4 Day 4th of July

I could really get used to 4 day weekends. When Wednesday is your 'Friday', it's amazing what all you can do. B and I spent two full days at Lake Texoma celebrating the 4th of July with fun in the sun and fireworks and still had a day and a half to spend at home before starting the week. Because laundry and other house chores is 'for the birds', I spent most of the time at home painting. 

Wanting to paint something different than my latest pieces (see them here, here and here), I whipped out this traditional yet whimsical 11x14" painting.  You'll even notice that I used a color I rarely use - red (Xmas ornaments are an exception).

After finishing the Traditional Whimsy painting, my creative juices were still flowing. To switch things up, I went for bigger and out of my comfort zone. For once, I started out without a plan and let my love for ikat and bright colors shine through in this 18x24 Afternoon Ikat piece. 

Because I still felt like painting, I painted a plain-jane initial I had stored away - Mackenzie-Childs Courtly Check inspired, of course. 

Then, I noticed a pattern in everything I paint. I always finish them off with a little gold... so I guess, adding gold is 'my signature thing'.

At this point, B looked at me and the collection of paintings/crafts we're beginning to acquire and asked what I'm going to do with all this. Good question. I have no idea and we're running out of room in our house.

I'm too chicken to open up an Etsy shop or Facebook 'fan' page just yet, but am thinking about hosting a pop-up shop (via my personal Facebook or Instagram) to see how things go. What do you think?

Terrariums, Painting and Decorating

I guess my creative juices were flowing this weekend. I kept filling the space in between normal weekend stuff with creative stuff. Somehow I managed to host an unofficial craft night, paint a 16x20 canvas and decorate a space that hadn't been decorated in nearly 4 years... in a matter of about 48 hours. 

It started Saturday, while running my errands I walked by a terrarium display at Lowe's. I've been wanting to make one, but just haven't gotten to it yet - so, I started gathering supplies. Knowing we were having another couple over for dinner, I decided us girls would have a craft night while the boys did their thing chilling on the patio. 

Terrariums are as easy as 1, 2, 3. Literally,  1 = rocks, 2 = charcoal, 3 = soil, 4 = plants, 5 = more rocks, done.

Sunday morning, when all I wanted to do was sleep in until 8am… and my body thought 6:25am was a better idea, I busted out a 16x20 canvas and painted. 
 

While B was away for most of the day, the big blank wall in our living room was really bugging me. I have purposely left the wall blank, because my Mom always said, just leave it empty until you find the perfect thing for over the couch. 

This whole time (nearly 4 years) I’ve been looking for ONE perfect thing, when I realized that space could definitely handle a couple perfect things. I laid possible items out on the floor so I could get a better visual for balance and spacing. Here was an initial stab at what the mix might look like:

 

One of my favorite parts of my married last name is the "Mc", so wanted to make use of the little 'c'. But the gold didn't look just right. I had to paint it.

Mackenzie-Childs Courtley Check-like of course.

Most of the items are result of my craft making. Two paintings by me, a big "M" I got down in Canton, TX, little 'C' from Hobby Lobby, and my 1st anniversary, paper gift to Brandon showcasing the Texas girl and the Oklahoma boy. 

The collage isn't perfect, but I love how it's quirky, colorful and ties in both Brandon and Me.

Hand-painted Wooden Monogram

 

 

Over a year ago, I pinned this painted wooden monogram to my “Wishing & Daydreaming” board on Pinterest.

 

Fast forward to last fall when I was first introduced to the Groopdealz website; my first purchase was this 18” unfinished wooden monogram. I was so excited to check-off one of my wishes from the Pinterest board. (I’ve actually purchased 5 unfinished wooden monograms to give as Christmas, birthday and even bridal shower gifts – and they’ve been a hit!)

 

I didn’t know what color I wanted to paint it immediately, so I put it away in my craft closet until I decided on a color. After a few months, I thought painting it gold would be a good neutral option. Maybe it was my spray paint selection, but the gold was off-par and not at all what I had in mind - so, back to the craft closet the monogram went. It sat in the craft closet awaiting a new paint job for a another month or two until one Saturday afternoon, I felt the urge to paint. 

 

Inspired by a few pieces of my personal, Mackenzie-Childs, Green Flower Market Collection – I was excited to take on a personal challenge to paint a floral design on something that was not just a flat canvas.  

 

 

 

 

I was ‘in the zone’ painting, until I was rudely interrupted by storms and a power outage.

 

Sunday, I resumed painting until another round of storms came. That night, Edmond was hit with a tornado just 2 miles from our house. Also, the towns of Shawnee, OK and Little Axe, OK were hit by F4 tornadoes.

 

The next day, was Monday, May 20th the day an F5 tornado went through Moore, OK Which inspired me to paint for Oklahoma. The #prayforoklahoma painting can be seen here. 

 

This past weekend, I finally was able to focus some time to finish the monogram. With some input from miss Dixie Belle, there was still some detail work to be done before it was complete.

 

Using Mackenzie-Childs ribbon, our McDaniel Monogram now hangs on our mantel! I'm so pleased how it turned out and hope we get to enjoy it in our home.

 

 

 

 

 

Dirty 'ol Chair made Quirky Plant Stand Final Product

The dirty ‘ol chair is finally complete!

After staring at it, thinking it was looking good, I realized the paint was looking too good. So I took a wet rag to chair and roughed up the paint so it looked a little less “freshly painted” and a little more “broken in”. And to tone down the brightness, I smeared dark glaze all over the chair. Once the glaze was dry, I gave the chair a nice coat of polyurethane to seal.

Now to make sense of the quirky plant stand portion of the chair, I purchased a 12” pot and filled it with some plants. Featured in the pot is a foxtail fern, peachy geranium and hot pink petunia.



Dirty 'ol Chair made Quirky Plant Stand

A few months ago, one of B’s best friends sent me a text with a picture of 3 chairs and asked if I wanted any of them before they went to the curb. At first I was hesitant because adding to my always growing project list (and clutter in the 3^rd car garage) would be risky for this wife. But, the inner hoarder in me couldn’t say no to a free chair with potential (lucky for the husband, I only came home with 1 chair).

This was my pick of the litter. Pretty dirty, a little raggedy but definitely a diamond in the rough. A little TLC and paint could do wonders.

After sitting in the garage for a few months, I decided on a plan for the chair. Painted up with fun colors, given a quirky vibe and cut out the dingy woven seat – I was going to repurpose the chair as a plant stand. Put a big ‘ol pot of flowers in the seat hole and set it on the front (or back) porch to enjoy.

I cleaned up the chair with a few dozen Lysol wipes, ripped out the woven seat and began painting.

Wanting the chair to be bright, fun and quirky, inspiration from Mackenzie-Childs should come as no surprise. Starting with the biggest area for paint, the seat became “McDaniel-Childs” (Courtly Check) inspired.

Next, I painted the arms of the chair. Who doesn’t love orange/pink and lime green/turquoise paired together in a chevron-like pattern. After I finished the arms, the chair sat for a two weeks because I was stumped.

Believe it or not, B gave me the idea to incorporate leopard (which I call, my “camo” to Brandon’s Max 4 camo). So this Sunday afternoon, I went with his idea.  wanting to accent the detail in the top of the chair back I painted it brightly to tie in all the colors used thus far – with a little gold.

Because the chair was getting so bright, I decided to leave the back rails and legs of the chair black. But of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone and added some turquoise and roughed it up.



All it needs is a coat of polyeurethane and pot of pretty flowers to make it's porch debut!

Lake Texoma Weekend: The Pink Pistol

We headed down to Lake Texoma this weekend to get away from the City. Since it's not quite "lake season" yet, the boys’ agenda was mostly focused around fishing, while the girls’ agenda was mostly focused around The Pink Pistol trip. 

Saturday morning, my MIL, SIL and I took a short little drive northeast of Madill to Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The town Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton call home and also the place Miranda opened up a little  shop called The Pink Pistol. Remember how Miranda Lambert is my favorite female country artist and famous Texas Okie? I've been dying to go to the store - and to say I was excited about this venture was an understatement.

Miranda wasn’t there, as I had expected, but I sure had fun looking around (and taking pictures) in her store. It looked as if pink had exploded everywhere. There were t-shirts, boots, bar ware, dips and sauces and other random knick knacks to buy. Also, the store featured an old school soda fountain bar, visitors’ signatures on the floor, a Blake Shelton cut-out and some fun vintage furniture. 

Katelyn & I with Blake

Sitting in the Pink Pistol Princess Chair. 

(Posing just as Miranda did for her story in People Magazine - framed above the chair)

Loved this old re-purposed suitcase. And Pistol Annies shout out!

I don't even come up to his shoulder.

Glad to know I'm not the only one with a French Chair obsession. Miranda likes them too!

Been there, sat there and got a Dr. Pepper there!

While holding Pink Pistol souvenir wine glasses to purchase, we learned that Miranda also has her own winery in Lindale, TX called Red 55 Winery. And as luck would have it, the liquor store down the street in "downtown Tish" carried her wine! Next stop after The Pink Pistol? The liquor store. Don't judge us that we were at the liquor store before noon, we were just excited to get in and get the bottle of our choice before they sold out! I bought a bottle of her sweet white wine, called "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." As a sucker for riesling, I can't wait to open it up (but maybe I should save it?)! 

My Pink Pistol/Miranda Lambert/Tishomingo, OK Treasures.