Paint On My Hands

 

A rusty old watering can

and this cute little can of Saltwash occupied my day last Friday.

Actually, it wasn't the watering can, but the bottom that rusted completely off and I saved for some inexplicable reason.

But, then I saw this cute sign and all of a sudden saving the rusty circle seemed to make sense.

My can of Greek Blue paint was out so I slapped a coat on that rusty piece

and rearranged the porch shelf to show it off.

The blue paint was out because I was transforming an ugly duckling of a table into a swan using Saltwash and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

@ilovesaltwash

I learned about Saltwash on Instagram and I was intrigued with the the bumpy, weathered look the Saltwash creates so I ordered some online from Amazon.

The first thing I painted was the top of a stool using an undercoat of Saltwash and ASCP in Pure White followed by a top coat of Antibes. 

I love the crackled look after sanding.

This table had seen better days,

and I am so pleased with the way it turned out.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint dries quickly so the whole transformation, from mixing the Saltwash into white paint to the final sanding, only took about 3 hours.

When you look at the before and after photos of the kitchen, you can see that I painted one more thing - I'm reducing the amount of red in the house so the farmhouse table got a coat of ASCP Pure White.

Today there was no paint on my hands and it wasn't as much fun - I washed every pillow and slipcover in the house.

At Loose Ends

A morning walk along the beach is part of our daily routine, but the rest of each day is up to me.

This week I have been "at loose ends" and after lots of company earlier in the month, that feels pretty good.

I never have difficulty finding little projects around the house to keep me busy.

I think it goes back to my childhood of always playing with my mother's tchotchkes.

I love this enamel April Cornell bowl that gets used all over the house in vignettes.

When Steve hung this painting in the guest room, it really changed the color scheme.

Red pillows looked out of place so I stenciled a fabric scrap and made a pillow for the bed - I think I have an idea for another pillow to go along with it.

My neighbor's tree has little purple puff balls this time of year so I cut a bunch that were hanging on our side of the fence to create a pretty a lunch time centerpiece.

When I made this sign the other day, I used rub on letters and I neglected to put everything away,

but that turned out to be a good thing because Steve was tossing a clear wine bottle into the recycle bin when he realized I might want it.

I thought it might be fun to add numbers to the bottle.

I was no longer at loose ends because I grabbed various bottles from cupboards and started decorating them - words decorate another tall bottle.

A little bottle that held Lemon Curd last week now has a cute little label defining Home.

A simple grid adorns another bottle and if you look closely, you'll see numbers at the bottom.

I put all the bottles together for a photo and decided I liked them on the shelf, so there they sit for now.

I'm not rushing the holidays, but I had to use up those "scary" letters.

I leave you with a picture that might give you a clue to my next project - I finished it this morning, but I still have to take pics.

All in all, I am pleased with how I used my time when I was "at loose ends".

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Join me at Poofing the Pillows for Thoughts of Home Thursday

Enjoy Life

I love the inspiration I get from blogging and Instagram - I read a post that gets me thinking and then see a photo that illustrates my thoughts.

The other day I saw a pic on Instagram with the comment, "I am so over summer, please can't it be fall!" and I told them "LIFE is too short to wish away time".

We don't have to do big, exciting things to make each day special and that was beautifully illustrated in a post, "A Cheap Date" I read on the blog, Podso.

Among other things, Dotsie took her grands to watch airplanes land and take off -no electronics, no expensive amusement park, no fast food - just a simple outing where they all just enjoyed life.

Like Dotsie and her grands, it hasn't taken much for me to enjoy life this week - sitting on the beach with Steve . . .

an adorable bouquet sent to Lulu from a recent house guest . . . 

sky flowers in bloom

and now on display in the living room . . .

a slow paddle in the harbor to escape the heat . . . 

seeing a sign I liked

and finally getting around to creating one of my own . . . 

getting a new bike (easier to shift) in a fun color . . .

and in case you were wondering, no, I do not ride the bike along the beach with a cute bouquet of flowers in the basket.

But, an IG friend suggested that a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine would fit perfectly.

As you can see, we had a week of small pleasures spent in our little cottage.

And our new week is off to a wonderful start with purple flowers that popped up out of nowhere and a special beach moment.

Instead of a beautiful blue ocean view when we got out to the beach tonight, we were greeted with fog,

but look who was playing near the shore and enjoying life.

A Great Bundle of Little Things

Oliver Wendell Holmes knew what he was talking about

when it came to his philosophy of life.

Flowers in the garden were among the little things in my life this week.

We rode past this sweet little garden on our bicycles and I made Steve turn back with me to snap a photo.

Steve has been moving old paintings around the house to make room for new pieces.

The aqua tints of the painting called for a change on this wall of the guest room and it all makes me quite happy.

Another little thing this week was Steve hanging a new painting over the mantel.

I'll wait a month to show you how it looks on the mantel because one of the best little things this week was that we made arrangements for the last 3 rooms in the house to be painted white.

In a post, Change . . . Always Change, I showed Steve working on a new plein air painting in the garden.

Steve diligently painted the tall skinny painting at my request for a specific wall in the living room.

Like the painting of the boats, I won't show off this painting on the wall until it hangs against a crisp white background.

All these little things add up to a wonderful week

and I hope you had a great bundle of little things in your life this week.