Lucketts Part One

My daughter asked me what activities
I might be interested in doing while I was visiting.
On the top of my list was to take a trip to
The Old Lucketts Store. I had heard about Lucketts by reading blogs years ago
and I was excited to see if it was really as wonderful as I had read.
I was not disappointed. Talk about eye candy! I took tons of photos and it's still just a portion of all there was to see.
So for those of you, like me,
who enjoy perusing the pictures in magazines and on blogs
much more than reading the words, this post is for you.
ENJOY!

This and That

While visiting my daughter and son-in-law I managed to keep myself busy in their cute little apartment. I joked with my daughter that having me for a mom is like having a dad and a mom come to visit because I do small home repair projects along with decorating and organizing. However she does lose out on having the sort of mom that deep cleans or bakes delightful goodies. That's just not me. Fortunately my daughter has many friends who volunteered to bring in delicious meals and desserts after baby was born so they enjoyed the best of everyone's talents.
On my last visit we curbside shopped this little piece that is used for kitchen storage. I decided to spruce it up using a few dollar store placemats and upholstery tacks.Do you see that gorgeous glass lamp? We found it at a thrift store for just a few dollars (along with that pretty green pedestal bowl). It originally had a light green tint that had been scratched off in a few places. About two hours later, with the use of a razor blade and an old credit card, I was able to take off all of the green leaving it clear and lovely.
And of course I had to do a few spray paint projects while visiting.
This stunning mirror was one.We picked it up at Lucketts. It was reasonably priced but it was a scary, ugly, yellow gold. Even after years of spray painting I am still amazed at how spray paint can transform almost anything.Next week I'll share more of our trip to the famous Lucketts store. I took about a hundred pictures (literally!) while I was there. It may have to be a two or three part post. So fun!!!

Botanic Garden and Dollar Store Orchids

One of my favorite places to visit in the DC area is
The United States Botanic Garden. Each time I go I find different things that inspire me.

This time was no exception.

I loved these arbors with their display of living plants.I'm always inspired by water features and creeks. I have great plans to make one in my own backyard---when I get enough money, time, energy, and muscle.

There are always beautiful hydrangeas to be found.One of my favorite rooms inside is the orchid room
filled with stunning displays of orchids.I love orchids!Even though I have two living orchid plants, I couldn't resist buying a few of the silk variety
when I saw them at the dollar store, along with some reindeer moss.With a little styrofoam secured in the bottom of some thrift store vases, I just stuck in the end of the orchid (cut to length)
and filled the vase with moss.This is the version I made for my daughter
using one of her beautiful thrifted vases.

Delayed by Delivery

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged! But I have a perfectly wonderful excuse. My only daughter, who up until a couple of weeks ago looked like this, delivered a beautiful baby girl. I was thrilled to spend time many hours of "girl time" with the two of them (thanks to my sharing son-in-law). It was so hard to leave this gorgeous bundle of happiness. But my boys were at home and apparently I'm the only one who knows how to buy fruits and vegetables. They would still be eating hotdogs and bacon if I didn't return.
Now that I'm home and there are healthy snacks to be had, I'll be back to blogging and sharing some of the photos I took of our girl time.

Wedding Photos

In my last post I showed how I made the centerpieces for the wedding open house I decorated.

It was a pleasure to work with this young couple you see in the photos. I am not a "professional" wedding designer/planner but I do find enjoyment in helping newlyweds make their celebration special. They were looking for something unique and I think that's the look we were able to achieve. Their colors were bright pink, yellow, and turquoise.

The couple loved parts of the backdrop from another wedding I had done but they weren't happy with the center/door area.

So I came up with an idea they did love.

I gave my outdoor patio furniture pieces a fresh coat of turquoise paint and found some coordinating fabric to hang in place of the door. I added in some lighting and brightly painted pink windows. The backdrop took on a whole new look.

They were thrilled with the result. And their happiness was mine!

Yet Another Paper Wreath Tutorial

If you do a search for paper wreath tutorials you will likely find a bazillion. There are folded paper wreaths and rolled paper wreaths just to name a few. I'm sure there is already at least one crunched paper wreath tutorial, yet I will add another just in case you haven't had the time or inclination to search. Paper wreaths are so popular because they are relatively inexpensive. However they are time, paper, and hot glue stick consuming. Each of the wreaths I made as centerpieces for the wedding reception took about an hour.

I started by using a simple wreath from the dollar store.

In order to camouflage the wreath, as well as make it easier for the crunched paper to stick,

I first covered it with strips of sheet music.

This was when I received 75% of my hot glue burns so be very careful with this step!

Next I cut pages from a music book into fourths.

My wreaths were covered completely on all sides so each took an entire music book that was about the thickness of a magazine.

Using one piece of quartered paper, I placed a dowel (a pencil would also work) into the center of the paper and then crunched the paper around the dowel.

Making sure to first flatten out the crunched end a bit for more surface area, I then applied hot glue.

Next I used the dowel to place the crunched paper onto the wreath.

I continued. . . and continued. . . and continued until the wreath was covered.

***I will now impart what little unique knowledge I gained from this procedure***

If the paper is thin it will adhere much faster than if it is thick and stiff. The stiffer the paper the longer the wait time for the glue to hold. And while you may think that the paper is stuck you will soon find out that the little stinkin' stiff paper will try to hightail it right off the wreath just as you are placing the next piece causing you to grab said piece and possibly cause additional finger burnage.

After the wreath was complete I lightly sprayed each with the desired color of spray paint. To give them more color and interest I added in pieces of crunched colored tissue paper.

To make them hang I hot glued on some evenly placed ribbons and glued the ribbons onto a large dowel that had been glued into a piece of 2x4. The dowel was topped with a finial painted to match the wreath and ribbons. I then adhered photos of the newlyweds onto the ribbon.

The centerpieces resembled little maypoles which was very appropriate since it was a May wedding.

Rain, Rain Go Away

We have had sooooo much rain this spring that it is really dampening my spirits! Rainy days equal no spray painting outside; thus my home improvement projects have been few and far between. But all this moisture is also having an affect on my surroundings outside. While the grass is a little greener than usual, my flowering bushes are the most sparse I have even seen.
Last year my "snowball" bush was huge and laden with blooms.This year I wondered if it was half dead. But upon closer inspection it's just shriveled and sad, with smaller blooms and ugly brown spots.Last year my homegrown bouquet was abundant with blossoms.This year I gathered a small cluster of blooms, determined to not let the rain shrivel my spirits as much as it has shriveled my bushes. It may be smaller than last year's but it's still just as beautiful!