One Week In, Two To Go

It might be spring if yesterday was too chilly to be outdoors and today is balmy.  If yesterday was gray and dour, and today is blissfully sunshiny.  If yesterday felt like a good day to cocoon and hibernate and today is an outdoorsy invitation.         

My garden is in no doubt that spring has just about sprung.  The yearly parade of intensely purple mini iris, tete a tete daffodils and crocuses (croci?) by the hundreds has been flaunting their blossoms regardless of snow flurries or shivery breezes.  Thank heavens for bulbs and perennials like primroses that lift my spirits each year.  

My vast collection of bunnies are lurking behind an abundance of green clad leprechauns and shamrocks, waiting for their turn in the seasonal spotlight.  Can lambs and peonies be far behind?  

I know that changing out holiday decorations is just too much trouble for most people nowadays.  I can't help embracing the changing seasons though.  A changing gallery of holiday reminders is just a small delight that makes my life a tad richer.

Plus, I get bored easily.  Eye candy is nice.

Time is a funny thing.  It hardly seems like it was only a week ago that we received our first covid vaccine.  The second dose scheduled for the twenty-ninth seems like an eternity away.  

I'm mulling how to celebrate being (relatively) street legal again.  There are some errands and projects that have been on the back burner.  Things I want to accomplish but have not been willing to risk the possible exposure, like a trip to a big box store to have a gallon of paint mixed for the family room or BB&B for a digital kitchen scale. The idea of going out without weighing risk factors and deciding on discretion is going to take some getting used to.  We are fortunate to live in an area where most people are mask compliant.  Still, those new variants popping up are not only more transmissible but also cause more serious infections.  I'll dream about paint and scales, but till probably resist the temptation until more of our population has access to the vaccines.  Better safe than sorry!

1

My All-Time Very Favorite Wondrous Christmas Ornament

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I always refer to it as the Soap Bubble.

 

There's nothing better than sitting together on the loveseat and seeing all the magic and beauty of Christmas condensed into one perfect sphere. 

 

It reflects the special ornaments made by little hands, the cross-stitch beauties made by family, the Shiny Brites from my childhood, the elves from our first married Christmas, the satin ornaments we bought for our first tree, the spun-glass icicles, the wooden European ornaments, the teensy-tiny ornaments that glisten high up on the most delicate branches as well as each colorful lightbulb.

 

I've Reclaimed My Guest Room

'Way back in the summer of 2012, I worked tirelessly to transform this half-baked attempt at a guest room into a welcoming haven.

My son had moved out, my husband's chemo was over and I had the summer off.  Was I ever busy!

I sewed a dust ruffle to complement the Waverly floral duvet cover I'd made years before.  I had just been pulling the duvet long enough on one side to cover the box spring as you can see above.  Hey, the other edge was pushed up against the wall where no one ever saw it, and it was better than looking at the boxspring and frame.  Or so I told myself.

I envisioned a ticking striped fabric but found a cute botanical/alphabet print.  It was the perfect pink and the price was unbeatable.  Sold!

I painted a resin ORB yard-sale wall lamp in my favorite white ( Behr Sleepy Eyes), recovered a vintage lampshade frame with chenille (this is not it btw), rewired with white cord, then stood back and admired my handiwork with glee.

With a little ingenuity and an electric drill, I even figured out how to hang the lamp despite missing hardware.  The challenges of upcycling!

We had also been using this spare room for storage and it has a high decorative ledge that's perfect for hiding boxes behind paintings and other decor. I'm a packrat ("this might come in handy someday") and a sentimental mommy (toy trains, models, teenage odds and ends)--not a good combo.

I barely survived some hard-hearted purging and a couple trips to the Goodwill donation center but it felt good to be organized and have kept only a few choice items.  I look back at this pile and think "Yikes!"  No watermark on this photo for some reason but feel free to Pin it if you have a "Hot Mess" board!

While I was clearing the ledge, I even scraped some popcorn off one small part of the pitched ceiling and painted it--just to see what it looked like.

This was before I repainted it.  Even without any texture, it's such a nice clean difference.

I finally painted the whole room farmhouse yellow.   A warm mellow yellow that existed only in my memory of a wooden chair in my grandmother's California ranch house rather than on any of the hundred yellow paint swatches (too green, too blue, too gray, too orange, too gold) I'd been collecting.  I mixed up my perfect farmhouse yellow from my craft acrylics and then had it color-matched.  I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner, but it is the easiest way to get the paint color you want.  Duh! 

By the end of the summer I'd decorated with old family wedding photos and some of my MIL's original floral art and the room was beginning to look quite welcoming.

 I even created a sewing corner with thread, notions and a bit of Mary Englebreit happiness handy.

Two weeks later my son moved back when he and his roommate parted ways!  Let's pause for a moment of silence.

Sigh.  It was wonderful to have my live-in dog-sitter,hen-watcher and part-time chef back, but...as they always say, every silver lining has a cloud.  

Fast forward two and a half years to last week.

The boomerang kid now has a better job and good prospects for the future, and has moved out.  Again.  Maybe for the final time? I hope so for his sake.  No one should have to move back with their parents if they want to retain their sanity.  I couldn't have!  He seems to have escaped unscathed--perhaps we are just unusually wonderful lenient, understanding, awesome parents?

Once again, I have a lovely empty room that's begging to become the guest room it always wanted to be.  I've moved out almost every lingering vestige that he has yet to transfer to his new home--blackout curtains, extra computer parts, old textbooks, navy comforter, ratty posters--and I feel like I have a bright and welcoming space to play with again.

I have plans.  Oh, do I have plans!

All the decor is still stored away because I'd just love to resume scraping off popcorn.  (It'll never be this empty again, right?)

 

The bed has never had a headboard and I'll be making this Ana White farmhouse version.  Unless I can find an old brass one like this one during my garage sale rounds.

 

Minus the 70's quilt and dark gray carpet, hopefully!

I can just see plantation shutters, crown molding, new baseboards, beefed up trimwork.  My son removed the closet doors and it looks so open and spacious without them--not to mention how much easier it is to access anything inside--that I would like to hang curtains if I can find a fabric I love.

Oh, the possibilities!

I wish I could wave the magical DIY wand that so many bloggers seem to possess.  I would be able to show you a series of perfectly-styled photos by next weekend, right?  Real life just isn't like that. I have a husband and a dog, four new chicks, a job, housework and an awakening garden--all of whom need my attention.

For now, just having a (mostly) empty room is enough.

Stay shiny,
 

Saying A Not-So-Fond Farewell to a Wallhanging

How do you define hot mess?  Let me give you a hint.

I made a Halloween quilt to display over the mantel.  I used an extraordinarily-flamboyant orange fabric.  And some seasonal black to go with it.  As well as vibrant turquoise.  And purple.  And then I hung it in a room with red-trimmed curtains. What was I thinking?

I don't have one single photo of my mantel with the wallhanging.  I realize how disappointed you must be.  Just know that your eyes are thanking me.  And you won't need counseling to overcome your PTSD.

I've hated it every single time I walked by.  For years and years.

I put up all our Halloween decor at the beginning of the month except the obnoxious wallhanging.  I told myself I'd wait until right before All Hallow's Eve so I wouldn't have to look at it for very long. 

Then I realized I had no intention of ever hanging it up again.  Ever ever ever.

No matter how much time, effort and thought go into a project, sometimes it's a failure.  I'm specifically blaming the orange in this case.  It's loud enough that it practically fluoresces in the dark.  I could donate it to a local construction company for their employees' safety vests and I can guarantee that even a driver on a cellphone would avoid them.

On the other hand, last year I grabbed a stack of nice autumnal fabric from my stash and quickly put together a little Halloween gem that I promptly gave away.

 
A small quilted wallhanging that has orange and black and purple--but in lovely mellow October shades.  It lives at my sister's home.

Have you every seen a happier Frankenstein?  He looks like he's waiting for pumpkin muffins to come out the oven.  Totally content.

The difference between the two pieces is kinda like choosing a double espresso before bedtime instead of a cup of warm milk and a cookie. 

Like feeding your toddler all the Halloween candy at one sitting and letting him wash it down with a Coke instead of dipping graham crackers in milk one by one.

Like growing your fingernails extra long to scratch that chalkboard instead of listening to a dove coo. 

Like...well, you get the idea.

Fortunately for me, I'll be at my favorite quilt show this time next week.  And I'll be looking for some fabrics that will play nicely with my family room decor.  Maybe next year, I'll have a Halloween wallhanging that doesn't make me cringe.

Bring joy,

 

My "Summer Stars" Wallhanging

I just hung my new summer wallhanging above our mantel! 



"Summer Stars" has been perking along in my brain for a while now and there's nothing as satisfying as seeing your idea come to life.  (Except Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Or peaches warm off the tree.  Or holding the grandbaby.)  I stepped off that stool, turned on all the lights in our north-facing family room and grabbed my camera.

I started collecting fabric with the idea of a red, white and blue version of my "Christmas Star" wallhanging.  But the reds would be cherry reds and the blues would be a medium clear bright tone that I mentally catalog as "soldier blue."  They've been waiting for me for a few years now.   (Don't inquire as to the definition of a "few", please, because I might have to fib a bit.)

As I sewed, I quickly realized that I'd been including some patriotic flag material in soft tans and they weren't fitting in with my vision at all.  I think I was getting too influenced by the Fourth of July when I really wanted something brighter, more summery.  Subconsciously, this jigsaw puzzle that I liked enough to frame was inspiring me.  

 

Not a bit of tan in sight, is there?  It's pure summer! 

I tossed out the drab tans and pulled bright whites, strong yellows and medium greens from my stash.  There are strawberry and butterfly and bunny fabrics to add to the summery feel of the patriotic flags and stars. 

My dining table has been piled high with material for a week while I've been cutting out three-inch squares and piecing the star blocks.  Why does quilting take up some much more time than a major project involving wood and power tools?  I can't express how nice it was last night to gather all the fabric into neatly folded piles and carry them up to the craft closet.  Because I'd sewn the last of the twenty-five blocks sometime after eleven p.m.  Hallelujah!

I love auditioning the individual blocks and figuring out a pleasingly random arrangement.  (And then changing ten times because my least-favorite block was in a way-too-prominent place that was going to annoy me for years if I left it there.)  I always take a photo before I sew them together since I'll never remember what goes where otherwise.

 

Good thing too because even though I chant things like "green block on the upper outside," I get sidetracked by making sure the star points stay pointy and the seams match.

It's not perfect, but it's DONE.  Well, not done in the sense of batting and backing and binding--but that's the easy part now that the quilt top is finished.  I'm one happy camper!

Off to style the mantel and then shop the stash for backing material.

Relieved, happy, satisfied,

Spring Mantle

Oh, am I ever ready for Spring! Colorful flowers, warmer temps and baby animals--what could be more joyous?!

 

It's springtime on our mantel if not outside where my flowers are blooming through the snowdrifts.  Well, maybe snowdrift is too strong a word, it's more like rapidly melting snowpuffs.

Back to the mantel--

Tulips?

  
Check! 

Lambs? 

 

 

Check!

Yellows and pinks and aquas?  

 

Check! 

 It's a lovely greeting each time we walk into our family room. 

 

And at nightfall, we'll toss a few logs in and light a cozy fire, plug in the white mini-lights and loll on the sofa to watch the latest delivery from Netflix.

Drop by anytime.  'Cause you's welcome.

 

(Bad sheep puns are just part of being in love with lambie pies.  We even stitch them out for posterity.  My bad.)

Come see other spring mantels at The Lettered Cottage--so much eye candy!

Happy Springtime,
 

Mirror, Mirror

I ran across this oldie at Goodwill during my one-girl weekend extravaganza. The price was so low that I thought it might have been a mistake and held my breath until the checker rang me up without questioning the sticker.

It's about twelve by twenty-four and weighs a TON.  If there was any question about whether to buy it or not, the weight would have been the deciding factor.  Kind of like finding a dresser with dovetail joints and dust covers.  You just know the quality is there and snap it right up.

It's missing some detail on the left side but I'm going to follow this hint from A Polka-Dot Cottage (whoops, I mean The Polka Dot Closet) and try to replace it.

It's worth a try, and even if it doesn't work, there's obviously plenty of other detail still intact.

The odd coppery color is unusual and not long for this world.  Since it'll be hung in my newly reacquired guest room a coat of my usual Sleepy Eyes white with a bit of glazing to bring out the details should make it a shabby chic treasure worthy of guests.

Have you ever tried photographing a mirror? The background not only has to be acceptable but also provide decent support for the heavy glass and the reflection needs to be good too.  Kharma's sweet paw and my still-green lawn are up to the challenge!  

(Happily, I found it was much easier to make the reflected doggie fudgsicle disappear with Picasa than my usual shovel and  pail. Just sayin'.)  

Now to get busy with the makeover (mirror, not lawn.  Well, maybe lawn too.)

Fairly enamoured,
(mirror, mirror...fairly, get it?)

When the Gods Smile

I must be living right. I only had two things on my Garage Sale list--picture frames and a barbeque. Needed, but mundane.

Instead I was lucky enough to find these silver beauties...fifty cents each.  Don't hate me.

Fate also handed me the frames I was hoping for.  Three of them!  The gold one (minus the mat) will hold a new oil painting. Please forgive the artistically arranged silver on my vintange pink suitcase as temporary art. 

The long rectangle (with a little repainting) is perfect to re-create a chalkboard for my neighbors. More silver and suitcase art.  Hmmm.  Sensing a theme here. 

Not really.

The small one (currently looking even uglier than when I bought it) is for...something.  Not for laundry room art, which was my intention. 

I'm kicking myself daily for not buying the two wood frames that probably would have been perfect once they were painted.  Why didn't I? Ack!  I can't even say they cost too much--only free would have beat the price.  Kick.  Kick.

Check out this brand spankin' new Weber.  It wasn't a bad price when I first saw it at the church rummage sale, but I decided I'd return closer to the end of the day to see if it was cheaper.  Uh, yeah, half of the original amount made it a sweet buy to replace its decrepit/rusted/very short predecessor. 

And a lightbulb moment came along along free with it.

I like to chat with random people (something that used to drive my teenage boys crazy) so I expressed my delight at finding this amazing deal exactly when I needed a new barbecue as the Baptist volunteer took my money. I don't sling the Almighty around much and I'm not comfortable with people who do, but I realized her spontaneous "praise the Lord" was pretty much the same as my usual "there are no coincidences" mantra. Finding that similarity between us was my best bargain of the day.

The garage sale gods also had a good laugh at my expense.  I also bought a cotton lace tablecloth and have been wondering why I used pink suitcases for backgrounds instead of ecru lace. I ironed the tablecloth this morning and found that I'll soon be testing my mending skills on one gigantic and one smaller hole in the lace netting. 

They had all their linens taped into bundles and I was more concerned that the size was right.  It never occurred to me that these wonderful folks who teach craft classes and have an adorable gift shop would hide a flaw.  I don't really think they were hiding it--I just should have checked better. Drat.

Oh well, my intent was to fancify the picnic table anyway and I certainly won't feel guilty about hauling lace outside now!

It's all good.

Laundry Room

Now that I have the camera, camera cord and a working computer all at the same time...I remember that taking photos of small rooms with no windows is an exercise in color-balance frustration. Just the same, it gives you an idea of how much the mood of this room has changed.

Before
In its neutral and boring color scheme.

After
It's a cheery place for dirty clothes to hang out.

The cabinet doors are staying off until I've either added trim to jazz them up or replaced them with glass doors. Meanwhile I'm looking for creative ways to disguise the utilitarian nature of the contents.

Or I would be if I had the attention span of an ant--this whole project is soooo last week. I currently have an enthusiastically half-unpainted wardrobe greeting one and all as they enter our cottage.  Serious decorating chops!

A Change of Focus.

The first (and only, final, last) family gathering that I've been working on for seven months was delightful and successful and fun and wonderful and rewarding.  And much more.  There's not an adjective that fully describes how insanely crazy I am about my family!  It was a team effort and I enjoyed working so closely with my cousins.  We're not only still talking to each other after our mega-project but we've woven our heartstrings a bit tighter in the process.


But the get-together is now family history and the loose ends are firmly tied up, so it no longer consumes my every thought and utterance.  Seriously.  The vacation drive back from Casa Encantada involved discussions about condiments.  Really.  (I'm not sure if that makes me detail-oriented or complete anal retentive.)

It's nice to move on to new challenges.  Before I panic and waste what's left of summer. Time to get involved in some other worthwhile effort.

Olympic Organizing Committe?  I'm just not that into sports other than soccer. (Plus the IOC haven't called back.)

World Peace?  Worthy but I suspect more frustrating in the short run than rewarding. I cover up enough grey hairs as it is.  So not into more of them.

I was thinking something creative.  Something tangible.  Something that will improve my quality of life and eliminate half my wrinkles.

Delving into my Summer List, I found the perfect project.  Short-term.  Cheap.  Easy-peasy results. No guarantee about the wrinkle remover though.

And I get to use my Purdy paintbrush.  Love, love, love having a great paintbrush again!  It's my own personal magic wand. 

Yep, I'm transforming my laundry/powder room from soothing natural colors to a palette that has more energy.  Lesson learned: avoid decorating that's subtle, soothing, and/or sophisticated.  It's not me.

The raw silk valance is headed for Craigslist to be replaced with some Cath Kidston-esque fabric that I've sewn. The tan and moss hand towels took a trip to the Queen Mother's. SW Interactive Cream walls received their first coat of SW Buff.  The rooms look much brighter.  That'll happen when walls go from fawn to vanilla ice cream and the trim from KM Bone to KM Antique White.

So.  Much.  Better.

We have turquoise and lime towels now.  The beadboard switchplate covers (Lowe's beat Home Depot's price by $3 each!) make my heart go thump-a-lump every time I see them.  Next up:  white frames for some original flower paintings.

And a search for my camera USB cord so I can download photos for the final reveal.  Where did I put it?

Smiling and contented,

How To: Paint Diva Roses

Painting these roses are so stinkin' easy and fool-proof that it's practically immoral.

Supplies: Acrylic paint and some paint brushes, pretty basic and pretty simple.

Art brushes: one flat brush to paint the circular roses, one round brush for the details and leaves.

 Colors:

• Flowers: two contrasting carnation pinks, one light and one medium.
• Leaves: two contrasting greens, lime is perfect for the lighter of the two and a medium green for the darker. Think tropical.
• Dots: White.

My plastic lid fancy pants palette is ready to go.  Ignore the metallic gold, aqua and black from a previous painting binge.  Believe it or not, this IS a clean palette for me.  Normally I have ten or more thick layers of paint crusted on.

Basecoat: I'm using soft blue for this tute, but black or white/ivory are fab and I'm dying to try a yellow-gold background soon.

Basecoat your item and let it dry. Besides the pot and wood hearts, I've also considered a bench, stool, flat picture frame, wooden box, garden art, pretty much anything flat that can be painted. You're limited only by your imagination! My brain is creating signs for a Garden Party, an arrow to the Rose Garden,  a garden quote for my jardin and a box for the TV remotes.

*******

Grab your flat brush and some white paint, paint large and small circles randomly. Can you tell I use a pivot technique? So quick to just spin my brush around. Voila!
Let'em dry. (Why white? I always-always-always paint white first when I intend to use pink or red which cover notoriously poorly. You'll get a truer pink or red without painting multiple coats.)

Fill in between the circles with white elongated-almond shapes, some tilted one way, some tilted the other, some almost horizontal. Try to keep them random.

 ~~~~~~~~

Using your flat brush again (I'm assuming you washed out the white paint), pivot-paint over your white circles in light pink. Don't worry if you still see some white at the edges or if you slop some pink outside the white. It'll look great, you'll see!

Pay no attention to those darker pink circles.  Pretend they are light pink too. Please?

~~~~~~~~

Now use the round brush and lime green to turn the white almonds into leaves. Paint more than half the white shape lighter.  Then use the medium green to paint crescent-moon shapes on the other side.  You should have a definite bend in your leaf.  I usually (but not always) have my lighter green on top.

And yes, I did accidentally touch some wet green paint as I spun the pot around.  It happens.  No prob.

~~~~~~~~

Time for the round brush and darker pink to bring your roses to life. Think sixes and nines and spirals for the centers and fill in with some curved commas around the edges.  It's fine if your lines waver, change from thick to thin or become wispy.  In fact, it's good if they do that!

~~~~~~

You can add white polka dots and call it done at this point OR you could darken your green with a tad of black and add some definition to the edge of the green crescent like I did on the right there.

********

I used this terra cotta pot as an opportunity to play around a bit.  My inspiration piece had large light pink and small dark pink roses with black accents, so I experimented with both red and purple accents for my pastel version of the diva roses with limited success (at least for me, you might love'em).  My conclusion?  Keep all the roses light pink with darker rosy spirals (that's why I told you to ignore those darker pink circles earlier).


Here are three other colorways for the diva roses :

Black background with both light and dark pink roses and white dots.  Wretched photo, I know, so hard to see the colors in the glare in the morning sun.  Do not despair, my lambs, the mug photos below are filled with details enough to delight any heart.

And the fabulous white diva mug itself in with black dots and detailing.  See how yellow-green the leaves are compared to the pastel ones below?

Pastel blue like my How-To flower pot, only with black lining the leaf centers and detailing the roses.


Have fun painting,