A Patriotic Pause

I grabbed some of my

many

red, white and blue dishes....

and accessories

and carried them to the back deck.

I thought I would use what I had to

come up with some new

and cute

July place-settings.

The 4th of July is too hectic...

and meant to be

outdoors and

portable.

These are for the two weeks (or so)

leading up to the

4th!

Eating out on the deck is always a good thing.

I have a HUGE metal basket full of metal letters I have collected for years. Luckily, I was gathering them up long before they became popular. I truly do use them all the time. Hubby has gotten use to them....kind of!

This one was done as a tribute to my Hubby. He is a huge baseball fan, and what, after all is more American than crackerjacks and baseball? With a little taffy thrown in!

Just another little encouragment to use what you have around the house.  Walk around and look at your things and think of them in other ways. You'll be glad you did!

Apparently even Mother Nature

was feeling a little

patriotic.

See the things you'll

miss

if you don't head outside?

Linking this up with Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Brassy is a Good Thing..(..Unless You're Talking about My Hair!)

 My mom said she had just the table

to go in my little furniture arrangement

in the living room.

It had been my Great-Aunt Leora's (sister of Leeta Mae from the previous post),

who had left it to my Grandmother Frances

when she died.

When my grandmother died, my mom got the table.

It was in her garage attic until a few days ago.

 The first picture was after I actually cleaned it up...

with rags (a little) water and elbow grease.

Then I went to the store and got the Brasso.

 I took the top of the table out

on my backporch this morning.

It was only about 90 degrees by 9ish...

the day had not even heated up yet.

As you can see, there is a bad spot right in the

middle of the table.

Leora always kept a vase of flowers

on her tables.

I presume it is water damage.

Is there any way to fix that?

 This was after I had barely put

the elbow

into the elbow grease!

With all the intricate carvings,

I had to really work on this table!

 My Great-Aunt Leora got this table

in Egypt.

You can see the Egyptian characters

carved into the entire table.

This was when I had just started

rubbing this area.

 This was after I had really

worked on the same area.

Isn't it beginning to look great?

It has so many different scenes.

It is just the funky piece I need to keep the room

not quite formal,

but fun!

 It now gleams in the light-filled room....

So much so that after I showed my mom,

she thought of the perfect place

SHE

had for it in HER house!

But alas, Cleopatra

and all her friends

are going to stay

right smack dab

in the middle of my living room.

Brassy is a good thing.....unless you're talking about my hair!
I am linking this to Metamorphosis Monday with Susan!

What do Butterflies, Lazy Dogs and Pottery Barn have in common?

 I LOVE it when I am so Pottery Barnesque waaaaaaaaaaaay before Pottery Barn knew what was popular. 'Ya know what I mean?

 Pottery Barn has the above pillow cover (cover only) in their spring and summer catalog for $49. Cute as a cacoon, wouldn't you say?

But I have had a very similar pillow for years. And years. Like since the 1970's.

 Can you see it???? Dang those lazy dogs! They don't even realize they are sleeping right on top of my Pottery Barn look-a-like.

There you go....

At least Ike understood and moved

off his favorite chair.

Abe doesn't seem to get the

importance of "keeping up with Pottery Barn".

Or maybe he just wants PB

to feature some dogs...(lazy dogs)....

My butterfly pillow is a

needlepoint version.

It was handstiched by my great-aunt

Leeta Mae

years ago.

I have a couple of butterfly pieces she

so beautifully needlepointed.

In my mind, mine is worth much more than

$49!!

PB's are a screened on version.

I think they are meant to look

hand-painted.

I'll keep my own

Leeta Mae version...

(needlepointed sometime in the late (gasp!) '70's!

And I'll keep those lazy dogs too!

(By the way, this last picture is not blurry. Your eyes are just tired.)

Simple Sundays

The man of integrity walks securely,

but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

Proverbs 10:9

 

My life has been filled with men of integrity....

Happy Father's Day to the men who shaped my life. My extraordinary grandfathers, who I realize more and more each day the lessons they taught me, to my dad, who continues to teach me life's lessons, and to my Hubby, who is patient to a fault and gave me five precious gifts.

I would be remiss if I did not include my brother (who was so easy to grow up with), and my brothers in law, who do great things each day.

Happy Father's Day!

CHALK one up for me!

 In addition to unpacking and

arranging and rearranging, I

painted three pieces of furniture last week.

Yep, with THE chalk paint.

I jumped in those waters and tried it too.

I did the big hutch in the picture.

I used Old White and Duck's Egg

with the clear and dark waxes.

 This is what the top of the hutch use to look like.

(Yes, that is dust you see.)

 This is what the bottom of the hutch looked like.

I bought the hutch off Craigslist several years ago and

only got the bottom of it painted black.

I never got around to painting the top black.

I like the hutch because it is so slender.

It fits in tight spaces and does not take up much room.

 (After I dusted it!!) I painted the entire hutch..

both top and bottom..

the Duck's Egg color.

It is a cross between blue and green.

Much like the color of the sea. :-)

If you look closely, you can see the color under

the Old White.

Sorry, I did not take a picture of it when it was all

Duck's Egg.

 This was my second piece to paint with the

chalk paint, so I felt more at ease.

After I painted the

 Duck's Egg

then the

Old White,

I put on a coat of clear wax.

Then I sanded down in a big way.

I wanted the old green to show through...

or as in the case of the bottom...the old green and the black!

I did NOT paint the table top of the hutch Old White.

I left that painted only Duck's Egg.

I am glad I did that.

 You can see how heavily I put on the dark wax.

It is alarming the first time you do it.

I used the clear wax ...and elbow grease...

to take most of it off.

The shelves above clearly show how one shelf has

had the dark wax,

and one has only been clear waxed

and distressed.

 Here you can see how I kept the tabletop part

Duck's Egg with clear and dark wax on it.

 Some of the closeups of

the hutch

after it was completely finished.

I realize this look is

not for everyone,

but it sure beats the

"before" pics!

 I tried to put the heavy distress look

on parts that would have

natural wear

and tear.

 Here you can see how

slim the hutch is.

Now, when I am in my

computer room,

I look up through the doorway...

and this is the view I see.

Chalk one up for me!

I am linking this to Miss Mustard Seed, Show and Tell Friday's and Metamorphosis Monday's.