Lazy Summer Day

There is no denying that summer is here. It is hot and still and, unless you are involved in some sort of water fun, it is just not comfortable out there. This is about the time of year that if I am working outside, I am probably walking into my pool-fully dressed-every half hour or so. I just try to make sure I only do this when I'm not expecting to bump into the lawn guy or pool guy or whoever. Lol

In any case, I spent my morning running errands and I am ready to just sit down, put my feet up and have some lunch but I thought I would take you to the sunroom first. Once again, just a nod to the holiday except in the TV unit which is once again full of holiday photos.

I did this arrangement in a different box this year...not really by design. I usually put it in an old wood box that I bought many years ago at the huge country craft show that used to be held at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa. I loved that show and used to come home with a car-full of treasures every time I went. I actually don't even know if the show exists any more but I sure did love it for many years. Sometimes I went with friends, sometimes my daughter from St. Pete would meet me there and other times my husband came along. I used to get a kick out of him-every time-shaking his head and laughing and asking "what is wrong with this picture? We sit in line to pay to park our car then stand in line to pay to get into the building just for you to spend tons of more money". He actually loved it as much as I did and usually encouraged me to buy more than even I was going to. Lol

In any case, I have used that box for years but, for whatever reason, I could not find it anywhere...and, believe me I looked. I'm betting that I am using it somewhere else and just not seeing it but, just as I was about to relent and put the arrangement into a tin container, I spied this old dresser drawer that I found at an antique store so many years ago. I used to use it as a riser but it has been on a shelf in the garage for a long time. I grabbed it, cleaned it up a bit and, truth be told, I like it more than the white one. Serendipity!

And, I still love the simple Uncle Sam I made with my youngest grand children awhile ago. The FB memory just came in of Presley as she was painting hers and she gave it just the cutest little face.

 

And, of course, the TV unit full of years and years of wonderful 4th of July parties in many different cities. And, also the painting of the soldier that Presley made for me after spending a weekend here and helping me decorate. She was so proud of that painting when she gave it to me and I think she feels the same way every year when she sees it still out on display.

So, that's the sunroom-simple but easy to use the table and chairs when we want to as opposed to almost every other surface in this house that is FULL of STUFF. Lol Lunch is calling but I will be back. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

"Why, WiFi?"

Anyone reading this knows that I am a DINOSAUR! I am terrible at technology! And, we all know the reasons. Technology was introduced WELL into my many years of life. I may not be the smartest person in the world but, I think I'm far from the dumbest.

My girls don't like to hear me say that I am not good with technology-mostly when I am asking for some sort of help. They use the fact that I know how to navigate a blog as proof that I am not as "dumb" as they think I am trying to act. But, the real truth is that once I am shown something and have a chance to get my hands on it, I can do what I have learned. That being said, that doesn't mean that I know enough to understand the workings behind things. In fact, I don't really even know the terminology or what those terms mean. If I haven't dealt with it, I probably don't have a clue.

So that leads me to this post. It is all an excuse for why I did what I did...but we'll get to that in a minute!

Let's go back to Saturday morning when I received a text from Cox telling me that I had already used up 75% of my data for my time period. Well, first of all I NEVER thought about data usage on WiFi. It just never entered my mind. And, I had no idea when my time period ran. And so, I do what I always do when something like this happens...I call my brother and sister-in-law because they either know the answer or they know how to find it. My sister-in-law called me back very quickly and filled me in on what she knew and what she had found out. It seems that there is a limited amount of data on my plan and I guess Cox was trying to get me to sign on for unlimited because they failed to tell me that my time period had ended the day before I got the text-so, no way I would go over this time. Maybe they were just trying to be nice-but, after my more than 50 years of constant trouble with Cox, I'm really just being too nice when I go there. Lol

In any case, I now know that I do have a limit...and so, I set out to try to do better for my next time period. Except that I also learned that there is data use in my house almost every minute of the day. If it's not the TV streaming, it's my computer, Facebook, even my music on my wireless speaker that I have with me when I am in the yard working or sitting outside just enjoying. 

And so, I set out on Sunday to do something with NO data usage. That also meant no perusing Pinterest for ideas. I found another image I had already printed but didn't really have anything to put it on and it was just to hot to drag out the miter saw, find some old wood, cut it up and make a pallet. About then, I spied an old piece of fiberboard that was left over after I pulled something off of the front of it for another project-I have no clue what it once was but, the size was right even if it wasn't my first choice.

And so I set out for a WiFi free day. I pretty much did the usual. Paint the background, rip the edges of the image, ModPodge the image to the board and "distress with antique wax.

And then that brought me to the inevitable question...where will it go? And so, I walked around for a bit and just kind of gave up and leaned it by the soaps in the kitchen...and called it a day-although there really was still a lot of the day to try to fill-minus technology-and it was just too hot and yucky to be outside so, a good book seemed to be the answer for a bit more of the afternoon.

And then I woke up this morning and headed to the kitchen for my coffee and had a bit of a serendipity moment. I realized that the print looked good where it was. There was enough distressing on the jug and wooden tray to mimic the image and...

...if you really stretch your imagination, the flowers and pots on the image kind of mimic the ones in the window, right? Do you see it? Look really hard!

In any case, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm off to do a bit of edging before it gets brutal out there again. Daughter #3 said to make a list because the kids want one more "work day" at Nana's before Har heads off to the Academy, so I need to get on that right away too before the offer goes away. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Fingers Crossed

 It is Saturday morning and my fingers are crossed that today is the day that we get some rain-of course, not until daughter #3 and her family arrive safely back in town. Lol Our weather predictions have gone from 90 percent chance right now to totally 0 percent in an instant and we have not had a drop of rain in quite some time. And, have I mentioned that it is HOT out there?!

In any case, I'm looking for things to do in the house although, it would probably rain if I decided to wash my car. Ha-ha May have to give that a try later. Until then, let's head into the dining room.

I distinctly remember making this star with my oldest grand daughters. It was a long process on one of their "holiday" weekends at Nana & Papa's. We had to cut the star out of sheets of styrofoam. We then glittered them up and embellished them with tea stained coffee filters, more glittered card stock stars, small paper flags, a small banner we printed up and pearls as feet on each of the points of the star. This was a "knock-off" of a Bethany Lowe decoration I had seen somewhere and it was another case of me not checking the measurements because these turned out, once again, to be ornaments for a table top tree. But, once again, that is not what we would have wanted so this was a win for us!

I'm not sure why, but I really like this display. It is simple but I just think it all goes together well...and, it is really pretty at night when the candle clicks on.

And that, my friends, is the dining room for this year. As you may have guessed, I did go back to fool with the "sparkler boxes" again. I didn't make any big changes...just kind of nestled them in a little better...and I am good...at least for this year. Who knows, maybe when I'm starting from scratch next year I might have a really brilliant idea on how to use them...we shall see. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

"Aha" Moment-Maybe?

When last I left, I told you I was still trying to come up with some new ideas for 4th of July. I took a few minutes and went back over some of my Pinterest pins. I pinned this a few days ago before I had completed my decorating because I almost always use cloches in my living room decor and I was hoping to add some new life to the one on the coffee table. 

If you look closely, you can see some vintage sparkler boxes...and, I liked that but, for whatever reason, vintage sparkler boxes are something I don't have in my stash. So then I thought I could just use current sparkler boxes but, the few places I have been since I thought of this did not have individual boxes of sparklers. They were included in very large assortments of all kinds of fireworks and even I am not buying a bunch of useless ( to me ) things for the sake of a vignette. In reality, probably no one who sees that vignette between now and the 4th of July would even notice them. Now I know I could probably find them somewhere as the holiday gets closer, but I also didn't feel like going on a shopping hunt so, I started to think of what might be my next step.

And, as usual, I end up on Google. I searched 'free images of vintage sparkler labels' and somehow, some way I end up here.

I printed out the labels and thought I might be lucky enough to have them fit on large paint stir sticks with just a few simple cuts but, the sticks are just a bit too narrow so I am using some wood pieces I found at $ Tree and going to bring out my trusty friend, my miter saw. I haven't used it in awhile so we'll see how it goes. 

Several hours ( and a loonnngggg ) phone call with daughter #1 ) later...

Luckily I remembered how to use the miter saw-there really are a LOT of knobs to turn and doodads to adjust...and in no time, I had the pieces cut. I'm glad I ended up using this wood because it is honestly just about the thickness of a box of sparklers and once the label is on, it looks pretty authentic.

The labels that had dark edges got a coat of paint before I decoupaged but the ones with the neutral looking edges just got put on the raw wood. The "green" box probably could have used a coat of green paint but there was NO way my OCD self was going to add more green to anything I was using as a 4th of July decoration! Lol

I used a simple coat of ModPodge under the image and didn't go over the top because I didn't want to give the finish any kind of a sheen. I really wanted them to look like old, somewhat faded packaging...and they do.

They didn't go into the cloche exactly as I wanted so I might play with them more tomorrow but, for now, here is where four of them landed.

And the other three...

For a project I was so excited to try, you would think that I would have had more definitive ideas of where I would use them but, since everything is already decorated, I didn't want to start taking things apart. I'm sure I will mull on this for awhile and inspiration will strike-or not. Lol

While I was on Pinterest, I also saw where someone had hung a basket of greens and flags from their rod on their kitchen cabinet. Since I have one and I only have one towel hanging there right now when there are usually two, I was a bit bothered by the empty space. And, since I already had everything else needed, I threw this together real quickly. I think it will work better when my grand dog goes home as this is kind of the area where she gets her treats and she keeps bumping into it. In any case, it took care of the empty space. Lol

I'm off to clean up after all of this fun but I'll be back. I can't promise I'll have any better inspiration but I do have more decor to share. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Too Good to Last

 I have been savoring our lower than normal temperatures this last week but, I am enough of a realist to know that they wouldn't last forever! This morning summer punched me in the face once again. The cool nights are back to being warm and muggy! I thought I could fool Mother Nature a bit and get some more outdoor chores done-and I did-but, the heat literally took my breath away so my furry friend and I are once again back in the house.

I actually just started a big pot of my favorite Martha Stewart soup, vegetable vermicelli. I know that sounds odd with the temperatures soaring outside but, this soup is so thick with vermicelli that it reads more like a pasta dish and it makes enough that I will be eating on it for quite some time so no more cooking for awhile!

So with all of that under my belt, I thought I would come into my office, sit down for a bit and maybe get another post done. Today we'll head into the kitchen.

My old carpenter's box is once again chock full of handmade items. The glass plates are from gatherings with my grand children. It seems as if we made those plates so many times. It made the perfect gift for family and friends when coupled with any homemade goodie that they would bake. And, truth be told, they still love to make the plates and ask to do one almost every time we can still gather for a holiday weekend. I love it as a craft for younger ones because, they really can't mess them up. Even if there are wrinkles in their napkins or tissue paper, it dries fine and still looks great!

And the beautiful pot holders you see were made for me by my sister-in-law, She knows how much I love my seasonal/holiday decorating and made me sets for a number of holidays. I think she made them because she knew how much trouble I was having finding pot holders to purchase but, these are just too pretty to use so they have now become a favorite part of my decor!

This is where the cutting board ended up.

I did a quick swap of the image on this pallet sign. Last year it had a much more "country" image and just wasn't speaking to me this year. I found this image that I must have printed for something and never used so I basically just soaked the old one off and decoupaged this one in its place. I think I like it better now.

The baker's rack is pretty much as it has been for a few years. I did swap out the picture on the top shelf and added the candle in the starred container. I thought it fit right in with the pottery on the second shelf.

So that is the kitchen for this year. I am still on the look-out for some new craft ideas because even I am getting tired of the same ole', same ole'. But, believe me, they seem to be few and fair between and, as usually happens in the crafting world, bloggers have already done so many patriotic things this year that they are moving on. I persevere and keep thinking I will happen upon the greatest project ever if I just keep looking but so far, no luck. We shall see. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Beautiful Day!

 It is an absolutely gorgeous day out-dare I say it was even a bit chilly when I first took my grand dog out early this morning? A day like this just calls for some work outside and, even though I really didn't want to tackle any large projects today-like the much needed pressure cleaning-I knew I had to be out there for a bit.

We actually headed out to tie back the sky vine that is once again growing like Jack's bean stalk! It is always  bit of a challenge because it has off shoots going every which way and I have to get pretty high up on that ladder to corral them all in, but it has already started to bloom and I wanted it to cover the pergola once again for the beautiful flowers to hang and look gorgeous.

And, of course, as usual, once I'm out there one thing leads to another-if you give a mouse a cookie....Lol We got lots of weeding done, jasmine cut back on the trellises, border grass cleaned out a bit and some of the bushes that just had growth spurts cut back. I'm thinking we might head back out a bit later with a book and a glass of wine but, for now, we're back inside and getting a few more little things caught up.

I thought before I got busy, I would start this year's 4th of July/Memorial Day tour. I planted the spring flowers that were on the porch out in the terraced garden by the pool and replaced them with some blue daze, white periwinkles, red pentas and pots of red, white and "blueish" purple periwinkles that I found at Lowes. It's hard to see the "blue" flowers in these pictures, but they're there.

Welcome to the living room.

I still chuckle every time I feed the Declaration of Independence into the typewriter for this vignette remembering that grandson #1 once told me that this isn't correct since that document was hand written-and this happened when he was just a little boy. I quickly explained "decorating license" where themed vignettes were concerned. Lol

 I saw this flag holder in a Martha Stewart Magazine many years ago. I almost didn't make them because the new ball feet at Lowes were SO expensive. But, I kept it in the back of my mind and one day daughter #3 took us to "The Fancy Flea" festival in Madison, Florida and I happened upon a box of antique ball feet for a reasonable price and grabbed them up. I made these as family gifts and I still love mine so much.

I love the spindle Uncle Sams-there is a different one in the family room. It is really hard to find new 4th of July ideas. Even the bloggers I follow seem to be doing the same crafts that have been done for years so inspiration is hard to come by these days.

 I'm still loving my Bethany Lowe inspired banner that I saw in a catalog and made. The funny part of this story is that I was soon after in my favorite shop in Micanopy that carries a lot of Bethany Lowe items and realized that the banner was actually scaled to drape on a tabletop tree. I guess I never looked at the dimensions listed but, I wanted mine large so I'm happier with mine than the original...and, it cost a WHOLE lot LESS!

So this is where the vintage image wreath ended up. I really wanted it with the vintage figures but, I didn't like the way that the back of the images reflect in the mirror. I have since taken it down and painted the back red. It isn't perfect but it is better so it is staying right there. It's also kind of hard to get a good picture because if you do straight on in front of any of my many mirrors you not only get a flash back but you see me. Lol

So that is the porch and living room for this year unless I see something new I want to try. I'm off to get a few things done before I give myself the rest of the day. Stay safe and stay tuned.