we took in a mama and her three babies. It has been an unbelievable experience watching Mama nurse her 1 lb babies and care for them and keep them alive. We almost lost Clover to pneumonia early on.

Holly (Girl), Clover (Boy) and Ivy (Boy) are all available for adoption RIGHT NOW.

As a girl that loves God, I know that offering empathy is, well, pretty much everything. I am trying to teach my kids this concept more than anything else. Right now my family is not able to travel to Kenya or build homes in Honduras, but we can offer shelter to the littlest of creatures.

I love this process so much that we also are fostering Lulabelle. A sweet five year old that has been living in and out of homes and is slow to trust. Sweet Lulu. Greta discovered recently that she loves the piano. If we play the piano, she comes running and rubbing. It’s quite amazing. Lulu is also available for adoption.

If you have space in your home and heart for any of these babies, please email me. I pray for the perfect homes for these Loves. cbensten@blueeggbrownnest.com

Filed Under: building vintage style