Full Steam Ahead

Last year I made some of these velvet pumpkins but I couldn't find orange velvet anywhere. Me being the total traditionalist that I am, I was really bothered by the lack of orange pumpkins but, for whatever reason, I was able to let it go! Imagine my delight when I was in JoAnns several months ago shopping for summer fabrics when I looked up and saw the most beautiful orange crushed velvet ever-and on sale to boot! I snatched up a yard and the other day , while sitting and talking to my oldest grandson as he constructed Lego awesomeness, I managed to whip up some. Can't wait to include them in my autumn decorating very soon!




Added a bit more embellishment to the bottles. Still not sure we're "there" yet but I'm liking them better. My thoughts are to add one of those candles that "bleeds"...we will see.


And, here is the beginning of my Dead & Breakfast sign. I cut corners a bit by deciding not to buy quite as much length of wood as the instructions stated. Thought I could just make the sign a bit shorter. Unfortunately, I failed to think of the proportions if I did that and I think I can already tell that it will be too wide for its height. Not a big deal. I will just trim a bit off of the sides but it would have been easier to do this before I got to this point. Oh well, we shall see.

So, when I went to trim this down a bit, I realized I would be cutting right through a knot hole and since I would only be using a jig saw, I decided against that idea. Kind of convinced myself that the proportions were just fine the way they were. I did go in and blow my script up a bit more.

After a loooonnnng trip to Lowes, I returned home with what I hope is all the rest of the stuff I need to finish this project. Here is what it looks like after my distress painting. I love it when instructions tell you to distress something as you really CAN'T go wrong-and painting really isn't one of my talents. In fact, I really try to avoid it at all costs but there was no way to do this sign without picking up a paintbrush or two-or ten! Why do my paint brushes always have a stray bristle or two just making the whole process just that much more stressful!?

And here we are as today draws to a close. I downloaded some of the script from BH&G and typed up the rest on my own. All I can say is thank goodness I have a great copy machine as I am really not so good with word processing and the sizing is always hit and miss with me.

If all goes well and I am at home tomorrow, I will tackle the sign post and putting this all together. Making the post will involve some serious drilling through pressure treated 4X4s, so that should be an adventure. In fact the whole post thing is a bit of an adventure because the instructions are only for making the sign. The last line says "hang from a sign post" and, of course, their's is hanging from a beautiful antique, Victorian post. I'm hoping my jerry rigged 4X4s, finial and 8" lag bolts will get me where I want to be. I have been looking forward to making this since 2010, so we shall see. Stay tuned.