Summer of '12 Mantle

I have had so much fun with and am happy with the

DIY projects that went into this mantle vignette

 that I will probably keep it up for the

whole Summer of 2012. 

The art print reminds me so much of the beaches of

Alabama and Florida where I have spent many a

summer vacation during my life.  I guess it could look

like a pretty beach almost anywhere.

The title of the print is "Rendevous". 

I think it is a gathering of the seagulls that inspired the

artist, Carolyn Blish, to name her painting that. 

This print has been mounted on foam core and sealed.  I haven't added the brush strokes like

I did to the prints for my Winter Mantle  and for Springtime in Paris mantle, but I intend to.

The black metal firescreen that I usually keep out all

year just looked too heavy with this vignette of neutrals,

blues and greens so I took it down and added an

arrangement of houseplants, spikey Dracena

( $1 each at the garden center at Walmart )

and some tropical-looking faux leaves from

last year's Summer mantle.

The planter (from the back back back yard) got a

new coat of paint in driftwood colors.

After I saw this post on how to make your own

Japanese fishing floats on the blog Sand and Sisal,

I have been looking forward to making some for

summer decorating. 

I am so disappointed that I didn't realize that the memory card was not in my camera while I was

taking the steps I took to make these floats.  I had (I think) gorgeous shots of them drying while 

hanging in from the crepe myrtle trees.  When the morning sun hit them while they were waiting

 inside on the coffee table be placed on the mantle, they looked almost as pretty. 

I ran out of the pre-made fishnet from the craft store so

I made some twine "cages" for the faux floats.

The wooden items from craft stores also had

most of their "how to" photos made without

 a card in the camera.  Here is how the faux

lobster/crab trap floats looked before painting...

...and here is what the float/lures looked like...

....this is a group photo when I DID realize the card was not

in the camera showing the paints that were used and

most of the items before sanding...

...the fishing lures/floats in the foreground have been

sanded, the background ones have not been sanded...

...and here it is all together:

The DIY decorative log pilings are detailed in Using My Noodles(s) blog post.

I hope you have a wonderful Summer of 2012!

Opps! I don't know what "happened to" the other parties I linked this to but I am sharing also at

Seasonal Sundays @ The Tablescaper

Kitchen Mini Makeover

Faced with the fact that we needed to do

something to/with our kitchen cabinets that were

peeling and had hinges that were breaking

(after eight years ago having new of both),

we chose the cheapest option which was just

 to re-hab the cabinets we already had.

A couple of years ago, I had started following

decorator Rachel Halvorsen's blog "Nestegg"

after seeing her on the cover and inside of

the magazine Garden and Gun. On her blog she had
 recommended a Sherwin Williams paint color
 called "Urbane Bronze" as one of her favorites
 for cabinets and doors.

Click here to see kitchen cabinets she had painted in Urbane Bronze.

Click here to see a great blog post she did called "Dark Doors".
  She shows photos of dark doors from other sources and explains the
 "whys" and "hows" of using dark doors in your home.
 At the end of the post she shows her own projects
using Urbane Bronze and  SW Tricorn Black.

I'm pretty much a "color chicken" and am happy to
rely on decorators' favorite color choices that I see in
magazines and on the internet.  I bought a sample of
the "Urbane Bronze" to test on different spots on the
 kitchen cabinets (since light in one area may affect color),
decided it was as good as any I might fret over, and
called our "go-to-guy-who-can-do-most-anything"

to come over and paint the cabinets and replace the hinges.

As a point of reference, here is what the kitchen
looked like when we bought the house:

When we moved in eight years ago,

we had the walls and tile backsplash painted green,

(Georgian Green HC - 115 Benjamin Moore)

painted cabinets the darkest green available (they looked

almost black), replaced hinges with invisible ones,

replaced appliances, replaced cabinet pulls, replaced

gray formica with a granite-looking formica, took

up fake wood floor and had tile put down.

My mother hates that cabinet color and says that it is "depressing".  I still like the color but

as long as we are having the cabinets re-done, might as well try another color for fun.

Here is the same view with the new "Urbane Bronze"...

...and here is how we got there:

Our guy removed the cabinet doors to take them

to his workshop to sand and paint them and

get them ready for the new hinges.

He painted the bases and the drawers in place.

He told me not to be shocked when I saw the

primer color but it was hard not to be...so pink!

The plain expanse of plywood on the traffic side of the

peninsula has always bothered me.  Our Guy and I

worked out a design he could easily apply with pine

molding to add interest to that area.

The ends of the peninsula have angles that took a little more

consideration.  For the floating end, we decided to have one

larger molding box wrap around the angle instead of trying

to squeeze in two boxes or have none.

(oopps! that plug has GOT to be painted)

For the attached end, we decided to ignore the extra inches

that go back into a funky corner and just make that

molding box the same size as the main ones.

Here you can see how much better the real color

looks than the primer color.

There was very little "down time" for the kitchen since we

went with for cosmetic changes only.  We all just kind of

worked around each other while the changes were being made.

The paint is still wet in this photo so the cabinets look very shiny.  The cabinets were painted with oil-based

semi-gloss so they dried to a lesser shine but it  seems glossy enough for us. 

I still like the basket pulls so we just re-used them.

They actually show up better now on the lighter color.

Here are some other views of the newly painted cabinets:

Each of the stools now have their own parking place

marked by the new molding. 

When we painted the cabinets eight years ago, the stools

also got a coat of the same color.  Soon they will be getting

repainted again but for now they show us the difference

between the old and new paint colors.

I hope my mama likes the new cabinet color better.

I hope YOU like my new cabinet color too!

Five Art Print Giveaways

When I was recently cleaning up for company coming

over, I re-discovered some art prints that I have had

for a while. We have moved to a smaller house since

 I purchased the prints and I've realized that

now we just don't have the wall space

 to frame them, hang them  and

enjoy looking at them like I had planned.

Since I would love to pass them along to someone

 who has room for them and could enjoy them,

I am having five giveaways for these prints. 

 The first four giveaways are prints of art that is

in the the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum.  It houses one of the

finest collections of European art from the 12th century to early 19th century.

Giveaway #1

Keeping it real here...all these prints have been rolled up for a while and

 need weights so I can photograph them for you. 

This print is a reproduction of "El Quitasol" (The Umbrella)

painted by Francisco de Goya in 1777.  The print is 32" x 24".

The original oil on canvas was painted as a "cartoon" to be used

by tapestry weavers to create tapestries for the Queen of Spain

 in the dining room of her castle.  She called on

the Spanish artist, Goya, because she wanted the room to

have cheerful tapestries.  If you would like to see other cartoons

that Goya did click here and scroll down the page.

This would be a good print to try the technique of

making a print look like a painting since it has

 good brush strokes built into it and even some crackling.

Giveaway #2

These are prints of lithographs done by cartographer

George Braum of different towns in Spain. 

They are 21" x 18" with the colored area of

the print being 17" x 13".  The prints depict scenes

from the 16th century.  The original lithographs have

a crease down the middle (were they folded or

in a book?) but there is not a crease IN the print.

Alhama is in the Granada Province of Spain.  It is the site of natural thermal springs and

was an ancient spa area that travelers would come to visit.

Santander is a historical port city situated on the north coast of Spain.

Hispalis is the Roman name for what we now call Seville.  It is the 4th largest city in Spain.

Please note that these three prints have a slight crease on the left side.

Giveaway #3

This print is from "Hunting Meleagro" by French artist

Nicolas Poussin.  The whole print is 21" x 18" with

the colored part of the print 15.5" x 11.75".

This print has a crease at the bottom of the print which may not be noticeable if it is framed under glass.

Giveaway #4

Two prints of works by the Flemish artist Pieter Breueghel.

He was a Renaissance painter and printmaker who

is known for his landscapes and peasant scenes.

This one is called "Country Scene"

This one is called "Village Scene"

Both of these prints are 21" x 18" with the colored area 15.5" x 11.25"...and oops...a crease on one side.

Giveaway #5

not from Museo del Prado

This is a set of four 25" x 19" posters depicting vintage

baseball items.  The white border is 1/2" each side.

The box they came in is not in good shape but the

posters are in pretty good condition. They have never

been framed and exposed to light very little.

The posters are made from the negatives of the photographs

that were taken by "Life" magazine photographer,

Henry Groskinsky of baseball memorabilia that is

in a private collection.

  This print is called "Antique Fan Fare".

 There is information included with the posters

that describes the items in the photographs.

This poster is called "Rare Treasures".

This poster is "The Babe's Memorabilia"

This poster depicts Babe Ruth and "The Called Shot".

These posters would be fun for any baseball fan young or old.

Just leave a comment below of which giveaways you

would like to be entered into (all or specific numbers).

The winners will be selected at noon on Friday,

June 15th by Random Number Generator.

I'll update this blog post with the winners and

then get the prints to them as soon as possible.

Update: the winner is Amanda!