Garden Sign…

Time to head outside and work in the garden!

 

 

 

 

What better way to keep track of all your garden tools than having a stylish place to hang them at arms reach! I had the idea to make this sign while looking at this piece of wood and wondering what I could do with it…

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spying an excellent tutorial on making a hand painted sign by Marion over at the blog Miss Mustard Seed…I got to work! See her full post here. It was simple and fun to create…and only took about 3 episodes of watching Duck Dynasty with my boys to complete!

 

 

I did a light green wash on the board first - then traced my letters onto the board with some tracing paper. I painted the letters with white paint and added a little bit of black shadowing for dimension…

 

 

 

 

 

 

After distressing with some 60 grit sandpaper to age the lettering – I finished with a layer of Annie Sloan Clear wax and Dark Wax…

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far so good…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I aged and distressed these hooks to add to the sign…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it is ready to hang and use outside next to our garden box…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off to the nursery to purchase seed packets for our vegetable garden!


Note: I used the Algerian Font for this sign


Sharing with ~ French Country Cottage, Jennifer Rizzo

My current crush…

Like many of you…I love Pinterest! I admit to spending lots of time browsing and pinning ideas and inspiration for everything from home décor, DIY projects, to fashion and food!

source

 

 

You can visit all of my Pinterest boards here. As a seasoned “pinner” I am always on the lookout for new and interesting photos and ideas to pin.  I recently found a tumblr page with more inspiration than one could ever imagine!

Crush Cul De Sac

 

 

 

Crush Cul De Sac is the tumblr page curated by the authors of the blog Crush Party. They have an amazing eye for all things stylish and chic…and it all seems to catch my eye and make me pin, pin, pin!

 

Here are a few of my favorite recent pins…

 

 

 

Fashion…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the home…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just for fun…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How is that for some pretty great  Friday eye candy?! Hop on over to Crush Cul De Sac to see more inspiring, pin worthy photos!

 

 

 

Happy Weekend!

 

 

 

all images via Crush Cul De Sac

 

 

 

 

 

5 Ideas for Fresh Spring Décor…

Spring has sprung here in Northern California! With the longer, warmer days upon us, it is time to open the windows, breathe in the fresh air, and say goodbye to winter with a few ideas for some Fresh Spring Décor!

Today I will be sharing some of my past posts and a few new ideas on how to freshen up for spring.

1. Repaint a bench in a pretty new shade…

 

 

Front Porch Bench

 

 

This old bench was a bit rusty, and a little drab, so I spray painted it in a fresh shade of blue to add some color and style to my porch. See full post here.

 

 

 

2. Embellish some plain candles with blades of real grass…

 

 

Grass Candles

 

 

One of the easiest DIY projects I have completed to date…and by far my most popular post ever! These plain white pillar candles make a fresh spring statement embellished with a few blades of grass from your own yard! See full post and tutorial here.

 

 

 

3. Gather branches for indoor blooms…

 

 

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No need to run to the florist for flowers! One of my favorite things to do is to go outside and collect some blooming branches. Simply place in a clear glass vase and you have beautiful blooms to enjoy for free.

 

 

 

4. Change out drapery panels…

 

 

I recently swapped out my heavy, black and tan checked panels for these lighter weight panels in an i-kat design from Ballard Designs.  This simple switch gives the whole room a fresh new look for spring and beyond.



5. Add some whimsical spring inspired art…

Karen Tarlton via Etsy

 

 

With sites like Etsy and Art.com, you can find affordable original art and quality prints to freshen up your walls for spring. Hang some new art in that dark hallway or entry, or add a new print to your laundry room that will make you smile every time you walk by and while you do those household chores!

 

 

 

How do you like to celebrate spring in your home?

 

 

 

 

When a tree falls…

Well, luckily the long dead pine tree in our backyard did not actually fall, but we did have to have it cut down.

 

 

You can see it above…the bare one on the left. It is a 40+ year old pine, and it started to die a couple of years ago. We have been planning to have it removed before it falls and causes more damage. When the tree guys came out, they determined the two spindly pines on the right (behind the palm) have Pine Beetle disease and needed to come down too!

 

Visit this site for more info on Pine Beetle disease and the symptoms and signs to look for.

 

 

 

The crew showed up bright and early on Monday morning, and quickly got to work. Within minutes this huge tree looked like this…

These guys definitely know what they are doing. They removed that tree branch by branch, and section by section without damaging any of the existing shrubs and greenery on the ground.
We wanted to save the wood for firewood, so we asked them to cut and stack it near the gazebo on the other side of the yard.

 

 

 

Once the big tree was down, on to the others…

 

 

 

After just a few hours, all three of those huge trees were gone…

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we were left with a huge pile of wood…

 

 

 

Lots and lots of wood…

I have some plans for these…

 

 

 

Although we were sad to lose these once beautiful trees, they were damaged and dying and dangerous to have in the yard. If they were to fall, the possibility of hitting ours or our neighbors houses was reason to have them removed.

 

Before…

 

 

 

After…

 

 

 

Now, I am off to start working on some of those stumps…stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Chalk Art…

With a forecast for temperatures in the mid 70’s this week here in Northern California…we are ready for Spring!

Spring Chalk Art

The warmer weather…the longer days…bring it on! Time to head outside, work in the yard and enjoy the change of seasons.

Happy Spring!

 

 

 

Reverse Paint on Glass Tutorial…

Earlier this week I shared the window sign I painted for a client…

 

 

 

For this sign I used a Reverse Paint on Glass Technique.

 

Today I want to walk you through a step by step tutorial that will give you some helpful tips on how to try this method yourself. Once you find your piece of glass - window frame, picture frame, etc. – clean it well with a glass cleaner on both sides. Let it dry completely.

 

Collect your supplies…

 

 

 

 

 

I used a DecoColor paint pen and Plaid brand craft paint in black. A couple of fine tip paint brushes, some low adhesive tape and a ruler (not shown)

 

Find an image you want to use. I designed the above image myself. I found the font online and then hand drew the detail for the corners and center. I had to cut and paste the lettering together to get the proper spacing. Then taped all the papers together.

 

 

 

 

 

Very Important…now you have to reverse your image!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was able to do this by using the Paintbrush Accessory on my computer. If you do not have the same type of accessory on your computer, you can print it out normal and trace the image with a sharpie so that you are able to see it from the back side of the paper.

 

Tape the image to the front of your window…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember that you are painting on the backside of the glass pane. Here is what it looks like from the back…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trace your letters and image onto the glass. Using a paint pen is an easy way to trace and make fine lines nice and straight. Once the image is traced, I go back with the fine tipped brushes to fill in the letters and images with the black craft paint.

 

 

 

Fill in with paint. It helps to remove the image from the glass and place on a solid surface so you can easily see where you need to fill in and paint…

 

 

 

The above image is after just one coat of black paint. I went over it several times to get solid coverage. Sometimes you may want a more distressed look and can leave it with one coat…it depends on your taste and the style of the design you are using.

I followed the same technique with the corner and center details (sorry I did not stop and take photos…I was on a roll)…

Since they are not letters, and do not have to be reversed, it was very easy. I just took my drawings and taped them to the front of the glass. Then traced and painted, just like with the lettering.


Here is a helpful hint…in order to assure that the corners and center scroll detail was all the same size, I used the same image for each spot. Simply tape image where you want it, trace it, then move the paper to the next location. Ta-da!

I love the way the image looks from the front! The painted letters look so crisp when viewed through the glass.

The window frame started out white…

I painted it red and distressed it with a bit of sand paper to keep that old and chippy look…

I love the way it turned out! More importantly so did my client Maria! Here it is hanging at her new shop…

Eco Barn Boutique

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing with ~ House of Hepworths, Serenity Now, Miss Mustard Seed, Classy Clutter,
The Dedicated House