I'm back with Our German Schmear Fireplace & DIY

My goodness, it's been such a long time since I've created a new post!
 Life is getting shorter, and I'm getting up there in years, I'll be 68 in January. It made me feel the need to get back to posting and adding more to my "memory album." 
 I have four daughters, seven grandchildren and one, new, great granddaughter and want them to all to remember my style and occasional craftiness. Not to forget to, occasionally, inspire others with some of my creations.

Since my last post we have moved from our rental home, of the past 6 years,and into our new "forever home" in Sunset Beach, N.C.
 I've been enjoying, time with the love of my life, family visits, a lot of sunshine at the beach and poolside, friend gatherings and having fun making our little home a bit more updated. We've been doing some upgrades and DIY's, decorating with a lot of our old possessions and have added some new creations, in décor, here and there.

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Now, for my first post back, I'm sharing the makeover of our brick fireplace and entry that we, finally, just completed. 
(it only took 8 months of procrastinating to get this project done) It's late unveiling was due to my fear of attempting the, very popular, German Schmear technique,which, I can assure you, is waaaay easier to do than you might think!


So,here's a peek at our entry...come on in and take a look.

Everything stands out so-ooo much better on the lighter brick.

and I do mean that EVERYTHING stands out so much better!

This gives you an idea of how much brick there was to complete. Thankfully my hubby helped me do most of the joints, it really helped me a lot!

Here's the way it looked before....very nice brick but, just way to dark for our room.

Now, here's a list of what I used to get the project done.

1- 50 lb. bag of white thinset mortar (slower drying time than reg. mortar) $20 aprox. cost
I used 3/4 of the bag
***note some people use chalk paint in lieu of mortar, but it's way more expensive

painter's tape and plastic to cover areas that you are not "painting"

I used one 4" paint brush and one small stiff chubby brush to get into the joint crevices

plastic painter's bucket

******

I started by mixing, 4, trowel scoops of mortar into my plastic bucket and mixed it with enough water to create a peanut butter like consistency.
I let it sit for about 15 minutes to thicken slightly and then just started "painting" it on in several swipes across each bricks and lightened on the pressure where I wanted more areas of the brick to show through. Start light, you can always go back and add more mortar to cover more of your brick.

I did not do the "sponge off technique" with water. I tried it and it was just too messy, I liked the pressure technique much better!

I/hubby filled in the joint lines first.

You can see the smaller, chubby brush that I used....you may want to have a few on hand as they tend to wear out in no time.

My little buddy Gucci was always by my side!

I'd love to know if this post inspired you :)

'Til Next Time ~ Happy Decorating and Happy Holidays, too!

JP

&
Gucci, too!

I shared this post here

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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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Patchwork Hassock Cover...Love!!!

 I'm not much of a sewer, but I can usually pull something together without a lot of complications and "old faithful" hot glue!

 It was over a year ago that I found this, 1970's, hassock at a thrift store for just $3.00 and I've been wanting to recover it ever since. Can you say "pro-cras-tin-ate?"

  
  Canvas and microfiber fabrics, cotton jute roping and a scripted stamp were the inspirations for creating my new ottoman cover.

So, I began with a pattern from plain printer paper...using the triangle shape, on the hassock, as a guide.

 Making it a tad bit wider, about 1/4" on two sides, with a bit more to hang down over the side.

 Six pieces were pinned and sewed by machine....then stretched and hot glued to cover the top.

 A circle of drop cloth got pushed underneath the big button.

 I measured eyeballed fabric slightly larger than the width of each triangle and a bit more to be adhered underneath.

Six panels were cut, alternating fabrics and the button was secured with jute and hot glue.

All six pieces were stitched, with right sides together, to form a circle.

Turning it right side out I then slid it over to cover the sides.

 The rough edges got turned under and carefully hot glued in place all the way around.

Jute, cotton roping, got hot glued around the edge and tied with a knot.

Not bad, but not quite done!

But, I decided that I wanted to add some of the thin, jute string to the seams that divide the patterns....so, off to Hobby Lobby I went.
 While I was there I came across this fun, new bling....strips of faux upholstery tacks and a new, great big button.

The button was just large enough that I could easily just cover it with the brown fabric and layer it, with hot glue, on top of the old one. I was afraid that if I removed the old one that I would lose that tufted look!

After adding more stamping to the canvas on the sides, adding the gold, stud trim and re-attaching the gold, caster feet ....

I think that "I'm in love!"

 Next up on my re-do/to do list.....replacing the plaid valances that came with the house. I'm feeling plain canvas with that gold, tack trim!

   Love, Hugs and Kisses,
JP

and Gucci, too!

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