Jazzing Up The Dining Table

On a recent venture to Pier 1 I found a pair of candlesticks on clearance and decided they'd go home with me.  I didn't have a plan but when I got home I took them out of the bag and quickly set them on the table.   Then I noticed they seemed to work with the big white handled bowl on the table.  I was concerned that they were more holiday looking so I wanted to play that down a bit.

I have so many candle holders in the nearby area I was a little apprehensive about putting candles on top.  I wasn't sure what I was going to use but then I spotted my pair of little bird figurines and decided to try them on top.  I liked the look but they needed a little more of something.

I put a couple of grapevine wreaths on top and liked it right away but the seemed a bit too bland so I decided to jazz them up with green.  I figured it would add an unexpected touch and color to the candle holders. 

I got a color that was pretty much a grass green but then it was too bright so I mixed in some of this metallic color I had on hand and it created a little more of a yellow tone which seemed to work better.  This is my hi-tech work area!

So here they are!  Simple but I think it gave it a fun look.  I think the green helped play down the shiny gold on the candlesticks and draws your eye to the bird a little more.

Well then I had to fill the handled bowl with some flowers right?  Thank goodness Michael's had these at a 40% discount.  I bought 6 stems of these Frangipani (Plumeria) and a bush made of Hosta leaves.   I ended up cutting apart the Hosta leaf bush and inserting the leaves randomly.  The Frangipani had super long stems so they had to be chopped off.

I took the elephant candle holder that was sitting just over there by the other candlesticks and added it to the vignette.  I hadn't imagined using it near the big handled bowl but it seems to be a good combo.

 All of these pieces were bought months apart with no plan of attack but somehow ended up working together!  Love it when that happens.  I've had the birds a long time and hadn't used them in a while so it's good to get them out again!

I'm spending so much time outdoors lately it's hard to focus on the inside.  I wanted to do something on the dining table but nothing was clicking.  Funny how one thing leads to another!

Joining:

Share It One More Time 

Dishing It & Digging It
Inspire Me Tuesday 

Thoughts Of Home On Thursday 

Putting The Holiday Away

A few years ago I started condensing all my holiday decorations into plastic tubs.  Some are limited to one tub and I plan to keep it that way.  My Christmas and Fall/Halloween tubs however are another story!

I gathered all the smaller things and loaded up the table with them.  I emptied anything I hadn't used for the holiday this time and put everything on the table so I could do some editing.  All the little things get put in some kind of protective plastic.  I chose a couple of things to give donate because the pile was too big for the container.  As you can see my assistant Teddy was ready to jump in and help!

I keep the silk florals in a different area and table linens go in their own area too so I didn't have to try and fit them in here.  It's my goal to keep the patriotic pile just big enough to fit in here and no more!  Gee if I could only convince myself to do that with my Christmas and Fall/Halloween stuff! 

Put away for another year!  That's my St. Patrick's Day tub and Valentine's Day tub to the right.  

I had my patriotic decorating up since late May so I'm ready to move onto another look! 

I'm plotting ideas for the little table and plate rack.   I snapped a shot of a store magazine because I was inspired by this table with the metal pitcher on plates.  We'll see what I come up with!

What are you up to with your holiday deco and how do you store it?

Painting Planted Pots

Well- in typical fashion I decided after I planted this faux watering can I decided I wanted it painted blue to go with some of my pottery.

This little watering can planter was only one year old but the paint was badly faded. 

I had the can on the right (Brilliant Blue) but wanted it a little deeper to be more like cobalt blue. The little "Short Cuts" can (Forever Blue) was spotted while browsing at the hardware store and I thought it was the closest I was going to come to cobalt blue.  It's really small and didn't go far.

I wrapped the plant with a grocery bag to help tuck the plant in and then some cardboard finished it off and it was ready for paint.  A quick shot of paint and I was committed!

Since we had a lot more of the brilliant blue we chose to cover it with that for a good base.

Dan likes to paint so I'm always glad to have him do this part.  Though the Brilliant Blue looked good it wasn't quite the color I wanted yet.

Here it is painted with the final coat of Forever Blue.  In the shade it looks pretty dark but in all actuality it's just what I wanted. 

It does look like cobalt blue doesn't it!  Yay!

You can almost see the blue pot down below- the plant is covering it up quite a bit now.  

The deck is the next thing to spruce up. We are behind on projects!

Sorry about the low grade pictures- used my cell phone instead of the real camera.

Now with my other blue pots I feel I have a theme going!  I know it's a small no biggie project but it made me happy since I stare at it from the kitchen and it was bugging me!  

I'm joining:

Dishing It & Digging It
Metamorphosis Monday
Inspire Me Tuesday 

Restored Garden Bench

Two years ago I came across this garden bench laying on the ground in a very sad dilapidated state at an antique store. 

The man that ran the antique store knew it needed a lot of TLC and sold it to me for $35 which I felt okay about.  

It was held together with some wire, and parts of it were cracked and some broken off.  Dan suggested it could be cleaned up with sand blasting and then properly welded at a shop that has the right equipment for welding cast iron.  We put it in the storage barn and planned to get to it but somehow it took 2 years.

I told him this spring either we're restoring it or I'm going to sell it. 

So one afternoon we took it to the first place he wanted to go and I about fell over when the guy gave us a price.  The welding shop wanted between $225 and $350 and we had to take it to another shop for the sand blasting and powder coating (which is a finish that is sprayed on and then put in an oven to bake it and which seals it up real nice).  That place wanted another $125 for their work.  Now all of a sudden my $35 bargain was looking like a big mistake.  

I was attracted to the details on this bench and that was primarily what attracted it to me.  I wasn't ready to give up on it yet so I suggested we try another place that he was reluctant to go to but they were far more accommodating and gave a quote of less than $200 for everything and they could do it all right there.  To our surprise when they finished the price was even lower $150 and we were just tickled as could be.  When Dan and the owner went to lift it up to put in our van they realized the person who was putting it together hadn't finished yet and it was wobbly and still needed a few bolts so he lowered it to $125!!!  Ding ding ding!!!  I am still pinching myself about it and am so grateful we took the time to shop around.  

Dan finished putting it together with the stainless steel hardware (which will be painted to match).  I have no idea how well this will hold up over the years but I'm glad I was able to save this from rusting into the ground.

 Known as a Cameo design and per Richard at My Old Historic House it's probably circa 1910-1920

 I decided to put it out under the big maple tree.  We set some stones under it so she wouldn't be sitting in dirt.

  

  My white dove statue came out to join with it and I think they make a nice grouping along with my cement kitty!  The plants were already there and I moved a couple that were encroaching the pathway nearby.  I was going to put a plant on it but I'm still nervous about encouraging any rust to start again.

I moved the old wagon over to the other side of the pathway.  

Happy to have this taken care of and that I saved the old gal from doom!

I have a new post on my garden blog Sit With Me In My Garden too if you'd like to stop by-
This the "link" 

As they say it pays to shop around!  

I will be joining:

Dishing & Digging It

Metamorphosis Monday

Tuesday's At Our Home 

Thoughts Of Home On Thursday 

Clay Pottery Star Spangled

I have seen a lot of inspiration out there for crafty items for the Independence Day celebrations.  I'm not too crafty so I like "easy" projects and quick results!

 I made of pair of these which will probably be set on the outdoor dining table for the 4th of July celebrating!

 The clay pots were spray painted inside and out and I used a cone shaped styrofoam piece to set in the center and poke my pics into.  The decorations on the outside are foam cutouts from JoAnn Fabrics.  They stick real good- you can't remove them if you change your mind (yes I tried) LOL   I used some of that shredded paper to stuff around the pics.  The pics came from Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

There are cute little pinwheel pics too....and they work....these were spinning as I took the pictures!

I was late going to the stores so I only got what was left.  I would have liked twice as many pics as I got, but overall I'm happy.

Getting my Independence Day decorating started!

I'm joining

Between Naps on the Porch for

Metamorphosis Monday

Our Home Away From Home for
Tuesdays at our Home

Kathe With an E for

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

A Stroll Thru Life for

Inspire Me Tuesday

Have A Cup Of Mrs. Olson for

Share Your Cup Thursday

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Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum!

Ahoy there matey! 

Come on in and see what I've been up to!

 I decided to fill this old chest up with some

nautical goodies.

My ships mascot (le' cat) had to inspect as I 

began my creating my treasure chest.

This was the family room up until recently. The ships wheel is the table you see here with the glass top.  I'm in the process of completing the change so it's not ready to show yet.  The sofa is upstairs now in a small bedroom that we're calling the den now.

Back to the box...

Complete with it's old hardware it seemed like a good beginning for the treasure chest I wanted to create. 

Some seashells and starfish helped create the scene...

 Some pirates booty

 A lantern, books and bottles...

and the fishnet really brought it together!

My little deep sea diver with the diving helmet helped anchor the big ships wheel in place.  He's been with me for a bout 10 years.  I already had everything- I just gave it a new home.  I think I need some dead sea scrolls though... argh!!

The display cabinet next to it just got moved. 

(You can see where it was in the before picture)

It's sitting where the tv used to.

A tour of the different shelves.

Some things were acquired while on vacations.

Byer's Choice Carolers collected in the 

early 2000's

The ship in the bottle was from our visit to

Boston...that's the USS Constitution

I saw the chubby lady at Cracker Barrel one year and grabbed it...I said it looked like me! 

Aren't the kids cute!

 So this is one of the projects that's been keeping me busy lately.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil be done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

I'm joining 
Between Naps on the Porch 
for
Metamorphosis Monday

And 

Ivy and Elephants

As Always....