Wednesday, September 23, 2015

What I'm Loving Wednesday



Here are some things I've been looking at this week.

As if she wasn't already one of the cutest actresses
around, she shows up with the cutest haircut too.
If I were younger, this would be my hairstyle today.
Besides looking at haircuts, I have been
reading all the way back to the beginning in
a lot of blogs that I follow.
My most recent obsession is

Quite a while back, Dream Lane painted two
craigslist chairs about the same time that I too
painted the upholstery on a chair. The only
difference is her chairs (shown above) turned
out perfectly and the setting she created with them
is highly pinned. My poor chair is still waiting
for that last coat of paint and a little wax to
make her, if not perfect, at least presentable.

Also, while you're at Dream Lane, be sure
to check out the Christmas décor she creates
each year. I truly love the Christmas balls she
created one year with old sweaters and buttons.

Another favorite blog for great inspiration:

When I saw this Fall wreath on Nell Hill's,
I knew I had to find some fun ribbon and
make this for our front door. I have the
flat basket she used as the base, but have
never been able to figure out how to use it
until now.

Like most of you, I love Fall and find it
a time to get things done that have been
hanging around far too long. Just needed
a little inspiration to get me going.



Thanks for dropping by!


Sunday, September 13, 2015

Stuck In Neutral Again



OK, I'll admit my title may not be understood
by anyone who never drove a stick shift car.
In the olden days, automatic transmissions were not
that popular. If you put a stick shift in "neutral"
you didn't go anywhere. 

I find myself in neutral a lot these days!
Recently I stopped at a garage sale and 
picked up this little cabinet with mail slots (?)
on the outside of the door.
At the same sale, I picked up several wood pieces
that look like they were part of a mirror or some
other piece of furniture. At 50 cents a piece, I
couldn't pass them up.
 I put them in the garage while I take time to think

 about what to do with them. Wild Bill asked me
"Whut the heck are ya gonna do with them there?"

This is always the question I dread...not just because
his Texas twang mangles the English language...
but because I usually don't have a good answer.
Honestly...for once he had me speechless.
I have no idea, but they do have potential
right? 

Just like this chair, which the ladies
in a painting class all loved -- but Wild Bill,
not so much!
 I painted it during the class, but due to the heavy
humidity that day (we were working in a large back
room without air conditioning), we weren't able to
age down or put a wax finish on our projects.
 Kay was the instructor for the class session.
She's the lady demonstrating on the right below...
 Kay is a local distributor for paints and waxes
from Vintage Market and Design products.
 During the class, Kay put some clear and dark
wax on the leg of the chair to demonstrate
how I could age it.




 This isn't what I had in mind, so it's still waiting
for a decision.
Here's what I had in mind...more of a white with
just rusty brown edges.
 So many projects, so little time!

 Like I said, I'm stuck in neutral...
I'm all ears for any suggestions on how to
use the wood, whether to take the slots off the
cabinet or not, and how can I get that rusty
brown finish on the edges of my chairs?

In the meantime, I'll be putting on another coat
of white paint and waiting for inspiration to strike.

Thanks for dropping by!



Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Adding Bling To The Chandelier




When we bought our builder's spec house almost
5 years ago, the builder used an antique chandelier
in the dining room.

It's kind of rickety, thin and wonky.
It's hard to get a good picture without the lights
on as there's only one narrow window and the 
ceiling is a dark brown.
 I wanted to replace the chandelier when we moved
in, but we have two eating areas so we use the
dining room as a sitting room.

Now we're thinking of selling the house next year,
so we don't want to spend money replacing any more
things in the house. We will need to change the room
back into a dining room though, so I decided to
spiff the room up a little before we do.

In a local shop, I found some faux crystals that
have magnets on both ends, which easily attach
to the metal on chandeliers.
See the end piece? That's the magnet.
 The magnets make it easy to add a little bling to
your chandeliers to beef them up...
 I bought some short and long chains and some
teardrop-type faux crystals and started playing
around with them. I need to buy a few more pieces,
but here's how it looks with a few of them attached...
I'm thinking of brushing some white paint on the
metal to shabby it up a little, so I'll be taking the
"jewelry" off again soon.
 The paint on the walls of the room has a green cast
to it so I'm thinking of re-painting the walls a
medium grayish-brown "griege" paint color.
 I have a little obsession with tables and chairs
(and bar stools) so we already have enough
furniture to fill the room and then some.

Hope you'll come back and check on my
progress, and feel free to give any suggestions
you have regarding paint colors or decor.

Thanks for dropping by!

 
 



 
 

 

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Talking Pansies



One of my favorite flowers to plant is
the pansy. They're hardier than they look
and they don't require much fussing...
 especially if you buy them dried and framed.
 This was a purchase at Laurieanna's shop down
in Canton Texas. Recently I recommended you
buy "smalls" in pairs, not singles. I bought this
framed picture before I learned that lesson.
 It says:
Pansy: Viola
Used as a bedding plant in Victorian gardens.
They bloom profusely in spring and fall plantings.
Edible. Evokes faithfulness and modesty in
the language of flowers.
 Are you old enough to remember when we all
put flowers between newspaper or book pages
to dry them? 
Wild Bill's cousin created a sweet framed
dried floral arrangement back in 1994.
Not as colorful as the one from Laurieanna's,
but sweet and pretty just the same. 
 I found it in a box of family stuff in the garage.
I think it will look good on the wall with
a few other framed floral pieces.
 
How about you? Do you have any dried floral
masterpieces from you childhood?
 
 
Thanks for dropping by!
 
 
Dwellings: