Summer Dreams

I can't believe that it is almost time for school to begin for another year!  My son will be going into 8th grade at the Junior high and my daughter will be in her second year of Art School.

Of all the dreams and plans I had for summer I think what I wanted most was sun, being able to get outside, spend time with friends and not have a schedule!  Even though our summer in the Pacific Northwest has been hit and miss in terms of sun this year, I was able to achieve all those goals.  I tend to be greedy and start to get depressed when I think of summer ending and going into fall.  I want more.  More long days, more sleeping in, more sun, more of everything that summer represents.  Can you tell the summer is my favorite season? 

Getting ready for school to begin after Labor Day has put me in a reflective mood.  In order to stave off the pouting, I am reviewing all the fun we had this summer so far!  Some of the highlights:

My kids and I went yard "sailing" every Friday, often with Chocolate frosted donuts from the brick oven bakery to kick off the morning.  We went to Lake Chelan twice, once for the family reunion where we got to see and rekindle connections with my husbands side of the family, and again with friends for camping and swimming. 

I did lose that 30 lbs and so did my friends!  Pay no attention to the logo at the bottom of the picture! 

The Oregon coast was on our list for summer and we stayed in Seaside and hit Cannon Beach for a few days with good friends. 

People feet, bird feet, everyone loves to put their toes in the sand!

We fed seagulls everyday and made new friends!

                                              We relaxed and enjoyed our time with good friends.

We floated the river in our 25+ year old raft with a big group of old and new friends and had a big BBQ after and talked and watched the kids run around in the yard. 

Campfires in our fire bowl with smores were a favorite time to just sit around and talk and crack each other up with just our little family of four.  That time is so precious now with our daughter turning 22 in Oct.  She lives at home but is often gone working, at school, or with friends.  So, when we are all together it is very nice for all of us. 

My husband and I escaped for a quick trip to Oregon to attend the antique faire at Molly Mo's (my first one) and we discovered a Goodwill Superstore on the way home!  I was in heaven!!

So, all in all a pretty decent summer.  No big exotic vacations, just nice memories with the people we love. 

I don't think I would like to lose the seasons, as I do enjoy each one, but I think I just need more sun.  Maybe an extra set of artificial sun Happy Lites? 

You know, I am looking forward to school starting to get my own routine back, and get my son in one too!  How about you?

Easy DIY Update

First, I would like to announce the winner of the August giveaway for the milk glass bowl, compote and the sage green doily!  Drum roll.........

The winner chosen by a random number generator is number 4!  SOUTHERN LADY'S VINTAGE!!!  Check out her shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/southernladysvintage  
Congratulations!!!


Now, on to the DIY project!  I had to share this as I was so happy that my plans actually turned out the way I thought they would!  How often in life does that happen?  : D  My son and I were out yard sailing (yes again, we do it every Friday in the summer) and discovered a cool sale.  They had a large "free" pile too.  Now usually I don't take anything from the free pile.  There is a reason that stuff is free right?  Yeah, you know what I am saying.  This time though, I could not pass up the chance to see if I could remake these old, worn, dirty spice racks into something nice and updated.  What the heck, it was free right? 

I didn't take many before pics but just imagine they were dirty, greasy, grimy and the varnish was worn off in places.  The hardest part of the whole project was cleaning them! 

It looks like I am thinking of throwing them in the fire bowl and using them for kindling huh?  It did cross my mind, but only briefly!  After scrubbing and scrubbing and using dish soap, Fantastic, 409,  and every other cleaner I had, I let them dry and used different types of spray paint that I had on hand.  I also tried out the new light green "celery" color I had just purchased! 

What do you think? 

 Two of them had drawers and two were smaller.  The red one was missing the bottom rail.  We switched the top rail to the bottom and I think it works fine. 

I think these would be fun to use for small photos, or collections.  Even your perfumes and bath products.  Now, get your paint can and get started! 

I'm linking up to

Thrifty Thursday - Tales from Bloggerritaville at http://lbratina.blogspot.com/

Transformation Thursday at http://theshabbychiccottage.net/

Fun at the Antique Faire in Sublimity!

I wanted to escape for a day.  Get away from the messy house, the projects, the to-do list.  Spend some time with my husband.  I learned about Molly Mo's Antique faire in Sublimity Oregon from the Funky Junk Sisters Blog.  Hmmmmm, a nice drive to Oregon, a place I have never been, a chance to see what people are selling and try to determine if I could participate sometime.  I talked my husband into it pretty easily.  It was either that or organize the garage...

It was a gorgeous day, and Molly's Mo's farm is out in the middle of the country.  Quite beautiful!  I wish I had a bigger house and lots of money as there were so many wonderful things: Antiques, rusty, chippy, shabby chic, crafts, and furniture!  The setting was fantastic and there was old music playing in the background, carrot cake for sale, other goodies to eat and drink and a place to sit awhile... Oh, and Chickens!!!! Did I tell you I LOVE chickens?  Unfortunately, my husband did not get any pictures of the chickens!  He was probably afraid I would frame them and hang them in the kitchen~ 

The Antique Faire was only one day.  Molly is having another one in November.  She also has a shop!  And a Blog!  Check her out here: 

http://mollymos03.blogspot.com/

So much fun it was worth the 4 hour drive!!  And as a bonus, there was SUNSHINE out there in the country!!!

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE AUGUST GIVEAWAY!  WINNER ANNOUNCED TOMORROW!

Tacky to Terrific Cabinet Makeover

One Friday, as I was out yard sailing, I came across this cabinet.  It had been in the family cabin for as long as anyone could remember.  It was solid wood, had nice two toned color detailing and showed potential. 

I was surprised to open it and discover that it did not have a back on it!  For some reason, someone had put a couple of metal brace pieces in an X across the back. 

What I thought was a drawer, turned out to be a false drawer.  I was intrigued.  No one knew what this was or had been.  It was free standing and had a couple of thin shelves inside.  At one time there had been 3 shelves but the shelf and one of the supports for it was missing.  It sorta looked like a old phonograph cabinet to me.  I just thought it was so unique that it had to come home with me. 

Originally, I thought I could redo it to the orginal finish but I quickly realized that I did not have the proper tools to for the job (finishing sander for one).  I decided I would just be creative and make it into something completely different and not worry about the wood (though I did hate to cover that!). 

The first step was to sand it down and rough up the varnished parts a bit.  Then to sand it by hand for a softer finish.   I took off the one side support for the missing shelf, used wood putty to fill a couple of holes on the top, removed the back metal braces, the hardward and the door.  Kilz primer was next.

I did this outside on a sunny day and allowed the primer to dry in the sun and put on a second coat.   Then I sanded it again with finishing sandpaper.  Next came the beautiful soft pink semi gloss Oops paint that I got at Home Depot.  Several coats of pink with sanding in between.  Then the wood embellishment (also from home depot) was glued on with Gorilla Glue after first being primered.  I have learned that you must primer bare wood before painting or it takes forever to accept the paint!  A couple of coats of paint on the embellishment, some sanding to distress the piece, and some nice glass rose handles.  Oh yes, and a back!  I got my husband to do this part!  I am not the best at measuring, cutting and getting something straight! 

This may be my favorite project so far!

Linking to Cottage Instincts Make it for Monday  http://cottageinstincts.blogspot.com/
And The DIY Showoff project parade http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/

UPDATE:  This has sold!

August Giveaway!!

Ok, it's that time again to have another giveaway!  This time it is a nice set of milk glass!  A bowl and compote set which works great to hold your jewelry, float flowers, or even to store bath soaps and products! 

Looks great on this sage green crocheted doily that comes with it! 

There are several ways to enter.  If you choose to do all of them you will be given 7 chances to win!  All entries are assigned numbers based on the entries; i.e., you could be number 1, 11, 21, 31... if you entered 4 times and there were only 10 total people entered.  See how that works?  At the end of the contest, a random number generator is used to choose the winner!  Check back to see if it is YOU! 

Here are the entry methods:

1. Visit my online store at http://www.mylifeinstages.com/ and tell me which is item your favorite

2. "Heart" my shop at http://www.mylifeinstages.com/ and let me know

3. Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/LifeInStages and let me know via twitter direct message

4. Follow me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/lifeinstages and leave a comment on that page

5. Follow this blog - or leave a comment that you are a follower so I know you are interested in winning

6. Tweet this giveaway with link and @lifeinstages so I will know

7. Post this giveaway on your blog and give me the link

Contest closes on August 23rd and winner is announced on the blog Tuesday, August 24th at 12pm Pacific time.  Will it be you?