Laity Pumpkin Patch

Sometimes everything comes together to make a new and happy memory. Friday the rain stopped for a couple of hours just after school let out. DGS wanted more pumpkins. The Laity Pumpkin Patch is a great pumpkin venue. What could be better.

The Pumpkin Patch has a treed multiple paths area with great large kid size vignettes that match not only the season but also favorite characters.

The little fairy gardens remind me of my blogging friend Brenda who creates them in her garden.

The pumpkin fields invite carful scrutiny of so many sizes, shapes and weights of pumpkins. This part of the afternoon took about 20 minutes and lugging the 'big one' back to the car took two of us, one on each handle of the cloth grocery bag (best carrying solution for us from the field).

When it came to the really 'big ones' it took DGS and a helper to load and move these beauties to the car and then drop them off at Mom's for weekend carving.

Panning for gold, petting the calves, pony, donkey, sheep, goats, rabbits, checking out the turkeys, hens, pigeons, chicks, budgies and more rabbits was also part of the fun. 


Pumpkins came home and were carved for Wednesday's Trick or Treat Visitors. Check these Halloween Pumpkin faces.

Cast of Characters: 

me to remove top and innards

DS and DGS to carve the faces

Great team work.

Sharing with:

The Cookie Puzzle Oct 25/16

Debbiedoos
Elizabeth and Co
I Gotta Create
{Primp}
The Thrifty Home
A Delightsome Life
Ivy and Elephants
A Creative Princess
Fireflies and Jellybeans

Narrow Blog Header with PicMonkey

Brenda of Cozy Inspiration wrote a good post on First Impressions. She recently moved her blog to Wordpress and her blogs looks terrific. 

I am using Blogger and wanted to make a less cluttered, more streamlined header in Blogger. I admit I am always totally in love with every header I've made (and that numbers into the hundreds) but ... the simple header does look very nice. 

PicMonkey headers/collages work in Wordpress as well.

Here is my previous header:

PicMonkey plus one edited photo and a fair bit of tweaking and I have a narrower less cluttered header.

How?

First - choose and edit your photo (small) I used iPhoto and picked small/small plus edited the picture as "vignette". Saved my picture into my Header Folder which I keep on my desktop.

Second - open PicMonkey, choose Create a Collage

Third - pick the collage FB Cover, resize its length to 1100 and the depth to 200 (you have flex on the width but not the length -see bottom of screen for pixel sizes). The borders are all drag bars and you can move them to the size you want. You will find that your shape sometimes 'clings' to the mouse so click to let go. Check TRANSPARENT (it is in the Art Pallet Icon) to ensure your background shows through your header. (this only works when you save as a .png)

Fourth - (the dash lines in the collage are grab/drag so move your picture area lines to less wide and your text area to the largest by dragging the lines)

Fifth - Click on Upload Your Photo and then drag/insert your photo (this is where you will tweak the photo area by dragging lines until your photo is the size you want in the collage)

Sixth - Choose P (that is the text box), choose your font, and then resize the font until it fits your header space. (you can change the font until you are pleased with the mix of font and picture). This is also where you can choose P again and make a new Font/line by resizing/picking colour for your description if you include it in this area. Remember to click on the Type Your Text Here to activate it.

Seventh - tweak until you like the look/color/size and SAVE (ie) DateHeader.Collage.png

Eighth - next, insert the header into your Blogger blog using Layout.

Sharing with:
Funky Junk Interiors
Cozy Little House
The Farmhouse Porch
Coastal Charm
Knick of Time
Stone Gable
Its Overflowing
Saving for Six


Thank you PicMonkey for writing such great easy to use (and constantly adding more features) editing/collage on line software)
All screen shots are my own content within the framework of PicMonkey.

Thrifted Finds

This week thrifted finds are from a Church sale with a few garage sale finds. Love the springy egg holders.

My favorite Church Sale, just a few minutes drive away, has three Church Men Garage Sales each year. They are recipients of estates as well as other donations and they don't like to store things that remain after each sale so each sale is fresh. Organized, well staffed with Grandpa aged volunteers from the Church and always opens on the dot of 9 am, closes at 12:00 noon.

A birdhouse in need of decoration, some primary readers and a small village, all on vintage maps.

Found a few Wade Miniatures.

 Wee Softie for a baby boy.

 Sewing fixings with fabric scraps with horse/dog/cow themes.

It is late in the garage sale season, almost time to use the time spent hunting for thrifted finds for other purposes... (Christmas thoughts) (catching up on paperwork) (crafting) (painting more furniture) (and my word of the year "Organization")...

Sharing with Rooted in Thyme, Colorado Lady, Little Red House, Creating My Way to Success, You are Talking Too Much, Homemaker on a Dime, Smiling Sally, A Living Space, DIY Home Sweet Home, The Dedicated House

FAT Paint

Chalk Paint is one of my favorite types of paint and I used it extensively on my furniture/frame/object d'art revivals. Easy to use, clean up, sand, and finish with wax or satin varithane.

FAT Paint Sea Glass Green chalk paint (2 coats) and satin varithane on child's wooden chair (originally a varnish finish).

New to me: FAT Paint, a chalk paint made in NewWestminster BC.

I love ASCP, CeCeCaldwell and my own homemade chalk paint and use all three types of chalk paint on my projects, usually based on what I have in stock.

Before and 1 Coat FAT Paint Sea Glass Green

This green goes well with two vintage items I've blogged about in the past. Check here to see what they are.

I finished with satin varithane (a bit too soon in a couple of spots, just like all other chalk paint if it isn't dry). The chair seat edge is fairly accurate shade of Sea Glass Green.

A final view of the Child's Chair (Sea Glass Green FAT Paint).

How did I discover FAT Paint?

Maris of Rescued and Restyled Home Decor (Facebook here) dropped off two samples of FAT Paint at Village Antiques Mall this week and one was given to me to try, Sea Glass Green. Maris is the Fraser Valley Distributor for FAT Paint.

Maris's Facebook included a link to the creators of FAT Paint (Facebook) which links to Victoria's blog, Edin's House (she is the co-creator of FAT Paint along with her brother Brad). 

Edin's House has several posts describing and showcasing FAT Paint, this link is on her Merritt Workshop.

Image borrowed from Victoria's Edin's House Facebook page.

I also borrowed Victoria's paint chart (also on Facebook).

Here is Victoria's Contact page if you are interested in FAT Paint.

This is my unsolicited review of a FAT Paint.

Sharing with:

My 1929 Charmer
Life On Lakeshore Drive
Serenity Now
French Country Cottage
The Vintage Farmhouse
Chick on a Shoestring
The Charm of Home
Common Ground
Miss Mustard Seed
Maiden D'Shade
Twigg Studios
Nifty Thrifty Things
Boogieboard Cottage
The Thrifty Grove
Rooted in Thyme
The Shabby Nest 

Funky Junk Interiors 

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Dundarave Maple Leaves

Ocean waves and autumn breezes, maple leaves and a mini-holiday. I breath deeply and relax for this moment in time. 

Dundarave in West Vancouver BC has a sturdy wharf, breakers, huge rocks, driftwood, a sandy beach and water/sun worn logs for backrests and wind shelters. Every six weeks we get our hair cut by our dear friend John. He lives and works a block from this beach and never visits.

Every time we make the somewhat long drive I do visit, walk and take pictures at the beach. Today the maple leaves along Dundarave covered the sidewalks and invited gathering. Last year I waxed the leaves. This year they became part of my vignette of thrifted finds.

I sorted bags of buttons into color sets, added orange cookie cutters to a small jar and filled an egg/salad basket with the maple leaves. The cast iron plant holders mixed well with the leaves and fall gourds.

The newspaper is from February 1922 and has a lovely yellowed patina. I've been using circles of this newspaper when I modpodged lid tops for my jar collections.

Sharing with Debbiedoos,  How Sweet the Sound, Cozy Little House, Little Red House, Our Delightful Home, Coastal Charm, The Dedicated House, Kathe with an E, Serendipity and  Spice, Homemaker on a Dime, The Farmhouse Porch, Knick of Time, Primp, Elizabeth and Co., DIY by Design, Savvy Southern Style, I Gotta Create, Colorado Lady

Thank you to all the wonderful bloggers who hold parties so that we can share our blogging ideas, creations, projects and interests.

Carney Thrifted Finds

Every October, 3rd weekend, Arch Bishop Carney staff, parents and students host their huge Annual Garage Sale. Doors open at 8:30 Saturday and the lineups are amazingly long. 

DH finding an "Ascot on Oak" Mason's coffee pot was a highlight.

Imagine finding a Rockingham creamer (DH found this too)!

The delicate painted flowers around the base and on both sides of the creamer are lovely.

Just a few more vignettes of some of the Carney weekend finds.

Thanks to all the volunteers who sorted, set up, worked and then cleaned up after this huge garage sale (gym, cafeteria, two long hallways, multi-purpose room and even outside the gym doors).

Sharing with
Apron Thrift Girl
Little Red House
Boogieboard Cottage
DebbieDoo's
Creating My Way to Success
You are Talking too Much
DIY Home Sweet Home
Homemaker on a Dime
Smiling Sally
A Living Space

Oak Parlor Table

Just right for a tea table, this oak parlor table (oak lamp table) with its original finish and the dings of long time use, came home with us from an estate sale with a difference. The entire household contents were included in the sale to the new owners of the house and the new owners held a house clearance sale. No sad emotions, just commerce.

I posted about an earlier oak parlor/lamp table that we found in pieces and DH rebuilt here and here.

This table goes so well with the embroderied fall leaves table cloth from my vintage covers collection.

Close up views of the legs and the original finish.

The fun is in the dressing and making vignettes is always a treat.

One more for fun...

I love the look of the marbled and burgandy covered books and the metal silver napkin ring and thimble on a paper holder in the mini cloche but my favorite thing this week is my Bue Roses double marked Paragon cup and saucer. It stays on my Welsh dresser - this is its first appearance in a vingette.

Sharing with:Mockingbird Hill Cottage, Funky Junk Interiors, Miss Mustard Seed, Have a Daily cup of Mrs. Olson,  Colorado Lady, Brambleberry Cottage, A Delightsome Life, From My Front Porch to Yours, Fireflies and Jellybeans, I Gotta Create, A Creative Princess, DIY by Design, {Primp}, The Charm of Home, Cap Creations, Faith Grace Crafts

Thank you to all the wonderful bloggers who hold parties so that other bloggers can share their projects, ideas, renovations, painted furniture, inspirations, great recipes, and so much more.
Joy

Cloche Collections

Tweaking collections by using a cloche to display favorites is always fun. I found this small cloche while thrifting on Friday. I've tried out several small collectibles in various backgrounds.

Depression glass pepper shaker, old pump pencil sharpener and a waxed leaf, an a vintage alarm clock in front of the Salter Cast Iron Scale.

When working on my booth on Sunday I found only three glass cloche in the store. The owl under glass is mine and the classic sealed and the cake dome belong to other dealers. I added the items to the cake dome (and then put everything back where it belonged).

The picture below is my favorite cloche this week - a pint sealer with zinc and glass top, reversed. My favorite of these is the hydrangea. I want to dry a hydrangea just for this sealer for a semi-perminent display.

So I went outside, clipped a few more hydrangea blossoms and made another cloche, this time a keeper.

Always fun making something fresh.

Sharing with:Apron Thrift Girl, Cozy Little House, Little Red House, Coastal Charm, Debbie Doo's, A Stroll Through Life, Our Delightful Home, Boogieboard Cottage, Serendipity and Spice, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Kathe with an E, The Farmhouse Porch, and

Banner Letters the PicMonkey Way

Favorites take many forms. I love working on the computer and learning something new. PicMonkey is a favorite online (free so far) program. Decorating my Welsh dresser is another favorite activity. Reading posts is another. Together they made this post.

Making different banners is always fun, and when reading blogs on Alison's Friday's Unfolded Stuff and Nonsense's linky party there was a grain sack banner. Just what the Welsh dresser hutch needed.

Angie who writes Knick of Time posted "Make Your Own Grain Sack Banner".  Check Angie's post here - she took a clear picture of a grain sack to share, just drag her photo onto your desk top and use it to make ..... a banner. What a great idea. Go to Angie's blog if you want to take a copy of the blank grain sack.

Angie used a stencil and paint to make her letters but also suggested (which was brilliant) that her European Grain Sack picture could be opened in PicMonkey and that the letters you want could be added to the Grain Sack picture. 

How to:

Open Angie's Grain Sack picture in PicMonkey and rotate it. Add a letter, save, highlight the letter, change to the next letter, save etc. until you have each letter you need saved on the grain sack background (save each letter with a new name (ie) F grain sack, A grain sack etc.). I printed on mat photo paper, 

and used Roman Antique in PicMonkey's new Halloween fonts.

Print each letter on a separate page. 

Next step: using a ruler/pencil and scissors turn each page into a triangle.

(find the mid-point of the base and draw a line 

from each upper corner to mid-point)

Colored metal clips hold the letters to a length of thick hemp string.

Rearranged my Welsh hutch and added the new banner.

 Thank you Angie of Knick of Time for the inspiration for this post.

Check here to see the banners I made earlier this week. The waxed leaves in these collages have lasted since last October - post here.

Have a great weekend.

Sharing with:
 Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage: Favorite Things Saturday
Donna of Funky Junk Interiors: SNS 156 - Crafts
Cap Creations: Thrifty Love {Link Party # 47}
Sunny Simple Life, Knick of Time