ART IS BEAUTY

Vintage Tea Label Cupboard Art and Maison de Stencils GIVEAWAY!

2013-05-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello my BEAUTIES! Guess what I have for you guys today?
A giveaway from MAISON DE STENCILS.
But First I will show you what I have done with mine.

If you remember a girlfriend of mine gave me a ton of free Cupboard doors.
I love to use them for art work and when I got this Vintage Tea Label
from Maison de Stencils it felt like the perfect fit.

So laid out my stencil and picked out my paint colors.

I wanted it to pop on the dark background so I picked my faves blue green and white for the stencil.
Once it was dry I distressed the whole thing and sealed it with poly.

and just like that I took a Free Door and turned it into a piece of artwork.
Now for the GIVEAWAY.!
Just jump on down to RAFFLECOPTER AND follow the directions.

one lucky winner will get to choose a 12x12 stencil and another winner a 5.5x11.5 Stencil.
Forgive me if it is a little wonkie..:) I have never used Rafflecopter before but wanted to try it since
it makes it so much easier for you guys to enter.
Best of Luck to all of you.
I will be picking the winner on June 1st. So be sure to check back.
Have a BEAUTIFUL day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Quick and Easy Side Table Makeover

2013-05-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my BEAUTIES!
What a wonderful weekend we had here. The weather was perfect
and we had tons to do. One of them being our twins
First Holy Communion (you can see pics by clicking on the link)
That being the case I didn't have any time for projects.
Luckily, I had a few moments to turn out this one earlier in the week.

I have had this table sitting in the garage for about a month.
I picked it up at a garage sale for $5.
It was cute on its own, but you know I had to give it some UMPH!!

So I went on over to the GRAPHICS FAIRY
and printed off part of her CHOCOLAT graphic.
I used transfer/carbon paper to transfer the graphic onto my table top.

I then used my craft paints to paint on the graphic being sure to give it a nice aged distressing.

In order to give it a little more UMPH..I decided to paint a matching edge around it
to go with the lettering and then distressing that.
When it was dry I used my spray poly to protect it.

and now this boring little table has some good FRENCH CHOCOLAT goodness.
Thanks for stopping over
and have a BEAUTIFUL day!

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http://www.firsthomelovelife.com/2013/05/house-party-4-b-y-o-p-features.html

Caledonia Vintage Marketplace Booth Reveal

2013-05-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties!
I thought I would quick show you my New Booth Reveal!

For those of you that follow on Facebook, you will know my Friend Stephanie and
owner of CALEDONIA VINTAGE MARKETPLACE
Plied me with cake and cookies on Friday during her Grand Opening and used
the Sugar buzz to tempt me to Join her and open a booth
with her....:) (what can I say...I LOVE COOKIES AND CAKE)

So HERE was my spot...My blank slate to do
whatever I want..:)

I loaded up my truck and got to work..
(its funny how when its in your truck you think you have WAY to much
and then you get there and think......I could totally fit MORE in here)

I got to work in my little spot trying to create little vignette's..

I always forget how fun it is to start a new space..

Here it is all coming together...:)

I am sure I will head back and add some more stuff!
I hope you enjoyed this little peak into my new booth.
If you are ever in Caledonia..be sure to stop by and say HI..
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

http://littleinspiration.com/2013/05/create-inspire-517.html

Quick Commode Makeover

2013-05-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties! I hope you all had a fantastic and Beautiful
Weekend.
We had a very busy one, with a goodbye party, a Homebrew Competition Party,
and Mothers day. By Sunday night I was TOAST!! But it was so fun to see
so many friends and family...It was worth it.

But Monday I was back to work. I am opening another booth over at
CALEDONIA VINTAGE MARKET PLACE
and I am suppose to be filling it..:)
SO I had to get to it.

I have had this antique commode in my basement for years and when I put in our new
Federal Buffet that I just finished (you can see that post HERE)
it freed this baby up.
We had originally stripped about 80 layers of paint off this thing
when we used to refinish antiques. So you can see how difficult it
was to put some paint on here....:)
So I decided to make a compromise. The drawers and top were in perfect condition
and to cover them would have been heart wrenching to me.
So I painted the more flawed wood of the base of it
with a custom color.

when it was done I waxed and distressed it, and then buffed it.
I think it was a nice compromise to leave some of the wood, yet it still has
the country chic feel.

I hope you enjoyed and I hope to soon be putting pictures up of
the new space..

Until then, Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

http://littleinspiration.com/2013/05/create-inspire-517.html

http://thismindbeinyou.com/2013/05/from-the-farm-blog-hop-33.html

http://www.firsthomelovelife.com/2013/05/house-party-4-b-y-o-p-features.html

Rescued Federal style Buffet Turned Bar

2013-05-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

Well Hello my BEAUTIES!!
Did you miss me??
Sorry to stay away but I am sure you understand
the crazy that is 4 kids and sports and school and
pretty much everything needing to be done at ONE time...:)

One of the things I managed to get done just YESTERDAY was THIS!

My Uncle called me on Sunday and said his
Neighbor was cleaning out his basement
and one of the things he had was this Federal Style Buffet.

He asked me if I wanted it.???? WELL YEAH!
FREE...my favorite 4 letter F word!!
My hubby and I went over and picked it up and
a table and chair set...It was funny because as we were picking up the buffet
pieces were popping off of it..and they were worried...I said "I have saved worse than this" :)

Well, you know impatient little ol' me is......I couldn't stand to let this BEAUTY sit..
So as soon as i dropped the kiddos off at school, I pulled out my belt sander and took the
old beat up gouged finish of the top.

I stained it a dark walnut and after fixing all the pieces the had fallen off
and actually having to cut a new piece of wood all together for one of the front legs
I was able to start painting. I mixed up a custom color I like to call garden gate.

Well right as I was finishing waxing and buffing the piece my hubby came home..
His first words were "can we keep it"..??? :)
I had been thinking the same thing, but trying to figure out where in the
world we were gonna put this baby..

Well we finally decided on our basement.
Whenever we have people over for a football game or party
we always line up card tables for food and drink..

well now I got myself a nifty new bar/buffet.
The color goes perfect with our basement and
my still life oil painting. (it was one of my very first oil paintings and took me 2 weeks to do...I got sick in between coats...:))

I am so happy with this piece and the fact that it cost me nothing.
An added bonus was that I got to sit on the porch and visit with my Aunt and Uncle that I rarely get
to see when I went to pick up the furniture. I also had an epiphany while I was rubbing on the stain on the top.
My Grandpa used to be a RUBBER...meaning he used to work for one of our Furniture factories here in Grand Rapids and that was his job. He rubbed stain on the furniture.. It hit me all of the sudden as I was rubbing on the stain
that he used to do the same thing...I never got to meet the man, but it was a nice little moment
while working on this piece..
I hope you like the piece as much as I do,
and I promise to try to not go so long in between posts....(I might have my fingers crossed....You will never know..:))
Have a BEAUTIFUL day and thanks for stopping by!

http://littleinspiration.com/2013/05/create-inspire-party-510-6-dinner-recipes-to-try.html

http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2013/05/party-junk-186-potting-benches.html

"at the BEACH" shabby chic coffee talbe

2013-05-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

Man oh man, we are having some UNSEASONABLY warm weather here in
Michigan, and it got me all fast forwarding to Summer. :)
So when I was trying to decide what to do with my cute little table from
Goodwill that my sweet friend Annie snagged me, I thought of just the thing..

You can see it was a decent table but it HAD SEEN ITS DAY! It was beat up and dirty.
So I whipped up some HOME MADE CHALK PAINT. (you can find the original post HERE)

I bleached and scrubbed the legs to give them a distressed look and then painted the top
a really pretty pale sea glass blue.

She looks good just like this..but you know me...can't have anything PLAIN! :)

So I thought, what better than "at the Beach" So I drew it on and used my Krink pen to outline and
filled it in with my acrylic white paint. (don't forget the HUGE giveaway for the krink pens is open until March 24, you can enter HERE) When it was dry I distressed the top and sprayed some poly on to protect the paint. I can just see her sitting in a cottage somewhere on the beach of Lake Michigan.
To bad I don't have a cottage..:)
I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial, and as always, Have a BEAUTIFUL day!!

http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/2012/03/fridays-unfolded-57.html
http://www.atthepicketfence.com/2012/03/inspiration-friday-no-56-and-cottage-in.html http://youaretalkingtoomuch.blogspot.com/2012/03/meet-me-monday-party_18.html

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/

Quick Stenciled Coffee table Makeover

2013-05-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties.
I thought I would show you a quick coffee table makeover that I did.

THIS is what it looked like before...Not pretty..
Someone let their little princess do what ever they wanted to this coffee table..
Including PAINT..:)

So I got started by sanding the CRAP out of the top and
started painting...I painted the top
with CeCe Caldwells Virginia Chestnut and
the legs with Emerald Isle

While the top was still slightly wet, I brushed in some Vintage white.

Then I used my Royal Designs stencil and used more vintage white for that.
When it was dry I distressed , waxed and buffed it.

I think it really had a nice classic look while getting to have the little punch of color on
the legs.

Someone must have agreed cause it sold quick as a button!
I hope you enjoyed this little makeover
and I hope you have a BEAUTIFUL day!

http://www.firsthomelovelife.com/2013/05/house-party-2-b-y-o-p-features.html

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The Sky promising the Flowers that its Spring! May 1st trail run!

2013-05-01T19:56:00.002-04:00

Good Afternoon my Beauties.
No reason for this post
other than to show you the
Beautiful bits of nature I
got to experience today.

I kept thinking..The SKY is promising you flowers..that it is SPRING!
I promise you buds, its safe to come out...
I promise..the snow clouds are gone...

Its amazing how much a smell can make you Happy.
The smell of Sand and Sun, and pine needles and composting leaves.
As soon as my feet crunched on the leaves all my cares floated away
and lost myself in the trail.

It was so wonderful to feel the sun on my shoulders and hear the squirrels
rustling through the woods and hear the crashing of the waves hitting the
shore off in the distance.

Like I said..no reason for this post...Just some spring beauty for you!
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!!

Dumpster Dive find, Turned Vintage Grocery Crate

2013-04-29T06:56:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my BEAUTIES. I hope you
all had a wonderful weekend. We FINALLY had some nice
weather so LUCKY me..we got to clean out the garage....whoopee..
But it did lead me to discover some STUFF that I had maybe forgot about..
LIKE..these dumpster dive boxes..

Picture me...driving into a mall parking lot...My teenage daughter with me..
and I see a dumpster full of stuff...My daughter quickly does the duck and hide so as no one
COOL will see her crazy mother digging through a dumpster in a sundress...
BUT look at the awesomness I found...I got three of these great boxes..
I have no Idea what they were for, but they were sturdy and custom built.
So I SAVED them, and FORGOT about them..Until NOW..

In the middle of cleaning out the garage I quick
slapped on some CeCe Caldwells Traverse City Cherry
and used some dark stain on the inside.

I then went to the GRAPHICS FAIRY and printed off
this great Vintage Grocery Graphic.
I used my carbon paper to transfer the image to the crate.

I then quick used my Krink Permanent Paint pen to go over the graphic.
When it was dry I distressed it and sprayed it with poly to protect it.

How great is this little vintage looking crate. Just think if I hadn't jumped in the dumpster
this would be sitting in a landfill somewhere.
Oh HAPPY DAY!
I hope you enjoyed!
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

Beachy Summer Handmade Signs made from free Pallet wood.

2013-04-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties.
I hope this morning finds you well.
I have been a happy gal.
It was finally nice enough for me to be outside
and dismantle some pallets......
and you know what that means!
PALLET SIGNS!!

I cut up a bunch of boards and just used 2 boards behind to hold them together and screwed the
2 supports to the boards.
Then I slapped on some paint..

Now the fun part of deciding what to paint.
While our weather has been less than pleasant
I am JONESING for some beach time.
So I thought I would kick out some fun beach themed pallet art.

First my boat. I used chalk to draw it on the sign and just started painting.

Next the "Crab Shack"
I used my silhouette for this one.
I cut out a crab shape and then the words CRAB SHACK
and used it as a stencil.

The last sign I HAND PAINTED free hand...
Just to give it that authentic look, like it was made by
some lucky sun of a gun who lives at the beach..:)

I painted them all up and used JUTE tied to the back for hanging.

I still can't decide which one is my favorite.

They are suppose to go to my booth but I don't know..I may
have to make a couple for myself.

The best part...I had everything on hand,
so it cost me NADA, ZERO, ZILTCH...
I love it when a plan comes together!

I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial
and hope YOU are getting some BEACHY Weather.
I think we are not going to get ours till Autumn. :)
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!!

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Vintage French Parfum Vanity Makeover

2013-04-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Monday Morning my Beauties.
I hope this Monday finds you rested and relaxed...
I managed to get this project done between Evacuating one of our booths
due to all the flooding. So far everything is dry, and fingers crossed it will stay that way!

Now on with the Makeover. I got this vanity last week at Goodwill.
While I thought it wouldn't be much to just paint and pretty up, she decided to keep me on my toes.
Whom ever owned it before me had decided to put velcro around the edge, and they used a
paper stapler. That meant the staples were unable to pulled out. If you tried they just snapped and left shards of metal sticking out....
On to plan B......

I decided to used decorative trim to cover the edge. Since its wood it doesn't JUST BEND....:)
So using a trick I used a long time ago around our round edge of our stairs; I soaked the trim for about an hour in the tub to make it pliable.

Once it was pliable, I tacked it around the edge of the vanity.
When It was all in place I nailed the trim in. You could no longer see the nasty little staples and
I think it add just a little more charm to an already cute piece.

Now the fun part, I could start painting.
I grabbed my CeCe's Violet and got to painting.

In order to make it Frenchy AND vintage I decided to use a couple FREE
Graphics from Karen over at the GRAPHICS FAIRY.
I did my first COLOR Freezer Paper transfer.

I printed off the 3 graphics I wanted to use on my Freezer paper
and use a Spoon to burnish on the image.

You can see the full tutorial HERE

When it was done I made sure to seal the top with spray Poly to protect the
Images. For the rest of the piece I waxed, distressed and buffed it.

I am so happy with how the color transfers turned out and
how it transformed this into a plain old vanity
and into some Frenchy Vintage Goodness.

I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial and have
a BEAUTIFUL week.

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Go forth..have fun..and try not to get kicked out of GOODWILL...:)#poppintags

2013-04-17T15:23:00.000-04:00

Hello my BEAUTIES!! This post has nothing to do with anything...but having fun.

Something us GROWN-UPs, sometimes get so busy that we forget to do...

So I thought I would show you some pictures of me and my sister having some fun..Or CLOWNING around....if you will...LOL
(he was getting a little fresh with me...but hey...you can't blame a guy for trying..:))

Now we did actually do some real thrifting, but there was SO MUCH good stuff...I mean besides the CLOWN CHAIR; how bout my sisters ROCKIN WOODEN SHOES!.. I made her walk around the store in them. She said they made her feel taller.

why yes..I will check out these braziers while shopping my local goodwill

As for me..I found an AWESOME..(don't even know what kinda material this is) fluffy robe...kinda smelled like cabbage, but hey...the good stuff always does...:P

And best of all (besides getting to hang out with my sister who waited to tell me a story until I was eating a scone so I would choke on it...LOVE YOU TOO)
We got to go out to Lunch and get these amazing POLENTA FRIES....I even got carded...LOL
I didn't think she was talking to me...OH HAPPY DAY!!
So remember kids...don't grow up too much and remember to have PLAY dates once in a while.
I will be back with regularly scheduled posts...but after the last couple of weeks, I thought.."the heck with it" LETS PLAY!
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!!!

Made in a Day

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2013/04/the-inspiration-gallery-32.html?m=1

To BEAUTY from Beast. Custom Sea Glass Dresser makeover

2013-04-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my BEAUTIES!!
I hope you have been getting along well
without me....:)
Since I have been so absent I thought I would start off this weeks DIY
with a BIG makeover....my custom color that I named SEA GLASS
Dresser Makeover.

'
THIS is what it looked like BEFORE...it was a BEAST!!!

The lady I bought it from had bought it for her HUSBAND to redo.
He was a wood worker and professional painter..
He took one look at it and said.."get rid of it".....
He wanted nothing to do with it.
Her loss was my gain.

You can see from the top that the veneer was SHOT...it was popped up
all around the edges and bubbled and broken so I started pulling off the veneer.

I even had to pull out the heat gun and chisel...soooo all those parts that were loose...yeah..
they were easy to get off...but the part that wasn't loose..was stuck like cement..

So Momma had to go buy a new toy....Well hello you BEAUTIFUL belt sander....:)

This took about 2 minutes to take it down SMOOTH...holy crap...I spent 2 hours trying to chisel
the thing off...I LOVE my belt sander...:)

So once all the prepping was FINALLY done, I could finally get to the fun part.
I mixed up my CeCe Caldwells paint into a gorgeous Sea Glass color.
and started making her BEAUTIFUL!
I waxed her and buffed her to an old world finish.

I am so happy that ladies husband didn't want this baby..Because I could see what she
was gonna look like way back when she looked like a beast.

I love the shabby-ness of the dresser with the coolness of the color.
It was like they had been waiting for each other.
(are you humming beauty and the beast yet...)?????? :)

Here she is..in all her glory...
I have to say, I put her in my booth; but it took every fiber of my being NOT
to keep her. I was working my brain overtime trying to figure out
WHERE I could put her...but it was not to be.
Hopefully she will find her spot to shine in another home.

I want to thank you all again for you kind words, thoughts and prayers over the last couple
weeks. You guys are just BEAUTIFUL and you make me love what I get to do.
I am blessed to have you all following along..So THANK YOU!!
Go out and have a BEAUTIFUL day!!

http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2013/04/wow-us-wednesdays-114.html

http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com/2013/04/pretty-things-16-link-party-and.html

img src="http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj590/russej10/WW2_zps4d01c63f.jpg" border="0"/>

Made in a Day

http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/2013/04/shabbilicious-friday-link-party_19.html?m=1

http://funkyjunk.wpengine.com/

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2013/04/the-inspiration-gallery-32.html?m=1
http://www.firsthomelovelife.com/2013/05/house-party-1-b-y-o-p.html

Hotel Perrin Freezer Paper Transfer Mudroom bench Makeover

2013-04-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties. Thank you so much for sticking around even though
I was gone on vacation. We had a wonderful time, even with the devastating news of
loosing not one but 2 loved ones while we were gone.
Today I will be heading to the funeral for my great nephew Ethan.
You can read his story HERE

But as they say life goes on and I had to get back to work.

I was able to find this beat up old bench type thing and decided it would make a great mud room bench.

I mixed up some custom CeCe Caldwell's paint and painted the outside a yellow green and the inside
a creamy yellow.

I wanted to give it a little extra flavor so I went on over to the Graphics Fairy
and used my freezer paper transfer method to transfer on
a really cute HOTEL graphic.
You can see how to do a freezer paper transfer HERE

I thought it added the perfect little vintage POP that this piece needed.

I hope you enjoyed this makeover.
I want to thank each and everyone of you for your
thoughts and prayers. It meant so much to me
that you guys went out of your way to send
such sweet little notes and emails.
You are all so BEAUTIFUL to me and mean so much.
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

http://designdininganddiapers.com/2013/04/inspiration-gallery-link-party-31/

http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2013/04/linky_party_pity_party/

Ready to go Home and say Goodbye

2013-04-05T09:09:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties.
You may have noticed that I have been missing for a week.
I had planned on many DIY posts while we were gone on
vacation but it was not meant to be.
We lost a Beautiful member of our Family this past week.

A little boy who taught us everything.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,

STRENGTH

and HOPE!
My sister wrote a BEAUTIFUL story about our Great Nephew
So I will let her tell the tale.
Once upon a time there was a very special boy name Ethan Blake Woodhams. Now, this little boy wasn’t just special because I say so, you can ask anyone who ever met him, he was very special. Ethan wasn’t like other little boys, he couldn’t run or play ball, but he had fun and some days he had A LOT of fun. He didn’t speak words, but he was able to communicate his love. And he couldn’t see the faces of the people who loved him, but he heard their voices and always knew how very much he was loved.

Ethan had 3 boy cousins and 6 girl cousins. The boy cousins were just like any other boys, they liked running and swimming and playing games. They liked trucks and bikes, and the littlest boy loved robots. And they loved Ethan. They came to his house and swam in his pool, they showed him their toys and shared their hiking and biking adventures.

The girl cousins loved everything girly. They wore pretty dresses and played with dolls, and they like to read stories. One of those girls really liked to read stories to Ethan, and it made him so happy to hear her funny little voice, telling of princesses and fairies in faraway places.

One time, one of Ethan’s girl cousins got sick and she had to leave and go live with Jesus. This made everyone sad.

Many times in Ethan’s life, he became ill, but he was so strong that he could get better. The nurses took such good care of him so he could stay in his house with his mommy, daddy, meemaw and papa. His other grandma and grandpa lived very close so they could come and love on Ethan whenever they wanted. He had great-grandmas and great-grandpas, and lots of aunts and uncles too. Oh how everyone loved holding Ethan, playing with him and telling him stories. He loved listening to music, and the sillier the song, the better. But he liked his oldies too, especially the Beatles and Michael Jackson.

Ethan touched so many lives, even those of people he and his family didn’t know. One sunny Saturday, there was a woman that went to the hospital to have a baby. I don’t know her name or her story, but on that same Saturday, Ethan got sick and had to go to the hospital too. His family came and stayed with him while the doctors gave him medicine to try to make him feel better.

In this hospital, every time a new baby is born, music is played so everyone knows of this new life. So the woman that was getting ready to have a baby was getting very excited to meet her child, and hear that music. But God was looking for a special soul to give to this little one. He had a lot to choose from, but he knew this child would need to be strong and stubborn and silly.

And so, as Ethan was surrounded by so many who loved him, God asked him to come home to live with Jesus and his Bushia, and to come play with his cousin Marcy. And at the very moment that his family was sending him home to live in Heaven, the music of a new life played throughout the hospital. God had picked the perfect little soul for his new little angel on earth.

I love and miss you Ethan

Love, Aunt Chrissy

I couldn't have said it better myself.
So if you don't see me around for a couple more days, now you will know why.
We will be saying Goodbye to our special little boy.
In addition to that we lost my husbands cousin this week too.
While we had a great vacation it was a great reminder to how fragile and short life is.
Live it to the fullest EVERY BEAUTIFUL MOMENT!

TREE OF LIFE Fenner Auction Dresser

2013-03-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties!
I hope you are ready for this Post.
It is FULL of lots and lots of pictures
and tons of information about the reason my niece and I do these
pieces for Fenner Nature Center.

The upcoming Auction is for the EARTH DAY EXTRAVAGANZA.
I thought, what better to celebrate Earth Day than with the
TREE OF LIFE,
all the while RESCUING a tree that was made into a dresser that was going to
be thrown into a landfill.
I have been wanting to do a "tree of life" piece for a while and when the
opportunity presented itself for another Fenner Nature Center Auction
I knew it was meant to be.

This is the rescued dresser. We had planed on using
another dresser but time did not allow us
to not only FIX the dresser to the point of being usable,
and to paint it. So I just traded one dresser for another.

This is my Niece Katherine and I getting ready to get started on our
Auction dresser. We had sanded and prepped the whole thing
to get ready to paint.

We mixed up our CeCe Caldwell's all natural clay based paint
to the colors we wanted for the piece and got to work.

Katie drying the drawers in front of the furnace

Scientifically measuring for our center

Here we are working hard on getting the dresser base coated so we can begin the fun part.
You can see our very scientific way of making our template for our center piece.
We were laughing walking around trying to find 2 round objects so make our circle for the center
of our tree. A Weber grill lid and round tray saved the day!

Now we could start filling in our circle with paint.

and then changing it cause it was tooo dark...

Now the really fun part. Free hand drawing on our TREE OF LIFE!

Making a mess as usual.

Katherine had a great Idea as usual to add a pop of stripes to the side of the dresser
to bring the sides together with the yellow on the front...
So while I worked on striping...

She worked on shading..

Then I worked on highlights.

Here she is in all of her GLORY.
Waxed and distressed and full of life!

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out and how something once again,
headed for a landfill was transformed and brought back, like a tree that goes dormant in the winter,
it comes back more BEAUTIFUL than ever in the spring.

Just in time for the AUCTION.

A huge thank you to my Niece, the smart and BEAUTIFUL Katie Woodhams,
who believes in me enough to work on these wonderful projects
for such a great cause.

The SPRING SOCIAL at Fenner Nature Center

an Earth Day Afternoon Fundraiser!

Lansing, MI –

Beginning at 3:15pm until dusk, on Earth Day 2013, Saturday, April 20th , Fenner Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the Fenner Nature Center, in partnership with the City of Lansing, will host their SPRING SOCIAL. This fundraising affair will take place at Fenner Nature Center, following the Earth Day Extravaganza event there.

Tickets for this fundraiser are $50, and the event will include:

•Live music

•Cash bar and buffet-style dinner

•Live and silent auctions

•A keynote address by Margaret Holtschlag, Michigan Teacher of the Year and finalist for National Teacher of the Year in 2000

(More details coming soon!)

Tickets may be purchased online at, www.mynaturecenter.org, by phone, 517 483-4224, or in person, at Fenner Nature Center, located at 2020 E. Mt. Hope Ave. in Lansing. (At the corner of Mt. Hope Ave. and Aurelius Rd.)

These Earth Day events at Fenner are an opportunity for families, individuals and groups to experience this urban oasis and Earth Day in the midst of nature. For more information visit www.mynaturecenter.org.

Attendees are encouraged to ride their bikes and park in the Mid-MEAC Bike Valet in order to reduce their carbon footprint!

Fenner Nature Center Hosts

the 2^nd annual Earth Day Extravaganza
*and Spring Social!

WHO: Fenner Nature Center!

WHAT: The Fenner team will be hosting their second Earth Day Extravaganza, in collaboration with the Michigan State University Fisheries and Wildlife Club, and The Nature Conservancy. This free event is an opportunity for families, individuals and groups to experience this urban oasis and EARTH DAY in the midst of nature!

April 20^th, 7am - 3pm, these activities will be offered for FREE family Earth Day fun:

· bird banding

· reptile and amphibian surveys

· pond-dipping for tiny aquatic creatures

· Wildflower identification hikes, and more.

Visitors can also assist with habitat restoration efforts throughout the day.

Activities will include:

· Trail maintenance

· Working in the newly restored Butterfly Garden

· Removal of invasive plant species (including the 2013 Garlic Mustard Pull Challenge!)

· Prairie restoration, and more.

The Nature Conservancy, a Sponsor and Partner again this year, will be conducting the

“Picnic for the Earth.” From 11:30am-1:30pm the Nature Conservancy will offer a global Earth Day picnic/outdoor lunch for foodies and families to enjoy sustainable lunches in nature!

WHERE: Fenner Nature Center, located at 2020 E. Mt. Hope Ave. in Lansing. 517 483-4224 www.mynaturecenter.org

WHEN: Saturday, April 20^th, 2013

WHY: To celebrate the conservation of nature by engaging in Earth Day activities!

Schedule of Earth Day Extravaganza Activities:

Mist Netting – 7:00 am – 9:00 am

Guided Bird Walk – 9:00 am – 10:00 am

Wildflower Identification Hike – 9:30 am – 10:30 am; 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Small Mammal Trapping – 9:30 am – 10:30 am

Garlic Mustard Pull Challenge – 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Pond Dipping – 11:00 am – 3: 00 pm

Picnic for the Earth – 11:30am -1:30pm

Herpetological Survey – 12:30pm-2:30pm

*Spring Social Fundraiser – 3:15pm-dusk *[In the afternoon, on April 20^th, Fenner Conservancy, the nonprofit that manages the nature center, in partnership with the City of Lansing, will host their Spring Social.

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Happy Birthday JEN! Four Marrs One Venus

2013-03-26T07:16:00.000-04:00

HEY GIRL!~
You know I have been Crazy Busy lately..
But I just wanted to make sure
to wish you the sweetest of Birthdays.
I couldn't find my "shitter's full clark"
cap that you like so much, so I had
to improvise while I was working..
I hope it shows how
much I care!!!

oh and my DIY for this is Take a board...get a permanent marker
and you can make a simple and classy "happy birthday" sign.....:)

I had planned to do a Cosby themed Music dance montage...but my kids basically gave
me a death stare...GOSH!! Like I would show it to anyone else besides the
WHOLE WORLD...Oh well, I hope it inspires you on YOUR birthday!
Hugs and Much love CHICA!
Karin
artisbeauty.

Jen's Virtual Birthday Party:

Lynne from 365 Days of Baking ~ Lemon Squares and a Special Video

Claire from A Little Claireification ~ DIY Washi-Tape Monogram Wall Art

Julie from White Lights on Wednesday ~ Braided Scarf & Kitchen Sink Sundae

Devi from Diddles & Dumplings ~ Favorite Finds: Four Marrs & One Venus

Jessica from Mom 4 Real ~ Reuseable Chalkboard Birthday Banner

Rachel from {I Love} My Disorganized Life ~ Skinny Margaritas

Janel from Nellie Bellie ~ DIY Personalized Mug

Julie from Redhead Can Decorate ~ Easy Personalized Blog Sign

Karin from Art is Beauty ~ Happy Birthday Jen!

Laurie from Gallamore West ~ Lemon Bars

Meegan from What Meegan Makes ~ Happy Birthday Jen

Lane Cedar Chest NAUTICAL Makeover with Paint and Freezer Paper Transfer

2013-03-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Monday Morning my BEAUTIES! I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
I was very busy working on another Fenner AUCTION dresser with my niece and we had so much fun. We worked pretty much from Friday at 5pm to Saturday at 7pm. Making sure to get it done before she had to head back home which is an hour away.
Luckily I had managed to eek out a couple projects last week before she got here.

This one was fun and really easy. I got this old beat up Lane Cedar chest from goodwill.
It looked like someone had attempted to sand the top at one time and then changed there mind.
Had the weather been nicer I might have finished sanding the top, but since I was working inside I
really didn't feel like it. :)

Instead I got out my CeCe Caldwell's Smokey Mountain gray and new Chesapeake Bay blue.
I just mixed the paint on the chest as I was painting. Giving it a little more depth and making look like an old finish.

I waxed it with clear wax and buffed it. Then the fun part..
FREEZER PAPER TRANSFER.
I have been wanting to do a multiple transfer piece
and this piece was the perfect fit for it.

I went over to the GRAPHICS FAIRY and used the anchor and Compass graphics.
I printed them out on my freezer paper and burnished them to the top.
Giving it a very NAUTICAL feel.
You can see the FREEZER PAPER TRANSFER method HERE

Now this Cedar chest is ready for a spot in someones BEACH HOUSE..:)

I hope you enjoyed this makeover and stay tuned for the big reveal coming up
of the new FENNER auction dresser.
Have a BEAUTIFUL day.

http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com/2013/03/pretty-things-link-party-13-is-live-we.html

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Old Sauder Cupboard Turned vintage Cottage style Pantry.

2013-03-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties.
First of all let me say...If you see the word PANTY anywhere in here..it is a TYPO..LOL
I have typed and typed and typed and Keep catching myself typing "vintage cottage style PANTY"
NO...I didn't turn a sauder cupboard into a pair of underwear...LOL...Its just my Mom brain
trying to trip me up again...
Anywhooooo, on with the Makeover.

I grabbed this cute little cupboard last week when I played hookie with my little sister.
It was just an old Sauder cupboard but I loved the style of it.
I could hardly wait to paint it.

As soon as I got it home I started sanding it down.
I gave the outside 2 coats of CeCe Caldwells Omaha Ochre
and the inside Sante Fe Turquoise.

I loved how it was looking but I wanted a little more UMPH...
So I used my Silhouette to print out this PANTRY stencil.
I used black craft paint to paint it on.

I then waxed and distressed the whole thing and buffed it out.

I love how something plain and boring looks like its an old vintage piece.

From old Junky Sauder to vintage looking goodness.
I hope you enjoyed...I know I had fun with this one!
Have a BEAUTIFUL day.
:)

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Turquoise French Key table using Freezer Paper Transfer

2013-03-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties!
Oh my..I hope you all had a Beautiful weekend..It was cold and still snowy here in Michigan, but we
got to see the Sun all day on St. Patrick's Day...It was Glorious.
For once I wasn't panicking to get a project done by Sunday either.
I got this one done during the week!! WOO HOO!!
Its not often I am ahead of schedule...I am sure it won't last long.

You see in my joy at being ahead of schedule...I forgot to take a BEFORE picture...
I didn't remember until I had a first coat on.
Good thing I didn't hurt myself patting myself on the back at being ahead of schedule...LOL!

I painted this cute little table with some CeCe Caldwells Sante Fe Turquoise.
I have been itching to use this spring color on something and this table was perfect.

But the table needed a little more SOMETHING...
GRAPHICS FAIRY and Some Freezer Paper to the RESCUE~!
You can see how to do the Freezer Paper transfer HERE.
I printed it off in reverse and applied it to the table.
Its been a while since I have done one and for the first time in a while it worked FIRST TRY...
I almost couldn't believe it! :)

Here it is in all its GLORY..The Frenchy, Vintage Key Goodness!
Once the ink was dry I sprayed it with Poly to seal the ink.
I then distressed and waxed the whole thing.

I think you will agree, it was perfect for this table.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and even more, I hope you have
a BEAUTIFUL day!

http://www.settingforfour.com/2013/03/its-spring-thing-linky-party.html

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Custom Green Dresser Makeover

2013-03-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties. Sorry I left you hanging this week, but as you can
imagine this is our busy season. People pretty much bought out my booth last week, so I have spent the last week playing "catch up"...I am NOT complaining...Its a great problem to have; but
it means I have not had a ton of time to do posts.
This was one of the projects I did manage to get done last week.
I finally got to get some pictures before it was RUSHED off to the booth.

I had bought this dresser at goodwill. It had 4 of the original Glass threaded knobs in it.
Pretty expensive to replace for what people will pay here for furniture. So I had decided at this point I was going to have to fill those GIANT threaded holes.

Also as you can see here....I had to replace a foot that was missing off the back.
I believe this piece was made by "Sellers" furniture but not sure.

Once I got all the boring stuff done like filling holes and fixing feet, I was able to get onto the fun stuff.

I sanded the top of this dresser since there was pretty much nothing left of a finish anyway.
I stained it a nice dark walnut.
For the base I mixed up a custom Green using 3 different CECE Caldwell's paints.

Brushed it on, waxed it and distressed it.

Here she is in all her glory.

From Drab to Fab in just a few steps.
I hope you all have a BEAUTIFUL day...I will be!

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How to make a NEW footlocker LOOK OLD and ANTIQUE using paint and a graphic

2013-03-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good Morning my Beauties...
This is a fun and simple quick DIY..but its a quick one..
We as usual had a very busy and fun weekend..with some unexpected
extra time spent helping friends...
So I barely got this one done, but I did!
So here is how to take those new Foot Lockers
and make it look like its been around for a while.

I picked this up at Goodwill for 6 bucks. It was just the plain old black footlocker.
I had just mixed up some custom Ce Ce Caldwell's paint for another project and thought..I will just slap this leftover on here.

I didn't want to be careful with the paint because I wanted it to look old and I knew some of the paint would come off of the brass when I waxed it..
Once it was dry I used my light aging wax and clear wax ... I then quickly used one of my favorite graphics from the GRAPHICS FAIRY
and used some carbon paper to transfer it on.
Once it was on I used my Krink markers to just draw on the design.
I buffed it out and now it looks like its been sitting around for quite some time.

Sorry I couldn't spend a ton of time on this post for you, but the kids need me and I gotta go get a bunch more stuff ready for the week.
I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy way to turn something NEW...OLD again..:)
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com/2013/03/pretty-things-11-and-features-are-live.html

http://bloomdesignsonline.com

Empire Dresser Make Over

2013-03-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Good Morning my Beauties...Just a quick makeover post for you!
I did this a while back...LIKE before SNOW!!!
But have just now gotten a chance to show you.

I got this gorgeous dresser at Goodwill awhile back..I loved it..
But the top and sides were in TERRIBLE condition.

I had a few people online TELL me not to paint it..but they didn't see all this.
I have refinished a lot of furniture and when you see those STAINS...they go ALL THE WAY THROUGH...there is no sanding them out...

And its hard to see from this picture but parts of the veneer were actually MISSING
from the legs.
So I sanded them down smooth.

Then I got out my smokey mountain CeCe Caldwells paint
and started painting.

I waxed and buffed her up and love how the distressing showed through.

To satisfy myself and the fellow wood lovers out there.I left the drawers as is.The drawers if you can believe it were in perfect condition.
A marriage of Paint and Wood....

I am so Happy with how it turned out.
Unfortunately when I took this picture we were in the midst's of all clouds all the time,
SO this is as good as it gets!
I hope you enjoyed this little makeover!
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

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Quick and Easy Kindel Chair makeover with VINTAGE tablecloth

2013-03-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning my Beauties..I have a quick little update to show you with a fun little story.

I picked up this Chair at Goodwill yesterday..I got it for a steal and I just loved the lines of it.

What I didn't love was the fabric. I knew this was not the original fabric as you generally don't see late 80s style upholstery fabric on this style chair...:)

So I ripped off the old fabric and grabbed one of my favorite old vintage table cloths that I used for a previous project...You can see that HERE

Here is where the fun story comes in. When I ripped off the fabric this tag fell out..
Kindel Furniture Company..(we are near Grand Rapids, so most of the furniture we get here was made right here) The fun part was the date..Oct 4 is my Birthday...NEAT.....But even better than that..Last week we said goodbye to our Friends Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle...His
name was Sam Siciliano..and he worked for Kindel furniture upholstering chairs..
His Granddaughter saw this and just knew..Her Grandpa had probably
been then one that originally worked on this chair....Funny how the world works isn't it.
It was a great memory for her!

Here it is all done..I didn't want to paint it..since the wood was in such good condition and just the history of it...It told me it needed to be left as is.
SO there we have it..A fun simple redo, that had a great little side story.
I hope you all have a BEAUTIFUL day.

href="http://www.504main.com"><img alt="504 Main" src="http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/ac35/Holly7081/Grab_button_150.jpg" />
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Peacock drop leaf table with homemade chalk paint

2013-03-04T07:51:00.000-05:00

Good Morning my Beauties...Due to the fact that I have had and insane couple of weeks opening the new booth. I am just gonna re-show you an old post. This was one of my personal favorites when I got a truck load of fun stuff! Including this table!
TA-DA!!!!! Here is the table I have finally finished!!

I don't know if you remember a month or so ago I got to go to this great estate sale where I got my grandmother clock and some other great goodies.

Well here is one; or I should say TWO of my goodies...You see these two pieces were from two different tables, So I got to create a MARRIAGE of the two pieces. The base had this funny little dowel piece to fit into but the hole on the top didn't fit. SOOOOOO,

Instead of trying to drill the hole bigger in the top. I just sawed that sucker right off the base. Kept it nice and flat and clean.

Then I flipped it over and used some liquid nails and screwed the base into the table top....A marriage made in heaven, if you ask me. Sometimes it takes a second chance to find true love...:)

Once the glue was dry, I got out a couple of my favorite OOPs paint samples from Lowes. There was a green and a blue. So I base coated the table in the blue and let it dry.

Then I used the now tried and true Homemade Chalk Paint recipe that you can find HERE

The next day when it was nice and dry, I drew on a simple little Peacock in pencil.

AND this is where the fun really started...I used my KRINK paint pens that are now a staple for me, and went to town. Once the paint had cured I got out my wax and started distressing the table.

This is when it came to me to distress the body of the bird down to the blue. I loved seeing the blue come through the green.

I even made sure his little tail feather hung over a little.

I also love how the wax really showcased the base detail on the table.

So now here she sits!! PRETTY AS A PEACOCK!!! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

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