Flying

Yesterday evening we went flying.....

my husband has his pilot's license and we have some really generous friends who allow us to fly their piper cub....

I love the perspective you get when you're flying....

Bails of hay that look like they're little tiny dots....

Being up about 1500 feet....makes you feel pretty insignificant when you look down....

This is also the airport where my header photo was taken....

A beautiful evening....I love dating my husband :)

Lockers are DONE!

Here's what we started with...

And here's where we ended up...

Lot's of sanding later...L.O.T.S.......

Alot of sweat in these but it was worth it...I'm so glad I decided to sand.  I think it gives them a whole different feel as opposed to the grey.

after sanding with the 80, 180, then 220 grit sandpaper, my husband wiped them down with lacquer thinner first, then with this stuff. 

You wipe until the cloth comes away clean and don't touch the metal with your skin.  This will make your spray painting go on much better and stay!  We used a Kylon clear gloss to finish them.

They are in the house!  And the ugly white stuff....

is gone...I think I've had it since college.

 I had plenty of room for what I needed to put in there with an extra locker left over for some really large photo albums and my iron :)

 Big improvement. 

On a totally different note....see the Calla lilly plant on the left side of our dresser???

 It's getting really big and I don't want it to die....Is it just too big for the pot it's in or should I tie it up so it's not hanging down so far????  Help!!!   I know I can keep the bulb and replant it...not sure what to do with it right now or when to do that...all you gardening people out there I need help!

Paint party!

Since I've been painting everything in sight this summer....linking up to Modern Country Living's


partying all week long!  I linked up my Feedsack chair...I may have to go back and link up some more projects later....it's getting later here.  Lockers will be in our bedroom TOMORROW!  Look for a post.  I may have to cheer when the ugly white furniture LEAVES my house for good...

Metal lockers

  I have one last piece of furniture in our bedroom (which holds my running clothes) that I really want to get rid of.  It's that white pressed board stuff and I hate it.  But furniture is pricey so I've been waiting to find the right thing that will fit in the space and do the job.  We've been on the hunt for some lockers for awhile now.....and here's what we found last weekend!

Some friends of ours told us about this little flea market that's not too far from us so we decided to go (last weekend was our anniversary....we celebrate BIG!!! LOL) Anyways the guy was asking $15 apiece but sold them both to us for $25.  The last set I saw they were asking $80 for so I was pretty happy....

 So I want them to be bare metal....and I don't really want the chemicals of the stripping so....yeah....I started with 80 grit then switched to 180 and finished with 220.  When they're done I'm going to spray them with clear gloss.

They're coming along really great...it's just so hot here right now.  The heat index is some crazy high number ---on the news they keep saying "It's 92 degrees but it feels like 110!"  Like you can't figure that out for yourself when you walk outside and immediately start sweating!!!!! So it's slow going but I'm close to finishing...I'll keep you posted....

Wanna a good laugh?!?!?!

I have to tell on myself.  Let me start this post off by saying I am and have been a runner since I was in my early 20's.  So I've been doing this for about 16 or 17 years.  I've had some interesting experiences along the way.  I once got caught out far from home during a tornado warning.  I also had a man try to pull my shorts off while running on a bike trail....I think it may have even been these pictured.  Anyways....I've had them forever.  They are my FAVORITE pair of shorts to run in.  I ran 2 marathons in them.  This is a photo of the back.....

And you may wonder why I have photos of my ripped running shorts????  There is more to the story...We don't live on a running friendly street.  So to run during the week with my kids I have to get them ready in the morning, pack Mighty's diaper bag, pack a snack for Doodlebug, get all of us out to the garage and loaded into the Tahoe.  We go to a local park about 5 minutes down the road in town and I park there.  Haul the Burley trailer out of the back and get both kids loaded into the trailer with all our "stuff".....It's at THIS point on Monday that I realize that this is what has happened to my shorts.  

Yeah EXACTLY!!!!!  And the weather here has been smoking hot.  I mean I'm already sweating like crazy ---  And I'm thinking "I did ALL this to get here and now I'm going to have to go back home?!??!?!" And more importantly how many cars drove past me BENDING over to get the trailer ready?!?!?!??  Not my finest moment.

 Motherhood is NOT for the faint of heart girls!!!!  If you're a mom you know what I'm talking about. All kinds of things happen that are totally embarrassing  and you just have to learn to let it go....so I found a towel in the car, tucked it in the back of my waistband and took off down the road.  So if you saw a crazy lady pushing a trailer down the road and she had a towel hanging off her backside it was me :) Just be glad I discovered the rip!!!!!!!!

Ahh our crazy wonderful life....

First meet the newest member of our family.  He' s without a name because we thought he was a girl...alas he is definitely NOT.  But our son isn't convinced and I'm not about to try to explain how we know this information...

 And for those of you who know my sweet anti-cat husband this is shows you just how much he loves our son :)  The cat was dropped at my in-laws place and Doodlebug had his heart set on bringing it home....

 Pretty hard to say no to that little face....or more to the point the one below!

Been busy crafting away....a metal bunting I made...I have some more ideas for these.

 This is my newest font and I really like it.  Used it on some pillows too...

 Those little bird hooks I was working on the other day all finished up.

 And the latest round of pillow slips.  These have been selling really well so I'm working on keeping them stocked.  The one below is probably my favorite....

 We saw this in the background of a WWII documentary we were watching and immediately I thought it would make a really great pillow:)

I'll have to keep you posted on the cat....he does seem REALLY friendly and loving.  Let's Doodle pretty much manhandle him so that 's a good thing especially for a cat.  But he'll have to stay outside because my husband is allergic....we'll see what happens next!  Around here you just never know.

little bit of this little bit of that

 I've been busy doing all sorts of craftiness lately!  More jewelry pieces...

 Some more sewing...for me and for the shop....the little coasters were a quick fun project. Mine are about 5" sqaure.  They are doubled but I left the raw edges out...then stenciled the lettering and ticking stripes with acrylic paint.

 These 3 pillow shams were a request from some Winsome Cottage customers...

 Then these little beauties were from my own crazy brain.  I 've had the hooks for quite awhile.  And the boards were leftover from a past project.  I'm not a frilly kind of girl when it comes to decorating but I like all the bird things I've been seeing here and there.  So I thought I'd try my hand at drawing something up.

We are hoping to go to an auction later in the week.  My babies have birthdays coming up...they are only a week apart.  Doodle turns 4 and week later Mighty turns 1!!!!  I cannot believe it....time flies when life is so good!!!

Gas station inspired stool

On our last outing to the flea market we found this little beauty....

I love stuff like this...lots of patina...chippy paint in several layers...

Here's how she looks now--

 My husband is into hotrods (and all things related) so we thought it might be fun to do something along those lines....

 I was thrilled with how great it turned out.

 And we clear coated it to seal it all up so it's a little more user friendly...

Overall a pretty sweet little find!  She's already at Winsome Cottage waiting to be taken to a new home....

New necklace

 Anna (see her blog Life's a Journey here) asked me to make her a necklace after I did my giveaway awhile back....

 Here's what we came up with together for her....

 The lovely calla lilies are compliments of my sweet husband.  They are absolutely my favorite flowers.

New finds....

 What a great day we had today!  Went to the flea market with my sis-in-law and brother-in-law and their kiddos and my aunt and uncle.

 Here 's what we came home with today....we always look for furniture to redo but didn't see anything that really grabbed us today....

 So it was a day of "smalls" which was actually pretty fun to shop for...the stool may get powder coated.  Or it may not.  And I have some ideas for the glass insulators...

This little 2 drawer filing cabinet actually had some  old index cards and letters stuffed in the back.  One letter had a six cent stamp on it! 

 This bucket is pretty unique....

 And Martha Stewart Living just did a whole feature on ice choppers....

Of course my downfall is shopping for myself...  I found this really cool old pencil sharpener which I was thrilled with.  

 And this box which is a perfect twin to one we already own that currently stores all things "puzzle".  What are the chances?!?!?

Overall a great day.  The weather wasn't as hot as we thought it was going to be and the rain held off so we got to do lots of shopping and rooting around  in all the wonderful junk!!!!