Color Me Glamorous

DIY Beach Spray a.k.a Salt Spray

2012-10-22T18:59:00.000-05:00

There is a new product out that many clients are in love with!! It has many different names with different manufactures but I love to call it Beach Spray because it give you beautiful beachy waves. When you use Beach Spray you will look like you just got out of the ocean all the time!

Beach Spray can be used a couple different ways (check back for different tutorials) but what I like most about it is its ability to give your hair texture. It will give your hair extra staying power for when you curl it, and you can shampoo less because the salt in it will suck up your hairs oils.

So you can run down to your closest salon and buy a bottle, or you can make it yourself!
I read the label of a couple different brands we have here in the salon to come up with this recipe.

Beach Spray Recipe

1 Spray Bottle
8oz Warm Water
1 Tablespoon Epsom Salt
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Tablespoon Firm Hold Hair Gel
1 Tablespoon Protein or Leave in Conditioner

1. Pour warm water in to your spray bottle.
2. Add Epsom Salt & Sea Salt to bottle. Put the cap on and shake well to dissolve the salt.
(I used finely graded sea salt so it would dissolve faster. If your bottle does not have a wide mouth you will need to use a funnel to add the salts.
You can make one by rolling a sheet of paper from corner to corner if you do not have one at home)
3. Add in the Hair Gel & Protein.
4. Put the cap back on and shake it up!

That simple!

You will need to shake will before each time you use in in case ingredients settle.
IMPORTANT! Since salt in damaging to the hair do not use this everyday & spray in a leave in conditioner before the Beach Spray.

If your water at home is hard on your hair, use filtered or distilled water.
If your hair is thick and course you may need to add more salt.
This works best on hair with a natural wave.

My Battle With Lyme Disease & Fighting for Brittany

2012-04-24T22:06:00.001-05:00

Something I have not really mentioned here on the blog before is my health. There is a first for everything!

19 years ago this mothers day my parents rushed me to the emergency room because I was violently ill. I had a very high fever that just wouldn’t break, swollen knees that I couldn’t really walk on, and a rash in the shape of a bulls eye stretching across my torso from my 10 year old chest (hey stop adding!) to the middle of my back.

My blood work didn’t find anything wrong yet since the infection was to new (only 4 days) but at the doctors first glance he already knew I had Lyme Disease.

At the time Lyme Disease was still something pretty new but luckily we lived very close to a University Hospital in New York where they had a clinic that specialized in Lyme Disease. I am not going to tell you every little detail about my recovery but I will tell you that it was LONG, miserable, and something that I wouldn’t wish on my worse enemy.

Why am I telling you all of this??

I was invited to an event on facebook tonight. A young woman named Brittany is currently battling this horrible disease, and her wedding photographer was so touched by her struggle that she has decided to host an online auction to help raise money for Brittany's next treatment.

If you would like to donate something you have made to this auction it would be greatly appreciated!! You can view the original post and contact the woman organizing this auction by visiting the blog post linked below.

Fighting for Brittany (A Spink Studio Bride) » Spink Studio · The Blog

Thanks again for reading!!!

Tiffany Inspried DIY Beaded Lamp Shade

2012-04-06T22:24:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I have been MIA due to a

series of family emergency's. One of those emergency's being the

death of my husbands grandmother. She lived with us for the past

six years and will be missed.

One thing Granny and I had in common was a love of crafting.
The last few years she got to sick to craft but that didn't stop her
from being an extreme craft hoarder. If we even thought of
getting rid of something she would freak out because some day
she was going to need it, so for years we left the "collection" alone.

I have been trying very hard to find uses for some of these things
(she did spend a bazillion dollars on them after all) but I have a
feeling some of them will be going to the goodwill. :(

I did THIS glass lamp re-do a few months ago but have not been happy with the lampshade.
I tried to recover the lampshade but it was my very first try at it and it turned out pretty bad.

So while sitting around thinking today got the bright idea to use Granny's small case of beads
to make a lampshade!! Fantastic idea if I say so myself! LOL

It was extremely simple, just time consuming. I wont lie, it took about three hours.

So here is how to do it.

First gather supplies.
- Lampshade
- Beads
- Bead/Craft Wire
- Wire cutting tool

Next, remove the fabric from the lampshade leaving only the frame.

Cut a piece of wire and start by wrapping it around on side of the frame to start off.
Then start adding beads to the wire. Once you have enough beads to make one row,
wrap the wire around the other side of the frame twice to hold it in place.

Repeat the process a couple hundred times! LOL
This is what it looked like when I was moving on to a new wire.
When the wire gets too short for another row,
wrap the end around each row until you run out completely.

When it was all finished I wrapped the last wire a bunch of times to hold it in place.

Here is the finished product!

It's Your Time to Shine Saturday: #2

2012-02-03T18:55:00.001-06:00

Welcome to

Last week we had some really great projects linked up!
I wish I could feature everybody, but that would make for a long post!

Here are a couple of posts that I thought were cute & original.

Coffee Filter Backdrop
from Life as a Pepin

&

Quilted Heart Necklace
from It's a Hodgepodge Life

If your post was featured, make sure you take your badge of honer!

_____________________________________________________________________________

Happy Linking!

There are only two rules this week.
1st - Post only YOUR projects.
2nd - Link back to my blog.
{Please post my button somewhere on your blog.}
That's it!

I Guess I Need to Become More Frugal

2012-02-03T17:37:00.003-06:00

Friday was supposed to be "Frugal Friday" on my blog schedule. However, after a couple of weeks passing by without beaing able to come up with anything, I realized that I'm not really all that frugal. I guess I need to work on that because I really hate to speend too much money on things when I know I can save.
Don't get me wrong, I am a sale and discount shopper all the way. I just figured out that I have a lot of room for improvement in this area. So, "Frugal Friday" is officially off.

Does anybody know and good blogs to start me out on learning to be frugal?

I bet my Grandma is cooler than yours

2012-02-02T22:26:00.001-06:00

When you think of a Grandmother, you picture a sweet little lady with the looks of Betty White. Maybe she loves to bake cookies, or pies, or maybe she loves to play bingo down at the church on the weekends. What you usually don't think of is a dirty minded, extremely opinionated, fierce & fearless woman. Unless you are me of course, because my Grandmother, excuse me, my Nanny was not your typical grandmother. She was hell on wheels and that's what I respect most about her.

My mother was a teen mom (not the mtv version) so my Nanny was still pretty young when I entered the world. Since she was so young she insisted on being called "Nanny" and certainly not "Grandma." If I slipped up and said Grandma for any reason she would interrupt me and say something along the lines of "Excuse me, lets get one thing straight. I am Nanny not Grandma." I guess she really valued her youth and who could blame her for that?!

No matter how unconventional she may have been, I never questioned her love for me. It didn't matter that she was a complete bad ass, she showed me how important and loved I was every day. She also made sure I knew some really important things about life like, "never look in the mirror while tripping on acid" or "check the back seat of your car before you get in because there may be a murderer back there." (If your curious, no I never actually needed the acid lesson, but it was there just in case.)

My Nanny was so awesome she married a thirty something year old man when she was sixty five! That was not only good for her but fun for me because he hated it when I called him Grandpa, and I found it to be pretty freaking funny since he's only got about 10 years on me.. haha

As you can see, my Nanny was anything but your typical Grandma and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. She showed me that I could be a bad ass too and that I didn't need anybody elses approval to be me. She encouraged me to do what I loved, and taught me that your never too old to be awesome.

My Nanny passed away yesterday. We knew it was coming but it didn't make it any easier. I will miss her more than anything! I cannot imagine living the next 40 - 50 years without her. I am so sad and so selfish because I don't want her to be gone. It makes me sad that I will never see her smile again, I will never singe her a song again, and my daughter will never really know her because she is too young to really remember a lot about her.

Regardless, she will always be in my heart. I will never forget her. She mad an impact on me that will shape future generations forever.

Rest in Peace Nanny, I love you.

Tell Me What You Think Thursday {Blog Critique}

2012-02-02T13:34:00.002-06:00

We are still accepting entries the first ever
Tell Me What You Think Thursday
@ Color Me Glamorous!

Tell Me What You Think Thursday is a Blog Critique.

How it Works

1. Sign up your blog on the form below.
2. I will send each participant a blog to review and a questionnaire.
3. You return the questionnaire to me and I forward the responses to the blog owner.

Tell Me What You Think Thursday is Anonymous!

Nobody other than myself will know what you wrote and about who.

Requirements
You must follow this blog to participate.
You must supply your email address. {In the sign up form}
You must display the TMWYT button somewhere on your blog.

I am limiting sign ups to 20 participants.
You will not receive your assigned blog & questionnaire until all 20 spots have been filled.
This could take a day, or this could take 30 days.
Please help the cause by sharing this blog post.

It's Your Time to Shine Saturday #1

2012-01-28T10:49:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the First Ever

This is my very first linky party and I am super excited to see what everybody has come up with.

There are only two rules this week.
1st - Post only YOUR projects.
2nd - Link back to my blog.
{Please post my button somewhere on your blog.}
That's it!

Happy Linking!

Tell Me What You Think Thursday {Blog Critique}: #1

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the first ever
Tell Me What You Think Thursday
@ Color Me Glamorous!

Tell Me What You Think Thursday is a Blog Critique.

Tell Me What You Think Thursday is Anonymous!

Nobody other than myself will know what you wrote and about who.

Requirements
You must follow this blog to participate.
You must supply your email address. {In the sign up form}
You must display the TMWYT button somewhere on your blog.

Since this is the first Tell Me What You Think Thursday I am limiting sign ups to 20 participants.
You will not receive your assigned blog & questionnaire until all 20 spots have been filled.
This could take a day, or this could take 30 days.
Please help the cause by sharing this blog post.

Give it Away Wednesday #2

2012-01-25T19:10:00.001-06:00

Welcome to

Link up your active giveaways here!

One you link up your giveaway, please put my button somewhere on your blog and if your not already, please become a follower!

Give it Away Wednesday #1

2012-01-18T12:40:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the very first Give it Away Wednesday!

Link up your active giveaways here!

One you link up your giveaway, please put my button somewhere on your blog and if your not already, please become a follower!

Totally Random Tuesday: Got Books? Trade Them for Free!

2012-01-17T21:03:00.004-06:00

When I was a kid I hated to read. I had a learning disorder and reading was really hard for me.
Working so hard at something that seemed to come easily to everyone else just made me mad and I

did everything in my power not to pick up a book. Over time my reading got a lot better, I even took

some advanced literature classes in college. However, I still didn't pick up may books until after I got married.

My husband is an extreme PlayStation nerd, but don't tell him I said that. Our problem was that we

spent pretty much ALL of our non-working time together. We lived in New York where we could

hardly afford to eat, no less spend extra money on two cars or going out without each other. So

giving my husband time to play PlayStation was hard for me because when he played I spent a lot of

time looking at walls.. haha.

Then my mother gave me a James Patterson book and it changed my reading habits for good.
My husband had a lot of PlayStation time after that! The only downfall to always wanting that next
book is paying for that next book. We're a lot better off financially now than when we were first
married but I still hate to spend $100 a month on book, and then have them on my shelf forever.

Recently I cam across a website that has seriously changed my book loving life!
www.paperbackswap.com

This is how it works:
You list the books you have on your bookshelf that you can part with.
Someone requests your book and you mail it to them and you get 1 credit.
You can take that one credit and and request ANY BOOK FROM ANY MEMBER.
Only exception is Audiobooks are 2 credits.
You get 2 credits right away when you list 10 books on your online bookshelf.

Here is the best part, this is a FREE service!

So if you are already on paperbackswap.com or you are joining now look me up.
My s/n is colormeglam. Add me to your friends list.

Make Me Over Monday: Quick & Simple Eye Makeup Remover

2012-01-16T10:44:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Make Me Over Monday!

Today I'm just going to share a simple 1 - 2 - 3 recipe for eye makeup remover.

Ready?

=

Quick and Simple
Eye Makeup Remover!

Just mix equal parts in a bottle.

Make sure you shake well before use.

WORKS BETTER THAN A LOT OF STORE BOUGHT EYE MAKEUP REMOVERS!!

DIY Kindle Fire Case { Tutorial }

2012-01-14T22:12:00.000-06:00

This year for my birthday {I turned 29 for the first time} my husband and daughter bought me a Kindle Fire.

Unfortunately it wasn't a surprise since almost every store within an hour from our home was sold out and we had to drive all over God's creation in order to find one. I guess that's what I get for having a birthday right after Christmas, not that it was my choice.

So once I had my Kindle Fire I realized that there are not very many choices when it comes to cases. I looked in stores, on Amazon.com, on eBay, and just plain googled but didn't come up with much of anything that looked different from anything else. So instead of buying a generic case for $30 at bestbuy I decided to try making one myself.

I am moderately crafty, but still a novice with the sewing machine so trying to plan out the pattern was a nightmare. However, after a couple tries I finally figured something out. All my hard and frustrating work paid off for you because now you wont have to do all of that trial and error.

What you will need:

Cardboard

Rotary Cutter &/or Scissors

2 Complementary Fabric's {About 1/4 Yard of each}

Sewing Machine & Thread

Straight Pins

Elastic Band

Spray Glue

Crafters Glue

Cut Your Cardboard

I started by cutting cardboard. My husband installs for one of those satellite companies {don't think I'm allowed to name them} so we always have really strong cardboard boxes laying around. I used my rotary cutting tool because it was much easier than trying to take a scissor to it. I assume you can also use a box cutter if you do not have a rotary cutter.

I cut a front board, a back board, a smaller backboard, a 1" spine, a 1/2" spine, and a small flap which was about 3". I would give you my exact measurements but since you can modify this tutorial for any eReader or tablet I just suggest you measure your device and add about an inch to the height and width.

Cut Your Fabric

I used a print on the front cover, the front inside flap, and the board that the kindle will mount on.

I used a plain brown fabric for the rest of the case.

For the front cover I cut my fabric 1" larger than the cardboard vertically, but the same measurement horizontally since I want a little bit of the plain brown fabric on the front panel.

For the inside flap I cut the fabric 1" bigger than the cardboard both vertically and horizontally.

For the mounting board, I cut the fabric two inches bigger to make sure it would wrap around the board nicely.

Then I laid out both spine pieces, the back cover, and the flap and measured the length.
Then cut two brown fabric pieces. One 4" longer than the measurement, and one 5" longer than the measurement. I also added one inch to the height.
Next I ironed all the fabric and started to prepare them to be sewn.

Sew Your FabricI started with the front cover print fabric and the longer solid brown fabric.
I placed the front cover fabric on the brown fabric print side down and prepared them to be sewn by placing pins in them. I also used a fabric pencil and ruler to draw a line where I will be sewing since I am still a beginner. Then I sewed the fabric together following the line I drew.

Then I folded the print side over and pressed the iron over it to make a little crease and sewed that crease in place.

Then, I sewed the inside over to the other brown piece of fabric. I ironed the crease flat on this part but did not make an additional stitch.

I then took both pieces of fabric and placed them together print side touching. I added a piece of batting to the side that will be going on the inside and pinned the fabric together.

Next I sewed three sides of the fabric creating something like a pillowcase.

Then I cut the coroners off so that they would be rounded when I turned it right side in.

Next up! I turned the case right side in.

AssembleThen slid my first piece of cardboard in the open end.

I slid the cardboard all the way to the end, making sure the batting ended up on the correct side, them stitched a line down the side holding that piece in place. {I thought I had a picture of the sewing but I think I may have accidentally deleted it thinking it was a duplicate of another step.}

I followed the same steps for the rest of the cardboard and at the end I turned the fabric inside and stitched a seem to close it all up.

All that is left to do now it create the board that holds your Kindle.

I started by gluing the fabric to the board. I used a little spray glue directly on the fabric then crafters glue around the back.

After the glue dried, I added elastic to the corners. I used about 5" strips.

After they dried, I put a tun of glue on the back and pressed it in to the back of the inside part of the case.

One it dried, it was good to go!! Here is what it looks like done!

Now, what I would do differently.

I would add one more 1/2" piece on the end so that it has a place to rest when opened like in the last picture.
I would also move the batting. Instead of putting it on the inside over I would put it on the inside of the end flap.
I would look for some pre-cut cardboard or something hard like it. Once it had it in the case I realized a few of my cuts were crooked.
Last, I would add velcro, or an elastic strap to keep it closed.

Glass Lamp Revamp

2012-01-08T10:47:00.001-06:00

One thing you will learn about me via this blog is I love lamps. (Did that sound like Steve Carell, or what?) Almost any old ugly lamp could be beautiful again with a can of spray paint. I have an extra special love for glass lamps. They just say "vintage" to me and I love vintage! (No, I do not love the vintage paneling on my walls but this house is a work in progress.)

I found this gem of a lamp at the goodwill for $7.
My first thought was, "how could anybody give up this beauty?"

Then I remembered not everybody can see past the tarnished brass an dusty glass.

You know what they say, "One mans trash it another mans treasure."

I started by taking the lamp apart. I knew right away that I would need to replace the electrical components because the power cord was too short and the light socket was loose.

One thing I must suggest when taking apart a lamp (or anything you will be putting back together) is to take pictures of how it was assembled so you know how the pieces go back together.

Top of Lamp Assembly

Lamp Base

Once I took the lamp apart, I lightly sanded down rust spots and washed all of the pieces.

When the pieces were dried I took them all outside and gave them two coats of

Rust-oleum Heirloom White then two coats of Rust-oleum Clear Gloss. I let each coat cure for an hour before the next coat. Adding clear gloss over your paint will give your lamp a shiny finish.

One more tip!To make sure you have good, even coverage on the bottom of the lamp base put something under it so that it "floats" about the table surface. I used an old candle container.

After the paint has cured for two days I reassembled the lamp using a new lamp kit I bought at Wal-Mart for $6. Then recovered an old lamp shade with some fabric I bought at Hancock's New Years Day 1/2 off Sale.

Here if the finished product!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T16:55:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to take a minute to wish everybody a Happy New Year!

I will be starting 2012 off with a new look (2nd week of January) and an actual posting schedule!!

What are you going to change in 2012?

Vanity's Peacock Christmas Tree

2011-12-11T19:39:00.001-06:00

I'm one of those moms who has a mismatched hodgepodge of ornaments. Nothing really matches and 80 - 90 % of our ornaments are homemade (mostly by kiddos) or sentimental. I have always wanted a cool looking tree that matches, but I just cannot bring myself to not put up all the sentimental stuff.
I mean really, what is Christmas without sentiment?

Knowing all that, I bet your wondering who's tree this it. This super cute Peacock Christmas Tree belongs to my friend, and guest blogger, Vanity.

This woman can turn anything into a masterpiece and this tree is no exception!

So if you love this tree as much as I do leave a comment! She'll be reading them!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! (and Happy Holidays to everyone who does not celebrate Christmas!)

Guest Post by Vanity: Christmas Gift Under $1

2011-12-09T02:20:00.000-06:00

Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year and I love to give presents to everybody.....but my budget doesn't allow me to. This year I decided I was still going to try, but I didn't want to give crap either. Ive made hot packs for my back for years and I absolutely love them, so I dug around in my closet and found some left over fabric from doing my girls room. Then I ran to my local store which happens to be Wal-Mart and grabbed the biggest bag of rice I could find for the best price.....the store brand ended up being my best bet. The entire HUGE bag was only $10.47 plus tax.

These are our goal. Each hot pack cost less than $1 each and I made enough to create 30 presents.

I begun by getting all my necessary ingredients together.
Sewing machine
Funnel (I used a post card all twisted up), Scissors
Pins
Rice
& Fabric of your choice

There are all shapes of Heat packs that you can make....the ones for your back, neck, shoulders etc....but I especially like to make the personal pocket ones and heat them up to stick in mine and my children's coat pockets first thing in the morning. They would also be great for bus riders or even dad going hunting or working outside. I start by cutting the shape out that I want for each heat pack. I go back and forth from cutting to sewing to filling because I get board easily but some of you might be a tad bit more organized than me :).

After you cut your desired shape (these being the kids personal pocket warmers) you turn the two pieces where the good side of the fabric faces in towards each other. This is so that when your done sewing and you turn them right side out you have a prettier product and very little sewn edge.

I proceed to sew all the way around until I get about an inch from making the complete rectangle and I stop, leaving an inch of un-sewn fabric. (this is the place you turn it right side out) I also like to clean up the edges with the scissors so its not so bulky.

I do several up to this point before I go to the next step. After I have about 5 or six I will take a pencil and use the eraser side to help me flip them right side out. The pointed side of the pencil will help with the corners once you have it all flipped.

Your next step is to fill....a funnel is so much better than the redneck way I did it and be prepared for the rice to get away from you.....or maybe I'm just clumsy but I had rice everywhere. Fill the pack up to where you have about an inch or so of loose fabric across the top because if you fill it too much then its not comfortable and it will not conform to your back or neck, or wherever your choosing to put the pack.

After filling I use my sewing machine one last time to close that corner. But I use a cute stitch so that I don't care that it shows. And viola, you have an awesome Christmas gift under $1 each. When I wrap them I give a little note with them on how to use.

How to use your hot packs: Large or medium heat for 2 minutes in microwave. Small 1 minute. If they still aren't hot enough go up in 30 sec increments so as to not burn the rice inside (believe me it stinks). Do this a few times until you learn how your Hot pack and your microwave get along :) ENJOY AND STAY WARM!!!!!

That's Right, I Do Hair & Makeup

2011-12-07T17:37:00.001-06:00

This is my friend Ashley. We got time to play with our hair and makeup today so I did hers. Isn't it cute? She has a stacked out swing bob so there is not a whole lot of things you can do with her hair so I just curled it and pinned it back for a different look.

How to Clean Stoneware With Almost No Effort!

2011-12-04T18:42:00.001-06:00

No, I did not switch the before and after pictures! I know it looks too good to be true. I can hardly believe it myself.

Anybody who has stoneware knows that the only cleaning you can do with your stoneware is scraping and scrubbing with hot water and NO SOAP! You can occasionally use baking soda to aid in getting off the gross stuff but in my opinion it never made a difference.

I have been using stoneware for about eight years and I would use a stone until I couldn't stand to look at it anymore (because it was black) and would toss it and buy a new one. As you know, this gets expensive because this stuff is not cheap!

So one day I was searching for a better way to clean my stones and I came across a woman saying she cleans hers in her ovens self cleaning feature. (I wish I could remember the blog I read this on so I could link it but I don't remember) This sounded interesting but I wasn't quite sure it would work. I mean really, how could it??

Well the only way I could find out was to give it a try. I took my stone, scrapped off all the cooked on food with my plastic scrubber and hot water (It was cheese actually, not my favorite thing to have on my stones but stuff happens!) and placed my stone in my oven. I set the oven cleaning cycle to clean for three hours and went along with the rest of my cleaning routine.

After three hours I impatiently waited for my oven to cool off enough for the door to unlock. As soon as I noticed it was unlocked I opened the oven in a hurry to find a perfect stone! It looked like I just took it out of the box for the first time!!

The only thing left to do was give it a wash with some warm water because it had some soot on it. I mean really, can you believe it?? I'm still having a hard time believing its true! This is going to save me so much money!!

Yes, you will have to re-season your stones each time you do this but I never found it hard to season them to begin with, so that doesn't bother me. Also, this is not something I will be doing every month, I will reserve this for around every six months to a year.

*****UPDATE***** February 11, 2012
I have received a few messages from consultants telling me Pampered Chef does not recommend you use your stones in temperatures higher than 450 degrees because they can crack. Mine have held up perfectly so far, however if you chose to try this be prepared for a chance that your stones can crack. I have heard many success stories so far, and have only had one comment (read below) telling me their stone has cracked.

Also I will make sure to point out that your stoneware is supposed to change colors during seasoning and create a natural nonstick surface. Although I know this is true, when my stone starts to look nasty I don't like to feed my family from it. Call me crazy but it freaks me out. I have no problem taking the chance of having to buy a new one to ensure our food safety!

DIY Mason Jar Lamp

2011-11-25T09:32:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago a girlfriend and I went out to the local flea market mainly looking for inspiration, and some kind of junk gold when I happened upon this lamp.

This particular lamp was a little ugly but what a great idea this was! So before I left the flea market I was sure to pick up an antique Mason Jar.

In order to make this mason jar into a lamp, I needed to pick up a couple things. First, and most important a lamp kit. I got mine from Home Depot for under $10. I also needed a Diamond Drill Bit to drill threw glass and some spray paint. Both of which I already had.

All that was left to buy was something to fill the mason jar with. I decided to go with glass beads. I got four bags from the Dollar Tree for $1 each but I needed more so I ended up making a last minute trip to WallyWorld to pick up some clear ones too.

When I took the lid off of the jar I was surprised to find a layer of glass inside the lid. This was no problem though. I just took a hammer and gave it one good hit and it shattered and fell right out.

Then I sent the husband out to the garage with the lid to put a hole in it.

The hole ended up being a little bigger then I needed so I added the little donut looking piece that came in the lamp kit. (One of these days I'll learn what all these things are called)

Since I'm not to fond on shiny gold, I decided to take the lamp pieces as well as the jar lid outside to give it a couple coats of paint. I used Rust-oleum Ultra Cover in Heirloom White.

While the paint was drying I focused my attention on putting a small hole in the jar to put the power cord threw.

I used the 3/8" Diamond Drill bit to take care of this. I learned previously that it is best to drill threw glass with water. I turned my sink on a slow stream and ran the water over the jar while drilling. I started drilling at an angle until it started to indent, then I moved my drill straight on and finished drilling.

Once the paint was dry I was ready for assembly! I started by stringing the power cord threw the hole in the glass. Then I added some of the beads so that it would hold the power cord in place while I was working on the top.

For the top, I had to do some minor assembly. I put the screw and washer under the lid, then the donut looking thing on top if the lid and screwed the base of the light bulb holder (I swear I'm going to look up the real terms) on the screw. I then ran the power cord threw the screw and up into the light bulb holder.

At this point I finished filling the jar with glass beads and screwed on the lid. I wired the top part of the light bulb holder and put it all together.

All I had left to do was add a light bulb, a lamp shade, and plug it up!

If you love this idea but don't feel confident drilling holes in the glass, or assembling the lamp I recently found this neat Mason Jar Adapter.

Frumpy Dresser Turned Fabulous!

2011-11-24T13:49:00.001-06:00

I'm not totally sure what this piece of furniture should be called so I'm going to just go with dresser. I picked up this dresser for $20 off of a local facebook "buy, sell, trade" group. I'll be honest, it's not in the best shape but it had SO MUCH potential. Plus, it would fit perfectly in my bathroom. I just had to have it! So here is how I turned this frumpy dresser in to a fabulous dresser!

First thing I did was take the drawers out and remove the hardware. I find it easy to put all hardware in a Ziploc freezer bag. This way everything is together and I'm not searching for screws when its time to put it all back together.

I had a few drawers that were starting to separate in a couple different places. So I took some wood glue and glued everything back in place.

After the wood glue dried, I sanded the entire dresser to get the majority of the old paint off and to create a nice smooth finish.

Now it's time for paint! I chose to use Glidden 2 in 1 Paint & Primer because it cuts out a step and I'm ADD and I hate to wait for paint to dry. I have the entire dresser two coats of paint and while it was drying I focused my attention on the hardware.

This dresser had three draw pulls and 2 knobs because it was missing one. Since I'm putting this in my bathroom I decided to replace all of the knobs with knobs that match the cabinets in my bathroom.

So now all I had to worry about was the draw pulls. They were pretty tarnished and an odd size so they would not be easy to replace without making new holes in the draws. So to make my life easy I turned to my old friend Krylon. Just two coats of spray paint and they were good as new!

The only thing left to do is put it all back together! Easy as that!