Sunday, June 21, 2015

Uncle Sam

Hi everybody!
I've been doing some patriotic decorating. 
I noticed that Uncle Sam has a certain resemblance to a certain someone that makes an appearance in December.
I began brainstorming about any of our old Santas that could use a makeover. 
I remembered that we had a big wooden cut out in the attic. 
  

He hasn't been used in the last few years so he was a perfect candidate. 

Some masking tape and white paint was all that was needed to create his striped pants. 



 Midnight blue transformed his coat. 
Masking tape makes painting edges so easy. 


His beard was looking a little stained. 
Have you heard about all the germs reportedly in a beard?
Gross.
At this point I needed to stop and shoo a wasp out of the garage. 
Not today, wasp. 
Not today.

I cut the top off of his stocking cap with a circular saw. 


Yes, I moved inside. The wasp thing was just too dicey.
My husband has an endless supply of lathe strips for stirring paint and stain. He cuts them out of surplus lumber. 
He had one that is just perfect for the brim of Sam's hat.


The end of the paint brush dipped in white paint creates almost perfect polka dots.
The edge of the paint brush creates the stripes.

He posed for some mod shots.


I recycled the star from the top of the old stocking cap. 
 

I posted him to instagram. 
The next morning, however, I realized that he looked like he had a flower pot on his head. 
That was not going to work.
I couldn't find our old Jigsaw but Bill had this other multi-tool that worked for making his hat more of a stove pipe top hat. 
I stopped to reflect as to why those were ever popular. 


Oh my word!
He is so cute. 



Advil eased the pain in my back from too much patting.



I stuck him on the porch and went to put in a load of laundry.
I looked across the street at my neighbor's house. 
There was an wooden cut out of Uncle Sam staring straight back at me. 
What?
Where did he come from?
Was he also a Santa in disguise?
  

The Tonka truck was Chris' when he was a toddler. 
(I miss him so much but he loves his new life in New York.)

We survived Bill and only got 2 or 3 inches of rain. 


Thursday the weather was gorgeous.


I got the wreath up and took some pictures of the front of our house. 



We have grass! Finally! 
We struggled to keep the lawn alive during the drought. 
It is amazing what 23 days of rain in May will do. 
Bill has built us some shutters for the front of the house. 
They are primed and waiting for paint and hanging. 
You know that you will see it when they are done. 
They are going to be so cute.

Happy Father's Day to my husband 
and to my daddy.


He was in the Air Force during WWII.
He looks like a little kid playing dress up.
He would let me play with his tools while he was working and I get my love for tools from him. 
We'd have so much fun if he were still here!
Have a good day, my friends.  
Katie 

Linking with,
Between Naps on the Porch 
A Stroll Thru Life  
Savvy Southern Style  
Common Ground
Patriotic Party at Common Ground

4 comments :

  1. OMG but that Santa...I mean Uncle Sam...is CUTE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great transformation of Santa to Uncle Sam. Great job Katie. Love this. I also love that front door of yours it is so pretty. Have a great week.
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katie, he is adorable! I love how you thought to transform Santa to Sam. Samta! Your Mr. Bill picture cracked me up! Glad you didn't get hit by Bill!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How clever you are! That turned out so great. I'd love to share a photo from this post on my Fri Faves today. I know it's late to be asking, but if you happen to see this comment quickly, please let me know if it's ok to share it (with a link back to you, of course). Thanks!

    ReplyDelete