Our Front Door Basket is Now Red, White and Blue with Lady Bug's, too!

It was time for the tulips to go and give our door basket a new look. Since Memorial Day is right around the corner I decided to go with something a little bit red, white and blue and add some ladybugs, too!

This is how it has looked since the first sight of spring. That post is here

 I found the ladybugs in Walmart a while ago and have been saving them for a summer project. When I came across them in my stash I knew that I couldn't wait and had to use them. I can always get some more!

 I wanted it to have a nice white bow and didn't want to use plain ribbon. 

So, I used a cheap, white, flour sack towel that I had on hand. I cut two lengthwise strips from it and then attached them together to make a long enough length to wrap around the basket. Since it had a knot that showed (in just the wrong place) it gave me the idea to cut little strips and just add more knots.

 That gave it a really unique look and I like it a lot!

The little lady bugs are scattered all around, here and there.

It is a perfect prelude to Memorial Day and summer.

These are the "sit upon's" that I made two years ago...if you missed them, they are in my post here.

Gucci is lovin' the beautiful weather that we are having around here. I hope that you are enjoying some beautiful weather, too!

  Love, Hugs and Kisses,

JP

and Gucci, too!

Can you see him? He's playing "peek-a-boo!

 

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Home Sweet Home Mailbox

Our old mailbox was old and broken and recently needed replacing.You might already know me well enough to know that I like to start at our mailbox with curb appeal. 


It makes me and our mail lady smile and hopefully, our neighbor's do, too!

 I sprayed our new mailbox grey to match the trim and door on our house. The design was stenciled and hand painted to make it special.

I planted moon flowers in with my lamb's ears hoping that they will grow up the post and add to the faux greens and morning glories that I attached for a seasonal display.

This look will keep me happy until spring.

I took these pics, several weeks ago, when our azaleas were in full bloom.

We have lots more bushes in a mix of colors that are behind our house...I think we have over 30 in total!

We had a hot pink mailbox at our home in NY....our gardens were mostly pink, purple and white.
If you like gardens and want to peek at some of what we had I have an old page with pics here.

The next few pics are of more mailbox looks that I've posted on in the past. Use my search bar and you can get another look.

I wish more people would decorate their mailbox...it makes such a lovely roadside statement!

  Love, Hugs and Kisses,

JP

and Gucci, too!

Can you see him? He's playing "peek-a-boo!

 

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My Old Wooden Market Sign...NOT!

This is my new, old wooden sign. It's perfect for our country kitchen.

It's nice and weathered from age.

But, here's my little secret....
IT'S A FAKE!!!

Here is my DIY and how I created it, out of a flap, from a cardboard box .

This is how I distressed my sign and aged it.

First, I started by giving it a coat full coat of a brown paint to give it some more depth when I attempted to distress it.

Next, I used plain, white, craft paint and my scruffy brush and just dry brushed on one coat and let it dry, letting the card board show through.

Then, I applied a second coat, heavier in some places letting the card board still show through.

I made the "Farmer's Market" script in Pic Monkey and reversed it with the "rotating" tool.
Then I used an 8x11 sheet of card stock and lightly coated, one side, with spray glue. I cut a piece of wax paper to fit to size and adhered it in place. 

Then I fed it into my inkjet printer, using the wax paper transfer method and it came out like this.

Being careful not to touch the ink ( as it would smear) I peeled of the wax paper and layed it where I wanted the words to fit.
 I held the paper, firmly in place, as I used a credit card to rub the transfer to my sign. I made sure that I rubbed it plenty of times to get all of the ink to adhere.

Now, this was the result.
You could leave this for a really worn look or do what I did and go over it with a fine liner brush and paint or if you are luck enough to have a laser jet printer your ink will transfer nice and dark!

I chose to make it darker and mixed some paint for a not so black result.

Next, I used a sanding block to go over the letter's to age them a bit. You see the difference between Farmer's and the RKET :)

Then, I wanted a little bit of distressing over the background, so I took a tiny square from a kitchen scruffy sponge, dampened it and removed some paint here and there.
Some strokes sideways and some up and down.

And lastly, I thought that it could use some "worm hole's" since they are usually found in, really old, wood.
I used the sharp end of a paper clip and tapped it with a hammer to make random holes all around.

I had a few cups of coffee and my hands were real shaky, but my letters didn't turn out too bad!

For now, this is where I have it.

Eventually, I will make more signs on wood...but, for now, I'm gonna continue to play around with more cardboard. It's free and I've got lots of boxes hanging around!

It's not too bad for a FAKE!

For another even easier way to make one of your own check out my latest version here

There's a free graphic of it, too!


Love, Hugs and Kisses,
JP

and Gucci, too!

Can you see him? He's playing "peek-a-boo!

A few very special "thank you's" to Kathy @ lifeonlakeshoredrive   and to Erlene  and all of her co-hosts @  mypinterventures  and to Tammy @ .onemoretimeevents   sharing this post as a feature at their parties!

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