Trying to Fool Mother Nature

Does anyone remember that old commercial where at the end

a woman dressed in a long white dress would announce,

"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!"

And there would be a huge clap of thunder.

 That's what I have thought of this past week. For the past two summers, we here (in Oklahoma) have suffered from record setting heat and drought. We set the national record for the hottest summer (cumulative days) on record....two years in a row!

 It was absolutely unbelievable. We had almost 100 days of 100+ two summers in a row. Can you imagine? It was brutal on our land. Not to mention, if you have ever been to Oklahoma you KNOW how crippling the humidity can be. 

 Well this year we set records again. Only this time it was for the most rain in a summer. Our summer has been very, very placid. There have only been two days over 100. That is unheard of. We had tons of rain. We had thunderstorms day after day. 

 We had (for Oklahoma) a fairly mild summer with a lot of 90's and even a string of 80something days! So when I decided to late-summer-early-fall my house before school started back, I had all the confidence in the world that fall was just around the corner. 

 It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!!

Apparently she has other plans. No sooner had I brought in warm yellows and browns to go with my red dishes, and put all the red, white and blue away, it decided to "be summer". As in the summer we are use to in Oklahoma. 

 For all the foreseeable days of our weather forecast, it is predicted to be in the high 90's and low 100's. It seems that summer finally made it to Oklahoma and has unpacked its bags and plans to stay a while. 

 I'm grateful for the break from the likes of the previous two summers, but I will now just be satisfied with my yellow, browns and reds of late summer. 

 There will be no early autumn decorating here! Just a mellowed-down summer home. 

 Because Mother Nature reminded me, (once again), that the season will change when she's good and ready for them to...and not a second sooner! 

Linking with:

Metamorphosis Monday

Wow Us Wednesday

Open House Thursday

Stone Gable TTT

Making a Memory Chest

My daughter Annie got married in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the beginning of summer. 

 She stayed at a beautiful old inn/castle called Prestonfield House. The people there were so gracious to her and went above and beyond to make her day special. 

 Annabelle and her new husband then spent the next two weeks touring Scotland. They had originally planned to spend a week in Scotland and a week in Ireland. Once they saw Scotland though, they were smitten and decided to spend most of their two weeks visiting the Scottish Highlands. They did make it to Ireland for a few days, but have plans to go back and spend time there. Annie had vacationed in Ireland before, so she was happy to stay in Scotland. 

 I bought this cute little miniature chest from my good friend The Picker. This little three-drawer chest is sitting on our kitchen island in the picture, if that helps you with the scale of the piece. Aren't little things always so cute? 

 I have no idea what it was originally used for. My guess would be jewelry, or maybe flatware, or perhaps cloth napkins?  I really don't have a clue. Maybe you all know. Regardless, I knew I wanted to doctor it up and give it to Annie for a "memory chest". I figured she could store special mementos of her wedding and Scottish honeymoon in the drawers. 

 I used a sample drawer of Cece Caldwell's chalk paint in Nantucket Spray. The white on the piece is Old White from Annie Sloan. 

 I knew I wanted to put the words "Edinburgh" and "Prestonfield House" on the drawers. 

 I debated about putting their wedding date on the third drawer, but I wanted the piece to look like perhaps Annie had brought it back from Prestonfield House. In that case, it would not have the wedding date on a drawer! 

 I intentionally put the words right through the middle of the crystal knobs. I wanted it to look old and like the words had been put on there long ago. I did not want the piece to look "planned". 

 I painted the entire piece in the ASCP Old White first, then I went over the drawers and the inset side pieces in the Nantucket. I finished the piece off with Minwax in mahogany. 

 I wanted the colors to be mellow, so they could blend in to Annie's house for years to come. 

 The little drawers are the perfect size to store maps, coins, pictures, dried wedding flowers and small souvenirs from their Scottish wedding and honeymoon. 

 I lined the three drawers with three different maps. There is a map (section) from Oklahoma, Kansas and Scotland. I wanted the three maps to represent how a Kansas/Oklahoma girl could end up having her dream wedding at a castle in Scotland. 

 I have no idea where Annie will put this in her house. I just want her to think about her Scottish holiday---and smile---every time she sees the words on the memory chest. 

 The little piece was so cute, it was hard not to keep it! I love how it turned out though and what it represents. 

 Just in case you are wondering, I did not write those words free-handed. I bought some stick on letters (in a cute frilly font) at Hob Lob and stuck them on the drawers after I had painted the Old White. I then painted the Nantucket paint over the top and pulled the letters back off. Easy-peasy!

Now it is Annie's job to fill this cute little mini-chest up!

Linking with:

StoneGable TTT

Open House Thursday

Wow Us Wednesday
Metamorphosis Monday
Furniture Feature Friday
Feathered Nest Friday
Fabulously Creative Friday

"Revealing" A Party Link...

 Before we knew that Leightyn was going to be Leightyn, we threw a big Gender Reveal Party for her parents. It featured owls and was themed "Whoooo Wants To Know?"

 Well, "WOOO HOOO" (pun intended), her gender reveal party is being featured on the website "What To Expect When You're Expecting"! They have (including my own party) seven gender reveal party ideas. 

 You can find that link right here: http://www.whattoexpect.com/tools/photolist/7-trendy-themes-for-your-gender-reveal-party

 The link to our party, with lots of other pictures and details of the party can be found here. 

 Looking back reminds me of what a fun party that was. 

 You could use an owl theme and "Whooo Wants To Know?" anytime, but it worked out perfectly for the Fall season. Sooooooooo, if you are looking for a fun reveal party in the next couple of months, feel free to steal a few ideas! 

Linking with:

Wow Us Wednesday

Open House Thursday

Stone Gable TTT

The Tables Have Turned

I saw this past weekend where Funky Junk Interiors was having her 199th party. This one featured side tables. Well that is right up my wheelhouse. I love to redo sidetables. 

 I decided to take my top five side table redo's and put them in one simple post. They might just spark an idea for someone else. 

 This little ugly duckling started out like this. I like it for its size and the fact there was a lip around the edge. I had an idea that I thought would work with that edge. 

 And my idea worked perfectly. I used my collection of old letterpress letters and numbers to make a giant collage on the table top. If you go to the original post, you can see a closeup of many of the words and dates that I put into the collage. 

 I also used an "Oops" paint on the table, so this remake was very cheap. 

 My family is in the newspaper business, so I love that I now have a table with old letterpress pieces. You can pick those old pieces up at flea markets and on Ebay. I got all of my off of Ebay. 

 Isn't it fun to look at? 

 BUT even before I turned it into the fun memory table, I first turned it into a chalkboard table. I actually love this table too, but that lip around the edge is what kept calling me to use the letterpress blocks. 

 I need to find another table with a small lip so I can create another chalkboard table. I think it would be fun to leave "notes" on the table. I simply painted the table top with two coats of chalkboard paint. 

 One other thing I did to this table is that I put these small casters on the legs. I originally did that when I thought the chalkboard table could be moved around places, but even after redoing it again, I kept the casters on. I think it is a fun touch. 

 Which way do you like it best? Collage or Chalkboard? 

 The third table I have to show you started out as a maple Early American style that was in my grandparents living room forever. It is a round table where the top actually can spin. I remember spinning it as a small child many, many times. I used Annie Sloan gray chalkpaint to redo it. 

 I first painted the table all black with regular paint, then I added a coat of the gray chalk paint on top. I chose those colors because I knew that I was going to put that big metal sign on top and the colors all blended well. 

 The big metal sign was a sign from my hometown. In fact the refinery that the sign refers to, was owned by my neighbor. I share the story of this eccentric neighbor in the original post. 

 This idea of putting an advertising sign could work on any table. Mine just happen to match up perfectly. It is still one of my favorite ....and easiest...redo's. 

 Talk about another ugly duckling. I bought this table because of the glass top. I seem to be always have an idea about the tops, huh? 

 In this case, I had a box of athletic chenille's. In this case I got them from the letterjacket salesman that comes to the high school where I worked. I asked him if they had "mistakes" and he assured me they did. I asked him if I could buy them and a couple of days later there was a big box of them in my mail. He gave them to me free. 

 Well obviously, I have no idea they are mistakes. They worked for me!  I have actually used these chenille's in several different projects too. 

 I painted the entire table in Annie Sloan's Red. There was just a small space under the glass, but plenty big enough for a layer of chenille's. Perfect!  This table is now in our game room. In the original post you can see what it looks like under the chenilles as well.

 I think you could put lots of things under that glass even though it is not deep. If I find another one ...or two... I am planning a "map" table (with a few souvenirs) and an old picture blown up and "framed" under the glass. Does that give you any ideas? 

 The last table I made for one of my daughters. I had been wanting to make something houdstoothy. Since this was just a small table, I called it "puppytooth".

 All I did was simply use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and Graphite. I used a houndstooth stencil and painted the top. The stencil was small, so it did take a little longer. 

 Some people can draw that on freehand. I would not be one of those people! I hope this gives you some ideas on how to change ugly, cheap tables into fun conversation pieces. I'll bet if I added up how much I spent on five table redo's it would be well under a $100. And that is only counting buying the Annie Sloan paint. If you have ever used that paint you know that you can do a jillion projects with a quart of that paint.

Check out the original posts and I give better details on each project. Have you turned the tables on anything lately? 

Linking with:

Funky Junk Interiors

Metamorphosis Monday
Wow Us Wednesday
Stone Gable TTT
Open House Thursday
Furniture Feature Friday
Feathered Next Friday
Fabulously Creative Friday