Best Laid Plans!

Just when you think you have it all figured out.... I think I last posted that I would be hosting Easter Saturday and daughter #3 would host our actual Easter day celebration. Due to some scheduling conflicts, it looks like I will be hosting both and then we will be moving over to my daughter's for the Easter afternoon wind down. That meant I had to do a bit more planning of menus, table settings, two birthdays that we want to squeeze in, serving pieces, etc. I made a list and a lot of that was going to happen today. But then, the rains came again last night. Although we had all kinds of severe thunderstorm with 60 mph wind warnings, all we got was a beautiful, pretty steady spring rain for a number of hours. Enough hours apparently to cause a leak in my sunroom.

I had noticed this leak about 10 days ago when we had just some minor showers and had called my roofer immediately the next day. He was supposed to get over here but was busy on another job and, as long as there was no rain, it was all good. Of course, after last night, he finally showed up today. There was some kind of an issue where the pitched roof feathers into the flat roof. Sounded simple enough to me but they have been working up there ALL day long, so we shall see.

In the mean time, I was getting called out every now and then and just had a hard time concentrating on my to-do list, so I decided to do something I would rather be doing and you know that lead me right back to my 4th of July inspirations.

I started with the wood tags. Because I had so much trouble hanging more than one together so that you could see them all, for the last few holidays, I have made just one. But, this time I wanted to make one with a star and one with stripes. And then, I had the idea to decoupage on some music paper. I didn't like the colors on the music paper but when I found the cover to the Star Spangled Banner sheet music, I was sold.

And so, I started by painting all three tags with white chalk paint.

Then I masked off some stripes and a star and painted them appropriately.

I decoupaged the paper onto one of the tags, sanded the edges on all a bit, glued on a washer that I had "grunged up" a bit and added the twine hangers. I am hoping that I can find a way to hang all three together because I like the color contrasts. This is usually where I add a bit of the antique gel as well but, for whatever reason, this time I wanted to keep the whites crisp.

And then, since there was still hammering going on, I decided to give my idea for the shelf sitter a try. I painted up some beads...I did red, white and blue.

Then, I made a tassel just like the ones I did on the bead garland and made a similar strand using just 9 beads and glued them along the top of the board. I had planned to make a beaded hanger but it just didn't look right and not everyone receiving one of these will want to hang it, so this was kind of the best of both worlds. And, I like that it adds something to the large expanse on the right.

So that is the end of my 4th of July ideas so far...but I am still looking and the "day" is young as they say. Lol Tomorrow I have to get to the store to shop for the holiday and I have a number of errands to run as well. It looks like I will have some company as my youngest grand daughter doesn't have school and her mom is booked all day so she is going to be my little helper. Should be fun...it might take twice as long but it will be fun. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

 

One Track Mind!

I know you have been on the edge of your seats to see the end of the Easter decor tour but, I am having a hard time letting go of all of the 4th of July ideas now that I have found them!

My initial plan when I woke up today was to start my pressure cleaning. And, with no rain in the day's forecast and a bit of a cloudy day, it would probably have been the perfect weather. But, once my mind went to the 4th crafts, my body quickly followed suit! Lol 

I know that the small wood tags work but, I was chomping at the bit to see if I could get the Stature of Liberty watercolor to work...at least the way that I was thinking.

And so, I gathered the few necessary supplies.

I cut out the Statue of Liberty image I had downloaded, traced it onto the Contact paper and cut that out. The hardest part of working with Contact paper, at least for me, is getting the backing to separate. Once I did, I centered the shape on my water color paper and used the back of my fingernail to push down the edges. I didn't want to use anything stronger because I was afraid it might make marks on the texture of the paper. But, I wasn't at all sure it would give the adhesive a strong enough seal either.

As I have said before, I am not a painter and I am definitely not a water colorist. I do think this is one of the easier paint techniques but, there are definitely things to know about how the paint works and different techniques to use for different effects and, I don't know those things.

I started by wetting some of the paper but I was cautious about too much water around the edges of the image for fear it would seep under. I laid in big spots of paint in some areas and let it bleed but was a bit more careful around the edges of the image. Once I realized that if I used a pretty dry brush for those areas and painted from the Contact paper out, I would have a cleaner edge.

I wasn't totally happy with the way the colors came out - actually a little too "perfect" so I went back after it had dried and splattered on a bit more water or paint in areas.

Then, I held my breath a bit. I was afraid if I adhered the Contact paper too much that it might lift off some of the water color paper when I removed it...or, if I had not adhered it well enough that all of the paint would have seeped under.

But, drum roll please...it came of easily with VERY little paint seepage. And, because the edges of the Statue were kind of meant to be wavy, it really isn't that noticeable. I still think I could have done the paint better, but I like it. Now I need to head out to find just the perfect frame.

And, since we are almost upon Easter, let's take a quick peek at what is left to share.

I'm thinking I had better get going and try to get something on the "to-do" list finally done. My brother and sister-in-law came down on Friday and we had a lovely day checking out various shops and then having a delicious al fresco lunch at a restaurant at our newest mall. I sure wish we lived in the same city so we could do things like that more often! And then, my youngest grand daughter came over for the day on Saturday. We never got to crafting but we had fun cooking, playing games and just talking and taking life easy. It is really nice to have days like that!

I will probably be doing the wood tags tomorrow and then I have to get making some lists for Easter weekend. I am hosting pre-Easter festivities with the kids and then daughter #3 is hosting on Easter. The weather sounds like it will be perfect and I love any chance to see family these days!

I'll be back soon. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

I Think It's a Go!

 When last I posted, I mentioned that I was already starting to think of some ideas for the 4th of July...especially ideas that I can do with the kids to give as gifts. With a bit of time on my hands, I grabbed a few of the old fence slats I had removed last year, pulled out my new saw and got to town. The idea that I had found used more of a block of wood but, knowing that I already had the other wood at my disposal, I decided to change up the shape a bit. Then, I gathered up the supplies and thought I would give one a try.

I started by dry brushing the wood with white chalk paint and then dry brushing on some red and blue craft paint on to pages from an old book.

I didn't have a star paper punch the size I needed but I did have a star stencil so it was pretty easy to just cut out the four stars that I needed. Then, I began to play around with how many stripes I wanted and how thick to make them. The sample doesn't use plain pages for the white stripes, so I didn't either. I just let the white of the board do that.

I initially thought I would use seven stripes - four red and three white - but, as you will see, I ended up going with nine. I just used a metal ruler to rip up against to get my stripes. The sample was also VERY distressed with antique wax and the edges of all of the paper was supposed to be rubbed until it started curling or pushing back on itself. I actually tried to do that but, instead of looking intentional, in my case it just looked like I had made a horrible mistake. And so, that step was skipped.

The sample was also very heavily waxed...I tried that too and it looked fine but I felt like I completely lost the white of the flag. And so, in the end, I washed a bit of the wax off and also came back with a bit more dry brushed white paint. The flag was meant to be a shelf sitter but I am thinking it might need a hanger of some sort - or some other embellishment at the very least.

I did decide that it will be a good project for the kids. It is not super difficult nor does it have too many steps but, it will keep them busy for a bit and it does offer enough leeway that they can add their own spin to it. I'm sure some will be straight red, white and blue, some may have more or less stripes, etc. You'll be the first to see them when we do them...guessing I will have to wait until at least May. Lol

It's not done yet but I have a good idea what might come next. We shall see. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Next!

Is there any question why, when you are a crafter, the year just seems to truly fly by? One holiday isn't even over and it is time to start thinking about the next. I guess this happens because, if you are making your decor items, you need advance time for that and, also, because the stores start putting supplies out and if you don't snatch them up quickly, you might not get them. I'm not sure if stores just don't have as much these days or, with all of the MANY new craft blogs out there showing so many ideas that people just rush to grab up everything they can, but, it is not always easy to find what you are looking for these days.

As I was posting almost the last of my Easter decor for this year and waiting for the arrival of my grand daughter, I started looking at my Pinterest files. I'm not sure why I skipped "spring"...which will be the next thing I will decorate for... but went straight to the 4th of July board. Much to my surprise, I had posted some new ideas over the last year so I am really getting excited to bring out the red, white and blue supplies and get started. Here's what I have zeroed in on so far. 

I think this would be a fun one to do with the kids. I would like to make it a bit larger than just the block but I think it would be fun to do and with the many steps that it has, we could definitely fill an afternoon.

homegrownhospitality.typepad.com

I love water colors but it is not something I am good at. I think maybe on this one, I could cut the Statue of Liberty out of Contact paper and use it to mask the red and blue water color areas. If the Contact paper serves as a good enough mask without water seepage, even I should be able to pull this off. Lol

thenavagepatch.com

And, since I still have s stack of the wood tags that I cut for another project, I figured a set of 4th of July tags were a must. I also have a large wood tag that I cut when last the saw was out that needs some kind of embellishing. We shall see.

stylemotivation.com

So those ideas are what are on the drawing board so far. Considering it is still just March, I think I have a pretty good start on the 4th of July for this year. Stay safe and stay tuned.

It's All About Family

Let's head into the family room today. This is where the majority of the carrots ended up. I also moved Mr. & Mrs. Bunny in here to kind of make some sense of why there is so much orange all of a sudden. Lol

This is where the "egg" ended up. I probably should have found a home for it in the other parts of the house...and believe me, I tried...but this is where it has landed for now. Let's just say this is definitely NOT my favorite vignette but, one house has only so much room. Lol Maybe I should remember that before I jump into new craft projects!

I hung the very large carrot next to the mantle where the bunnies are. I think it helps draw your eye to the oranges and also looks nice with the lime green of the palette sign...which I did so many years ago and is still one of my favorites!

So that is the family room for this year. In one week, some of the family will be here and we will begin celebrating Easter with all of our traditions. I'm starting to make some lists and begin some preparation but, before that, my youngest grand daughter is on her way here so that is the priority today. We don't really have any plans so I will see what she would like to do when she gets here. Whatever it is, it is sure to be fun. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

So next we come to the dining room.

I still love the Easter table runner that I found at HL a few years ago. It reminds me of the water color ones from PB.

I LOVE this sweet little bunny that my youngest grand daughter did for me last year!

The dining room is pretty simple...mostly the greens and purples that I love with lots of little bunnies thrown in here and there.

It is the most beautiful day outside. We have had just the lightest rains the last few days that have washed away a bit of the yellow from the pollen. I am off to do some raking and wash my car. It was outside for a few days while I was decorating for Easter and had bins all over the garage and is now COVERED in pollen, squiggles and leaves...note to self...next time park it in the front circular drive instead of in the straight drive which is umbrella-ed with huge oak trees! Lol If my energy holds out, I will start cleaning gutters. If not, there is always tomorrow...and more than enough pollen, leaves and squiggles to go around for days! Stay safe and stay tuned.