September 2013 | Vintage, Paint and more...

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fall Entryway

Vintage, Paint and more... fall entry with black, white and gold painted pumpkins.

Good afternoon everyone...
Fall has finally come to the beach and I am absolutely thrilled about it... We have had the windows open for the last few days enjoying the sun and the breezes and the cool temps.  The trees are still all green except a few little maples that have begun to turn colors. The flowers are still blooming and it doesn't look much like fall but that's ok because the temps are down and that's the important part... I have been busy trying to "fallify"  our house and have been working on the entryway.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Happy Birthday, Mimi

 
 
 
 
Today is a very special day at our house.
Today,
Mimi is sixteen....
 
Mimi is our middle granddaughter
and
middle grandchild.
 
She is an energetic, happy, fun-loving girl
who lives life out loud.
Some days I think
Oh, to be sixteen again
and
have as much fun as she does....
 
She is our resident fashionista
 
 
that studies hard
 
plays a mean volleyball game
 
 
loves the beach
 
 
just started driving
 
 
and
 
is always serious about most everything
 
 
So, here's a thumbs up to you girl,
 
 
and
have a wonderful day celebrating.
 
 
 
Love you,
Grandma Cathy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Multigeneration Family - Meet the Cast

This is part of series- of what length I do not know.
It will be a collection of stories, pictures and documentaries
on how we live together as a 
Blended Multigenerational family.
 
 
 
Good morning folks...How is your day going?
It's lovely here at the beach today
Only high 60's with bright sun and ocean breezes
We have the windows open and I am enjoying this break in the temp finally.
 
 
Last week I introduced you to the fact that we are a
Blended Multigenerational Family
living in the same house.
Today, I am going to introduce you to the cast of characters
and
as time passes you will see that we are just that -
 characters...
 
 
This is the crowd sans Z (as she is working).
It's hard to get us all in one photo.
We do almost everything together but,
for all of us to stop and pose together practically
takes an act of Congress...
(This is at the beach during a spring trip home for C.)
 
 
So, without further ado
 I am going to introduce you to each of us individually...
 
 
This is me...
(and Miss A)
Wife, Mother, and Grandmother of this little group
Writer of this blog, DIYer and doer of all things
crafty and domestic here...
 
 
This is Papa -
my sidekick, best friend, love of my life and
chief cook and supervisor of all....
 
 
This is Z and T.
T is our youngest son.
The four youngest here call him Dad.
He is my partner in building new and restoring old
furniture and pieces we find.
He is quite creative and comes up with some really
awesome ideas to do...
Z is T's wife and Mama to Miss A.
She was born in Puerto Rico
and
brings a wonderful Spanish heritage to our family.
 
 
This is big C
who you will only see or hear of rarely.
Big C is now 21 and living in the Midwest
going to school, working and making his way
in this big world.
He does come home to visit once or twice a year
and
when he does it's a big hoopla affair for us.
We are hoping when he finishes school he makes the beach his home.
 
 
These are our girls.
The oldest ( on the right ) is Sissy.
She is 16 and so mature for her age.
She makes awesome grades, plays volleyball,
 and
 bakes delicious cakes for us.
 
The second oldest (on the left) is Mimi.
She will be 16 tomorrow.
(They will both be 16 for one month
which Sissy hates)
Mimi is very artistic, loves life and lives it out loud
and plays volleyball also.
 
These two live here on the weekends and holidays
and any time that can....
as they live with their mother during the week.
 
Moving on to the littlest....
Miss A....
What can we say about Miss A...
She lives here full time.
She is 8 now and busy doing what 8 year olds do...
Soccer, swimming, playing
and
wrapping her Papa around her little finger.
 
 
And that's our little family.
This was just taken this weekend on a hiking trip in the mountains
to celebrate Mimi's birthday.
It rained all day but, they had such fun.
 
 
So, now you have met our characters...
and see how we fit together.
You will be hearing more about them in the future...
 
 
Thanks for stopping by
comments are welcome - I read everyone of them
and
love to get them.
 
I would love to have you follow along.
Just click on one of the buttons in the sidebar.
 
 
Have a great day
and
get out there and create something you love.....
 
 
I will be joining these linky parties.
Please visit them and see all the other great links there....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Fall Mantel



The fall decorating bug finally hit me this week...
I must say it has taken long enough.  But the temps finally dipped down to 58 the other night and the next day it was gorgeous -  Open the windows, let the breezes in kind of gorgeous. And I got the fall decorating urge almost immediately.

I had already been painting pumpkins, lots of pumpkins and I had my ideas of how I wanted to do the mantel this year.  I had in my head that I wanted whites and neutrals with little pops of metallic color. But alas - best laid plans of mice and men. When I began to do the mantel - things just sort of started popping up there that were unplanned. And... the weird thing was I really liked it and so did the rest of the family. So my mantel looks a bit far from whites and neutrals...


Vintage, Paint and more... fall mantel done with metallic colored pumpkins and touches of blue

There are a few whites but there is also a lot more color than I had planned to have. But I really like it this year. Simple, colorful and looks like fall without the whole season falling on my mantel...


Vintage, Paint and more... copper metallic and blue pumpkins with chalkpainted wooden frames for a fall mante.


Starting on the left side I placed some empty wooden frames picked up at a thrift store for $.50 and $1.00 that I painted with my DIY white chalk paint. I was leery of placing empty frames on the mantel because I have a very critical group living here and I could just hear them saying
"What's with the empty frames - aren't you going to put something in them?"

However they totally surprised me and actually liked them empty. You just never can figure these guys out some days. The little bronze pumpkin is a Dollar Tree pumpkin I painted with craft paint then glued some twine I twisted on to it for a vine and two drop cloth fabric leaves. The little blue pumpkin is one from years ago that I painted with blue craft paint then dry brushed with white craft paint.


Vintage, Paint and more... metallic painted glass jars with sunflowers

The center of the mantle needed something low so as not to compete with the resident book page wreath. I simply painted some old spaghetti sauce jars in antique gold, bronze, blue and white craft paints using the same method I did for these vases.



Vintage, Paint and more... glass painted vases done ombre effect for sea inspired decor

You can read that tutorial here
These are fun to make and I am saving jars and checking out thrift store glass like crazy now.


Vintage, Paint and more... gold frame with blue painted pumpkin for fall mantel

The right side of the mantel is a stack of old books sans their covers and tied with raffia, an old gold frame we had, and a tall candle stick I've had for  awhile with a deep orange candle tied with raffia. The blue pumpkin is another Dollar Tree pumpkin (what would we do without Dollar Tree?) painted with blue craft paint then dry brushed with white. The little pumpkin is another we had that I painted with antique gold craft paint.


Vintage, Paint and more... fall mantel done with metallic colors mixed with blue and sunflowers

And there you have this years fall mantel. I love it and the family really likes it...

So, have you gotten your mojo on yet and started your fall decorating?
A lot of mine is still sitting in several tubs scattered throughout the living room and dining room/I am going very slowly this year and changing my direction as I go. Ah, well hopefully I will finish soon...

You all have a great day
and
go out there and create something you love...

Click here to see the parties I am linking to this week.
Please visit them and see all the great projects and inspiration found there.... 


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Multigenerational Family - An Inside View

I don't think I ever brought up the fact that we are a
Multigenerational Family
living in this house...
We are not only
multigenerational - we are also
a blended family...
You may have guessed it by some of my posts
but, for the most part
I have never really talked about it....

( family )
I have never really thought about it as being
all that different
because it's our everyday life...
Until  -
a few weeks ago.
 I was contacted by a company that
requested to interview us all
simply because we are a multigenerational family
but,
 when they found out we were
also a blended family - they became quite excited.
I thought it a bit odd -
I mean, what is there to tell ?

( siblings)
But,
when they started asking questions
I could see that there was a lot of curiosity
about
how we make it work, how we get along,
what we do about certain situations when they arise...
who does what, who's responsible for what
and
how did we come about deciding these things.
Interesting...
Then as I thought about it -
maybe, just maybe
 my blog followers would be asking the
same questions.

(sisters) 
So,
I have decided to let you in on  the inside view
of living in a
Blended Multigenerational Family....
Curious?
Y'all will have to come back to find out more...
and
meet the crew.
( father and son)

Is your family unique to society?
Have you ever thought of yourselves
in that way?


Until next time -
you all have a great day
and
get out there and create something you love....


I love it if you would follow me.
You can do this by clicking on one of the buttons
on the sidebar.






Thursday, September 12, 2013

Fall Wreath

Vintage, Paint and more... black and white chevron wreath made with dollar store tray

Just like many of you, we are still having very warm "unfallish" temperatures here. It has been hard to even think about fall but when perusing the blogs and linky parties I have seen so many fall projects that I thought I should at least get started.  So I broke down and made a fall wreath.

It's not that I haven't been thinking about fall, it's just that without the cool, crisp air to make the trees start changing I just can't get in the mood. This year I decided to change it up a bit. I decided to do fall in colors other than the usual that I do. 

Monday, September 9, 2013

Liebster Award

 
 
Good morning friends,
How are you this morning?
Hope your morning it is as great as mine is so far.
 
I am a little excited today...
I have been nominated by
 for the
Liebster Award.



 
What is that you ask?
It is an award given to up and coming blogs
with less than 200 followers.
It 's a great way for fellow bloggers to pat each other on the back
and
a fantastic way to find new blogs and meet new bloggers.
 
To accept the award I have to answer a few questions Denise chose,
so you can all get to know me better.
So without further ado - here they are:
 
 

1. If you had to live a decade other than the current one, which one would it be?
 
The 1990's when I was in my forties.
My kids were old enough to be independent,
my career was at a wonderful point,
and
we traveled a lot.
 
2.  What is your favorite blog post that you have ever written?

I would have to say I enjoyed writing about Charleston.
We enjoyed that day so much and making a lasting memory of it
is priceless.
 
3. What is your favorite book ever?
Gosh, this one is hard because I practically devour books.
I would have to say my favorite is
The Bible - it's words never grow old.
 

4.  If you could meet any famous person, who would it be and why?
I don't know that she is really famous but, I would love to
meet Joyce Meyers.  Her teachings and books
so inspire me - I would love to be able to
sit down with her and chat one afternoon.
 

5.  Why do you blog?
I started blogging basically to stay connected with family in the Midwest.
We had just moved to the East Coast and wanted them to be able to connect
with us here.  However, I was an off and on blogger for a year and
just recently got serious about blogging at all.
Now I blog because I love it...
 
6.  What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
Coffee - I am an addict.
I absolutely love it.
 

7.  Where is the best place you've ever been to?
That one is a hard one also - it would have to be a toss-up
between Key West, Florida
or
St. Thomas Island in the Carribean
 

8.  What's inspiring you most these days?
The color white - can't get enough of it and
French country style.
 

9.  What is your favorite childhood memory?
Staying with my aunt on her farm in the summers.
 
10.  If your life was a movie, what would it be called?
Gypsy Nomad
 

11.  What is the last song you listened to?
American Gramaphone CD by Mannheim Steamroller
 
 
 
Now I get to choose 11 blogs to nominate.  I have chosen:

Dorothy Sue and Millie B

Spitten - Toad

Sunflower Hugs

Living Better Together

Place of My Taste

Prairie Girl to Southern Bell
 
Like Gramma's House

Paisley & Polka Dots

It's Always Ruetten

The Weathered Door

The Starfish Studio



 
 
And here are the rules for accepting the Liebster Award 
for all the ladies I've chosen:
 
1.  You must link back to the person who nominated you.
2.  You must answer the 11 questions given to you by your nominee.
3.  You must pick 11 bloggers, each with under 200 subscribers to be nominated.
4.  You must come up with 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
 5.  You must go to their blogs and notify them of their nomination. 
 

Here are your 11 questions to answer:
 
1. What do you consider to be one of your greatest accomplishments?
2.  What is your favorite blog post you've written?
3.  Why do you blog?
4.  What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
5.  What inspires you most?
6.  What is something you've never done but, would like to try?
7.  What is one thing not many people know about you?
8.  What is your favorite childhood memory?
9.  If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
10.  If  money were no object and you could do anything you like, what would that be?
11. What is your favorite leisure activity?




Thank you so much everyone.
 
 
 
 


Thursday, September 5, 2013

Little Cloche

Good morning friends...
So, glad you stopped by today.
I am going to show you
some more of the thrift store glassware that I picked up
the other day....


You remember the cheese plate with cover?
When I saw this I knew I had to have it.
I have been dying to find one.
I know in some areas of the country they are practically a dime a dozen
but,
I have been having trouble getting one...
Or, maybe I've just been too late.
Either way I finally got one for $2.00.
Gotta' love the  price...
I knew what I wanted to do with it immediately.
I went to the back of the thrift store
and
they had candle sticks for $.50.
So I picked up one of those also.
You know where I'm going with this - right....
I used some Glass Bond that I picked up at
Hobby Lobby
and
glued the candlestick to the plate.
It actually dried in less than 30 minutes
but,
I let it set overnight to be sure it was completely bonded.

I was so excited with the turnout...
I know, I know it doesn't take much to excite me
but,
remember I've been searching for these pieces just to make
this for quite some time now....

 And, here she is...
I am absolutely loving her...
I can see her in all sorts of settings
but for today
we  are using her to celebrate
the last days of summer
with a nice little vintage beachy vignette....

I love summer and to know that it is nearly over
is slightly depressing
but,
I love fall even more...

So for the next few days I am going to enjoy
the rest of what is left of summer
with this cute little vignette

How are you spending your last few days before fall
is officially here?
At the beach?


However you do it -
enjoy it....

Until next time -
get out there and create something you enjoy....


I would love it if you followed me in some way by
clicking on one of the buttons in the sidebar...

Click here to see the parties I am linking to this week.
Please visit them and see all the great projects and inspiration found there....