Might Be Missing in Action!

 Thought I would get this post on today as I will probably not be back on for a bit. Tomorrow daughter #1 comes to town and after a fun evening - I am assuming - we will be off to Tallahassee for three days where grand daughter #2 will be receiving her Master's degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. Since she didn't get to have a ceremony for her Bachelors due to covid restrictions, we want to make this one extra special for her. Since tickets were still limited, the extended family won't be able to attend so, we are planning a big party for her the following weekend in St. Pete.

I will be going with my daughter straight from Tally to St. Pete to spend the week with her to get all of our ducks in a row for the celebration. The whole family plus lots of friends and neighbors will all be there to celebrate her achievements.

And so, I won't be here for awhile. Luckily, I will have plenty of time when I do get back to show you the rest of my spring decor. For today, let's head into the kitchen.

I added an old window frame back into the dining room and I love how it looks through the opening from this side of the kitchen.

Here is where the free downloaded truck print that I decoupaged on to a canvas ended up.

So that is the kitchen for this year. Again, most of the decor is just fresh green colors with a bit of garden influence thrown in...nothing really special. I am off to start planning my wardrobe for the next 10 days or so. That was actually in my plans for yesterday but, as often happens, better things came along. First I got an invitation to grand daughter #5's induction into the National Junior Honor Society at her school. They had a lovely ceremony following their weekly school mass and then a reception afterwards. 

I got home just in time to welcome my old friend who came for the day. It is always so much fun to see her. We always fit in a wonderful lunch somewhere and then do lots of talking, laughing and catching up.

Have a wonderful week and I know when I come back there will be many photos to share and tales to tell. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Hello Spring

I bet that those of you who know me were just wondering how long it would take me to get back on with this. Once I saw that picture and those colors, I couldn't wait so, out came my trusty miter saw, old fence slats were cut and put together and the fun began.

I used acrylic paint and "blotched" on areas of green, spring green and purple. When that was dry, I painted it all with a coat of white chalk paint.

While that was drying, I used the water around the paper edge to moisten and "feather" the edges. I just think it looks better with the softened edge when it is glued on.

At this point, I sanded around the edges of the board. I didn't get as much of the background colors showing as I had hoped for so I dry brushed on more color and then knocked it down a bit by sanding again.

 From here it is a simple matter of ModPodging on the print. This is where I usually go around the edges of the print with my antique wax but, I didn't do that this time because the print is so fresh and clean looking. But, as I posted these pictures, I am second guessing myself. I realize that the stems of the flowers in the jar are the exact color of my wax so, the darkened edges would have fit in and made sense...I would not be introducing a new color. I'm on the fence about that one. I like it the way it is but I also like the distressing around the edges.

I'm also not sure where this will land. I like it out in the sunroom but I also like it propped on the dining room table. I'm also not sure which color flowers I like it with the most. I guess I will live with it a bit before making my decision.

And yep, decision made. I couldn't live without that tiny little bit of antique wax around the perimeter. I think it helps define the edge and actually relates perfectly to the brown stems in the picture. Do you think I might just be reading too much into something so silly? Lol In any case, there you have it. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Check!

 So, just as I suspected. Once I put "take down Easter, decorate for spring" on my list, I was eager to do it. I just realized that if I put these as two separate items, I could have crossed off two things from my list and felt twice as good. Lol Well, maybe I wasn't eager to do it but definitely eager to get something checked off of the very long "to-do" list. And so, spring has sprung. I took a few new porch pictures because the sun was in a better place than last time.

I only changed up a few things in the living room so far. I brought my dove garden statue in here for the first time this year. I also brought in a few more of my garden finials. I realized that most of my spring decor really does use embellishments meant for outside but, they speak to me somehow and I love them all around me in my spring decor.

I also seem to decorate for spring in mostly shades of green but I do still have to pull in a bit of purple and a few other spring colors just because so much spring decoration has those colors there. I'm almost thinking that I should do what I did for Easter in having all of the house in the color I prefer and then using the pops of the other colors just in the family room. Too late this year...note to self for next year...maybe?! Lol

I love the addition of the piece of fencing that I found many years ago in a sweet little garden shop in Mt. Dora that is, sadly, no longer open.

So that is the living room as it stands right now. The swap out from Easter to spring is really one of the easiest of all. In just two days, everything was down and packed away and all of the new stuff was out. Even though it is an easy swap, there is still a lot of ladder climbing, lifting of heavy Rubbermaids, bending, reaching and all of the things that a full house swap out would take. And so, I am giving myself today to take it a bit easier on my back...and that usually means crafting. As I was scrolling through Pinterest, I came upon this beauty. It fit the bill in two areas...it is a water color design - which I am always drawn to - and, it is a free printable. I had a genius thought to print it on water color paper but I guess mine is too heavy and it wouldn't go through my printer. I ended up printing it on regular paper and, if my back will co-operate in getting out my miter saw, I will be off very soon to cut some more fencing and make a pallet so I can get busy decoupaging this beauty. I just realized that, once again, the spring things I like are insisting that I keep purple in my decor. I guess someone is trying to tell me something. Lol

You'll be the first to know how this turns out. Stay safe and stay tuned.