Fun Day!

 So today has turned into "one of those days"...you know, the kind where you start out with a plan but somehow that is not where it ends up. Am I the only one who has these days? Lol

As soon as I had finished my second cup of coffee, I was off to finish some simple crafting that I had started yesterday. But, before I got that far, I opened the living room drapes and spied the mess the tree trimming company had left on my lawn and driveway. They had been on my circle all of yesterday afternoon trimming tress with branches near the wires. The night before we had had a weird electrical interruption. The TV and lights blinked a few times and my thermostat on the wall lit on and off a number of times. It was the oddest thing I've ever had and, it didn't happen in all of the house-only the primary bedroom. The clocks needed to be reset in there but nowhere else in the house. I started to wonder if it had just been a "my house" thing and if I should call but once it came back I decided to leave well enough alone and see how it played out.

When I heard the tree trucks the next day I am assuming that maybe some of our limbs caused an issue and they were able to see that through their computers and figured they should get the issue fixed before hurricane season arrives.

In any case, they left all of the branches in huge piles on our circle and must have sent a special truck to pick them up but, the small branches and TONS of Spanish moss were all over our yards. And, me being me, I headed out to pick that stuff up...picked up my neighbor's while I was at it also. Of course, in doing that I saw a fence slat kind of blowing in the wind...and I was off to grab a hammer. But then, as I got into that, I actually discovered a lot more which then required the drill to pre-drill holes for the very hard wood and tried at least 4 different size bits and the nails until I got it right and, of course, just as I got all of that finally going, the battery died and I had to go grab the extra one. Something that should have taken a few minutes was now well over 45!

Then, as I was taking the can full of stuff to the curb I couldn't help but see some weeds that needed tending and then the solar lights I had just put in once again screamed out that they were too tall even though I put them down at the height suggested. I'm not sure why but I just never liked the way they looked so before I knew it, I was down on the ground digging them in lower. I'll have to see what they look like once it gets dark tonight.

And so, all of that happened before I even got to the sunroom to craft. As I said, the crafts are simple but I am anticipating changing up a bit of my 4th of July decor this year so I know I'll need some new things. And, of course, with no fabulous ideas on board, I just used some of the stuff I had around and we shall see.

The first was a no-brainer. As I have mentioned before I love water colors so when I came across this pretty image I decided to print it and put it in the frame I bought for a "bird house" craft and just never used.

The frame is plastic and was kind of pretty the way it came but it didn't pop enough against the image. The plastic didn't accept the paint very well so I just ended up putting on a quick coat and then going back with antique wax and then a light spray of matte clear coat. It's definitely not a favorite but will probably look cute tucked in a corner somewhere. Note to self-put something in the back of that frame to fill in the corners where the angles don't quite meet. Guess that's what you can expect for $1.25. Lol

Then I had another $Tree black lantern so I thought I would get it dressed for the 4th. All I wanted to do was make a standard bow using some 4th ribbons. Boy, what a shock I got. I used to make bows all of the time and I was pretty good at it. But, apparently I haven't had to make one for a long time because even though I vaguely remembered the steps, I absolutely could NOT get it to do what I wanted. I am leaving it like this and will mess a bit more with it when it finds its home amongst the decor. Lol I had a cotton $Tree scarf that I bought last year and never used so I cut a piece off of that and used it in the base as a candle ring and I am OK with it...for now. Lol

And when my mind was on the lantern, I remembered the "real" lantern given to me by my stepfather that had actually been used by his father who worked for a railroad. As you can see from the first picture, I always use it at Christmas but never thought of it for any other holiday. The red was calling to me so out it came.

For whatever reason, I had never opened this before but then thought it might be cute with a battery candle inside so I figured out how to get in there. I shouldn't have been surprised to see that it had a wick and was an oil lamp. The only way to be able to put a candle in would be to snap off the wick holder and as tempted as I was, I just couldn't bring myself to do that to this beauty so, I just washed that beautiful red glass and put her back together.

I felt because it is so old that it required a "messy" bow made out of ripped and stained muslin and home spun fabric instead of pristine ribbons. I think this will look pretty with one of the vintage vignettes.

I saw another vintage image that someone had just mounted on a thin piece of wood and since I had a piece already cut to the perfect size, I decided to go ahead with that as well. I will use it along with the vintage sparkler boxes I made a few years ago. I just painted the wood cream, ModPodged on the image and distressed with antique wax. 

And then I had seen an old fireworks tin on a Pinterest post and thought I could probably replicate that somehow. I truly wish I could find a small tin but, not being able to, I cut off the bottom of an oatmeal container I had held onto. Then, I found an image of a vintage label that I could re-size correctly. I painted it cream and then added the red and blue stripes and then distressed it with walnut ink and then the ModPodge-cinnamon trick to get the rusty spots. Honestly, it doesn't look like the old tin but I can live with it. Again, it will look cute mixed in with the other vintage stuff.

I decided that it needed to be filled with some fire crackers so out came the big guns...the miter saw to cut the dowel-which actually wasn't a dowel but the last of the three legs from one of those three legged tables that we all used so many years ago just draped with a cloth that went to the floor. Sometimes I save the right things! Lol

The Dremel makes simple work of drilling the holes for the "fuses" and it's so much easier to control than a big, heavy drill.

I painted them all cream and then one red and one blue so I could sand them a bit to distress. I had planned on using twine for the fuses but I has some red, white and blue cording from a 4th of July ribbon bundle I bought last year so I went that route instead.

Then I grabbed some brown shredded paper that actually came in an order from Macys just the other day and was just what I wanted.

So here's what I can add to this year's new "stuff". I really am getting anxious about getting this out. I'm over spring because our weather isn't feeling springlike any more and I'm ready for the 4th! Stay safe and stay tuned.