Queen Bee Country Apron

Hey ya'll!

& 

Happy June 1st!

I've got the sewing bug again. 

Today it's this ruffled, very natural country apron with my new obsessive queen bee stencil.

Almost ever since I have been whipping stuff up in the kitchen, I have usually kept an apron hanging up. 

I know my love for aprons comes from watching my Grandma Hylton bustle around in the kitchen hair bunned and apron on.

But ...

I have sometimes been reluctant to put it on.

A lot of times, I just had something country-style with some gingham or calico print; sometimes they would simply tie around the waste; sometimes they would be ones that would be more similar to this one as to slipping over the head. 

I would be well into my recipes or the dishes before I'd remember to tie and slip one on. 

Lately, I have become much more obsessed with tying an apron on. It simply saves my clothes.

I have been cheating quite a bit lately and just cutting a apron out of some scrap fabric and tying it on...no hemming..no anything. When it became soiled I would ball it up and through it in the trash.

A few weeks ago, I clocked into work and was getting ready to get busy when a co-worker asked my what was all over my shirt. I couldn't see anything but when I went to the restroom and looked in the mirror I had grease splatters all over the front of my shirt. 

I  looked dang messed up!!

Since then I made me a quickie apron with the bib to be sure to keep things off my top.

The quickie was more aggravation than anything because I simply didn't do it right.

With all that lead in...

I finally took the time to make one bonafide! 

Priscilla(dressform) was kind to model as I patterned it out. I fashioned some great big pockets on the front. 

It has crossback straps to easily slip over my head.

I chose this natural looking fabric from my stash, a favorite of mine lately.

I thought why not go ahead and add the ruffle...

and the bee stencil.

Well there you have it!

You can see what I've been up to today...

What projects have got you going today?

As always 

Thank you for stopping by for a visit.

Be Blessed!

A Little Red, White and Blue

Remember the Fallen for this Memorial Weekend

Be Blessed!

New Paint for Our Old Bathroom

Good Sunday Morning!

I am hoping ya'll had a wonderful and productive week.

Work has been slow at the plant so my department has had to take some additional time off.

Being big on time and short on funds was bringing me down. 

Looking at the state of my bathroom was also bringing me down. Instead of focusing on what I couldn't get done I just went at the week and the bathroom with the do the best with whatcha' got mentality.

We only have one bathroom in our home; so through the years it has been used to a frazzle.

Between the kitchen, the kids rooms and the bathroom I don't know which has been repainted and repaired the most but I'm pretty sure it's been the bath. When most of the kids was home it would take some strategic planning to get anything done in here. I could have done well to have installed a revolving door . Now we're down in numbers to just The Ole' Man, Jack and Me. Getting things accomplished and keeping them that way is becoming a bit easier. 

I think I have surely avoided taking pictures in the bathroom so to show some real good before and afters I'm not going to be able to do. 

Honestly from looking at this picture it doesn't seem that there was a change in color at all.

Previously my walls was much more blue in tone.

To tell the real truths, the last time I painted I mixed a half a bucket of dark blue paint I had used in Jack's bedroom with a smidge of yellow paint I had left over from painting the kitchen walls. I don't know what color I could actually claim it to be but it was definitely blue.

Our bathroom was old and when I first moved in we didn't even have a shower. With that being said when the shower was added a vent fan should have been added as well.

But it wasn't...

So fighting mildew has been a real struggle.

Someday, I'm sure the ol' man will do it but until then the fight continues.

Above the shower was yucky!!

I can't even show a before picture because it was yucky!!

I would have gone nuts overs a picture of that. Even after trying numerous cleaning products and hacks off pinterest, after being cleaned the paint remained somewhat stained. 

The Best cleaning hack for cleaning mold and mildew I found was plain old Hydrogen Peroxide.

I would buy the big bottle in the health and beauty department and mix about a half a bottle with two big squirts of liquid dish soap in a smallish bucket of warm water. then scrub like crazy. 

It did do a good job of cleaning it.

The next big deal with this little redo was the ol' man researching the heck out of the internet and reading, who only knows how many reviews for a good primer.

What he found and bought was Zinnser's Mold Killing Primer.

Zinnser's primer was the only primer that not only claimed to cover up stains from mold and mildew but claims to continue fighting it.

The price for this primer was about $35 at our local home improvement store. 

It definite covered well and I'm feeling good about it's claims.

If  I become a doughter  I'll let you know.

For my wall color I chose Pacific Pines Sage.  

It's one of Glidden's Paint colors 

but 

to save on the dollars, I went with the Color Place Paint from Wal-Mart. Most the time I have used it in the past and it's seemed to do as well as when I've paid more for higher priced paints.

It turned out to be a true green, which I was looking for.

I trimmed out my doors and painted the ceiling with white gloss enamel. I didn't repaint my doors.

The sink vanity I painted Hedgegrove Olive. Also a glidden color with Color Place Paint. 

I wish you could see the contrast as well in the picture as in person. It was definitely darker green but still gave a good harmony to the room.

I have been addicted to the stenciled and distressed furniture for some time now but an artist and a painter I'm not so I aided myself with a stencil to add the Ivy that runs up the side of the cabinet.

I lightly sanded the edged and a little here and there before the stenciling began.

I also gave the stencil and the bare wood a spray or to of clear enamel paint to just seal it from the moisture that's prone to be in the room.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit!

As Always
Be Blessed!

Flour-Sack Hand Towel DIY

Good Monday!

I  think I'm going to ramble for a sentence or two and then I'll give you 

the low-down on

My (faux)Flour-Sack Hand Towels.

I hope every ones weekend was a wonderful one. I can truly testify that mine was. We had a lazy Saturday here around the house. I had some wants to run off to a Vintage and Greenliving show just down the road but it just didn't go that way.

My Sunday I enjoyed going to my sister's church for the baptism of her daughter. 

It was truly uplifting and I do have to say I enjoy her church family!

I started out today feeling very positive. You know how that goes this world we live in 

will do it's best to steal that joy..uggh..LOVEe thy Neighbor..Right?

But I got back on track and finished up this little DIY.

I started out with this beige and very natural fabric I found. 

It is very soft and absorbent. I've incorporated it for some time in many projects.

My thoughts are that I really do like the grainsack, feedsack, or floursack designs and look but those clothes would not truly be enjoyable to use as a hand towel, even though I bet in times past the nice terrycloth towels we use today were not used. 

I'm sure these clothes were used more times than not.

Here I go again with my handy stencils and sharpie.

I taped my lines with some regular scotch tape 

and 

colored in my lines.

I then added some lettering.

Afterward I simply turned the sides and straight stitched them and cut about a 2 inch black strip of cloth;

Sewing it to the ends for binding.

This was my first go around at this project. I feel like I'll be tweaking and trying it again. 

Especially since I ordered some stencils this weekend with this DIY in mind.

My Ole Man doesn't have any idea about this one yet.

It's fun to see his face with some of my zany projects.

Thank you for the visit!

Be Blessed!

Finding Rhododendron

Hey..I hope you're have a great Wednesday.

My quest yesterday for mountain laurel left me then wanting for Rhododendron.

I think I was also in need of some solace and I usually  find that in the woods for some reason.

I did run across some tall and scraggly Rhododendron. 

Most of the time, you will find it in some mountainous region a whole hill or mountain side covered and the limbs and leaves will be plum to the ground. 

What I found wasn't that way but I'm assuming if I walked much further up this mountain we live at the foot of I would have come across a much more substantial find.

I saw these two yesterday when I was digging up some mountain laurel. Today before I went to the woods I looked up Rhododendron on line to see how to gather some and get it to take root. Nothing I found exactly applied to me for the simple fact all the branches are so high and I was really not seeing any evidence of new growth at the ground.

After pulling back some leaves I saw these shoots. A few of them had a small dark green leaf on them. I felt pretty sure it was baby Rhododendron. 

I took my spade and dug up not much more than a handful or two. I also snipped a few clippings from the branches with some leaves and may try to root it. 

I'm not sure it will take. They are mighty tender and sometimes things just don't do well once disturbed. 

 If it's meant to be hopefully I'll see some growth. 

Oh my word, I know it will be a lifetime before seeing any real return on this endeavor but it has been fun to see what may come of it all.

Thank you for stopping by to check in on my unconventional gardening methods.

I wish you a very

Blessed Day!