I saw on Pinterest lots of examples of making trees out of wood and Dollar Tree faux tin tiles and thought I would give it a try.
I plan on my trees going on our deck table so they are sturdier than a lot I saw. The need to hold up with wind and rain. The triangles are cut out of leftover pieces of wood from our stash. I made sure they would fit the tile.
After the wood was cut, I traced the shapes off on the tiles and cut them out with scissors. Several sites talked about using hot glue but my things get stored in a super hot space. Hot glue doesn’t hold up so contact cement was the best choice.
Everything got a coat of Kilz Gripper Primer. It is made to stick to slick surfaces.
I used the same paint I used on my mural to paint the trees then dry brushed the high spots with black and white paint. Literally you dip just the tips into the paint then take off most of the paint before lightly dragging it across the surface.
I cut some small blocks for the tree trunks and Mr. Math cut the bases. He then screwed them on. If you are doing something like this for indoor E6000 glue would work fine. We always overdo.
I really like how they turned out.
It is really warm here now and we are spending a lot of time outside so we get to enjoy the trees.
I will bet a few of you are ready for the home tour to be done. I’m known as a bit of an over-sharer so, my apologies. I just love our little Weekend country community and I am always amazed at the homes tucked into the woods an hour from Houston. Come visit!
Today you get to see the last four homes. I am not slighting them, I promise. One of the houses was the inspiration for the green color we painted our lake house. I literally knocked on their door and asked them what color their house was painted. They were gracious, and didn’t act like they thought I was insane. By the way, the color of their house was baked on the Hardee plank, so I had to guess on our color.
The Green House
This house is located right by the Aggie House. It was one of the first built on the cemetery circle. I love the craftsman style of the home. I could not believe I didn’t get a picture of the outside of the house. I will go take one and add it next week.
The green house has a nautical vibe. Did you know that Lake Livingston has sailboats? It is the second largest lake in Texas.
I really liked the bedrooms. The colors were very soothing. I think someone was naughty getting the house ready to show.
The Brown House
This house is right next door to the green house. The owners are friends and they have even put in a walkway between the two homes. The brown house could not be any more different from they Green House though. The brown house has a more formal look on the inside. The owner is a quilter with her own room.
The Mediterranean Home
This house is in a neighborhood that is around the corner from ours. The neighborhood has a marina and an RV park along with a very active neighborhood group. They have a pot luck every Thursday night.
The Last Home… Woopsie.
I honestly have no idea what happened to the rest of the last house pictures. I will keep looking.
I loved the back covered porch and the feeling of this home.
I hope you enjoyed the Christmas tour. All the funds for this tour go to scholarships for the kids of San Jacinto County. What a great cause.
The road that runs adjacent to our neighborhood main road is Harrell Cemetery Road. Guess what is at the end of Harrell Cemetery Road? If you guessed the Harrell Plantation Cemetery you are correct. If you guessed a cluster of new homes, built on Stephens Creek and Lake Livingston, you are also correct.
This year it has been driven home to me that we are not the first or second or third or fourth generation to love this particular part of Texas. A little research into the Harrell Plantation drove home this fact. The land where our lake house is along with the cemetery road and oh 3000 or so acres that are now under Lake Livingston, were once owned by A. W. Harrell. The plantation home built between 1840 and 1850 is gone underwater and that makes me sad. The cemetery was where the black farm hands were buried and it now has a historic marker.
Interesting fact: Sam Houston used to visit a Choctaw village that was located at the mouth of Stephens Creek. He would put up a white flag so the steamboat would stop and take him to Galveston. Right where we live.
In the last two years a cluster of new homes have gone up around the cemetery. it sounds creepy, but it is really a pretty spot with a historic cemetery in the center. All the homes are pretty and I am going to show you two of the others quickly tomorrow but today, I have to show you what I call the Aggie compound. I am sure that is not what the owners call it, but you be the judge.
Welcome to the Aggie compound.
See the gate? Proud TAMU folks built this house.
Here is the home as we walked up the drive.
See the peak of the lake on the right?
As you see, my buddy, The Social Planner, could not resist touching the wreath on the front door. We were like kids in a candy factory at this house. ( Oh, yes it is real evergreen.)
I am going to clump the photos of rooms together because your tour should not take longer than mine. You are going to see the main room and kitchen, the bedrooms, the bunk room, the wine cellar, and the outdoors. Ready to speed walk through this home?
The home is a split level home. This is the entry hall. Up to the main room and kitchen, right to a bedroom, down to the bedrooms.
Oh my word. That main room.
Rustic, industrial, eclectic with lots of character. Those beams. Hand hewn. Vintage industrial furnishings.
The kitchen
Did I mention the farmhouse table that seats 16? Or the two-toned cabinet colors? Or the cool pendant lights?
The Bedrooms. There are Five regular bedrooms. I think. I may have missed one. All of them are pretty and are in soft blues/greens. Most of them look out on the lake. Wow. What a view.
The hallway has built in seating and beautiful cushions.
The master has two barn doors. One at the entry and one at the bathroom. Beautiful.
This light fixture was in the master in front of the windows looking out on the lake.
The Back Porch
The owner came out to point out the name of the massive fan. See the picture on the fan? It is called a Big Ass fan. I wonder how it got that name?
The Wine Cellar
Wine barrel oak ceilings, cool wine rack, live edge bar and stucco walls. I couldn’t stop staring.
I have had this pinned a while. Wouldn’t it be fun in a weekend home?
I got to see it in real life on this tour.
It was so cool. Yes, I climbed the stairs between the bunks to take pictures.
This room also had a mudroom bench right off the porch so that when the kids come in wet and nasty there was a place to drop towels and stuff.
I hope you aren’t exhausted from our whirlwind visit to the Aggie house. It is hard to believe that this house is walking distance to our 950 square foot kit home built in the 1970’s with unlevel floors.
I hope you enjoyed this part of the tour.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
I am at a conference this week so the afternoons are all mine. I am enjoying the quiet time.
I love our adopted county. It is tiny. Teeny tiny. In fact, it is the smallest county in the second largest state in the United States. I love the little town square. Next weekend is the Christmas parade. We don’t miss it each year. One year the football float caught on fire in the parade…true story.
One of the things I look forward to each year is the San Jacinto Women’s League home tour. This year was my favorite, favorite, favorite tour that I have ever been on. If I could have hand-picked the homes based on homes I look at longingly, five of them would have been on my list. My top two homes ever were on this list. I loved this home tour so much that I have divided it up into three parts. I hope you don’t hate me for it, but my weekend country home folks hit it out of the park this year.
At the end of our county road, in Point Blank, Texas there are two homes I have been nosy about for years. They are clearly old. Not old, like 1971 when the lake was built and homes sprung up around it, old. Old, old. These homes were clearly homes that were built a long time ago. When we arrived at the starting point this year, Paul Horton Methodist Church, the map made my heart sing because the two old homes were on the tour.
You have to love that each year we show up and get a hand-drawn map telling where the homes are for the year.
The starting point this year was Paul Horton United Methodist Church. An old church located very near our lake house. The Church faces away from the road because the road moved to the other side of the church years ago.
House 1 was the house on Boat Launch Road.
Woo Hoo!
When we started going up to the lake eight years ago, this house was empty, the grass was growing up around her, and the bushes were overgrown. Even in that state I could tell that she was a gem. I would have loved to have purchased her when she went on the market, but alas the time was not right for us. The house was purchased and work began on the home. I strained to see the work in progress every time we drove by. I was always thrilled when the gate was open because I could see work in progress.
I almost stopped at the house to knock on the door and introduce myself several times.
Over the past couple of years the house started to emerge. The weeds were gone, the roof was repaired, and the rotted wood was replaced and painted a beautiful white.
Here is my posse for the day on the porch of the boat launch house.
We wore our Christmas gear. The Social Planner wore a leopard print Santa hat and the rest of us were reindeer.
Isn’t she a beauty?
The inside was remodeled in the 50’s and some of the decisions were, well, questionable. A dentist lived there and opened his office on the property.
I was thrilled this original fireplace remained from when Mr. Robinson built this home for his plantation overseer/ accountant. Yep. this home was part of a huge plantation. It was built by an Alabama family 150 years ago when the property was all a part of a huge plantation along the trinity river. More on that later.
The furnishings are an eclectic mix of antique, vintage, and modern funk. This is a weekend home for a young Houston professional who is working on the home with his friends and parents.
See the vintage television they owner has? I think we had that tv when I was growing up. The beams are original.
See that brown trim around the top of the room? That was installed so that the owner can display his art work without damaging the plaster walls. what a great idea.
I really liked this oak table and chairs in this home. They were the perfect set in this home.
The grand piano by the windows is stunning. The original windows are beautiful.
The fireplace above is clearly an addition. Not my favorite, but the new owner is making the best of it. He is adding rustic touches.
Love the galvanized bucket with poinsettias inside.
House number 2 is a house that I have stared at every time I drive by it and wondered the history. The sign out front says The West Plantation. I have wondered about this grand old home since the first time I saw it.
It turns out that this home was built in 1854 by slaves for the Robinson family. Robert Todd Robinson bought the property, built the home then left his three sons to run the plantation. Sam Houston’s home on Snow Hill road was close by. Sam Houston visited the home often and rode on the Robinson’s boat down into Harrisburg (now called Houston) for business.
Mr. and Mrs. West have owned the home for 40 years. The home is a conglomeration of of additions, modernization, and original elements. Mr. West is a historian and he has created a museum out of his barn for the items found on the site. Only 40 acres of the original plantation remain but those 40 acres are stunning.
Mr. West was thrilled to share his home and his stories.
It was Christmas so the house was decorated but I was more interested in the history of the homes.
The house was really crowded because everyone wanted to see inside this iconic home.
If you ever get the chance to visit our little adopted county, the people of San Jacinto County will welcome you, too. it is a beautiful, hilly little county full of history, great people, and a great lake.
I saw this fall mantle at Its Overflowing as a fall mantle. The rustic deer head really spoke to me. Last year when we moved in to the burbs I decided that Christmas needed to remind us of our favorite place, Star Hill not a tract home in a master planned neighborhood. I spent a week creating deer heads and rustic elements. One of them was a giant stained deer silhouette but it sold almost immediately when I wrote the blog so I knew that a new mantle piece was needed. I have a whole Pinterest page dedicated to deer head. Feel free to check out my Pinterest Boards here.
When I saw the fall mantle at Its Overflowing, I knew I had found it!
I laid out a bunch of cedar fence pickets that we picked up on the side of the road a month ago. I only had to cut one to get the haphazard look I wanted.
There are no pictures at this point. The camera was in the house and I was on a roll so I didn’t stop.
I sketched out a rustic deer head with chalk- using a wet rag to fix my boo boo’s. we decided to leave all the pieces loose while it was being cut out. I planned on cutting it out myself but…
I discovered that at the lake house we dont have our scroll saw right now, but there is a jig saw there. I hate jig saws. Hubby had to man it because it bounces so much.
I ran inside to get the camera but Hubby got impatient and started cutting.
I carefully turned everything over after it was all cut out and attached scrap wood to the back to secure the pieces together using a an air nailer.
All in all we have about fifty cents in materials into the project.
I know that this is not something for everyone, but I love it. It is restful to me and the simplicity makes me think of an old home Christmas.
What do you think about our finished project?
I still need to get some white tapers for the small candle sticks but we are just about done.
I hope you have a wonderful day,
Thank you for taking the time to read my posts. I appreciate your comments.
Hubby and I went on an adventure to Spring Texas to see the Christmas décor at Main Street America. Those folks are genius! They have figured out a way get people to pay to look at model homes and sell the furniture that they stage the homes with in a furniture store on site. We barely made it to the last night of the Christmas on Main Street event. I will, by tonight have photos of the Christmas trees and décor up by the end of the night on My Burb Home, which is my other blog. But, here are several “Trees” I fell in love with and plan to attempt to replicate next year.
For the Weekend Home:
I love this stick and wire wall tree. Hubby wants to make ours out of barbed wire. I do not however, want the creepy figure hanging from the top.
Stacked Log Tree
What an easy tree to make for a small space! Perfect for our little home.
Wood Parts Trees
I am not sure what to call these three trees, but one is made from wood discs, one from wood chips, and one from bark. They will be perfect at the lake house.
For My Burb Home
I love the simplicity of this Mod Podged frame filled with balls. Some are covered with twine, some with decoupage, some with natural materials. You will see a large one of these in the odd space in our hallway next year. Think sheet music here.
For School
It is all going to be about books next year at school.
Book Pages Tree
What a simple idea. Tear pages from books and attach them to a tree form. I think mine will be tea stained.
Book Tree
A tree from books. I LOVE THIS!
Finally, there were two other trees I am not sure where they will end up, but I will be looking for the parts to make them.
Ball Tree
I will be looking for random balls to make look like these at resale and garage sales this year to make these. I really like the look.
Starfish Christmas Tree
I am in love with these trees. I know a ton of folks with beach houses, so if I find cheap starfish, I will be making one of these… just because they are fun.
For the fifth year my buddy, the social planner, and I got to go on our annual snoop visit of beautiful homes located in San Jacinto county. The home tour is a scholarship fundraiser for students in San Jacinto county.
Three years ago, our Farkle group started going with us. Each year is a different group of homes, usually geographically grouped. San Jacinto county is the smallest county in the great state of Texas so the location is never more than 30 minutes from our home, Star Hill. The first unofficial stop this year was a trip to the social planner’s house. We met up, toured her home and loaded up for the tour after yummy chili and chicken noodle soup.
We have such a tiny speck of a home in San Jacinto County that I tend to forget there are million dollar homes around us. I really enjoyed the tour this year. All the homes were in Cape Royale, a gated neighborhood about four miles from our near the lake house.
Stop number one- I was so excited to get started I did not get a photo of the outside. This is the only one I missed.
There were four trees in this house. I have pictures of two of them. I liked this one because it was so different.
I really liked how they used the cabinet doors in the laundry room for Christmas card display.
Even the dog got into the act.
The home owners are weekenders, like us… well not exactly like us… their home is huge. The owner has her own scrapbooking room at the house. She had some of her scrapbooks out for us to see.
I liked how they took all the dishes out of the china cabinet and put in a village.
The second home on the tour was huge. We were greeted by a gigantic flagpole turned into a light tree. Oh, and four bronze life-sized horses.
Here is the front of the house.
I really liked the burlap wreaths in all the windows. I have the pictures from inside too.
I wasn’t the only one taking photos.
What a great idea to wrap burlap around the bottom of vase.
I love the dining room here.
There is a saying up at the lake that if you are lucky enough to live by the lake, you are lucky enough. I agree.
My Christmas cactus is blooming too. I love how they decorated around their cactus.
House Three
On our way to house three we spotted these deer.
The front of house three.
I really liked this house.
The front door was beautiful.
The owners are not even weekenders. They come when the kids and grandkids can hang out. They traveled all over the world with Exxon before retiring. The owner was a CPA with the oil company. I had no idea a CPA could make this kind of money.
The owners have a view of Pine Island out their back. One day I will have to take you all there.
This JOY sign is the perfect mix of rustic and modern.
Above the kitchen vent.
I would love to have this kitchen sink. In my real-life, every day home.
I love the pool looking out on the lake.
This was the sink in the workout room bath. wow.
This fire pit looks like fun. I hope it gets used.
House Four
This was my favorite home.
Here is our group. The owner took our photo.
What a peaceful room.
I loved this vintage bedspread.
I liked the dining room. House five
You finally made it to house five. Almost done.
I really liked this home owner. They are getting ready to retire here, but still weekenders.
What a pretty table setting.
This wagon was her father’s. He used it to take the grandkids on rides. What a special way to honor him.
This is a real vintage aluminum tree. Did you grow up with this type tree?
This house is designed to hold a ton of folks.
The owner even made a gingerbread house.
Thanks for coming on the tour with us. The houses were beautiful.
My buddy, The Social Planner, went all out for Christmas. She has an amazingly talented niece who made all the decorations. Follow along as I take you on a tour of her beautiful home. This past weekend this was the first stop on our home tour. I am crazy about her beautiful home this holiday season, an am so proud of her for all the hard work creating her forever home.
The Front Porch-
Out on the Rockin’ F the front porch looks out on horses, a red dirt-dead end road, and the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. I love that the porch looks as good as the scenery around it. What a welcoming front porch. The photos below are of the social planner and her sweet niece in law who created the decorations. I caught Claudia putting the wreath up she brought with her Sunday. In the future I am going to interview her. She has been creating Christmas décor for 10 years and decorated 30 + homes this season. She still has a few homes to touch up for holiday parties but is really almost finished. She has a lot to teach me.
Yes, that view is for real off the social planner’s front porch. I love looking at the pond and the horses. The tree line is beautiful.
The Family Room-
Wow! An amazing tree, decorated with Texas themed items. There are stars, boots, rope, and burlap on this tree.
The mantle is beautiful.
There is a Santa collection. The cowboy Santa was added this year.
The buffet is so sweet.
I really like the dining table and decorated chandelier. The dishes have pine cones on them.
My buddy has the best kitchen on the planet.
The Back Porch
This is without a doubt my favorite place on The Rockin F. The back porch is beautiful, peaceful and is a great place to get away from the world. For Christmas, the social planner purchased a stocking for all the grown ups in the family and had them embroidered locally. They are a thick tweed plaid and have a burlap top. The outdoor fireplace looks so beautiful with the mantle decorated.
If you are ever in Coldspring stop by the social planner’s house. She loves company.
A while back I saw this dresser on a members only Facebook page for $20.00.
She was rough. I mean really rough.
I liked the curvy front doors and was able to work a deal. I do not know why, but I immediately saw this piece as a bar for my son-in-law and daughter. They entertain a lot and have a smallish main room. This small piece will hold drinks and snacks. I knew I wanted a shelf for snacks when company is over.
The Southern Belle asked for stem ware holders in the cabinet. There was a missing drawer so we decided to put in wine storage. It was a matter of adding vertical boards to divide the space. The first step was to sand and prime it.
Please don’t judge me because I am the messiest primer ever. I just work to get the thing covered, but it is not beautiful.
Hubby left me home working and went up to the Garagemahal alone. Before he left, I helped him pick out a navy blue paint color. This did not go as planned. This was not navy. You can read all about it here. Choosing the Right Navy Blue
It took another trip to the store for Hubby but the next color worked. December Eve.
It took a lot of work and I am proud of the work, just not the photos I took. Here is the finished project. Brushed nickel hardware, drop down shelf, bottle storage and all.
Blue is so stinkin hard to photograph. Lessons this fall. For sure. The color is much darker and richer than it looks here.
I have a grand-dog. She is a sweet-tempered rescue pup named Maeby and lives with The Southern Belle and Big Cat in North Carolina.
What do you get a dog for Christmas who has everything she wants? I mean she has all the belly rubs, walks, chew toys and snacks a girl could dream of. She is even famous. Her pretty face is on the cover of Pawblo Picasso custom pet portraits.
That is her on the left side. The happy one!
She really is a happy dog. Her parents love adore her and have a commissioned painting of her pretty face. Recently I was cleaning out a stack of old pictures (under our bed) and ran across this silhouette of me in like third grade. It got me thinking. I remembered that I had a picture of Maeby in portrait.
An idea formed in my little brain. A rustic silhouette on barn wood of Miss Maeby.
Hubby cut the boards to roughly the same length. He wanted to clean up the edge but I wanted it to look rough. I painted it my favorite off white, Cinnamon Cake by Behr then sanded the hound out of it to make the wood show through. Next, I glazed the boards with Behr Faux Effects mixed with just a little Behr Revival Mahogany. I wanted another layer so I wiped it all down with dark walnut stain. I liked the look of the wood enough that I could have just stopped at this point really, but the next step was to print the photo of Maeby on an overhead transparency sheet. If I had a projector that would project the picture straight on the wall that would have been awesome. I don’t. I do have access to an overhead projector. ( Check out school district auctions, they go on sale all the time for a few bucks.)
Shine it up on the wood, trace then fill in with charcoal colored paint.
Sounded good huh? I hated the first attempt. Well, I thought I did anyway. It took a few days and looking at the picture to realize that I really needed to rough up the portrait a little to match the background.
I still want to do a different picture that is all of her but this one makes a presentable present for her Christmas present now.
Soooo what do you think?
I know for sure that Maeby does not read my blog so if you see her, don’t spoil the surprise.
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