I Can't Sit Still

I just discovered PicMonkey.

I know I am behind the times, but I still work full time teaching middle school so the fact that I find any time to blog or be creative at all is pretty amazing.

Anyway, back to Pic Monkey.

I began my morning in a hospital waiting room at 5:15 a.m. 

Steve's surgery was scheduled for 7:30 a.m.

At 7:30 a.m. the head of the hospital dropped by.

I have had enough surgeries to know that the head of the hospital doesn't usually drop in on routine surgeries.

He wanted to let us know that someone (not him) had forgotten to order the replacement parts (as if Steve was a vintage car) and they couldn't proceed until they arrived.

And, the parts were coming from Los Angeles.

And, if you know Los Angeles, distance is never given in miles, but in time.

The surgery ended up starting 3 hours late.

I cannot sit still.

So, I played with PicMonkey.

I signed up for the paid version and I wanted to try out some of the features.

First, I created a collage of our front yard which is actually our back yard.

You can read why here.

Next I played with pictures of the back of our house, which in reality is the front of the house.

I wish my garden looked this pretty right now.

And in hunting down pictures, I thought I should show you what the back yard
(which was the front yard in 1928)
looked like when we moved in.

Believe me, had I known that one day I would write a blog, I would have moved the hose and the BBQ before shooting the picture.

The French doors on the left side picture lead to our bedroom then.

 Now, they are  the entrance to Steve's studio and that room is our guest room.

The French doors you see in the photo above are the exterior entrance to the studio we added so Steve would stop dripping oil paint on the floor and furniture.

The one thing I really miss from the yard when we moved in is the boat abloom with flowers.

When we were looking at houses, KC and I called our house "The Boat House" because of that boat.

Unfortunately, it rotted away and the jungle took over its spot.

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I still have a lot to learn about PicMonkey.

Steve is out of surgery and doing great.

I don't have to sit still any more.

Unfortunately it will be a few days before Steve is home and many more before he can pick up a paint brush.

Maybe I will let him learn PicMonkey and he can create the collages of the inside of the house.

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You can find me partying at

The Busy Bees

Savvy Southern Style

Lavender Garden Cottage

Vintage on a Dime

Cozy Little House

Fluster Buster

I'm A Copycat

If "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" then I am definitely a flatterer.

I pinned the ring of keys on the right over a year ago.

I changed the items on the scale when I was doing my next Pinterest "copycat" vignette.

Another copycat project involved changing the color of a favorite bench.

The  yellow bench and  white bench were both pinned over a year ago.

I recently switched this red bench

with this green bench in the living room.

I really like the bench as is with the yellow stripe down the center, but the shade of red definitely clashes with the red sofa in our guest room. 

After a new coat of Annie Sloan Arles, I set up the bench to emulate the Pinterest pics.

The scale and books are back in the house.

Since it will be outside, I'm not sure what will end up on the bench.

But, I am sure I can find  some great ideas on Pinterest,

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You can find me partying at

Cozy Little House

Coastal Charm

Alderberry Hill

Cowgirl Up

The Dedicated House

Boogieboard Cottage

I was busy today . . .

I will be spending a lot of time at home in the near future.

My husband is having shoulder replacement surgery on Tuesday and we have no idea what to expect in terms of recovery.  

He has been told that it will be about a year for full recovery.

That means we won't being doing a lot of kayaking, tennis, cycling or swimming for awhile.

I could do all of those things, but I don't want to leave him at home alone so we will be doing a lot of hiking and walking on the beach.

At least for the next week, I will be taking care of him while his movement is limited.

I will have time for some projects.

So, last night I decided to look at my Pinterest boards for inspiration.

I copied 29 images onto my To Make list last night.

Today,  I completed two projects and actually began two more.

FIRST

It was a beautiful sunny day ( I am sorry to everyone buried in snow) and I was able to actually work in the garden.

Steve has been threatening to take photos of my garden and sneak them into my blog to show everyone the jungle.

After tackling one section of the garden, I moved my garden bench from one side of the garden

this was taken last fall - my garden doesn't look this green and there are very few flowers right now

to another

and added some pillows.

Bear assumed that I had moved the bench for him.

My inspiration?

via

I left out the tray of lemonade.

It might have been sunny, but it was not warm enough to sit in the garden and relax.

I am not sure if I will paint the bench.

I do plan to change the two white pillows to one long pillow.

And I want to make some red, yellow and blue pillows inspired by the beautiful garden from the blog My Painted Garden which was recently featured in Flea Market Gardens.

Her garden is amazing and in my color palette. 

SECOND

With the garden on its way, I moved onto finishing a project I began a month ago.

I painted this mirror with chalkboard paint originally.

And, I have been looking on Pinterest for ideas that I thought I might be able to create.

One reason I waited was that I wasn't sure where I would even hang the mirror.

Living in an art gallery means I have very little wall space for my projects.

 I came across these great signs last night.

via                                                   via

I saw the black sign and loved the message.

 Then I saw the red one and realized I could paint the message instead of using chalk.

My plan was to hang the sign in our entry, but then it hit me that I could put the sign in the bathroom.

Our bathroom is the only room in the house that has no red so I settled on blue.

I used letter stickers to write the words.

I painted the mirror portion blue and added a starfish.

The letters didn't come out perfect and in some spots I left them as is.

After I hung the sign, I went in and touched up the letters and spots on the frame.

The new sign is hanging in the bathroom and just awaiting a little sanding tomorrow.

It's not perfect like the signs I found on Pinterest.

But I made it myself.

And the best part - it cost absolutely nothing.

Two down and only 27 more projects to go!

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You can find me partying at

The Pin Junkie

A Jennuine Life

Redoux

Homespun Happenings

French Country Cottage

Funky Junk Interiors

Jennifer Rizzo

Have a Cup of Mrs. Olson

My Romantic Home

The Answer is Chocolate

Tilly's Nest

The Trendy Treehouse

In the Old Road

Beyond the Picket Fence

Life on Lakeshore Drive

Favorite Container

I came across a new party the other day that sounded fun -

Polohouse Favorites on the First

Today I walked around the house looking at my containers.

I didn't realize I had so many different containers.

Colorful wooden boxes

both decorative and functional.

Baskets everywhere

filled with quilts, pillows, books . . .

Glass jars and urns filled with number or letter balls.

Travel chests both new and old sitting on shelves.

So, which is my favorite?

I love this metal box.

I love the beautiful clasp and the raised detail.

 In fact, looking at the box just sitting on the floor by a chest made me realize I need to give it a position of prominence.

I moved it to the living room and I am looking at it now as I type my post.

It is such a great box and it needs to be seen.

I am glad I found The Polohouse and the party - otherwise the box might still be ignored in the hallway.

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I am partying at

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Vintage on a Dime

Boogieboard Cottage

Lavender Garden Cottage

Out(side) With the Old . . . In With the New

On Tuesday, I bought this little chair - read about it here.

I left its sister at Tuesday Morning and went back to buy it.

I decided that I didn't like it as much so I left it sitting there and went home to find just the right place for the little chair.

The chair got a little pushy and told the red ladder that it would have to move.

My little red ladder was relegated  porch.

I potted some primrose and daffodils

and added a heart shaped rock Steve found on the beach.

With the ladder settled in the front yard,

I moved on to the chair.

The little red basket was on top of the ladder, but now sits under the chair.

Flowers stolen from a bench and a little book in red and yellow sit on the chair allowing the patina to be appreciated.

I love the little red ladder and wasn't sure I wanted to put it outside.

But, the purchase of the chair meant some changes were in order.

So the little ladder is "out."

The little green chair is "in".

And, all is right with the world.

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I am linked up at

Cowgirl Up

The Dedicated House

Simple Home Life 

Life on Lakeshore Drive

Under the Table and Dreaming

Boogieboard Cottage

Lavender Garden Cottage

Silver Pennies