New Paint and Address Sign

3 years ago I bought the paint to repaint the shutters, front door and garage trim.

I finally did it! WOO HOO!

It wasn't a lot to paint, it wasn't hard to paint, it was just finding the time. Between work, Dr. appointments, and the house...let's just say I need more hours in the day.

I'm just glad I accomplished it this year. Something good had to come from 2020!

I'm glad I still like the color. It had been so long I'd forgotten which I chose! LOL

Of course, along with new paint comes new house numbers!

These were always in the back of my mind. I wanted something unique. Something that meant something, yes here I go with sentimentality again.

I finally decided to use one of my Dad's old hand saws.

Gathered my supplies ~ White Rustoleum, Frog Tape, some carboard                 (because it was handy) and JB Weld.

Taped up the blade so paint wouldn't get on it with the Frog Tape and cardboard. Painted the handle white.

When the paint was dry, I distressed the handle a bit around the area where it would normally be grabbed.  Next was to add the numbers.

(looking toward the Heavens "yes Dad, I'm using JB Weld")

y'all know how he feels about his JB Weld by now. Me too ;)

Mixed it up

Added the numbers

and a Dragonfly my daughter gave me last Christmas.

Love it, the Dragonfly coordinates with the house paint!

Attached it with tube straps

so it's nice and secure. 

Perfect!

UPDATE

HOMEBNC featured my House Number Sign in their

45+ Best Creative House Number Ideas and Designs for 2021

#14

More projects here

Deck Makeover ~ Mermaid Style?

I did it again,

yep ~ started too many projects at once

why? who knows

I have so many ideas swirling around in my head

for the backyard.

I think "oh I can get that done in X days",

 only not to be able to

 due to real life interruptions.

Or my body ''screaming not today sister!''

So I move on to less taxing projects........

Here we go, the first in a series of fun updates,

decorations, and odds and ends of surprises!

The Deck was first

I started this early last Fall 

and am happy to say I did finish it before winter!

I was so tired of looking at my old stained, 

worn 24 yr. old BROWN deck.

At the time everyone was talking Unicorns....they still are.

I lean toward more pastel colors...like Mermaids.

Yes, that would be it. 

My own Mermaid colored ocean right out my back door.

Can you tell I haven't been to the beach for a while 

and definitely need my FIX!

Anything to get some "ocean breeze"

and cover that has-been deck.

Being the frugal person I am, 

I gathered all the leftover paint from other projects,

 yard sales, left from moving neighbors, 

hand-me-downs, etc. - even some old craft paint. 

Some I mixed to make the "mermaid" colors I wanted,

some I didn't have to.

I did a section at a time.

Painted on a couple of colors on a few boards,

then went over the same boards with just a squiggle of a different color.

I then dipped a clean brush into a pail of water and 

used it to blend all the colors together.

This kind of thinned the paint so you could 

see the grain of the wood in some spots.

Cool!

I alternated the base colors and top colors throughout.

Sometimes I squirted just the craft paint hear and there

and used the "water brush'' to blend.

I wish I could have done larger sections at a time, 

but fit in when time and body allowed. LOL

I am in love with how it turned out!

Mama Kitty photo bomb.

RIP Mama

For not knowing what I was doing, 

I have to say it turned out pretty darn good!

I love the way it coordinates with 

my Folding Chairs Makeover you can see here.

Best of all ~
cost $0.00
and cleared out lots of paint cans!

Update

 HomeBNC featured my deck in their
20 Gorgeous Deck Ideas for Summer!!

Other posts you may find interesting:

Wishes Floating on a Breeze

Faux Brick Walkway

Bathroom Makeover

Knocking-off Some Chimes



I have the best daughter-in-law!

Whenever she sees something different/cute she sends me a photo and says "You can make that!!" In this photo she meant the mason jar chimes.

Then I proceed to figure it out.

It usually doesn't come out exactly as what she saw because I always add my own twist by using what I have in my Treasure Pile.

I had just came across how to tint jars on Pinterest. There are several examples of how to do it. I combined Its Over Flowing and Creative Little Daisy.

I gathered my ingredients:

Jars

Mod Podge ~ 1/4 cup

water ~ 1 Tablespoon hot  

gel food coloring ~ to your liking

 (I didn't have gel food coloring, so I used what I had on hand) 

Mix all well.

*************

Pour some of the Mod Podge mixture into your bottle. Swirl it around to cover the entire glass on the inside Keep swirling and pouring to your hearts content or until you run out of jars or you need to mix more- which ever comes first  

Place a piece of aluminum foil on a plate then cover with

several paper towels and allow the bottles to drain for five to 10 minutes. I used newspaper and it worked just fine.

Set them on the counter, upright and wait about 5 more minutes, allowing the extra paint that did not drip out to settle on the bottom. Jars and bottles with a flat edge along the bottom will work the best for this technique. The bottom of my bottles have a little excess Mod Podge. If you try to tilt the jar again and pour it out, you’ll end up with streaks along the sides of the bottle.

I placed them up side down on wax paper 

Set the oven to it’s lowest temperature.

I checked on them about 20 minutes later or 

more until dry—transparent.

 Be sure the excess on the bottom has fully dried, too, before tilting the bottle.

Caution! These will be hot, be sure to use a pot holder. 

Remove from the oven and cool. Remove the gummy texture from the top of the bottles. If you prefer a darker color, do it again in the same jar…just be sure to cool the bottle first. 

This is exactly what I did because they came out to light the first time. Much better second time around.

I new I need lids for the tops and bottoms, so I E600'd used lids to some rings that needed to be replaced 

In hindsight I should have made the holes in the lids prior to gluing them. I ended up picking from the inside out because I didn't want to put pressure down on the lid that was glued and possibly popping it out. I just used and ice pick to make the holes.  I ended up painting them black. I used the heaviest fishing line I could find to add the copper tubes (which were also in my Treasure Pile) they were left over from when I made Solar Lanterns for the garden.  I used clear silicone to adhere lids to bottles. Silicone can handle the fluctuating temperatures outside better than anything else. Let cure for a couple days to be sure it's nice and stuck.

I made mine as the prototype first. That's why you see rusty tubing ;)  

I found a handle from a petite fore dish and used that for the clapper. I have it pulled to the side so you can see what I'm talking about. 

A Dragonfly catches the breeze to make it chime. 

Then I made some for gifts.

I found a few cheese shaker tops in my Treasures, so I painted them black and used them for the clappers on these.

I came across some metal filigree pieces that had a hole in them.

I dug through my beads only to find crystals that fit pretty good inside that hole. SO when the Sun shines I;'m hoping they get some prism effects going.

 Not as good as the ones she saw but I like the way they turned out...and that's all that matters anyway, right?

Hoping the recipients like them

*hugs*



Update

HomeBNC featured my chimes in their

50+ Ways to Repurpose Your Old Mason Jars

Other posts you may be interested in:

Make a Grapevine Wreath

Make a Butterfly Feeder

Carousel Horse Suncatcher