Wordless Wednesday

More Before and After

The pocket doors were a big project. Even the hardware was painted. Why do people do that???Many layers later .....

This is a picture of the pocket doors from the dining room side (future project site) before stripping.

And these are the doors now- from the parlor side.

The next picture is not a before/after. I was trying to get a picture at night with the fireplace turned on. Do you see the flames and coals? It really puts out a lot of heat. It will be wonderful in the winter!

Here we have a picture of the hall on moving day. Notice the Christmas decorations. We moved in March 1st! The house had not been lived in for a year and a half. I guess they thought the Christmas decoration would help sell the house.....it didn't work!
Now the after- a couple of different angles.
Looking toward the back of the house...before.....

And after....
Parlor, sometime in the first month, the dolls, plant, cat and small rocking chair were ours. The other things came with the house - we still have the furniture and lamp. The rug and lace curtains went to the curb ( I love to recycle but trust me- they were too far gone- and they weren't vintage!)

See - the same furniture today!

Happy 4th of July

Before and After

This is just a preview of a post I'm working on. When we moved in the house in 2001 I took some pictures. I did not have a digital camera and many of the pictures are poor. I was in a hurry- just snapping when I remembered. I wish I had done a better job. But I tried scanning a few in so I could try some before and after comparisons! This is the parlor the day we moved in......

This is the parlor 5 minutes ago.....

I think there is improvement! The parlor is 95% done. We still need a light fixture for the ceiling and I am still trying out artwork in different places. More before and after to come...........................

The Grand Finale

Some of our projects are finally done! First the fireplace... the tile came and DH finished the hearth. He installed the insert and it is wonderful. I am so proud of the way he figured all of this out! It is better than my vision of it was!

Next - the paper mache projects made it for the 4th of July! I put the glaze and the ribbons on them and hung them on the feather tree! I really enjoyed working on these. As always, when I worked on them, more ideas popped into my mind! So I have started even more. I forgot to take a picture of the Halloween pug- but, I will be making more of them before Halloween. The stars on the tree are made of Styrofoam stars or tin foil shaped like a star -then covered with paper mache. I will be making more of them, too. I also have started some tiny Uncle Sam's made from a night light bulb. Last year I tried selling some Halloween ornaments on Ebay. It was OK, but I have sold them for more $$$ here in town. I have been thinking about trying Etsy. Maybe sometime in the future.....

Finally - The June Coupon Project!

Today's haul from Walgreen's - value $53.68- spent $7.45 OOP! I did use some money off my gift card, but I will be rebating and adding $10 back on so far for July. I have totaled my spending for groceries and drug store purchases for the month. It was shocking! I have my work cut out for me. I did save 53% overall, which I am proud of, but still I am surprised at the amount I do spend. I hope that the stocking up that I have been doing will even out and now I can maintain this stockpile without buying so much in one month!

Paper Mache Step 4

I painted them with acrylic paint. The good thing about paper mache is that your painting does not have to be perfect. The texture makes it hard to be very precise. The next step will be to spray on a Polycrylic sealer. The final step will be to put on an antiquing glaze. The glaze disguises the flaws in the painting and gives it a vintage look. Then I'll add some ribbons with the glue gun. I know this seems like it is complex -with a lot of steps, but it is really simple. It takes time because each step must dry. Last year I did it with 52 5th graders - we did one step each Friday as a behavior incentive. They turned out cute! Each one was different - we did Bulldogs (the high school mascot) with red and black hats on. The kids decorated their Christmas tree in a dog theme and collected food for a dog rescue group as a service project!

Paper Mache Step 3

Here we are hanging out in the backyard. Today I sprayed them with Kilz primer. Now once again they have to dry! Tonight I will start to paint them.