Old Things New

TRANSFORMED, from broken to beautiful

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Happily Going Grey

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I have this friend.  She has an opinion about what I “should” do in nearly every area of my life.  The only areas where she doesn’t weigh in are in more private matters, but that’s only because I keep them private.  Do you have anyone in your life like this friend of mine?

Not too long ago she asked me what I thought about letting my hair go grey.  When I gave her my reasons for coloring it – I like my hair the color it is, it has more body and looks thicker when I color it, my husband likes it and doesn’t care about the money I’m wasting :), I feel younger without the grey – it was as though I hit a nerve as she began giving me a long list of reasons why I SHOULD go grey, topping the list off by telling me I can’t really like the person God created me to be if I can’t accept the way He created me. 

Wowsers!

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July in Review and a GIFT CARD WINNER!

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Don’t you hate it when you’re pulled into an article with a smooth “tickler” phrase, only to find out that you have to read through a post of some 3,698 words to find that tidbit your looking for?  Me too.  That’s why I’m going to announce the winner of my recent drawing right up front!  After that, if you want to continue to read my July in Review, that would be swell.

So with the proverbial drum roll sounding in your head, dum-dum-dum-dum, the WINNER of the $100 Amazon Gift Card drawing is: 

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My Mother-in-Law was not Just a Sweet Old Lady

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We lost my mother-in-law last week.  She was 98-years-old so people expect that she was probably in poor health, but in reality the end came quickly.  Only three weeks before she entered the hospital she took the bus to a doctor’s appointment all alone.  She had offers of help but – no thank you.  She was a woman who, when she made up her mind to do something, was going to do it!

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The Ugliest Mirror in the World Makeover

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“Gold, pure gold.”  THOSE were the thoughts in the mind of the creator of this old mirror of mine.

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 038aOkay, maybe not pure gold but still, I believe that in the beginning the creator of my thrift store mirror had every intention of making this mirror quite beautiful.  A mirror to be displayed and admired. 

(Keep reading to hear a little secret about this mirror 😉

Eventually she was purchased and probably did have a stint at living life as the mirror she was created to be.  Then time passed and, as often happens, circumstances for this mirror didn’t turn out as expected.  Life happened.  Lots of life apparently as this mirror eventually became a lady most colorful.  And not in the best of ways. The Ugliest Mirror in the World 001I was so excited when I saw this mirror sitting on the Goodwill shelf with the $4.99 price tag that I added it to my cart in a heartbeat.  The checker though!  I could tell by the look on her face when I placed it on the checkstand that she was a bit surprised that anyone would dole out their hard earned money for such a hideous piece.

The Ugliest Mirror in the World 004A painted lady, gaudy in iridescent purple, blue, and green, hiding the gilded beauty of what she was originally created to be.  I get that.  I believe that we are all created with unique gifts and talents and the potential to be what God designed us to be.  Life circumstances can change us though, shut us down, make us fearful to pursue God’s intended path for our lives.

Homemade Milk PaintSome of us seem to push through to fulfill our dreams early on in life.  Others may need a lot of healing to get back on the right track (that’s me, a late bloomer).  Unfortunately some may never get there because they have no one in their lives to see through to the beauty beneath and walk with them toward their full potential.

Homemade Milk Paint 2I decided that I would not take this mirror back to her former glory because she wasn’t the same mirror.  She had many layers now and, though they were indeed gaudy, I didn’t want to hide them completely.

I began this project by toning down my colorful mirror with a few coats of homemade cassein paint that I learned to make in the online painting course Farragoz, The Art of Patina.  This simple-to-make paint creates great texture!

Crackle Medium To add even more depth I decided to give my mirror a crackled look by randomly dabbing wood glue over the cassein paint.

French LinenAfter that was nearly dry I painted the mirror using my Homemade Chalk Paint Recipe with latex paint that Home Depot custom matched to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint’s French Linen (taken from my ASCP color card).

French Linen 2You can see here how nicely the paint is cracking as it dries.

Old White WashA dry brushing of a lighter color Homemade Chalk Paint (a Home Depot match to Annie Sloan’s Old White) followed next.

Dust of Ages in Clear WaxLast of all I used a clear soft wax to seal the layers of paint, pressing Amy Howard’s Dust of Ages into the crevices while the wax was still somewhat tacky.  Have I told you how much fun this stuff is to work with?  It comes in a large 10 oz. jar which should pretty much last me forever.  For ordering info you can click on the picture below.

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 009Now for a little outdoor photo shoot . . .

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 005. . . with Sasha stopping by to check on her appearance.  She is none too happy with all the new grey in her muzzle.

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The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 029More close ups to show the depth that the milk paint and crackle medium give a painted piece.

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 019

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 018

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 017Here you’ll see a little bit of the old color coming through because sometimes a little peek of where we’ve been can remind  us of how far we’ve come and make us grateful.

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 015It’s hard to believe now that this was once an atrocious looking mirror, shunned and discarded at the Goodwill.

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 003Maybe it takes one who has experienced the feeling of being shunned and discarded to see the beautiful potential in one like this.

Now for the little secret I told you I would reveal:  This mirror, underneath all of it’s Old World charm, is plastic!  Yes, PLASTIC.  Who would ever guess?

The Ugliest Mirror Makeover 015aFor more furniture painting ideas and techniques please check out my Pinterest board, and follow along if you like.  To enroll in an awesome online painting course where you’ll learn to make your own paints and be guided through the process of learning several different finishing techniques please check out the Farragoz link here (or on my sidebar).

“For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb . . . My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery] . . . Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.”  Psalm 139:13-18 The Message Bible

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

And just in case you were wondering . . . it is never too late for God to redeem the wasted years of our lives.

You are loved so much!

My Signature

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:

 TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays, GiveMeGrace

Monday:
Tuesday:
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This Week I Was a Cougar

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Sometimes I amuse myself.  Sometimes I outright embarrass myself and my family.  They won’t admit to being embarrassed though because they love me, quirks and all.

Fortunately, I choose to embrace the embarrassment because it always makes for a good story.

Looking out my window 6You may wonder at my title, This Week I Was a Cougar.  So here’s the story behind the title:

Peeking out my window 2I had a pre-surgical appointment at the hospital this week for the gigantic Staghorn stone I will have blasted from my kidney next week.  What is a Staghorn stone you may ask?  That’s exactly what I said when they pulled up the x-ray in the doctor’s office and showed me what they’d found (accidentally by the way, while taking a lung x-ray – but that’s another story).  It has the name Staghorn because it is big and many horned just like a . . . well . . . a Stag’s horns.

Peeking out my window 3The first part of the visit was an EKG, performed by an RN.  I didn’t know I was going to have an EKG or I would’ve dressed differently but no matter.  I simply lifted my dress up to my neck as requested, and she did the procedure while we chatted about how I’d turned 60 last November and she’d just turned 61, and how we still feel like we are 35 on the inside but our legs, and tummies, and arms are changing so, that we feel the need to keep everything covered from head to toe so as not to frighten those we meet on the street (I exaggerate just a little).

Looking out my window 83Procedure finished, I pulled my dress down to my knees and smoothed out the creases while the nurse called in a very nice looking, 40-something-year-old anesthesiologist for my consultation.  He was very professional as he explained what would happen before, during, and after my surgery, had me sign a half dozen release forms, and asked if he could answer any questions.  Nope.  He’d been very thorough in his explanation and besides, the less I talk about my upcoming surgery the better.

So we chatted a bit about other things, like the best places to vacation in the South, great beaches, mountain getaways, etc.  He even wrote down the names of some of the most romantic places to stay.  I leaned forward across the desk to take the paper he had written the names of the resorts on just as he thought of another great place and pulled the paper back to write some more (picture this, me leaning down across the doc’s desk, paused there for several seconds waiting for him to finish – I’ll tell you why later).

Peeking out my window“Thank you doctor,” I said, in my best version of a Southern drawl, which isn’t very good because I’ve only lived here 1-1/2 years and I haven’t quite got it down yet.

I left shortly afterwards, drove to the nursery to buy a few plants (where the woman at the cash register barely made eye contact with me and was rather distant, but the young man who loaded my car was very outgoing and friendly, telling me how beautiful my yard was going to be with the excellent choices in plants I’d made, how much they appreciated my shopping with them today, telling me to be sure and get my plants out of the car as soon as I got home.  On and on and on.  What a sweet young man). 

Looking out my window 4Next I headed home where I hurried into the powder room because, you know, that is what a sixty-year-old lady must do as soon as she drives into the driveway.  Sometimes she is thinking about it even as soon as her car turns into the neighborhood.

There in my powder room, washing my hands at the sink . . . I glance up to check my face, only to catch site of the buttons on my dress, popped open all the way down to a place I won’t tell you because I don’t want to put any unsightly visions into your head!  I am a modest woman by nature.  I don’t like to show any cleavage whatsoever but THIS . . . this was a bit beyond cleavage to the point of COUGARDOM!

Waiting at SeaTacThat my friends, is my embarrassing story of the week.

Blessings,

My SignatureP.S. The pictures in this post are a peek out my windows into my backyard.  Be sure to come back for my next post where I’ll show the full array of pictures in Making a Courtyard Patio on a Backyard Deck.

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:

 TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays, GiveMeGrace

Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday: