Sweet stitching side table!

Yesterday it was a $3 yard sale yucky.  Today it is my sweet little, portable, stitching side table!  I can move it to where ever I want to sit and stitch.

$3 yard sale yucky.
This is the way it looked when I brought it home.
  I drenched it in Clorox Cleanup and sprayed it with the hose.

Sweet little stitching side table!

Chalk painted using Antibes Green and Aubusson Blue mixed together.

Replaced the knob.

I took it outside and sat on the bench under the tree to stitch.
I am working on a Lizzie Kate "Then and Now" piece.

I used the Annie Sloan dark wax.

I get so excited when I can turn trash into such a treasure!

Linking to Coastal Charm "Nifty Thrifty Tuesday"  http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
And Savvy Southern Style " Wow Us Wednesday".

Yard sale day!

I got an early start on yard sales this morning!  This is the treasure I brought home for $3.00.  I have already chalk painted it tonight.  I will style and reveal tomorrow!

New shoes and a new goal!

New shoes can be so empowering! 

 As a kid, I thought I would be able to run faster and jump higher with new tennis shoes on.  That is the same feeling I get to this day when I get new tennis shoes!  Going to the athletic store, looking for a snazzy color on the swoosh, opening the box to reveal the pristine clean....they just seem to come with a second chance (I am probably on my 200th chance) to live a healthy lifestyle.  I had made a real effort lasts spring to fulfill one of my deepest desires, to run.  Not run to the store, or run by the bank, or run errands but run in a 5k and maybe longer marathons.  I bought shoes, socks, clothing, and a nice watch for runners.  I worked up to run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute for a total time of 35 minutes.  It was getting easier and I felt great afterwards.  I tweaked a knee, rested for awhile, summer came with intense heat, and you can probably see were this is heading!  I just stopped.  Why do we do this?  I know I am not the only one!  Why do we make a commitment to live healthier lives and then let it fall by the way side?

Me and my new shoes are recommiting to that 5k training!
Maddie.. I am going to match your 240 miles! 

These shoes were picked through a computerized fitting at
 Try Sports.

Traditional laces were replaced with no tie Yanks!

Great day!

Today was the day that I took my baby to college!  We left home at 7 am, swung through Panera drive through and arrived at Salem about 9 am.  We pulled up in front of her dorm, unloaded the two cars onto the curb, and went to park the cars in another location.  When we got back, a swarm of upper class girls had already carried her stuff to her room!  I don't know why I expected any different...Salem has done everything with class throughout the whole admissions process this year!  Maddie was beaming at every turn the whole day.  Every few minutes I would hear "hey Maddie!" About every 10 minutes someone would stop by her room and comment on the furniture arrangement and goodies that she brought to decorate with.  Then someone else would show up saying that they were told to come see her room.  Maddie would beam even more (and momma's ego got feed a good bit too!).  I have done several post about things that we were DIYing.  Here they are in her new home:

Maddie's first day of college!
DIY: Laurel branch with fabric birds -there is a pattern on Spool for the birds, embroidery hooped fabric wall art.

TJ Max patchwork quilt and peace pillow.  Walmart $5 sheers.
DIY: Chalk boards added to the under bed rope baskets, Fabric banner made from precut quilting fabric squares and bias tape,  green husband pillow has yo-yos added to it, a mixed media collaged painting, paper collaged trunk.

Green Target lamp.  Ikea white metal bookshelf.
DIY:  Chalk board with scrap book paper half circles around the edges.  We had a hard time with command strips today which is why the chalk board is not hanging yet.  On the floor is an old suitcase that I did a mixed media painting on.  This is being used for art supplies.

DIY: Hooped fabric.  Another basket with metal letters attached.
Decorated lampshade.
Dyson knockoff fan ($125 on eBay).

Roommates end of desk.

Maddie's roommate Blair on her bright polka dot comforter!
 The art work is a mixed media piece that I did for her graduation present.

I am going to miss my girl very much, but I am not worried about her in the least!  I left her today, a happy, confident, young woman, ready and eager for this awesome adventure!  I still wonder every day how I got so" lucky" to get a girl like her to call my very own.  I have been blessed by her presence since the day she was born!  I love you sweet heart...have fun, work really hard, and make good choices!

Colored Wool

I love the french country farm as much as the next person.  But when I go to paint a sheep, cow, or rooster, I have to put in some unexpected color.  Color seems to be my trend in painting.  No matter how much I love the lighter colors of whites in the decorating blogs, or my efforts to use more natural colors in my home, I keep going back and adding those pops of bright happy colors.

My babies!

Blue and Scooter

New art!

I just finished a new mixed media piece.  This was done for a gift to give to my daughter's roommate for college.  The two girls know each other already and Blair has been one of my students in Anatomy.  They have been planning their dorm room decor.  They made a trip to Ikea, with out mamas, and bought a few things.  Maddie's piece has been done for a while.  Blair loves her boots, so Maddie and I agreed that the quote was perfect for her!  The girls will use the Art over their beds most likely.  They move in next Saturday!  I hope to do several blog post on Dorm Room Decorating with their help.  There is not much out there in this area for inspiration.  I would love to see pictures of past dorm rooms in your family for more ideas.  Please post if you are interested!

Morning Coffee

While drinking my morning coffee, I managed to find several tutorials on sign making. 

 Third cup of coffee and the sign is made and hanging! 

 Productive morning...it's only 9:15!  

Featured Artist!

Even a teenager can appreciate the lure of old blue mason jars! 

 My little girl did this colored pencil on black paper piece at the end of school.  Her teacher put it in the student art gallery of the Mint Museum in Charlotte for the summer show.  We went to pick it up this afternoon.  I am so proud of my little artsy girl!  I am going to miss her terribly when she goes to college on the 10th!

Taken at the Mint Museum of Art.

Leaf blower or Chalk paint dryer?

My husband walked out into the garage and asked, "What the heck are you doing?"  My response,"This is a great way to dry chalk paint real quick!"

Front door facelift!

My front door needed a new look.  I searched and searched the internet for front door ideas.  I drove around neighborhoods to look at front doors on other homes.  I had a twenty five dollar budget.....about all I could afford was paint!  The clerk at Sherwin Williams helped me play around with paint cards for 45 minutes.  We had numerous combinations of brick, white trim, southern green shutters, and a new contrasting color for the door laid out.  I kept going back to a sunflower yellow (thats the one I kept going back to on internet images as well).  I bought a quart of yellow paint, and a spray can of dark oil bronzed Rustoleum.

The wood storm door had been dark green like the shutters.  The side lights had been white.  The actual front door was and still is dark green.  I removed all the brass hardware and sprayed them with the Rustoleum.

 I could not find another door in my neighborhood that was not white, black, green, or red.

Posting to Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

We pulled out the 40 year old box woods last year and planted azaleas.  They're small but growing!  

I am pleased!  I can't wait to see it with mums and pumpkins in October!

It took me several days to finish the painting.  It was so hot and humid that I could only get out early in the mornings and after supper.  The humidity made the paint dry incredibly slow! 

I need to prune that branch off the River Birch.  It is so dry here that the leaves are falling off it as fast as I can sweep them off my front stoop.  Nothing blooming in the yard except crepe myrtles.

I was featured!

Oh, how exciting!  I was featured at Savvy Southern Style's "Wow us Wednesday" tonight!  I am honored and humbled that Kim chose my burlap and metal magazine boxes to feature.  Everything that Kim posts is awesome and has such classy style.  Thanks Kim!

I also learned how to grab a button, make a button and add the code for others to grab my button tonight.  Wow, do I feel techy!  Please try grabbing my button and let me know if it works!  I would like for the text box for the code to be smaller but I can't figure out how to resize it.  Any hints or tips?

I have loved blogging this summer while out of school on summer vacation.  I return to teaching a week from today.  Too soon!  I hope I will get to blog at least once a week during the school year.

Rooster Party!

Note Songs Blog is having a rooster party and my roosters want to shake their tail feathers along with everyone else!   I thought I was getting tired of the chicken and rooster things until I saw the cute ways they are being used in your homes.  Lovely!  I have fallen in love with mine all over again!  Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

There are 4 roos in this shot of my little kitchen.

One of my favorites!  Broke his neck once and glued it back on!

That fellow was black and red at one time.  I sprayed him white and glazed him last week.

This one sits on top of the fridge.  He is neat because his appendages are hinged.

This is a very large print that I actually painted and collaged over to make him brighter and more whimsical.

This is a quilted wall hanging that I made myself.  It hangs in my art/craft room.

Joining:

 Heart of the Home Party (Roosters) at Note Songs blog

Cow Paintings

I have seen several posts lately about cows in the house.  Kim at Savvy Southern Style and Marty at a Stroll Thru Life both have new cow paintings in their home.  I also saw a gorgeous cow painting in someones new kitchen that was very large!  I thought I would share a cow painting that I did myself that hangs in my home.  It is a bit more whimsy that others and is done in a mixed media style.

New treasures!

I have seen beautiful scales in blog world!  I have seen them used in almost every room of your homes in different ways.  I was on a mission to find one for myself!  Best friend Clara and I went to The Depot in Concord, NC today.  It is five large rooms of an old cotton mill laid out like an antique mall.  We spent nearly five hours treasure hunting.  I love the scale I finally decided on ( I had to choose between several). Oh,and it was the best price, $22!  At the last minute I spotted the old crockery bowl with the bright green stripe.  I knew I could use it on the scale in my green kitchen.  I just sat it on the little shelf for now.  I will probably move everything around in the kitchen tomorrow!  My long time red and black rooster got a new look with white spray paint last week.  Like so many of you, I am leaning toward the whites!

Linking to:

Inspiration Friday

Common Ground