Happy Fri-YAY!

 We seem to be slowly slipping into our typical summer rain pattern after SOOO long without any rain. We have been getting several nice rain showers a day for a few days now and things are starting to "green up" a bit. That being said, the rain hasn't really affected the temperatures much except VERY early in the morning or VERY late at night-both of which I can attest to because my grand dogs are still here and we often find ourselves outside at both of those times.

My family was supposed to fly out of D.C. this morning but their flight was pushed back to tonight which will have them arriving home quite late so I get to have my company at least one more night and we all decided to have a quiet day today-yep, even the dogs are dragging. Lol

I had thought about running to HL tomorrow to see about some supplies but since I'm now not sure that will happen-and, because most of what I want is on sale this week so if I don't get there tomorrow, I will have to wait another 2 weeks before those things are on sale again-I decided to just take the canvas I have a do a simple ModPodge picture with the image I printed. I don't know why but I just love the intensity of the colors on that print.

I really wasn't sure where to go with this but decided that I really like the deep pop of color so I ended up painting the background with the two different greens I could see in the print.

Then I ModPodged the image onto the canvas and came back with some purple paint along the edges. I thought that helped bring out the purple from the print. I was OK with it but it still didn't look finished so I used some Tim Holtz distressing wax in walnut over the purple to tame it a bit and then came back with a bit of black because black just always seems to anchor things.

This is definitely not my finest work but I like it and I think I will be able to find a spot for it when I switch to my sunflower decor in just a week!

My brother and I made a quick trip to the grocery store while he and my sister-in-law were here the other day so that I could get some fresh veggies and fruit. One of my purchases was corn so that I could make my favorite, the Ina Garten Fresh Corn Salad, so I am off now to get that done so it has time to marinate before dinner. It is one of my summer go-to dishes and, since my basil plant is really doing well this year, I have plenty of fresh leaves to add to the salad...not to mention that it makes me feel like Mother Nature when I can go out to my garden and cut something I can use to cook with.

I have no idea how my weekend will play out but you'll be the first to know if something exciting happens-at this moment the only thing on the docket is spreading more of the gigantic pile of mulch left from the stumped trees-yippee-always fun times around here. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

Another One of "Those" Days

Seems like I am having a lot of these days of late. The dogs are still here with me so I am trying to find things I can do that will keep me busy but also that I can do while they are here and kind of like VelCro. It is impossible to do any project that requires any kind of movement on my part as they want to be right there with me and then think I'm playing with them so I really can't accomplish anything. What I CAN do is be on my computer or doing a craft or sitting and reading or thumbing through magazines, etc....anything that they can lie close to me and never have me out of their sight. Lol I guess it's a good thing to be loved so much!?!

And so, that is what I have been doing...and I seem to end up re-thinking things. It's actually kind of fun to zhuzh things up. Let's start with the "corn meal" Christmas container that I made. I found the "ribbon candy" label somewhere out there and printed it up while I was experimenting with my new editing program to see if I could do all that I wanted...and I could.

I tried to find a tin can just the right size but I couldn't so I resorted to the corn meal container. It is a hard cardboard-usually not my favorite craft material-but, for the way I am going to be using this-at least in the way I think I am going to be using it, it should be fine.

I painted the container using green chalk paint and then "rusted the top and bottom edges with antique wax and cinnamon put on with ModPodge. After all of that was dry, I swiped some distressing ink in walnut over the whole piece and glued on the label.

I loved the way this looked except that the label was a bit too "dull" (as in shiny versus non-shiny) for me. I knew that my spray sealer probably wouldn't help so I tested a small area and realized I could give the whole can a good coat of ModPodge and I could get the sheen I wanted without smearing the image as I had feared.

 Once this dried, it was exactly what I wanted it to be. I wish I could show you the finished product, but this is exactly as it sits right now. I am thinking that it might look cute with a small pine bough arrangement or even a small tree with some Christmas picks and maybe even some small pieces of ribbon candy here and there. I actually made ribbon candy ornaments years ago so I know I can grab them when the time comes.

Almost all of my Christmas greenery is on the top-most shelf in my garage-I think. I just know that in this heat the last thing I want to be doing is climbing up and down the ladder in the garage to find what I might want. I know HL is beginning to put out their Christmas...I think I'll just wait a week or so and then go buy what I need. I'll let you know when I finish it but I think it might be cute either in the kitchen or the family room which has more of the "kid" centered theme.

And then, I found this.

And, of course, I had to print it out. I'm not sure how I will use it just yet but I love the contrast of the purple against the sunflower in this picture and, while looking back on my sunflower decor from last year, I realized that I had actually started to introduce more purple into my design. I think I need to get the HL and see what I can come up with but you will definitely see this again soon.

And then I went back to my latest 4th of July image. I thought I had distressed it enough but when I saw the photo, I decided it was reading as a bit "too white" still so I gave it more overall distress and then hit up the edges with a bit of red and blue ink.

And here is where it has landed.

And now for something that is really a "reach". As I was looking at last year's sunflower decor, I once again focused on the paper bag sunflowers I had made using a brown crushed velvet for the center. Truth be told, I was sorry I used the velvet pretty soon after I had finished but decided to leave well enough alone...until today. Here's what they looked like last year. And, by the way, look at me being able to download a photo from "the cloud" onto my blog!!! Yay...and thank you Morgs!!

Somehow all I could see was that velvet and so, I decided to see what a little cinnamon and ModPodge would do. I wasn't going for the rusty effect-just anything NOT brown velvet. Lol

And here's where we are after it has dried...and I'm a happy camper. I've got a bit of cleaning up around the edges to do but, in person, it truly doesn't look like velvet any more.

 I know I am grasping at straws...but, I also know I will be happy in less than two weeks when these cuties once again make their appearance and I don't have time to address the "velvet" issue. Now if I could just find a Christmas ornament I would like to do this year, I could get started on that to stay busy. Unfortunately, I have looked through so many "pins" my eyes are bleary and I still can't find anything I want to try. It seems as if I have already done about every idea floating around out there. But, I'm not giving up. Hopefully my next trip to HL will give me some kind of inspiration.

I'm looking forward to a visit from my brother and sister-in-law tomorrow but I will be back soon. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Creating a Monster

 Since grand daughter #3 was here and got all of my computer woes cleared up, I have been going back and trying all of the things I used to do to see how I will be doing them now. I will say, she has it set up as close to my old photo editing way as possible and I am loving it. And, in doing so, I ran across some things I had "pinned" and decided to try printing them out. Here's what I came up with.

I love both the Christmas and autumn images but they may have to wait until I can get out and get some boards or canvases. But, the "ribbon candy" label, the flag and the 4th of July print were in the works for today.

The dogs are back at my house while my daughter and her family are off to back-to-back lacrosse tournaments and will be here for over a week so, once again I was looking for things to do that didn't involve leaving the house or, quite frankly, being outside. The thermometer said 90 but the "feels like" came in at 100!!

I found the corn meal container and the tin can in my pantry and the prints fit just perfectly so I decided to just make containers and put in some kind of a small arrangement. I started of by using antique wax on the top and bottom lips and then adding cinnamon to some Elmers glue and dabbing over with ModPodge. That gave me the rusty edges that I wanted. Then I stained the back of an old $Tree Christmas tag sign.

I ModPodged the flag to the can and the print to the board. And, of course, I distressed the edges of the print and even swiped a bit of distressing wax across the whole image.

And then I gathered up some 4th of July things I had on hand.

I made some little signs and glued them to skewers. I grunged up a small fabric flag. And, I made a messy bow from lots of different 4th of July ribbons....and, I came up with these. If I were really serious about these crafts I would definitely have something else in the can-and maybe the next time I'm out and about I will see what I can find-but, for today, it is some of my greenery, the flag and the signs. And I added a hanger to the sign just in case that is how I end up using it. I'm actually too tired today to even try to find a spot for either of these things but I'll show you when I figure it out.

And, I got the label on the corn meal container after I rusted the edges and painted it green but that is where I stopped on that for today-come back tomorrow. Lol

I'm off to clean up and then call it a day. My furry friends and I are tired! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Feeling Accomplished!

 What a wonderful week I have had so far. Now that the puppers have gone home to their own house my house seems so quiet and I miss them. But, I now had the chance to get some deep cleaning started-it will take awhile to complete because I have been busy with other things but, I have started.

I spent all day Tuesday cleaning the sunroom-and still didn't get to the windows. But, it feels so much better. I love my sunroom. We added the windows after we had first had it built as a screened porch. We left the brick on the lower walls-which I love-but I probably wouldn't do that again because the brick is "rough" and everything-especially dog hair and  cobwebs-clings to it. And to make matters worse, all of the wood around the windows is rough sawn so it does the same thing! I was actually out of town when all of that happened and the contractor thought the rough sawn wood would add to the "rustic" feel with the brick. And, he was right but EVERYTHING sticks to it and there is nothing you can use to clean it! I have finally ended up resorting to a big bucket of PineSol water and sponges-but you can't rub the sponge on anything or it crumbles. I just get the sponge soaked and kind of rain the clean water down the wood and bricks! Probably more than you care to know but since the floors are slate, there is no issue in doing so so I start at the top and work my way down. Then, I hit the floors.

While the floors are drying I have everything else outside that can get hosed down and everything else that needs a good dusting or polishing inside. It is a chore-and one I wish had included the windows but they will just have to wait-but it just feels and smells so good when I'm done that it gets me motivated and on a "roll"!

My plans then were to hit the inside wood floors yesterday until I got a message from grand daughter #3 telling me she had the day off and asking if she could come spend it with me. I'm sure she knows that that question was totally unnecessary as I would NEVER pass up a chance to spend a day with a grand-especially one who lives in St. Augustine and that I don't get to see anywhere near as much as I would like. She actually got to my house early-even with a two hour drive behind her-and didn't leave until around 5:30 so we had LOTS of time to visit and catch up! We had a beautiful lunch out and she also came into my office and we tackled my computer issues. I have told you many times before that I am technology illiterate but, when Morgs started seeing what I was saying she discovered that some program that she said should have come already on my new computer was not there-and she had no idea why because her work computer has all of the same things as my new set-up-so she installed it for me and things that were taking me 3, 4 or even 5 steps to do can now all be done in the same place with just a key or two. I think I am now as close to my old Picaasa editing program as I can get and all of my lingering questions have now been answered. And, I'm not sure if she was just being sweet or what but she tried to reassure me that I wasn't quite as dense as I was beginning to feel. Of course, it took her to find the answer...I'm definitely not "dense-less" enough to do that but I am sure happy this morning!

Which brings me to this morning. I woke up ready to tackle the wood floors in the kitchen and dining room so, a repeat of the other day-move out most of the furniture-which actually takes the longest because I dust and remove dog hair as I go-and then vacuum and wax. And so I'm waiting for that to dry and then I think I'm going to get the base boards PineSol-ed while I can easily still get to all of them.

It's funny how wearing yourself out so much can make you feel so good. This is actually just a drop in the bucket of the cleaning that still needs to be done-not to mention everything outside but, I am headed in the right direction...at least for the moment. If anyone offers me a better deal, I'm sure I will drop my enthusiasm in a heartbeat but for now, I'm forging ahead! 

*So here I am about an hour later. I just got the base boards and the A/C intake grate all finished and sparkly clean when I got a text. It was daughter #3 asking if I was ready for the dogs again. Lol Apparently somewhere back in time she had told me that grandson #2 had lacrosse tournaments up in New England but I guess I never processed when. Well, apparently they're soon and the whole family is flying up tomorrow. I seriously have to laugh. I love those dogs so much that the last thing I will do is say no and make them have to stay at their house with just a pet sitter coming over 3 times a day-that's OK for the cats but my grand dogs need more interaction than that. BUT, I have to see the irony in the realization that all of my efforts will only be visible for maybe 24 hours. Oh well, guess I can start my next to-do list for when they return in a week. Lol

I do think this gives me the right to go sit down, pour a glass of wine, put my feet up and relax until tomorrow...after I get all of the furniture moved back into place that is. Lol

If I have anything to share over the next week, I'll be back. Stay safe and stay tuned. 

Desperate Times...

 Desperate times call for desperate measures! I am back and in pretty much the same situation I was in yesterday. My grand dogs are still here, so no cleaning-although I did get the sheets on my bed changed. It is beyond HOT outside so I don't even feel safe having the dogs out there too long. Everyone else is still out of town so my house is quiet and I am still looking for things to do. And, things to do with stuff I already have because I don't want to have to leave the dogs home alone while I run off.

And so...I did go ahead and put together another pallet sign. I found the image somewhere while I was just scrolling and since I use red geraniums in a lot of my 4th of July decor, I somehow saw this as a 4th craft. I thought maybe I could add a "messy" 4th of July bow which is made out of strips of ripped fabric and ribbon and even a small U.S. flag but, by the time I found the right pieces of wood and cut them down to make a pallet, I realized that I would not have the extra space I would need to do what I had envisioned. I thought about painting in my own blue hydrangeas but that wasn't going to work. In the end, I simply distressed the image with some blue and left the pallet the weathered color it was after so many years out in the elements.

(

It is definitely not the project I had envisioned but I like the image so I'm OK with it. It might not be a project I would have ever done any other time but desperate times.....Lol  At least it kept me busy for awhile and I got to use my saw again-this time I was even able to "rip" the wood to get just the size I needed.

And that brings us to today and the only project I could come up with. I just can't handle another sign but, since I do use wreaths a lot, a small hanging sign could always be added to one of them or even to an arrangement of some sort. And so, I found a small sunflower image that would fit perfectly in either of these cases and for which I had just the perfect sized piece of wood and, using all of the same techniques that I always use, I whipped up this little cutie.

 I found my old copper metal basket that I used to hang on my front door until the ginormous tree frogs decided to make it their home and hop on to me every time I went out the door. I'm thinking that I will try to find a place inside for it now and I can always do something just as simple as this-although I would probably use a lot more flowers but, you get the idea.

I guess I'm off to clean up the craft supplies and then I think I will call it a day and put my feet up and just enjoy the rest of the weekend before Monday arrives all too soon. Now I truly don't have any more ideas...maybe it's time to look forward to autumn. Lol This is the one time of the year that I don't mind wishing my life away! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Surprise!

 I'm as surprised to be here as you are probably surprised to see me since last I posted I told you I didn't know when I would be back...yet, here I am!

I truly had planned to be outside early today and try to tackle a bit more of my "sawdust mountain" before it got too hot. Well, I was out there bright and early but it was already HOT! I got a few more lawn carts spread and I had to call it. I still have the puppers with me because just about as soon as daughter #3 and her hubby got back to town they were off to Palm Coast for a weekend lacrosse tournament and even they (the dogs) were OVER the heat. While they are usually right there with me playing in the sawdust, this morning they both found a shady spot and didn't move.

So then we were all in the house and, as I have already mentioned, cleaning is a fool's task because as soon as I clean, they are right there behind me shedding, drooling, etc....so, I was in search of something to do. I went to Pinterest looking and found two images that I liked so I printed them out and set off to see what wood or canvases I might have. None of either but, I did have some pieces of old fence slats so, out came my trusty friend. And because it is so hot out, I set it up in the sunroom again. This time I had a bit more cutting to do so there was sawdust ALL over but, it can just join all of the rest of it. Lol

I haven't done one of these pallet signs for awhile so I had to refresh my memory of how I wanted to proceed. I decided to stain the pallet first and then dry brush with "sunflower" and then green. Since I am not a yellow lover-even though I do love sunflowers-I wanted the top color to be green with just a hint of the yellow. And, after I was done, I actually realized that the middle of the flower pretty much has the exact colors that I used-don't know why it took me that long to figure it out but it was truly dumb luck this time. Lol

While the paint was drying I used water to soften the edges of the print before ripping them off. I like the softer rip that this technique gives.

Then it is just a simple job of ModPodging the print to the pallet. 

Again, I have absolutely no idea where this will end up. I can almost always find a spot but it seems as if I have done a lot of "signs" of late so good leaning or hanging spots are getting more rare. Guess I'll be figuring it out soon as 4th of July is fast approaching and then I will be on to sunflowers!

If I can find the right sized piece of wood/canvas, I might be back again soon. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

Wrapping It Up

 The house is quiet...well. as quiet as it can be with two big dogs following my every foot step and not wanting to ever be more than 12" away. My grandson is still in Orlando and my grand daughter went to a sleepover at a friend's last night. There are SO many things that need to be done-floors, noses on windows, sand and sawdust everywhere-but, they're all things that if I do them while my furry friends are still here will just need doing again very soon! And so, I'm looking for other things I can do to stay busy. We just came in from spreading more of the mountain of sawdust. This time I shoveled it into my lawn cart so I could spread it out further. I did as much as I could do before I dropped-it is breath-taking HOT out there-and, I swear, the mountain is taller now than it was! Not to mention that, for some reason, when I have either the shovel or rake in my hands, the dogs think I'm playing and they jump in front of me and roll in the mess and have the time of their lives while I stand aside and just shake my head!

And so, we came in and I decided I might as well wrap up our 2024 4th of July decor tour. I think all we have left is the family room.

There were no big changes in this room. I did swap the Uncle Sam on the top right shelf over here from the mantle and put the spindle Sam that used to be here on the mantle this year. He just had a little bit more presence next to the larger Uncle Sam on the mantle.

Last year I had some of the sparkler boxes here but borrowed them for the living room this year so I remembered a swag that I had made many years ago. I haven't hung it for awhile. It was vintage images decoupaged onto thin wood rectangles spaced between these fire crackers that I made from dowels. I decided to cut off the crackers and add them here.

Here's what I see as all of the candles begin to come on at night.

I think that is the end of our tour for this year. I actually don't have any exciting ideas on the burner but that doesn't mean I won't keep looking and then I'll be back to share. Stay safe and stay tuned.