A Few Finished Projects

Our county fair week has come to a close, 

and I've finally had a chance to catch up 

on a few projects of my own!

I washed, sealed, and prettied up the sweet little aqua door 

mom sent home with me a few weeks ago. 

It has found a home in my scrap/craft/guest room upstairs.

 I've also attacked this pile of Goodwill goodies. 

 The Atlas jar has been hard at work as a vase on my kitchen counter. 

Because my kitchen is never clean enough to photograph, 

please just visualize it full of purple cone flowers. 

Did you notice the little wire basket on the door?

A little "Goo Gone" is all it took to remove the label from the "Poppy Pitcher." There's just something about yellow and red that screams Ronald McDonald at me, so out came the spray paint. 

Oops! Should have moved that jar of buttons out of the way,

but that's as good as it's going to get today! 

The silk flowers were a dime a stem from a local craft shop. 

Meet my great-grandparents 

(in a frame I'd love to change, but the photo is stuck to the glass). 

Think I could paint that gold part a different color?

Anyway, this little arrangement sits on the nightstand 

next to the bed in my scrap/craft/guest room.

This room is taking on a completely new look, 

and I promise to feature it in a future post!

The toolbox has been stained and stenciled

and is now this planter on our back porch.

It belongs to "Cabin #4."

(Remember that "campy" theme

I decided to go with on the back porch? 

I wish we had a "Cabin #4,"

but it's completely fictitious. . .

for now!)

And finally, I dug this old calendar frame out of the basement. 

I always thought it was so cute,

but I could never find a calendar to fit in it!

 

Why did it take so many years for this to dawn on me?

A chalkboard! Perfect! 

Here it is on a shelf in my scrap/craft/guest room . . .

Ugh . . . so much to blog, so little time. 

Still to come . . . 

my first shot at bread and butter pickles, 

and 4-H.

Thanks for stopping by!

Andrea

Washtub Fun

Remember the old washtub I drug home from Mom and Dad's?

It's finally found a home by our back patio.

A few rocks, a copper pot of plants, 

and my trusty solar fountain was all she needed!

I swapped the Off! lantern that used to hang from the hook 

with yet another "rock jar candle." 

All outdoor decorations at this prairie house 

must be weighted down 

or

face the wrath of the relentless wind!

Piece of cake. 

And so relaxing to sit out back and listen to the water

trickle through the rocks.

Garage Sale Finds

In between swimming lessons, 4-H projects, 

and the continuing "yard beautification" project, 

I managed to sneak away last week

ALL BY MYSELF

to hunt for treasures. 

Here are a few of my most recent finds. . .

 

Good grief -- now I've started a yard stick collection.

 This sweet little enamel teapot will look great 

with my collection of enamelware.

 These paintings and the silk flowers 

were actually a sidewalk sale finds

from a couple local stores. 

I scored big on the flowers -- 10 cents a stem! 

And $7 got me those larger paintings 

($4 for the small ones). 

Goodwill goodies. Get out the spray paint and stain!

 This dreamy birdhouse and berry branch 

will find their way to my classroom, 

which sports a Patriotic theme. 

After all, we are the Patriots!

Our master bath has SO needed some extra storage.
For 5 bucks, I couldn't pass this up.

I'm thinking"Espresso Brown." 

Silver knobs.

Do I ditch that dowely railing at the top?

Hmmm . . .

The Brown Chair Project

She's finished!

Remember that brown chair 
that was in the rafters of our garage?

Last week, I got to work sanding her down
and painting her an "Heirloom White." 
A few days later, I added some finishing touches.

Here's the finished project . . . 

I tried a variety of pillows and cushions on her, 
but covering up the pretty lines of this chair 
just didn't seem right. 
I added a bit of fabric
and a "chair belt" to finish her off. 
The buckle is 
from my collection of old buckles.

I couldn't resist adding this fun detail to the seat.
 

She'll look beautiful in our master bedroom, 
which is in need of a full overhaul.
Hmmm . . . 
I'm adding a "before" photo shoot of that room
to my "to do" list tomorrow.
And an "after" photo shoot by the end of the month. 
Stay tuned . . .

Pinteresting

Pinterest = love.

Obsessive, addictive love. 

Follow me by clicking 

on the button on the right.

 

And beware, there are a zillion fun "pinners" out there to follow!

Piles of Projects

Time to get back to work! 

Check out the piles of projects I've started . . .

The white shelf with the scalloped edge 

and the chalkboard 

are headed for my scrapbook/guest room. 

They already have a new coat of paint 

but are waiting for a few finishing touches. 

And I am in love with the aqua frame! 

A coat of glossy white paint 

was hiding this beautiful color, 

so after sanding it down 

I decided to keep it "as is." 

The bench peeking over the watering can of flowers 

has a new stained top, 

but I can't decide on a color for the bottom. 

Green? White? A chalky blue?  

The gate, bench, and watering can 

will stay on the front porch. 

More on all of these projects later!

After a short stop at my mom's house yesterday, 

I came home with these beauties!

ANOTHER metal chair!

And this one rocks,

literally! 

I'm still waiting for it to tell me

what color it would like to be.

The wash tub

is destined for the back porch.

A few rocks and my new solar fountain pump

is all it will need.

And the door leaning so effortlessly on that chair?

Check out the other side:

Aqua!

This picture does not do the color justice,

but it's a beautiful aqua!

And look at this hardware:

My mom has some fabulous treasures on her farm!

She's promised me a knob

from her "box of doorknobs."

Do I need to explain where my love for junk comes from? :)

And finally, this chair 

has been hiding in the rafters 

of the garage. 

Here's a before shot, dust and all.

So many fabulous bloggers have inspired me 

to tackle these projects. 

Stay tuned for the "after" shots.

Can't wait to share!

Collections: Part 1

(Sandi, this one's for you!)

CoLlEctIOnS

(part 1)

I have a collection of old potholders. 

Here are a few just hangin' around the kitchen. 

The rest? Well, this is ONE of the piles. 

Now I'm dying to display them. 

As I was flipping through the pages 

of one of my old Mary Engelbreit magazines 

at the water park today, 

a framed set of potholders leapt off the page at me. 

Yipee! 

Now I'm on a mission for a long, skinny frame.

   

The skirts of these lovely ladies unsnap to become potholders. 

  

I also collect old buttons. Here are a few jars . . .

  

. . . and suitcases. Hooray for suitcases!

The bottom two traveled around the world with my grandparents. 

Alas, my stack would be higher 

if I hadn't stolen the little ones to use in other displays! 

Look out, garage sales, here I come.

(Let's just save the watering can collection for a later post!)

' 

And I guess I can add these darling metal chairs to the list. 

Here are two more old ones I painted 

a robin's egg blue with white arms. 

 

I added them to the yellow and green chairs 

I redid a few weeks ago 

to finish off this pretty little table. 

And the tablecloth? 

More on that later!

 

The famous reclining blue chair has been retired 

to a corner 

on the front porch.

 Its mate is still a 

rusty red rocker 

hiding in the phlox patch! 

It will have to wait until I'm over the fumes 

of spray painting those first five!

 Sandi, it's true -- you can never have too many collections.

As for me, I'll be gathering up more of my collections 

for another photo shoot!

4th of July LoVe

Around our house, we love the 4th of July! 

I added a few touches of

red

to our back porch.

This red star rests on a white chair on the front porch. 

How easy was that? 

Spent the morning on the porch with 

an old grapevine wreath,

some blue and cream garland (from a garage sale),

a red star, 

a little wire,

and WhAmO -- a new front door!

 

The top of our TV cabinet next to the stairway. . .

WalMart pinwheels for a buck. Score!

Three in an old Poudre Canyon milk bottle, 

a vintage potholder resting on a metal picnic basket, 

and a cake stand from my collection 

sit upon the kitchen table.

(More about my collecting problem later. . . )

The ligntin' bugs on the prairie have been magical this year.

Elli, Madison, and their cousin Lauren will be catching theirs

in these plastic peanut butter jars 

that I spiffied up with some of my scrapbooking supplies. 

 

I am addicted . . . 

  

Salad with strawberries, blueberries, dried cranberries, and walnuts.

Drizzle a bit of sugar free raspberry vinaigrette over the top.

I am in love. 

And for the 4th, 

we'll stuff our faces with ice cream (made in a bag) and  berries!

HaPpY 4tH oF JuLy!

Ready for the party!

Finished!

And ready to party! I stitched up a few pillow covers 

with my new outdoor material, 

and these chairs were ready to rock it at Madison's 10th birthday party. 

Unfortunately, we learned that the blue chair reclines slightly when perched upon. 

Though a good conversation piece 

when it nearly dumps its unsuspecting occupant, 

it's going to have to be retired to the garden.

(Sorry about that, Dad!)

Maybe it will get Sandi's

pretty red distressed look after all!

(Click here to see Sandi's chairs.)

Now I'm on the hunt for another to take its place as a part of this lovely trio. 

Scrape, Sand, Paint

Today -- chair roundup. 

Here they are, posing casually in front of the corn field. 

I can't tell you how hard it was for me 

to paint that chair on the left 

after seeing a pair of these beauties 

a dear friend distressed to look just like this! 

I may change my mind yet, 

but for now, 

blue will do for this guy. 

Maybe his mate will sport this look after I dig her out of the phlox patch.

So in between scraping and the sanding and the coats of primer and paint, I spent a little more time spiffying up the back porch. 

I finally "finished" this project after dark and snapped a few pictures.

I found a few old pickets hiding out in the garage, 

so I sawed them in half and hammered 'em together to make this star. 

Not sure I'm fond of the ribbon I hung it with, so that may have to change.

These are the paddles 

we use on family canoe trips down the creek 

that runs behind our house. 

Sitting in the garage does not do them justice.

And it may just remind us that it's time for another trip down the Pawnee, 

complete with weenie roast and campfire. 

And here are my chairs -- all painted 

and huddled with a variety of other pieces on back porch. 

With a chance of storms tonight, 

I'm not taking the chance that they'll be scattered across the yard in the morning! 

Pictures of these at work will just have to wait.

Slumber Party

Wowza!

Three friends + pizza + movies + a basement = one happy almost-ten-year-old girl! 

Now that the girls are finally settled in 

and watching a movie,

I'm grabbing a few minutes for myself.

So I picked up some outdoor material over the weekend. 

I've got pillows on my mind for the patio furniture we have left. We've had some fatalities over the past few years, and some of what we have left is a little bent. 

Or splintered. 

Or maybe not really very safe to sit in. 

But dang it, wind, you are not going to win!