The Cowboy Party

I am sorry but my camera is dying.  It is finally starting to go after it was dropped three years ago at Jade's first birthday.  It is somewhat fitting that it would fire off its death knell at Lucas' first.  So I apologize for some blurry photos in this post.

Here are the salvageable photos...

 Lucas before the party on his new favorite toy...a Power Wheels Kawasaki.  Thanks Grandpa!

The rocking horse hanging out before party time.

 

Brisket, beans and cornbread, the perfect meal for a lil' cowboy.  These photos were taken in the dining room where there is less available light.  Can you tell in the foreground I traced horse images and wrote in the menu item?  

We ate off of pie tins and I used rolled dishtowels for napkins tied in raffia. 

Not pictured were the sasparella and lemonade. ;) 

I also didn't get a good photo of the birthday boy and the cake - a Texas sheet cake - *sigh*

After cake we opened presents.  Lucas got some awesome clothes, a new "vintage" top, the Kawasaki power wheels, a toy helicopter and the rocking horse. Thank you all!

After presents I spread some kraft paper out on the coffee table and gave the guests their favors...

... tubes of colored pencils.

The kids all went to town coloring, giving the adults a chance to chat.

Thank you all for visiting the cowboy party...Happy Trails!

Entryway Changes - Progress

When I was at Lowes buying supplies to repair the rocking horse, I also picked up some hooks for my entryway door. 

Before:

,

After:

It is such a simple change...but was a major change.  Not so much in looks but in keeping the front chair free of our lightweight jackets, my purse, etc.  There is a hook for myself and each of the kids.

Steve doesn't need a hook; he hangs his jacket in our closet.  Not because he is more tidy per-say but rather that when he walks in the door he isn't lugging a purse, diaper bag, kids school stuff, and a 25 pound non-walking baby (really Lucas any day now)...all the while attempting to corral a three year old into the house.  Usually, in my haste to get them fed I drop everything (the stuff not the baby) as I walk in, but now I have a good place to hang it all.

Hip hip horray...one step closer to an organized home.

I am linking up to Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts.

The Rocking Horse...All Together Again...

I was not planning on being off work today...but only two of my rug-rats showed up today...my boss let me go for the day...

I left Jade and Lucas at daycare so that I could work on the horse.

Remember how sad he looked...

all in pieces...

Last night, I bleached him.  It was my first attempt at bleaching furniture.  I wasn't worried about hurting this guy; he did sit outside for two years after all.  (Furniture bleaching instructions at the end of this post)

Today, I borrowed commandeered my brother's Dremel and got to work on my old rocking horse. My old horsey is now a part of our household.


He now sits in our family room.  A room I never photograph, as I often refer to it as "the toy wasteland".

Looking more put together these days...here he is after the bleach treatment.

His tail broke long ago when I was a kid...and was lost...oh well...

Back to the bleaching...well it didn't really lighten the wood as much or as evenly as I would have liked. It still did lighten some of the darker parts where the original stain had pooled and some water damage spots.

Since it wasn't as light as I wanted and I didn't think that a second round of laundry bleach would be enough I also "pickled" him.  Which is simply staining a piece with thinned paint (I used white).

Here he post pickling. He looks much better in person without the harsh light of the flash - sorry but it is nighttime.

I do think I will try bleaching furniture again (next time on a softer lighter wood)...so here are my steps to bleaching furniture.

Bleaching Supplies:
Laundry Bleach
Hydrogen Peroxide
Synthetic Paint Brush
Damp Rag

Surface Prep:
Clean
Remove previous finish or paint completely.  Sanding is probably the easiest way with stained pieces.
Vacuum piece and use a tack cloth/damp rag to clean the piece

Bleaching:
Using a paint brush, apply bleach to the surface of the piece with the grain of the wood. Try to apply it as evenly as possible.
Allowed ten minutes to pass before neutralizing the bleach (huh?)
You will want to neutralize the bleach for the best results...
Rinse the bleach off the paint brush and then go over the entire piece again with hydrogen peroxide (raid your medicine cabinet).  Peroxide dries quicker than the more common borax/water mix - reducing the potential for water damage.
Then give the piece a final wash with a soft, damp (not soaked) cloth.

If you are refinishing:
Allow the piece to dry completely (eg a day or so)
Sand
Refinish as desired

If you are leaving it au naturale:
Allow the piece to dry completely
Go over it with fine steel wool to ensure their are no fibers/splinters that have raised up during bleaching.

Just keep in mind that bleaching grays the wood...so if that isn't your thing...refinishing or painting may be the way to go.

I know I am a bit late to the party but I will link this one up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Oh and for some more info on why on earth I tackled this project and on horse images as accessories...go here.

A Horse is a Horse...

A cowboy party (which will be decidedly scaled back) would not be complete without a horse. 

A rocking horse...of course.

The only problem is this is how the rocking horse looks right now.

This guy used to belong to my brother and I.  My mom "gave" it to my nephews...more like she decided to leave it on the back porch for two years in the elements. I have been trying to get it back from her since Jade was Lucas' age to no avail - until it finally broke.  So here is my old rocking horse that I got for Christmas when I was four.

I loved this guy and would spend hours playing "rodeo", "barrel racing" and lassoing him...yes for real...in boots no less...don't laugh...at my Texas'ness.

The wood has held up alright...just some of the nails rusted out and sheered in half.

He has been cleaned with oil soap, sanded, cleaned once more and is now waiting for a Dremel tool (borrowing from my brother) to grind off a couple of screws and nails.  Then I plan to bleach the wood (he is already partially sun bleached) and then reassemble him.

(Even though this is a work in progress I am going to link it up to Make it For Monday...hopefully I will have the finished product up in the next few weeks).

I am hoping for something like this as far as finishes go...no white paint though unless the bleaching doesn't work then I may "pickle" him.

This beauty (already sold) can be found at Nancy Fishelson Designs; she even has a horse as part of her antique sales logo...love it...

She also has a pair of Amish Barn Horses (below) for sale as well for $2,900 (to bad I don't have that kinda cash). They would be perfect for anyone who rides, or is like me and simply loves horses.

These horsey images seemed familiar so I started digging around her website and sure enough...I had seen these babies before...

Nancy Fishelson has been featured in Country Living several times.  I had already fallen in love with the rocking horse above before...as well as Fishelson's (now sold) Connecticut farmhouse Rosebush Farms.

For some reason this bedroom always mesmerizes me...and I am not exactly sure why.

 

 This sink is in the bathroom...*sigh*.

The rocking horse here is the same one I posted above...cute how he is perched in the laundry room.

On her website there are more images of Rosebush Farms (here) some of which were published in Connecticut Cottages and Gardens.

 

Why Country Living cropped out the little horse on the right I do not know?  Fishelson obviously has a soft spot for horses...so much so that they moved with her cross country to her new farmhouse in California (also featured in Country Living).

I love how she incorporates her antique horse collection throughout her own home. Maybe I too will start collecting vintage horses...note I said vintage and not antique...my pockets aren't that deep...

 Sorry for the long meandering post about horses...but this is sometimes what happens when I start researching paint finishes...I end up on a trail of a different sort.  Hope you enjoyed this one...

All is Right with the World Again...

...unless you owned tropical plants!

Yay, the cold is gone...now it is merely cool. I know it is still cold in other parts of Texas (so sorry) but we here along the border are no longer facing freeze warnings!  That brings a smile to my face.

I am back in a tank top, but not my requisite flip flops.  Those have been switched out for gray combat boots...they are comfy too. Outside, I must wear a hoodie but, yay, I no longer need a parka.

The $5 coat was worth every penny, but now what the heck to do with it?

Store it for the next 15 years? Do I dare displace 100 tank tops to accommodate the parka?  Okay, I am exaggerating - 10 shirts max - but really that is precious closet real estate.

Methinks I will keep it 'til "winter" is safely past (read: February) and we have resumed lows in the 80s and then donate it back to the thrift from whence it came.

Which brings up one of my "resolutions" (I use that term lightly): that everything in my home must have a home if it is going to take up space.  I am starting with my closet and bedroom.

Those tank tops are like rabbits...I certainly don't remember buying them all...;)


Nope, I won't be "keeping it real" by posting before pics...maybe in process pics...but not the embarrassing befores.

Hopefully the purging (which will be required) will result in a new wardrobe emerging from the tragedy that is my closet.

Sigh Worthy

 

 

All images from the wonderful blog Belgian Pearls.

Bracing for the Cold...

Okay as you are all well aware, I am a Texas girl.  Which means that I am not accustomed to the cold.  Taking that one step further, I am a Deep South Texas girl.  Which means that I am specifically not accustomed to temps below 60 degrees.

Today the high was 72 degrees and as I am blogging it is a nice 63 degrees outside.  I went shopping wearing one of these...

and a pair of these...

 

Flip flops and tank tops are my uniform of choice. I wear them pretty much year round.  So in flip flops and a tank top, I went shopping for a winter coat.

Did you know I have gone my entire adult life not owning a full-length winter coat.  I have a short, unlined, dress coat; I have a rain trench; I have a windbreaker; I have a fleece...but no "real" coat...aside from my high school letterman jacket.

Does that even count? Maybe in the warmth department but did I tell you that I am turning 30 this year?  So I feel silly walking around in my  letterman on the rare occasion the temp does dip below 60 degrees.

So tonight I went out and purchased myself a winter coat. Why did I buy a coat tonight???

A norther "of Arctic origins" is rolling in (according to the "Special Weather Advisory" issued)...it is going to freeze overnight Thursday...temps will dip to the mid 20s and the highs on Friday are going to be in the 30s...and this Deep South Texas girl figured it was high time to buy herself a proper coat.

I know it is below zero in some parts, and there is a reason I don't live in those parts. It isn't supposed to freeze here...ever...there is a reason I choose to live here...and the weather plays a huge role in that...

Back to the coat: I paid $5... at the Texas Thrift Store...well if I wear it twice I will get my moneys worth. It is a down filled puffer in a light peridot green color (which complements my strawberry blonde hair).

I am hoping we will be lucky and get snow again (last snow was on Christmas 2004 - very, very, very rare - only happens every 100 years or so)...but the forecast isn't calling for snow...but rather "ice pellets"... really there is a classification of precipitation known as "ice pellets"?  Really?!?!?!

Well I am off to find my gloves...last seen...2007...when visiting someplace cold...hmm...

The Bandana Skirt - Done

I had purchased these bandannas awhile back for Lucas' birthday but decided to use them for a skirt instead.  In less than two hours Jade was trotting around in her skirt on the stick pony I made this weekend.  She wants another skirt like it in pink, of course.  My mom-in-law (a true seamstress) was impressed with how it turned out.  This was the very first article of clothing I have ever attempted to sew - and I am hooked!

I have a feeling this will be one of many little wrap skirts!

I am linking this to Make it for Monday, a blog party at cottage instincts.

Stealing Ideas...

I am "idea rustling" or stealing in cowboy speak.

I saw this image several months ago while I was digging around for cowboy, western theme ideas for Lucas' birthday party.

(country living)

I love the bright yellow and the silhouette but it seemed just too grown up with the bucking bronc. So it was just filed away in my brain until I saw this little guy.

I found him at an art welders site (wizards of metal) and the first image popped in my head.  Their website is worth a looksee.

I decided to photoshop my own invite in a similar fashion and this is what I have come up with.

Yup, I am totally ripping off Country Living but I love the colors and the silhouette is just too dang cute to pass up. The yellow also happens to coordinate with a yellow gingham tablecloth I already have.  I think I will stick with yellow, black and white for the color scheme.

I stitched up a prototype for a stick horse favor (to tie into the invite) and here is how it turned out. 

I used two pieces of felt and some batting to make the head and another piece of felt for the hair.  I decided to use contrasting thread so I could see better with the prototype and make changes (rip seams) easily if I needed to.  It only took me an hour and a half to cut and stitch this one together. 

Trust me it was easy...I don't really sew...but I am trying to learn.  I am thinking about making Jade one of these for the party.

 

(v & co)