Everything's Coming Up Roses!

When the kids were little, our house seemed to be the hangout for our friends.  I think when you have three little kids as close together as we did, people would rather come to your house where your kids have all their needs.  As a result, we hosted a lot of parties and casual gatherings.  One of the things I liked to do was to have fresh flowers.  Usually I bought a bouquet at the grocery store and they lasted quite a while.  I've gotten out of the habit of buying flowers, though I sometimes cut some bougainvillea from one our bushes and put them in a mason jar.  Love that simple look!  But, the grocery store I usually go to had a sale on roses this week with two dozen roses in each bundle and I just could not resist.

The white ones are my favorite.

White roses are just elegant.

Soft and feminine!

They even look great in a simple, every day setting.

The second dozen were a lovely red.

They matched the cherry turnovers - aren't they lovely?

Red roses makes everything festive and romantic, too!

Beautiful flowers inside - pouring rain outside.  This was yesterday! It rained hard and fast.

Too hard and too fast.  This is our covered patio -- flooded!  The cushions got soaked and I think ruined!  I will have to replace them.

The wind blew over the flower pots.  These are just by the sliding glass door into the kitchen.  Another inch and the water would have been in the kitchen, too.  You can see the edge of the door frame on the lower right of this photo.  That's a lot of water! It's monsoon time in the desert!

At least inside, there were lovely roses and it was cozy.

Hope you are having a day filled with roses!

xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lois

Joining A Return to Loveliness linky party

C'est la vie!

Hi friends, I don't know about you, but there are phrases we hear that just fit our lives for a time.  The French version of "That's Life" is one of those that has stuck with me since high school French class.  For the past couple of years events in our lives that have changed things for us have us saying, "It is what it is!"  Sometimes you can control things and sometimes you can't -- c'est la vie!

For some time now I've been wanting to make a chalk board.  They are all over Pinterest and Blogland.  But, I didn't really want to jump in with both feet and do a wall or anything big, so decided to start small before tackling making one of the larger frames I have into a chalk board.  You know -- work out the kinks on something not quite as significant!

This little chalk board was purchased in the late 80's or early 90's, can you tell?

This little base was part of a gift.  The other part was a tile with strawberries painted on it and the purpose was a white board.  I never quite got around to using it, but decided the base could work for the little chalkboard.

So I painted it white.  I also antiqued it, but I didn't take a photo of that step.

Then I taped off the chalkboard so I could paint the frame.  You do know that if you hold a razor blade down tight you can get a clean cut, don't you?

So much easier than trying to use scissors!

More of the white paint for the frame which was also antiqued -- again, didn't take photos of that step.

Next the frame was taped off in preparation for the chalkboard paint.

This is what I used.  It just seemed like a sprayed on surface would be easier to use.

This is after the first coat.  In between coats I sanded.  This was especially necessary on this project because the surface had the country greeting and heart snowflakes painted on it.  I did 3 coats, sanding in between each coat to make sure the surface was smooth. After 24 hours, I rubbed chalk all over the surface to season it.

I used a Bistro Chalk Marker from Hobby Lobby, but I think the next message may be done in regular chalk.  This looks a little "painty" to me.

The key is from Sweet Salvage Now Showing that I told you about here and here.  The little chalkboard measures 9-1/2 x 7-1/4 so you can see how LARGE this key is!

And the key to life?  "C'est la vie!"  Just take it one day at a time -- and pray a lot!

Hope your life is wonderful today!

xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lois

On a Pedestal

While it is never a good idea to put people on a pedestal since it's pretty ugly when they fall off, I love other things on pedestals.  A cake just looks so much more festive on a pedestal.  An apothecary jar with a pedestal is just exciting with anything in it.

Since it's July, I've been thinking Christmas.  I know it's early, but I'm so slow getting things done, it will take me until then to get even half of the things I've got dogeared in magazines and books that I've been going through.  S many ideas, so little time!

Remember the first time I went to Sweet Salvage and bought this apothecary jar?  Well, I was really thinking Christmas even then, but in the meantime, it looks great with the shells and sand.  But, when I was at the dollar tree one day, I noticed they had these great glass candle holders next to some cylindrical and rounded glass containers that could be vases or hold candles as well.  My mind started putting the two together.  I had recently read about someone who was making cake pedestals using thrift store plates and candle holders, so why not!

Here is what I put with the great apothecary jar I already purchased once the glue dried.

I was so excited to do these, I had the two I purchased put together before I even thought about taking photos of the process.  I had planned to go buy some more, but when I opened a cabinet door one day I noticed these.

Even with the different textures on the two pieces, it seemed like they could make a great little pedestal to go with the other two.

So, out came the glue and the newspaper to protect the counter again.  I used a glue especially for glass, but there are many types available at the craft stores that would work on glass.  This one called for putting glue on both pieces, waiting a couple of minutes and then putting them together.  Of course, you do need to make sure they are centered correctly.

Then set something heavy on top while they dry.  The glue I used said it would be set in 15 minutes, but it would be 24 hours before it was completely cured. 

The votive looks great on a pedestal.

A few shells in the cylindrical one look good, but more would be better -- need to go shell hunting at Hobby Lobby again.

Only a few shells were left for the rounded pedestal container, but won't it look great with miniature ornaments at Christmas?

A final look at the group and I'm still thinking Christmas possibilities!

Now, I have three things with paint drying on them, so I need to go check if I can do the next step on any of them yet.

Hope you are having a creative and wonderful day.

xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lois

Sweet Salvage Now Showing Part Two

Hope you enjoyed Part one of the July Sweet Salvage Now Showing.  There were too many photos to put them in one post so, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a few more vignettes.

There were a lot of letters, but loved this one at the checkout spelling out Film.

I love the theater seats with the subway art.

I don't think Hollywood has a subway system, but perhaps it's for the Streetcar Named Desire?

Loved the bags!  Perhaps the crown is for The King and I?

Someone must be working 9 to 5 on this old typewriter.  It's a bit like the one I showed you here

Musical score pillow could be for many films!

Each of these drawers was marked with a stars name.  Wonder what happened to the G that should be between the two M's  Could that car be Christine?

Ah, Norma Jean/Marilyn!

There had to be this famous photo!  Sorry about the glare of the glass!

This was one of my favorite pieces.

Loved the #2 Laundry basket.  Wait, I used to have a basket chest like the one behind it.  Where did they find that?

This Gingerbread work is far to pretty to have come from the Bates House, isn't it?

Adore this chair!

This sofa is giving me ideas for reupholstering our living room sofa.  Isn't it lovely?

A silk quilt!  Wow!

There was ticking at Tiffany's?

And more ticking on this chair.

A lovely old street sign.

Love the garden statue with the fan and pearls.

This was actually the first thing I saw when I walked in the door and the last thing when I left.

I wanted to take it all home!  Les Fleurs.

Thank you Sweet Salvage for a lovely time!  See you next month for cake!

Hope you enjoyed a visit with me to Sweet Salvage.  Next time, plan to go with me -- we'd have a great time!

Have a marvelous day, friends!

xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lois

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