Wow!

 Yesterday was a very special day-my youngest grandchild turned 16!!! Wow!! I have NO idea how we got to this point. Seven grands and the youngest is now 16! I was there to witness the births of each and every one of them and have been along with them all through all of their life adventures...and have enjoyed every minute of the fun and chaos. It is really hard for me to fathom that they are all grown up!

And yet, I am lucky enough to still be included in as many of those special moments as I can and that makes me happy! And so...that brings us to yesterday. Presley is a lot like me. She doesn't really feel comfortable being in the spotlight and, even though her mom would have loved to have thrown a big party, that isn't what she wanted. And so, we had a small dinner at her house with just the family that could make it plus her boyfriend and her bestie since forever!

Jen had the house all decked out-I didn't get any of the other rooms but suffice it to say, anyone there had no doubt that there was a 16th birthday being celebrated! Lol

She wanted dinner from one of her favorite restaurants but she didn't want to go there so, while the rest of us all enjoyed appetizers, her dad headed downtown to bring home everyone's favorites!

We had dinner first and we all caught up on her recent trip with her dad to Arkansas to visit her other grandparents and to enjoy time at their beautiful lake water skiing, diving, fishing, boating and all of the other things one does on water. Lol

And then it was time for gifts. There is a bit of a story behind this one. Of course, with turning 16 comes getting one's license. And then, of course, is the need for a car. Now I'm not totally in agreement with the idea that every 16 year old NEEDS a car, but I will admit that in this family it is a necessity. Both my daughter and her husband are extremely busy at work and need their cars to head off early...many times out of town. And, the kids' high school is the complete opposite side of town from where they live-and quite a drive in morning traffic. On many days, she could ride with her brother to school but not until football season is over-most mornings the team has to be there a few hours before school opens for their conditioning training and that probably wouldn't be anything that would strengthen a brother/sister bond-at least not at that time of the morning.

And so to make everyone's' lives easier, my daughter has been telling Presley that she is wanting a new car so as soon as Presley turns 16 she will get her mom's old Infinity. And that was the story. So, after all of the other gifts, came "the" box-the one with a fancy key chain and Infinity car key.

And, as we all headed out, this is what we were struck with.

There was a great big bow on the Infinity. And, I think she was genuinely happy and ready to climb into it until someone pointed her around the corner and she found her "real" gift.

And of course her bestie, who had just turned 16 the day before and also received a car, had to be the first to try it out!

Two beautiful, happy girls ready to start their junior years and be ready to take on the world.

Today will hold nowhere near the fun or excitement that yesterday held but I'm hoping to accomplish "something" so I am off. Stay safe and stay tuned. I'm still thinking about my autumn decor still to come. I would love to change some of it up...you will be the first to know.

Why I DON'T Get the Big Bucks!

 Happy Saturday! When last we "spoke", I think I mentioned that I had a number of errands to run...so that was my plan for yesterday. Unfortunately, I live right in the middle of all of the places I needed to go. I would have to go east for three of them and west for the other three. And, it was still going to be HOT out there so I decided which direction was priority and just headed one way.

My first stop was Lowes. I was looking for something I had seen in an ad that scrolled through my FB. Now anyone who knows me knows that there is no need wasting an ad on me because I am immune to them. I am not going to go out and buy something I don't want just because you send me an ad. Don't call me, I'll call you. Lol

But, I think I have been toying with the idea of under cabinet lighting for my kitchen for quite some time and when I saw this ad, I thought I should go check it out.

Here is the extent of the under cabinet lighting that I had.

I've always disliked the cord hanging there. At one point I did have it held up with a little clip made for just that purpose but it broke and I just never did anything about it...except maybe complain about the cord. Lol

And so, I went ahead and bought this.

As soon as I got home, I was anxious to get going. This set was only about $30 and it came with EVERYTHING I would need. Now, usually deals like this make me skeptical of quality but, honestly, for $30 even if they don't last forever, I'm good.

These can be hung three ways-with the Command strips (which I chose to use), with the screws provided or with magnets if you are using them on anything metal. There was another set that I actually liked better but luckily I caught that they were only "cool" light and I am not a fan of that bluish lighting. I like the warm tones to make things feel cozy. These come with a remote that lets you change all sorts of stuff but, for now, I have the setting I like and that's where it will stay.

Since I had initially hung the electric light that was there, I remembered how to "unhang" it and found this.

That is what my cabinets used to look like before I redid them. Lucky for me, I still have some cans of "Cabinet Rescue" from when I did that project...and I can't even tell you how many, many years ago that was!

I never liked the "walnut" Formica but thought I was stuck with it until we could afford all new cabinets. As it happened, I was in the Home Depot-which I hardly ever go into-I am a Lowes kind of gal-and talking to one of the paint associates about something when I mentioned how much I dislike my cabinets but was stuck with them because nothing sticks to Formica. Imagine my surprise when he tells me about a new product they just got in called Cabinet Rescue.

That stuff was a miracle worker! Nowadays they have all sorts of paints that will work on all sorts of surfaces but this was a first back then. I will say that redoing all of my cabinets was one of the most difficult DIYs I have ever done...and it took forever but I have never regretted that decision for one second!

In any case, I stirred up that old paint-the can looks like that because I used it to support something when I was spray painting-and got the under side of the cabinet good to go.

The hardest part of this project was getting the batteries into the lights-I have never had to push so hard! I honestly thought I was going to break the shell of the light...but, I finally prevailed! Believe it or not, I did it all as I was sitting in my office watching one of my favorite bloggers make a witch's hat-which I might just try if I can find one more place to put another witch's hat. Lol

And, I will say, measuring under the cabinets and getting all of the light lined up was a bit difficult but I did OK. I think there is one that I am about 1/2" off on. Right now it isn't bothering me but if it does, it's easy to pull off the Command hook and put another up.

I absolutely LOVE the way these lights cast a glow across the kitchen and they will definitely come in handy when I'm working at any area of the counters.

And, it was still dark this morning when I went into the kitchen for coffee. I hit the remote and popped on the new lights as well as the ones I ran above the cabinets some years back and I am in LOVE! And all of that for just $30!

While I was in there I also picked up some mailbox numbers and a new shower head but, since I also grabbed this at the grocery store, I decided the other things could wait until today and I sat down, put my feet up and enjoyed! Happy Fri-YAY!

I don't buy Country Sampler as often as I used to but I still grab their autumn and Christmas issues. I'm not anywhere near that "country" any more but it does read as cozy to me and I almost always get a few decorating ideas I can adapt to my home.

So I started today outside before the rains started and got this done. I'm still missing my beautiful old mailbox but, since this one was the only one that matched my post, this one it had to be. I actually forgot to put numbers on it when I first installed it and I'm surprised that I didn't get a note from the mail carrier because I think it is required. Lol

And now we're at the part where I know why I don't get the big bucks! My showerhead is one of the ones where you can take the hand held part out of the main part. That one went in back when we redid the bathroom maybe 10 years ago? It has worked perfectly until recently when I couldn't get the middle part to snap back in correctly and it kept falling out and crashing on to my beautiful tile shower floor. I was afraid that one of these times it might crack the tile and so I set off to get a new one. And this time I thought I would get the ones where the hand held slips into the holder. I found a pretty brushed nickel one and checked it all out to make sure it would work...and I bought it feeling quite confident...until this morning when I went to put it up.

Here is my old one a bit worse from wear probably because I used to soak it in vinegar to clean all of the openings...kind of looks like the vinegar might have "eaten" off some of the finish...so all the more reason for a new one.

I had installed the original so, once again, no problem getting the old one off. The new unit went on easily but then I realized two things. The new one hangs so much higher because it sits in the stand as opposed to coming straight out of the wall. And, when we had this shower done, the builder suggested putting the piping up as high as he could which made it so much nicer for my very tall husband but, the two things together make for one VERY HIGH shower head!

I also discovered that this new head came with a slightly shorter hose and since I sit on the bench built on the other side of the shower to wash my hair and shave my legs, it really wasn't going to reach as easily. That was an easy fix because I just put the old hose back-which was probably a good idea because it is also wider so I think the water and water pressure will be better. But, the height issue is still an issue. I am guessing that there is a simple solution to the height problem in some kind of pipe fitting that will bring the head down but, honestly, I have no idea where to even think about that right now. All is fine for me as, as I said, I use the hand held but, when my family visits, a lot of them borrow my shower and I think it might be a problem then...we shall see. I really thought I had thought it all out but the height of that water pipe never entered my mind...until today. Lol

We are having a beautiful rain right now and my lawn and gardens will be happy because it has been hot and dry for a bit. I'm off to make some lunch. Stay safe and stay tuned.
 

P.S.!!! I am so glad no one has read this yet because I have an update. Again, anyone who knows me-especially my brother and sister-in-law-knows that the height of that shower head was probably driving me crazy...and they would be right! I actually left my lunch and walked back into the bathroom to try to convince myself that I could live with it. Then, I went to the Lowes site to see if they carried any kind of adjustment pipe but I think I would probably have to call in a plumber for that. Then, I went back and looked at more shower heads and, when I found almost the exact one I was replacing-and I didn't go with that because I didn't like the way the one head snapped into the other-I read a little more carefully and found that they don't snap any more-they use a heavy duty magnet.

And that triggered something in my mind. I replaced the head in the guest bath maybe a year or so also. And, that pipe comes out of the wall much LOWER than my bathroom because that is the height builders generally use. And, because I went with the shower head I did, I'm guessing anyone using it would have had to duck a bit to get a good drenching.

DUH!!! This head was like brand new and so...in just a matter of minutes, I had them switched and now both bathrooms have the correct height and, if I ever have to do this again, hopefully I will remember my lesson. AHHHH-all is right with the world. Lol

This is how the first new one looked in my bathroom-and when you walked in there it stood way above the height of the glass door and looked really silly.

And here it is now.

And the guest bath...

Where the hose enters the head is where the old one fit so you can readily see the difference in height! I was so frustrated with myself that I was just about to send a text to all of my girls to see if anyone needed a new head and it was theirs! Glad I didn't quite get that far! Lol

Thinking It Won't Be Long Now!

 I am truly thinking it won't be long now. Honestly, if I didn't have house guests coming soon, I would probably be putting out my autumn decor already! I'm sure they wouldn't mind but I would probably feel the need to explain and so, I am holding off until they return home and then, all bets are off. That will probably be in about two weeks so we will see if I can hold on that much longer. Lol

With all of that being said, I should probably show you the rest of the summer decor before it vanishes. Lol

Guest bathroom is up first...but, I must say, there is not much inspiration in this room. It is looking about as tired as I am feeling. Lol

The only reason I took this picture is because I was thinking back on when I made that frame to zhuzh up the basic mirror the builder put in out new house. I'm still kind of proud of myself for figuring that out but I was starting to wonder if it might not be time for an update of some kind. And, before I could even think any further on that subject, I noticed the piece I hung above the sinks. That has been hanging there forever and this is literally the first time I have looked up and noticed it in just years! Now that I have, I can't stop thinking about it either. Maybe it needs to go. Maybe I could use it somewhere else. Maybe I should get rid of it altogether. Can you tell I'm getting antsy for a project?!

And, of course, the obligatory nod to summer in the main bath.

So that is the end of Summer 2025...can't say I will be sorry to see it go but it has served me well as a tiny glimpse into what is coming next.

I had the most wonderful evening yesterday with daughter #3 and grandson #2. We had planned to eat at Bonefish and even after finding out it was $6 BangBang shrimp night, we still decided to forge ahead. That special always brings out LOTS of people the restaurant is always packed but we were on a mission. The crowd was there and we did have to wait a bit but it was fine. It just gave us more chance to visit and once we were seated our meal was just perfect-as was the company!

I think I am heading out tomorrow. I have so many places I need to get to that I just decided to do it all in one day! It will still be hot but maybe once I get home I can head out to the pool for the rest of the day.

Not sure what is up next for me but I'll be back. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Gotta Learn to Pivot

 The Christmas ornament saga continues. When last we "spoke" I think I said I was shelving the project until I got out to pick up a few more supplies. Those of you who know me well know that that sentiment probably lasted as long as it took me to publish that blog. My brain started going on those "halos" and I realized that maybe if I first drew them with a white colored pencil I would have enough of an image that I could simply trace the shape with a very think brush and paint as opposed to doing it all with just a brush. And, that would have been a really good idea except that even when I tried it, the halo just wasn't going to show up white on white. Again, if I had used one of these painted rounds as my prototype, I would have known that but I guess I was wishful thinking.

And so, of course, I next thought of silver because I was planning on keeping these angels kind of neutral colored except for their gowns. But, alas, no silver paint pen was to be found. And, of course now I was way beyond waiting to get out to buy anything so I found the next best idea-a gold paint pen-which I had and even better, it worked! And so, I tried it and I was OK with how it looked.

Once I got this far, I was ready to finish the back. I have a small pad of Victorian Christmas prints that I love to use so that was my plan. Of course, that paper is 4"x6" and these rounds are so large that I could only run them in the opposite direction of most of the patterns that I love without having to piece the paper so the papers I could use are not my favorite but, again, the word of the day is now PIVOT! And so I did-once again!

That left me with the really ugly edges of these rounds. They are literally 1/4" think. And so, on to the glitter. My original plan had been to use a clear, shimmery glitter but, I was bothered with the only gold on these things being the halo and I felt like I might balance them a bit if I used gold glitter for the edges.

Now, usually, glittering is a no-brainer job...but, as you might expect with this project, that didn't turn out to be the case. I normally use Elmer's glue for glittering but in this case, because there was such a large surface to cover, it just kept running either to the back or the front. So, I switched to Tacky glue which is a favorite of mine for most things because it is a bit thicker and holds its place. But, it is not as easy to apply and I had to be really careful applying the glue so the edge was covered front and back. And let me just say, my sunroom will "glitter" for quite some time to come as this stuff is everywhere!

And then I was still wanting some embellishment on the front so I headed to my stash. This is all that I have left over from past projects.

The little sprigs of holly look cute but I don't have enough so, once again, I guess I am at my "will have to wait" spot. I also still want to come up with a way to add the date that might be just a bit cuter than just writing it on the back...we shall see.

So here is where we are...just realized that maybe I can write the date on the "hanger part of the round at the top.

Here is what the holly might look like-if HL even has any of these this year??? I will say that I would like it more if it was a darker green but I do like the holly. I might even try to paint one to see if I could possibly pull that off. Lol

But then again, when I look at the colors in that poinsettia-the dark green is what I am craving, the red matches perfectly and I just noticed that gold in the center. Now I might just be leaning in this direction!??! I don't know. We shall see!!!

I'm off to do a tiny bit of weeding-I'm trying to keep up with all of the gardens that I got done last week so I don't have as much to take care of as the weeds continue to return. Then, I am going to get ready for my dinner date. Daughter #3 and grandson #2 are taking me to dinner at Bonefish. It is truly one of my favorites so I am excited to get going! Stay safe and stay tuned.

And Away We Go!

 With yet another day of record breaking heat upon us, I am happy being inside and having something to do...even if it is the "dreaded" assembly line of crafts. I have mentioned before that I must have a pretty short attention span when it comes to doing things that require repetition! I would starve if I ever had to work on an assembly line for pay-or go mad. Lol

In any case, this is the only craft lined up right now so I put on my brave face and got started.

I created a sort of stencil mostly to assure that I got each angel in about the same spot and that they were about the same size. I simply cut out the body of the angel and lightly traced it on the wood round.

That worked pretty well in keeping them close to the same size even though the pencil didn't always want to go where I wanted because the distressing on the wood creates grooves and ridges. And, once I got them traced, I decided that I wasn't exactly in love with the shape of the body so I did a bit of "correcting". The lines are easy to erase and if I don't get them all off it won't matter once I go back around everything with the thin, black Sharpie.

The faces went on first...

...followed by the gowns.

Then I decided to paint the wings white on these rounds. I didn't do that on my sample one but the raw wood had a bit more color and the wings showed up just fine. I was afraid they might just blend together here. It was probably an unnecessary step but I did it so it's good.

And then I added the hair and got to feeling that these really aren't coming out exactly as I had hoped. I think I have made the heads too large so I'm not exactly feeling them right now. I am hoping that once I add the black outline lines that all things will fall into place. It probably wasn't a good idea to do the sample on a different base but I was trying not to waste what I have because I really do need all 12 of the rounds that I bought. The other thing that it took me this long to realize is that this round is quite a bit larger than the plain wood ones I have used before. But, if I remember correctly, the other ones must be bought in packages of three different shapes-hence the reason I had the left overs to practice on-so I would have had to buy many more packages. I will reserve judgement until the end but, we shall see. Lol

And, as I have said many times, I am in no way a painter. I can fill in lines with paint-in fact, I kind of enjoy doing that. But, when it comes to actually having to paint something that looks like something, I am at a loss!! And so, each angel has different hair and each head of hair seemed to get larger as I went on. LOL!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post on these cuties. adding the outline lines is a bit more challenging than one would think. The inspiration piece is definitely meant to be "imperfect". And that is fine for the original artist but, as a "copier", if you make it imperfect on purpose and don't do it correctly, it just looks sloppy or like maybe you've had a bit too much to drink. Lol But, it also looks much too stiff if you do it perfectly. Somewhere in there is the happy medium but I'm not sure I hit it-at least not on all of them. Once everything is done, I will come back and I can always add more outline if needed or paint over any place where I got too much. I'm definitely flying by the seat of my pants.

I'm not sure how I will be finishing these either. I assumed they had a hole in the top with the accompanying jute hangers until I opened the packages and realized that the hanger is stapled on the back. I left it there for now. If I have-or find-a ribbon that is perfect for the way I finish these off, I can easily pull out the staples and drill a hole to accommodate it. If not, the jute can stay. I will have to wait until the Christmas stuff goes on sale at HL before looking for any greenery...if I even want greenery. I know for a fact that I will be using a piece of Christmas card stock to cover the back because it isn't finished and is just ugly pressed board. And, because this round is thicker than usual and the edges are just as ugly, I am now definitely going to have to address them. I can either hit them with some distressing or use glitter-we shall see.

When I "painted" on the spackle, I really put a heavy coat because I wanted lots of texture...and it looked good-until it dried. It seems as if it just kind of flattens out as it dries. I actually thought of putting on a second layer but, since I'm adding the diamond dust, I'm going to let it go. It dried in record time in this heat.

I have to chuckle as I look at these now. Some of them are definitely having a bad hair day! Lol THANK GOODNESS I don't have to add a face! Like I said...painting is not my forte!

I was really on a roll with these and actually enjoying painting them way more than I expected but, I think I am at a stop for now. The "JOY" stamped on went so easily. A lot of times I end up really doing a not so great job of stamping something-especially when it is almost the last step-but this time all went well.

The wings have their glimmer and all that is left is the halo before the finishing touches. Although my white paint pen is new, the nib has never worked correctly and you either get no paint or way too much. My thought had been to use a thin brush to paint them but, that is a really thin line and there is a LOT that could go wrong so I think I will leave the halos until I can grab another paint pen. And maybe by then I will be able to finish everything else as well.

It's hard to see the glimmer on the wings in this picture but it is there.

So that is it for today. I just got a ding on my phone and saw where Tampa currently has a heat index of 120 degrees!!! I don't think we're quite as bad here but I think we may be fast approaching it. I am ready for summer to be gone!!!

Stay safe and stay tuned.