A Good Long Weekend

Well first off, we pulled of the surprise part of the party. My favorite aunt and cousins came into town early and we all went out to eat and do some shopping. Mom never suspected a thing, because that's what we do when we get together. We eat and we shop. I thought it would be hard to kill almost 3 hours after we ate but time flew by. My mom later said she wondered why my aunt looked at every single shirt in Cato's. It was fun visiting with family and friends.

I've had some construction going on at my house and they are finally finished. I had a porch added and a small laundry room built. Being the do-it-herself-er that I am, I told the contracter that I would paint the porch and finish the inside of the washroom. After working in the heat a little bit yesterday, I questioned my decision a little. Taking a break from filling in all nail holes, I watched this two little ones. They were having quite a discussion. They are mud swallows. They eat mosquitos, so we always welcome them with open arms.
So here is an inside shot of the little room that is very unfinished.

My first experiment was to paint the tar paper that is showing on the inside. I was afraid it would bleed through it.

But so far so good. I only got a small section done before I thought I was going to melt, so stay tuned to see how I finish the room.

Jen over at Sanctuary Arts is hosting a makeover party. I didn't get to do the project I wanted so I thought I'd share my mailbox. I cut this out with my cricut and the Sure Cuts A Lot program. It sure brightened up her plain mailbox. Be sure to go visit Jen's blog, she does beautiful work.

Small makeover.

This coming weekend we are surprising my mother with a Retirement Party. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that it's at her house. Her friends love to do this to her, because she has the perfect party pad. So I have been trying to get both of our places ready. She just thinks that I'm being super nice for mowing her yard, and such. I've been rearranging furniture in my house like crazy. Since it's a small house there isn't that many ways to try. I don't have pics of all of it yet, but I did get some of the church pew that I moved into my dining room. I used to have it in the living room, but it was way too crowded. It fit nicely on this wall. I finally got to hang the last of my Canton purchases over it.

I did get one small project finished. I've had this shelf for probably 15 years, no joke. Sad to say in those 15 years it was never painted or shown any love. So I gave it a face-lift. I added some beadboard and trim,

a shiny new coat of paint. I really don't know if it had ever hung on my wall before. I always remember haveing it in the back of my closet. Sorry for the bad pictures.

A collaboration with my Brother

So growing up in my family, my brother was always considered the "Artist" and my mom and I dabbed in crafts. After college I got more serious about my crafts and took some decorative painting classes and started doing craft shows. My brother went to the Art Institute in Houston for awhile and studied Graphic Design. He now is very successful and lives in California. He isn't in the art field anymore but his girlfriend has got him dabbling in painting again. So for Christmas I asked him to paint me a picture. I discribed a painting I had see but couldn't afford, and was anxious to see his version of it. The other thing about him you should know, is he loves to torment me. So he comes home with two blank canvas' and some paint. He said he'd get me started, but I'd have to finish it. Arggg, I was frustated. I like to have patterns, instructions, or at least some guidance.

I forgot to take before pics of both of the canvas'. What he left me with is the above pic. It was really pretty but too bold of colors for the room I wanted it in. So these canvas' sat in my Mom's guest bedroom for 5 months until last night when I got brave and jumped in to do my part.

So I started toning it down with some turquoise, my new favorite color.


Then I added some clouds, and the silhouettes of two scissortail swallows sitting on a line. I have a real life pair of these birds that live in tree in my front yard every summer. I love to watch them fly and swoop around after insects. I'm really happy with it, and I'll admit that I'm happy it has a little of him and a little of me.

I thought I'd share a small project I just finished up last night. Sorry I forgot to take before pics. This frame started out being very modern with metal edges. I decoupaged some scrapbook paper on top of them. I painted two of the glass with chalkboard paint, and replaced the other two with some cork tiles I found at the Dollar Tree. I painted the cork black and waalaah, a new desktop message center. I still need to make some cute pushpins for it.

I just found Chrissie Grace's Chalkboard paint party! Check it out for some really neat projects.