The Big 50!

Well I had to change my profile info.

Now that I'm no longer in the 40 something age group. 

This past Wednesday I entered the 50 year old crowd. 

Does it bother me that I'm now a half a century old? 

NOT ONE BIT!

I'm a firm believer that we are only "old" if we let ourselves be OLD. 

Thanks to some friends who let us use their lake home.  I've spent my birthday week looking at this view. 

(June is a big month for me, on June 28 I'll be celebrating 31 years of marriage to Mr. EA.)

With my two favorite people in the whole world...

and the sweetest grand-dog ever!

More of my family and friends have been in and out but mostly just us four, swimming, sunning and just hanging out.

BLISS!!

Joyfully,



Elizabeth Ann 

Thank You!

To Penny at

The Comforts of Home / Lavender Hill Studio

Penny @ Comforts of Home / Lavender Hill Studio  said...
When you sign in to Google, uncheck the box that says "keep me signed in". That should work so you can leave comments. It worked for me and others I know. Let me know if it works for you.

Penny

Thank you so much Penny, it worked. 

I can leave comments now!

I still can't see my followers and I have a few new ones.  As soon as I can see who they are I'll be visiting your blog and sending a great big thank you.

Getting back to Joyfully,
Elizabeth Ann

Now I'm off to look around Penny's blogs.

Blogger is driving me CRAZY!!!

I can't leave comments and I can't see my followers.  It seems to be coming and going.  Some days I can do one or the other and I think I have been able to do both only once in the last couple of weeks.

I'm generally a pretty patient person but this is ridiculous!

I've tried commenting on several blogs but just can't. 

I'm not being a snob I promise. 

Is it something I'm doing or need to do? 

Is anyone else having this problem? 

Well if you were I guess you couldn't tell me could you?!!

I do want to say to Kelli at Restore Interiors that I am praying for her whole family and I hope her daughter is better very soon.

Well I'm done ranting and I'm hoping for a solution soon.

Joyfully, (truthfully Aggravated)

Elizabeth Ann

"Ammo Basket" Inspired

I've always liked the European Ammo Baskets and I'm still searching for one to use in my home.

Some of you may remember I have a "thing for baskets".  Go here and let me know if it's a sickness or just a "thing".

 This is where I got my inspiration... 

and here's my version.

I know it doesn't even come close to looking
like the original but it's the idea.

(Of course I had already started painting it when I remembered to take a before picture.)

It started out as an ordinary wicker hamper.

Which I dry brushed with dark gray paint then a much lighter gray paint. 

After all that dried I did a white wash over the whole thing. 

Once the white wash was dry I painted on the numbers.

Why 18?  No idea it just seemed to look good together.

Then I sanded over the whole basket and even scraped a little paint off the numbers.

Trying to give it an aged and used look.

I felt like it needed more aging so I used some dark wax all over and added a little extra in places.

I like it and even Tyson my sweet grand-dog
seems to likes it!

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann

I'm linking up to these parties:

 Do you like veggies?

I do love some fresh vegetables, it's one of the many things that I like about summer.

I could however do without the triple digit heat here in Alabama this week. 

Give me a home grown summer tomato and I'm in heaven, especially with some mayo, a slice of Vidalia onion, salt and pepper all put together between two slices of bread!

But I really wanted to share with you one of my thrifty finds, some different kind of vegetables. 

Two posters I found at the thrift store and hung in my kitchen.

I only paid $6.88 each and while cleaning them up I found a $229.96 price tag on each one. 

They measure 21" x 27" a great size for where I wanted to hang them.

I wasn't crazy about the gold frames so I just brushed on some black paint and let a little of the gold show through. 
Super easy, my kind of project!

 I even like the water stains.  I think it gives them an aged look.

It wasn't until I got home and started cleaning them that I noticed they were FRENCH!

Who does that!!??  Buys something without looking at it closely.

I've done it way to many times, especially at auctions and thrift stores.

Sometimes I have pleasant surprises and sometimes not so pleasant.

I guess I just get so excited I loose my head for a few minutes.

Please tell me I'm not the only one that does this.

Oh well, c'est la vie!

I'm linking to Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann

A Few of My Favorite Things

(At this moment anyway.)

I've been working hard on trying to get some of the excess items
I have piled up until I get off my lazy derriere 
stored waiting for inspiration. 

One of my favorites is this very large buffet. 

I bought it from my "Alabama Pickers" several months ago and it's been sitting hoping for a makeover.

Of course I forgot to take a before picture!

The buffet is very sturdy but the finish was REALLY ruff.

So I sanded and sanded and it is still ruff but in a good kind of way.

I think I should call it Rustic Victorian.

 I like the details this piece has..

the inset oval... 

the top accent...

the shapely legs and the center brace.

It didn't have knobs but my friends

Mickey and Lana (a.k.a. The Auction Queen) gave me these.

PERFECT

Speaking of auction...

Check out my latest auction aquisition

It's a solid oak vintage elementary school desk/table

It was designed for six children.

There's three cubbie holes on each side.

***

Great coffee table don't you think?

I also have a child size drafting table with a little drawer.

This is one of my favorite finds.

An antique diorama.

It's in a shadow box with a hinged lid and wavy glass.

The waves and back ground are painted plaster.  I'm not sure what the ship is made of but the rope for the sails is string.

Here's another auction buy.

1970's Coca Cola crates

Finally

Another chippy - shabby fireplace mantel

Check out the details.

Thanks for visiting with me at my booth at ENCORE in Pelham. 
I hope to see you there soon. 

Edited:  I just linked to  Restore-it Wednesday and Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Feature Friday .

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann

Like Mother - Like Daughter

I've known for a while that MB, my daughter,

has the "arranging" gene.

Even when she was a little girl she would arrange her play fruit.

Which she fed to her stuffed animals, how cute is that?

She would even arrange/organize her play office and school supplies.

Now that she is older she likes to create vignettes just like I do!

Wooo hooo!

A few days ago she was with me while I was fluffing my booth so
I decided to put her to work. 

I needed to move all my seashells off a large table I had sold and I needed a new arrangement in my china cabinet.



I asked her to take everything out of the cabinet and to create a new display with the seashells. 

Can I do it however I want? 

Can I use some other stuff from your booth?

My answer was YES and YES! 

Just excited that she was interested.

I LOVE how it came out!

I like how she balanced the colors without it looking TOO symetrical.

We've been told that we look a lot alike, but I see her becoming more LIKE me as she gets older,

bless her heart!!

But here's an example of:

NOT....Like Mother - Like Daughter

Last time we were at the beach MaryBeth and Josh decided to go parasailing.

The "Likeness" stops right HERE because.....

This is WAY......

WAY....

too high!!!

They were 1,000 feet up and this momma is afraid of heights!

MaryBeth and I are about to start decorating her apartment and I plan to take y'all on the adventure with us.  Now that's my kind of adventure. ;-)

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann