RESTORE Deck Painting

05/16/2016 by Pattie Leave a Comment

Restore Deck Painting is a great product for fixing dry, cracked and chipped decks that are still in pretty good shape as far as the wood goes. Sometimes you just want to do a little quickie project to make it looks clean and fresh on your deck. This is the product you need to do the job. It is a very thick, textured paint that almost looks like it has bits of sand in it.

It goes on very thick with a roller. It dries pretty quickly too. We have an old house. I think it is around 35 years old. So this deck may be really, really crotchety! That means old in pig latin. And we redid the flat part last year. This year we wanted to redo all the posts and cover up those dumb hearts. (Who puts hearts on balconies except the Swiss? Are we living in the Swiss Alps or what?)

The awful Deck. This is the BEFORE DECK RESTORE picture.

When we started the project last year we had to do a lot of PREP! Oh my GOSH the deck was flaky. Is yours that way too? Yuck! I took the power washer and washed off the entire deck really good. It took me an hour or so. Then I let it dry.

Close up of how badly we needed some RESTORE DECK PAINT done here….

This Deck Restore Paint is the greatest product EVER! It is from Home Depot. If you don’t want to redo your whole deck in Trex, this is a good alternate solution. It really made our deck look better.

RESTORE DECK PAINT comes in a gallon can and we bought an applicator roller that had a texture to it. You can add your broomstick to it so it isn’t so backbreaking to apply.

We sanded it with just a big wire brush, just to loosen anything that might chip off. We picked a dark brown but unfortunately they didn’t have our exact shade. You have to choose from their color selection which isn’t a huge variety, but there are about 20 colors. And we could have color matched. I think we should have, but we are getting ready to paint the house anyway, so no worries.

Here is a short video showing HOW to spread the DECK RESTORE PAINT onto your old deck. It looks really easy, AND IT WAS! Especially for me because all I did was watch! Well, and I cleaned up too. 😀

Here is my cute hubs doing the MANLY WORK! We got a color matching THE RESTORE PAINT for the deck posts and the railings around the deck. I still haven’t done it…..I am such a procrastinator! Maybe I can get him to do THAT TOO! hmmm…..

I decided our old umbrella had seen better days. So I got a fresh, new, green umbrella and some cute outdoor cushions and a few decorations for the deck. It was so boring before! But don’t the deck planks look fantastic? Oh yeah!

I love the new umbrella and the oil lamp on the table. I found it from Pier 1 on clearance! It was only 8 bucks! Woot!

The flag above I won in a blogger contest. Yay for me! It is so pretty out on the deck post.

Fake flowers in pots around the deck mixed with real ones. I got that tip from JOY IN THE GARDEN’S radio show. She does it even with tulips and daffodils! Great idea!

We added these copper, solar lights to the end posts of the deck, they were about $15.00 each at the end of the summer last year. Aren’t they pretty? Check them out Here at Home Depot.

Here is the DECK RESTORE looking great! (we still have to get rid of those hearts though! I’m still working on painting the posts and handrails. It’s a work in progress. It’s so hot I can only stand painting in the evenings.

I took a break from home improvements and got season passes for the hubs and I to go to Cowabunga Bay. They had a Buy One Get One Freebie deal so I bought 4 more tickets so if some of my relatives come we can go play.

Swimming at Cpwabunga Bay is so fun the 98 degree heat! Oh yeah. I can’t wait!

Megan is all over this place like a wild thing. She has no fear at all!

She loves all the slides at Cowabunga Bay.

Me and Tiff chilling out….

Josie girl chillin with us.

Now doesn’t my pretty deck look pretty awesome? I love hanging out there in the early evenings with the hubs. Now I just have to get him to help me do all the railings….sigh….It never ends.

Backyard Pond I’ll Miss You

05/04/2016 by moss Leave a Comment

I am moving this week to a new house. My backyard pond I’ll miss you. You have been a source of peace and serenity to me. I will also miss my jacuzzi in the backyard there by the pond. I am going to learn to simplify. I guess I don’t need all that stuff. But I know I will really miss it too….sniff…..

My Backyard Pond I’ll Miss You

I love a home with a water feature. We have 2 of them; one in the front yard with a waterfall, and one in the backyard, getting pretty overgrown with plant material now. John says he may need to just fill it in because we will be renting out the house and ponds are a liability. Well that is just sad, isn’t it? How can such a beautiful thing be a liability. That sucks.

Backyard Pond I’ll Miss You

We used to have giant KOI in our Backyard Pond. That is, until a bad old raccoon got in our backyard and jumped in the pond and bit off all their heads. Yeah, that is not a pretty sight to come home to…your lovely fish all gutted with the remains strewn all over the backyard grass.

It was one of my hub’s pride and joys that Koi Pond. So we just do a few goldfish now. And the grandkids love to come see them. We have a mushroom fountain inside and some water plants growing in it. I plant the flowers around it. We have some iris, some herbs and some pansies. I’ve tried putting in azaleas and hyacinths too.

The fish pond picture above is from Bunny Jeans Decor and More. She must have a green thumb for SURE!

Ito is so fun to put goldfish in your pond. Ours will just hibernate in the snowy winter and it is interesting how you can actually poke them through the ice and they will wiggle a little. That’s how I knew they were still alive in that frozen, winter pond. The next year the ones that live are very hearty and will grow to be 6 or 7 inches long. Very pretty.

Another neighbor of mine, the Newmans, have this great pond in their backyard. It’s got a natural looking waterfall, lilly pads and koi swimming in it as well as beautiful flowers and bushes surrounding it.

I love the little Frog and the spiderweb in this Pretty Pond picture.

Here’s one my neighbor just finished. It’s a waterfall ending in a pond. He lives on a huge hill so this water feature is a great idea to use up that front yard full of green grass!

HERE at Gardening BC is a tutorial on how to build a backyard pond
in your own yard to enjoy. I love mine. Even though it is a lot of work
to keep up, the sound of water is very relaxing to hear while you sit
and soak in the jacuzzi. I love a pretty pond full of goldfish too. I will truly miss it.

Our backyard pond water feature…… It’s a beautiful addition to any yard. Backyard Pond I’ll Miss You. But now I’ll have a new yard to decorate. That will be fun too.

Blue and Gray Kitchen Backsplash Remodel

11/02/2015 by Pattie Leave a Comment

I love my daughter’s new house and how cute she has decorated the kitchen and dining rooms. They also did a blue and gray kitchen backsplash remodel.

This was the first kitchen backsplash. I love it. She started with a gray glass in this multiwidth pattern. But she didn’t love it with the granite.

So they tore it out (big job!) and decided to change to this subway pattern with some little flecks in it. They loved it. So do I.

I decided to snap some pics of her cute dining room too. I love how it turned out. This lamp is so pretty and glittery. When you touch it…you can hear the chiming of the glass pieces.

Pretty candlesticks from me, her cool mom.

This gray colored plate is pretty large on the wall and adds a neat texture piece to the room.

Close up of these pretty white matted pictures in different scrapbook papers.

We enjoyed some good food while we were there. I loved these cute straws and napkins that match the house decor.

Small casserole dishes make great utensil holders too.

This is her grandmother’s china, my mom gave it to her in her will as she was the first granddaughter in the family. It is still timeless.

Here is a picture of the living room and the cool beamed ceiling there.

My favorite little grandson. He’s my only grandson too.

Pretty decor in the gray and white room. The tray ceiling is pretty too.

I loved the rug and the blue tufted chairs too.. I love it all. It’s such a pretty place.

I think she likes decorating as much as I do. She is really good at it too I think!

Swiss Days 2015 in Heber Valley Utah

09/06/2015 by moss Leave a Comment

Swiss Days in Heber Utah is always a fun weekend for our family. We love going there every year in the fall.

Heber itself is such a pretty little valley town. It is picturesque and quaint. It has this cool Cheese Barn where you can go get cheese curds. They have free samples of fudge too. yum.

I took a few close ups of the cows next to the cheese factory store.

They had a cool tractor too.

And a new baby calf to pet.

Cheese tasting was lots of fun. They had fudge, all kinds of jams and cheese on crackers.

More cheese. This line was long but it went fast. Took about 20 minutes to get inside for tasting.

On the way to Swiss Days we snapped some landscapes of the beautiful Heber Valley.

I snapped a few pictures of my favorite booths. The quilting lady had some cool wares.

This booth had miniature towns with tiny plantings.

Gotta love a toad stool.

Or a handmade birdhouse. Lots of the crafts are rustic like this.

This was art made from dried out gourds. We used to see these lying around the deserts in California.

I almost bought one of these pretty glass pumpkins blown by hand.

Lots of pretty things here made from ceramics at Swiss Days.

More cool handblown glass objects.

At Swiss Days there are even antiques. There are crafts of all kinds.

Cute wooden coin banks. The artists are good about posing for pics. They are always so nice.

Carved wood walking sticks were really a work of art.

Swiss Days princesses 2015.

Cute wooden toys at Swiss Days.

I always go visit the barn at Swiss Days where they have crafts of all kinds at great prices.

There are bouncy houses and climbing walls for the kids. And lots of food booths.

Lots of pretty paintings.

And metal workings crafts.

Swiss Days had these cool license plates reworked into cool words.

Another artist I took a picture of at Swiss Days in Heber Valley.

I loved this LOVE sign. I want to make one.

I’ve bought a lot of cards and handmade flats from this artisan, my friend Aimee Ferre.

The Swiss Days Princesses 2015 were so pretty with all their ringlets. We had some scones as usual and watched the oompa bands while we enjoyed our snack. Swiss Days is a blast always.

4th of July Games and Foods

07/04/2015 by Pattie Leave a Comment

Happy 4th of July! I decided to make some cute 4th of July Crafts and Food today. It is America’s Birthday after all! Woot! I’m making cream puffs and cupcakes but I’m going to use these Freebie Cupcake Toppers on toothpicks and some little AMERICAN FLAGS like the ones below. I’ll have to sprinkle some patriotic sprinkles on top of the cream puffs for pizzaz! Cute 4th of July Cupcakes are always easy and a hit. Try some cream puffs for a change of pace. They are easy too and feed a large crowd. Patriotic 4th of July Cupcakes made with fresh blueberries and strawberries and decorated with marshmallow cream mixed with cream cheese and cool whip. Recipe is HERE. Last 4th of July pictures.[/caption] I wish I had my doggie Bruce to dress up all Patriotic! But I’ll have to just enjoy seeing pics of other doggies all decked out in their amazing best of the red, white and blue. Here is our granddog Gunner in his cowbow wow tie. My Granddaughter and my Granddog in his CowBowWow tie.[/caption] FOODS for 4th of JULY: Pasta salad is always a good choice for hot summer days because you use vinegar and oil dressing (I love KRAFT House Italian the best). Here I used a pretty bowtie and added fresh veggies, chicken and some Parmesan cheese.[/caption] I’m making a pasta salad today to go with the potato salad we love. Click on the link below the picture for the recipe. I also really like Girrards Greek dressing. But it is hard to find. I sometimes see it at Target. It is great with artichoke hearts in the pasta salad. RECIPE HERE. Potato Salad that only has 4 main ingredients but tastes out of this world. Recipe is HERE Here is one way to arrange your veggies and dip. But I found a better way. Much more creative and fun. Here is my variation after staring at pinterest for a while. haha. Veggie Tree and Dip. And some fun foods for the occasion. Here is a cool way to display veggies and dips for the 4th of July Par-tay! Woo Hoo. Fireworks here we come! Delicious fresh summer fruits on a skewer really can’t be beat for any summer celebration too. They looks so much fancier on wooden skewers too, and kids can help make them! I just need to add some red geranium silk flowers to this pot of hydrangeas and add an American flag!
GAMES and Decor for 4th of July: I liked this cute printable Tic Tac Toe game that my granddaughters will love playing. We are going up to our lake cabin for the weekend. So it will be fun to watch them playing games during our down time. Here are two of them with red white and blue tongues! haha. We are SO Patriotic around here.
For decoration, I dug through the storage room and found my patriotic box. It took forever because the hubs got involved in reorganizing down there (don’t ask!) and now I can’t find anything. WTH?
Uncle Sam is fun to hang out in a corner for the 4th![/caption] But I did get out my placemats and of course I’m ready with my firework stockpile. (we are big spenders, I think this was 5 bucks on sale at Smiths Market). A fun game I think my grandkids will like is this magnetic match game I put together using 4 sheets of Patriotic Dollar Store magnets. They seem to have them every holiday so look for them in the picnic/kitchen supplies area. I am going to write on each pair the addends of 10, so the kids will start to memorize them as they pair them up.

The kids can use cookie sheets and play match game with the 2 double sets of magnets. 2 groups can play at the same time. I could also have done “doubles” and put the double equation on one magnet and the answer on the other. Fun!

I have lots of good ways for keeping the kiddos busy. How about doing a lemonade stand at your gathering and put the kids in charge. It will keep them VERY BUSY!

I got this cute Lemonade Stand at Target. You could also have a big metal pail full of cans of pop to “sell” so the kiddies don’t have to work too hard. Isn’t this the cutest picnic blanket? My daughter made it out of red and white calico prints. I love it. I’m making my own version that has taken WAY too long using old Levi’s jeans pockets and denim from old jeans. The quilt could back the wall of your garden party or Backyard BBQ at the food buffet. Quilts can be great decor ideas

.
Use striped towels for food tables. Towels can be great decoration helps. I will add blue and white tin pails I got at the dollar store for silverware and napkins. The tin pails came in blue and white and red and white stars for only a buck at
All a Dollar.
!
Another fun game is Patriotic Tic Tac Toe. The printable freebie is HERE. You could also use red and blue dollar store checkers or jewels for the markers.
Hope you all have a great holiday. I am heading out to the lake to have some fun there and relax after finishing my last week of school Thursday. Proud and thankful to be an American Happy Red, White and Blue day everybody!

Easter Decorating

03/24/2015 by Pattie Leave a Comment

I love to decorate for the seasons and for all the holidays. Easter is coming up and so I put away all the St. Patrick’s day decor and got out the stuff for my Easter Table Decorating. Easter Table Decorating – I love all the spring colors and baby chicks and bunnies here on my kitchen table. My Kitchen buffet has some new pictures and cute little eggs everywhere. I always start my Easter decorating in the kitchen, and do the Easter Table Decorating there first. Gotta have a lovely Easter Dinner table, now dontcha? Next I go into the entry way and decorate the little table there. Those are two
areas I fuss over the most.

Easter Decorating is about done at my house. Yay Next I do my formal dining room Easter Table Decorating. I We got a new rustic, whitewashed, dining table and these cute blue nailhead trim chairs for the formal dining room. We hardly ever use this room except on holidays. Formal Dining Room table. I love the yellow and green and coral decor in here. I love to decorate the entry table with these cute bunnies, eggs and chicks. This sad Mr. Bunny lost his eye in a doggie-bunny stand off. Our bad boy Bruce bit it off. We called him Brucifer THAT day. snicker…
I do the coffee and end tables last. I have gobs of stuff. I have to stay away from Hobby Lobby this month! Eek!
I love this little bunny pair on my family room end table. It goes with the brown/neutral decor in there. Darling little “Chickies” and bunnies. My grandkids love this light up Easter Bunny house. Great Room table has some of the leftover doo-dads. My 3 Easter bins are almost empty! Woot!

The kitchen island always has some bright and cheery flowers of some sort. These have some egg pics along with the florals. These mercury mirror glass eggs are my favorites. I used to have more of them. But since the grandkids…..well….you know how that goes. 😀

I think I’ll add some Easter Egg picks to the greenery all over the house. Maybe there IS an excuse to go look at Hobby Lobby tomorrow after all!! I’m getting ready to spray paint these old chairs and this cute bench. But for now, they are covered in stuffed animals for the grands to play with.

Next I’ll do the grandkids’ two tables for Easter Sunday Dinner. I’ll have my Chicago peeps here sometime around Easter. So I will need two tables for all the 6 grandkiddos to sit. And THAT will be such fun! Happy decorating!!

PATTIE

First Day of Spring Gardening

03/22/2015 by moss Leave a Comment

Well, I have been ignoring my gardening for months now. I have to repent now that it is the first day of Spring! In Utah we have the seasons, so there is really nothing growing in the garden during the long Winter. I can see a few of my bulbs peeking through, and a few of them have actually erupted! It is finally really and truly Spring. I am getting excited to see some flowers in my garden again.

Today I planted some paperwhite bulbs inside in a light blue pot for my newly remodeled bathroom. It is coming together nicely. All except for the too blue paint I did the walls with. It looks kind of cave-like. I need to re-pick that color. I should have trusted the hubs who is good at paint picking. I will never learn.

I hope I get a TON of tomatoes this year. I’m going to try my hand at making CATSUP! Everybody tells me how easy it is. And I know homemade is so much better than bottled.

Got to get out all my garden gloves and shears today. It’s time to start getting the beds ready.

Save your seeds in mason jars from year to year so they stay fresh.

Anyhoo, I also bought some little pots for my kindergarteners to plant seeds with. They were only $2.48 for 32 little prism shaped biodegradable pots at Walmart. I just have to cut them apart and buy some radish seeds. They seem to germinate faster than any others. And little kids’ attention spans won’t last more than a few weeks waiting to see something sprouting in their collective pots.

Every year I give them choices and every year the kids with the radishes get to be joyful watching their little flowery stalks grow green and cute. But the other kids wait and wait and watch their dirt get moldy from overwatering. It is quite a downer. So this year everybody does radish seeds. Or maybe even grass seeds; something that is fool proof!

I need to put some pre-emergent on the grass too so it will look green and pretty this summer.

And Home Depot has really nice mulch for $2.50 a giant bag. I have to go get some of that and spread it around the beds. It always makes everything look new and wonderful. And hopefully it will help the plants grow lush and full this year. I’m going to have a really BIG garden this year. Last year we had the whole house stuccoed and there were scaffolds all over the backyard for weeks and weeks. We never did get to the garden. There was just too much going on. So this year I will have to make up for it.

I’m planting some bulbs around the pond where the deer won’t get to them. And I’m planting some raspberry bushes up at the cabin. Bear Lake is known for its raspberries up there. And I’m jealous of neighbors who planted 3 years ago and have gobs of raspberries now. They make everything from pie to jam with their stash!

Jams and Jellies and Spinach Artichoke dip. Yummy stuff from the garden.

Happy planting everyone. I hope you are as excited about this spring season as I am.

Blue Beachy Bathroom Remodeling

03/11/2015 by Pattie Leave a Comment

I decided to redo my 90s bathroom that was dark green and yellow. All the decor was so dated. I found some really pretty paint in just the perfect blue-gray color that I wanted to redo these 80’s light oak cabinets with.

My Old 90s bathroom decor with dated light oak cabinets has to go.

Bathroom Remodel Part 1. My bathroom cabinets were all this light oak that I wanted to paint a pretty color. So I bought the paint at Home Depot called GRAY MORNING in the BEHR paint line. I like the paint and primer in one to make the job easier. I really only had to use 1 coat and just touch up the edges and ridges with a 2nd coat. It looks beautiful!

I love this BEHR paint called GRAY MORNING. It is a light blue gray that looks great!

GRAY MORNING from BEHR paint turns out the perfect gray blue shade. I got flat paint. I probably should have gotten eggshell or satin. But I wanted it to look like chalk paint. Did you know you can add 1/3 cup plaster of paris and 1 cup water to a gallon of paint and it makes chalk paint? Well, that’s what the Home Depot guy said. I’d check that out online before doing it though.

After painting the cabinets they still needed a little something. So I bought some pretty brushed silver knobs and 2 little, wooden, doo-dads for each of the false drawer tops. I have two of them since I have 2 sinks in that bathroom. I think they were $3.50 each.

Cabinet doo-dads really add a little flair to boring old 80s light oak cabinets.

The easiest way is to glue them on the cabinets first, then paint it all together. That’s what I did in my master bathroom. And I think I lightly tacked them on with tiny finishing nails till they dried. But this one I bought them after painting so I had to glue them on painted wood. It is definitely harder that way. Glue them first, paint second, just a heads up. I used a little bit of tape to hold them on while they were drying but they curled up at the ends. I’ll have to do some more gluing. Bummer.

Bear Paint and Primer in one is the way to go. I only needed one coat and then a little touch up.

Bathroom Remodel Part 1 – First Step was the definitely the ugly cabinet repainting.Then we ordered our granite. I wanted dark granite for this bathroom since we already had pretty, dark, variegated slate floors. The dark granite looks good with them. I thought I could brighten up the rest of the bathroom using a light gray paint. I wanted to get rid of all that yellow.

Hey, they look pretty good! Finished painted cabinets look a lot better now! This is where I added the wooden doo dad. It looks a lot better. I’ll post a pic when I’m finished with the knobs.

Now they just need the silver knobs. I needed 12 cuz this is a big bathroom with a bathtub and 2 sinks and lots of cabinetry. So I got 3 sets of 5 in the clearance bin at Home Depot. They were $7.00 per set. What a deal! I love how the cabinets turned out.

Pretty Tin Shelf I got at Home Goods for $15 bucks!

Next I went shopping for accessories. My first stop was Home Goods of course. This cute metal shelf will look great added to the new bathroom remodel. I think I might replace my old wooden shelf with this one. I’ll have to decide how it looks after painting the rest of the room. Maybe it is a tad too greenish. I think it will look okay though, since I have a Beachy painting I bought as my bathroom inspiration.

Pretty candle I found at Home Goods

I bought this pretty beachy candle at Home Goods too. It was only $5.99. They have great deals on candles there.

Bathroom Towel Basket I got from Taipan Trading.

I got a few things for the countertops too, now that my granite is all put in. I thought this would look good with rolled towels inside. I may try nailing it up onto a wall, just depending on how the other stuff looks when I’m done. It was only $12.99 from Taipan Trading. And it has the nail holes if I want to screw it up onto the wall.

This is the area I need to add a shelf or a towel basket or both.

This area I need to add the pretty tin shelf to and maybe the wire towel basket, I have to see how they look after I paint the walls gray.

Now I’ve got to paint the walls. I have to redo all the decor in here. It’s gonna take me a few days. It’s gonna look great though! I’m excited how everything is turning out so far.

Snow Weekend

03/02/2015 by Pattie Leave a Comment

We haven’t had snow in a long time in Utah. And this weekend it snowed lightly, but the weather is still really nice and warm.

Here is my granddaughter Marisa and I enjoying the soft peaceful falling snow yesterday. And today look what it looks like out on the back deck!

It will melt off quickly. I think we will have an early spring.

And in the backyard! Whoa.

Gunner, the dogger got into it too.

He loves romping around in the backyard when there is a pile of snow to play in!

We made some sugar cookies and decorated them too. It’s been fun having my grandkids stay with me.

But sadly, there house is now done and they are moving into it tomorrow. Whaaaaa….(sounds of sniffling).

I have soooo loved having them here. Especially getting this sweet little guy out of his crib in the mornings when he is warm and has bed head. He and I are the early birds at our house. We hang out together eating fruit loops or oatmeal and bananas every morning together. I will miss that time with him.

Navajo Tacos

03/02/2015 by Pattie Leave a Comment

Navajo Tacos with Indian Fry Bread

Indian Fry Bread made from a Bread Dough recipe that is cut up into balls and rolled out with a rolling pin, and then pan fried in a 1/2 inch of canola oil.

These are about 6 inch circles. You can either buy frozen bread dough, or just make up a batch of your favorite 2 loaf recipes for bread. I use this one from allrecipes.com Here. It is kind of a foolproof bread recipe that my family loves.

I rolled mine out pretty thick but if you like light Navajo Tacos, roll them thin. Or experiment and have some that are thick and some that are thin. You know the insides are done when big bubbles appear, kind of like pancakes.

One bread dough recipe will make about 8 Navajo Tacos. I used a 2 loaf recipe of bread and made about 14 pieces of Indian Fry Bread.

Navajo Tacos are great meal to make when you have leftover chili at home. Fry up the Indian Fry Bread for about 2 minutes per side……

Fry up the dough in a frying pan with 1/2 inch of hot, canola oil.

Then dry the Indian Fry Bread on paper towels to soak up excess oil.

Here is the Indian Fried Bread….this would be good with honey and butter OR cinnamon and sugar on top. I do this with the leftover dough and make small “donut” twists. That’s a fun thing for kids to do with the leftover dough!

Spread the warmed up chili on top and add your favorite Mexican shredded cheeses. Then add your toppings like tomatoes, lettuce, olives and avocados! Yummy!

I cut up all the veggies while the leftover chili was warming up on the stove……and then put them in individual bowls. Everybody just made their own Navajo Tacos. Some added salsa and sour cream to theirs.

And there you have it! Navajo Tacos are a great way to use up your leftovers from Chili Night! You can also just bake the flattened dough pieces if you want to reduce the calories. We baked ours for about 8 to 10 minutes at a Girl’s Camp one year.

Now Dig in! Yum! (sounds of yumminess)….