Mercury Glass?

The other day I talked about Heather at Traveling Thrifter and I found out there is a way to make your own inexpensive mercury glass items! And I-was-ecstatic! I've always loved (LOVED) mercury glass but they can be quite the pricey item! So when I read that there was a way to make your own... well, I just had to try it.

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you've probably seen my lamp that I put together. By that I mean. I got the stained glass part from my father and then I found the lamp base at a thrift shop. I had originally thought about painting the lamp base black or even silver. But when I saw Heathers lamp, I knew I had to try the faux mercury glass technique on this lamp base.

Heather was very nice and told me exactly what I needed in order to do this project. So I went and found the spray cans. There are really only 4 steps to doing this project.

First step: Spray metal item (in this case my lamp base) with a primer.

Second step: Next spray paint with black Krylon paint.

Use imagination for this one. I was doing laundry and cleaning my house while I was doing this project. So, I got distracted and didn't photograph it when I painted it black.

Third step: Spray with water.

I used a spray bottle that was set on the wide spray. And I probably could have used less spraying action on it. Although, I'm not sure if the water thing is really necessary.

Fourth step: Spray with Krlyon Chrome spray.

I found that if you use a kind of wide sweeping motion when you're spraying the Chrome paint it gives a better look. You don't want a super solid Chrome look to it on the whole thing. You want some of that black undertone to show through in swathes. And don't wipe the water spots off. Let the paint dry and the water will evaporate and leave little circles of areas that look like the mercury is beginning to leak out of the space in the glass.

Up close it looks a little too bubbly to me. But, if you stand back a bit and you have the lamp turned on... It almost has that mercury glass feel to it.

So... here is the before picture....

And here is the after...

So... which do you all like? And what do you think as far as this base looking like Mercury Glass?

Personally, I like it. Now I'm thinking about doing some more mercury glass stuff. I saw something about making it with sheet's of silver on the inside of a glass vase. Or...

I've got more ideas that I am going to be doing in the next few days. So... Have a great day and stay tuned! ;-)

A little D.I.Y.

And it was so simple!

Ran some errands this morning and decided to stop by the thrift shops around the west end of Omaha. And I saw this cute little cast iron bench. We have a rather boring west side of the yard. Although we've moved several shrubs into the area and planted a few more hostas, it still looks pretty boring. So I decided to pick this little gem up. I figured, with a little paint, it would work in adding a little interest to our yard.

Here it is primed...

And here it is completed!

This was so easy. And it took about 1/2 an hour to complete! I absolutely adore easy D.I.Y's! And I have to admit that as much as I LOVE fixing things up or repurposing things. I just don't do very much of it. But having read various blogs like The Traveling Thrifter, Perfectly Imperfect and Freckled Laundry just to name a few, I decided that it was time for me to get back out there and begin doing things the way I used to.

So, what a great way to get back into the swing of things. A little baby step and next... A lamp and some more spray paint! Just wait till you see what I am going to attempt ala Heather at...Traveling Thrifter! You have to see her Faux Zinc chest! Awesome!

Check out those blogs and see what marvelous things these ladies have been up to!

Ta-taa! ;-)

Have you ever...

Have you ever seen one of these? I didn't know what it was at first. When I first saw one of these it was in my neighbors yard, the first summer we moved to Nebraska. I thought it was the neatest thing EVER!

For those of you who have never seen this type of sprinkler, it is a sight. It's a cast iron tractor that pulls itself across the yard and is guided by the hose. It actually sits over the hose and it has spikes on the wheels and it moves itself by the power of the water.

Yesterday, after a community church picnic, which was a total blast! We had and outdoor service and the weather was positively perfect and the sermon re-affirming and the food (as always) more than plentiful. My honey and I walked home and did a little yard work. We planted a few plants and he put down seed over the yard. It's called over seeding. (?) And then he set the sprinkler up. The weather was nice, warm but not hot, and the air was dry with a slight breeze. The perfect end of summer day. We had people stopping by off and on and we waved to the passers-by. (We live on Main Street, and people wave to us as they are driving by) It's really neat. I was trying to crochet something, and having some difficulties (anyone know anything about thumb gussets?), and my honey was sitting and looking out over our yard and just enjoying the weather and the day!

It was a lovely afternoon. How was your Sunday?

And there it is....

Well,

... you know that there is absolutely nothing of interest going on here when you see two similar pictures in two consecutive posts. Only in this one, the sun is out! And that makes today a much better day already!

By the way... Is anyone else torn about whether to go to the Nebraska Junk Jaunt or the Brownville Fall Flea Market? I have a week to make a decision! Aaaargh.....

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Got my fingers crossed.

Seems like a cold Fall day. There is a breeze and it's quite cool. Don't get me wrong, I love the fall but, today I would like to see some sun.

A cool, dry, sunny day would really be nice.

Maybe the sun will come out later. Got my fingers crossed. ;-)

And repeat.......

Let's try this again.

Top or bottom?

Top or bottom?

On the first picture you can see off to the left of the paint swatches, some trim colors. Which do you all like? One is a bit yellow in tone and the other a bit brown in tone.

Needless to say, we couldn't agree on the other two colors and the votes were pretty much split down the middle! So we decided to try again. At this time, my honey and I have pretty much agreed to which color we like, we're just interested in hearing your views. ;-)

P.S. We're second on the the list of houses to get painted. So... We'll have a grand reveal in a couple of weeks ! Yay!

Have a great day folks!

I wasn't going to do it.

Honest!

But, the fault lies with The Pioneer Woman!

It's all her fault.

I was reading her blog and she was talking about how a blogger should try to blog everyday. And I thought, HA! There's no way I could blog every day! My life is NOT that interesting. And I don't even take very good pictures! And everyday life gets in the way of always doing cool and awesome new crafting projects! Oh heck, for that matter, even plain old crafting projects! So, there are more days than not that I don't have anything I could possibly blog about. And then, after I finished reading her blog, (and thought those thoughts.) I went to check my e-mails and there, there was a picture of my sweet little grandbaby. And I thought to myself.... "self, you should post this picture up on your blog because it is funny!" And truly, it is funny (in a little bit scary kind of way). Now, most of you have seen pictures of my grandbaby and most of you have said he's just adorable. And he is... most of the time. But this time... Well, see for yourself.

I don't know... For some reason he looks a little weird to me. That one eye is looking off in another direction and it's kinda weird-ing me out. And that little smirk thing he has going... I don't knowwwwww. It's times like these when I wonder what that little boy is thinking.....

Okay, so there you go. I blogged about nothing in particular. BUT, I did manage to squeeze in a picture of my grandbaby, even if he is looking a bit.... strange. ;-)

Everyone's a winner!

So, here it is... Everyone is a winner! And even though there was a certain someone who isn't interested in knitting needles, she'll be getting a little something too! Like maybe some stitch markers. Because... I had them to give away! And I was so happy about being able to actually share something with ya'll! ;-)

So here's a peak at some of the ones that I will be giving away. Hopefully I'll be able to pick out just the right one for each of you.

The colors seem to be off a bit. The square bead has more of a pink color to it. And the clear one is definitely more pink than clear.

It's still showing clear isn't it? Oh well, even some of the purple is getting lost in these pictures.

And here are the stitch markers. You should be able to use these even with the circular needles. I've found these to be rather nice to have when I'm crocheting too. I can put them anywhere that I need them for when I have to keep track of a row of different stitches.

Thank you all for sharing your time, talents and friendship! And I hope ya'll enjoy the little something that I made and I hope that it inspires you to try new things, or retry old things again. May God Bless you and keep you!

P.S. For those of you who don't have your e-mail address listed on your profile page. Please contact me I need to get your mailing address so I can send out the needles. Thanks.

Joan

Color me.... what color?

So, here we are. I'm finally getting to the post I was going to write when I realized that it would be my 100th post so... I posted about that instead.

Today I will post about the color I need to choose in order to have the house painted. There is a bit of a dilemma because My honey wants to paint it one color and I want to paint it another. So what I've done is painted both colors onto the corners of the porch and I have enlisted people in my community to tell me what color they like. I'm also going to ask ya'll which you like best. The colors seem to be fairly accurate as far as color on the screen is concerned. But, it was a bit overcast when I took the photo's. Not sure if that makes any real difference to ya'll. Anyhow....

Here's the left side of the porch...

And the right side of the porch.

So? What is your suggestion? You can see they are pretty close in color. But it's the tint that is different. And... to keep this fair, I'm not going to tell you which color I chose. Just keep in mind that ya'll are supposed to be "my" friends! Kidding around here. ;-) Which do ya'll like? The top three or the bottom three? Let me know because we have to make a decision by the end of next week! Oh! Keep in mind that we do have a bunch of trees around the front and west side of the house.

Here's a reminder of what the house looks like now.

In the shade...

And in the sun.

There you go. Now if ya'll would help us make our decision, that would be marvelous! Turn in your votes! And thanks for your participation! ;-) Have a great day!