Sister, Strawberries, and Torso Tart

Stopped by the local Ye Olde Paintbox antique store last weekend in search of decoupage materials to use on my mannequin, who's been patiently waiting for a year in the garage to be transformed. Hit the jackpot with 30's, 40's, and 50's sheet music on sale 2/$1 that fit the bill.

Painted the decoullette and back of Miss M with gold paint then tore each cover page, along with the music sheets, into smaller sections so they could easily be attached.   Spent a couple of evenings after work gluing them on to Miss M.  She's now about 90% complete as she needs a finishing skirt or apron.  Should it be made of fringe, lace with glitter, or music sheets?  Or maybe pasties and a garter?  This weekend will be spraying her with luster clear coat and hopefully the right accouterments will pop into mind.

Miss M Naked

A quickie project created last weekend consists of a Dollar Tree plate and bowl along with  $1.79 clay planter to make a mini bird bath.

Today my fabulous sister Luna came to visit. We walked over to the Farmer's Market, which has grown significantly since the last time I was there.  Lots of veggies, baked goods, apple cider, dehydrated fruit and ice cream, and hot sauce.  The most popular item was flats of berries - people were waiting in a lengthy line as if their reward was a new iPhone or Barbra Streisand tickets, not a box of strawberries.

After the market, we hit Walmart then on to Lake Sacajawea as we assumed the Go 4th festivies would be in full force. Well, you know what they say about assuming!  Lots of vendors working on pre-set up but we found the food and sale tents would not be opening until July 2. 

Next stop was Sam's, who deemed Luna "hella cool" then back home where Jordan and Candy stopped by to say hi to Aunty Luna.  

Fun weekend so far!! July 4th coming up so looking forward to getting off early on Monday, holiday on Tuesday, then on vacation from July 7-14. No plans yet but it's going to be in the 90's so we will definitely be hitting the beach!🎆🏖🌞

Stepping Stones, Shell Fabric, and Walking

Outside of the back kitchen door there are three stepping stones. They had weeds and moss in abundance and I finally decided to give them a little spit shine.

Scraped the gunk away, defined them with a putty knife, then washed and scrubbed the dirt away. Painted two with a base of royal blue and one with teal blue then added swirls of the opposite color and a touch of white.  Much better!!

Browsing in Goodwill, ran across a light gray sofa cover. Currently have a goose feather-filled dark brown couch which sheds its filling on a frequent basis. Snagged the cover and spent this morning manhandling the sofa, pulling and stretching the (probably too small) cover. Well, it worked and of course my creative brain began sparking to come up with different pillows and throws.

Dug through the pile of fabric on hand and made four seashell-themed pillow cases from a table cloth, two cases from a cast-off drape, and two covers from a table banner. Swapped out the quilts on the sofa and loveseat for teal blankets, which are more in line with the beach theme and voila!  New living room decor and no more wild goose feathers!!

Still had energy today to make two loaves of banana bread and a black bean corn salad.

Oh, here's a recent achievement - I started walking every day or, at a minimum, 4 days per week. Trying to fit in a minimum of 5,000 steps each day and have been walking early morning or during my lunch break. And have been enjoying it!!

And it's a three day weekend! This year my company included Juneteenth as a holiday so no work on Monday!!  Will need to meditate on my next craft project!!

Animal Visitors Amongst the Wind

Mother Nature has brought us some feathery and furry visitors along with gusts of wind that rival Kansas!

Here's the neighborhood Bluejay taking a swim in our birdbath, loving every minute of his time in the water.

This deer showed up in our front yard, trying to find the rest of his pack. Pretty rare to see Bambi so close to downtown Longview. 

Here's a taste of the wind we experience so often. We can't quite figure out the reason why we have a channel of wind that surrounds our house - is it due to the river nearby, the large trees, or the cosmos have planted us smack dab in the middle of a windy causeway. 

Odds and Ends

Celebrated Jordan's big 30th birthday with lunch last weekend at Parker's in Castle Rock. Love their seafood fondue!

Watched The White House Plumbers about Howard Hunt, Gordan Liddy, and Watergate. There was this raspy old lady in the part of a Schlitz chugging secretary and she just looked familiar.  All of a sudden it hit me - Kathleen Turner, the sex goddess from 80's and 90's movies!  Wow!!

Reminded me of Jamie Lee Curtis' Academy Award winning transformation in Everything Everywhere, All at Once. Another moment where she was not immediately recognizable.

Decoupaged a wooden art figure to create a doll to hang on my recent mannequin.

There was a large rock near the front door that called out for a paint job.  Turned it into a Queen Moon.

Had a large slab of driftwood that I thought would make a beachy bench. Painted it as a surfboard based on Sam's creative input. The bench idea didn't really work but it still looks good in the flowerbed.

Poor little hubcap Sam found for me had been rolling around the back of my rig for quite awhile. Brought it inside, meditated a few days, and painted it as an octopus.  Just needs some clear coat before it's ready to hang somewhere outside.

The violets by the front door needed a new stand. After digging through the garage, found a substantial vase along with an extra microwave plate for the top. Painted a few large starfish and added glass marbles for filler. Topped it off with baby lights for nighttime jazz. 

And last but not least is a driftwood fish wall hanging.  Inspired by a metal fish sculpture in Joann's. Cut a batch of random fish out of scrapbook paper, painted a few, then attached elevated to driftwood (yes, there is a large availability of driftwood at my house.) 

Weekend Crafts

Sunshine and blue skies for the majority of the weekend which is always a plus. 

Visited a thrift sale in Lexington on Saturday. Not too much but I spied some rusty metal garden art that couldn't be passed up. The seller said he had some I could have....for free! I wasted no time in grabbing a large flower, two birds, and even an octopus!  

I gave the octopus to Jordan; he added a light and placed it out front. I ended up painting my rusty pieces and placed them in the flower bed.

My next project was to paint one of Manny's old tables - a small magazine holder. I wanted to do mosaic for the top but could not find acceptable plates to break. Ended up going to Home Depot and ran across some parquet samples ....for free!  Snagged several, painted the table a bluish gray, then placed the samples on top. Voila! Instant makeover.

Picked up a $1.99 teapot at Goodwill. Added lights, hung it on a Dollar Tree stand, placed a bucket underneath and bingo! Had an outdoor yard object for little to no money.

Finished my mannequin last week. Pulled apart a rag rug banner I had previously made, restrung it on ribbon, and added it to the decoupaged lady. Pulled out some coffee filter flowers I made, dyed them red, added gold leafing, then glued to the  neck and waist. Ended up looking awesome!

 

And that's it.....for now!! 😉

Mother's Day Bouquet of Activity

Friday picked up a full, gorgeous, blooming hanging basket as my Mother's Day gift. Saturday morning we hung it up then refreshed the flower bed by adding my shabby chic wicker chairs, a potted azalea, and replaced the crappy outdoor lights from Harbor Freight with Dollar Tree ones as they work and last much longer. 

Manny and I left to run errands and sister Julie posts the following picture:

Huh, that looks like my place! That scamp was in town and stopped by to see me but we weren't home so she sent me this pic. As they say, pic or it didn't happen!!

Later Candy and I cruised over to Goodwill to find bargains. I ran across the following doll which appeared to be vintage. She was so cute I couldn't pass her up for $4.

Searched for details on line and discovered she is a 1950's Poland tourist doll worth $50+. Score! 

This morning rose early and created a Dollar Tree summer wreath for the front door.

Manny and I cleaned and vacuumed the car (which was filthy!), then ran it through the car wash. It's now sparkling and smells scrumptious inside.

Got home and dove into my next craft project - a mannequin gifted to me by Erin that I planned to decoupage. I ordered some vintage 4 x 6 sheets of printed paper which included music sheets, maps, advertisements, and floral sheets. Spent the afternoon modge podging a variety of sheets on to the dress form. Intend to add more items to it, including flowers I made from old books. 

So warm we decided to hit Willow Grove for a break. Too cold to swim so hung out and people watched.

Came home, ate French dip sandwiches, and shared a small cake to celebrate Mother's Day. Talked to the boys but we were unable to meet up but, based on my activities, not sure I could have fit them in my schedule.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mama's out there but especially to my mom in heaven. Miss you every day!! ❤️