Sidewalk finished or not ?

For now yes it's finished. I plan on adding some critters, flowers or weeds in the cracks but it is just to hot to do any more with it right now. As you can see it didn't workout like I had planned but I love it! After all those years of looking at that dull white walk I now feel like I'm looking at a master piece .. lol

and I see new flower borders going down the sides this fall ...

here's what it looked like Saturday afternoon ... I was not happy at all that I had gotten so off track.. and I hadn't even been drinking .. I think my brain was sun fried at this point .. I taped off what I wanted to keep and looked at it again Sunday just to make sure I couldn't live with it like this and the answer was no way !!

I covered it with the Olive wood stain. It took 2 coats .. Again not happy! After thinking about it all night I decided it had to have a clear defining point of separation.

So here we go again ... this time I took a bottle of Burnt Umber craft paint added a little water then I painted a band all the way around the Olive wood.. It looked OK but still not the polished finished look I wanted. So I mix up about six different colors of craft paint and added a little of the Olive wood trying to get as close to the original concrete color and then did another band around the outside of the Burnt Umber

Now I'm a happy girl it all dried down to be the perfect color.

I'm thinking I might paint this center area to look like flagstone later on ...

OK so here's some tips and info for those that asked. The product that I used is H & C Solid Concrete Stain it is a water base product that I buy at Sherman Williams . I used this same product about 10 years ago on a slab in the backyard and it still looks just as good as it did the day we did it. The colors I used are Olive Wood and Tile Red . The first thing I did was pressure washed the concrete really good then let it dry. I went through about 10 ~ 4" foam rollers. I found the foam ones worked the best, but didn't last long. Most of my brick are 4 X 7"s

I didn't tape off my brick because that just seemed like a lot more work ..lol
I poured both colors of stain into an old Tupperware container top and just worked my roller back and forth to blend the colors so that you could see a little of both in the brick. If it had not been so hot this would have been an easy breezy project the heat was my biggest obstacle. The one thing that I didn't figure out till I was about 4 ft down the walk is I needed to be working back and forth so I would not end up with straight lines.. In other words do your first row starting from the far left then your second row starts far right and keep going back and forth..
This stain is permanent so screwing up is not really some thing you want to do. I wish I had planned my pattern out and had it on paper in front of me. I think I would have ended up a little closer to what I had envisioned. Like I said before I love it and as soon as some cooler weather returns I will be right back out there to jazz it up and to add a few rows at the end of the driveway and then about every 8ft all the way up the drive . I do plan on sealing it with the recommended sealer once I am completely finished just to be on the safe side .

Hope ya'll like it if you have any other questions please ask .

Bobbie, Beth did it turn out as good as what we saw on the tour of homes ?
My biggest task is finished for my 10 in 10 !!

Now I'm off to see if I can finish all the others in a nice cool place

I'm linking up the Power of Paint party over at Domestically Speaking

and with Miss Gina for Transformation Thursdays
Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry

 UPDATE ... February 9, 2012 for some reason I keep losing the pictures in this post. Would you please leave me a comment if you can't see them. Thank you so much for stopping by.. hugs, Cherry

Outdoor Wednesday ~ The Twins at Tybee

Tybee Island, Georgia



I'm joining Miss Susan and gang for Outdoor Wednesday ya'll come on and checkout all the other wonderful blogogers joining in this morning.

Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry

I'm at the half way point of my 10 in 10 Challenge

Old drapery hardware is gone. Walls are patched and all those paint sample colors have been painted over ..



I picked up some cool burlap ribbon and some fabric that might make it into the tie backs.



loving the way the sidewalk was looking at this point!



and here's where I should have stopped .. got a cool drink, got out of the heat or gone back to the beach.. Because things started getting a little sideways from this point on.. I'll share those pictures a little later .. Miss Charlene thank you for stopping by and I promise to share tips and info later in the week ..



We had my entire family at Tybee last weekend along with my beautiful cousin Kimmy and her hubby from Pennsylvania. All that stuff and people in the left of the picture are family and all those gorgeous babies are mine all mine !! OK they are not really mine and they are not all babies but they are to me and that's that ! Miss Madison .. lol



Good luck to everyone lets make the next 4 days count and try really hard to complete each of our 10 tasks.. Ya'll head on over to Miss Gina's to see how much everyone else has gotten accomplished . I'm off to take Miss Lois to the doctor this morning. I am taking my tie back stuff with me to work on while I wait on her. They are knocking her out for a little while. She is such a hoot when she wakes up. She will talk silly all the way home and then swear I am fibbing when I tell her what all she has said .. lol Have a fun day everyone

Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry

A little update on my 10 in 10

Started painting on one of the birdhouses it going to be beach bungalows, stained a big chunk of the sidewalk but still have a big chunk left to do.. Bought starfish and jute for tiebacks, have taken my vitamins and worked out each and everyday ... woohoo .. hooray .. pat myself on the back..
This past week has been a hoot. I locked myself out of the house after being out in the heat for hours and I come really, really close to getting caught changing out of a wet whole piece bathing suit by my brother in law !! Thank the lord that boy knows how to holler .. Do ya'll know how hard it is to try to get back into a wet suit while running for cover ?? Well I'm here to tell ya'll it's hard.



and I'm shot out .. My pretty pink polish has been trashed .. Did ya'll know concrete stain will remove polish? Well now ya do .
Have an awesome weekend ya'll and thank you so much for the support it's looking like I just might complete some of my projects after all. Oh and I think I have talked the hubby into start painting the living room tomorrow .. ( she say's with fingers crossed )
Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry

Can she do it ??

Miss Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage has thrown down the challenge and today is the day to get this show started !! It is a Ten Tasks in Ten Days Challenge and since I have been feeling like the Queen of all things unfinished
see above post to be reminded of all those things ... she says to herself ... I am joining in and you can too .. Just pick 10 tasks you want and can complete in 10 days make that dreaded list then head over to The Shabby Chic Cottage ..

Declare yourself then get your butt busy .. she says to herself again !
10 days click by pretty darn quick these days ..


THE LIST

1 ~ Finish staining sidewalk
2 ~ Finish desk and move into house
3 ~ Make a set of really cute tie backs for bedroom curtains
4 ~ Finish girlfriend April's birthday present ( her birthday was in April )
5 ~ Celebrate girlfriend Beth's birthday with her ( her birthday was weeks ago )
6 ~ Finish that tray that I still don't have a clue what I'm going to use it for ..
7 ~ Take my vitamins and exercise everyday for at the very least 30 minutes !!
this one will be the toughest to accomplish8 ~ Take down old drapery brackets and patch holes in living room walls and try to talk hubby into painting them ..
9 ~ Finish painting birdhouses that means all 3 of them ... Cherry10 ~ Finish editing all of the family pictures that have been taken recently..

I'm going to throw in 2 more just in case the weather/ RAIN keeps me from finishing the sidewalk ..

Alternatives
1 ~ Organize, box up and label all of the wedding stuff
punch bowls, cups, plates, table skirts, silver and get rid of anything that won't make it till the next girl child turns 30 !!
2 ~ Clean this house .. sure hope it doesn't rain ..lol don't really want to do this one ..

There I have declared my list and now I'm heading outside to start staining the walkway wish me luck cause I'm going to need it !!

Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry

Wedding gift card box ~ Mailbox for Metamorphosis Monday

How cute is this !!!

I made this for my niece's wedding and everyone had a fit over it . In trying to think of something different to use for the gift cards besides spending $20 bucks or more on one of those wire boxes that most likely would never get used again I came up with this.. It now sits it on the front porch of their new home.

I got the hubby to cut the slot in the top of the mailbox and attach it to the post. I even metamorphosed all those living room sample paint cans into a great easel while I was painting.. lol

I love my baby Alexis bird

I planted Diamond Frost in the pot but it closed up on me time it went inside with the air conditioning so it looked more like baby's breath

I had lots of folks wanting to be the Mailman after the wedding .. lol

I'm hooking up with Miss Susan and the gang over at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday you have to come checkout all the wonderful and crafty ideas that are being shared this morning ..

Can you believe it is the first day of summer ? I have big plans to do much of nothing except what I want to do .. My life has been on fast forward for way too long.. Time to slow down and as my Bff Jilly says make this summer count .. I have lots of projects that I want to finish and new ones to begin .. Which is why I am joining in on a 10 day Challenge that starts Wednesday June 23rd and ends Friday July 2nd at Miss Gina's The Shabby Chic Cottage . If you would like to join us then head on over to The Shabby Chic Cottage for all the details .. Now to get my list down to only 10 task ... Oh my ...

Have a wonderful Monday everyone !

Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry

Flaunt your flowers Friday

Hibiscus no red or solid white blooming just yet.

My Yellow Stokesia 'Mary Gregory ' and I almost missed them blooming !

Phlox, Black & Blue Salvia, unknown Hosta, Autumn ferns and Lacecap Hydrangeas

it's Flaunt your flowers Friday over at Tootsie Time come join me,

 Miss Tootsie and other great bloggers for some Friday fun..

Have a wonderful weekend everyone

Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry

Amazing Daylilies ~ Outdoor Wednesday & June Bloom day

OK amazing is over exaggerating it a bit .. lol

but to me they are amazing not just because they are beautiful but because I have paid them nor anything else any attention for well over a month ..

I have been so busy that I truly have not done anything in the yard except a quick watering of things in pots and then right back inside..

This morning I went out early with a cup of coffee sat and just enjoyed the quite beauty around me..

a lot of things look pretty pitiful but not the daylillies

they welcomed me back without a single ( where the heck have you been or a if you don't love us enough to stop by every now and then we are out of here )

not a single complaint ...

just beautiful smiling faces

and a simple good morning ..

Which is what I hope each of you are having!

Today I am joining in on my very first Garden bloggers Bloom day over at May Dreams Gardens with Miss Carol & the gang and with Miss Susan at A Southern Daydreamers for Outdoor Wednesday so come join me for a little blog hopping to see all the wonderful things happening around blog land today ...

Hugs from Savannah ya'll, Cherry