Happy Fall!

By far my most favorite time of the year because nature makes decorating so easy!  Pumpkins and Mums, a must, of course and a few "weeds" from the roadsides.  A trip to the shed yielded the old chair (who is most happy with a new coat of white paint and an old tractor seat), a metal bucket and that most awesome old cart!

Sarah's window...

     It's a picture frame.  No, wait, it's a coat hanger.  No, wait, it's a picture frame/coat hanger.  Heck.  I don't know what to call it, but it turned out cooler than I thought it would!  I found this adorable brown with aqua polka dots ribbon at Wal-Mart and it just reminded me of Sarah, so I bought it and decided to create something around that ribbon.  Didn't use much of it though - just glued a strip on Marlee's picture mat and that was enough.   Some brown spray paint for the window frame, aqua craft paint for the wooden knobs and it was shaping up nicely.  A couple buttons here and there and coordinating striped ribbon for Nolan's mat (polka dots just don't work for boys!) and it was good, but something was still missing.  Hmmm.  Walked around Wal-Mart for an hour trying to find something... lo an behold.  There it was.  Aqua piping and brown dotted ribbon to adorn.  It was just perfect! 

Happy Birthday Sarah!  Sorry.  Not posting the picture of your most awesome present until AFTER you see it - lol : )

     Glen stars with "G"
     So do "G"ripe and "G"rumble!
     And Glen Griped and Grumbled when I said, "You know that pile of old tires out back?"
     But he's a real trooper - which makes him a keeper - because he not only followed me out to the pile and harvested this nice old truck tire, he also drilled holes in the bottom of it to drain out the water that had collected in it all summer; cut blocks of wood to hold the tire open so the plant would fit inside; AND hung this heavy devil for me!  Today Mr. Tire (who thanked me profusely for saving him from the landfill) holds a potted Mum.  Next spring I will put potting soil in him and a nice viny plant because Mr. Gripe and Grumble drilled those nice drain holes  : )
This little project (which took less time to complete than all the griping and grumbling) was snagged from that nice lady in Canada at www.funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com
     Because we were unable to center Mr. Tire on the shed due to the location of the sturdiest stud we could find to hold the weight, I must put something next to him - but I'll wait a bit.  Too may G & G (gripe & grumble) projects in a row make Glen a grumpy old man!

I love no-brainer projects!  However, I hate to admit how long this lovely chair has been sitting in an obscure corner of my home adorned with a really ugly silk flower arrangement in a basket to hide the fact it had no seat.  El-yucko!  Seven dollars later (for the wicker hanging basket) I have a very happy old chair who is proud to be the center of attention!  My new mantra?  "Think outside of the box, Coleen"!

I've found the Martha in Me!

I could hardly wait to get my hands on the OLD windows because I had big ideas! Fortunately for the crew, I didn't purchase my new Black and Decker Random Orbital Sander until AFTER they were finished with the windows on the south side of the house. But it wasn't long before I transformed these babies....


...the old windows on the left into birthday presents!

Happy Birthday to Mardi! 9-9-09. Old window becomes new chalkboard and it turned out even better than I imagined because I had Glen trim the sides down and the remnant had this perfect groove in it that made a perfect chalk holder to attach to the front. An old piece of pressed board was found out in the machine shed and the chalkboard spray paint worked like a charm on it. I don't think Mardi was too impressed with the whole thing until I told her I made it from one of the old windows - lol.

Seven days later, 9-16-09, it's HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW!

This project had to be a little different because guys just aren't into chalkboards (even if they're made by Mom), so I decided to go with a Hawkeyes color scheme for his manly new duplex apartment. He needed something for his walls and this little idea just popped into my head! I left the glass in this window and with my brand new Quickutz Silhouette vinyl cutting machine... Happy Birthday to me from Glen : ) I cut and transferred PERRIEN onto the window pane all by myself!

Next Wednesday, 9-23-09, it's "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH"! Hmmmmmmmmmm. Wonder what she'll get??