Update

 When last we "spoke", I was on my way to clean up my mess and "sit" on the Halloween frame for a bit. Somehow, I got off onto finishing my Christmas ornaments before cleaning up since I had now bought the rest of the supplies and already had everything spread all over the table. 

Ever since my first grand daughter was born 29 years ago, I have given each of my grand children an ornament as one of their Christmas gifts. My idea was that when they finally moved out of their parents' house and had a tree of their own, they would have a small set of ornaments to begin their collection and a bit of their history on said tree. I always found something depicting a special event in their lives that year. As they were younger and involved with all sorts of things and always had "firsts", that was easy. But, as they have aged, finding a "first" is getting more and more difficult so, at least for the four oldest who all have their own residences now, I have been giving them one of the ornaments that I make for everyone else each year but I still like to make theirs a bit more personal so I always write something on the back.

Since I put patterned paper on the back of this years ornaments, I didn't want to just write on them so I picked up some tags at HL. They were just plain white so I rummaged through my stamps and found a Christmas one that, with just a bit of alteration, would be perfect. I stamped them with black...

...then colored them in with a markers and wrote my usual sentiment.

I was going to tie them onto the ornament but opted to just glue them on the back. As soon as I find a really thin ribbon or cord, I think I will add a tiny bow to cover that hole.

Update: I found this red, white and green butcher twine in my stash and thought it was just what these needed.

And then I added the year to the front of each ornament and a poinsettia. I went ahead and finished off the two "practice" ornaments as well. I can always find a place somewhere on the tree for them.

I went back to the Halloween frame and decided to just add a Jenga block to the back of Pumpkin Man to raise him off of the frame and call it a day. I still don't think I'm done with him but I knew that no matter what else I did, I wanted him raised so I got that done before putting him aside. I will say that the more I look at it, the more it looks like it is dark brown and not black and copper. I actually like it but it may depend on where I use it. If it needs to read more black, I guess I will just dry brush over it with black paint and then use the gold Rub&Buff to contrast. We shall see.

Stay safe and stay tuned.

OY!! Take Two!

 I woke up thinking I would at least start my Halloween project today. I knew this one would take a bit if time. I figured even before I started to paint the frame, I should see if my idea for the pumpkin man was going to work. And so, I started to gather my supplies. And I was being joined by my raven that was a gift from daughter #3 last year. He came out because I thought about him at some point during the night and realized that he didn't have to wait until autumn to be in my decor. My yard and pool area are FULL of those things this time of year so he won't be out of season and he might as well be out where I can enjoy him a bit longer. In any case, I put him on the table to join me until I found a place for him

Now this is probably more than you want to know but he is a "lamp". He has a socket that hangs from his mouth with a unique bulb. I had everything on the table when I put down my cup of "munchie" ice. I must have hit the cord for the lamp because as it was sliding off of the table it made the bulb start to roll and the last thing I wanted was for that bulb to fall and hit the slate floor of the sunroom. And so, I reached out too quickly. I caught the bulb but in doing so knocked over the very large cup full of ice and water and it spilled across the whole table. And, of course, across pumpkin man as well who I had spent many minutes painstakingly cutting out. I dried him with my hair dryer very quickly but he was water stained. Probably not that much that I couldn't use him but, if I was being honest, I kind of wish I had made him a bit larger so....I started over! He actually looks worse in person than he does here but if you look closely, you can see the stains.

I resized him and printed a new one. He is just enough large enough now to sit where I want him. And, of course, I cut the new one out.

And there's that culprit raven who started the whole mess keeping his eye on me! Lol

At this point I traced the man onto the foam core and cut him out. I again used my method of holding the foam core up and cutting along the lines and through the front and back at the same time. This seems to work so much better for me than pressing down on a cutting board as long as you keep using very sharp blades!

Then I painted the edges black and put some color on the foam where I thought the man might not match exactly.

I also painted the back just in case it shows because pumpkin man is going to sit off of the frame a bit.

I just used Tacky glue to adhere the image to the foam core and I was happy with how it looked so I was on to the next step...which took forever!

I started to paint the frame. This is another of those laser cut frames with a very intricate design and many swirly edges. At first I planned on leaving the edges the color they were as the laser makes them a fairly dark brown. But, once I started putting on the black it became obvious that I would need to paint those swirls! This was definitely a lesson in patience as every time I thought I was finally done I would look from another angle and see what I had missed. But I persevered and it is done. It is not perfect but I am going to be using antiquing wax and Rub&Buff so I think the missed spots will get covered. I am DONE for today Time to give my back a break and put my feet up before having to figure out what I will have for dinner but, I think I like where this is going.

I did want to break up the black a bit so I ripped a piece of orange spider web paper to fit in the inner oval.

And here is where my raven ended up. If the sunflowers were going to be out a bit longer than they are, I would probably do some rearranging and find him a better home but at least now he is out and I will remember him next year when the sunflowers come out.

Hello again. It is now Sunday and looks to be a pretty rainy, gloomy day so I felt no guilt in heading straight back to my Halloween project left hanging yesterday. The first thing I wanted to do is see if I could get a little finish on Pumpkin Man. Luckily, I kept the water stained one and decided to try a thin coat of ModPodge. Sometimes the ModPodge causes the ink to smear but, I guess I gave it long enough to cure this time because it was fine and gave me the sheen I was looking for. I also added a coat to the paper on the frame.

 The inspiration that I saw used antique wax so that is where I thought I would start...except that hind sight is better and when all was said and done, I would have skipped this step. Even though you can see it here, once I added the Rub&Buff, you couldn't see any of the distress with the possible exception around the ripped edges.

The inspiration also used gold Rub&Buff-which I have-but I wanted to see what antique copper would look like. I have never used that before and it is a bit different in texture from the gold rubs. At first it just looked black and I wasn't all that thrilled but when I "rubbed" more-which is what brings out the sheen on these things-the copper came alive and, since copper is one of my favorite finishes, that is where I went.

So here is where I am at this point. The inspiration also used some battery powered fairy lights behind the man but they are not the kind I can find anywhere locally and it's the same old story. I'm not going to order two dozen of them-and pay for two dozen of them-if I am only going to use one or two at most. And so, I think I will sit with this for a bit to wait and see if I get any other bright ideas before I glue it together as is. I could add a tag or a bow? Not sure if it calls for either. We shall see.

No other big plans for this week until daughter #1 and grand daughter #2 arrive along with their two dogs who I will have with me while they move grand daughter #4  into her apartment in Gainesville to start her first year of law school...exciting changes and new opportunities are on the horizon! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Today's Haul...and Second Thoughts!

 I headed out this morning to see what I could find at HL to keep me busy this rainy weekend to come. I honestly didn't think I would find the frame I was looking for but it must be my lucky day. I not only found it but it was on sale! It's really pretty in person so I grabbed two. For some reason, I think it is a bit romantic looking and might be pretty done up for Valentine's Day as well as the one I'm going to do for Halloween. Here's what I came home with-more than I went for but that is nothing new. Lol

Do you see that massive bunch of olive branches? I have been looking for more of them for the last few months but my HL hasn't had them. When I was at daughter #3's house the other day I noticed a large urn full and asked her where she got them. Of course, she found them on Amazon. I am not the world's largest fan of online shopping unless I know exactly what I am after. I just didn't feel like looking through all of the options so I just let it go and figured they might eventually make their way back to HL.

Imagine my surprise when I stepped out my front door yesterday and found a large box from Amazon...and inside these beautiful branches. I am spoiled. I can't wait to add them to my decor.

And then there is that pumpkin candle. I must have looked at it six times in HL and each time I put it back on the shelf. There are beautiful pumpkin candles out there from Pottery Barn, Luminara and Crate and Barrel but they are about $70 each and as much as I love their look, I just couldn't quite justify the short amount of time they would be out for that price tag. This candle is smaller and I didn't think it was a timer candle. It is $15.99 but now 40% off so I finally decided today that I would go ahead and grab one. I was pleasantly surprised when I got it home and discovered that it is indeed an timer candle-a must for me these days because it is just no fun having to run around and turn things on and off every day!

Then I also grabbed that pumpkin pillow. Not sure why...it just spoke to me-and again, 40% off.

This is the frame I went after but I am now having second thoughts about using the printed image of the pumpkin man and mounting it on foam core. The fingers on that guy are just way too thin to cut around on the board.

I'm going to have to think about this one. Not sure where I will go from here but, since it is getting late on a Fri-YAY afternoon, it can wait until tomorrow.

I'm off to put everything away and then call it a day. If I get anything going, I'll be back to share. If not, have a wonderful weekend. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Relief In Sight!

I don't want to get too excited but it looks like our temperatures, for the next little bit at least, are down a few degrees. Of course, I don't know if that means they will stay there-and maybe even keep descending-or if this is just a brief respite. In any case, I'm not complaining.

I have been busy with chores around the house the last few days but today I saw a craft post that I thought I would like to try. It is a Halloween wall decor and a bit different from others that are everywhere. Of course, it was made from things from Amazon that I would need to order. They weren't too expensive but I would only be using one of the items out of the package I would need to buy. The package is about $15. Add to that the frame I still need and the other supplies and you no longer have an inexpensive craft. I know I would enjoy making it but I would have lots left over that I wouldn't use and could actually use that money for something I really need.

And so, I am going to try what I have done in the past. Instead of ordering the wooden figures from Amazon, I resized an image and printed it out. I am going to mount it on foam core and then cut it out and have something close to the inspiration-I hope. I would actually get started right now except that this will only work with the really pretty unfinished wood frame from HL and I have yet to get there to see if my store has them in stock. And so, my tomorrow is starting to plan itself. Lol

It's actually kind of crazy that I am thinking about this because I was trying to convince myself to tone down my Halloween decor this year but, I love to craft and I also like to add new things every year. I guess I will need to practice "one new thing in, one old thing out". We'll see how far I get with that! Lol

I think I have mentioned that football practice has begun for both of my grandsons. The one here in high school will be a senior and that means he will have lots of large banners of him and the team hanging in the stadium. I happened upon this while scrolling FB the other night so I'm guessing they are getting the pictures ready to make the banners. They like to use "fierce" shots for their individual ones so I guess this may be in the running. He does look rather fierce at first glimpse but then you catch the braces-lol. Not sure that will scare away too many opponents! LOL

 That's it for today. I'm just happy that my brain is starting to get busy again. Summer always does me in! Hoping as the days go by I can find even more ideas to share with you. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Wow!

 Yesterday was a very special day-my youngest grandchild turned 16!!! Wow!! I have NO idea how we got to this point. Seven grands and the youngest is now 16! I was there to witness the births of each and every one of them and have been along with them all through all of their life adventures...and have enjoyed every minute of the fun and chaos. It is really hard for me to fathom that they are all grown up!

And yet, I am lucky enough to still be included in as many of those special moments as I can and that makes me happy! And so...that brings us to yesterday. Presley is a lot like me. She doesn't really feel comfortable being in the spotlight and, even though her mom would have loved to have thrown a big party, that isn't what she wanted. And so, we had a small dinner at her house with just the family that could make it plus her boyfriend and her bestie since forever!

Jen had the house all decked out-I didn't get any of the other rooms but suffice it to say, anyone there had no doubt that there was a 16th birthday being celebrated! Lol

She wanted dinner from one of her favorite restaurants but she didn't want to go there so, while the rest of us all enjoyed appetizers, her dad headed downtown to bring home everyone's favorites!

We had dinner first and we all caught up on her recent trip with her dad to Arkansas to visit her other grandparents and to enjoy time at their beautiful lake water skiing, diving, fishing, boating and all of the other things one does on water. Lol

And then it was time for gifts. There is a bit of a story behind this one. Of course, with turning 16 comes getting one's license. And then, of course, is the need for a car. Now I'm not totally in agreement with the idea that every 16 year old NEEDS a car, but I will admit that in this family it is a necessity. Both my daughter and her husband are extremely busy at work and need their cars to head off early...many times out of town. And, the kids' high school is the complete opposite side of town from where they live-and quite a drive in morning traffic. On many days, she could ride with her brother to school but not until football season is over-most mornings the team has to be there a few hours before school opens for their conditioning training and that probably wouldn't be anything that would strengthen a brother/sister bond-at least not at that time of the morning.

And so to make everyone's' lives easier, my daughter has been telling Presley that she is wanting a new car so as soon as Presley turns 16 she will get her mom's old Infinity. And that was the story. So, after all of the other gifts, came "the" box-the one with a fancy key chain and Infinity car key.

And, as we all headed out, this is what we were struck with.

There was a great big bow on the Infinity. And, I think she was genuinely happy and ready to climb into it until someone pointed her around the corner and she found her "real" gift.

And of course her bestie, who had just turned 16 the day before and also received a car, had to be the first to try it out!

Two beautiful, happy girls ready to start their junior years and be ready to take on the world.

Today will hold nowhere near the fun or excitement that yesterday held but I'm hoping to accomplish "something" so I am off. Stay safe and stay tuned. I'm still thinking about my autumn decor still to come. I would love to change some of it up...you will be the first to know.

Why I DON'T Get the Big Bucks!

 Happy Saturday! When last we "spoke", I think I mentioned that I had a number of errands to run...so that was my plan for yesterday. Unfortunately, I live right in the middle of all of the places I needed to go. I would have to go east for three of them and west for the other three. And, it was still going to be HOT out there so I decided which direction was priority and just headed one way.

My first stop was Lowes. I was looking for something I had seen in an ad that scrolled through my FB. Now anyone who knows me knows that there is no need wasting an ad on me because I am immune to them. I am not going to go out and buy something I don't want just because you send me an ad. Don't call me, I'll call you. Lol

But, I think I have been toying with the idea of under cabinet lighting for my kitchen for quite some time and when I saw this ad, I thought I should go check it out.

Here is the extent of the under cabinet lighting that I had.

I've always disliked the cord hanging there. At one point I did have it held up with a little clip made for just that purpose but it broke and I just never did anything about it...except maybe complain about the cord. Lol

And so, I went ahead and bought this.

As soon as I got home, I was anxious to get going. This set was only about $30 and it came with EVERYTHING I would need. Now, usually deals like this make me skeptical of quality but, honestly, for $30 even if they don't last forever, I'm good.

These can be hung three ways-with the Command strips (which I chose to use), with the screws provided or with magnets if you are using them on anything metal. There was another set that I actually liked better but luckily I caught that they were only "cool" light and I am not a fan of that bluish lighting. I like the warm tones to make things feel cozy. These come with a remote that lets you change all sorts of stuff but, for now, I have the setting I like and that's where it will stay.

Since I had initially hung the electric light that was there, I remembered how to "unhang" it and found this.

That is what my cabinets used to look like before I redid them. Lucky for me, I still have some cans of "Cabinet Rescue" from when I did that project...and I can't even tell you how many, many years ago that was!

I never liked the "walnut" Formica but thought I was stuck with it until we could afford all new cabinets. As it happened, I was in the Home Depot-which I hardly ever go into-I am a Lowes kind of gal-and talking to one of the paint associates about something when I mentioned how much I dislike my cabinets but was stuck with them because nothing sticks to Formica. Imagine my surprise when he tells me about a new product they just got in called Cabinet Rescue.

That stuff was a miracle worker! Nowadays they have all sorts of paints that will work on all sorts of surfaces but this was a first back then. I will say that redoing all of my cabinets was one of the most difficult DIYs I have ever done...and it took forever but I have never regretted that decision for one second!

In any case, I stirred up that old paint-the can looks like that because I used it to support something when I was spray painting-and got the under side of the cabinet good to go.

The hardest part of this project was getting the batteries into the lights-I have never had to push so hard! I honestly thought I was going to break the shell of the light...but, I finally prevailed! Believe it or not, I did it all as I was sitting in my office watching one of my favorite bloggers make a witch's hat-which I might just try if I can find one more place to put another witch's hat. Lol

And, I will say, measuring under the cabinets and getting all of the light lined up was a bit difficult but I did OK. I think there is one that I am about 1/2" off on. Right now it isn't bothering me but if it does, it's easy to pull off the Command hook and put another up.

I absolutely LOVE the way these lights cast a glow across the kitchen and they will definitely come in handy when I'm working at any area of the counters.

And, it was still dark this morning when I went into the kitchen for coffee. I hit the remote and popped on the new lights as well as the ones I ran above the cabinets some years back and I am in LOVE! And all of that for just $30!

While I was in there I also picked up some mailbox numbers and a new shower head but, since I also grabbed this at the grocery store, I decided the other things could wait until today and I sat down, put my feet up and enjoyed! Happy Fri-YAY!

I don't buy Country Sampler as often as I used to but I still grab their autumn and Christmas issues. I'm not anywhere near that "country" any more but it does read as cozy to me and I almost always get a few decorating ideas I can adapt to my home.

So I started today outside before the rains started and got this done. I'm still missing my beautiful old mailbox but, since this one was the only one that matched my post, this one it had to be. I actually forgot to put numbers on it when I first installed it and I'm surprised that I didn't get a note from the mail carrier because I think it is required. Lol

And now we're at the part where I know why I don't get the big bucks! My showerhead is one of the ones where you can take the hand held part out of the main part. That one went in back when we redid the bathroom maybe 10 years ago? It has worked perfectly until recently when I couldn't get the middle part to snap back in correctly and it kept falling out and crashing on to my beautiful tile shower floor. I was afraid that one of these times it might crack the tile and so I set off to get a new one. And this time I thought I would get the ones where the hand held slips into the holder. I found a pretty brushed nickel one and checked it all out to make sure it would work...and I bought it feeling quite confident...until this morning when I went to put it up.

Here is my old one a bit worse from wear probably because I used to soak it in vinegar to clean all of the openings...kind of looks like the vinegar might have "eaten" off some of the finish...so all the more reason for a new one.

I had installed the original so, once again, no problem getting the old one off. The new unit went on easily but then I realized two things. The new one hangs so much higher because it sits in the stand as opposed to coming straight out of the wall. And, when we had this shower done, the builder suggested putting the piping up as high as he could which made it so much nicer for my very tall husband but, the two things together make for one VERY HIGH shower head!

I also discovered that this new head came with a slightly shorter hose and since I sit on the bench built on the other side of the shower to wash my hair and shave my legs, it really wasn't going to reach as easily. That was an easy fix because I just put the old hose back-which was probably a good idea because it is also wider so I think the water and water pressure will be better. But, the height issue is still an issue. I am guessing that there is a simple solution to the height problem in some kind of pipe fitting that will bring the head down but, honestly, I have no idea where to even think about that right now. All is fine for me as, as I said, I use the hand held but, when my family visits, a lot of them borrow my shower and I think it might be a problem then...we shall see. I really thought I had thought it all out but the height of that water pipe never entered my mind...until today. Lol

We are having a beautiful rain right now and my lawn and gardens will be happy because it has been hot and dry for a bit. I'm off to make some lunch. Stay safe and stay tuned.
 

P.S.!!! I am so glad no one has read this yet because I have an update. Again, anyone who knows me-especially my brother and sister-in-law-knows that the height of that shower head was probably driving me crazy...and they would be right! I actually left my lunch and walked back into the bathroom to try to convince myself that I could live with it. Then, I went to the Lowes site to see if they carried any kind of adjustment pipe but I think I would probably have to call in a plumber for that. Then, I went back and looked at more shower heads and, when I found almost the exact one I was replacing-and I didn't go with that because I didn't like the way the one head snapped into the other-I read a little more carefully and found that they don't snap any more-they use a heavy duty magnet.

And that triggered something in my mind. I replaced the head in the guest bath maybe a year or so also. And, that pipe comes out of the wall much LOWER than my bathroom because that is the height builders generally use. And, because I went with the shower head I did, I'm guessing anyone using it would have had to duck a bit to get a good drenching.

DUH!!! This head was like brand new and so...in just a matter of minutes, I had them switched and now both bathrooms have the correct height and, if I ever have to do this again, hopefully I will remember my lesson. AHHHH-all is right with the world. Lol

This is how the first new one looked in my bathroom-and when you walked in there it stood way above the height of the glass door and looked really silly.

And here it is now.

And the guest bath...

Where the hose enters the head is where the old one fit so you can readily see the difference in height! I was so frustrated with myself that I was just about to send a text to all of my girls to see if anyone needed a new head and it was theirs! Glad I didn't quite get that far! Lol