Hillcrest Cottage Entry Walls: A Tutorial

 When I am home alone, things at Hillcrest Cottage can get wild. It all began with an inspiration photo from one of my favorite magazines.

Inspirational Photo from "Country Living" magazine

Before I was left alone, my front hallway was beyond needing a new look. I had never really meant to keep it this way for so long. Originally, this hallway was a two-part paint treatment where the second coat go lost somewhere between carpooling and a baseball game. That was years ago... maybe even ten.

Before

The new treatment is like this. I love it so much! I wish the pictures would do it more justice. In person, it is incredible.

After

The base coat needs to be the darker color. The next coat is paint mixed with glaze. Take newspaper and smooth the paper onto the wet paint. It is best to crinkle the paper first so it will produce a wrinkly effect. Peel the paper off and some of the second coat will be removed.

This  technique produces a broken-down Italian villa look which ages any wall and gives an old world feeling. My walls are old... 90 years old in 2013... so this technique works well with the unevenness of the plaster.

***love***

On another part of the wall, below a chair railing which goes up one side of my front staircase, I used another technique where I applied different colors of paint onto the wall with a trowel.

The Effect is Very Playful & Fun

I am enjoying the way the wall turned out. It brightened my entryway more than I imagined that it would.

Hillcrest Cottage's Front Stairway

This whole project was  risky, but I am not afraid to experiment. I realize this look is not for everyone, but I love being different. 

"Blessing" is Our Word for the Year

Mission Accomplished!

Blessing Number Four

For over two years this guy has waited patiently to have wheels again. Without one word of complaint he waited. This was a joyful day when middle college son and awesome car met for the first time.

The look speaks for itself; some pictures do not need words.

Hillcrest Cottage is thankful for blessing #4.

I Paint Furniture

In case you haven't heard me say this before, "I paint furniture."

The following is a piece which went from "great aunt drab" to beautiful! I wanted to share it today because I am participating in Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday.

This Chest is Painted with Robin's Egg Blue by Maison Blanche

Finished with a Dark Wax Also by Maison Blanche

Slight Distressing Around Keyhole & Brown Paint Spatters

 It's a beautifully sunny day here at Hillcrest Cottage. I am thinking I might have to check out some neighborhood estate sales in a few minutes.

Happy Friday!

The Word of the Year

The Hillcrest Cottage "Word of the Year"

While I have been choosing a year Bible verse for a long time, this is only my second year to choose a "word for the year". I have found that the word is very helpful for making the verse stick better in my memory. Duh... why didn't I discover this years ago?

And... a new picture of Lucy... just because she hasn't been seen in a while.

Do You Fear the Unknown?

Do you fear the unknown? I do.

Tick. Tick. Tick. The unstoppable, continual cadence of life's clock.

Good-bye to another calendar, squares filled with scribbles, check marks, and x's. Hello to a calendar, white, shiny, and blank enough to fill my thoughts with fear, hope, anticipation, and mystery.

Fear: Empty squares could be filled with hard and unexpected circumstances. 

"My times are in Your hands." (Ps. 31:15)

Hope: Empty squares could be filled with blessings and goals achieved.

"God be gracious to us and bless us." (Ps. 67:1)

Anticipation: Empty squares could be filled with opportunity and enjoyment.

"Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Ps. 37: 4)

Mystery: Empty squares equal the unknown. Even in the midst of some fear, I don't want a boring life filled with predictability. What I do know is that God has already prepared a path for me this new year, and I get to discover this exciting path with every new step.
"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. " (Eph. 2;10)


Loudly, my father's last words to me echo. Strong and wise words powerful enough to alter my life's course.

"There are only two things in life which really matter: God and family."

I embrace you, New Calendar. 

With boldness, enthusiasm, and confidence I step into 2013's unknown territory.

Finishing Strong in 2012: The Report

This year of "finish" and "finish strong" has been completed. I finished a lot in 2012; some things remain unfinished. Hillcrest Cottage still has many remodeling projects left half-done.

 However, I have to say I deserve a huge pat on the back for the things which were finished well.

This is the official "Finish Strong in 2012" Report.

Finished...The Selling of My Childhood on Ebay

I am very proud to report that the de-cluttering of Hillcrest Cottage has been accomplished. The work of removing clutter is never quite finished, and I still have some fine tuning to do. But, for the most part, I have sold everything there has been to sell, donated the worthless, and given a good chunk to my now-married son and his beautiful wife. 

"Good-bye, Buffy from Family Affair! See ya in my mind's eye."

"Un" Finished... Floor...2013?

Okay... so I have a closet which still needs sheetrock, a floor half-tiled, and a kitchen half-painted... I can't beat myself up for these incomplete finishes.

Finished... 21 Years of Middle Son

Finished... 17 Years of School Lunches

Graduations are one-time ceremonies, making the school lunch is a daily ritual. 

Finished... 17 Years of Private School Tuition Payments

Finished... 7 Years of Hillcrest Cottage Basement's Weekly "Imagine Student Ministry"

Finished... The High School Graduation

Finished...The Graduation at West Point

 West Point graduation was everything I had imagined it would be... exciting, filled with pride, emotional, and fun. My only regret was that my youngest son graduated on the exact same day. How can a mom who has never missed a minute of her son's life miss his high school graduation... tore my heart out. So, imagine our delight when we were able to fly our high school graduate to South Carolina for a rendezvous and huge family celebration... one of the highlights of the Hillcrest Cottage year!!! 

Thanks to Uncle Danny and Aunt Rosanne for making this celebration possible!

Congrats to BOTH Graduates

Finished... Cadet-Turned-2LT Leaves West Point

When Hillcrest Cottage had finished two graduations... along came the wedding! 

 

Finished...The Wedding... Me & My Stuart

Finished...The Wedding...Cousins with Grandmother "Dee"

Finished...The Wedding...Me & My Davis

Finished...Last Son Leaves Hillcrest Cottage & Begins College

Finished... A Wild Summer '12... Two Boys Leave Hillcrest Cottage

The whirlwind of activity which swirled through Hillcrest Cottage from April to August left as quickly and violently as it had arrived.

Finished 2012...The BEST Christmas EVER at Hillcrest Cottage

Another Hillcrest Cottage Life post reviewed this unbelievable 2012 year. 

Epic. Wild. Emotional. Awesome. I can't comprehend ever having another year as full as this year of "Finish". This year was truly the wildest ride imaginable. This year  has left me tired, but extremely happy and thankful.

On this first day of 2013 I am anticipating the new year. We have another graduation soon appearing on the horizon. 

"Didn't I just send that second son to college last year?" 

Coming soon Hillcrest Cottage's 2013 word and verse will be revealed.

The 2012 Xmas Tree Strike is Over

 T'was the week before Christmas and Mac the Labradoodle began her Christmas tree strike.

"No tree until the Hillcrest Cottage guys plus the awesome new girl have arrived."

No one dared to cross her picket line. Hillcrest Cottage was in solidarity with the shaggy canine's plan.

Hillcrest Cottage has a very unique philosophy regarding Holiday frivolity. Traditionally, there is no tree until two weeks prior to the big day. After all, who wants to dust their Christmas tree; trees must always be real. I truly do not get the fake tree pulled out of a dusty, attic box the day after Thanksgiving. Who can sustain a "fa la la la la" for that extended period of time?

Mac Staging the Great Christmas Tree Strike of 2012

And behold, when there were yet three days until Christmas, the fullness of time had come for Hillcrest Cottage to get its Holiday tree. For, in all honesty, Hillcrest Cottage has come to realize the tree means nothing without a family to enjoy it.

The Strike is Over!!!!

The Expedition, loaded with the most important people in the world, headed to the tree farm. And the quest for the perfect tree began.

"This one?"

Our Good Friend Assists Us.

First Christmas as Married People

Clayton Saws the Trunk

Jeff Drags the Tree Toward the Car

Total Silliness...Of Course

Wow. The Griswolds.

 One for My 2012 Christmas Frame

Hillcrest Cottage's tree is not of the designer variety. It is real. It sheds needles all over the floor. It needs to be watered. It has no theme. It could have used more strands of lights.

However, it was chosen by a family who loves one another. It was decorated with ornaments from Christmas' past. It gave us a very fun and memorable Hillcrest Cottage memory. With a married son in the military, we know he will share future Christmas' with his new family and may even be many other places... but... for now... this Christmas... we are thankful to have everyone next to this very beautiful tree decorated with the love that only a family can provide.

Ta Da!

P.S. Thank you, God, for the 8" of snow which You brought to Hillcrest Cottage on Christmas day. My 2LT had been ordered to return to post by Christmas night at 11:00 p.m; the snow allowed an extra day. We had a very fun late night romp in the snow with Mac the Labradoodle, Lucy, and the entire Hillcrest Cottage family. Icing on the cake to the best Christmas ever. The days which followed were full of record-breaking power outages (80% of our city), but Hillcrest Cottage survived unscathed!

Christmas Revelry

So...our caroling was cancelled due to rain. 

This following is a public service message for those who might be inclined to consume too much fudge this holiday season.

 Warning: These images may be disturbing to those with coulrophobia (may be referred to as 'chuckie syndrome' or the fear of clowns and dolls).

Best Finishes from 2012

When my children were small, we had a daily dinner-table tradition. We would ask our boys: What's the best thing that happened to you today? As you can imagine, some days were filled with incredible tales from the grade school playground; other times it is was struggle to find even a grain of goodness. With our house of boys, imagine some more about the crazy responses Jeff and I would receive.

As my year named  "Finish Strong" is ending, I am reviewing the 2012 goals. I am wondering if I have finished well... or even finished at all. 

I stumbled upon this December 31, 2011 journal entry where I was anticipating 2012.

December 31, 2011

I don't do well with transitions, so a day like today finds me sad. I look ahead and see nothing but changes in 2012. There will be goals achieved. There will be celebrations of huge importance. One son will toss his cap into the air in a way which only a West Point cadet can truly understand

Class of 2012 Hat Toss

A month later that son will have birdseed tossed at him with a zeal which only wedding guests can joyously perform.

Wedding Images by Stephanie Parsley Photography

My youngest son will finish high school and begin college.

Welcome to Dorm Life

I will finish 23 years of parenting and begin to hear Hillcrest Cottage's walls quietly whisper the story of grade school sword fights, marathon video game parties, late night study sessions, and the laughter of family gatherings.

Hillcrest Cottage's walls will talk. They will talk a lot. They will speak of the love we do here, of forgiveness, of grace, of the thousands of "I love you's", of acceptance and belonging somewhere special in this big, impersonal world. The yucky stuff, sifted through grace, will be trampled underfoot and swept aside. The good stuff will rise as a sweet aroma full of goodness... like the smell of bacon frying on a snowy morning.

I will think about "finishing" in 2012... a lot. I will try to understand what it means to accomplish a worthy goal. This new 2012 will be a roller coaster ride where I imagine the highs and lows to be quite exaggerated. 

Okay...So... This Would be an Exaggerate High from 2012...the Mother-Son Dance

Most of all, I pray that I will sprint to the end and "finish strong".

Hillcrest Cottage is a home where our greatest accomplishments are people. Since my children have left we have not been lonely or bored. A typical week may have 15 to 25 people come through our Hillcrest Cottage doors to share a meal, spend some time around the chiminea, or to encourage one another in our relationships with our Creator. Our days are very full... just in a different way.

Thanksgiving was incredible as everyone was home plus the two new German Shepherd grand pups.

Gotta Take a LOT of Pics to Get a Good One... Got It!

Every time we have together becomes more precious... especially with having a cadet-turned-2LT- married- Army man in the family.

Lots of Hello's and Good-By's These Days

Following in the dinner table tradition, I asked myself...What's the best thing that happened to you this year? 

The answer: We got a brand new Kinley... and she's a girl!!!!!