Hill country getaway

On the last weekend of our summer break before I have to go back to work on Monday we took a little trip out to the TX hill country.

Lunch at the root cellar cafe in San Marcos.

Quick visit to the outlet mall, to this place:

a little antique shopping......

some icecream.......

a visit to Stonehenge II in Ingram TX.  This has recently been re-located from the original location.

As well as a replica 2/3 the size of the original Stonehenge, there are 2 replicas of the Easter Island heads too.  Both kids used to be terrified of these when we visited this place when they were toddlers.

Now:

and then:

Here we are in December 2005.....

Kate @ 4

Kate @ 10

some visits to state parks....

I saw this place on the highway and I "googled it" to find out it is called the Lighthouse hill ranch, and you can rent it out the "Lighthouse" for $590 a night.

Old courthouse in Blanco, TX.

swimming.....

Painted black chairs

Painting 1 chair is easy, but painting 6 chairs takes a little more effort and leaves your painting hand sore at the end of the day.

I painted my chairs black a couple of years ago.  (I did it the easy way - spray paint).

I offered to paint chairs for a friend and thought as it was so hot I didn't want to be in and out of the garage all day doing more coats of spray paint.

The chairs looked like this to begin with.

The living room painting studio - first I did the back spindles, frame and the seat...

Then I put them on a table to more easily do the legs and the spindles on the bottom.

Do you like my spiderman drop cloth? 

I used this primer...

4 down, 2 to go

then on goes the black paint....

Now a day later, all dry and ready to go.  I am going to put a coat of wax on to hopefully protect the finish, as my friend has 3 little kids so they will be well used.

This is the same paint I used on our bed.  I like the shiny but not too glossy finish.

Sharing at Piece of Work Wednesday:

Foyer

I wanted to join the party at Cottage and Vine.   This little area is pretty plainly decorated.

Our "foyer" is decorated at the moment with some of my favorite thrift store plates, an old shutter, and some other little art pieces.

Eventually I would like to paint the walls, but as this is open to the stairs, and then the upstairs hallway and kids playroom, I have to find a neutral color I really love that I want to paint through the whole place.

These little cross stitch pieces - the one on the left is from Goodwill, and the orange flower one was $5 in an antique shop.

 Not sure the story behind this little picture below, but it came from my parent's house and was in my room there.  It is very heavy and old.

This plate I found at Goodwill, it is poppytrail by Metlox

I really like the pattern on this plate.

a favorite (candid) family picture taken at the farm in east Texas

The chair is a garage sale find.  I like the natural wood right now, but it may get a paint job one day.

The foyer is open to our living room

Click the link below to check some more inspiring foyers and entry ways, I know I need some inspiration for mine!



Garage sale table makeover

little garage sale table:

+ some spray primer

+spray paint (Krylon Ivy Leaf)

 = fun new little lamp table

Linking to Southern Hospitality

The cool new couch

This couch was really almost FREE (not really), because I sold a few little pieces of furniture and home decor and with the money I made from that I bought us a couch!  The seller was asking $100 but I asked if they would take $80.  It is made in the USA by Bernhardt.  It is big and solid and very comfortable.  So now the room we call the front living room actually has a place to sit.

linking to Southern Hospitality (click on picture)

Another painting project, before and after

Before:

After:

(I know it is missing one handle.  One of the original ones has been broken a while.  When I was reading one of the blogs I follow a few days ago Twice Lovely, I saw they have a new online shop selling furniture hardware, I was able to find the match for Kate's dresser and it did arrive today so it is complete now!)

I painted with one coat of paint/ primer and one coat of paint - "spring cactus", the same green as my desk I just painted

Here is a before picture of the nightstand:

The nightstand was another Goodwill find and you can read more about it here

and after:

I am really happy with how they look in Kate's room

To read the story behind Kate's bed, read here

The colorful quilt at the end of her bed is from Land of Nod, but I got it at a garage sale for $10!

and her curtains are from IKEA

pretty clean green dresser, now like brand new furniture!

Linking to piece of work wednesday: