A little bit of creative productivity in between prepping for fun!

My family is headed out for a camping trip this week.  I'm beginning to realize that scheduling camping trips gets more and more difficult as the kids get older...with jobs and other commitments getting in the way.  Still, we got it to work and I'm so excited.

Fresh bloom!

In between getting the trailer loaded up, I took the time to spruce up some garden ornaments and I'm so pleased with how they turned out, I just have to share them with you.

Five years outside haven't helped these faded flowers.

These were colorful resin flowers when we got them...they were NOT all the same color, despite what you might think when you look at them.

Look how faded they are...the painted one pops, while the others
fade into the tarp.  So sad and neglected!

A few coats of "for plastic" spray paint later and they looked like this.

Painted the front and the back...so much brighter!

A little bit of craftiness by hand and some clear coat had them ready for their close-ups!

Look at how creative we got!  Don't they look happier now?

Valianted wanted us to embrace this flower's tropical heritage.  I did my best.

I love how bright they are on "their" fence.  Quick, easy, and so worthwhile!  It is really amazing what a little spray paint can do, don't you think?

Quite an improvement, wouldn't you say?

So, Days 115 and 114 were productive and now we're driving off to be productive in our campsite...reading some good books, playing games together, splashing around in the river...all very productive!!

Updated Pillars - A couple coats of spray paints gives cupboard dwellers new life!

Years ago, I liked the sleek look of brushed nickel/silver.   I loved these pillars.  Since then, however, my tastes have changed and these candlesticks have been relegated to the cupboard.  Still, I liked the shape of them and they came to mind when I was looking for a way to update my fall mantle.

I took advantage of the unseasonably nice weather we've been having and headed outside with my candlesticks, a flattened box, my bench cookies, and two cans of spray paint.

The bench cookies let me get the candlesticks up above the cardboard to get a nice coat of paint all the way to the bottom of the candlesticks.

The first coat was black.

Then I sprayed on a light coat of metallic brown.

 Ta Da!  Updated candlesticks that look fabulous with my Fall pillar candles.

Now, I just need to wait until Halloween stuff gets put away and my beautiful candlesticks and be part of my Fall mantle.

Spray Painting Fool...

I blame Sharon at Keen Inspirations.  Or maybe I blame the blog Better After.  Or maybe I blame House of Hepworth.  Maybe I should just blame them all.  I've become a - gasp - spray painting fool.

Seriously.  I think I am a victim of the Power of Suggestion.  The first sunny day in weeks saw me outside with two cans of spray paint and I went a bit wild.

Suddenly all the little things that have bugged me have gotten to be too much and I've painted them.  All of them.

The white frame on my memo board above my desk?  It is now black.  I think it looks fabulous against the "macaroni & cheese" orange in the family room.  

The off-white frame of the upstairs magnet board/key hook?  Black.

So ,too, the mirror than was formerly Buttercup's and is now Valiant's (it had been cheerfully decorated with hamsters and rainbows when it lived with Buttercup and wasn't Valiant's cup of tea-go figure), and the tarnished-never-polished-brass candlesticks that never seemed to go with anything.  Nothing escaped my spray painting hands.   The weird little plastic tray that was turquoise, orange, and yellow stripes?  Black. (It is now in my bathroom holding retainers and watches quite neatly.) The unfinished basket that was holding mail?  Black and holding remote controls in the family room.  Seriously. 

Even this cute little bird is now black.  (Isn't this bird cute?  I got it at Lowe's last year for $1.48...I just didn't know how to use it.  As you can see, I've figured it out.)

Then, sadly, I ran out of paint.   The mixing ball in the can of paint had nothing to impede its progress as it rattled around in the can.  Two cans of spray paint drained dry and I was finished.

Oh, one more thing...

Did I mention that Sharon at Keen Inspiration has read my mind and posted about turning a bowling ball into a faux gazing ball?  Surprise...she used spray paint!  I think the future is clear for Charming's bowling ball.  What do you think?

$2.94 - Before and After

I've been wanting some new light fixtures for our entry way/front porch for some time. Honestly, our fixtures are darned ugly. A few years ago, we found four matching fixtures to replace the existing fixtures across the front of the garage for $15/each, but we couldn't find any more at a reasonable price to take care of the porch. Unfortunately, aggressive debt repayment doesn't leave room for fixtures that will cost upwards of $60-70+ each. So, we've lived with them and they've bugged me every time I looked at them. Two years ago, I broached the subject of repainting our existing fixtures to Superman, who nixed the idea as not worth the trouble.

You know the old adage "when the cat's away, the mice will play"? I knew you did.
So, Superman is away and this mouse decided to play. I called my dad and stood on the porch with the phone at my ear while he talked me through disconnecting the fixtures (yes, they're hard-wired). Then, of course, I thought to take a picture of the "before". So, the picture is taken with the fixture laying on the bird cage table.

See? Just your standard construction-grade polished brass light fixture circa 1993. I don't like it - at all!

Oh, the mousetraps? Not for mice. No, those for Sam. They discourage him from thinking the bird cage is a boxed lunch when I set it outside for the birds to enjoy the fresh air. Don't worry...they've never caught a cat (or a mouse, for that matter), but they snap and scare him and the birds can chirp happily along.

One can of spray paint, some tense moments while I slid the glass back into the fixture, and some misplaced mounting hardware later, I have lamps that look a lot better!

The finial and the bottom of the section below the finial didn't take the paint the same way, but I'm kind of liking the burnished metal accent I ended up with there. For $2.94, I just can't complain. I think they look so much better against the rock that is lines our front porch.

What do you think? Do you like them? Hey, Superman! Are you sure that painting these babies wasn't worth it? Want to revisit that position? I'll graciously let you admit I was right and then I won't even need to say, "told you so!"