the next project

I finally found a desk for M's room (the room with the silver bed we just painted). After driving past it about a thousand times, we finally stopped into that antique store in Scipio, the one with piles of antiques and junk scattered out front- year round. Yeah, well, this desk was in the jumbled mixed on the stoop, but under a tarp. This view makes it look pretty good- I love the wood colors.

Then you get a closer look and see that it really needs some love-

The dovetailed drawers cinched it for me- under all of it's nicks and gouges, this $15 desk is a steal.  When we barely got it stuffed it into the back of the Altima, I knew it was meant to be. Now I just need to decide how much work to put into it. Unfortunately, I don't have time to refinish it. It will likely end up with a coat of paint. A bit of a shame to cover up all the woodwork, but shame on the person who dragged it outdoors and let it rot.

summer projects

I'm finally getting around to the front porch chairs... perhaps it's mostly because I couldn't really come up with any more colors I liked after all of the sudden adding so much with the garage, front door and shutters.  I've collected these chairs over the winter, with the front porch in mind- the rocker one was given to me by a storage unit neighbor (yay, I love free!) and I found the other two in an antique store's back lot- super cheap.

I like the pink, even though it looks a little bright in this picture, the silver works too. The silver chair stood out when it was white, I figured a subtle 'satin nickel' would be better than a bright color. I think the yellow is too bright, I think I'll take it down a notch with yet another can of spray paint- when I get a minute.
 By the way- if you are looking for great spray paint colors, check out your local craft store. I discovered (a little late unfortunately) that Michaels had a much better color selection than even Home Depot or Ace hardware stores.

finally feeling like summer

Today feels like the first day of summer- first of all it's finally hot, it's supposed to hit 90 degrees (hallelujah!) and I for the first time yet this summer I basked in some sunshine at the edge of a body of water.  How can such a simple act make one feels so good? The kids played (in but mostly out of the still freezing water) and I read (book group book: Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld) and napped. This sort of activity (or lack of activity) is what summer is all about.
Deer Creek is lookin' beautiful, completely full and Mt. Timpanogos in the background...

one more thing-

So just one banner, and then I'll stop. I got the idea for the Swiss flag banners a few months ago about as I was thinking about Swiss Days, the cute little town of Midway, and how much I love flaggy things (makes everyday feels like a party) and all of that. It's taken this long to finally get one put together.

I think I'll make a few more for Swiss Days, maybe someone else wants to show some town pride or honor their heritage or perhaps they are on ski patrol, or they just love the Swiss flag. By the way, for all my neighbors who are wondering what could be next?  when is she going to put out her extensive collection of garden gnomes... it'll skip it and sell them on ebay.  No really, I am Swiss, somewhere back on my mom's side.

I promise when the flags get faded, I'll take them down. If there is one thing I can't stand it's the faded Himalayan prayer flags that people leave up for-e-ver, hanging in tatters across their yard or porch. It reminds me of Miss Havisham's mouldering wedding decor. Take it down people, I don't care if the superstitious folklore prohibits removal, do it anyway and stop embarrassing yourself.

and the mailbox too

I just had to do it, while all the paint was still out. Once again, chocking up hours and hours with the paintbrush in hand...

flower painted shutters

Here they are folks, my folk art flower painted shutters- in all their colorful glory, with their corresponding front and garage door. I got all crazy today and got my planters chocked full of annuals and the front flower bed planted with my favorite perennials and a few herbs too.  Let's not forget what I think is now my favorite part- the window boxes.

I picked up these metal baskets years ago in an antique shop's back lot. I used them for displaying goods when participating at art and craft shows over the years. It's nothing short of a miracle that they made the move and I still have them kicking around- not to mention- I have two of them, they happened to be about the right size, I figured out a way of mounting them to the wall (anchored with 3/8"C hooks that screwed deep into the wall to the sub-layer of wood) without having to order some crazy expensive window-box-hanging contraption off the internet. Then, without even really searching, I found the coconut husk liners you use with this kind of window box at a local nursery, got the boxes planted and hung up- all in a day or two. Ahhh, I have always wanted something to water twice a day all summer long...  Seriously, they are so cute, I don't even care how many times a day they need water.

progress

I've been working on the shutters all weekend, I wonder how many hours I will have logged when this project is finally finished?  I started with the stencils I made, then tossed them aside and started just hand drawing everything in pencil, then paining over my lines. The shutters won't be identical, which I think is more fun anyway; maybe I should hide a bee/Waldo/my name/butterfly/I {heart} JB on one of them.
My goal is to have them (all 6) done and installed on the front of my house no later than tomorrow.
But then I got the mail today and realized that my mailbox is so boring and white and I do have all the paint and brushes out...

high mountain greenery

I spent most of last week at Heber Valley Camp, with the girl's camp ladies. Summer is late coming this year, especially in the mountains, so- snow still lay in piles here and there. The green undergrowth is just starting to peek through, way too early for flowers. I don't know what these plants are called, watching them and all the other varieties of plant life work their way through the forest floor, little by little everyday was pretty amazing.

everybody else is doing it

Here is the best of my research, my faves in the folk art flower department as I prepare to paint my shutters. I figure, there aren't many places you can get away with painting fancy swiss scenes on the side of your house, garage doors or shutters. But living in Midway UT has afforded me this special opportunity. And so, I will join the ranks of folk art painting on the outside of my house, just as soon as I can design something I find appropriate.
Links to the artists in case you want to see more of their art.

From the top left:

1. Inaluxe, etsy shop here.

2. Swiss biscuit tin, google "swiss folk flowers" image search.

3. Embroidery, pattern here.

4. Traditional Polish folk design.

5. Red Lantern folk art, Mukashi Collection, find it here.

6. Wycinanki, Polish paper art.

7. American folk art quilt.

8. Kalocsa embroidery design, pattern here.

9. Kalocsa embroidery design, pattern here.

10. Swedish folk art embroidery, pattern here.

11. American folk art quilt.

12. Green Garden Stamps, etsy shop here.

13. Karla Gerard, website here.

14. Swedish folk flowers, embroidery.
15. Hungarian folk art embroidery.
16. Wycinanki, Polish paper art.

silver bed.done.

M's silver bed- all done and put back together. I'm really glad we did the extra work to get it silver, it's much sassier than the plain wood. It's probably a good thing we let the paint dry an extra day, the finish was smooth and hard, not likely to scrape off like half dry paint that just comes right off when accidentally scratched- it's happened to me too many times with walls and such. 

Now I'm on the lookout for a cute desk to replace the beat up drafting table in the corner and a night stand to go in place of the ikea bins she's now using (to the left of the bed) for the alarm clock, 22 tiny bottle of lotion and whatever book she's reading.

The quilt is from TJ Maxx, I knew we probably needed bedding with a white-ish background, with the walls and their super purpleness (chosen specifically and carefully by M herself), and all. We'll work on pillow shams and not just pillow cases soon. But for now, for the first time in 11 years of life- she sleeps with a smile on her face in her giant (no more twin-sized) cozy princess bed in a neat, tidy room she organized by herself and that will hopefully stay that way all summer long.

bold moves

It has been a week of projects- painting this and that, hanging stuff up,  searching ksl classifieds for hours... which is where I found this cute little bed for $20. After reading the ad (it said the bed was kind of beat up) I got the silver spray paint and made a plan. But when I picked it up and saw it was, in my opinion, in excellent shape (I guess I have a low threshold for wear and tear on furniture) I changed my mind and set it up with it's original honey brown color.  But alas- no. can. do.-  it was way too boring. We dragged it outside and without much to lose, started spraying...

I love it so far, it's going to be tough to wait the proper drying time because I can't wait to set it up. It took more Satin Nickel Metallic spray paint than I originally thought (wow- 5 cans for nice, even coverage, both sides and under carriage included).

It looked super sparkly and fantastic in the direct sunlight, I hope it still sparkles inside the house too. I'll get a finished bed&room picture posted tomorrow. 

where's the broom?

About 55 miles out on the Hole-in-the-Rock road, in perhaps one of the remotest areas left in this country, sits this ramshackle trailer. 

Much is left to the imagination- how long has it been here? how long was it used before someone trashed the place? is it haunted? what size are the jeans left there on the divan?

The kids were very creeped out. Snooping around this trailer is one of those childhood memories that'll be referenced among siblings and cousins for-ev-er. 

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if that handmade quilt there can be salvaged, Grandma Thelma is rolling over in her grave watching her precious quilt rotting and giving desert rodents a place to birth their babies.

Guys, whose turn is it to do the dishes? and I think we are out of paper towels...

No, but seriously, can you say creative writing assignment?

We couldn't help doing a little role play with the dirty dishes. And what a relief it was to find this type of periodical among the papers moldering in the corner, (and not the other kind so often stumbled upon in situations like these...) by the by, the Ensign in Q's hand there is dated 1999.