Crazy Lady with a dolly & Mary Anne again

    Craziness abounds in my household these days. I chuckle because I may have officially convinced my neigbors of my insanity. Oh the joys of living in a little neighborhood! I have been trying to spruce up my photography skills a little and in doing so may or may not have lost my mind. 
   We have this sweet retired couple that live on the lake across from our home. The older gentleman likes to ride around the neighborhood on his golf cart. He hauls his garbage, gives (who I assume are)his grands rides, and spends his afternoons fishing. My kids have dubbed him "The man in the golf cart". Creative, huh. He also probably witnesses the most bizarre happenings going on at his new to the neighborhood, crazy family of seven. (We get LOTS of comments on the 7 part)
    In my futile attempts to photograph *ahem* MaryAnne, I happen to deliver some morning entertainment in the form of crazy lady with a dolly. With our recent (as in 8 months) move to this area my husband purchased a moving dolly. So when racking my brain for ideas on how to photograph this sweet lady *meaning Mary Anne of course* I thought, Aha! I'll haul her outside on my moving dolly!
    Getting her off my front porch was an interesting feat. Did I mention that their is a rather large drop off the step into the yard..like about a foot. If you can imagine a crazy lady with bed head followed by my princess of the bunny slippers, running helter skelter around the yard carting a dresser. Yeah the "man in the golf cart" slowed down quite a bit when he saw me "staging" my dresser by an oak tree, then wheeling her through the ditch to rest in the only spot that worked. It just so happened to be in the middle of the road.

    When I finally got her settled just right, I harriedly snapped a few million pictures in high hopes.  I guess great photography isn't based on high hopes. 

So without further ado, I present MaryAnne; a sweet blend of lightly distressed creamy white, rustic wood and beautiful hand painted knobs. 

    Reminds me of sweet summer and wildflowers. Maybe an afternoon picnic complete with a soft blanket, tart lemonade and childhood laughter. mmmmm...Life is good.
 

A perfect Saturday project

     In NH, my family does these craft days. Similar to what I picture of the old fashioned quilting bees. Us ladies, older and young alike, gather around doing crafty things, chatting away. Ours usually includes coffee brewing and some sort of sweet to go on long with it. That is where I learned how to do these cute fabric flowers. From my sweet aunt Susie, who is the queen of crafty things.

    These are really quite simple and I've found many different uses for them. I hope you will too.

Supplies needed:
*Card stock (or regular plain paper works too)
*Pen
*Scissors
*Fabric (scrap fabric works well) You can use whatever print or texture you want, depending on what you have in mind for it.
*Thicker fabric (to use for your flower base) *I used a scrap of quilt batting.*
*Needle and thread (for hand sewing)
*Pins
-Optional
*A hot glue gun with glue sticks (If you'd prefer to use in place of sewing)
*Any embellishments you might want to add. Buttons, pearls, charms, etc.


               #1

Draw a four petal flower on paper.*card stock works well here*
I free-handed mine, folded over, like when you do snowflakes. Draw another, just a little smaller than the first. I traced the first one, then cut about 1/16 in. more off than the first one. Then trace another one, doing the same thing again. Cut them out.

     You should have three shapes like this.

                                         #2

    Next Trace your flowers onto fabric. Cut them out.
You will need four Fabric cut outs each for the two larger sizes. 3 cutouts of the smallest size. A total of 11.

 It helps to pin your flower cutout to the fabric to hold it in place.

Pin

     

                         

                                          #3

    

    Using the thicker fabric, trace and cut out a small circle. This will be the base of your flower. *I used a jar lid as my stencil.*

#4

     Use one of the biggest flower cutouts, and fold it in half. Then fold it in half again. This makes your basic petal shape, 

One side of your flower petal should be folded while the other side is open. Align petals so that the open side is to the back of the folded side. 

Like this picture below.

Attach your flower petal to the middle point in your circle base. Pin it into place.

Repeat this with all four  biggest flower cutouts. 

#5

Sew a simple straight stitch along the bottom edges of each flower petal to attach it to the round base. *or hot glue if you prefer*

#6

Repeat steps 4 and 5 with the middle size cutouts and attach them the same way you did the first ones, except overlap each seam. Like this.

#7

Using 2 of your smallest cutouts, fold each petal in half like this. 

Then  fold again like this.

While holding the last fold in place, twist opposite petal open. And pin to secure. 

                                        #8

Place the middle of the two petals (that you just made) into the center of your flower, staggering them, so as to look like a small four petal flower. *You can also just hot glue them into place*

Use your last small petal to make the center of your flower. 

Fold your petal in half, then in half again.(like before) Roll it up lengthwise   *I rolled mine twice* Then fold up the bottom. Like this. 

Sew (or hot glue) this into the center of your flower. Fluff your petals and embellish any way you want.

Wallah!!

Kitchen table redo

 
  There's nothing like an upcoming BBQ to motivate me to get my butt into gear. My kitchen table has seen way too many school lessons that included markers & was in serious need of a face lift. So one beautiful, dry, hot, Texas day I pulled out my sander and set to work. I love the lines of my kitchen table and chairs so I just needed to make them shine. At this point I had a vague idea of what I wanted with the intent to try the new "vinegar tea stain". 

   Seriously this is why I usually paint & praise the day chalk/milk paint came out. Sanding is not my favorite thing!
  I sanded just the top with course "remove" sandpaper then finished it off with fine grit. The edges I did by hand. I chose to leave some of the white finish on in spots since I wasn't looking for perfect.
  (I previously had went over the table legs with "Miss Mustard Seed" milk paint and sprayed on a polycrylic top coat. So that was all good.)

  Next I applied a coat of Linseed oil with a cloth and wiped off the excess. The Linseed oil really brings life to any old wood and makes it pop. *Note on linseed oil. Never leave your used rags in a pile. They will self combust. Lay them flat to dry and then throw them away. Or like I did, throw them in the burn barrel.*

   I was really experimenting here because you really should test to see if you actually like the color of your particular wood. Me, Im a little bit of a wing it, trial and error person. Live & learn. Here the table top is after one coat linseed oil.

   I thought it was pretty as it was but then I realized my $15 garage sale bench was a different wood. Not good. 

  I used the "vinegar tea stain" method and applied it to the raw wood on my bench. See the difference?

  To match the bench and table, I decided to try the vinegar tea stain over the linseed oiled top. Here she shines. I love how they differ in color. Like old barn wood. 

 *Its funny because later that day I ran some errands and passed an old barn with the exact finish. The vinegar Tea stain method naturally oxidizes the wood, much like nature does to barns. How cool is that!* 

  Finally I hauled my masterpiece back into my dining where she belongs. She was rather happy to be re-united with her company of beautiful chairs. I think they are a great fit.  

A consignment find turned clock

 A Couple years ago I found this round, black frame at a local consignment store. I saw it and fell in love! Oh the possibilities! It literally took me a year to finally get some old barn wood backing the frame. (I convinced a friend to do it) It really was beautiful already so I didn't have to do much to bring this project to life. 

  I bought some stencils and a white paint pen, then set to work. Honestly I am not a graphic designer at all but stencils I can work with!:-)
  I knew when I bought the frame that it would be perfect for my favorite quote. My life verse. I used a good ole ruler to make sure my lines were straight, and outlined everything in pencil.
  Then spent my evenings coloring when the kids were in bed. Seriously it reminded me of being a kid again.Very relaxing. When that was done, I embarked into the unknown(to me). Powertools. Of course Im new to blogging & wouldnt have thought to actually take pictures of this step.. But I will tell you what I did.
   I bought a "clock kit" from our local Hobby Lobby and set to work with my power drill. After measuring to the exact middle of my clock face, I marked it with pencil. Then using a wood drill bit, I drilled my hole into the back through to the front. Sounds easy right? Well not really, for amateurs like me anyway. I ended up making the hole too big & my hubby had to finish it for me.  
   After the hole is drilled, then follow the directions on the back of your clock kit to put it together. Set the time & wallah! Thankfully my frame already had hanging brackets so I just had to adjust them to work for me. If your frame doesn't you will have to attach some before hanging it. 

  

Now the fun begins! Find that perfect wall that is calling for some dressing up. For me that was my entry wall. Isn't she a beaut!?