Fall Project

I recently saw a blog post with a tutorial on creating a faux mercury glass pumpkin.  So, when I stumbled across an inexpensive clear glass pumpkin like the blogger had used, I plucked it up and headed home.

clear glass pumpkin

Did you notice what a bargain it was?

Yes, it was a dollar bargain!

So, I washed it up till it was sparkling and clean.  I gathered all my supplies and moved out onto the back porch on a beautiful fall afternoon.

Supplies needed:  silvery paint, water in a spray bottle, glass pumpkin, plastic bag, newspaper

Then, like the blog tutorial prescribed, I wrapped the glass pumpkin in a plastic bag that came from a local boutique.

plastic wrapped pumpkin

I spritzed the inside of the pumpkin with a little water and began spraying the silvery paint inside in short bursts.

spritzed with water and sprayed with short bursts of silvery paint

pumpkin lid

I did the same thing with the pumpkin lid and left them to sit and dry for a couple of hours.  Then, when I removed the plastic, my $1 glass pumpking was a foggy grey color.  I guess I didn't have the correct something...  Was it my short-burst-spraying technique?  Was it my water spritzing technique?  Was it my paint type?  I don't know. 

Here is what I did, though.  I just proceeded to spritz the outside of the pumpkin and its lid with water and spray short bursts of shiny silver paint to the outside.

The finished product is on the right!

I think it turned out pretty well, what do you think?

Changing Seasons

The weather is changing.  The scenery is changing.  Fall is creeping in.  I am loving the cooler days and the nice breezes.  I'm not loving that it is getting dark earlier and earlier.

Pumpkins are popping up here and there.

 

Fall is beginning to creep into the home decor, too.  I found my beautiful monogrammed pumpkin that Bridgette gave me last year and it joined my faux mercury glass project pumpkin on the kitchen mantel. 

I think they add just the right touch of fall to the mantel.  Other autumn hues are easing out into the open as well. 

The Kitchen Island

A little ceramic pumpkin with a raffia bow joins the blue and white vase on the kitchen island.  They are flanked by two candles surrounded by candy corn.  Perky shades of yellow and orange are announcing fall colors in the kitchen. 

Something else seems to be creeping in as well...

...old age.

Look closely and you will see a couple necessary items for both Mike and me - but only if we want to read... or see clearly when something is up close...

I guess we are changing seasons, too!

French Country

I have become a big fan of French Country decorating.  Well, I guess I have grown into it more and more over time.  So, when I stopped in at the sidewalk sale at Unique Art and Antiques and noticed this blue and white vase for only three dollars, well, I couldn't leave it behind.

bargain vase

Right now it is sitting on the kitchen island filled with sunflowers in all its French Country glory.  I love a good deal!

New Friend

When I pulled in the drive the other day, I noticed that we have a new friend on our back porch.

new friend

He was just skampering all over the back porch like he owned the place.  Do you think he will keep the cats away?

Stool Project

One of the projects I intended to take on this summer was a re-vamping of our master bedroom closet.  Well, so far all that has happened is that I moved all our shoes around and vacuumed under them and set them up in rows with mates together.  Well, you've got to start somewhere...

I thought I'd like to set it up to be more like a dressing room and put a small ottoman in there to sit on for tying shoes or slipping socks on and such as that.  I've been on the lookout for such an ottoman and tripped - literally - over one recently at one of the local junk-tique stores.  It was less than $30, so it came home with me.

Well, first, it didn't even make it out the door with me before it lost a leg.

A leg that I couldn't get screwed back into the base.

So, it spent the night at the consignment store until the next day when the husband of the owner repaired it. 

bargain ottoman

It was covered in a nice embroidered silk fabric.  However, when I got it home, I decided it was just too short and we would never be able to get up if we ever sat on it unless I also added one of those stainless steel pull bars like you see in a handicap bathroom. 

Then, I noticed that it is just the right height and size to sit in front of the wingback chair there in the master bedroom.  So, I plunked it down there and left it for a couple or three weeks to see if that would be its new home. 

The only problem is, the coloring in the nice embroidered silk fabric doesn't really fit in the master bedroom.  So, today I tackled reupholstering it.  First, I decided to remove the silk fabric to save for another project.  This also meant I had to remove the black cotton fabric that was glued to the plywood base.  So, I unscrewed the legs and set to work.

removing the fabric

A screwdriver, a pair of pliers, and lots of pulling were required to take the fabric off.  I discovered a nice cotton sheeting covering the cushion.

stripped

The silk now became a pattern for cutting the square which I'd use to recover the cushion.  My next step required fabric, a staple-gun, and some scissors.

beginning to recover

Years ago I had some fabric that I had bought to slip-cover the chair with which this stool would be paired.  (I haven't mustered the courage to make a slip-cover, yet.)  So, I dug that out and set to work.  I had borrowed an electric stapler from my mother and father a couple of weeks ago.  So, I cut my fabric square and got it all lined up, dug out an extension cord, and was ready to stretch and shoot.  The stapler, however, was not cooperative and would not shoot.  I unloaded, re-loaded, turned it off, turned it on, squeezed, pushed banged, and cursed and still it would not shoot.

So, I gave my favorite sister-in-law, JoAnn, a call.  She thought my niece, Julie, had one and rustled it up and sent it over by her grandson, Jayme.  Soon, I was in business and shooting staples left and right.  The stretching and stapling seemed to be going well and then...I ran out of staples.  Thankfully, Mike's son, Stephen, came by at about the time I discovered the lack of staples and said he had some.  So, Toby and I walked to the top of the hill and got a couple of strips of staples.  Soon, we were back in business and finished attaching the fabric to the plywood base.

newly covered ottoman

It was a wonderful project to complete out on the back porch on a cool, breezy fall afternoon. 

in the master bedroom

a closer look

I think it turned out looking fabulous!  Now, if I could only find somebody who wanted to take a practice run at making a slip-cover that I could offer my chair as a practice piece!  I have enough of this damask/leaf/tone-on-tone print left to make a chair cover.  Any takers?

Birthday Wishes - Belated

Well, best laid plans went to the wayside... again.  I started this post a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd have it ready to go for yesterday.  Didn't happen.  The wishes were just as strong and today my thoughts, appreciation, and love for this guy are just stronger by a day.

He was a cutey when he was this little and has that flirtatious grin like his dad!

Doesn't he look sweet here?

I think this might be where that mischievousness began...

Here he is sporting a debonair look!

Innocence for the camera...

Working on some sort of serious business.

Stepping big

Rock on with somebody's borrowed specks!

Sacked out!

Hard at work

Isn't that an infectious grin?

Sporting the team hat

Building the dream

Carefully laying it out by the numbers

Painting the store

 

Loading out merchandise

Filling an order with a personal touch

 

One-to-One with a customer

 

Still a cutey!

 

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

I may not have given birth to you but I do feel fortunate to have you as a bonus son.

A Week for Bargains

A couple of weeks ago I bumped into a run of bargains.  First, I mentioned one afternoon that I wish I had a footstool on the deck and low, and behold, a couple of days later when I was looking for a lamp shade at Goodwill, I tripped over this beauty!

You can read a bit more about it HERE.

A couple of days later, Mike tried to raise the umbrella which sits down into the dining table on the deck and the little cord/rope which pulls it open broke - old age made it weak and pitiful - the cord/rope, not Mike. The canvas fabric was sadly faded anyway, so we decided to invest in new ones.  Then, the next day, we got a sale flyer from Tuesday Morning advertising umbrellas.  So, I trekked over to check them out. 

My color choices were John Deere yellow, brick red, navy blue, and chocolate brown - none in the hunter green that we had.  So, I went in search of the brown thinking that I would stick to earthy colors.  Mike and I had decided to go ahead and get two - one for each of the tables on the back porch.  Sadly, there was only one brown one at the store and I didn't want to trek all over the place looking for a second one.  So, I settled for navy ones.  (You know me and blue...)

Doesn't it look like they are just inviting you to come sit in their shade?

Here is a little closer look:

The one on this smaller table seems to look so well coordinated with the pretty blue pot filled with a deep purple verbena. 

One final bargain that I stumbled upon was my new hummingbird feeders.  I had seen them in a couple of places and liked the larger size of the bottle and the sturdiness of them back earlier in the spring.  Then, one day at my local Kroger grocery store, they were marked down from $8.99 to ninety cents each!  (Why didn't I buy more to give as gifts or to hang elsewhere in my yard?  ARGH!!!)

The cute little hummingbirds have really enjoyed them.  There have been times when I have seen up to six fighting to eat at the two feeders hanging on the back porch.  They are so quick, I have only captured one photo, though!

Isn't this little red-necked one a cutie?  (I know they are really called 'ruby throated' but here in the country, it really needs to be referred to as a red-neck!)

 

These bargains should bring a smile to my face day after day.  Don't you just love it when you find a bargain - or, even better, a run of them like this?