Paper Daisy Designs

Menu Plan Monday

2013-05-20T14:53:00.000-05:00

Well, it's Monday again and I'm ready with my menu!

Here's this week's menu.

Sunday: Cheeseburger Quesadillas, didn't fix last week. Made it yesterday and the boys loved it. Emily did not. Apparently she doesn't like ketchup. It has ketchup. I thought it was pretty tasty I used corn tortillas, spicy cheddar and pickles on mine. :)

from Iowa Girl Eats

Monday: We have a banquet to go to. Kitchen Closed!

Tuesday: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya, This is my recipe. I'll clean it up and post here either later or next week.

Wednesday: Steak Fajitas, It's Miles' birthday and this was his pick. This recipe is a huge hit with everyone. Post here either later or next week.

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Baked Chicken Pesto New recipe

From Kalyn's Kitchen

Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs, Not sure which recipe I'm going to use to make gluten free meatballs.

Last week didn't go quite as planned. We ended up ordering pizza on Tuesday because I didn't feel well and on Friday, I didn't cook what was planned because Richard's flight home got canceled and he didn't get home until very late. The teenagers were going in different directions and we had enough leftovers.

Sorry I'm so short on recipes today. I've got do grocery shopping still and take the dog into the vet for a nail trim and pick up some meds.

Good news, though, I did squeeze in a run and quickly finished up 2 other projects I hope to share soon. ;)

Map Table: How to cut an oversized circle

2013-05-15T23:25:00.001-05:00

Just a few more makeovers from the Media Room to share. Today, it's the Map Game Table.

Because it's always fun to see where you came from. Here's the ugly table with the map thrown across it.

And while you might be confused by these chairs, which clearly were not intended to be paired with this table, this is not an antique table. I did, however, buy these chairs as part of the "set" off Craig's List for around $30. I can't remember exactly, but this seems right because I remember thinking, "I'd pay that for just the chairs!"

What my very cool map is hiding underneath it though, is the bowing and swollen spots in the center of the table. Believe it or not, this table top was actually particle board. I wish I had photos of the damage, because fixing it was interesting.

I ended up sanding the swollen particle board down. It kind of just shredded like cardboard. Once it got it even, I patched it with dry wall spackle. All I wanted was a smooth surface since the top was going to be covered by the map.

It also had a bead trim around edge that was missing in some spots. So that had to come off. I know I took photos of all this but, after looking for quite a while they are not to be found on my computer. GRrr.

I gave the table a couple coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White. I really do love that paint. I know people are into DIY'ing the paint and I did that myself on a few of the chairs. More to come on that later. But I do think Annie's paint is worth it, if it comes in a color you want for your project.

Then it was onto cutting the map into a very large circle.

Initially I tried using a pencil and a string to draw a circle. That so did NOT work. The pin I was using for the center kept moving and the tension of the string was inconsistent. Not to mention, the angle of the pencil made a difference too. I kept ending up with a wonky circle. Not what I wanted. I needed a fixed compass.

So here's what we did.

I got a scrap piece of wood and drilled a very small hole in one end for a nail. This is your constant point. Then I drilled another hole for the pencil at the distance of the radius of the circle.

It looked like this.

Now just rotate the pencil around the map, or whatever you desire to cut, until you meet the point where you started.

Then I carefully cut along the pencil line with sharp scissors. I felt pretty comfortable with this because of my years of experience in paper crafting. The best tips I can give you is to not "saw" your scissors and move the paper not the scissors. You'll be surprised how much these two tips help you cut a smooth edge. I can generally cut a circle better with scissors than with an Exacto type blade.

I carefully smoothed out the whole made by the nail and color matched a bit of acrylic paint to cover up any remaining traces.

I used Mod Podge Hard Coat to apply the map to the painted table. I quickly coated the back of the map, flipped it over used a bone folder to smooth it out. Later I came back and put two more coats on top. I chose the Hard Coat version because you can sand after coats and it is the most durable for furniture. I didn't need to sand it any, it was pretty smooth finish. I had intended to apply a coat of wax on top like I did to the table itself, but I've yet to do it and it's holding up fine.

Here's the final table and chairs.

The two other chairs were finds Emily and I hunted for at our local thrift stores. The chairs got a different colors.

Once I had assmbeled all the chairs they sat in my garage like this for a while. :)

Once the colors were decided, I lightly sanded all of them and whipped the ones that weren't getting the real deal Chalk Paint with Liquid Sandpaper. The blues were mixes of Louis Blue and a deep turquoise I had. Yes, you can mix Chalk Paint with other latex paints. I haven't had any problems.

When I do mix a DIY chalk paint, I prefer to use Plaster of Paris, mixed with just enough hot water to get it smooth and then mixed with Sherwin Williams Sample quarts. They are cheap and the store is the most convenient thing to my house. And they are nice to me. ;)

The recipe I use is 3 parts paint, to 1 part Plaster of Paris, just enough hot water to mix the Plaster of Paris into a paste and then mix it into the paint.

Here's another look at the table from one side of the room.

Please feel free to visit the Media Room Tour and check the rest of the room out!

Thanks for visiting! I'd love to have you follow me on Facebook or Google +.

Sharing here.
Hooking up @House of Hepworths / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage / Shabbilicious Friday @Shabby Art Boutique / Friday Link-up @ Redoux / Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage / Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground / That DIY Party@ / Home & Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life / Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed / Wow us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style / Sunday Scoop @ I Heart Naptime / Power of Paint Party @ Domestically Speaking /Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Menu Plan Monday Week of May 12-18

2013-05-13T10:35:00.001-05:00

Hello and Happy Monday!

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day! I know I did. It was very casual. Sunday morning at church, a quick lunch before Miles went to work, and an afternoon spent outside planting new flowers and ~~supervising~~ assisting the hubby on a patio improvement project. ;) It was a beautiful day.

This week's menu looks like this. Where applicable, the recipe is linked under the photo. :)

Sunday: Lunch out and leftovers

Monday: Shrimp and Grits, green beans

I actually can't find the recipe I used last time which really upsets me because it was soo good. I'll get back to you next week

Tuesday: Marinated Grilled Chicken and Crash Potatoes

From A Family Feast

From Pioneer Woman

Wednesday: Buffalo Chicken Wraps not sure on this recipe either, may use a crock pot but probably not

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Cheeseburger Quesadillas / new recipe for us, will let you know how it is.

from Iowa Girl Eats

Saturday: Chicken Picatta Pasta / Pampered Chef recipe

I'm actually thinking about changing up the way I post the menus already. I think it would be better if each week I posted it after we actually ate the menu. That way I'd have photos and critiques. ;)

What do you think? Good idea?

Mealtime Monday @ couponingncooking /Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box / Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace / Show & Share @ Southern Lovely / / Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training /

Clunky Dresser to Mod Media Console

2013-05-09T21:52:00.003-05:00

When I started the Media Room Project, obviously, one of the first pieces I had to find and transform was that "special something" to become the media console.

Thankfully for me, many of the local thrift stores in my area post their wares on Craig's List. I saw this big clunker and immediately I could see potential.

Also, fortunately for me, is no one else could see it, I mean, really that thing is pretty hideous.

As soon as I saw she marked it down from $65 to $45 and I drove out to the store and pick it up. Oh, and a little tip about these clunky old dressers, they are usually made of extremely heavy particle board. So, you and some little lady from the thrift store ~~ain't~~ aren't gonna be able to lift it into your car! Even with her husband we struggled to get it in the back of my SUV.

Once it was home, I got to work giving it a good cleaning, applying primer and semi-gloss white paint. I didn't use high gloss paint because I was a little afraid of brush strokes and I already had some semi gloss white paint in my stash.

I rolled the primer on the flat pieces and used spray primer for the doors and drawers. All that detail work had potential to be drippy mess.

I followed up with rolling the paint on the top, sides and insides. I used a brush for the doors and drawers. I kept a close eye on the drips. I had them laying flat as I painted them to keep the drips to a minimum.

To convert the dresser to a media console, I just had to remove the runner for the drawer. I didn't even bother to patch the drill holes, because I knew they would be covered by media.

Here's a look at what it looked like when I as done. OOps!! Forgive the bad iPhone photo.

I guess with the drawers out and no reference, I didn't notice how warped the wood "shelf" was. So, hubby made a quick trip to the hardware store to get a piece of wood cut to the size of the opening and picked out a piece of trim that seemed to have some of the same lines as the dresser details.

To get it to look just right we placed the new wood on top of warped piece, lined the trim up to cover the warped gap and used a nail gun to attach it.

That one piece of trim made all the difference in making it look like it was always a shelf and not a drawer. Drilling a few holes in key places in the back for wires and such was easily done with a door hole drill bit provided the needed functionality.

The last thing to do was to give the original hardware a couple coats of brushed nickle spray paint.

I just love it now! It's crazy to me ~~how more than just a little bit of~~ paint can transform a funky seventies dresser into a hip, media console.

All the movies, games and gaming consoles are stored inside the ample space the dresser provided. To play games, we just have to open one of the side doors.

If you'd like to see more of our media room, here's the reveal. This is truly a room on a budget.

Want to see what I started with? The big transformation of the room can be found here, where I shared the before and I also explained how I used Pinterest as design board.

Still not convinced paint can make a huge difference, here's the first scary seventies dresser I worked on. It was a heavy booger too!

Would you tackle a vintage piece like this? If your answer is yes, just make sure you bring a long some muscle! Chances are you are going to need it. ;)

Sharing here:
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground / Friday Link-up @ Redoux / Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed / Shabbilicious Friday @ Shabby Art Boutique / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest / Inspire Me Please @ Liz Marie / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage / Hooking up @House of Hepworths / Home and Garden Thursday @ a Delightsome life // Frugalicious Friday @FInding Fabulous/ Pity Party @ Thirty Hnndmade Days / Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors / Weekend Wrapup@ Tatortots and Jello /

Menu Monday : New Feature

2013-05-06T21:15:00.001-05:00

Hello my friends! Welcome to my first Menu Plan Monday!

In effort to get myself more organized after being embarrassed by my daughter's Foods, Nutrition and Wellness class, I've been planning weekly menus.

Here's the Story: Her class was discussing grocery shopping and the teacher asked them to raise their hand when asked how often your parents go to the grocery store.

Um, she was the only student that raised her hand to the question, "Every Day?"

Yes, I will confess to being a nearly every day shopper, mostly just on the weekdays. I think I had convinced myself it was kind of European, wink, wink, getting only the freshest produce and meat. While it was true everything was fresh, it wasn't really working for me.

But after being schooled by my eighth grader ~~and embarrassing myself~~, I realized I probably was wasting time and opening myself up to impulse buying. Not to mention, despite my very frequent trips to the store, I often resorted to calling one of my neighbors to see if they had that one ingredient I was missing from my pantry. I'm sure they rolled their eyes when I called around dinner time. ;)

I've been at this menu planning thing for 3 weeks now and it's going really well. :) I'm not sure if I've been doing it long enough to make it a habit, but we are all finding the benefits of knowing what's for dinner and reduced trips to the grocery store.

Here's this week's menu. As you can see, I post the menu up on a chalkboard in the kitchen. Attractive, functional and free because I just moved this chalkboard to a wall in the kitchen from another spot in the house.

I promise as I can, I'll link up the recipes or share here. The day has kind of gotten away from me with designing the cute little banner for the blog, picking up my daughter at school, grocery shopping (Trying to make Monday my only day) and cooking dinner.

These are all standard fair at our house. No new recipes, to us anyway, this week.

Sunday: Creamy Italian Trio Pasta, recipe below

Monday: Barefoot Contessa Meatloaf, Hashbrown casserole, lima beans

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Oven Tacos, Fruit salad

Thursday: Grilled Mustard Chicken & Corn polenta

Friday: Better than Lasagna, recipe below, green beans

Saturday: Leftovers

Creamy Italian Trio Pasta

The trio comes from the combination of meats. When I first started making this recipe, I literally got cheers when would say this was for dinner.

1 8oz light (Neufchatel) cream cheese
1 c grated Parmesan, or 1/2 Parmesan and 1/2 Romano if you have it
1 1/2 cup Half and Half or evaporated skim milk
2 cloves garlic
1 pkg turkey Italian sausage
1 lb chicken breast
1/4 cup chopped pancetta, smoked ham or bacon
12 oz of angle hair or other pasta, I use gluten free now
3/4 frozen peas (optional-sometimes I add them sometimes not)
2 tablespoons butter, optional

Cook sausage according to directions. Cook chicken seasoned with salt, dried basil and oregano using your preferred method. If the weather is nice, I grill both the chicken and the sausage. Chop both and set aside.

Brown pancetta or bacon and garlic in heavy skillet until light brown. Start the noodles.

Add milk and cream cheese over medium heat, mixing well. (May need to whisk.) Add Parmesan and Romano cheese once the mixture is creamy. Finish with a few sprigs of flat leaf parsley, basil and fresh black pepper.

Prepare your favorite pasta according to directions.

Add a ladle of sauce to the bottom of a large pasta bowl pour in prepared, strained pasta, top with rest of sauce. Toss and serve.

Italian Casserole-Better than Lasagna

I've been making this casserole for many years. It's an adaptation of a casserole my Mother in Law contributed to a Mardi Gras Krewe cookbook. It's kind of a "loose" recipe, not really exact measurements. It does seem to always come out delicious. I like to error on the side of having a little lagniappe. (or a little extra sauce)

Most of the time now, instead of using can or jarred sauce, I've been using my homemade spaghetti sauce. Mmmm, mmm, mmm talk about good! I might share that recipe some time. ;)

Better than Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

1 lb italian sausage

10 oz noodles, gluten free

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese

2 28 oz cans of tomato sauce

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 tsp basil

1 tsp parsley

salt

pepper

8-10 oz grated Mozzarella cheese

Make meat sauce. (I actually think you need a little more than 56 oz, but I can't remember I always try to error on the side of having too much sauce. If I end up with extra sauce, some times I use it to make pita pizzas.)

Boil and drain noodles according to package directions. Combine with cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese and about 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese in large bowl. Season with salt, pepper, basil and parsley.(Fresh is best but dried will do.)

Spray casserole with olive oil and cover bottom with sauce, layer noodle mixture on top, then another layer of sauce. Finish with the mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 until brown on top about 30 minutes. (Or I often do 475 for 20 minutes if I'm in a hurry.)

I've experimented with different pans. I used to assemble the casserole in a deep dish and layered it more than once, but that was difficult to serve. I use a 9x9 pan most of the time now and that works out nicely with almost 10 cups of my homemade sauce I pull out of the freezer.

I hope you come back next week and see how I'm doing ~~keep me accountable~~. I'd love to hear if you menu plan and please feel free to share any tips or brag worthy recipes. :)

Oh, and I eat gluten free, so all of my recipes are either gluten free or have been adapted to be gluten free.

Sharing Here:
Mealtime Monday @ couponingncooking /Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box / Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace / Show & Share @ Southern Lovely / Hooking up @House of Hepworths / Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training / Party Time @ the 36th Avenue / Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors /

It finally felt like Spring!

2013-05-02T13:27:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It finally felt like spring again. I don't know how it is where you are, but here in the Midwest, it's been an unseasonably cold spring.

But I'm still hanging on to ....

So despite the fact that today and the next few days will be cold and dreary, at least the trees have leaves.

Yeah for leaves!!

And even though our crab apple tree wasn't covered in blooms like it often is in the spring, at least there are a few blooms now. (Anyone else have a crab apple that blooms profusely one year and not the next?)

Speaking of promises, how about this patch?

But I think the best views I saw yesterday, were the ones from the trail. If you've been around here a while, you know I am passionate about running on the trail with our goldendoodle, Tucker.

Leaves all around on the trail too. :)

Going to keep these views in my mind during the next few days.

Trying to finish up a big, troublesome project today. Thankfully, I'm at the point in the process that I can work indoors.

True Blue Navy Chalkboard Wall

2013-04-30T12:05:00.002-05:00

If it is possible to love a room, our recent Media Room Makeover, is probably on that love list.
I think one of the reasons I love it so, is the Navy Chalkboard Wall. I also love that such a big impact can happen for less than $30.

I've always admired chalkboard walls, but I knew black would be to stark in this room. I really wanted navy.

This area of the Media Room is perfect place for an accent wall.

To the right of the wall, seen in this photo, is a big double door closet that hides the chalkboard wall from view when you first step into the room.

I love that about it. It's completely unexpected, a fun surprise.

Once I decided to go for it, ~~convinced my husband~~, I shopped around for tintable chalkboard paint. My first stop was my local Sherwin Williams. (When I'm not using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I pretty much use sample pots from Sherwin Williams. They are the perfect price point for a quart of paint and it's a convenient place for me to shop.)

Unfortunately, tintable chalkboard paint is not something my store carries in stock. It would have to be a special ordered and it was a little pricey, around $20 for a quart and $50 for a gallon. Not to mention, I wasn't willing to wait 5 - 7 days for the paint to come in. By the time I went to buy the paint, I was ready to start painting!

My next stop was Home Depot. They sell quarts of tintable Chalkboard Paint by Rustoleum. The paint comes in 12 colors for under $15.

Admittedly, I knew going into this, that the color I wanted, a true blue navy, was not one of those colors. But I wholeheartedly subscribe to the theory, "You never know, until you ask," and that other famous theory, "The worst they can say is, "No"."

So in my sweetest, southern charm I asked the super nice paint guy at Home Depot if he would custom tint the paint for me. He said he would try. :)

I promised him that I would take what he came up with. I showed him the swatch of navy fabric I had for the curtains and he went to work.

He started with the stock "Banner Blue" color and then added lots of black.

After a few tries, it was pretty doggone perfect!! I then thanked him profusely for making my day!!!

To apply the paint, my new best friend at Home Depot recommended using a thin foam roller so that the surface would be as smooth as possible. The smoother the finish, the easier it is to write and draw on a chalkboard wall.

Here's what I used.

Here's a lovely in progress shot of the room, at night, from my phone. Yikes!

This was probably after a couple coats.

The only bad thing about this process was that I'm pretty certain it took around 5 to 6 coats. But before you freak out, each coat went on very quickly, like 10 to 15 minutes tops. I didn't have to wait too long to reapply the next coat.

All total, I used a little over 2 quarts to get the job done. I'm happy to have the extra paint, because at some point I can see that freshening it up with a new coat will be in order. We've had a lot of fun drawing and being creative on the wall. As evidence of that, the chalk residue is kind of clouding up the navy. Which isn't bad really, but I think you can really appreciate the color when it's nice and sharp.

We use a regular colored Crayola chalk mostly and chalkboard eraser, followed by a damp microfiber cloth to clean it. I would not recommend chalk board markers. They do not fully erase on this wall.

Once we finished the wall, we added this cute little shelf for the sunshine yellow piece of pottery to hold our chalk collection. Just a simple piece of scrap wood and some brackets and voila!

The chalkboard wall definitely contributes to the happiness of the room. It totally makes me smile to see the vision for a true blue navy chalkboard wall come to life.

This definitely proves the theory, "it never hurts to ask."

Of course, a little southern charm never hurts, either! ;)

Sharing Here:

Sharing at Young House Love's Pinterest Challenge, because clearly the chalkboard craze is all over Pinterest and I know I was inspired by Pinterest to do a chalkboard wall, but I don't think I ever saw a wall this color. ;)

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm / Get your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog / Make it Pretty Monday @The Dedicated House / Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style / Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles / Show & Share @ Southern Lovely / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage / Hooking up @House of Hepworths / Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground / Friday Link-up @ Redoux / Home and Garden Thursday @ a Delightsome life / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest / Frugalicious Friday @FInding Fabulous
/ Pity Party @ Thirty Hnndmade Days / Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things / That DIY Party @ DIY Show Off / Sunday Scoop @ I Heart Naptime
/

Build a Rustic Sofa Table

2013-04-25T13:23:00.001-05:00

I think one of the projects I am most proud of in our Media Room Makeover, is the sofa table my husband helped me build. Well, he built it and I just assisted and supervised. ;)

I didn't think it would be that hard to find a sofa table for the room, but honestly I came up pretty empty handed in my shopping at thrift stores, scouring Craig's List and garage sales.

Eventually, I started looking for kitchen tables we could cut down and make into a sofa table. No luck there either.

I was lamenting to a friend, who came to see the progress of the room, that I was having trouble finding something to use as a sofa table.

I said to her, "If only I had some table legs, I could just build what I want."

I totally remember the moment. It was one of those moments of clarity. Do you know the kind of moment where the light bulb flashes above your head and you can almost hear a coordinating "ding, ding, ding" going off, like you've won a grand prize?

Because as soon as I said those words, I turned around in my studio, opened the door that leads to the attic and right there leaning in the door way, were 4 table legs that used to belong to my craft table.

The tabletop is still being used in my studio, which got it's own transformation a few years ago, but the legs were discarded when I didn't need them anymore. That reveal is still to come.

Like any good hoarder, I just tucked them away in the attic for a purpose yet to be determined. Problem is I forgot I had them.

You ask, Seriously?

Seriously. About 3 years had passed probably, but still I walked right by them every time I went into the attic.

Anyway, with that most amazing discovery, I started laughing and jumping around with glee, kind of like a kid getting a new bike at Christmas.

My friend was not as impressed. In fact, she was probably freaked out and thinks I belong on that hoarder show for not knowing I had the very thing I said I so desperately needed.

So, now that you've got that colorful story, onto the building of a sofa table that cost me next to nothing. All we purchased were a few pieces of wood. You might have a pieces laying around in your attic or garage, you never know. ;)

I started with some 1"x 4" s and cut them down to 4 foot lengths. I can't remember at this point how many boards we purchased. I'll ask hubby and update.

I wanted them to look very old, rustic barn wood like, or maybe kind of like rail road ties. Something old. So I started by distressing them.

I used hammers, nails, a crowbar, anything I could get my hands on to beat it up with. That was fun.

Then I used a knife to scrape off the straight the edges and sanded it all lightly, so that the distressing didn't look new.

I moved onto staining the wood. I used a mix of Minwax Dark Walnut and my absolute favorite stain color, Kona, by Rustoleum.

After it dried, I sanded it down a little and applied a wash of watered down Paris Grey, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

I thought this looked pretty weathered. I was giddy. :)

While I was doing all of this, my husband was working on building the frame for the table top. I must tell you while he is a fantastic husband and provider, he is not at all a carpenter. He knew going in that I did not expect this to be perfect. It was just supposed to be functional. And it is.

I've seen lots of DIY furniture in which people use a clever gadget, a Kreg Jig™. I'm sure that tool is totally worth it, but we don't do enough of this type of thing to justify buying one. We just kind of winged it.

Basically, we copied the base of the table from which the legs were originally attached to, adjusting the measurements for the size we needed, a 3 foot by 4 foot sofa table.

As you can see, the four side boards met with the table legs with an angled piece forming a triangle in the corner, which was used to screw it all together. We also used the existing bolts coming out of the legs.

In the middle, for extra support, the boards were secured with two strips of wood.

The nails along the top were both functional and decorative. The nails went into the frame to secure them to the table. The last nail on the end hung out over the frame, so we cut it off underneath and covered it with silicone to keep it from snagging on anything.

I rubbed stain on the nails with a Q-tip once they were nailed in place. They look nice and rusty now.

I painted "the box" or table runners, white to match the legs and then did a wash of Paris Grey and Old White ASCP to age it a little. I then finished it off with Johnson's Paste Wax. I just kind of slopped it on to give it a texture, to mimic many layers of paint

Because we built it to suit, it is the perfect size for the back of the sectional. And while I don't think it would win any wood working skills awards, it is perfect for the space.

And I love it. I'm one lucky lady to have a hubby that's willing to help me in any way he can with my decorating endeavors!

I hope you are inspired to see what you can build. As I said, mad wood working skills are not required, all you need is the desire and a willingness to try.

Full disclosure: So after asking my husband about how many boards we used, at least 3 (1x4x8)'s and figuring how much we probably spent, around $40 this project doesn't cost much. I realize that's not nothing, but it sure beats the price of a new table, or even a used table in most cases.

Here's the funny thing though, he forgot we bought those boards. He initially said, "Those old boards, we didn't buy those." He forgot they were new and figured they were salvaged wood I picked up somewhere. Ha! I guess we both are losing our memory.

Sharing here:

Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage / Hooking up @House of Hepworths / Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground / Friday Link-up @ Redoux / Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed / Shabbilicious Friday @ Shabby Art Boutique / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest / Pity Party @ Thirty Hnndmade Days / Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors / Mop it Up Monday's @ I should be mopping the Floor / Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things / That DIY Party @ DIY Show Off / More the Merrier @ DIY Home Sweet Home / Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm / Martha Monday's @ Watch Out Martha / Get your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog / Tutorials Tips Party @Homestories A to Z / Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style /Power of Paint @ Domestically Speaking / Show and Share @ Southern Lovely

Design as Therapy

2013-04-24T10:16:00.004-05:00

Last week I posted the reveal of the often mentioned but never shared Media Room transformation. I really do apologize for taking so long to share the room. Why it took so long I can't explain. Maybe the room just was too close to my heart to share?

It's been completely done since December 19th. How do I know this date? Coming from me, the one who can't remember what I wore to church last week? iPhoto.

I organize my photos in iPhoto and often reference my life by the dates on my photos. ;)

And why is that date so special you ask?

That is the date a local home magazine came to photograph our media room. We were extremely excited to be published, especially Emily and I.

My friend and amazing portrait photographer, Angelique, came on December 19th to shoot the room for the magazine. In addition, she took photos of Emily and I to be used in the feature.

I couldn't have been happier that Angelique did a mini photo shoot with Emily in the room.

Emily was a big help to me in designing the room and it turns out we needed to redesign the room for more reasons than we could have ever imagined.

She was home from school during the months I was working on the room because she suffered two concussions while playing soccer.

As part of her recovery, from what turned out to be concussion syndrome, she was put on cognitive rest. No school, no TV, no phone, no texting (yikes for a teenager!), basically all she could was just exist.

Boredom was a big issue obviously. At first, she handled the boredom okay. Her headaches were so intense she didn't want to do anything. Once she was feeling mildly better, she was looking for things to do that weren't going to cause her headaches to worsen.

Her big "outing" on many days was tagging along with me as we hit the local thrift stores.

I affectionately called her my "teenaged toddler". We would make the thrift shop rounds or go grocery shopping and she would come home and take a nap, just like when she was a toddler. :)

Designing the room was a blessing for both of us. We had something else to focus our attention on instead of her illness. The room planning and shopping gave us a project and we became mildly obsessed with it. :) The room gave us something to look forward to and I know her ultimate goal was to have a cool place to hang out with her friends, to have sleep overs, watch movies, etc.

We had plenty of time to discuss options for decorating the room. I can tell you with out a doubt, she left her mark on the design. See this small table/piano stool here between these chairs?

It was one of the last little pieces we needed to find. We were out on the hunt that day, and I totally missed it at the thrift store. She pointed it out to me and I totally dismissed it, even after she showed it to me the first time. She eventually convinced me it was perfect.

She can be tenacious.

She knew with a little paint it could be fabulous. She even painted this piece herself, I think just to prove her point. ;) And you know what? She was right. It is perfect.

We also built this shelf together. I bought it off Craig's List. The lady said in the description, "it comes apart and the pieces can be screwed together for easy transporting." Ha!

It transported easily all right.

Once I got it home, I decided to paint the pieces and then put it all together.

There is no way I could have built it all by myself. Thankfully, Emily is a patient helper. And boy did we need patience. For a shelf that was supposed to just screw together with dowels, we used some screws, a hammer and lots of wood glue. Needless to say it can't be "easily transported" anymore. ;)

So, I guess my point is this, never underestimate what God might use to help you heal. This room became much more than a makeover. It became our therapy, a little gift we didn't know we needed in the way we needed it.

While Emily still has issues related to the concussion, she doing much better, she's even back at school full time now.

And she's had more than a few sleepover party's in the room as well. Which makes us both very happy. Thank you God for always knowing what we need, when we need it.

My Public Service Announcement: Emily's concussions occurred while playing soccer. If your child participates in any sport, I would highly recommend encouraging a baseline testing system to be administered, like the one sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods and Drew Brees. If this was in place, we might have known the severity of her first concussion and could have avoided the opportunity for the second.

Media Room Reveal, A Budget Makeover

2013-04-18T17:00:00.004-05:00

Today I'm so happy to share a complete look into our Media Room. Even though this room was completed around Christmas, I still slip up occasionally and call it the "play room", but that's okay we still kind of play in here.

As I create the tutorials on each of these bargain DIY projects found in the room I'll link them up. But keep coming back, because there are a variety of projects to see in this room. Enjoy the tour!

This is the main area with enough room for the four of us and occasionally the dog sit and watch our favorite TV shows and movies. And yes, the dog definitely watches TV.

Opposite the sectional is the media console I created from an old scary dresser, topped with antique movie reels I found at an antique mall about year ago. See the total transformation from clunky dresser to media console.

I knew from the beginning, I wanted stripped curtains. I achieved them in quite a different way than most I've seen recently. A very inexpensive DIY and I think the results were worth the effort.

Behind the sectional, as kind of a visual divider between the two areas of the long room, I wanted a sofa table. When I couldn't find one, I enlisted my hubby to help me build this one. See how here. Funny story to along with this baby too. ;)

Because the room is very long and kind of narrow, the other side of the room is designated for fun and games.

One of the other elements I knew I wanted from the very beginning stages of the room design, was a round table with a map on top and colorful mismatched chairs. A lot of thrifting, scouring Craig's List, a little luck and patience is all it took.

Though executing this map table transformation required me to recall my awesome geometry skills. I promise you Geometry was the only math in high school I excelled at. ;)

As far as storage, the room is blessed with a very nice sized closet opposite the table, so the shelf provided a space for "pretty storage" and decor opportunities.

I hunted for quite a while for the right shelving unit. I found that shelving is one item that can be pricey at thrift shops and on Craig's List. People are pretty proud of their solid wood shelving. I did eventually score this piece on Craig's List and while it isn't what I initially had in mind, I think it's so fun and whimsical. That's the great thing about collecting a room on a budget, if you had the money to just go out and buy something, the room would be totally different, off the shelf and boring.

The other item on my checklist of must have's in the room was a navy chalkboard wall. I didn't realize the amount schmoozing I was going to have to do to get the right navy, but it was worth it. The way the closet it situated on the wall next to this area, the chalkboard wall is hidden from view until you come fully into the room. I love that element of surprise!

This corner provided a good spot for a conversation area. The frames on the chalkboard wall finish this vignette.

We debated on adding a chair rail as a chalk ledge, but decided against it in favor of a little shelf and this antique piece of pottery I picked up for a few dollars at an antique mall. This is on the little wall that sticks out because of the closet.

The center pillow was the fabric I found with all the colors in my original color palette. It also included a pretty yellow, which I decided to add to the room. You can see the inspiration board here.

Here are a few close ups of other projects in the room.

Believe it or not, this is the only piece of furniture, other than the small fuse ball/game table, that survived the re-design. It is sturdy and it fit perfectly in the center of the sectional, so it was meant to stay, but not without it's own major makeover.

This super cute side table, previously from Target, was picked up for $8 at Goodwill. Did you know your local Goodwill may get new items slightly damaged from Target? This was definitely the case with this table. There is some damage to the top corner that was going to fix by either gluing the piece in place and re-staining or painting a color, but honestly it's hardly noticeable. It got to stay exactly like I found it and I might eventually do something else to it. Any suggestions?

I'm swooning over my newly started collection of antique globes. I'm being very frugal with my purchases, so it will probably take me a while to accumulate them. Both these were under $15.

And on this shelf is one of my most favorite little things in the room.

While most kids who visit the room are drawn to the retro Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and can't wait to challenge someone to play, the thing that means the most to me in the room is held inside that antique blue jar being used as a bookend.

Those are just some of the Lego people who lived for many years on this side of the room. They had their own village constructed by the little hands, that are no longer little, that used to play in here. for hours on end. Each little Lego person represents a character they created who had a house, a family, a job and a life in that amazing village that our kids built. I think I need a tissue.

I'll be back with mini-tutorials of all the DIY projects found here. Be sure to become a follower, either through Blogger or Facebook, so you don't miss a thing!

If you want to see the before photos and how I designed the room check out this previous post.

I hope you can see that budget makeover is truly possible. You just need shop smartly at thrift stores, garage sales and Craig's List and apply your DIY skills. Thanks for taking the tour!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Wall Color: Maison Blanche by Sherwin Williams
Fabric: Fabric.com, Wal-Mart

Linking up here.
Hooking up @House of Hepworths / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage / Shabbilicious Friday @Shabby Art Boutique / Friday Link-up @ Redoux / Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage / Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground / Friday Link-up @ Redoux / Sunday Show Off @ Twigg Studios / Sunday Scoop @I heart naptime / Weekend Wrapup@ Tatortots and Jello / Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors / Pin Me Party @ Diana Rambles / Nifty Thrift Sunday@Nifty Thrifty Thngs / Martha Mondays @ Watch Out, Martha / Motivate Me Monday @Keeping It Simple / Make it Pretty Monday @The Dedicated House / Mop it Up Monday@ I Should Be Mopping the floor / That DIY Party@ DIY Show Off
Home & Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Featured Here:

Quick Hello

2013-04-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

Just popping in today for a quick, "Hello" and to let you in on a great deal on that dough bowl I mentioned recently from Decor Steals.

For the first time I can remember, Decor Steals has offered the Vintage Inspired Dough Bowl again. If you want one, this is a really good price. And while it is resin, in my opinion you really can't tell. I only decided it to paint it because I wanted something colorful on my table.

I'm just sharing this deal. I don't get anything from Decor Steals. They don't know me other than I shop there and they deliver lovely packages to me. ;)

But if you don't have an account, and would like to get signed up, I would be happy to send you a referral and you can get $5 off. (Use leslie at hagdav dot com.)

Now, I'm out to enjoy the sunshine and slightly warmer day ahead of us. It's been cold and dreary. I promise to finish the reveal soon, but the sunshine of today is fleeting!

The transformation of a room, Using Pinterest to Design a Room

2013-04-11T10:36:00.000-05:00

I have been promising to post the big reveal on the Media Room for quite awhile. Well, today I'm almost making good on that promise. :)

Whenever I watch a room makeover on TV, I'm always fascinated with the complete transformation and the peek into the behind the scenes of a room redo.

This fall we started the transformation of this room from Play Room to Media Room. Initially, this room was a play room for our kids.

After they stopped "playing" in the room, they pretty much just watched television on this small loveseat, but really only one person could sit comfortably. Two if you wanted to be cozy. ;) And while Miles and Emily get along fine, teenage siblings aren't really into being cozy.

It was obvious that the room needed to be more functional. While we have a living room downstairs, with a television, there aren't enough kick back and relax seats in that room. We needed a room where we could watch television comfortably as a family, a fun room for teenagers, girls mostly, to hang out for sleep overs and a happy space for game nights etc.

To design this room, I used my good friend Pinterest to create a design board. I started with a color palette that was fun and bright. Of course, just painting over that brown color with a nice light neutral was a great place to start.

Next, I found fabrics that were fun and hip and worked with the chosen color palette and pinned them to my board.

It was so helpful to have these images handy. I could easily pull the board up on my phone and curate ideas. All of the patterned fabrics were purchased online, so it was a good place to see them all together before I actually ordered them.

Some of ideas I collected made it to the final design, some are still in consideration for one spot in the room that needs a little something.

Here's a peek at the side. I love that still feels playful to me. I think you can see how the board is reflected in the room.

The sectional was the only big ticket item in the room. But actually, it only cost me in my time because I bartered services/products with a decorator friend of mine. I painted and refinished her dinning room furniture (another reveal to come) and she purchased the sectional. A win, win for both of us. :) The rest of the room was done on a tight budget. Lots of thrifting and mini makeovers.

Lots of great tips and tutorials to follow on all the little details in the room! I'll be back tomorrow to share more.

Sharing Here:
Wow Us Wednesday @Savvy Southern Style
Show Off +DIY Show Off
Hooking up @House of Hepworths
Shabbilicious Friday @Shabby Art Boutique

Dough Bowl & Milk Paint

2013-04-04T09:02:00.002-05:00

As promised, I'm sharing my second Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint project. This time I painted a dough bowl I ordered from Decor Steals last year. It is the perfect vessel for holding our cloth napkins. We went paperless a few years ago.

The only thing I didn't like about the dough bowl was that the finish was too similar to the tabletop. You just couldn't appreciate the shape.

This summer I made new window treatments to lighten and brighten the kitchen, as I'm trying to do all over my house. I thought Miss Mustard Seed's Yellow would be right color for this bowl. I just knew the chippy finish would be the perfect application for the bowl.

But after my experience with the paint chipping off on the legs of the sewing table, I decided to sand it down a bit before painting. I especially thought this was a good idea because while the bowl looks worn and wooden, it's really made of a resin/plastic material. I was afraid the paint wouldn't stick at all.

Well, I'm here to tell you that milk paint does indeed stick to resin, maybe too well. Great adhesion and very good coverage there with just two coats. But it looked too perfect really.

Once the paint dried overnight, I went to work sanding with sand paper, steel wool and scrapping. I got it to chip just a little, but not much. And because I had sanded the piece down before I painted it, you could see the light color of the resin and not the "wood stain" under the paint.

Once I finished, it was looking a lot older and worn, but to needed to give it warmth so I used both Clear and Dark wax from Annie Sloan.

I think the worn finish looks very realistic and it certainly pops off the table like I wanted.

Here's a look at the bowl in the context of the kitchen. You can actually see the bowl now. ;)

And take a good look at those chairs, because they are getting a makeover in the very near future. I'd love for you to come back and see!

I just recently added Google Plus and a Facebook page to link from my blog. I'd love for you to Like or Follow me at which ever you prefer.

Or is there another medium you like better? Let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to look into adding it.

Show me What Ya Got @ Not just a Housewife
Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles
Cottage Style Party @ Lavender Garden Cottag
Hooking up @House of Hepworths
Wow Us Wednesday @Savvy Southern Style
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home
Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground
Friday Link-up @ Redoux
Frugal Friday @the shabby nest
Shabbilicious Friday @Shabby Art Boutique
Mod Mix Monday@ModVintageLife
Sunday Scoop @I heart naptime
Showoff Sunday @Twigg Studios
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @Nifty Thrifty Things

Status Update

2013-04-03T14:24:00.001-05:00

Well, hello friends. I've taken a little longer spring break than I intended, but it's been really nice. I kind of feel like before I get to the business of sharing projects, I need to give an update. :)

Our first adventure during spring break was a service trip to New Life Ranch, a christian camp on the border of Oklahoma and Arkansas. We went with a bunch of local college students, other families from our church. We loved the whole camp experience and working together on the work projects to improve the camp for campers this season.

Our first full day, Sunday, was set aside for a free day. It was really cold and flurries whipped around most of the day. So, while we didn't get to enjoy the beautiful camp and all the activities we had looked forward to, after worship time, we had a blast meeting new friends. It was quite cozy to play games in the rustic, yet modern, conference room with a warm fire going in the stone fireplace.

I took this photo on Monday of one of the original buildings at the camp. It was still very cold obviously, but we had bits of sun during our work day.

My "team" worked on clearing a new horse trail. These two fantastic, tough, hard working girls and I focused on moving these big rocks off the trail. We were super proud of the work we did. Learned a lot too. Did you know there's a tool for moving rocks? I certainly didn't, but they sure make moving a rock that seems unmovable, manageable. Well, that may be simplifying it a bit, but between the rock mover, some pick axes and brute force we made it happen.

See that steel rod on the right? Talk about helping you get leverage.

After moving several rocks and gaining more confidence in our rock moving abilities, we went back and moved this rock we had deemed too big for us to move. I don't have an after shot, but we moved that baby off the trail! It feels good to know that this summer horseback riders will enjoy that trail, not even knowing the work it took to make it passable. Makes me smile.

Miles worked in the wood cutting area, moving logs for the wood cutting machine and reveled in the opportunity to use an axe to cut some wood.

Emily was in the cabin staining area. Lots of back and forth. Needless to say, we were all tired in the evening.

The next day I switched jobs with a college girl who was working in the kitchen. She really wanted to be outside. I had a great time working in the large kitchen. It felt a lot like home only on a much bigger scale. I meet a sweet new friend who I hope to get together for lunch soon.

On the last day there we got to ride horses and the kids got to do some of the ropes course challenges. Notice I said kids? Yeah, not so much into heights myself. ;)

After climbing up this pole 35 feet in the air, Miles stood up and jumped to the handkerchief.

The second half of spring break, Emily and I went to Kansas City for a girls shopping trip. Gotta love bargain shopping at H&M on the Plaza and lots of window shopping at Pottery Barn. And a trip to the plaza wouldn't be complete without an inspirational stop at Anthropologie.

It really was a beautiful spring day. We even got to enjoy lunch al fresco.

Easter Day was just as lovely. Wonderful service at church and then a quiet, traditional ham dinner with the four of us. Missed our family back home, but it was a good day.

We even got around to dyeing our Easter Eggs. Who doesn't love that tradition? Even if they don't get done until Easter Sunday. ;)

Now here's the status of projects around here.

1. The ottoman reupholestry project hit another stalemate when I discovered I didn't calculate the amount of yardage I'd need accurately. The tufts are much deeper than I realized. I'll share how to measure accurately in my tutorial. Of course, when I went back to get more of the fabric I had bought on clearance, it was gone! Figures. I shopped for fabric in Kansas City to no avail, but a trip to Target yesterday and some creative thinking will have this project done over the weekend! Thank goodness.

2. I don't think I've shared, but I've been working on deep cleaning my kitchen floor tile and grout. What a job! After three 2-3 hour sessions, I'm almost done and I'll share my tips for that soon. After living in one place for more than five years, deep cleaning is necessary.

3. While in Kansas City, we got to actually visit the store where I usually order Annie Sloan Chalk paint online. So with more paint in hand I have a very interesting project to tackle. Warmer weather means painting time in the garage! Woo hoo!

Well, thanks for making it through my ramblings, but I know family back home appreciates the updates and photos.

I'll be back later tonight or tomorrow to share that other Milk Paint project I mentioned recently.

Easter Tribute

2013-03-31T18:09:00.001-05:00

Source

I hope you have had a beautiful, blessed Easter Sunday. I'm popping after a wonderful Easter service and delicious Easter Dinner this evening to pay tribute to a very special family member who went to be with our risen Lord this week.

My Paw Paw Lewis was a very special man with a big smile and a kind heart. But most especially he and my Maw Maw have a love for the Lord that has been an example to me my whole life. He was hard working, gentle in spirit and a wonderful father, grandfather and friend to many.

We will me miss you, but I know without a doubt you are happier in heaven embracing those who have gone before you and experiencing the glory of our Savior. Love you Paw Paw!

Don't miss the conclusion to THE BIBLE mini series tonight! I loved this ad in my paper today.

Spring Break? Break, yes. Spring, not so much.

2013-03-23T12:13:00.001-05:00

Just a wanted to stop in to say I'll be on a little break this week. In my perfect world I would have prewritten a few posts but I'm far from perfect. I might stop in midweek, but for now my focus is quality time with my family.

Don't go hating on me for being gone. Not lucky enough to escape cold temps and the possibility of snow. But a break is always good, especially when you can share it with people you love and doing good things for others. :)

The Tools for Reupholstery

2013-03-18T09:42:00.001-05:00

This weekend was much more productive than last, thankfully. The tool I had mentioned last Monday arrived this week and I patiently waited until the weekend to get back to my ottoman reupholstery project.

And the verdict is in.... the new Berry's Staple Remover tool works like a charm! It is definitely the right tool for the job. With that being said, these two tools have become my dynamic duo.

Meet the heavy duty flat head pliers and the Berry's Staple Remover.

I've always been a fan of these pliers and hunt them out before I start each reupholstery project. They are easy to grip and super tough. They make pulling out the tail ends of the staples a breeze, even the tiniest bits when a staple breaks in the wood.

Previously, on my other projects I've been using this guy on the top to remove my staples. Works okay, maybe slightly better than a regular flat head screw driver, but the Berry's is far superior, especially in hard wood like I'm working with on the ottoman. It is super sturdy, sharp and lifts those staples like nothing else I've tried. It's so sharp when it arrived, the tip end was covered in wax to protect the mail carrier. ;)

The tool didn't come with any instructions. ;) I guess they thought it was self explanatory. At first I was using the tool like this. It might have been that I was working around the ridge that I started like this.

But I found later, that the tool really works better like this. You can really take advantage of the slits or teeth to grab and rotate the staple out.

I've reupholstered several pieces before this one and while that doesn't make me an expert, I've been around the block more than a few times and I wish I would have had this expert tool for all those pieces.

I don't have a finished project to show you yet. I did successfully get it all disassembled and have a game plan for how I'm going to tackle the unexpected construction I found.

I still need to sew two pieces of the new fabric together because the square ottoman is larger than the standard 54" of the fabric. Check back later in the week and see my progress. :)

Tutorials and Tips @A to Z Homestories

Spring is in the air!

2013-03-16T15:17:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post to share a few signs of spring with you. It sure has felt like a long winter. We have had a few really nice days recently, but today it's back to cold and dreary. ;(

I took this photo with my phone this week. The sun was shining and the crocuses were smiling.

Yet another benefit of the living in the Midwest, cause these things don't grow in the south. Heck, I didn't even know what a Crocus was before I lived here. Blessings come from the places we least expect.

I also have been meaning to share the last issue of PaperCut Magazine that I will be featured in. Lots of really cute spring ideas inside. Check it out!

SEW cute in Lucketts Green

2013-03-14T21:20:00.000-05:00

I've had this old sewing table for many years now. My mom purchased the table and the old Singer "Rocketeer" used when I was little. I remember it occupying space in her bedroom throughout my childhood. I happily accepted both when she moved, but it wasn't until I moved my studio into a larger room upstairs this summer that I actually had designated space for the table.

I figured Miss Mustard Seed's new milk paint, in Luckett's Green would be a good choice. It totally fit the color palette I used in the room and I was anxious to give it a try.

This was my first experience with Milk Paint and I must say it was an interesting adventure. I chose not to use the bonding agent, because I wanted some chipping.

Even after watching the Miss Mustard Seed's videos, I didn't expect the paint to be quite so thin. It went on well enough, but found that a good quality artist brush worked best. It was about an inch in size. A bigger brush might have worked, but I felt this brush had held the paint better than the other ones I had in my stash.

The only prep work I did was to sand the top of the table. There was a little water damage that I didn't want to show up through the paint.

I found that letting the paint set up for about 5-10 minutes after mixing was a good thing. It seemed to thicken and I could continue to work out any little clumps left with the brush. I just mixed about 2 tablespoons of paint up at a time, adding equal parts water, little bits at a time.

I loved the way the color varied as it went on. Very antique looking. Here's a close up of the side completed. Love it!

The first coat went on well. It looked like it was going to need more than two coats, but it didn't.

After the second coat dried, that's when the chipping started. I got much more chipping than I bargained for. On both sides of the legs, the paint just totally came off. But notice how the front leg, in the foreground of this photo did perfectly fine.

I had already sanded the leg on the left before I remembered to take a photo, but it looked pretty much the same as the other.

I didn't give up though. Seeing how little chipping there was on the top, I thought I'd try sanding the places that didn't hold the paint and see if that helped. It definitely did. I remembered Miss Mustard saying the paint chips very little on raw wood, then it would stand to reason to me anyway, that a sanded piece would hold the paint.

To finish it, I used Annie Sloan Clear wax. I knew I had plenty so I used that. It worked just as well on milk paint as it does on chalk paint. The color became more intense and it's slightly chalky appearance goes away.

Here is the before, because no good furniture redo post would be complete without the before shot.

I had lost the set screws that allowed the sewing machine to fit down in the table. My dad recommended trying the hardware store, and he was right they had them! Now the sewing machine can sit flush with top as it was intended to. :)

I added cup pulls and painted the original hardware with oil rubbed bronze spray paint and a little copper acrylic for highlights on the middle. I'll keep looking for something more interesting and fun.

I think the thing I learned most about this piece was not so much about the paint and how it turned out, but that I have control issues. ;) It didn't get chippy where I wanted it to. It chipped where it wanted to.

Apparently, I'm only a go with the flow kind of gal, when things work the way I want. ;)I don't want you to leave you with a negative impression of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint. There are some really positive things about it.

There is absolutely no odor, in my opinion. I did this paint job in my foyer. I think you can see that in the close up further up. ;) EDITED: Others have said that it smells, but I didn't notice it or if it did it didn't bother me or anyone in my house. Maybe because I mixed small quantities at at time.

The paint goes very far. If the legs hadn't chipped as badly as they did, I could have painted the whole thing with only the 1 oz sample I ordered. In the end, I had to order more, but that was okay because I wanted to try another piece in her lovely yellow, Miss Mustard Seed. I'll post that project next week. Very different, much more positive results.

Other than a few cushions, this was the last piece to do in my studio. I'll be sharing the reveal of that once I get those cushions sewn.And now I have a bright, fun place to do just that!

I'm so happy with the way the color works with my paper medallion collage. If you'd like a tutorial on how to make over-sized ones like these, leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do. ;)

Linking up Here:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday@ Coastal Charm

Trash to Treasure Tuesday@ Kammy's Korner
Anti Procrastination Tuesdays @ New Nostalgia
Crafty Tuesday @ Blooming Homestead

Wow Us Wednesday @Savvy Southern Style
Create and Share @Trendy Treehouse
Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles

Cottage Style Party @ Lavender Garden Cottage
Show me What Ya Got @ Not just a Housewife

Friday Link-up @ Redoux

Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Show & Tell Saturday +Be Different Act Normal

Strut Your Stuff Saturday @ Six Sisters Stuff

Weekend Wonders @ Love and Laundry

Your Great Idea @ Or So She Says

Saturday Show ‘n Tell @ Cheerios & Latees

Get Schooled Saturday @ Too Much Time

Just Something I Whipped up @Project Inspire
Knock Our Socks Off @Mom4Real
Mod Mix Monday@ModVintageLife

Tips for a productive weekend

2013-03-11T19:11:00.002-05:00

In the wishful thinking world I live in, today's post would have been all about my recovered ottoman. I had big plans this weekend to knock this project out because it was going to be warmer, definitely comfortable enough to be out working in the garage. But instead, I will give some important tips, really to remind myself next time, on what to do before you plan a "big project weekend".

I've felt for a while now, that in addition to slip-covering the sofa, which I plan to get to soon, really, I needed to recover the ottoman. I love the lines, and the style but I'm so over this rusty red color. It was fine with the other rug we had in here, but I'm attempting to make everything lighter and brighter without re-painting our two story living room.

Here's the before mug shot with a tray I picked up at my local Salvation Army. Got plans for that sweet thing as well!

So, in my mind, this weekend was it. I had mustered enough courage, watched enough diamond tufting tutorials, and felt confident I could tackle this project. And much to my dismay things didn't go as planned. If I had actually done some real planning I could be sharing the new ottoman with you today. So included in these tips are reasons why the job didn't get done.

Tips for a productive weekend project.

1. Have the best tools possible for the job at hand.

The last time I reupholstered a peice of furniture I remember thinking I'll have to get this tool before my next project.

Did I get this? No, I have a cheap version I picked up at a local hardware store. The simple tool I have works okay, but for my ottoman, which I'm just recovering not, painting or refinishing it's not working as well as I needed it to.

I had assmebled my tools. I've even got proof. See.

Removing the double welting went fine, but when I got to the fabric, I realized I was marring up the surface of the wood and denting the raised trim near the staples. Not good.

2. Know what you're in for.

Once I decided I better stop before I make a mess of finish, I removed the black backing of the ottoman to take a look at the construction underneath. This is where I totally freaked out. If I hadn't decided to stop before, I was certainly stopped in my tracks when I uncovered this.

Nice looking construction, right? Yes, unless you want to recover it!

I was expecting to find a piece of wood with holes in it, in which the tuffting thread would go through. Instead I found webbing which is blocking every spot where the tufting is tied!! And to make matters worse, the little wooden triangle corners are totally covering the corner tufts.

So, now I have an ottoman with the upholestry messed up enough that something has to be done and a very complicated task ahead.

Which leads me to...

3. Don't freak out.

When I pulled back the covering, I panicked. And then I shared my panic with my husband. Not good. He has total faith in my projects, but I think he was worried I'd messed up our very expensive ottoman.

After I gathered my composure and gave it some thought, I realized that the webbing can be moved around to get to the knots and the triangular piece of wood could be cut off if necessary and then replaced once the job was done.

Where there is a will, there is a way! Sometimes it just takes a little while to find your way. :)

I ordered the proper tool and I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival. Hopefully, it will live up to my expectations. I promise I'll share my thoughts. ;)

I cut my losses and I piddled around with finishing up a milk paint project I worked on last weekend. I'll post on that later in the week.

Wishing you a productive, happy week!

Linen Matte tutorial, Spring Vignette

2013-03-08T09:52:00.002-06:00

Spring decorations are creeping in around my house. But I have to admit, I'm lacking a little enthusiasm with snow still on the ground outside.

But I'm excited to share my entry vignette today because it does make me smile and make me hopeful for the warmer days to come. And stay tuned there's a giveaway involved!

I've been wanting to use layered art on this foyer table for a while now. I wracked my brain for a while on what I could use that would say, "Spring!". I decided that daffodils and tulips are the quintessential signs of spring, even if mine are still buried under snow. I went flipping through my iPhoto gallery and found happily several candidates.

Once that was decided, I had some painting to do on this dented frame I picked it up on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I printed the photo on my Canon printer because I was too lazy to upload the photo and drive to the store. Did I mentioned it's still cold here?

I got lucky and found the 11x14 matte I needed in my stash, but it was navy. I probably would have painted it, but my friend Carrie was visiting and she said, "Are you going to cover it with Linen? That's really popular right now." And I had to admit, I hadn't thought of that, but she had an excellent idea.

So thanks to my sweet and hip friend, I'm sharing a linen wrapped matte tutorial today.

First, assemble your supplies. Missing here is a bone folder or some other tool might work.

You'll notice I didn't use spray adhesive. It's not something I keep in my craft supply closet because it's messy and I can't stand that chemical smell.

I figured it could be done without spray adhesive because it was going behind glass. I used a tape runner that dispenses little glue dots. I'm a scrapbooker, remember?

I did end up putting more dots along the outside edges. But the thing to take away from this is that I think just about any dry glue would work, like double sided tape or a glue stick. I'm obviously a fan of using what you've got on hand. Do not use hot glue that's for the back.

Cut a small slit in the middle of your fabric and then place the fabric onto the glued matte and smooth out the fabric. This is probably the most important step for a clean look. Hence the reason there's no photograph! Ha!

Next you will want to cut an "X" in your fabric, so that you can wrap it around the matte.

Very Important Tip: Do not cut too close to the corner. Leave a little extra fabric there. If you cut to far, you'll see the cut edge of the fabric and it won't look professional. I'll show you how to handle the corner in a second!

Here's where you use that glue gun.

You'll also notice I also trimmed the fabric a little. Continue glueing around the inside and outside of the matte.

For the outside corners this is one of the ways I handled them.

For the inside of the matte, I applied a small amount of glue right inside the corner and used my bone folder to push the fabric into the glue and over the edge. Like this:

If you look at the top of this photo, you'll see how I folded the other outside corner. Folding either way works and didn't add too much bulk. I guess if your fabric was very thick you might want to miter the corner, but again, I didn't want frayed fabric to show.

Repeat that for all four corners and there you have it!

Here's another look at the matte in action.

And now for the giveaway. I'm going to give away 5 digital copies of my Daffodils in Spring photograph. I have it cropped to an 8x10 right now, but winners can choose the size that will work for them!

Just become a follower and leave a comment. If you are already a follower, just leave a comment stating so and you'll be entered. I'll contact the winners, chosen randomly, on March 13th.

Be sure to enter below and also check out other wonderful spring projects at the 6 Days of Spring Party.

Happy Spring and Good Luck!

Also linking up to:

Just Something I Whipped up @Project Inspire

More the Merrier @DIY Home Sweet Home

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday@ Coastal Charm

Trash to Treasure Tuesday@ Kammy's Korner

Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles

Cottage Style Party @ Lavender Garden Cottage
Show me What Ya Got @ Not just a Housewife
Tabletop Tuesday @ A Stroll thru Life
WOW Us Wednesday @Savvy Southern Style
Spring Thing @ DIY Showoff
Hooking up with HOH @House of Hepworths
Transformation Thursday +The Shabby Creek Cottage
Under $100 Beyond the Picket Fence
Working with What you Have @ Emily A Clark
Spring Thing @ At the Picket Fence

Pinterest Challenge...Fail or Fantastic?

2013-03-05T17:01:00.002-06:00

I've professed my love for Pinterest before. I've been a member from nearly the beginning and from that first pin, I loved the concept. An electronic pin board!! How wonderful is that? No clutter, no need to constantly organize and file away inspiration when your design board looks cluttered. It's all there at your fingertips! And now the whole internet world is a buzz with Pinterest.

So much so, that Young House Love sponsors Pinterest Challenges seasonally. I decided to join the Winter challenge to encourage myself to get out of my little cold weather blues.

I always have more than one project rolling around in my head, but recently I've lacked the motivation to get them done. It's winter. It's cold and it's a lot easier to just snuggle up on the sofa and be warm. Those recent snow storms didn't help fuel that motivation either. So this challenge was just the thing I needed.

Here's the Pin for my challenge. The inspiration, if you will, to get me back on track.

My Pinterest comment says, "That chair!"

Here's the back story. This summer I recovered another one of my Copley Hotel chairs. It had an amazing transformation. Here it is after a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Aubusson Blue to cover the hideous shade of dark green glossy paint.

Then, I dry brushed Old White on top of the blue, hit it with a little bit of sandpaper and waxed it with both clear and tiny bit of dark wax to age it a bit. It looked pretty good.

But when I got to the upholstery part, I was stumped. I couldn't find a fabric I loved and I ended up using a fabric a friend of mine gave me. It was safe. It was free. It was neutral and how could I go wrong with that? I could check another chair off my list. I still have one more chair left to do. :)

Well, nearly the minute I brought the chair inside and stepped back, I realized it was boring. It was dull and I regretted settling and taking the safe choice. Patience is definitely the virtue I missed here.

I didn't even bother to blog about it. It was that boring.

Now that I've given you the history, you know when I saw and pinned that smashing chair above I decided that what just might be what could bring this chair to life. I didn't have much to loose, except my time in recovering the chair, if it was a total fail.

But being the DIY girl I am, I wasn't too worried. I've used paint and stenciled on fabric several times. I had great success on my drop cloth curtains.

Yes, the paint is a little stiff, but no one goes around feeling your curtains. I've also stenciled on some linen for a pillow I made. It's stiff and not soft at all. It looks fine, but it's been relegated to an obscure corner of my bedroom.

For this chair, I had a new idea to try out. I mixed some left over latex flat paint with textile medium and glaze. I knew from experience the textile medium I had would be stiff, but I remembered reading somewhere that adding a glaze to paint will make it soft on fabric.

So, I taped that baby up and stippled on some paint. I used a flat stipple brush because the "grain" of the fabric moved around too much with a regular brush. I kind of dragged the brush with the grain. I also hoped that I would be using less paint and that would help it stay soft.

Well, this particular glaze did not help. The end product is still pretty stiff. A big Fail.

I used CreamCoat glaze in a ratio of about a cup of paint to 1 tablespoon glaze and 1 tablespoon textile medium. I will test this theory again with a stronger ratio and let you know if that works.

But the look is exactly what I was hoping for, so that is Fantastic!

Thankfully, this chair is kind of just eye candy in the room. No one really sits in this chair. The tv armoire is to the left in the photo below and as you can see the chair is under two mirrors and what will be a large painted canvas. One day. Check out my painting inspiration board for ideas I'm tossing around.

I'm still on the hunt for a proper console type table to go next to it. And the pillow to go on the chair will be here soon. I've ordered the one on the right. :)

I think the stripes and that awesome mod pillow will make a terrific pair. Once the pillow arrives, I'll update the post with the final after! Can't wait!

Thanks for checking out my Pinterest Challenge! I'd love to have you keep up with my adventures by becoming a follower. ;)

Also sharing here:
Tuesday:
Power Of Paint @ Domestically Speaking

Wednesday:
WOW Us Wednesday @Savvy Southern Style
Walkabout Wednesday @ Taingamala
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday @ {Primp}

Thursday:
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
Under $100 Linky Party @ Beyond The Picket Fence
Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here
Creative Inspirations @ Embracing Change

Friday:
Friday Link-up @ Redoux
Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Spring Break-Last year, last one

2013-03-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today I'm sharing my last assignment with GCD Studios. It's been a great 3 years and I've loved watching the company grow and the designs get better and better each year. I will miss you all!

I was lucky enough to have some the new Special Delivery papers by Heidi Sonboul leftover from my CHA Winter Assignments to use on this layout. What a joy! At first glance, this collection looks decidedly masculine, but as you can see it has a lovely feminine side as well.

Pretty simple layout, really. The design is centralized on the strip of floral paper and the muslin ribbon and creating a layered effect with different patterned papers with mattes and doily rub ons.

And of course, what spring layout wouldn't be complete without a splattering of paint, flowers and butterflies? I pulled out my trusty punches and accented the flowers with bling.

I love to use mists and ink, but I'm not really into the overall misting anymore. I like to just splatter the inks like this.

I place my background inside a box, dampen a small artist's brush with water and sink the brush into the mist bottle and then tap the brush over the layout. To get the nice dense white, I use artist's acrylic white ink instead of mist. It's very opaque and lovely.

Here's an close-up of the layout.

If it turns out I need more ink when the layout is complete, like I did in this layout, I've learned to cover my photos and major elements with scrap paper and then re-splatter.

Supplies: GCD Studios Special Delivery patterned papers, Rub-ons: Hambly, Chatterbox; Ribbon: Pink Paislee; Letters: American Crafts, Sassafras, Basic Grey; Punches: Ek Success; Stickers: Studio Calico

Thanks for a wonderful three years of scrapping goodness GCD Studios!!

My next adventure? I'm going back to my roots, teaching Paper Crafting at my local and brand spanking new Jo-Ann's Fabrics and Crafts. If you are local, look for me there.

Under all this snow...

2013-03-02T10:05:00.000-06:00

Sorry I've been gone a while. We've had two significant snow falls in the last two weeks, about 15-18 inches total and as I sit here typing this afternoon, it is snowing again!

The children were out of school for a total of 4 days. Two this week and two last. Both times the neighborhood we live in seem to be the very last one in town to get plowed! I even posted on my Facebook page this photo with the caption, "A Happy Sight."

I must admit this southern girl loves the snow. I think it's so beautiful, a special gift and I don't really tire of it. There are two things, however, I do not like about the snow. Picking snowballs out of doggie paws...every ...single... time.. he ...goes outside and not being able to go for a run. There's no room on the streets and the trail is a mess and the whole thing is slightly dangerous in my opinion.

With each storm, we've trudged through the snow to one of our neighbor's house for cards and cookies! Such fun! Thank goodness we burn a few calories walking there and back in the knee deep snow. But it certainly doesn't promote productivity and hence the reason I've been absent.

The kids have done some sledding and this last storm the snow was very sticky, perfect for snow man building and snow balls. Or in the case of Emily and her friend, they started their morning decorating the yard around the snowman.

And then moved onto a much more ambitious project in the afternoon....

an igloo. :) Industrious and creative girls they are!! They used gallon sized ice cream buckets.

Miles did some sledding after the first snow fall at the big hill in the front of the neighborhood. I didn't go with him so no photos. ;(

And poor Tucker, who loves the snow just as much as anyone, couldn't get anyone to play with him. I indulged him with a good game of snowball fetch. Here is all ready to go!

And yes, I did put a coat on that big golden doodle! It was snowing and I wanted to limit the snow and wetness I was going to have to deal with when we came inside. ;)

After a few minutes of catch and lots of eaten snow we moved on to retrieve. Which if you've ever played with a snowball, is very, very difficult. See for your self. :)

In between all of this snow I have done some spring decorating, wishful thinking truly, piddled with some projects, and though I haven't completed any of them, my studio is a complete disaster. For me, that's proof of work.

I did finish my last scrapbook layout for GCD Studios and another page layout to display at my local Jo-Ann's. I'll be teaching Paper Crafting there this spring. ;)

Tissue Paper Pom Poms: a perfectionist's guide

2013-02-20T17:38:00.002-06:00

When Emily and I decided to make paper poms as decorations for her "Fancy Fourteenth" birthday party, I found plenty of tutorials online. And while they gave the basic instructions, after making them I honestly felt they left out some important tips, tips that a perfectionist like me would like to know.

Tip #1: Size and Fullness. I found that smaller sheets of tissue paper made a nicer looking pom. I think this has to do with the number of sheets of tissue paper used in relation to the size of the pom pom Most packs come with around 8 sheets, but the bigger, wider your papers are the more sheets you need for a fuller looking pom.

The pom poms with the largest paper size in this photo are the green ones. I called them the green monsters. See the green one on the right, doesn't it kind of remind you of Oscar the Grouch? :) Too me, they just weren't as pretty as the smaller ones. The reason we had varying sizes wasn't because I was clever enough to plan it that way. It's because we were looking for particular colors and bought the tissue paper from various stores around town. (Target, Wal-mart, Party City.)

I don't have the packaging anymore, but from measuring the pom poms, I'd figure that one side of the rectangle of tissue was at least 19", and not all of the packages had square sheets of tissue paper. The blue one is a little smaller in diameter, around 18" and doesn't look as bad. I think that's because I used a rounded edge instead of pointed.

The yellows were our favorites, in fact I loved them so much, I hung them in a corner of my studio after the party. Their fullness is in proportion to the size and I think that is the key. We also loved the pointy edge. The blue and greens would have looked equally as good if they were fuller by using more sheets. Probably only 2-4 more sheets would have done the trick.

And after all that advice, Here's where I'll start the actual tutorial. :)

Step 1: Assemble your supplies: tissue paper, a ruler, heavy duty scissors, wire and in our case we used invisible thread. I liked that look much better than ribbon. I think the poms should look like they are floating. ;)

Step 2: Fold the tissue paper accordion style as if you were making a paper fan. I folded the paper with a ruler as my guide for width of the fold. I moved the ruler to the inside every couple of folds. I didn't do this for all of the pom poms and found the folds to be inconsistent. Of course I didn't realize it until the end. This isn't really all that important until later....

Step 3: After accordion folding the whole sheet, wrap floral wire around the paper in the center. Check to be sure it's the center so your pom pom doesn't hang wonky.

As you fold or especially once your fan looks like the one above, you want to really score the fold. I ran the ruler along the edges firmly.

Step 4: Cut an edge on the fan. For the curved edge, I figured it would be too hard to make an even curve on both sides so I cut a template out of scrap paper. This is where the heavy duty scissors were important. Even with those scissors, I had to flip the template over and cut the back side as well.

And then I noticed this...

You see how even though the papers seem to be the same shape, the fold was in a little and so the edge didn't come down as far. I did a little touch up in areas like this too. Now maybe you think that's a little crazy, will anyone really notice that? I don't know, but I figured it was better to have them all the same shape.

The other end shape we used was just a point. Basically I cut a triangle, or arrow head on the end. This was much easier to do and we liked this edge just as well.

Step 5: Fluff the papers on one side of the fan.

As Emily was helping me, she noticed that mine were looking better than hers. And I couldn't figure out why at first and then upon inspection, I saw that she hadn't pulled her first paper very tightly to the edge of the wire.

Keep fluffing in one direction for half of your papers, so in this case 4 sheets. Then you flip it over and go the other direction.

Step 6: Flip the whole thing over and fluff in the same manner you did on the first side.

Step 7: Run string or invisible thread through the center of the pom pom by separating the sheets apart a little.. You'll need to re-fluff it once you've got it strung.

Step 8: Tie a knot at the end of your string and hang. We chose to use straight pins with little plastic heads. Once we stuck them in the ceiling, we just bent them into an "L" and the string hung fine. If you have some with white heads you really won't notice them on the ceiling at all. We did one with a red head and it was pretty noticeable. ;)

Here's that teal colored pom pom and another blue one from the party hanging in Emily's room. Excuse the fan pull hanging right in front of the teal colored pom pom.

Hopefully, this will be helpful to you. I know I totally made them sound much more complicated than they are, but I wanted to share tips that I wish I would have known before I started. :)