TownAndCountryKathy

My husband and I have a property investment company where we have rehabbed several homes.  Some we flipped and some we still own as rent houses.  It is so rewarding to take before and after pictures and provide a nice clean updated home for someone to live in. I think this interest began in full force when my parents turned an old barn into a home for us.  It wasn't a typical looking barn.   It looked more like a house already with several car ports.  So when it was finished you could not tell it was ever a barn. It took my parents and different family members a whole year to build it because we only worked on it on weekends.  A major "weekend DIY".   My uncles helped with the major concerns like electrical and plumbing.  But all the wood and sheetrock/panelling was handled by my parents and other family members who wanted to come and work and get a meal provided.   I helped with the cooking and babysitting.  Good Memories! We lived on a farm and we were not wealthy.  Far

Buffalo Plaid Fall Decor Ideas Here are some pictures of items my Mom and I have made for our Fall Flea Market or Craft Shows. Website:  shoptownandcountryboutique.com Facebook:  townandcountryboutique Instagram:  @town_and_country_boutique Pinterest:  Town&CountryKathy

Striped Plaque/Sign Remember my video where I demonstrated how to paint stripes?  The video will be linked below. Stripes are just fun!  Kinda like polka dots. Stripes are a nice way to add pizzaz to an otherwise drab background. I made a sign in the spring that I had hanging on my wrought iron wall hanging.  I sold it to a friend and I missed it after that.  So I thought I would make another one.  Here is the one I sold and it was my inspiration.  Sorry, the picture is a little blurry.   I bought a Dollar Tree Plaque and decided to do a similar sign for Fall.   I really liked the Dollar Tree Sign and the sunflowers so I was hesitant to re-purpose it.  But I decided it could be reversible.   Here is the original sign. Here is how my Fall Decor sign turned out. Here it is hanging on my wrought iron wall hanging that is in my garage. I really love stripes so I think I will keep a sign on this wrought iron wall hanging all year round. Please give it a try.  It is not hard at all.  Keep yo

I am running a Candy Corn Craft Giveaway right now in Facebook. If you win, you will get all the supplies needed to make these cute Candy Corn Fall Decorations. Wood blanks, paint (yellow, orange, white), ribbon, twine, small piece of sandpaper.  All you need is a paintbrush and scissors.   I want to put the instructions on here how to paint them.   It is better if you do one candy piece at a time so your paint can blend together.  Otherwise it dries too fast and you have to remix and blend colors.  I chose to paint all sides in case I were to set them out on an island.  It is your choice if you want to leave the backside unfinished. The easiest way is to prime the whole wood piece with white paint.  This will help all the colors to be more vibrant.   --Note---I made this mistake.  I put pencil marks around where the colors should go.  I could not get the paint to cover the pencil marks   So just estimate it or use chalk pencil to mark it. Once the primer is dry, then begin on the bott

WHY I STARTED AN ONLINE BOUTIQUE AND COMPANY BRAND 1.  Retired due to age, burnout, trigeminal neuralgia  2.  Needed a focus in my life 3.  My Mom was diagnosed with CANCER I needed a focus in my life.   I needed to concentrate on something other than feeling like I was growing too old to work or growing too ill to contribute.  I was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia in 2014.   (I will do a separate post about this illness sometime soon, but it comes and goes and gets worse with time.) I had been semi-retired since 2018 after a new emergence of my illness.  BUT....... after Thanksgiving of 2019 the dreaded "C" word came into my life.   My Mom showed me a tumor she had growing in her throat.   It was to the point that she could not hide it.   She wanted to wait until after the holidays before seeing a doctor.   She had moved to Louisiana and did not yet have a primary doctor here.   So I knew it was going to be a lengthy process to get her in quickly to see someone.   My sis

Impressionism Sunflowers A porch leaner does not have to always go outside.  I put mine in an empty corner that needed some cheering up. I started with a cedar fence slat.  My Mom cut the slat in half.  This section is 36 inches long.  I then sanded it and painted it a very, very light gray and sanded it again.  I like a smooth surface and a distressed look.  Below are the paints I used and brushes I used. Next I used a ribbon container to make the inside circles of the sunflower.  I hand drew a petal to use for a pattern.  I knew I wanted to fit 3 flowers on the leaner.  It took a few times to get the right size. I then started tracing the circle 3 times.  A full circle in the middle and the top and bottom circle are a half circles.  I used a pencil because I knew I was going to trace over in dark brown paint and it wouldn't show through.  But if you are going straight for yellow paint you may want to use a chalk pencil. Here is how it looked after I traced it with a pencil and ne