Spring Blooms

Ok, so it's not exactly spring yet in our neck of the woods, but it's beginning to look like it inside!

Isn't this rose amazing? Last week I treated myself to a bouquet at Trader Joe's.  For just $3.99, I couldn't pass up these beauties!

Pinky coral roses have always been one of my favorites.  What they lack in scent

(sadly, most of today's cultivated roses aren't fragrant), they more than make up in beauty!

 The buds were just starting to open when I bought them, and I've been amazed at how big they have gotten.  Each day they open more and more, and are actually bigger today than when I snapped these photos yesterday.

I also really love the hot pink roses.  The yellow alstroemeria have never been my favorite flowers, but they do make good fillers, and they last for weeks!

 I've put them in one of my favorite vintage milk glass vases, and placed them on our bistro set in the sunroom.  We eat breakfast and lunch here every day, and it's our favorite room in the house!

(well, my craft room is actually my very favorite!!)

And since my friend Diana loves multiple views of the same thing (I think she said "the more the better"), this post is dedicated to her, tee, hee:)

 Here's a view of part of the sunroom.  Sorry for the poor quality, with all of the light coming in the windows it was hard for me to get a good shot.

 Ok, now on to totally unrelated stuff!

All of the cold and snow from this past winter has left me longing for warmer days.

That must have been what inspired me to chose the bright and vibrant shades that I painted some of my latest Etsy shop offerings.

I was super excited to find this giant vintage wooden fork and spoon while thrifting on our Savannah trip!

 At nearly 2 1/2 feet tall, they are huge!

I couldn't wait til we got home to paint them this fun and cheerful aqua chalk paint.

 The color makes me think of the beach!

 And speaking of the ocean, while we were on our trip I had fun painting these cute cast iron sea horse hooks.

I mixed up a bunch of different colors to create this pretty aquamarine shade that I love.

Then hubby helped mount them on vintage wooden plaques that he found for me

(he makes a great picker!!)

which I also painted beachy blues and aquas.

 Aren't these little guys cute?

 Finally we are thawing out this week, with temps in the 50's.  That will seem like a heat wave for us!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Think Spring!!

Beachy Sea Horse Hooks

I love being able to craft while we are camping in our motor home!  To me creating is like breathing, I need to do it!  And I am happiest while I am working on projects.  

So I thought I'd share with you my latest creation, that I just finished.

Aren't these sea horse hooks just adorable?  They are made of wrought iron.  I painted them each a different beachy color, ranging from aquamarine to turquoise to light blue.  Then I distressed them a bit to give them time worn charm.  I am in love with these gorgeous colors!

 Sure wish that I'd taken a before shot of the wood board that I mounted them on.
(well, my handy hubby actually mounted them for me!) 

It began life as a dark wood finished and very country-ish (as in 1980's country!) plaque!
It had been hand painted with little Amish girls, and was definitely not what I had in mind!
I could hardly wait to transform it with this pretty light blue.
Here is a close up of the sea horses.
I think they are just so darn cute!

I've added it to my Etsy shop if you want to take a peek.
I am keeping a smaller version of my shop open while we are here in Savannah.

Next time I'll be sure to share with you pics of some of the pretty scenes around downtown historic Savannah!

Aquamarine

Hope you all had a great 4th!  It's hard to believe that it's over with already, isn't it?

Today I wanted to share with you two of my latest painted creations that I've put in my shop, in yummy shades of aquamarine.  I think it's such a happy color, it makes me think of a day at the beach!

First up is this chalkboard makeover.  I wish that I'd taken a before picture (bad blogger me!). The vintage frame was an icky shade of olive green (and I mean icky!).

It contained a print of a horse on cardboard. While interesting, it just wasn't the look that I was going for!

I knew right away that I wanted to paint this puppy in pretty aquamarine tones. So, I mixed up a bunch of different paints that I had on had (I love mixing my own colors!), and think it looks so much better!

I gave it a generous dose of distressing, followed by an antiquing glaze.

I had hubby cut me a new masonite board that I painted with multiple coats of chalkboard paint.

I'm so happy with the way it turned out!

Next is this solid wood wine rack, that I was super excited to find on our camping trip up north last month.

It is made of walnut, and was a dark finish when I discovered it.  You know me, I just had to cover it up as soon as possible!

I used the same shade of aquamarine that I'd mixed up for the chalkboard.

It took me quite a bit longer to paint than I thought it would, but I think it turned out great .  It holds 12 bottles of wine, and is really sturdy!

Look at these neat wooden pegs on the ends that hold it all together. Love them!

While we are on the subject of wine, I just had to show you the neatest wine glass that a sweet friend of mine gave me for my birthday in May.  I've never seen one like it, it's Paris themed, and so me!

(sorry about the glare, it was hard to get a shot without it!)

I love this quote!  So true!

Ooh, la, la!

My friend knows me well!

And here is one last look at the wine rack.

Now I just need to get busy and start painting the deck railing on the front of our house!

Craft painting is more fun than that, I'm afraid!

Enjoy your weekend, and keep cool and crafty!

Latest Projects

Hello ladies!  Hope you all are having a great week!

Today I thought I'd share with you some of my latest painting projects, all done in wonderful beachy hues!

 I love finding interesting candleholders to paint, and this set of four have the most unique shape.  Actually, I have to give credit to hubby for picking them up at a thrift shop (guess he's learned well!).  I decided they would be even more interesting painted slightly different beach inspired shades, ranging from aquamarine, to turquoise, to blue. 

 What I really love about these candle holders, aside from their vibrant colors, is their interesting 8 sided shape.  I've never come across any like this before. And of course I just had to distress them, which I think highlights their shape even more.

 I had fun mixing up the colors, too! I have so much fun mixing various paint to create new and pretty colors!

 I used two of the above colors to paint this pretty pair of tin wall hangings, that are reminiscent of vintage ceiling tiles.

 After distressing, I added my favorite antiquing glaze, which adds to their vintage feel.

 Love the details!

 I also am always hunting for mirrors that I can makeover.  I found this cute matching pair when we were in Northern Michigan a few weeks ago.  They are wood framed, and have a pretty raised design that I really like.

 You can never have too many mirrors!

 And least but not least, this sweet vintage pair of Homco mirrors, that my thrifting friend found for me.  You may have come across mirrors like these before. They were originally blah brown, but now I just love how vibrant and cheery they are done up in aquamarine!

 The mirrors feature a wonderful faux wicker look.  I really love their swirly borders.

 I've added everything to my Etsy shop, if you want to take a peek!

Now go out and paint something!

Beach Cottage Mirror Makeover

Hello, hope you are having a great day!

If you visit here on a regular basis, you know how much I love mirrors! And painting just about anything in sight!  So today I thought I'd share with you one of my latest creations, what I'm calling

"beach cottage" mirrors!

I found these new mirrors over the weekend, and quickly scooped them up, as I knew that they were begging for a color transformation!  Of course they didn't start out looking like this!  Oh, no!

 This is how they began life.  Not bad, but not the look I was going for, either!  While I was tempted to buy all that the store had, I forced myself to stop at just two!

 I could hardly wait to begin painting these puppies!  I knew right away that I wanted to use several "beachy" shades, ranging from turquoise, to aqua, to light blue, to aquamarine.

 What do you think of their makeover?

 I really love how the textured wood is reminiscent of weathered wood that you might find at the beach.  I can just picture a cute little beach cottage painted one of these pretty colors, can't you?

 Here's one last look.  I've placed them in my Etsy shop if you want to take a peak!

 Ok, I sure hope that you aren't tired of seeing the view from here!  While these next photos have nothing to do with my mirrors, it's such a gorgeous day here today on the Puget Sound, I had to get out and snap a few shots from our back yard.  The snow covered Olympic Mountains are in their full, snowy covered glory!

 Well, I guess you could say that these views do have a bit in common with my mirrors!  The Sound is so calm today, I wish that you could see the reflection of the clouds in the water.  A mirror image reflection!!

 I'm really gonna miss this view when we move back to Michigan!!

I'm linking up today's post with Debra over at Common Ground, for Vintage Inspiration Friday.  Be sure to visit!