It's "Fri-Yay" Again!

 It is Fri-yay once again and, once again I am avoiding the rest of the vacuuming. Friday just doesn't seem like the day to be doing that-it is the day to celebrate making it to the end of the week. Yes, I know I'm not there yet but it is just beautiful outside and the last thing I want to do today is clean and so...

I ran some errands yesterday and one of them included a stop at Walmart-not one of my favorite places but sometimes a necessity because they have things I would have to go so much farther away to find. And, I must say that the store closest to me has kind of "kicked it up a notch". They are the store that had the most negative comments on the website for our county. I don't know if that had anything to do with the change but, it is so clean and organized now and, both times I had to ask an associate where something might be, they not only looked it up but they took me right to it...can't ask for better service than that.

In any case, I had seen a few things in other blogs that I was hoping to find and while doing that, I happened upon this little cutie.

And, it spoke to me. My first thought was for something for St. Pat's-because I should be DONE with Valentine's Day-because I use a lot of the old gold in my St. Pat's decor. But then I realized how "romantic" the frame looks and thought it would be perfect for an idea I has seen and wanted to try. This frame is actually metal so I can probably easily swap out pictures for different holidays if I want.

The little flower wreath that I saw (from The Vintage Pebble) was so simple and all it took was a piece of paper ( I used watercolor paper ), a marker, some acrylic paint and lots of patience because the flowers took some time to dry between colors. I started by cutting a heart that would fit within the frame. I actually love the arched mat so I'm keeping it in case it will work for the next image I put in this. I lightly traced the heart and then came back over it with the marker and then added some lines and leaves.

Next went the light pink flowers and when they were dry, the darker pink. They were both added by using the eraser end of a pencil dipped in the paint.

I wanted mine a little simpler than the inspiration so I just added the flower middles in metallic old gold-which I thought went better than a bright yellow-and a few areas of small "dripping dots" of light pink. Those were all added using the ends of small paint brushes.

Of course, there is now more waiting for those dots to dry. They take longer than you would think because the dots are pretty thick with paint. I was afraid to hit them with my heat gun because I have seen that gun actually blow paint across a surface...and so, I waited. But, I headed outside to do that and see what damage I would have to contend with after our chilly temperatures.

The only things I actually covered this year were my potted lemon tree and other potted things I left outside, small bushes and the roots to the bougainvillea and sky vine. The sky vine definitely took a hit but only the leaves. It will definitely come back-probably better than this year-but all I can think about is the massive amount of large leaves that will have to fall before new growth can happen. Of course, that can't compare to the HUGE number of oak leaves that will do the same but, for some reason, these large leaves give me pause...they are more difficult to rake up than the smaller oak leaves.

Then I headed over to the terraced garden by the pool. The perennials in there always take a hit. They will come back and I know I need to keep my distance right now but, when the weather is this beautiful and I want to be out there, this sight makes me crazy...so, no promises. Everyone always says you can't kill a Penta plant-which is a lot of what is in here-but, I cut them back too early one year and I DID kill them. So, I will think about it a bit more. Hmmm.

Somewhere amidst all of that "brown" my eye caught a glimpse of some color and this little cutie was showing winter just what she thought of it. Lol

And a few other things are already wanting to come back. I have a lot of gerberas blooming around the yard as well as azaleas.

And right about then I caught a whiff of that most glorious scent and realized that all of the tea olives are about ready to burst into full bloom once again. I have so many of these scattered around my yard that when they bloom, the scent is intoxicating! 

At this point the paint was dry and I simply added the word "love" with a thin marker and headed off to see where it would find a home. Maybe here? The only thing that I like here is that the top of the frame kind of mimics the bottom of the candle holder.

Not crazy about this at all but it might be slightly better than the first because there are more colors here than just the deep reds in the living room vignette.

I definitely think this is the best place because I love the way the golds play together. The only problem here is that the back of the frame isn't all that attractive-although it is better than some-and you do see it from the other side of the room. Never-the-less, here is where it will stay for a bit.

I grabbed a few other things while I was out. I have used these "peat" pots before and I think I might "vintage" some up for St. Pat's and Easter. We shall see.

And then I found the green jug I was looking for and some shamrocks. I won't be using them like this because I don't like seeing the stems through the glass but I love anything green for so many different seasons/holidays that I knew I had to have the jug when I saw someone post about it. You will definitely see it in my home a lot. And, I can always find a use for those shamrocks so I grabbed them while they were available. As a matter of fact, I will probably grab more if I see them because I'm already thinking of lots of uses. Lol

And yes, you can shake your head at this one. This is the packing that my Yankee candles arrived in and for some reason, the bottoms reminded me of Easter baskets. So, before I threw them into the recycling, I thought I might play with them and see what I come up with. We shall see. Lol

Off for lunch and then the afternoon lies before me. Not sure which direction I will go but since it's a Friday, I know I will enjoy it! Stay safe and stay tuned.

And the List Grows!

 I FINALLY decided that I could put vacuuming off no longer! And, I think I remember why I dislike it so much-kind of like a lot of other things in my life...I start out to do one routine task and, before I know it, I am off on other tangents. That is what happens with vacuuming. I vacuum and then there is a spot I can't get to so I'm off to get the smaller vacuum or down on my hands and knees or under things with the Dustbuster. Then, since I'm down there and closer to the baseboards, I decide they need cleaning...and then it is the fan blades and then the A/C air ducts and then the.....well, you get the idea. A "simple" task like vacuuming that I could probably achieve in an hour or two becomes a day long project-and I'm not done yet. I still have the dining room, sunroom, office and 3rd guest room to do!!! 

At least I'm feeling better about how things look-I even got my kitchen floors washed and waxed after vacuuming today. That will probably happen in the dining room as well tomorrow-or whenever. Lol

In any case, why don't I show you the bathrooms while I'm here and then I can finish up in a few days.

This guy got displaced by something else this year so he ended up here.

I still love those little "conversation heart" soaps that Presley and I made a number of years ago as gifts for family, friends and teachers.

Just a nod in the primary bath.

And the rest of the Valentine pictures on the dresser in the bedroom.

And, in one desperate attempt to hold off the vacuuming yet again this morning, I was walking through the living room and noticed that both of the vintage pictures I have on either side of the LR shelf have both clear glitter and red glitter...and so, I tweaked the paper cast picture one last time-I hope. I think it not only looks better but it fits in with its neighbors better too.

That's all I've got today. More cleaning and possibly some errands are on the agenda for tomorrow but I'll be back soon and we'll finish up the tour. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Let's Tour!

 I'm finally back to continue my tour-let's head into the sunroom today. And, as usual, the sunroom decor is kept at minimum because I-and others-use this room all the time and it is much easier to use when there aren't a thousand things to move out of your way first.

That's it for the sunroom-basically a few pillows and a few hanging things-and then, of course, all of the pictures in the TV unit.

Our weather is absolutely beautiful today and I'm having to fight with myself not to go out and hit the gardens to get rid of some of the things that didn't make it through our low temps. But, 1. I know I shouldn't cut back until there will be no more freezes and 2. I REALLY need to get my house vacuumed. For whatever reason, I just really dislike vacuuming these days and will do almost anything find a way to put it off. Case in point:

I bought some more of the real feel tulips in HL the other day. They didn't have many left and I was afraid they might not restock so I grabbed two bunches. I really didn't know where I was going to put them-I think they will get added to other arrangements for Easter-but, since they were just laying here, I decided to find some pretty soft red ribbon, tie them up and find some places they could go for now. So, this is what I came up with. Time wasted-maybe 10 minutes?

And then, somehow I found myself on Pinterest-instead of vacuuming-and saw a St. Pat wreath that had a cute hang tag so I started searching-and, I found it! Then I had to download, print, cut and assemble...and we're here now.

I told you it might get a few more tweaks. Lol Total time spent on this little endeavor maybe 20 minutes. But, with those things and throwing on a few loads of wash, emptying the dish washer and just general straightening up, I have successfully managed to use up the morning. I am off to get some lunch and then I will face the inevitable vacuuming this afternoon...unless I can find some other useless things to do! Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

It Only Takes a Spark!

Back in the day when I led Sunday School and Bible School at my church, I taught a song that started "it only takes a spark to get a fire going"...and that is pretty much what happened today...but figuratively not literally. I have a long to-do list of chores around the house but, it is Sunday, a day of rest, and even though I am retired and technically every day can be a day of rest, I am still stuck in my "work" routine where I think of the weekends as "time off" and have no problem leaving the list until tomorrow.

And so, what was I going to do today? It was still just a bit too cold to do anything outside and even if I wanted to, gardening is put off until I am pretty sure we won't have another frost. And because this happened yesterday to create a spark, and I actually impressed myself a bit yesterday when I made that vintage looking spool out of the two wood thread spools and the base-lol,I decided that I wanted to come up with another "spool" craft to do today but it should be for St. Patrick's Day.

Of course, that sent me to my inside St. Pat's storage to look for shamrock shapes.

 And then eventually here where I had already started to gather up my supplies.

I thought I had used a $Tree wood shamrock last year and could trace it but I was wrong...both of the larger shamrocks I had would be too large to use on the spool so I had to resort to trying to come up with my own shamrock shape-which is a LOT harder than you would think. At least it was for me. You can't just start with the larger one and cut it down because the whole shape somehow gets affected. 

In any case, since that was my only choice, my next decision was what to make the shape out of. Normally I would do foam core but decided to go with corrugated cardboard this time and to rip off some of the face of the cardboard. Then it just got a rough coat of paint and some distressing around the edges.

I had to jerry-rig another shamrock that was smaller so it would fit inside the larger one. Once I accomplished that I cut one out of cardboard and then the scrapbook paper that I chose to use.

I glued the layers together and got the base shamrock glued on to a dowel. That was a bit trickier than I had thought of because I wanted the stem of the shamrock to come down the front of the spool so, if I just glued the dowel on flat, there would not have been enough room for that to happen. As luck would have it, I saw a clothespin in my wood container and took it apart leaving me a sort of wedge shape which turned out perfectly for adhering the dowel-it stood out further on the bottom so there was enough clearance to get over the edge of the top of the spool but then went down to almost flat for the rest of the dowel. The back looked a mess but I cut a piece of green paper and just glued it over everything and, unless you are looking right at the back-which you shouldn't be-all is good.

Next, I ripped some fabrics and cut some ribbon and went with a messy bow again.

I wasn't sure where I was going to place the bow but I knew I wanted to have it somewhere where I didn't cover the shape of the shamrock or the dowel that I had worked so hard to have visible. I ended up putting it near the bottom and, as you can see, trimming it shorter and shorter until I was happy. I probably trimmed off enough ribbon to make a whole other bow. Lol Then, I was going to make a little tag but happened upon some embellishments left over from my scrapbooking days and went with them.

I'm not guaranteeing that I won't tweak this a bit more before I am decorating for St. Pat's Day but, for now, I'm good with it. Actually, as I just re-read this before posting I got the brilliant idea of hitting the edges of the shamrocks with some gold-we shall see.

Our weather has warmed up a bit and the danger of a freeze this week seems to be gone so I am off to take the sheets off of the plants and give everything a good drink of water, Then, I noticed some branches in my side yard that must have come down with a recent storm so I need to get them out on the curb for pick-up tomorrow. I can't believe that I still haven't taken you on the rest of our tour but I'll be back soon and we'll get it done. Stay safe and stay tuned.

P.S. So, for my betting friends...LOL

I went ahead and hit it with a little bit of gold-you knew I would didn't you? I still might not be done but we're definitely getting closer.