Desperate Times...

...call for desperate measures!

I have been craving a 4th of July craft project but I really haven't seen anything new that I just had to do so I thought I would be letting this year slip away. But then I downloaded a few new pictures and even though I wanted to display them, I TRULY did not want one more 4th of July frame! Once again, Pinterest came to the rescue. I saw a clay flower pot decoration that I knew could easily be turned into a picture holder-and, for no cost. A simple trip out to my potting bench and I had a pot and then into the craft closet and I had everything else except the wooden stars. I only had one unfinished wooden star that would be the correct size and I really didn't want to make a trip to the store for 2 little stars. That was when "brilliance" struck-or maybe more like dumb luck! I passed the arrangement on the kitchen bar that has everything I didn't really know where else to put in it and saw the 3 glittered stars just sitting there bearly visible. Tada! And, I was off and running. I documented my steps although I dare to say, if you have ever done a craft in your life, this is a no-brainer!

I gathered all of the supplies.

I gave the whole pot a coat of white chalk paint.

Next, I painted on the red stripes. At this point, I am glad that I am a vintage, shabby chic kind of gal and perfection is not a goal-and, that was a lucky accident as painting straight lines on a tapered surface could drive one crazy if you were looking for perfection!

Again, a not perfect coat of blue on the rim.

And then, this is when the magic happens 9in the form of a piece of sand paper) and turns a rather sloppy effort into just what I wanted-old and worn-kind of like me! Lol

Then it was just a matter of painting the dowels (in my case, I had green floral picks so that is what I went with) white, hot gluing them on the back of the star along with a mini-clothespin and inserting them into some floral foam that I had fitted in the pot. I covered the foam with some blue filler, printed the pictures and I was good to go...

...until I walked by it one time too many times and had second thoughts about not putting some stars around the rim. I had actually made the decision not to add the stars. I thought it would keep it less cluttered looking. But, it just spoke out and said "finish me, finish me". Lucky for me, I had a star stamp just the perfect size and in just a minute we were good to go-again.

I'm thinking when I get a minute I might back the pictures with some red or blue paper and I know this is not the best craft project I have ever done, but it kept the juices flowing-and that feels good! Stay tuned.

You knew I would, didn't you? Not only does this look better from the front but now you don't see the "naked" backs of the pictures when you look out from the kitchen!

Finishing Up!

Since the big day is almost here, I thought I'd better hurry up and get the rest of the 4th decor documented. Not much left to show you but here we go.

The sunroom is simple once again because we use this room so often and don't need to be constantly moving things to get to other things. This is the centerpiece I made from one I saw on Pinterest.

I still smile every time I look at this silly Uncle Sam that the kids and I made a few years ago.

The guest bath is decked out as well.

The front of the house before I remembered I had some buntings and added one over the window.

And, just to make sure it was official, hubby had two more birthday celebrations.

We don't usually do dessert at Bonefish since we always do an appetizer (we LOVE those bang-bang shrimp) but because this was a special day...and he heard the words "bread pudding", dessert was a GO tonight. I am not much of a bread pudding fan-although I have begun to wonder why because I never met a loaf of bread that I didn't like-but, I digress...but, this was a bread pudding with a summer fruit compote and ice cream AND whipped cream...AND, it was yummy! They brought two spoons so hubby didn't have much choice but to share!

I think I have mentioned how I seem to have so much less time in a day than I did when I was younger. At the beginning of each week, I look at the calendar and think the week ahead just may be the week where I can "steal" some time to myself. But then the week begins and all of the lovely little things that keep life "interesting" begin to pop up. This past week was no exception. It began with our family room TV/TiVo not working properly. I am NOT a technology person so I find it hard to even voice my problem when trying to find an answer. I use the wrong term and before I know it, we're fixing something that "ain't broke"! In any case, this time the problem was solely Cox Cable and even after I thought we had finally achieved our goal, some magic key in the sky was pressed and the two other TiVos went out-yes, apparently something like that can really happen. It turned into a full day of trips to the Cox "Solution" Store and numerous phone calls but we were finally up and working just in time to find out that I could no longer get onto my online banking or this blog. And then, the cracked skylight that I have been carefully watching and waiting for the roofer to get out here to give me a quote turned out to be the least of my troubles when I noticed a new stain on the sunroom ceiling.

Thankfully I remembered a roofer in our church congregation and he was out here Sunday afternoon and took it all in. He said he would be back and at 8 a.m. Monday morning I got a call saying he was out front and heading up to the roof.  Three hours later we not only had a patched roof and new skylight but he cleaned out all of our gutters and blew the entire roof. The difference in the brightness of the kitchen is amazing. Our old skylight had turned sort of cloudy and yellow over the years and the new one is clear and lovely. I'm' sure in the Florida sun it won't stay that way long but I will enjoy it while it does. It is so bright it almost makes the white of the kitchen seem blue-ish...if you know what I mean.

And while I am still waiting for the computer guy-who has pushed me back several times-wonder of all wonders, I sit down at this desk at 2 a.m. today...another sleepless night or I'm just not needing as much sleep these days...and both my banking and this blog are up and working again. I can't wait to call the computer guy in the morning but I suspect he did something from his house to fix the problem. He was our "guy" when hubby was still in practice and has us set up so that he could control things from his home. If that's the case, I just wish he would have done it sooner...but, again, I digress...and maybe I will try to go back to bed and catch a few more minutes of sleep before the sun comes up. All is currently right with the world-or at least our humble abode-for the moment. Can't wait to see what adventures tomorrow brings. Stay tuned.

Almost Done

While I have a spare minute, I thought I would share our 4th kitchen. Not much different but it all works.

I am so glad I am finally using the baker's rack the way it was meant to be used-I think. It was so easy this weekend to just grab the dinnerware and serving pieces for use and then just as easy to put them all away after use. And, since almost everything is in plain sight, I use it all so much more!

I guess I was good at ripping pages out of magazines and framing them up because I think this is the third one I have shared just for the 4th. They're all vintage images which makes it all the better in my opinion!

Note to self: ALWAYS check for fingerprints before taking pictures! lol. They truly don't look like this in person but when that flash hits...YIKES!!

 

So that is this year's kitchen. I still haven't found that PERFECT thing to craft for this year's new treasure and time seems to be moving rather quickly. I haven't given up the search but I'm not sure it will happen. You'll have to stay tuned.

Wild Ride

Every time I think we have finished the "crazy" that is our life and things will start to get boring, something new and wonderful always seems to pop up for us! This past week was no exception! We had many appointments, a trip out of town and the "beginning" of the celebrations for hubby's birthday this year. It seems like the women's way of celebrating in this family has rubbed off on him and he began his week of celebrating last Tuesday with a surprise party thrown by daughter #2 and her family as they knew they would be off on a cruise for Father's Day and his real day. He truly didn't expect it at all which made it more fun!

And, as if that isn't enough excitement-lol-my brother and sister-in-law came down for the weekend and took us out for a wonderful birthday dinner on Saturday.

And then yesterday, Father's Day, the "girls" hosted a day for all of the men in our lives. And, since I won't get to be with daughter #3 and her family for the 4th as they will be on vacation, I seized the opportunity to "celebrate" the holiday yesterday as well. I ALWAYS love it when I can put my holiday stash to good use. I must say that I started well intentioned with the picture taking and then the hosting duties kicked in so I really missed a lot of photo ops. Just know that a good time was had by all!

I had fun setting the table. I wanted a meal I could assemble a day or so ahead so I could enjoy the family time on Sunday as well and I wanted it to be something the guys would like so I went with Michael Symon's "World's Best Baked Ziti" (recipe from The Chew), steamed broccoli, a big salad with all the toppings and 2 kinds of artisan breads. We let my husband choose dessert and he went with shortbread cookies and lots of fresh fruit-who knew?

Look at the centerpiece. It is the one I have been using in the sunroom and I copied it from a very similar one I found on Pinterest. I had originally planned to make a larger white, wood box but I already had this one and time was short so I went with what I had and it is perfect!

My plan had been to get pictures of everyone at the table but once the food went down, we started serving and passing and this is what I got!

After eating, we did gifts for Father's Day and then these 3 hit the pool while the guys zoned in on the U.S. Open

You would think that after all of that celebrating, my husband would be done for this year but tomorrow is his "real" day and there is more to come. As I have said many times before, "we know how to milk a birthday in this family"! More 4th to come also. Stay tuned.

Show Your Colors

Even though red, white and blue are not my favorite colors they are this time of the year. I love going through the house and seeing the flags and the glittery lights. And so today, let's head into the dining room.

A few years ago I replaced some old star lights with these LED stars and I really like them so much better-especially when the room is dark. I think I am going to keep my eyes open for some to go on sale this year so I can replace our other old, tired lights in the LR and FR.

The dining room is pretty simple and doesn't really need much elaboration. We are off to Gainesville this afternoon and when we head home tomorrow I am keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be raining and we can make a stop in Micanopy. I will let you know if I find any new treasures. Stay tuned.

Feeling Patriotic

So on we go to the family room. Lots just the same as last time but with the addition of more of my "flame-less" candles all on timers, I love to be sitting in this room right about dusk when they all just light up. The glow is beautiful and I could honestly nestle in there forever!

You can see all of my 4th photos in the TV armoire and on the shelves so I am not going to bore you with pictures of them...just know that there is no red, white or blue frame safe anywhere near me. My photos on these shelves serve as my "living" scrapbooks and I look at them all often! I love our memories of so many 4ths together and always looking to make more!

I love my Uncle Sams. I have several here as well as the ones in the living room. They all came from "The Shoppe" in Micanopy and it is kind of reminding me that we need to make another visit to this sleepy little town soon.

This wreath is one of my most reposted pins on Pinterest. My daughter made it for me many years ago. I loved it so much that I took it apart and laminated it and it has stood the test of time so well. Sadly, I would need a LOT BIGGER wreath these days to recapture those now not-so-little handprints!

When I took out my 4th boxes this year, I found this frame that I must have bought late last summer when HL was almost giving it away. I went to print a 5X7" photo when I realized that all of the pictures I had ran horizontally and this is one of a few frames that simply could not be used in either direction. I was going to make a new stand for it when I came upon this old image of a Good Housekeeping cover and fell in love with it. A quick download later and here it is. That being said, the next time I have all 7 grand kids in one spot for the 4th, I will probably try to squeeze them all into a vertical picture to use. As much as I love this little girl, I would rather see those faces I love looking back at me!

 So that's it for this room. Today is 2nd Sunday so company will be arriving soon. I'm watching the weather so I'm not sure exactly what chores we might tackle but I know for certain there will be a yummy dinner at the end of the day. Stay tuned.