cedar lumber, Christmas, Country Style, Decorating, DIY Projects, DIY Tutorial, Roadside Rescue

Rustic Deer Head

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!

Rustic hunter mantel decor  maybe with a different design???

Mantle at Its Overflowing

The DIY is simple.

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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

Blessings,

Karen

 

DIY Tutorial, painting, Star Hill

Using a Paint Sprayer

After trying three different types of paint sprayers to paint furniture, and hating them, we have finally found one that works for us. The fourth time is the charm. We like a gravity feed sprayer that runs off an air compressor. The brand we use is Husky- not a fancy name bran- and it was inexpensive. Like less than $60.00. It works like a charm and we get a smooth finish with minimal drips. I can use it, except it makes me nervous to connect it to the compressor. Once I master that I will be good on my own. Learning to use a sprayer was not without a few errors and a learning curve. We learned that the paint needs to be thinned a little to make it flow evenly out of the sprayer and that made a difference.

taping for spray painting

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sprayer

Here are a few things we have learned as we have improved in our sprayer

Buy good paint. It is tempting to try cheaper paint since it has to be thinned. Don’t do it, friends. I still use Behr Paint with primer when spraying.

Use paint conditioner to thin the paint. We have used water in a pinch but I can tell the difference.
paint conditioner

Get paint filters and strain your paint. You even need to strain brand new paint but you REALLY need to strain paint you have sitting on your shelf. They cost about $1.00 for five so it is a cheap investment.
paint strainers

Hold the sprayer 6 to 8 inches from the surface you are painting and keep the sprayer moving while the trigger is pulled. Release the sprayer trigger when you change directions.

Use a board or cardboard to test your sprayer before using it on what you are spraying, even if all you do is refill the paint into the can. The settings can move and could affect how much paint is coming out.

Cleaning the sprayer is a pain in the neck, but it has to be cleaned to spotless every time it is used.
Take it all the way apart to clean it. Here it is all taken apart.
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Plan on using at least 25% more paint than you would brushing it on. We underestimate a lot with the sprayer. I am not sure why it takes more paint, but it just does.

You may see a dimpled appearance when the paint is wet. Don’t panic. Don’t try to brush it out. Leave it alone. Once it is dry it will be smooth. Be patient. This is what it looks like right after painting. I promise this look goes away.
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Hubby’s favorite thing to use the sprayer for is polyurethane. We only use water based poly because of cleaning but wow, what a beautiful finish. Poly is thin and does not need conditioner.

I still like a hand brushed look on some items, but I will never hand paint a chair or table legs again now that we have discovered the paint sprayer.

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Comfort Food, DIY Tutorial, Rubbish Rescue, Star Hill, The City House, Thrifting

Moving is Hard Work

I have decided that any move, even a virtual one is hard work. After struggling with Blogger for six months I have made the incredibly difficult decision to move to WordPress. I hope that this works as well as it seems it will, but only time will tell.
I am going to keep my Blogger site alive and kicking until I figure out how well this works and I get everything moved here.

It is no secret that I am not very Tech Savvy, and my lack of skills with Blogger really showed up.

During the next six months I have several projects planned including a rubbish rescue that needs to be redone, The City House master bedroom needs lipstick and makeup, we have some pretty big projects planned at Star Hill, the Southern kids are coming to visit us in Texas, and OH YEAH… there is going to be a wedding this summer. The Southern Belle and her Beaux are getting hitched! Woo Hoo!

For my early Christmas present I got an awesome new camera… man do I need help learning to use it. Hubby even got me a super sized lens, but it is still in the box until I am a little more comfortable with the standard lens.