Scrabble Tiles Wall Art

One of my best friends has a cousin in college.  She is studying art and does some fabulous paintings.  She is also quiet clever with home décor.  I am sharing some wall art she just completed.  It’s so fun.

I am linking to parties even though I didn’t make this because I want to share it with anyone else who wants to copy this idea.  I just love it. 

Update:  The tiles were made using canvas and she painted them using a large stencil that she found.  She painted the canvas in a cream color first and just hung them with nails. 

Linking to

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Texture Tuesday–Dream

Today’s Texture Tuesday theme at Kim Klassen Café’s blog is dream.  I recently took a pic of my sweet dogs taking a nap together.  The old gal doesn’t seem to mind that the pup is sleeping away on her head.  Must be love. 

I used Kim’s Dream texture to go with my photo.

Barstool Redo Before During and After Using Chalk Paint and Wax

Progress is happening on my barstools.  I have one done, one halfway done and one that still needs to be done. 

I am the 3rd owner of these barstools.  The original owners of the house left them behind.  My son likes them and my husband likes that they were free.  They use to be an oak color and I painted them red with some black dry brushing before my blogging days.  My husband and son still like the red and are a bit mad at me for redoing them.  I was ready for a change. 

I used Chalk Paint in Versailles green.  It is bright and my husband described it as cat urine.  Yep he did.  He also said, “What the heck is wrong with that paint?  It feels so chalky?”  Umm because it is chalk paint I told him.  He wasn’t impressed and thinks it is silly to have paint that looks and feels like chalk.  He usually doesn’t have an opinion so I was getting a little concerned.

Here’s the barstool with only the chalk paint on it.

It doesn’t look so bad in this photo, but in my kitchen area it is a brighter more yellow green and does kinda look like urine, but don’t tell my husband I agree with him.  OK?

I sanded the edges to let the red show through a bit and to get the thick rough areas of paint smooth.   I have a hard time with this paint.  It seems to dry fast and gets rough spots.  Another blogger told me she has the same problem.  I painted inside so the 104 degree heat wouldn’t dry it any faster. 

After I sanded and cleaned the stool I used Briwax in clear and then light brown.  I found a little trick to share with you all.   I used paper towels to apply the clear wax, but they tore up easily and made a mess.  A while back I bought a large stencil brush from JoAnn’s and thought I would see if it worked as a wax brush.

It did!  The light brown wax application was so much easier.  I have been trying to buff the wax so it is nice and smooth when we sit on the stools.  You can see in the above photo how shiny it gets when buffed.  It is taking a long time to dry.  It still feels a bit tacky.  I hope it will go away and that it just needs to dry more. 

Update:  The wax is dry and no longer tacky. 

Here are some photos of the finished stool.

 

When I get them all finished I will show what they look like in the kitchen.  The light was better in the front room so I moved them to take photos. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Linking to

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on The Porch

Motivated Monday @ Be Colorful

Piece of Work @ Primitive and Proper

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

August Before and After @ Thrifty Décor Chick

Making Some Changes With Aqua In The Family Room

Lately I have been drawn to the color aqua and I wanted to add it to my living room.  I found some green pillows that go with existing chairs that I have had for awhile and some aqua ones too. 

I have some other plans, but I thought I would show you the pillows for now. 

Have you ever wondered why you haven’t seen my entire living area before?  I hate the orange oak trim.  Hate it!  I have the paint and primer.  I have had it for months, but I just can’t get myself to tackle it. I think I like to buy paint and talk about painting, but never paint.  That seems to be the way I roll.  Maybe making some of these changes will get my butt in gear. 

Here’s an idea of what this room would look like without the ugly trim.

Does anyone like to paint?  Anyone? 

I am looking forward to making more changes and sharing them with you.

Healthy Yummy Smoothie Made With Coconut Oil

Last week I found a blog that informed me about the benefits of coconut oil and nut butter.  I was intrigued.  You can find the post here @ Momnivore’s Dilemma.  It is about the need to have fat in our diet and how coconut oil is a healthy fat that does the body good.  I also read how nut butter is good for you and helps to keep you full. 

Anyhow, after my research and shopping spree I invented a smoothie to add both of these ingredients into my diet.  I thought I would have to hold my nose while I drank it, but I am telling you it is good!!!  Really really good.  I am always sad when I finish drinking it.  I have made one every day for a week. 

Here’s my list of ingredients.

3/4 Cup skim milk

banana

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 Tablespoon almond butter

1 to 1 1/2 Cup crushed ice

First I mix the milk, protein powder ( I used what I already had on hand), almond butter, coconut oil

and the banana.

I usually use the blender on grind and then blend.  I like to using a heaping Tablespoon of the oil and butter, but I used a regular tablespoon for the almond butter instead of a measuring tablespoon.

After I blend it.

I add the ice.  If I add the ice ahead of time then my coconut oil chunks up.  It is like butter and melts at 76 degrees but gets hard when it gets cold. 

Already crushed ice seems to work best and the amount depends how thick you want your smoothie.  I like to use about a cup and a half of ice. 

I use the ice crush button to mix in the ice.  Then I pour the smoothie into a cup.  I like to drink mine with a straw. 

I added the bowl of blueberries because they are good for you and my smoothie creation is not colorful and makes for a boring photo. 

Let me know if you try this.  I would love to hear what you think.  The coconut oil has many outside body uses and benefits too.  Read about it.  You just might get intrigued as well.

Linking to

Funky Junk Interiors Healthy Recipes @ Junk Losers

Bag Lady and Camera Lens Accessory

I think I am becoming a camera bag lady.  I keep buying them in search of the perfect one.  I added a 2nd camera to my collection so I was hoping to find a bag that would carry both cameras and a few lenses.  I found this Canon bag at my favorite photography online store called BH Photo. 

The description said it would hold 2 SLR cameras and 8 lenses.  This description is off by one camera and 4 lenses.  I still like it and I am going to use it for my big camera and my little bag for my smaller camera.  I have a backpack too.  I really like the idea of the backpack, but it is limited with how much it will hold in the padded areas. 

Maybe my problem is I keep collecting too many photography items.  It’s an expensive addiction that I have.  I did find a very inexpensive and convenient little item that you might be interested in.  It’s called a  CAPKEEPER.

The button on the lens cap sticks to the cap and attaches to an elastic band that fits around the lens.  It keeps you from having to keep up with your lens cap because it is always attached to the lens.

You can get 2 of them for $1.99.  If you click on the item below it will take you to the page so you can read more about it. 

Do you have any possession obsessions? 

Neighborhood Photo Party Winner and Possible Future Photo Challenge

Thank  you so much to those of you that linked to this month’s photo party.  I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of the homes in the different areas.  It was tough to pick a winner, but my thoughts kept going back to the homes in Iowa from the blog Be Colorful.  I have decided that I am moving to Iowa and I will live in this house. 

It’s not too big or too small and it is oh so cute.  Love the porch. 

<center><a href="http://tracys-trinkets-treasures.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w136/tracyntx/blueribbon_edited-2.jpg" /></a></center>

I was debating if I should have an August party or not.  It gets really busy with school and the links have been minimal for several months already.  My idea is pretty challenging, but that is how we grow and better ourselves right? 

I was thinking it would be fun to pick a word or a name and try to do photo word art.  You look around and try to visualize letters in everyday things.  I attempted it a minute ago.  I picked the word DOG.  My husband said it is difficult to make it out in my attempt.  I found some metal wall décor to use and a clock pendulum. 

It’s better if you make all the photos in sepia tone or black and white so they are less distracting and I cropped mine to 5x5.

Comment and let me know if you would bet interested in such a photo linky party. 

Thanks

Painted Pillow

I got a good deal on a pillow at Kohl’s that had a pretty blue embroidery pattern.  I brought it home and it was too stark for the rest of the room so I thought I would add a little paint to it.

I picked gold and a sage green and quickly and easily added some paint to different areas of the design.  The thread borders made it a breeze to paint and stay with in the pattern. 

Here’s the after.

Now it goes better with my chair.  I am working on a few other little changes that I hope to share soon. 

Don’t forget to link up to the Neighborhood Photo Party.  The linky will Wednesday the 20th at 6pm Central. 

Linking to

Power of Paint @ Domestically Speaking

Show and Tell @ My Romantic Home

Neighborhood Photo Linky Party

Did you get out and take photos of the homes in your neighborhood?  I hope so. 

The homes in my neighborhood were mostly built in the 70s.  I have 2 previous posts here and here showing you different tours.  I have also mentioned that I live where trees are hard to come by, but it is not as obvious in the older neighborhoods like mine.  My favorite street has an area that is tree lined and it has some of the biggest houses.  Of course there are other neighborhoods that have humungous homes, but these homes are big for the area I live in.

I will start off with one of my favorites.  This home is newer and built in the 90s in one of the last empty lots.  It is very custom and so pretty. 

There is a cute little bridge on the left side of the house.

And a large beautiful fountain on the right side.

The door is gorgeous.

The gutters are made of copper and they all have the green patina on them. 

Such a pretty home.  It is always decorated so nice for the different seasons.

The next house I will show you is across the street from house above. 

During the summer of 2008, the family of this home had just completed an extensive remodel and had just moved everything back into the home when the house caught on fire.  The wiring for the security system  caught fire and gutted the home. The system caught fire the day it was being installed.  The windows were blown out and at least half of the roof was totally gone.  The family once again lived elsewhere while the house was renovated this time inside and out.  It doesn’t even look like the same home.  I had a really hard time photographing the house because it was 8:30 in the morning and the sun was right above the roof line.  I had to hide behind the shade of trees to get some of the photos I took. 

Here’s the first shot with the intense sun.  I did get good sun flare, but I really didn’t want it.

Here are some other shots where I hid from the sun.

This is the left side of the home.  I love the flower beds and the rock accent on the columns. 

The front.

More of the home on the right side.  I didn’t hide from the sun very well here.

And the entire house.

Look in the trees and you will see remnants of toilet paper.  I tried to get my photos on Saturday morning before everyone was out and about and this house had been toilet papered on Friday night so I had to go back on Sunday morning.  They missed a few pieces. 

So that’s my last neighborhood tour post.  Now it is time to see yours.  I am looking forward to seeing all the different types of design and architecture.