Jan 27, 2010

painfully fun...

So I finally did it. I found something I wanted to refurbish.

I originally thought I would love to do a large piece of furniture, like say...a dresser I so desperately need. But then The Man ever so kindly pointed out that that sort of project is best done in the summer time, in the seclusion of your (or someone else's in my case, since I don't have one) garage. I don't agree...my back porch will do just fine, someday. But waiting until its warm is probably a good idea, since paint doesn't really dry well in cold weather...outside...while raining..or possibly snowing. And not to mention I am a weenie when it comes to being cold.

Instead I opted for this beauty I found at good will for 1.99. She was kind of falling apart but the frame was actually quite beautiful as it was. I immediately knew what I wanted to do with her.
















I suppose I should have taken a picture of all of it together before I tore it apart, but I was so excited to get started, that I am surprised I remembered the camera at all!

I painted the frame and the wood on the inside of the mat with spray paint in black satin. While it was drying I recovered the picture with burlap and stenciled "live, laugh, love" onto it. I also recovered the top of the map in burlap as well. It was already covered in what looked like a tan linen, but it was a little stained. If I had had some tea, I would have tea stained the whole thing. That would have been gorgeous! But since I don't drink tea, I had none on hand. :) So, I went with the burlap.

I bought some crackle medium and painted it all over the dried frames. Here is where the painful part came into play. I realized after waiting a few hours for it to crackle, that the medium only works with acrylic paint, not spray paint. So instead of crackling my frame, it just made it super shiny and glossy! ew! Needless to say I was somewhat bummed, but I wasn't completely deterred. I started to sand paper off the crackle medium, and as I did the black paint began to come off in spots as well, and I loved the way it looked! I had thought about distressing it when I first found the painting, but I really wanted to see what the crackle would look like. In the end I am glad for my mistake, because it led to something wonderful!

Here is the end result all put together:











Its still a tad shiny in some places, I couldn't get my sandpaper into the little corners! But you can't really tell. I was planning on taking this to Bunco next month for the home decor theme, but I might just keep it for myself! :)

I can't wait to find my next project. I am thinking maybe a wall clock.



What do you think? :)







Jan 13, 2010

Anyone can build...

Remember on Ratatouille how Chef Gusteau believed that anyone could cook? Well, I just came across a website from an amazing woman who believes that anyone can build...furniture!

Have you seen a piece from Pottery Barn you just had to have, but didn't have the cash to fork out to buy it? Well this lady probably has the plans for you to be able to build a knock off version that looks amazing, for an amazing price! She gives you a break down of materials, tools and price, plus detailed plans with pictures and step by step instructions.

I have been thinking about re-doing furniture lately. You know, finding something ugly and turning it into a masterpiece? I have a friend who has an incredible eye for such things and has decorated her house beautifully high end, on a low end budget. Check it out...

And after my thoughts of re-doing came the thoughts of building from scratch. How awesome would it be to be able to say..."Yeah, I built that myself...without The Mans help!" Um, it would be incredible!

So go to Knock Off Wood, browse around, fall in love and get started building something!

                   (Cameron storage wall and wide media base, from Pottery Barn...LOVE it!)


                   (Plans for Cameron storage wall and wide media base from Knock-off Wood!)


Jan 8, 2010

Annie get yer gun

Aha! I wasn't a total picture loser...I came across this one as I guiltily checked my camera for even one smidgen of a remembrance of our Christmas trip. Technically The Man took the pictures, but I will take the credit because they are so funny!


The dress is from Wal-mart--an after Halloween clearance costume. I think its from High school Musical or something like that...we've never seen the movie but it was 3 bucks, so I couldn't pass it up. The pink pistol was something she had been begging her dad for for a long time, "I want a PINK gun daddy...a PINK one, ok?!" Funny girl! Of course, since she is only 3 she doesn't get a REAL gun, just a plastic one, but she was thrilled nonetheless when Santa brought it for her. "Oh, its just what I wanted, a PINK gun! Haa ha ha ha..I'm so happy!" 


Crazy!:)

She put on the dress and the gun holster and at first I thought it was sooo funny and totally cute! But the more I looked at her, the more the whole scenario reminded me of a saloon girl from the wild west and I am not sure if that set right with me...


What do you think? I would hate to give her a complex....... :)





( I love how the gun gleams in the sunlight...don't mess with me and my six shooter, partner!)

Finally a quiet moment....

The holidays this year were CRAZY! Our break actually started out a whole week earlier than we planned due to the passing of The Man's Grandmother. It wasn't a complete shock, as she was very ill, but still it was sad. They postponed the funeral a few days for us, since it was finals week the day she actually died and we left on a tuesday to drive down to Utah. To get to Utah from where we are takes about 12 hours....on a good day... and I HATE being in the car for that long! (not to mention baby girls affinity for screaming the second she gets into her carseat!) so the Man arranged for us to drive halfway and stay at a hotel in Boise to break up the trip. I am so bummed that I didn't take ANY pictures! I had the camera..it just never found its way out of the bag. My life gets too busy! I really need to be better at taking pics.


Anyway, the hotel was GORGEOUS! We had a suite with two queen beds and a master bedroom with a king sized bed and extra bathroom. I felt like I was a celebrity and I wanted to stay forever! The kids and we got to swim in the pool and relax in the hot tub. It was wonderful! 


Here is a picture off of the Oxford Suites Website:






Beautiful! If you are standing right where this picture was taken and were to turn left, that is where the door to the second bedroom was! So nice....


It was pretty nice weather in Utah and we managed to have some fun while we stayed with his sister in her HUGE house in Alpine. We took some family pictures as well, but they are on the other computer so I will post those as soon as I can try to clean them up. 


We drove straight home on the way back and it wasn't too bad. We borrowed a few baby songs DVD's from one of my friends for baby girl to watch and she LOVED them! She and the other kids even have some parts memorized now, as we have watched them so. many. times. :) 


Spending Christmas in CoeurDalene was awesome. My sister and her family were up as well and our whole family was together, minus my one sis on her mission. I didn't get any pics from the whole trip! Ugh, why why why...! But, it was fun to just hang out and not stress about anything. 


By the time we came home on Tuesday we were bushed and ready to back in our own beds and regular routine. 


Hopefully now that everything has died down I will be able to get back to blogging regularly, but school starts in about a week for me and The Man, so I can't make any promises!


Since I was a bum about pics, here are a few I took of my christmas decorations to mess around with my camera and see what it could do. A Late Merry Christmas and happy new year to all of you! :)

Oh, Hello Ashleigh!

 Way up in the sky little lamb..

Babies first Christmas




 Old ST. Nick