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Finally finishing... random projects

Over Spring break we started the deck project. I painted the first coat of the floor at that time. Not really realizing how much time this project would take. Generally I like to paint.  I find it therapeutic and painting outdoors is nice for many reasons, mess worry being primary. Who knew it would take me all summer to work on this project. You make recall older posts about this.

Painting the deck floor was super easy and the first coat went fast. Chris had to reinstall the railing before I could start the rails and the second coat. Due to schedules and such it took us a couple of weeks to get the railing back on. If we had all the money in the world we would of replaced the railing with something a bit more contemporary and perhaps metal. I decided to try and make the railing look a little different from the deck by painting it a slightly different shade. It looks nice but in certain light you can't even tell it's a different color. In hindsight not really worth the extra time and care. It took me a couple of weeks (one to two hours at a time) to finish up the railing.

Kid note: Nicholas helped "paint". My friend Paula had this great tip to give him a paint brush and a cup of water.  He water painted ahead of me most days and enjoyed helping me.

I finished the second coat on the deck floor and the stairs over labor day. It turned out great and should last for a couple of years (longer hopefully).

Dog note: Lucy's claws are annoyingly long and mark up the floor a bit.  I knew this would happen but it's still annoying.  If you can't tell I am a bit dog frustrated lately - guess I'd better get her claws trimmed or learn how to do it.  Good thing we love her.

Since we had to move all of the deck furniture in order to paint the deck I decided to sand and spray paint the furniture too. This was a quick and easy project that only took a couple of hours from start to finish. The grass worked great as a drop cloth. Steel wool and elbow grease removed all the rust and old paint. Three cans of Rustolem black paint and the furniture looks knew again. Love it.

Gallery Wall - downstairs

The first year we moved into this house I created a gallery wall of family photos heading to our third floor. This wall looks great and makes me smile every time I walk up the stairs.  I wanted to create a similar look heading downstairs into our basement but needed to complete this for little or no money.

Over the last fifteen years we have gathered quite a collection of random picture frames.  Many of which did not get unpacked or put to use when we moved into this house. I decided to hunt down all of these frames to see if I could make something work.  Once gathered I realized we had quite a mish-mash of sizes, textures, finishes and colors and I wanted a clean and somewhat uniform look.  Color seemed the best way to tie all of these together.

As a test I took a few of the crappiest frames and spray painted them black.  The paint covered well and they looked great so I thought I tackle painting all of them.  Running after a toddler only provides me with short intervals of time to work on projects. I have learned I cannot rush or complete projects quickly. It took me a few days to paint all of the frames.  I used a box as my spray booth and finished one to two frames at a time.  When each frame was complete I printed a new photo and reassembled the frame. Each completed frame felt like a little mini project.

Arranging them on the wall was trickier than the upstairs gallery due to all the varying sizes and backings. To get a decent idea of where I wanted each photo hung I cut paper to size and taped it to the wall until I was pleased with the arrangement.  Then I started at the top of the stairs and with a level and clear ruler worked my way down the stairs hanging frame by frame.

I really liked how it turned out and am even more pleased that I was able to reuse and keep it on the cheap. Two cans of black spray paint and some photo paper - wall-a!

Here is just one of the photos I included in the gallery.  This photo of Nicholas makes me laugh.

Eat a Peach

As you may know from my previous posts - we did not get peaches from our tree this year largely because Lucy ate them all right off the tree.  Even if she hadn't been such a bad dog we wouldn't of had enough peaches to can or make jam. Mom's tree however produced hundreds of pounds of peaches and she was generous enough to share.

We picked a couple hundred peaches and then set to work.  I was able to can 21 quarts of peaches and made 10 batches of jam (roughly 40 jars).  YUM.  Even after all of that work I still had peaches to cook with and to freeze.

I hunted for some peach recipes and found this bread recipe. The original recipe is here and I also pasted it below.  It was good but perhaps too much cinnamon if you try it?

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups diced canned peaches, drained
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Blend in the sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix just to combine. Stir in the peaches and nuts. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Card Club - September

We are starting another round of card club up in Ogden.  Below are the projects for our club from September—butterfly themed.  I am posting these projects here so you gals can recreate later if desired. I used mostly new products from the new Stampin' Up! annual catalog.

If you are interested in joining card club, seeing a list of supplies or purchasing SU products please contact me.  I am still a demonstrator and LOVE these products. Shout out to my former SU team for helping me do a test run of these projects last month - love you gals.

The Daffodil Card was inspired by Kristina Werner. You can see her original project design here or on my pinterest board... cards.

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Soccer all weekend. 4 games in 3 days. Go Benjamin!!!

Chris is in LA for school, plugging away. Go Chris.

Nicholas is in rare form. Go Nick!

Andrew and I are just hanging. Whew.