Blue Door at Sixty 44.

A three day weekend. Three days of rest and relaxation.
Yeah right. 
 I took advantage of this prime painting opportunity.

I planned ahead. It was time for the red front door to change.

I stuck paint swatches on the door for a few days to get a feel for what I wanted.
The front door is tucked away under the arch.  I found that a darker blue just got lost.

The winner:

Azurean.
Behr Premium Plus paint.

I finished the faux barn door too.

I gave it a final coat of white and painted on the house numbers.
I used my usual transfer method. 
(Found the font, printed it, traced with transfer paper and painted it.)

The font is 'SpeedballNo3.' I found in at dafont.com. A free download.

I wanted something retro yet fresh.  I dig it, totally.

While I was at it, I painted the porch swing.

The shutters too. I was on a roll and got it all done.

The Cabinet Maker made the swing in high school. (circa 1981)

  It was pretty weather beaten and needed some scraping and sanding.

A few coats of Azurean perked it right up.

The shutters had been hunter green.

It was a laugh riot cleaning and painting them in 90 degree weather.

But worth it.

The big hinges are from my dad's garage stash back in September.

It is fun to use them here. Mike approves.

The peonies are from my garden. So pretty.

Three days zoomed by so quickly!
xo jeanne.

Linden Hills. Charming and Garage Sale Fabulous.

Decorating co-captain Linda and I hit the pavement in Linden Hills,
 a charming suburb of Minneapolis.
The weather was perfect. The neighborhood was darling.

The finds were pretty good too.

 

The pots and glass juicer were free.

The bar of soap was .10 cents. It had some strange appealing character at the time.

(not sure what to do with it yet but we couldn't resist for a dime.)

The lamp, old stamp holder and rug $5 each.

We occasionally get great back stories on our found objects. The gal who sold me the lamp:

She told me it had belonged to her mother - who had recently passed away at 101 years old.

She told me that it was her mother who had painted it aqua many moons ago.

I promised her I was going to keep it as is and she was thrilled.

We stumbled upon one house that had a ton of super cool wine related gadgets.

 (and alcohol stuff in general).

We loaded up.

 

I snagged this old beaker holder for $2. 
I think it will be fun to hold paint brushes.
(picture it standing up.)
The plants are ground cover for my garden.

One of the best things about citywide garage sales

 is that we get to find really cool neighborhoods.

It's really hard go complain when you get to walk streets that are as darling as this:

One clever dude had these signs posted on light posts....eventually leading us to his sale.

He gets 10 points for creativity.

 

Pretty fun!  

Sigh, if only Ryan Gosling truly would have been there.

'If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

xo jeanne.

Spooning Measures.

Tonight I started a batch of cookies. 
I was looking in drawers to find my measuring spoons. They were nowhere to be found.  
So, I went to my stash of the things I'd brought back from my mom's house in California last December. One thing that I took home with me is her measuring spoons. Seems silly, but at the time, we were clearing out her house and there they were by the stove.  She'd had them for as long as I could remember. I hated to see them thrown out, so I packed them and took them home.  
But I haven't used them. Until tonight. 

  

Snacks were low and there's two school days left in the week. That means lunches to pack and hungry teenagers through the weekend.  So I started the batch of cookies.  


As I was scooping in the baking soda, I realized how long my mom had had these spoons and how many cookies I'd made with them as a teenager. How many recipes my mom had made with them? Countless.  And boy, did it make me miss her.  Sigh.
We live much too far away from each other and I call far too little. Shame on me.


What looks like a crusty old shaker is the salt can she used for years and years and years...50?
She saved it for me. I was glad to take this little tin home.  

 

Then there's the bowls.  The classic colored pryex bowl set. My mom used the big yellow bowl for everything. When I found a set a few years ago, I bought it. 
So of course, tonight I dragged that out too. LOL.  Sheesh, did I get nostalgic or what?! Somebody stop me. 

Soon I'll be watching Terms of Endearment alone in the dark at 3:00 am.

But then again, there's always cookie dough.

(Mom! I'll call! I miss you Mona.)


xo jeanne.

Red light. Green light. Junk Light? Go!

An industrial grain funnel?

Nah, It's been upcycled to a new porch light.

         My front porch waited a very long time for this old rusty funnel.

                                             Fun, eh?

I bought it almost a year ago for $10.  

It's metal. It's rusty. It's the perfect thing for the porch.

It's been waiting it's turn in projectland.

(aka, waiting for The Cabinet Maker to hang it.)

Tools used:

Sawzall, Screwdriver, Screws, Silicone

He used the Sawzall to cut the metal.

 

The light's been there with just an outdoor light. yawn.

I knew the funnel opening would be close to the size of the existing hole.

• Cabinet Maker pulled the bulb socket down a bit so the bulb would stick further out.

 

I thought this was funny with Mike the dog peeking out.

I swear he's thinking:

"Seriously? 

 "What's with the giant metal thingie?

Can't you people ever just buy a normal light?!"

Cabinet Maker screwed in the funnel and siliconed a plastic ring up to the wood. 

(white plastic ring: recessed lighting trim)

Done. Charming. I like it. 

Cross that off the project list.

xo jeanne.