Busy And Productive Saturday...

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So last night I sanded down the little table I got earlier the summer and sprayed it with my new spray gun...

I was super excited so of course I sprayed it on too heavy and then one of the pieces knocked over and the paint smushed... but today I lightly sanded and resprayed and then sanded and resprayed once more... I still have to do a little destressing sanding and then a rubdown with some muddy brown... before and after tomorrow!..

Early this morning I got these treasures at Pam's sale...  

Old windows... one with glass... one without glass... um... only $5 each!..

This sweet lion head planter... 2 lion heads on opposite sides... only $1... and I got a painted wooden oval tray that I'm going to sand down and refinish... only $1... no picture of that... 

Here's a detail shot of the lions head...

Then I got this sweet wooden chair... $5... I was thinking it would look good a solid cherry red... but then I noticed all of the natural wear on the seat...

So... I think I'm going to stain the seat dark and the two pieces that go across the back dark and paint the rest a creamy cream and then distress those parts a little...

And for another $5 I got this very interestingly shaped folding tray... I thought I had a full shot of it but that must be on my phone... here's a detail shot of the tray hardware... It's why I bought the tray... beautiful handles... so all of these treasures... only $22!.. JACKPOT!..

Then later this morning I got these treasures from a free pile on the side of the road...

I already ripped the covers off of these... I'm going to stain them up a bit and then twine the spines and then twine them together...

Sweet mirror... can you get what colour I'm going to paint the metal?.. yep cream!.. hahaha

Then this!.. A sturdy wood side table... made in Canada... check out the drawer detail shot... 

Then I spent the rest of the day stripping the second wingback chair to get it ready to reupholster... my hands and body are just aching now... I also painted the chair's feet and did the other two coats of paint on the little table I was talking about earlier...

The weather was just amazing today... it had to be over 26 degrees out in the front on the lawn... so I worked outside on the wingback chair...  

It's grocery time now... then I think I'm going to distress that little table... then watch a movie and chill out with my Furs and the kitties!..  What did you do today!?.

Turkey tomorrow!..

Linking these finds up to The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday linky party!.. join in!..

Oh and Frou Frou Decor and Debbidoos as well!..

What!? Free!..

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There was free stuff on the side of the road so my neib Dani and I grabbed this!.. And I got three books to rip the covers off of and twine up!..

Great Find!..

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If you're ever at Home Depot, or any store that mixes paint for that matter, wander over to the paint section and have a quick look for mis-mixes... Found this sweet buttery cream for just a couple bones last night!..  I don't have a project for it yet... perhaps that small table that I picked up earlier this summer... or perhaps I'll use it for something that I find at Pam's sale this weekend!..

Yeah!.. 3 bucks!..  I think this is worthy of Show & Tell Friday!..  Join the party over at My Romantic Home!.. Ooo... AND Frugal Friday too...  Join that party over at The Shabby Nest

Happy Friday!.. What are you plans for the long weekend!?.  (Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend)...

Knit Legwarmers...

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So I needed something to work on in the morning... I'm going to have 2 hours to burn before I start working for the rest of this week... Chris is working early for the rest of this week... so, I dug out this unfinished project!.. What's that you ask!?  I have an unfinished project!?.  hahaha!.. well lets see if I can finish this one over the next few mornings...  I started these at least two years ago... knit one of them and then started the other and then stopped... not sure why!.. They're from knit.1 magazine that came out a few years back... I don't think they make it anymore... anyway they're supposed to be an over the knee leg warmer but I shortened the first one to stop just below the knee...  I was just looking at the picture of them in the magazine though and I really like them above the knee... perhaps once I get the second shorty one finished I'll start a new longer set!.. ha!.. not even started finishing these and I add another project to my list!..  they would look good with some knee high boots though... hmm...

Need some knee high brown boots... that tanny redish 70's brown... they wouldn't match the boots I'm wearing today at all!..

Look What Just Arrived!..

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Beautiful roses and chocolates!.. Love you Chris!.. xo!..

Weekend Cleaning...

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So Sunday Chris worked again most all of the day so I continued Fall Cleaning the house!.. When I finished I was pooped... no pictures... I shoulda taken a nap... I'm more tired today than I was Friday!.. Bring on the long weekend!.. I'm looking forward to next weekend... resting... sewing... crafting and Turkey!..

I did take a quick moment to work on the Carnation Wreath because I had picked up another bunch... all that was left at the store... and I'm still short a pile of red carnations... went to another Walmart and they were all out of red... only white left... Perhaps I shoulda made a white one!.. or bought the smaller wreath form!..  ha!..  I'll have to check the rest of the Walmarts in the South of the city now...

Still adjusting to the new hair... here it is straightened... oh man the bangs are vertical when I get out of bed in the morning... 

Ooo... today is Furs and my 10th anniversary!.. xo Love You Fur Bear!.. Time to plan our wedding I think!..

And The Cleaning Continues...

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Last night I took the racks out of the oven and put it on clean mode for three hours... opened the house windows and let the oven do its thing... this morning I looked inside and anything that had been burnt on the inside of the oven was now dust on the bottom... it wiped out with a damp paper towel!..  There is a little bit of scrubbing I could do around the edge to make it perfectly clean inside... I'll get that tomorrow...  Then I put this contraption in the oven... I got it two Christmas's ago...

I don't know why it hasn't made its way into the oven before now... you can pick these up at Williams Sonoma...  Here it is installed after the cleaning and once the oven cooled... see the few blackish spots around the front edge there - tomorrow those are toast!..

So easy... really don't know why I haven't bothered putting this into the oven yet... I didn't even have to cut it to size... it fit perfectly...

Then I started the laundry... once that was underway I began cleaning the downstairs window blinds and then washing the windows - inside and out... once the windows were washed I gave them a couple shots of Jig-A-Loo...  The windows were really stiff from all of the dust from outside so this seems to make them glide open and shut more easily... this stuff is GREAT!.. the real test though will be for the two windows upstairs that are really stiff...  (Note: I did not spray this with the cats near... Cleo hopped up in the window just as I was taking the photo)

Then this afternoon I headed to get ma hair did... got my roots touched up and got BANGS!..  I haven't had bangs for ages!.. My hair is also curled so its quite different right now... I'm going to straighten my hair tomorrow to get a better look at my new do!.. I'm holding my hair back in this photo because it is a big change with bangs AND curly hair!..

After the hair did Brooke and I stopped for lunch and then headed home... it was so nice outside today that we sat outside for a bit in the blistering sunshine... then because Chris was working all day today I thought it would be nice to mow the lawn for him so he wouldn't have to... and I mowed the neighbors while I was at it... the grass is connected... might as well mow it too!.. Then I hosed down the front steps and walkway and headed in to tackle the cupboards... I'm exhausted now but happy to say that ALL of the cupboards have been wiped down and out with vinegar water... and tidied up inside... I had reorganized them a couple months back so they weren't in bad shape at all... now its time to catch some Zzz's... only we have to make the bed first!.. 

Tomorrow's plans?.. put a stew on in the slow cooker... dust the living room... vacuum downstairs... scrub floor in kitchen... wash and jig-a-loo the upstairs windows... dust and vacuum upstairs... pack away the laundry... It feels so good to get the house all cleaned for the fall... it'll be nice to have it all done before Thanksgiving... (for my US readers next weekend is Thanksgiving for us!..)  Come on long weekend!..

If I can get the cleaning done before lunch I'm going to spend the afternoon either working on that quilt (if the sewing machine will cooperate)... or pulling apart the second wing back chair that I'm reupholstering for the front room...   

Carnation Wreath...

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So I've mentioned this wreath a few times now... here is a picture of it from the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas book that I got a few weeks back when the Momma was up here visiting us...

In the book they use real carnations... I love that idea and imagine that it would smell so good... but I'm afraid that it would be pricey and not last very long... they do suggest that you can use fake flowers... only they don't really show you much in the way of putting it together... so here's my go at a tute for you!..

Supplies:

12" - 16" Foam Wreath Form - picked mine up from Michael's with a 40% off coupon!

60 - 80 Carnations (this is what the book calls for... I think you should times that by 1.5 or 2... )  The carnations pictured above are quite inexpensive at Walmart - a bunch of 6 for $1.00!.. and they actually don't look that bad for a fake flower...  I choose red because it looks so rich and Christmassy... it would be sweet in white as well...

Glue Gun

Glue Sticks

Cutters - don't use your good scissors to cut down the flower stems... there is metal inside

Paper - to cover your work surface if you don't want to get hot glue all over it...  I'll definitely do this next time...

Wide Red Ribbon - satin or matte... its your choice

Thin Wire - to secure the bow and to tack it to the wreath

It doesn't hurt to have a helper... though my helper wasn't the most helpful... she was really cute...

Here is a shot of the carnations... cutters... 16" foam wreath...

Ooo... the mighty glue gun... it might be wise to keep a glass with some water and ice cubes and a small hand towel nearby... I did sustain one burn on this project tonight... 

Take the bunches of flowers and cut the carnations from the bunch using the cutters leaving a short stem on the flower... say 1.5 - 2 inches...

Pull the little stem out of the flower and put a bit of hot glue on that sucker and stick it back into the flower... I did this just to ensure that the wind doesn't blow any of these flowers off of the wreath as it will be hanging on the front door in December...

See the little bit of glue ooze?.. thats ok!.. if anything it'll help the flower stick into the wreath... next I put a bit of glue on the shorty stem to help hold it into the wreath form...

Then you go to town and stick these in all over the wreath form... I put a line on the outside edge... then the inside edge... then I filled in between... and as you move along you can go back and poke one in here or there if it looks like its missing some... as you do a bit step back and take a look... you'll see if any spots need filling in...

I'm too impatient to do the outside and inside edges completely at first and then fill it in... I moved around the wreath in sections... a little bit of outside... a little bit of inside... then I filled that in around the front of the wreath form...

Keep working your way around the wreath and VOILA!.. it turns into a nice lush wreath...

Only not in my case this evening... I ran out of carnations!..  I was hoping I had enough... I feel really tacky buying fake flowers!.. haha!.. Now I have to walk through the store with another huge bunch of these!.. My running out of carnations is why I suggested doubling the number that BHG suggests that you use...  nothing worse when you're halfway through a project and BAM!.. you've run out of something major!..

So this is where it gets left off tonight...  

Not before a final inspection though!.. Oh!.. a note!.. The ribbon that I had bought seems to not be wide enough for the size that this wreath is going to be... I bought a really rich red satin ribbon with wire down the edges... I'll have to pick up more ribbon that is little wider... one for a bow... two for a nice way to hang it... 

I couldn't go without one more shot of my little helper baby Cleo... perhaps Milo will help me with the next project!..

In a few days now once I get back to get the rest of the carnations that I need and get this finished I will update the post with the final product!..

I'm linking this post up to the following link parties:

My Romantic Home - Show & Tell Friday

The Shabby Nest  - Frugal Friday

Update: March 13, 2011

So I've finally finshed the carnation wreath this afternoon!.. how many months later!?.  I just found more of these fake fleurs just a couple of weekends ago and have just today gotten the time to finish up this wreath...

so... snip... snip... snip...

...and all of the fleurs were apart from their bunches...

...glue... glue... glue... and then just a couple left to go in and fill any holes...

...VOILA!..  Done!.. Finally!..

Here it is on the front door... No wide shots... everything is looking sort of shabby and needs a good wash down... its almost like spring has sprung and the snow is melting... but is dusty around the door and steps...

C'mon Christmas!.. I want to hang this wreath for Christmas!.. haha... I may add a bow at the bottom of the wreath...