Gobble, Gobble

I was so excited to get up this morning and get back to this guy! I think I have decided that except for the slight nod to the wings and the glint in his eyes, I am leaving him as is. I think he's "busy" enough and he is going to get an autumn colored, plaid bow.

Now I wait as he dries!

Here he is all stuffed...and boy did he take a LOT of stuffing. This guy is big!

And he's good to go...except, I think I want to add a few loops of burlap ribbon behind this plaid bow so I will need to get to HL before I can officially deem him done. Since he has a burlap border, I just think the burlap ribbon will balance out the colors. I'm a bit sad because the only hanger I have left to do is Valentine's Day and my year will be complete.

I have a big week ahead-grand daughter's birthday, my brother and sister-in-law coming, an eye surgery, daughter #2 coming on Saturday and all the rest of the gang arriving on Sunday! It will be a full but fun week. I have a ton of errands to run tomorrow so I had better run and get some lists made...stay tuned.

I Love It When a Plan Works...

...at least so far. I am finally back to my turkey. Believe it or not, I was busy all day yesterday helping daughter #3 take down a large wall between her kitchen and dining room...and trying like crazy to get it done before my son-in-law returned from a day of fishing at Crystal River...and hoping like crazy that he had a good day...and lots of fish were biting...and he had no rain...basically that he was in a really good mood...but, I digress.

You see, this is one of my decorator daughters and she always has a new vision for her own home as well as her clients. Apparently, thoughts have been thrown out for a major kitchen re-model for a bit, but no real "meeting of the minds" has ever happened. Somehow, she thought because her husband had actually wanted this wall down when they gutted this space about 6 years ago, he would be happy it was finally happening-even though at this stage of the game, it will necessitate moving the gas stove and refrigerator and all new cabinets and flooring and countertops and faucets...again, I digress.

In any case, I agreed to help. I was so sorry to see her gorgeous, real wainscoting being pulled off of the walls along with the heavy egg & dart crown molding and the arch between the rooms. This is a well built house. I seriously don't think I have ever seen dry wall so thick. But, we persevered and, by the end of the day, we not only managed to get the wall down (I will say we left the studs for now because there are not only 5 or 6 electrical boxes but there is plumbing and a gas line) but all of the debris in trash cans (SOOO heavy because a lot of it was her marble back splash from the kitchen side), all of the furniture back in place (for now) and many, many coats of drywall dust off of the floors and everything else! The next step will be all new flooring throughout the 3 current separate rooms (soon to be one huge room) and we figured the contractor will deal with those things when he gets involved. Lucky for her, she deals with her contractor and all of the various vendors on a daily basis so this will probably come together rather quickly once they make their final decisions on finishes. I must say, her vision sounds gorgeous!

We were all betting what my SIL's reaction would be when he returned home and we pretty much nailed it-he was good with it as long as we didn't ask him to do it...and, we saved the $2000 demo fee!

Of course, somewhere along the day, Jen did realize that at one point when there is no floor, counters, cabinets, electric, water or gas, they may actually have to move out for a few weeks...and in with me. Good thing I have 3 guest rooms!

So, back to the turkey. Because each of his feathers is different and he has a few extra features, painting this guy freehand just wasn't going to work for me. I like symmetry and it wasn't happening until I made the mock up turkey. Today, all I had to do was take him apart, trace him on to the burlap and start painting.

When I went to buy this burlap at HL, they only had one bolt of the "burlap" colored burlap. I put it in the cart but realized that it was the loosest woven burlap I had ever seen. It was going to be a nightmare to paint to get all of the openings filled in. I took it to the counter and told the lady how different it was from all of the other burlaps I had bought there and she asked me if I had looked at all of the others. When I told her this was the only one of the color I needed she said, "No, I have lots of extra stock" and took me to the other side of the aisle where there were many bolts stuck under tables of printed cottons. I never even thought about looking there...but I definitely will from now on!. They were such a different quality-same manufacturer, color, width, etc. She said that happens often.

And so, I found the tightest woven one they had and as I am looking at the first coat of brown on the body, I am not at all sure that it will even require the usual second coat. I will wait for it to dry before I decide. But, "yay" if not. I will have him done in half the time. Guess I had better get deciding how I want to do the feathers!

I have decided on the colors I want on my turkey but still reserving judgment on whether I am going to add any patterns to them. All of my inspiration photos have patterns-one where every pattern is varied but white...the other two have varied and in color. I think it just might be too much for me. As my "kids" will tell you...I like to say I am a purist. It is almost impossible to paint straight lines on burlap because of the texture. The polka dots work best when painted with my "dabbers", but I don't think I want dots on all of them. I have noticed that a lot of my inspirations are not burlap door hangers but either painted on wood or canvas making it much easier to do the zig zags, stripes, etc. And, honestly, I'm still not sure I would want them even if I could paint them. And I have learned the hard way that once something is painted on the burlap, even if the new color covers the old, the "ghost" image of the original always remains. We'll see. Stay tuned.
 

One Day at a Time

So summer is finally ticking away...one day at a time. I am doing my best to stay busy and we are back to more of our traditional weather patterns-rain in the afternoons and fairly decent before and after. Of course, we need at least ONE FULL day of no rain for the concrete floor of my pool to be laid. And so, that is still a waiting game...but, today might just be the day! Fingers crossed.

When I was shopping the other day, I figured I needed a pick me up and, quite honestly, nothing does it better for me than these orange roses. As much as I love sunflowers this time of year, I love this orange color more than anything. Everyone they had came home with me that day!

They have been putting a smile on my face since then as well as another day spent with grand daughter #5 and another day spent with a dear friend...it's been a full and fun week.

Today started out at 75 degrees and beautiful blue skies. I am excited to see where it leads. I think I will start on a turkey...because isn't that what everyone thinks about in July? Lol

I must admit that, at first this guy proved difficult for me. I started by trying to just draw the whole turkey on the Kraft paper but I just couldn't get the proportions right. And then, I realized I would do better if I just mocked up the body of the turkey first, put him on the paper and drew the correct size feathers from there. And bonus...I just have the turkey taped together so after I get the burlap cut, I can take him apart and use his "pieces" as stencils on the material so I have my painting lines. I actually think that now that I have the feathers drawn-and, they're all different sizes-that I might make templates for them as well.

This is the point where I just draw one side, fold the paper in half and end up with something symmetrical.

I think he's going to be pretty cute!

 
Since it is Friday afternoon, I think I will put Tom Turkey away until morning and start out tomorrow bright-eyed and bushy tailed. I really enjoy the painting parts of these projects although I still haven't decided how I want to paint each of his feathers. Hoping inspiration will just hit in the morning. Stay tuned.

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"...

..."If You Give a Moose a Muffin"..."If You Give a Pig a Pancake"...you know, the children's book series by Laura Numeroff. Well, there might as well be one titled "If You Give Dodi a Clean Counter"...because I should have known that would only start the cycle. As soon as the counters were done and everything was put back, my eyes could not stay off of the drips on the oven doors. And, of course, those drips are NOT on the inside or the outside...they are between the double panes of glass.

I seem to remember somewhere in the distant past cleaning this area before but I had no idea how I did it so I zipped to Pinterest. Of course, everyone on Pinterest talked about how easy it is to do...except, my oven doesn't have anything they were talking about. I don't know if it is because I have a double oven but I do not have the "star" shaped magic screws they were talking about where the door magically "falls" open. But, I did have some screws on the outside-plain old Phillips head screws...so, that is where I started. I also started on the top oven because the door is a lot smaller.

As I took the door apart, I made sure to keep track of which screws went where-and, there were many! There are actually 3 layers of glass and between my poor vision and the weight of these things, I was a bit tentative. But, in the end, I got all of the glass cleaned and, miraculously, all of the pieces and the door put back together.! Since it had been a VERY long day, I decided to stop while I was ahead and save the bottom door until tomorrow. And then I saw some trim molding that needs a bit of sanding and repainting and then...well, you get the picture. Tomorrow promises to be another busy day!

So I am back and, as predicted, the bottom door was a "handful"-literally. I could have definitely used the help of an octopus!

Not only is the door heavy but the glass by itself is heavy. And, that was only the start of a VERY long project. The layers of glass fit into some brackets and are easy enough to get to, take apart and clean. The problem lies in putting it all back together. The glass fits in very precisely between tabs on the brackets. It was easy to get one end in but then when I moved to the opposite side, the other end would slip out and vice versa.

I was truly about to think of calling in some re-enforcement hands, when I finally got it to all snap together. I put it all back together, got that very heavy door back on the oven hinges, closed the door and was about to pat myself on the back when I looked down and I could see the inner workings of the door. I wasn't positive that it was wrong but, since I did not ever remember seeing that before, I began to wonder if I hadn't put the one piece of glass with some black markings on in the wrong direction. It made sense that those markings, if turned the other way, would hide what I was now seeing. I tried to convince myself that it would not interfere with the function of the oven all the time knowing that I was going to be doing it all over again. And so I did! And, of course, this time it took me even more tries to get the layers of glass in those darn brackets. And the funniest (?) part of all is that the glass is so heavy that it needs to be gripped pretty tightly so as not to drop it...and fingerprints start appearing on the glass. Oh well, at least it's not those nasty drips-which I have no idea what causes them to appear between the glass when it doesn't even look like there is a way for that to happen-are gone.

Of course, the old mouse and the cookie then started happening again. Since the counters and the oven doors were now so clean, the cabinets all of a sudden started showing fingerprints, coffee drips, etc. And so, I got out the Clorox spray once again and got started. Every cabinet face, inside door and drawer was scrubbed. And then, as long as I was up on the step stool, I figured it had been awhile since I cleaned the crown molding...and now that everything is so clean, I'm wishing I actually had the paint and I could begin giving the cabinets their makeover. Wait a minute! Isn't this where I came in a few days ago with touching up paint? Definitely time to move along. Off to play in the closet and then finally on to my turkey-unless something else catches my eye! Stay tuned.

Be Careful What You Wish For...

While yesterday saw me walking around just looking for things to do to keep me busy-and dry-today dawned and my head somehow was flooded with a to-do list. I hit the ground running and, if I didn't have to get at least somewhat presentable for the Florida Pest Control man, I would be even further along. Right now I am waiting for all of this to dry from its initial cleaning and then I will start the coloring process.

This time I decided to go ahead and clean the back wall while everything was cleared away so that I could do it all at the same time. I think I may have lucked out as the small area that I did first looks like it may not need a second coat. The area to the left of the sink will definitely need another coat. I'm guessing that is because this is the most used area of counter. I figure the walls probably won't need two coats either because nothing has really touched them except "time". The grout on the walls just looks a little tired so I can catch the wall area of the section I did yesterday when I put down coat number two on the counter.

And, now I have even more reason to move along. Aside from the turkey that I am dying to get at, I came upon this.

What??! Empty shelves in my closet???! How can that be? Oh yes, now I remember. I had a garage sale. BTW, no judgment please. I would love to have my closet be all glamorous like I see people doing on their blogs all of the time but, I really need every bit of space I have in this house to store all of the "stuff" I have in this house. And so, I remembered all of the big Halloween stuff that I have stored under my bed. I really would like to get that space emptied out so that I can actually get the vacuum under there every now and then. And so, as soon as the turkey is done and the counters are done and....

At least I won't be walking around the house looking for things to do any time soon. I love a project. Lol Stay tuned.

P.S. Whether I want to be or not, I am done with this project for awhile...at least until I get out and get a new small, stiff bristled, angled paint brush. I literally wore this bristles off of this one. Lol Time to move along!

"Semi" Projects

So, while my yard STILL looks like this and I just can't look at it another minute without screaming, I have been inside looking for anything I can find to keep me preoccupied.

I have definite plans to re-do my kitchen cabinets but, that is a BIG project and for some reason, until the pool gets done, my brain can't focus on a big projects. That being said, my cabinets were in dire need of some touch-ups where they have been nicked by pots, pans and whatever. So I decided that today would be a good day to do that. I actually keep the special cabinet paint and a brush hidden away in one of the lower cabinets so I can do touch-ups whenever needed. As I was getting out said paint, I found this pushed into the corner. I have no idea when I bought it or truly for what reason.

I have used grout colorant before. When we had the guest bath re-done many years ago, ceramic floor tile was just becoming popular and there were no where near the choices then as there are today. I went with a beige tile but put in a light grout. As much as I was OK with the floor, I always disliked that grout.

While I was at a tile store one day picking out tile for another room, I saw a bottle of colorant on the counter and asked about it. It actually changes the color of the grout and I didn't waste a second grabbing up several bottles of taupe. I did this in the guest bath many, many years ago and all of that grout is still taupe. It is actually like a dye not a paint so it doesn't come off with wear and tear or washing.

Since my white tile kitchen counters are also getting very old and showing their age-not well-I knew I was on to my next "semi" project.

This is how I clean the counter grout about once a month...and have been for many years. Not only can I no longer get it sparkly white clean but I think I have probably scrubbed away a good bit of the grout. At one point in time I actually had all of the supplies to re-grout these counters in my cart at Lowes but ended up putting it all back-for whatever reason-and that might be when I bought the white colorant.

In any case, I have started to try this out in a small area of the counter and we'll see how it goes. I know I have a lot of counter but really didn't think it would be too bad until I remembered that the entire backsplash up to the cabinets is also white tile and I think it's going to be one of those "once you start" kind of projects! I might be awhile.

I'm back and it has been a few hours. This has turned into a "good news-bad news" kind of post. In any case, I did the small area I was talking about. Because this is a countertop with very narrow grout lines, I used a very small angled craft brush and kind of "laid" in the colorant. I then did what the directions said and waited an hour, sprayed it lightly with water and used a white plastic scrubbie to get any excess off of the tiles. This was a disaster! It pulled some out of the grout and left big, lumpy piles in other places. I ended up removing almost every bit of it-which was more time consuming than the initial project-and was ready to throw up my hands in defeat.

But, those of you who know me know I am pretty determined when I want to be and go by the old adage "where there's a will, there's a way"! And so I reread the directions and noticed it said to go back and forth when applying the colorant. Ah-ha! It dawned on me that I was putting it on more like it was new grout and I should probably just be scrubbing it in like a stain. And so, I went and got a stiff bristled brush and went back and forth as I was putting it on. And then, instead of waiting the hour ( because this stuff seemed to be drying on the tiles very quickly and was hard to remove after the fact), I used paper toweling and just cleaned the tiles immediately trying to go against the grout lines instead of with them so as not to pull out any color I had just put down.

The good news is that this seems to be working. The bad news is that it will probably take at least 2 coats-but, it goes on more quickly this way and I am eliminating the wait and scrub after that. No matter how you look at it, it is a project...but that's what I wanted, wasn't it? If I start back at it tomorrow morning, I can probably have the whole kitchen done by Tuesday evening...I do have a lot more tile than even I realized...but it already looks so much better! If you look very closely, you can see the difference between the counter and the back wall already.

In these dog days of summer, it's the "little" things! Stay tuned.

Yeah!!!

Yeah to a change of scenery! Yeah to a day full of fun and family! And yeah to a day of no rain...or at least no more than a drizzle!

I woke up yesterday to literally one of the most dismal days ever! And it only got worse! We had monsoons! I was supposed to head out for the day with daughter #3 and was just beginning to wonder if that was even going to happen when it got a little lighter outside just about the time we were leaving.

We made it to Gainesville with just a light rain falling and found a fun place downtown for lunch. We lucked out in our choice because we had a bit of time to kill before getting Hudson and this place had a wonderful waiting area with large couches and games-including a huge Scrabble board on the wall and table shuffleboard -which made for some fun.

Then we were off to the new Cade Museum. Grandson #2 has been attending science camp there all week long. He was excited that he got to spend the nights with his aunt, uncle and cousins as well. We got there a bit early, so we had fun exploring the museum. There are ever-changing hands-on experiences for kids but we older folks enjoyed them as well. They have an large area full of tables and "brain" games and I literally could have spent an entire day there-so fun!

This room is dedicated to Dr. Cade-the inventor of Gatorade and the benefactor of this museum.

This room was full of the science of 3D-including many 3D printers!  Here Presley is making some 3D glasses.

This area had many activities about chameleons, manatees and other critters. Here Presley is trying out some camouflage. You can hardly even tell she's there-lol.

The campers soon joined us and we got to watch their end of the week challenge. Groups of kids worked together to build structures out of scraps hopefully strong enough to protect raw eggs placed under them. Hud and his partner came in second when their structure actually held up to 135 pounds!

I think Jen's family will be getting a year long family pass so they can come back many more times! We still had a bit of time so we headed off and did some back-to-school shopping before we ended the day at Ballyhoos to meet up with the rest of our family that lives in Gainesville. It was a fun visit catching up on everyones' news and then we had a nice, DRY drive home.

Between the rain and the construction-or lack thereof-on the pool, I have been feeling a bit at odds this summer. It was really nice to have a change of scenery.

I think all I have left to show you are the bathrooms so I might as well get to it. No grand gestures for this theme but a definite nod to the sunflower.

Here is the guest bath. I used my old 4th of July basket here with another bouquet of my extra, "I don't remember where these go " sunflowers. I actually like the look of this so much, the basket may just become another of those "permanent" vignettes with changing flowers. We shall see.

And just the slightest nod in the master bath.

I think I might start on the Thanksgiving door hanger tomorrow. I'm deciding on just how I want his feathers decorated and then I can get going. No rain in our forecast today until later tonight so maybe I should try to get something done outside-or maybe I'll just put my feet up and watch a movie on this hot summer day! Stay tuned.

Retail Therapy

I knew if I was going to get any errands done today, I needed to get out early before the rains came. I wanted to start at HL and I knew they didn't open until 9 a.m. And so, I pulled into the parking lot right on the dot...and it was drizzling by the time I got out of the car. I went in at 9:00 and I came out at 10:18...and NOT by choice. Make no mistake about it, I love HL. But I didn't need to be in there that long except...that drizzle turned into a downpour and every time I went near the doors to see what was happening, it seemed to be raining even harder than the last time. And so, I would slowly stroll yet another aisle.

There was a huge sale going on-anything marked spring was 80% off. Surely there was "something" I needed. And so it went. Obviously, shopping makes one feel better. How excited I was to pick up more 4th of July napkins! And then a small $18 pitcher for just $3.60! And I went on to find some orange LED candles, a Thanksgiving decoration, a woven tray, paint and some burlap. I figured as long as I was there and I now had Christmas ornaments checked off the list that I should probably buy the rest of the fabric I would need to make my Thanksgiving and Valentine door hangers. That will give me one for every month! Luckily, by this time, the downpour lightened up enough that I thought I could at least get to my car. No telling what else I would have found that I "needed" if not.

And, that was the end of my errands for today. I made it home before many more deluges...and so it goes.

Here is where I put the tray and pitcher-and the leftover rusted jingle bells. I am having trouble decorating this new coffee table. I think it might be because it is round and I just can't fit on as much as I am used to. I still don't think I have it down but it's getting better.

And here is my next project...assuming the weather man is correct and these rains will continue...and continue...and continue for awhile. 

I love getting all of this stuff done ahead of schedule but I am still ready for autumn...and the sun...and some cooler temperatures...well, you get the picture. Stay tuned.

Cabin Fever!

I know! The official definition of cabin fever refers to irritability or depression when confined indoors during the winter...but, why wouldn't the same thing apply if one is confined during the summer?!

That is how I am feeling during these excruciatingly hot and wet days of this summer! Everything is wet, drippy and depressing! I did manage to get in a bit of gardening yesterday. I even stayed out there in the rain because it was a pleasant relief but once the lightening came around, I was back inside.

Just a side note. I actually wrote this post over two days with a quick shopping trip to HL in between...hope it's not too confusing. I think I write as I talk-a bit all over the place or whatever happens to jump into my brain at the time. Lol

And so today, I knew I had to have a project! There is always lots of cleaning to do but for some reason, nothing ever seems to look fresh and clean on a gloomy day...so, what's the point?  I've already got my Halloween gifts done so where do I go next? Almost every year I come up with some kind of a handmade Christmas ornament that I can also use as a package tie so off to Pinterest I went and found this:

I found this at vicki.blogspot.com and it has been on my Pinterest Christmas page for awhile because I remember wanting to make it last year and not being able to find the rusted jingle bells locally. I figured since I was starting so much earlier this year, I would just go ahead and if I still couldn't find the bells now, I had more than enough time to find them online.

Lucky for me being such a craft hoarder collector, I had everything else I needed. I didn't have directions but, it is a paper ornament, so how hard could it be? I decided to make a 3 layered "paper sandwich" so I brought out my trusty Xyron machine with an adhesive cartridge.

The first thing I did was to download and print some sheet music. I actually found "Oh Christmas Tree" and it was already aged so the tea staining step was saved. Then, I fed it through the machine putting adhesive on the back.

I put the sheet music on to a piece of thin cardboard and then cut some Kraft paper type cardstock and adhered it to the back. This gave me 3 layers which were still able to be cut with scissors but gave a decent weight to the ornament.

Then I found a clipart image of a tree. I wish I could have used a more Victorian shaped tree but I had to stay mindful of having to cut it out and getting into all of those nooks and crannies. I traced the tree onto the backs and cut them out. If I had a tree for my Cricut machine, I definitely would have done that instead but I figured 8 paper ornaments probably didn't justify buying another Cricut die-cut set!

 Then, I did a bit of experimenting with which glitter I wanted to use. I knew I was going to distress the edges and I wanted to make sure you could see that through the glitter.

So I did manage to find tiny, rusted bells at HL this year. They only had the size I need in a garland, but with my 40% off coupon, they are less expensive than ordering online ( with S & H ), so I just got them. Now I have extras to use in other ways as well. And, then I went to find rusted wire. That was no where to be found but, did you know that you can do that yourself? Yep, 2 parts bleach to 1 part vinegar. Just cover the wire and wait! I'm going to use the wire to hold on the bells as well as make a hanger. And, of course, nothing but rusted wire would work for me!

I can't believe that something so silly could make me so giddy! My grand daughter was with me for the day and even she was a bit surprised that someone could get so excited over rust!

Look at all of that rusty liquid! I will say, the one precaution in this method is that you must use a metal that WILL rust and since most of my wires no longer have their labels for me to tell what metal they are, I went with the one that seem the roughest meaning little or no shiny finish. It was a bit thicker than I wanted and in a perfect world, I would have waited and bought another. But, since I was so close to the finish line I went ahead with what I had.

I cut 8 of the smallest bells off of the garland and twisted them on to the wire making a loop at the top and adhered them with a drop of hot glue.
 

And then I attached the bows. In my inspiration piece, the ribbon was definitely a dark red vintage, French silk binding ribbon. Since that stuff is so hard to find, I used a similar ribbon that I had used for silk ribbon embroidery many years ago. I used it to make stuffed ornaments. It is not as wide as I would like but I think I can live with it.

Tomorrow, I'm heading off for the day with daughter #3 and grand daughter #5. We're going to do some fun things before picking up grandson #2 from a week at his science camp. Looking forward to a change in scenery! Stay tuned.