The Wonder of it All

Pam does such a great job of transformation with spray paint, I decided to give it a try. While I was with her fighting over the picture frame... I found a little square wire container. It was a lovely pepto pink and that wouldn't do. So we sprayed it with her ivory colored paint. I thought maybe coctail napkins would look good there, but it was too small so I decided to add it to this cabinet in the dining room with a collection of sea shells in it.


One of the great finds while we were browsing the thrift shops were these metal flower frogs. These used to be very popular with florists and homemakers to be used in flower arrangements. The frog holds the stem in place so that the flowers can be placed where you want them, instead of falling into a random display.
These were three different shapes and I like them sprayed ivory and arranged with photos in them on a tabletop. Of course they will also still work as frogs for the flower arrangements. As you may have guessed, I am a convert to spray painting, and when I returned home I couldn't wait to try that transformation stuff...what fun!

I love Spray Paint

Hey Everyone, sorry I have been AWOL. I always think that I will have lots of free time in the summer, but we always seem to overfill the calendar. Mom was here last week and we went thrifting and here is some of what I got and the spray paint transformation.





I picked up all of these items up at the local Goodwill As Is Store (I got my Mom hooked and we went two days in a row), and I paid 2.50 for the lot.

I fell in love with the Scotty letter holder, and retro magazine rack and Mom and I both wanted the frame, but I prevailed.

Here is the frame painted with 3 coats of Krylon Ivory, it took 3 coats to get into all the nooks and crannies. It now hangs on the outside of my house next to my sliding glass door.

Here is the Magazine rack also in ivory. I love it and it is practical. I also decided to paint the luggage rack style tray that I use as an end table. I think they turned out great.

And here is that Scotty in black holding a few photos. Soo cute.

Hope you are all well, I have been in a bit of a funk but am dragging myself back into the cheerful, all is well world I usually inhabit. I also promise to blog again soon.

Pam

Play Time

I found a little time to play today, so this is what I did.

These are some before, after, and incorporated into my decor thrifty finds.

I knew that I wanted the small urn for my silver leaf ball, and just loved the shape and size of the small silver pedestal dish, this may not be its final resting place, or even its final color, but for now I like the two pieces together.

I also whipped up this drink cozy for my Ice Tea glass. I am currently drinking Mango Passion fruit herbal tea from Stash, and loving it.

I used a cardboard coffee cozy for my template, adding an inch to the width to accommodate my larger cup, and a 1/2 inch seam allowance. The charms were purchased at Michael's long ago and I'm glad I finally used them, but I am loving the back with my button (yes from Mom's collection) and stitched closure.

I like to use this recycled coffee house cup, because it is a great size for Iced Tea and it has a lid. My son Daniel's dog Marco will drink out of any unguarded cup he can find. Yes he is super cute and a very good boy, when we got him his was pretty skinny, and now thinks he must eat and drink at every opportunity,but I do not wish to share with the little bugger.

Hope you all had time to play this weekend too.

Flowers, Finds & Fitness

The roses are all popping out! They are gorgeous and I have to share some of them. The yard is scented with their fragrance and I can lose myself in looking at their beauty. The sun is shining, there is a little breeze, the birds are chirping, and O'Reilly loves being outside with Mom and me.
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While visiting the farm again recently, I found this enamel ware-pot in a shop and couldn't resist getting it for flowers on the patio table. O'Reilly was "helping" me, and was very interested in the process... especially the dirt part and the watering part. Oh my. It looks kind of good, and I think when things grow a bit it will be even better. I put begonias in, and some trailing lobelia. I never have very good luck with begonias. I think I either over water or under water. Anyhow, they mostly die after a few weeks. I am hoping these will thrive.
Mom and I were at our fitness center early this morning to do exercises in the pool. The exercises help Mom to strengthen her back, and it's good for me too. Our pool is pretty warm, which helps... the water feels like velvet moving across your skin. We are lucky enough that most days there are only 2 or 3 other people in the water. Sometimes we have the whole pool to ourselves and that makes us feel rich and pampered.

Visit with Pam

I spent three days at the farm with my daughter Pam. We talked about the blog, ate good food, shopped, and enjoyed the animals. Of course it is always good to get a grandkid fix as well!
Pam loves to look for treasures and at one of her favorite shops I found this cute teapot with a copper cozy. Mom and I had our tea in it this afternoon. A local restaurant has these yummy lemon bars and chocolate mint bars that Mom loves, so I brought some home to go with our tea.
At a previous visit one of my finds was this rooster pitcher. I love it, but haven't decided what to do with it... use it for a pitcher, or a vase, or what...?
It seems to call to my love of chickens and pitchers .

We had a busy time, including a trip with grandson Daniel's 4-H pig to the weigh-in.
She is a calm, easy-going animal and I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel show her at the fair this summer.

I took O'Reilly with me, and he had fun with Pam's 3 dogs. They are all adults, and he is still a puppy. He was a source of fun, but they just wanted peace sometimes, and he doesn't get that. Also, he has a bit of the "hoover" in him, and thinks anything on the floor is fair game. Oh my. Pam's floor is much cleaner now than when we arrived!
Remember when I talked about O'Reilly's training. Well, I am interested to see how that goes this week, as last week he simply refused to do anything that was asked of him... acted like he didn't know what I was talking about, and anyhow had other, more interesting things to do... like playing with the other dogs, ignoring my commands unless I offered a treat and generally being obnoxious. I plan to walk him an extra long time before class this week and maybe wear him out so he won't have the energy to misbehave. Wish me luck. More on this later.

Recently Thrifted Treasures

Here are some treasures from two different thrifting outings. I didn't realize that I liked yellow so much.

Thrifting is one of my favorite past times, I love it because I can usually afford what I can not live with out. It is also a great place to get inspiration and practice enjoying something really neat or beautiful without bringing it home.

While thrifting I can usually find more things that I just love but don't want or need than I actually can't live without.

I have also posted some pictures of my treasures in their new homes.

As I talked about in my disorganization post. I am trying to cut down on the amount of clutter in my home. I don't want to give up on my thrifting and miss some really great treasure so I have had to make a deal with myself. Nothing comes in unless there is a place for it to live, and that means sometimes evicting an older treasure. So far so good and I haven't let myself down yet.