Mod-podge fabric "vase"

I saw this very cute idea in Bloggyland and decided to make one for my mom's birthday - a fabric wrapped and mod-podged vase made out of a pickle jar!

Over the years she has given me a lot of scrap fabric in the hopes I will one day make a quilt.  I just don't think I have the patience for that, but I love the sweet little prints.

 I tore off some strips and left the edges frayed.

 Then I painted mod-podge on a clean jar

 and wrapped the fabric all around it.  

I have an old cookie sheet I use to keep my table from getting mp'd!

 Cute!

I covered the jar thread at the top, too.  She might use it for more flowers, or even as a pencil jar later on, so she probably doesn't need the lid.   Then I gave it a couple coats of mod-podge and let it dry.

We had a fun visit in Brenham and went to the quilt show in La Grange.

How appropriate, right?  And she loved the flowers (:

Gina

Yard work

My brain hasn't gotten the memo yet from my body:   

You. are. old.

Dang.  Well, it doesn't matter, because there are things to do around here, and me to do them.  So there.

Today was raking day.  I had a lot to rake, even tho we don't have a huge yard, we have trees who love to make leaves.  There was several months worth.  Apparently, Spring is raking season in Central Texas.  Not Fall.  Look:

Look closer, it's deceiving.  Actually, it's just dirt, covered in leaves.  Gosh, there is so much to do back here since we 86'd the play scape...one job at a time, Gina...

 OK, and thank you previous owner for installing red lava rocks that must be cleaned out several times a year.  High Five!  In case you were wondering, it's a pain in the rear to use the leaf blower on lava rocks since they are as light as some of the leaves...

And there is dead Wandering Jew under the tree - it just looks tacky.  Sigh....I am so not up to this.  Raking for hours.  Tracking dirt from my Crocs into the house. (it's inevitable)  So here is what I got for my hours of blood sweat and tears:

 Nine bags of leaves and yard debris - a drop in the bucket, but I ran out of bags...

Oh, my poor Lantana....I think it's it's time to go inside, it's wine o'clock and I hear a hot shower calling my name...and I cannot get it done in one day...Spring is not quite here yet, and there's always tomorrow...

What about you?  Been working outside on your yard yet?

Adventures in painting

Well, thanks to some encouragement from a couple of bloggy friends, I forged ahead on my plan to make the front two rooms the same color.  I just had to get mentally prepared, and that was easier said than done...

See that up there?  It's a 10 foot wall.  I stood on the next to the highest ladder rung to line out the wall with my pad painter - shaking and sweating the whole time.  I had the living room "nook" done, complete with moving furniture and putting decor and curtains back in about 6 hours. 

(Notice the newer paint looks yellow-ish now, but  it dries darker, and softer.)

The pad painter is great for edging around stuff, like the built in shelf above the couch. 

My newly painted room and I LOVE the color!  Thanks for the encouragement, Melissa!

(The Inspired Home)

Oh, goodness, Day 2  - more tall walls.  Muscles sore and yet I have to get back up on that ladder.  

This was a real pysch challenge for me, afraid of heights. 

(Goodbye forever,  minty green!)

 At this point my painting clothes were drenched and I was talking myself through it out loud while listening to Parliament on Pandora.  Listening to music while I paint helps me forget that I could fall and crack my skull and no one would find me til the afternoon...just breathe, Gina.

Stay tuned - newly improved front rooms coming soon...

Shared with:

Taco Soup

Tidy Mom is hosting Soup-a-Palooza today and though I wasn't going to post until Wednesday, I just had to put in my two cent's worth and show my family's favorite: Taco Soup!  I know there are about a thousand versions of this out on the internet, and truthfully, I can't remember where this one originated from, but I think the ranch dip mix has got to be the secret ingredient that makes it the best!

Taco Soup for the crock pot

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pkg. mild taco seasoning mix

1 pkg ranch dip seasoning mix

1 can Rotel

1 can water ( use the Rotel can)

1 can chopped green chilies (I use the mild ones)

1 can corn, undrained

1 can pintos, undrained

Brown the meat and onion, then mix into the crock pot with all else.  Cook on low 6 hours.  Serve with Fritos and grated cheddar.Yuuum......no leftovers!

So that was our dinner last night, and here was our dessert:

I had fun making strawberry cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries - once I saw how much they were charging for them at HEB I thought (once again) "I can do that!"  Yes - they were delicious!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day - bring on Spring!

Bedroom chairs update!

It's amazing to me that a little less than a month ago this is what the bedroom chairs looked like:

By the time I had posted about them I had already been dragging my heels for a year or so...and talking about it on the blog was just what I needed, 'cause I got to work picking out a fabric, trucking them over to the upholsterer, and within two weeks...

 I LOVE THEM!!!

This fabric and pattern  is so cool!  And the workmanship on them is perfect.  They went to great pains to match up that enormous repeat so that both chairs look exactly alike.  There was a small amount of fabric left to make a couple of crafts, this toss pillow, for one:

If the weather cooperates this week, I will make a trip to IKEA for some pretty white curtains and a black rod.  I love the new look in here, and so does the cat, apparently. 

I think my MIL would be proud!

Gina

A good way to make me insane...

I thought I had the perfect color all chosen, and I was just waiting for the perfect day to paint...then I got to thinking...what if the paint I chose is not right?  Shouldn't I try it out on the wall first?  OK, maybe I should have thought of that before I actually bought two gallons of it...
but I painted a few swatches of it around the room:

 It makes me hate the green even more...but it looked dark to me...so I added a bit of creamy paint to lighten it up..and that took up most of my afternoon....grrrrrr

So on the left is the lighter version of Tobacco Leaf...ignore the green below the chair rail.  It will be wainscoting and that will brighten the room up considerably!

 On every wall, the paint looks different.  Is it because I can still see so much horrid green?

 This is a study in madness to me...I wish my little voice could be confident enough to say "Just do it!".  Get off your booty and paint it and GET ER DONE!

I think with all the green touches in the room, it will be ok, it's just that it is brown - will it look like poo colored walls?  I can't sink all the time and effort into painting this room twice - I need to get it right so I can move on to other projects.  I like that there is no yellow in this sandy brown...I like the Behr paint formula.  I just can't seem to feel brave enough to get going!!

Snow Day 2011

I can't say I blame the people up north for thinking we Austin folk are a bunch of weenies when it comes to snow.  But, really, the roads here are downright treacherous when covered with ice.  And no one here knows how to drive in it.  Schools panic and close.  Employers offer paid lodging at nearby hotels. You would think it's Snowmaggedon.

 Look at that - barely a dusting - but first the rain fell, then the snow.

  

 

 

We've got "wintry mix" in the forecast today - no more ice, please? 

Gina

Sugar's talent

If it's one thing Sugar is good at, it's laying around.  

And she seems to sense when you need her furry, fat girth upon you.

She's like a 20 pound heating pad that purrs.  "Keep away from Dad.  His knee hurts and I and making sure he stays put!"  If there isn't a person to lay on top of she has other options:

 A couch, or one of 5 beds.

 My newly re-covered chair or a sunny window.

Or even the random laundry basket.

Gina