Thank You and What's New

  I wanted to say Thank You all so very much for visiting me and your sweet comments on my last 3 posts..
  I was able to come and personally thank some of you and then time ran out to get to everyones blog..
 Please know YOU are appreciated..
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This is what I'll be making while I listen to all the ruckus going on in the kitchen and dining area.. They'll mask those rooms off with plastic sheeted walls and I'll just stay busy elsewhere...
  I've been wanting to work on this sculpt for awhile so now is as good a time as
any.. The photo is of the Completed Baby .... right now its just blobs of vinyl in a box lol.. 

  A few weeks ago I cleaned  the top of my kitchen cabinets and added Decor.. I should have known that was a sign , hahahahaha..
  My painter called last friday to say he had a break in his work schedule and could get to me for the work I had wanted done for several months..  The dining room and kitchen were the last 2 rooms in this home that had ::play scary music here::  W A L L P A P E R ~!!  4  layers of wallpaper to be exact..   Now I am a brave DIYer but I know that meant many hours of intense labor as well as the top sheet rocl paper peeling off and needing to be spackled- sanded- primed and painted... I wimped out on doing it myself and told him OK, come on tuesday and he did..  
  As many of you know this project is more intense than it sounds. Everything had to come off the walls- off the cabinet tops- all decorations wrapped and stored and and and...  lol...   Like I didnt have enough mess with just this,, Mr. Dreams decides that while Carlos is already here and has a few days for us, have him go ahead and clean out the ENTIRE ATTIC - so new insulation can go in up there....   My entire garage floor is now full of STUFF-- 90% of which is going to charity.. I havent been up in the attic in years - so apparently I dont use or need it...   I checked quickly= no important papers or photos , so its outta here...

  Now, he wants the main storage building cleared out too...  IF I open my eyes too wide, will my eyeballs fall out????  

 Can you just envision all this MESS going on right when I was ready to do my fall decorating in earnest?? Please try cause no way am I taking photos :)

 In about a week, all this will be but a memory and things will be back to normal but till then-- oh my..
I'll have some time to come and visit ya'll but I wont be doing any posts and I didnt want ya'll to worry..
So take good care of yourselves and Happy Fall .. I'll be back with ya as soon as I can..

Sonny

Brick Transformed, My Way:)

   Hi Everyone..
 I love my brick home but its the normal reddish with blue sorta brick and while thats great for outdoors, it wasnt suiting me in the family room.. You see one of the walls used to be an exterior wall and it was the reddish brick, like this..

 My family room is painted relaxed khaki, with soft white trim and soft white below the chair rail. This red brick just wasnt working for me...
 this photo shows me doing the faux treatment on it..

This isnt the easiest room to photograph..

   On the side of the room, you can see into the kitchen , the paint colors are the same and now the brick mimics the backsplash..

 The tutorial below takes you step by step so if you'd like to you can also change your brick:) 
 if you have any questions, email me and I'll try to help you...
 Thanks so much for visiting me and peeking at my brick transformation...
Sonny
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TUTORIAL
step 1
I painted my entire wall my trim color- which was soft white/satin finish by SW.. the WHOLE wall brick and grout.. this requires a deep nap roller cover and keep a brush handy to push the paint into any of the stubborn crevices of the brick.. I did 2 coats waiting 3 hours in between for dry time..
you all know what plain white brick looks like so, no need for me to show you that...
allow 12 full hours for drying time because in some of those brick crevices it can stay wet a lot long than the surface paint indicates...


step 2...
you need a pack of stencil brushes from large to small.. I got mine at walmart for 5.99

3 plastic sour cream containers~~they have great snap lids you'll be closing them and resting, believe me and you dont want your mixed paint to dry out ..

My wall color is relaxed khaki by sw...
in container no. 1 the straight paint goes in about 1/2 full is enough-- it goes along way..

using country brown craft paint , I tinted the next container of relaxed khaki with 1/3 of the craft paint to darken it..

container 3 is relaxed khaki and 2 oz. of water. stir well..



step 3...
cover the floor
using your smallest tip stencil brush in about a 5x5 space and randomly "squiggle" some of container number 2::the tinted darker color:: onto the brick in places-- NOT all over.
~!!!! the stencil TIP is all that will have paint on it-- do NOT dip the brush into the paint.. Just the tip gets color..
continue in 5x5ft. spaces until that step is completed..
PS: this is gonna look scary cause when you step back it'll look like worms on your fresh white wall-- but your fine thats how its supposed to look.

step 4...
now using container 3 ::: the watered down wall color using the medium size stencil brush in your pack-- start again with the 5x5 space you started with in step 1.. several hours should have passed between steps so its dry... dip the tips of your brush and tamp it on the brick ONLY ,, if this runs it will get on your beautiful new grout.. keep some q tips handy just in case to get that off- but seriously-- try not to let it drip..
continue working those 5 by 5 ft. spaces as in step one.
heres a pic of that process ...I wait to do the bottom till I can scoot across the floor cause once I get down there I'm not getting up till I'm done lol
step 5...
now container 3 has the straight paint color in it and what you want to do is dip only the tips of your brush and pounce all over the brick-randomly- dont redip. No worry//when it dries it wont look like dots lol. this really will help each brick be a bit different, just as they are in nature..
total supplies even with NONE on hand would only be about 50.00 -thats paint//brushes and plastic drop cloth. Sometimes there are sales on regular white paint- doesnt have to be any fancy brand. Once its on brick it isnt coming off
  Time.. just taking a ballpark guess I'd say 7 full hours... that doesnt include drying time in between the initial coat of paint..
a fireplace would take maybe 2 1/2 hours.

Table Top Darkened and Decorated for Fall

Hi Folks..
  I hope this post finds everyone healthy , happy and enjoying early fall.. We here in NC are still having to pretend its fall because the days are in the 90's and the nights in the 70's.. My knock out roses are blooming and growing and I go out on the patio and look at them each morning in absolute amazement..  I just shake my head and try to remember how good this weather must feel to those who are homeless and have to be outside with very little shelter.. Theres always a silver lining to things and I'm trying to remember that..
I posted about buying a farm style table for my dining room and feeling the top needed to be darker as the natural tone simply didnt work for me or the rest of my decor..
I'm partying with Susan at ::thanks so much for hosting this for us Susan.
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
heres the photo to remind you of the natural tone top.. did I mention I got this for 25.00 on craigslist.. I had found one online for 299.00 and 2 days later this one popped up on CL.. needless to say I took the bargain:)

So out to the garage it went and the sanding began. First with 80 grit , as it had a heavy poly coat on it, then with 120 grit to smooth it.. Then 2 coats of pecan stain and 3 coats of poly and 4 days to dry..
  I decided to do this tablle in traditional fall tones which I have to admit arent easy for me .. I tend to prefer the muted greens , creams and deep beiges..  I did my best with the fall items I had in my container..

I think it looks much better with the darker top, dont you??
 Placemats and napkins are from homegoods- sale price 9.99

I also added traditional tones to my tiny side table.. I'd love a corner hutch there but as yet havent come across one.
If you look back 2 weeks you'll also see that I changed out the wall decor from the white mirror and summer plates to a fall scene and pinecone wreath.. I only have the one wall in the breakfast area so I have to make the most of it :)

Now to quote Paul Harvey , here's " The Rest of the Story"   .. After looking at this for several days, I'm just not happy with it.  I'm so glad I made a $25.00 mistake, versus a 300.00 mistake and even better than that.. Another silver lining:)  My neighbor loves all the fall tones and I boxed them up today for her to use on her own dining table..  Her neice has always wanted a farm style table but she's newly married and their budget is tight so, I'm giving her this table as a gift.. I've been walking on air since I made the decision to do this. For me giving is so much more joyful than recieving.. Not that I dont like the occasional gift but the look on her face when she found out it was her's was worth a million bucks.. Way more than I could have sold it for on CL lol..
 My beloved lil round table will be coming back into it spot on friday and everyone happy.... I hope this story add's a little joy to you day too..

All's well that ends well and I have a feeling this isnt the end of this story because I did make her promice to take photos when she does her own scapes:) 

Thank you so much for all the kind comments you left on my last post and for your support .. Bloggers are such sweet people and I appreciate you all very much.. As I have told you I spend alot of my time at home working and of course living so I dont get out alot.. Visits from you are just as good as those I get in real life.
 I always love seeing your smiling faces...
Happy Fall to YOU and YOURS..
ps~ only 21 days till I go on my first hayride in 23 years , woooooooooohoooooooooo...

Fall Colors for My Tea Cart

Hi Folks...
   I found a new tea pot~ cream n sugar and 4 cups for only $3.75 in the perfect shade for Fall..
 I have to admit I just don't do traditional fall colors as well as cool colors.. But I've seen ya'lls and I wanted to give it a try.. I plan to give this whole scape to my neighbor for her entryway as her husband's birthday party is saturday.. This will help her since all she has to do is, sit it in place.. You know how it is when you have a party in your home.. There are always more to do than you thought there would be  ..

I'm participating in several parties.. Please click on the links below to see all the amazing posts their participants have made...
Thank you Ladies for Hosting these lovely parties for us..
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/2010/09/31st-table-top-tuesday-new-treasures.html

 I have to tell the truth about this scape.. I did'nt do it alone. I had a partner who scrutinized every move I made.. We have come to the conclusion that when the toile pillow comes out of its storage container and gets tossed on the love seat,there is no way we can get her off of there..   She is so good about listening to what she's told~ unless Pit Boss is on and then  "she will not be moved" lol

see what I mean :) She's supervising and letting me know if each floral is put in the correct position.. What a slave driver ....

By standing on my tip toes I managed to get a few shots without her in them.. This didnt go over too well.
  I think several folks asked if I was using Birdseed in my candle holders and YES I am.. I figured it made good filler for several of the scapes I planned to do and when I'm done the birds will be able to Feast..

In this shot her favorite pup on Pit Boss is on the screen, so that has her attention for a few minutes..

 Oh yes he must be on as in the next shot the tv has her full and undivided attention..
I just got lucky that her fur happens to be the right color for this scape.... oh my goodness- is this how my brain works..  lol

  I want to thank each of you for visiting me.. As I expressed to another blogger today, its crossed my mind that perhaps I should close my blog as I dont feel I have the time to do everything I should.. I would love to visit and respond to each of you and yet the time to do so just doesnt exist in my real life.
  I do try to visit as many of those who leave comments as I can as well as those blogs who have supported me from the beginning.. Yet , there are only so many hours in a day and Family and Work also deserves my time..
  I hope you all know I do care about you and that you are very appreciated..
Happy Fall
Sonny

Time for Fall

I had a glass dish with a glass top, can it be a cloche just for today so I can party with Marty:)
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/2010/09/fall-cloche-party-yip-skip-its-here.html

this is my first time being able to participate at the Friday Vignette party with Artie..
http://niagaranovice.blogspot.com/2010/09/friday-vignette-fridays_16.html

Big thanks to Marty and Artie for hosting these parties so we can play and enjoy ...

  As you can see I'm watching the clock and counting the minutes till Fall arrives..
I cant wait to see all the beautiful displays folks will post .. This is so exciting.

Please excuse my quick post .. I'm working and will be till after 9 tonight but I promice
 to come by and see as many of ya'll as I can in the next few days...

thanks for stopping by~!!

see ya soon...
Sonny

1st Fall Table

Its still so warm here and everything outside is Green, so my first fall table is somewhat of a transition... I'll get to the warmer, traditional fall colors when it gets cooler here. For now I am happy with this..

I make up oatmeal and pumpkin pie spice and leave it in the bowls , cause it makes the house smell so good..
  My new  table top is in the garage with its 2nd coat of varnish drying. Soon this round table will retire. I thought she deserved one more opportunity to shine:)

I'm participating in Marty's party-- go see all the beautiful scapes by others. You see lots of eye candy and be inspired by all the beauty::
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/2010/09/30th-table-top-tuesday.html

 I'll be sending her to the guest room so folks can sit and have their coffee, read their paper, work on their laptop or whatever they want to before joining the main household in the mornings during their visit. Well, I said whatever but lets hope she isnt subjected to anything kinky ~~  rofl.....
 I got this green soup tureen at GW for 8.00 and I love it~!  i never cease to be amazed at the wonderful things I find there , not to mention, WHY would somone get rid of such a treasure... Oh well, its mine now and I'm thrilled.

I'd love a small corner hutch or maybe just a larger side table in the corner but for the time being, I'll use what I have and be happy about it...

 I want to thank my little round table for all the joy she brought me as I have done my tablescapes for the last 2 years. She never failed me in any way, no matter how much stuff I piled on her:)  I sat there with her and made lots of wonderful memories , thru meals- boardgames- just sitting with DH , talking, planning and dreaming.. 

Thank you for visiting me and peeking at my first fall table of 2010.   Since i found some great new treasures today at goodwill I look forward to many many scapes this season and would love to have you come and join me ..
 Happy Fall Ya'll
Sonny

Dining Transformation~ part 1

 I've had round tables of different sizes and wood tones since 1991..  It was past time for a change, dont ya think so?   This started with me feeling the need to recover my dining chairs.  The fabric I'd used for 5 years just wasnt working for me anymore. It was too bland and plain and I wanted light and bright..
So the following photos will show you where I was and where I am now.
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Since this is a tabletop I'm joining the party over at Susan's http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
Be sure to click on her link and go see all the beauty folks have posted for you....
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I'm not sure why I thought this looked so good . Also heres a little secret ya'll dont know about me.
Whenever I have walls painted, it takes me awhile to be willing to put a nail in the wall and hang anything.
  You know how it is, right.. A pretty new smooth freshly painted wall. I mean really who doesnt want to stare for weeks at all that Blank Beauty.... OK, your right, maybe not others , but thats just how I roll..
Then one day the Blank Beauty just does'nt work for me anymore and you will hear the sound of hammering going on for awhile.

In this case it was the sound of kerplunk kerplunk kerplunk with my beloved stapler.. Have I mentioned how much I love all my tools. I do, truly I do...
All that noise took me from the above loveliness to the loveliness Below.. ahhhhhh, much better.

 To answer the burning question I know you are all asking yourself ~" whats that lattice on the right hand side of the photo"~~ that lattice is there to hold my 4 Pom babies in this section of the house. All they have to do is SEE that and they back away from it :)  If they really wanted to knock it down they could as its attached to nothing but the visual barrier is all it takes to keep them where they belong.. Talk about some easily trained pups..giggle
 Back to the dining saga-- sorry I got sidetracted .. Yes the light bright seats are much better and I thoroughly enjoyed them for about a day before my eye would scan the space and say to myself-- SELF, something isnt right.. hmmmm maybe its the table... and Self was right, it was the table that just wasnt working now..
 Here is the new table as it was when I got it..

Yes, you're right again.. I did put nails in the wall to hang the mirror and plates.. It was time as the Blank beauty had worn off :)

  This was just a scrap of fabric as the table runner and a quickie scape to see if i was going to like how it looked and I did - mostly~ but but but....

  Something about the Natural tone of the table top wasnt to my liking.. No, it needed to be darker- richer- different . The table has now been all taken apart and the top is out in the garage being sanded.. I started with 80 grit as the poly coat on that tabletop is THICK.. I'm 2/3rds done with that part of the sanding.  Then I'll need to sand again with 120 grit, wipe down well with a tack cloth and go to the store and choose a stain color..  This concluded part 1 of the dining redo..  I will hopefully be able to show part 2 by monday . By then surely a complete Transformation will have occurred..  While I am hopeful ,it wouldnt hurt if ya'll kept your fingers crossed for me ... When you have a moment in the next few days just think loudly " Go SONNY Go Sonny ~!!  that could spur me into action...  :)
 As always , thank you for your support and good wishes .  I love having folks visit  and I want to know what you really think of my projects , so Tell Me.. pretty please...

Word Verification FREE Button for my Blogging pals..

Its at the bottom of each post if you'd also like to use it.. Just right click and save as a jpg and post it to your own blog so folks know as soon as they arrive that you are WV FREE and they can comment with no hassle..
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 While I'm posting I put a little sneak peek of my new dining table in here:)  I've already taken it apart and will be staining the top darker. I like the white bottom but the natural tone top just isnt working for me..

Happy Wednesday Folks..

Biscotti and Tea , Anyone

I went thrifting and found this beautiful Biscotti Cookie Jar for 3.00.. It had a few chipped places on it but I'm not gonna tell ya where those were becuase I mixed paint and patted and dabbed and diddled with it till I cant even find where the chip places were now ...

 Marty's Party is going on and there'll be lots of folks posting beautiful displays so click on her link and visit those folks too, please..
I know it means alot to me when I have company, so I'm sure it will to them too..
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

   The pretty birdhouse was on 1/2 price sale at Micheals so it came home with me and I love it.  I certainly have developed a THING for birds lately.. Birds and Chickens and Roosters-- OH MY ..

 As you can tell I was playing with my graphics program and made myself a new header.. While I had it running I played with some of my tea tray photos too..

I didnt have any biscotti so I had to swipe of few of Mr. Dreams chocolate chip cookies... It sure didnt take him long to come asking me where they were and I had to admit I needed them for a display..

It was so hard not to have one of those cookie but no more sugar or white flour for me. I had some tests and I am highly allergic to both as well as many many other things.. Oh well, I'll be slim and healthy while he gains weight:)  See, theres always an up side to everything ...:)

It 's a beautiful fall evening here in Welcome , NC.. I always smile when I say the name of my town. Its tiny and friendly and I have always felt very Welcome here.. I know if you ever came to visit , you;d feel the same way..

In case you missed the FREEBIE gift tags I posted yesterday~~  click here and go get um:)
http://155dreamlane.blogspot.com/2010/09/freebiesfall-gift-tags.html

Ya'll come back and see me sometime, Ya hear~!!
I love having you here...

FREEBIES~Fall Gift Tags

 I got up this morning thinking I needed to do a bit of Fall decorating .. I knew I wouldnt have time today to actually get into the containers and doing any scapes but , what I could do while I had my coffee was work with some graphics for ya'll..
So many who blog also garden, bake, can and give things away so I made some tags for you to use on your bountiful gifts.. Just save these as a JPG ~ print and enjoy. I left them solid so you could choose where you want to punch a hole for your string or ribbon tie...

While I had my graphics program running I decided to make myself a fall header too.. I hope you like it..
I know its early september but I wait all year for this season and I want to enjoy every single minute of it.
  Its a bright beautiful day in NC that started out at 53 degrees. I opened the windows and doors and ahhhhhhhhhh what a wonderful smell that fresh air is giving my home.. Thank You Universe-- your the Best:)

Happy Labor Day

Rooster Plate Giveaway ~WINNER ~!

My goodness what a day with my internet connection.. I hope it stays on long enough for me to post this time..
 The winner of the set of rooster plates/bowls/cups and a salt n pepper shaker is 
SUE from Spruce Lake Cottage
I wish I'd had a dozen sets to giveaway....

I'll email Sue just in case she doesnt see this...

 
 I want to thank you all for entering and leaving such sweet comments on my Rooster Parade post..
 I cant wait to participate in that party again next year..

See ya soon:)
Sonny