What Goes Up...

...must come down. Or, so it seems, everything that is UP there must come down...and down...and down. It doesn't seem to matter what season it is - leaves are falling in my yard. And, because not all that long ago my brother and sister-in-law removed almost every leaf that was on the grounds of my 3/4 acre yard, I am saddened to see them starting to accumulate again. And so, I decided that raking those culprits up would be on my to-do list today...along with starting another "sunflower" project.

Well, I am here to tell you that it is much more fun to rake leaves when the rest of the sane world is doing it...in autumn and, in Florida, again in the spring. It is NOT fun to rake leaves in the summer! As I write, I have a number of piles ready to be picked up...let's just say that may not happen today. We shall see.

In the meantime, I decided on my next project. Let's just say that pickins' are slim around here these days. I have my grand dog for two weeks and she is so attached to me that I just can't seem to bear to go anywhere that she can't come. And so, the stores are pretty much off limits and I need to make do with what I have.

I remembered that I have a few sunflower napkins left and thought about ModPodging them on to a Mason jar - which still might happen - but then I remembered an old apple cider jug that I have that my husband used to throw his change in at the end of each day. It was just sitting there so I thought it might look cute "dolled" up and holding some sunflowers. When I got it out, my intent was to simply chalk paint it and maybe distress it a bit. But the surface is so large that I decided to print another sunflower image and see how that might work.

Here's where I started with a few different options available.

And, here is where I am right now. The jug has one coat of "mineral" chalk paint on it. I know it will need at least two and I'm not actually sure I'm liking this color with the print so, changes might be in store but, since it is no fun watching paint dry, let's take a peek and then move on to the sunroom in all of its 4th of July glory.

I still love the Uncle Sam that the kids and I made a few years back. He was so easy to do that even the youngest made one that turned out so cute...and, it is out on their porch with their other patriotic decor right now. I also like the little pillow that I did. I made simple linen pillow covers and then just painted the flag using acrylics mixed with a fabric medium.

Again, this room is long and narrow not only making it difficult to decorate but also difficult to photograph. 

So that is where I am at the moment. I have a long list of things to get to but thinking I might just stick to the ones that are indoors the rest of the day. I'll be back to show you how the jug turns out and what I end up doing to the Mason jar...once I know what I am doing. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.