Finish It Friday: Turkey And Basket

This week I finished two projects from my garage pile. This wooden turkey started out a dull grayish brown when I bought him at a garage sale too many years ago to remember when. 

 I finally finished his white makeover this week, just in time for the fall season. Turkey would probably be improved with a little dark wax to age him/her, but for now I'm calling Turkey done!

 See those gold pictures lurking behind Turkey? That's a new project I picked up this week at a second hand shop for dirt cheap. 

And that basket I was painting white on "White Wednesday" last week? Well...YAY! I finally finished that too...

Here's a reminder of what the basket looked like while it was getting a makeover...

I had planned to leave some of the natural brown of the basket showing, but that didn't work out very well. 

There's only a little peek of the basket's original finish showing here under the metal leaves.

Thanks for dropping by!

Tuesday Finds: Black And White Done Right

Black and white have become an obsession of mine, especially if there's stripes or pattern involved. 

Recently Adrienne, on her blog La Vie Quotidienne, has been making over her outdoor living spaces by sewing and painting up a storm.

First a makeover of her old covered backyard area. If you hop over to her blog you will be amazed at the "before" condition of this space.

 La Vie Quotidienne

Next her front porch got some love. Though the two spaces are far apart (one front, one backyard) she coordinated them in the same colors in a fresh new way. 

La Vie Quotidienne

I can't sew my own pillows like she did, but I think next summer I'll be shopping for striped pillows and a new rug.

Thanks for dropping by!

One Man's Junk, Another Man's...Junk

We spoke of the decorating "rule of three" the other day. I've been wondering how many people actually follow rules anymore when it comes to their home? 

There is one rule I do try to follow these days. A couple of years ago, a blogger said she doesn't buy any decor for her home that's smaller than a baseball.

When I read that, I looked around the house and realized everything I had was small! Since then I've tried to increase the visual look of things to make them look larger. 

This clock was shiny black when it caught my DIY eye a few weeks ago. It's been hanging on one wall or another since I bought it at Kirkland's around 2008. 

You can see it hanging on the wall here in the photo below. In its original state, it was one of those things that always kind of blended in and you didn't notice.

I taped off the edge of the glass and gave the clock a quick makeover with a mixture of white paint I made by combining a variety of "bottom of the jars" chalk paints. 

When the paint was barely dry, I used baby wipes to remove some of the paint on the edges and beaded/rope details so the original black could show through.

The clock has always seemed small so it was often hidden away in a bedroom. I wanted to make it seem more substantial so I could use it in our family room with high 12-foot ceilings. 

I had an old picture frame I've been sporadically working over for several months years to be honest, so I asked Wild Bill to cut a thin piece of smooth particle board to fit inside it. 

Before he nailed it inside the frame, I painted the board with Amy Howard's One-Step Paint in black. I wanted a "chalkboard" look with no plans to ever use chalk to write on it!

The "rule of chalkboards" is to cure a chalkboard by rubbing the side of a piece of chalk all over the chalkboard paint. 

That's a rule I don't follow for sure! I like the crisp black look of a chalkboard, and if I ever write on one (which I usually don't) I just wipe off the chalk and paint another coat of black chalk paint on the board.

How about you when it comes to rules? Leave me a comment and let me know if you have a rule that you always follow...or for that matter...one you always break.

Thanks for dropping by!

Joining The Party Here:
Finish For The Weekend at Emerald Cottage
Foodie Friday And Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Best Movie This Month

We saw quite a few movies recently after months of not going to the movies. Why? It seemed hard to find a movie this summer that looked like anyone over 12 might enjoy!

The movie I highly recommend is Wind River, which is social commentary, adventure, murder, romance, and intrigue all rolled up into one movie.

Wind River Movie

And it doesn't hurt that Jeremy Renner is one of the stars! He's adorable, right?

Wind River is an Indian reservation where most of the action takes place in the dead of winter. The scenery is beautiful against living conditions that are sometimes downright sad.

The interaction between the Native Americans and the men and women in law enforcement slowly dispels stereotypical prejudices and provides some light moments in an otherwise dark subject of murder and missing girls.

Thanks for dropping by!

Adding More Fall

It's not fall around our house until we bring out the picture of our grandson Ben pretending to drive a tractor in the fall of his first year. Mostly I love the "Brand New Parents" adoration on his parents face!

It does look like I need to paint that frame -- perhaps a fall color since that's the only time of the year the picture comes out. Maybe this burnt orange color on the faux striped pumpkin here.

I might try to have the color in the pumpkin color-matched by computer into a perfect fall paint color. 

The store I use the most for color matching paint is Home Depot. I've never had a problem with their computer's matching of colors, but I have had problems with other stores. 

One time I even took a blob of paint I scraped up off the floor and had it color-matched by Home Depot. Their paint guy told me they only need a sample the size of a quarter for their computer to do the match.

I kinda like that the pumpkin on the pillow looks so much like these faux pumpkins I bought recently. 

The "professionals" say you should repeat a color in a room at least three times, so the pillow and the two pumpkins should have that rule covered!

The little plaid pillow I bought at Sam's Club the other day for $14. They had lots of cute pillows on display, but the plaid called my name.

I have a thing for cotton bolls too lately...doesn't everyone? I bought these at a local shop for $6 and then saw some at a chain store for twice the price. I'll be working them into the fall decor as soon as I figure out where.

Thanks for dropping by!

Home And Garden Thursday Party Feature

Blog parties provide a source of inspiration for me. To be honest, I love to get a look at what's going on in other people's lives and houses. 

Maybe my nickname should be Nosy Rosy instead of Sugar?

It doesn't happen very often, but whenever one of my posts is featured on a blog party, I am so honored!  

This week I was thrilled when my recent post about fall colors was featured on the House And Garden Thursday party at Kathy's blog, A Delightsome Life. 

Hope you'll hop over and join the party at Kathy's this week and see what other posts were featured.

Thanks for dropping by!

What I'm Painting White Wednesday

It's been a while since I've done a Paint It White Wednesday. Here's what I've been painting white this week:

This basket started off in an orangish natural state. It seemed to me it would be better painted white so I could fill it with some orange pumpkins. I've had it quite a while in my junk stash, and I think the color kept it from getting some love.

This is the original natural finish of the basket...

The basket is still a work in progress, but I did finish this resin-bowl-type-vase thingy!

I don't really know what its original use would be. I bought it a few years ago, for a couple of dollars, because I liked the fancy design on the sides. 

Even if you start with plastic, a little chalky-type paint can change the look for the better.

I may use it as a stand for a tray by gluing a tray to the bottom here. I think it looks just as good upside down as it does right side up.

In this post, I asked whether I should paint this cabinet or leave it be? Most comments said leave it as is for a while and live with it, which is the way I was leaning too.

But...and there's always a BUT, right? When I cleaned up the cabinet, the back seemed to have some dark stains (I couldn't see the back when it was in the store) and I wanted to seal that up. 

I painted it with white chalk paint, 1-Step by Amy Howard, to seal it. I chose 1-Step because it clings so well to anything I paint...plastic, wood, metal, etc. Here's the first coat of paint...

It took several more thin coats to even the color out and, since the back won't show, I wasn't making it pretty as much as just making it fresher. 

I think in the future I might paint over the white paint with a pretty dark blue color that doesn't contrast so much, but for now it's good!

The top wasn't pretty either since the top was made of the same "junk" wood as the back. I slapped some white paint on the recessed part of the top too as you can see here.

As you can see, even the "pretty" wood on the top is marked up quite a bit with scratches. Luckily, that part doesn't show when the top and bottom are put together. 

For now the cabinet is sitting in the dining-room-turning-hobby-room waiting for me to pretty up the wood with some teak oil. 

I'm still thinking I will not paint it...well, maybe the inside...as I really like the look of that big hunk of wood with all the painted furniture we have.

Thanks for dropping by!

A Lovely Neighborhood

Here's a neighborhood I like to drive through when we're in Plano, just a little north of Dallas. 

I love the trees and the planting beds surrounding each of the houses here. This short rock wall below is one of my favorite features, and I'd love to recreate it in our planting beds. 

The covered and partially enclosed porch on the left side of the entryway here is another feature I'd like to reproduce in our house. We built a front patio next to our entryway, but we didn't cover it. I'd like a do-over on that!

Here's a close up of that partially enclosed porch. See it under the second story windows?

I love the uniqueness of this house with its two rooms jutting out on either side of the entry and the ground cover flowing up the sidewalk and right up the trees. 

I think what attracts me to these houses is how they're situated on each property. Instead of sitting squarely on the lot, each house seems to be adapted to its own site as if it were a house out in the woods instead of sitting in a subdivision right in town.

You don't find square shaped lawns with a walkway going right up the middle of the grass here. Instead, you find curves, bending walkways and sidewalks that swoop and curve.

And of course the trees catch your attention right from the start. The trees appear to be way older than the houses so you have to wonder if that's why the houses appear to be fitted into the trees inside of the trees fitted into the house's plot.

This last picture looks like a church, but it's just the front side of a garage of one of the houses. A statue built into a niche sits in the front yard with beautiful landscaping around it. 

I'm not a fan of statues, but I do think the landscaping around the statue is fantastic.

Thanks for dropping by!