perfectly portland - Columbia River Gorge sternwheeler cruise.

it's September and to me, this is hands down the best time of year to go sightseeing in Portland. the weather is cooling down and for the next few months, the city has been returned to it's residents.

one of our favorite things to do is take the sternwheeler cruise down the Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge is the incredibly beautiful dividing line between Oregon and Washington.

[columbia gorge sternwheeler]

every year between May and October, the Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler offers cruises up and down the Columbia River, expertly narrated by the captain.

what could be better than a couple of hours lazing down the river with a fascinating history lesson thrown in?

[the wheel. natch].

we start off heading West, downriver to pass under the stunning Bridge of the Gods...

[bridge of the gods].

there's a wonderful Native American legend that tells the story of the Bridge of the Gods.

[columbia river].

there are so many amazing vistas along the river, and the trees stretch out to eternity.

once we hit the Bonneville Dam, it's time to head back upriver.
there is a Landmarks cruise where you actually get to pass through the Bonneville Lock...that would be so fun!

[heading back up river].

further upriver we pass by the wonderful Skamania Lodge, on the Washington side of the river. shortly after is the turnaround point to head back to the dock at Cascade Locks.

[skamania lodge].

another perfectly Portland day.

halloween diy - containing the eek!

this halloween decoration idea couldn't be simpler! more simple? the simplest.

my project was inspired by this great Better Homes and Gardens idea.

first gather yon supplies:

[3] footed hurricanes

[3] flower frogs*

[3] pieces of pearly white cardstock, each printed with a single letter

[1] package dried moss

[assorted] decor to place around the hurricanes

*take a moment or 10 to stare into space and wonder why that thing is called a flower frog.

give up and keep moving.

[flower frog].

I scored my footed hurricanes at a ridiculous clearance price at Michael's but you can buy them at nearly any crafts store or the wonderful HomeGoods. flower frogs  and moss were also from  Michael's, in the floral supply aisle.

gently break the moss into the desired size and place it in the bottom of the hurricanes.

slot each letter into it's flower frog. try again to figure out why it's called a frog.

shake the cobwebs from your brain [or place them in the hurricane! it's Halloween after all] and lower each letter into the hurricane.

wonder how your nice table got those scratches. probably because you're always plopping stuff on it to take pictures.

add desired decor around the feet. I placed some multi-color ceramic pumpkins and amber beaded garland.  I tucked a silver skeleton statue behind and I was done!

it's a simple vignette with lots of layers and texture.

painted summer series - part 2: crates.

I've been madly painting everything in sight so I've dubbed this the Painted Summer.

did you catch series 1?...an old dresser got a lovely new life my favorite dry-brush technique.

as if there weren't enough items and rooms in my house painted in grey-blue [sorry dear], I attacked some old crates with the same color, Benjamin Moore's wonderful Oxford Gray.

[crates are wonderful for storing dishes for a party].

here's what they looked like before:

[the before].

fine, but nothing magical. in fact I dragged these out of the garage every year for Fall decorating on my front porch. I put little hay bales in them and stacked pumpkins on top. but after Fall ended, they wound up back on their sad shelf in the garage.

after many years they heaved a big sigh, rolled their eyes, and told me they needed a face lift.
they claimed they wanted to spend more time with me.

out came the Benjamin Moore Oxford Gray and my inexpensive paintbrush that I use for crafts. no need for my wonderful Purdy brushes on this project...

I slapped those crates silly with paint. they loved it.

[hello Oxford Grey. I adore you].

a few of the letters got a little gloppy with paint. a quick retrace with my trusty Sharpie and they were back in black.

[Sharpie to the rescue!]

I re-adore these crates so much that I found a home for them in my newly repainted/redecorated/reorganized pantry.

personally I think they'll love being front and center all year round...

summer's last hurrah.

summers here in the pacific northwest are blessedly short and cool. we're now nearing the end of august. by this time, there is a marked change in the sun's angle and as the shadows start to deepen, my hydrangeas begin their inexorable creep into shades of green and pinky-brown.

and yet, there's always one or two blooms that are late to the party...blissfully unaware that time is indeed marching on.

(last blue hydrangea standing 23 august).

this year there was just one hanging on to the glory days. and of course it's a more riotous shade of blue than nearly all of the other blooms this summer. doesn't care a whit that all of its mates are winding it down for fall.

(winding up the summer).

nature has a lovely sense of humour.

halloween diy - spooky chandelier on canvas.

who's getting fired up for Halloween besides me?

a little rooting around in my unused Halloween decorations unearthed a vinyl chandelier wall decal. it's been rolled up in a tube for a couple of years so I finally decided to do a little somethin' somethin' with it.

a little more rooting and I discovered an old artist canvas that I bought on clearance and never used.

eureka!

a match made in heaven.

[spooky + lovely halloween canvas].

out came my never-ending wee sample can of Benjamin Moore Oxford Gray.
I swear this is going to be all over my house and yet the can will never be empty!

using my super-lazy super-easy dry-brush technique [does she ever do anything else?!] I quickly brushed the paint on the canvas, leaving some of the original white showing through for contrast.

[canvas paint prep].

after the paint dried, I used a craft spray adhesive on the back side of my chandelier and placed it on the canvas, then laid a piece of parchment paper on top to protect it.

next came a stack of heavy hardback books [Dick Francis to the rescue, hooray!] to help with the adhering process.

[dick francis to the rescue! helping with adhesive].

it was so tempting to keep peeking at the canvas to see if the chandelier adhered, but I was good reasonably good at leaving it alone to do it's thing.

success!

out came some thick craft wire, a fuzzy spider [eek!], and an upholstery tack. I nailed the tack to the top of the canvas, wrapped the wire around it, then did my favorite twist-around-the-pencil trick on the wire  so I ended up with a coil throughout.  wrapped the other end around the spider...

[adding the spider with coiled wire].

and voila!

[the finished product again].

it's possible that I'll be able to wait till at least mid-September to put this lovely scene on the mantel.

no promises!