The Purple Pea

Weekend Show and Tell

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:53:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I'm a little bummed. I lost 2 followers over the weekend. I suppose that's what I get for my inconsistent posting, eh? But I'm so glad you're still here! I'd hug you if I could!

Anyway, I wanted to let you in a a little sneak peek on what *I* was laboring over all weekend! And when I say labor, I totally mean it. So much so that every part of my body aches. More on why later.

I'd like to line the back of the cabinets with something cute. I'm thinking my best bet would be wrapping paper. What do you think? Have any other ideas instead of wrapping paper? I'd love to hear!

Ampersands and Jig Saws: How I Didn't Lose Any Fingers

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:52:00 +0000

Back in my "I'm going to be a artist!" phase (i.e. college) I was into Typography. I've always had a appreciating for type and the way it curves, specifically Ampersands. I love the way they look in any font.

How can you not like that?

I've seen a lot of Ampersands lately. From just hanging out on a shelf, to actually hanging on a wall.

Pottery Barn

I decided to poke around online and see what sort of large ampersands I could find. Unfortunately, I couldn't find many that I liked. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. Plus I've got a unopened Jig Saw in my garage that needed to be broken in.

I perused through my fonts and found a Ampersand that was overall traditional but had a little more curve to it and blew it up in Photoshop.

I'm sure you're like me and don't have access to a gigantic printer that prints on gigantic paper. So I had to make due. Just trim to fit and tape it together. Easy peasy.

Now we're going to trace like we did here but without the carbon paper. Just use a good 'ole No. 2 pencil instead. Just start scribbling where the lines are on the
BACK of the printed side. I held it up to the light now and then to make sure I was following the right lines.

Here's my board

After you've "traced" the printed side's lines, flip it over and stick it onto the board. You can secure the paper if you'd like with some masking tape if you feel like it'll slide around.

I used a ballpoint pen, but you can anything with a solid point to trace the outline of the Ampersand to transfer it onto your board.

Make sure you use something like saw horses when you're cutting it out. You wouldn't want to cut through your trusty workbench or ~~your hand~~ anything.

Brand spankin' new! It's never been touched and I've never touched a Jig Saw before. Let's see how this goes.....

I just started cutting from the sides and sliding into the curves of the letter. Just be super careful where your fingers are and where the blade is going. It's easy to forget you're working with a blade here and I would be so devastated if I found out you cut something off.

As for getting to the center, get the biggest drill bit you can find in your tool box and drill a hold right in the middle of the gap. If the drill bit wasn't big enough like mine, I sort of had to carve out a big enough hole for the blade to fit in with the bit.Once you've got the blade in you can cut the center out!

And there you have it! Not bad for my first time eh?

I used some fine grit sandpaper to even out the rough spots along the edges, but I also used some files I had to touch up the tight spots that sandpaper wouldn't really get.

I gave it a good coat of primer just so the paint would go on smoother. I didn't feel like the sandpaper gave me a smooth enough surface.

I wanted it to be distressed so I have it a coat of white paint first...

Then black...

I let it set overnight and then took some handy fine grit sandpaper and distressed it just a tad on the edges.

And here you have it! I absolutely love how it turned out!

If you'd like to try this for yourself, here is a great post about Ampersands at The Design Cubicle Huge list of fonts and their ampersands. He even is so kind as to link to the font download if you find *the* one.

Dallas Flea- Here We Come!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:12:00 +0000

Hey gals! Just wanted to drop a reminder about the upcoming field trip to The Dallas Flea on March 13th (that's one week from THIS Saturday!!) We'll meet there about 11:00 AM and there's a $5.00 charge to get in.

What do you think? It's going to be great and what would be *the* GREATEST? If we saw your shining little face there!

Desiree over at Hitting My Stride has also invited us over to her house for a little after-party-get-together if you're so inclined. I definitely will be there! I'm dying to meet this monster named Maya.

So are you in? Post here and let me know!! Can't wait! Yipee!

Just Another Chair Redo...

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:53:00 +0000

You know we've all seen them and most of them are absolutely, 100% BETTER!

Chair Redos.

I always try to keep an eye out for that unique chair that I know I could make special and give life back to. This guy was just sitting by himself in the corner of my Goodwill store. I liked the detail on the top of the chair back so I decided it was coming home with me!

The seat was old and you could tell it was that fake pleather. Eww! I decided to take the vinyl off and use it as my pattern for the new seat. I took pictures of this process but I can't find them anywhere. So I employed a world renowned artist to sketch a rendition of the next few steps:

I know, remarkable huh? She also spelled "piping" wrong, so I had to fire her.

This was my first time using piping and it could be sort of tricky to use. But once you get the hang of sewing things essentially, inside out, it's easy peasy.

Once you put the new seat back onto the chair pad go ahead and fit the fabric tight to the seat using a staple gun. I decided to put piping on the bottom of the seat to make it look more "professional." Whatever that means.

I just started at one end and followed the edge of the bottom of the seat- stapling as I went.

Once you get to a corner or a curve, you can cut little a V or two to give the fabric room to bend and curve. You can cut as many V's as you think is necessary. Just make sure not to cut too far where you'd see the cut on the outside of the fabric.

Flip 'er over and screw the seat back to the chair.

And there you have it! I now use this chair as my sewing chair. The tall back seems to really help when sitting for a long time.

Here are a few other fun chair redos I thought I'd share:

Kelly over at Much To Do With Nothing

Desiree at Hitting My Stride

Shan from Design Gal & Her Handyman

Britt at Cucumbersome

Makes me want to go search Craig's List.

Martha Stewart Has Been Defeated!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:44:00 +0000

I know some of you have a deep loathing for Martha Stewart. So bad that if you saw her on the street you may try to hit her.You don't get bonus points for TKOing M.S. tho.

Although, after prison, she may have more street cred than you

I get it! I can see why some may hate her. But I can't help be be drawn to her show and her books. How she makes things looks so easy and perfect. How the crafts in every picture in her book look so simple. I mean, how can making organic mothballs not go wrong? (I kid. That was supposed to be a funny example of something ridiculous from one of her books or her show...nevermind)

Do you see what I mean? How pretty and soothing the colors are? Come to Martha!

When we swapped cable providers we were blessed with the Fine Living Network. I'm tellin' ya, I could sit there and watch the shows on this network ALL DAY! So while they do air Martha Stewart reruns and various other DIY and design shows, I happened to catch a show called "Whatever Martha"

The show is hosted by Alexis Stewart (Martha's daughter) and her friend Jennifer where they proceed to watch old Martha Stewart Living shows and make fun of her. They poke fun at what Martha is wearing, how she talks, things she's doing. Not only do they share the frustration of "that's SO not real life" but they try to make projects along with her. The show is produced by MSLO so it's not a total Martha boycott, but still, the show is a lot of fun.

Two thumbs up from me. I love this show and it's now on my permanent TiVo list. It airs Wednesday nights at 9 and 9:30 ET.

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:25:00 +0000

Happy Friday from Dallas!

I'm Just Ordered Some Falsies!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Falsies? I think my Mom used to refer to stuffing your bra as "falsies" I, however, did not just order socks.

I'm super excited about sharing this with you, because I know I've seen it everywhere. And I love the look of it (and it's a fraction of the price of the real stuff!)

Beadboard wallpaper! I'm probably really behind the trend here, but I've had my eye on this for awhile and finally broke down and ordered it from Home Depot. I've got some big plans for this wallpaper! And I have a feeling it's going to be one of those staple items where I redo everything with it. We'll see though. I've never hung wallpaper before. Here are some ideas to get your brain going:

Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality shows us how to cut and hang it. She even covered parts of her cabinets!

Apartment Therapy shows us a few rooms using the beadboard wallpaper.

Frankly, I love this paintable wallpaper business! I could go wild with it. Before you know it, I'd have half of my furniture repainted with this stuff on it. And I'm sure you all saw Kate's furniture makeover with her paintable wallpaper over at Centsational Girl. Love it!

If you're curious about all of the great designs, check some of them out here.

The Dallas Flea- Save the Date

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:00:00 +0000

This looks like fun! The Dallas Flea is a quarterly market with collection of local shops all in one place.

I think this is right up our alley! Who wants to go check it out?

I'm 30. I survived

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:01:00 +0000

Yes, I survived! It's really not *that* bad. I had a wonderful birthday. My Mom flew in from Nashville on Friday and her and Gabe surprised me at IHOP (because I wanted eggs and bacon) I had no idea! I cried when I saw her and then immediately felt betrayed. I'm supposed to know everything! I got over it real quick when Gabe told me we were going to Truluck's to get King Crab legs for dinner.

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

It's Now the Beginning of the End

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:27:00 +0000

So remember how I mentioned I was taking tomorrow off and I was going to work on the hutch? Well, I'm taking tomorrow off because it's my birthday..my 30TH BIRTHDAY.

Oh sweet baby jesus!

"You're still young!" Blah! I KNOW! But I'm torn. This is very bittersweet.I think I'll survive tho. I'm going to schedule my first face lift for next week.

I KID!

Also, if any of you plan on baking me a birthday cake, will you please try to make a life size cake replica of me. See below. Please and thank you.

source

I Can't Think of a Good Title for This Post

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:48:00 +0000

Wow! A month of not posting? Really? It's true. I know. Here's the thing, I want to blame it on being so busy with the holidays or work or whatever...but frankly..I haven't been inspired. There, I said it. I love reading all of my favorite blogs and after seeing some amazing posts, I think "How in the world did they have time to do all of this?" or "They must not work!" I work full time and drive nearly 65 miles to and from work a day. I know, I know, who doesn't!! No excuse. I feel like I can't keep up to keep things interesting here for you all. I feel like every time I write a new post, it's gotta blow your skirt up. It cannot be mediocre under any circumstance! So if have nothing completely amazing to share..then why share at all?

But I'd really like to change my mentality about blogging. I enjoy it. I love reading what y'all have to say. I get tickled pink that you all, YOU GUYS visit me to see what I'm up to and like me enough to leave a comment. It's a good feeling. But I'm not giving up! I'm going to write off my "inspiration block" as my Winter break. Not a whole lot is going on during the colder months, so maybe all of my Goodwill runs and redos needed a break too. So here I am, late January, and you know what? That effing hutch is half way inside!! I wish I could go into details but the bottom half is entirely too heavy for me and my husband to carry inside, so we'll have to employ one of Gabe's friends.

I was promised it'd be in the house by Thursday night because I'm taking Friday off and I'd love to have all day to get it primed and going. So we'll see. In the meantime, this is the current state.

Anyway, like I said, I'm taking Friday off. There's a reason for it, but I don't want to talk about it just yet.

Holy Crapola!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:19:00 +0000

Seriously. Is it just me, or is Christmas only 3 days away?

OK I know. I've been slacking. I'll just be honest. I'm not motivated lately. The hutch has been built, but I need to go out and sand it down. Then I can somehow ~~bribe~~ ask my husband to help me drag it's heavy ass into the house where I can paint it in the warmth of my house and not in a 27 degree garage where the paint would never dry.

Here's a sneak peak.

So, please know I'm not avoiding you. Life has just been kinda busy and as you can probably tell, I'm not into Christmas this year. So I feel like I'm being forced into Christmas and I don't wanna! With that being said, I'm still lacking two gifts and I'm tempted to just go buy some gift cards at the drug store's little gift card kiosk. Ugh, I'm just so not into it.

Please hang in there! I'll be back at the first of the year with some new stuff when things slow down.

In the meantime know I love you and happy holidays :)

Free Anissa !

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:28:00 +0000

I'm a huge fan of Aiming Low.

And when I read it's creator, Anissa, had suffered 2 strokes... my heart sunk. She's got 3 little ones at home, the youngest of which had Leukemia and is now in remission. They've set up a fund for her family if you'd like to help and I've stuck the button on my sidebar.

She is one of the funniest broads I've ever "met" and I know all of the gals at Aiming Low are pulling for her..as are all of her readers.

Here's to sending Anissa good vibes.

You're Name is Mud!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:03:00 +0000

So as you can imagine, I've been busy lately. Who hasn't right? With the holidays coming up and the weather changing I never know which way is up. Do I wear a sweater or tank top today? Is Thanksgiving seriously next week?

Anyway, I wanted to share a few pics of my little mud room redo. Nothing big, but I was pleased with the results.

This is what it looked like before:

Pretty normal mud room I guess. Because the room leads to the garage and connects to the laundry room, a lot of random mess gets caught up in here {as you can clearly see}

In our old apartment we used this Ikea stand for all of the TV "equipment" You know, the DVR, DVD player, XBox etc. All things I don't really care about, but they couldn't just sit on the floor.

Because I keep it real, here it is in it's place in the corner. Dust and all:

I know right?

I have zero use for it as a stand currently. But thought it might be the perfect height for a place to sit. So, with a few knobs from Hobby Lobby, it came back to life. Oh hell, I'll just show you the after pics.

Monograms, hello?!

The pillows, window treatments and seat cushion were all sewn by moi. It made for a fun sewing adventure! Most of the stuff on the walls was created by yours truly.

Not bad for a 'lil 'ole mud room huh?

We're Not Here to Judge, Are We Y'all?

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:26:00 +0000

The room I'm about to show you... you've seen a snippet of it before. But here is a corner of my kitchen I hate.

Why do I hate this? Because it's a dead space for me. I've got this wrought iron table I've had a hundred years that I did a mosaic tile pattern on that weights a bajillion pounds. And you can see, it's a great place to throw crap. And Oh! Hey! What about the sweet TV there THAT I'VE NEVER TOUCHED? In the TV's defense, it was there when we bought the house. Nice crooked painting too.

I'm not traditional. I sometimes take issue with spaces that I am expected to put a certain piece or pieces of furniture in. Like a formal living room for example. I own 1 sofa {that I pretty much hate for the most part} I don't have a "breakfast table" or a "nook" Hell, I don't even have a dining room! Why? Because I don't feel like: A) we need one, and B) we'd use it. I hope I don't come off snitty about nooks and settees, but it's just not my thing. We eat in the living room and watch the NBC Nightly News. What.

A few weeks ago I went with my friend Shanen to this place and I snagged some $5 cabinet doors. {I realize now that they aren't the same size, so I'll be going back this week}

Why am I complaining about my "nook" and showing you cabinet doors? Because I'm building a hutch to go in the dead space.

Because, my Dad is coming to Texas and bringing his saws! He's going to teach me how to use the saws {we're talking multiple saws, all sorts of different saws} and how to build stuff. Which, I personally, think I'll be good at. I know what you're thinking "So what, just use the saw!" but you obviously don't understand what kind of walking calamity I can be. This is for the best, I assure you.

Over the past few weeks, I've been compiling picture of some of my favorite hutches and wanted to know your thoughts. The hutch will be painted a off-white and since I can do whatever I want, anything is up for discussion.

Note: I don't have the image url for the last one.

Here is what I am looking for in a hutch: nothing too countryish, and something with open shelves. I mean, I'd love some glass cabinet doors, but it's just not in the cards for this one. I love #2 and #4. Also, I am a fan of beadboard. So I'm thinking about sticking some in the back. I'm pretty confident with this project considering I've got my Dad to basically help me with everything.

What do you think?

P.S. I know my background isn't loading. I think something's wrong with webs.com

Oo La La!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:54:00 +0000

Ya'll come out from behind Reader to come take a look. What do you think of the new design?

Yes? No? Maybe?

I'm Scared Ya'll.

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:11:00 +0000

I've got the new template all ready to go on my test blog but my husband is bugging me to go watch The Office.

No time tonight, I guess. I'll mess around with it tomorrow night.

Hey, have a great Friday :)

Got the 6 Month Itch

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:03:00 +0000

Maybe you noticed, but I took off the old header. Matter of fact, I lost ever piece of this blog when my PC crashed about 6 weeks ago. I didn't back up my blog images like my husband advised me to. Opps!

So, because I'm restless, I'll probably be changing things up again. Lucky for you, I have to make all new material! I don't have the old stuff to work off of!

We're Gonna Learn to Cook!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:13:00 +0000

I am totally stoked! I knew this day was coming but had no idea it'd be today!!

Ree Drummond aka Pioneer Woman's cookbook came to me today! I pre-ordered it off of Amazon months ago.

I'm a lurker over on her blog but I love her writing style. Like me, I feel like she writes like she talks. I feel like I'm reading a friend's blog that I've known for years. If I were to walk into her house, I'd feel completely at home...because we all know Ree right? She is THAT likable.

I'm totally banking on her cookbook to teach me the ways of cookingland. You don't believe me! But I'm serious!!

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading her blog, block out a few hours in your schedule to go take a read. I think you'll really enjoy it over there.

Oh! And BTW...you can snag 1 year subscription to Sunset Mag for $5.00!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:01:00 +0000

Go and grab this $5.00 subscription for one year to Sunset.

You are a loon if you don't. Now, go on!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:09:00 +0000

I love how inviting this chair looks.

P.S. I'm totally making that pillow.

Here's a stock tip--Do not put money in the antibacterial part of soap!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:37:00 +0000

Two posts in one day! Can ya believe it?

Ever since I stopped my horribly bad habit, not only is my sense of smell incredible, but I'm super conscientious about germs. I'm getting to the point where I'm carrying hand sanitizer in my purse. Which might be a common practice for most, but unusual for me.

Anyway, I wanted to pass along this post from Sherry at Young House Love. It's about antibacterial soap and how it's all a sham!

Needless to say, I am so disappointed and am now second guessing the "Antibacterial wash" on my dishwasher.

I struggle with: {Time Management}

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:53:00 +0000

See that? Go ahead, click on it.

I'm not ashamed of one thing on it! This is my personal list of things that I need to get done. As you can see, I'm having a time management problem. Only one thing is crossed off.

See, I've got this book. And I make my list(s) out in said book. For both work and home/blog/projects/sewing/shopping. If it' s not on the list, then it doesn't happen.

Oh and also, I got my first speeding ticket a little over two weeks ago. Thank god it was on my list, or I would have probably forgotten to call the lawyers about it.

While we're on the subject of things that irk me, my husband locked me out of the house and went out of town. I had to scale my two story house, try to remember if I had left any windows unlocked, and then shimmy through the window..in boots. I wasn't that mad after wards {read: the next day} At least I was able to get in.

Is this what we turn into as we get older? I've always been big into making lists, but seriously, my memory is getting worse and worse.

......and 30 is only two months away

Long Overdue Awards!

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:45:00 +0000

Because I am a horrible blogger {and partly scatter-brained} I always forget about blog awards. I've received one already from Momma Mitchie at Momma Mitchie's Blog and another from Jane at Finding Fabulous

So while it's fresh on my mind, I'm going to dish out my own blog awards!

We'll do the "One Lovely Blog Award" Momma Mitchie awarded me in July {yes, I said JULY!} Thank you Momma Mitchie!

The other lovely aware I received was the "Honest Scrap Award" from Jane. Thank you Jane!!

As a part of the award, I have to share 10 honest things about myself. Since you guys already know everything about me, this might be hard! But here goes:

1. I hate musicals. If there is singing in a movie, I'm out.
2. When I was little, I thought I was related to someone named "Niagara Falls" My maiden name is Falls. I had no idea it was a place, not a person.
3. I recently quit smoking. I'm on my 7th week.
4. I am a Great-Aunt 6 times over.
5. I like babies, but don't want one for myself. And please, I know my mind won't change.
6. When I was in Preschool, my Grandma used to give me a cup of coffee while I watched She-rah, before I went to school. I love that coffee taste/smell.
7. I do not own a pair of shorts because I hate my legs.
8. I have a hard time telling someone what they want to hear. If you ask me what I think about your new okra colored skirt, I'm likely to tell you it's ugly. I'm very straight forward and honest. Some find it endearing.
9. I don't wear lipstick because it tastes funny.
10. I had never tried Chocolate Milk until 2 years ago. I'm Diabetic! There's never been a reason to try it. Now I love it.

I'm going to take a risk here and maybe this is bad blog etiquette. But I'm going to combine the two awards, and list 10 blogs that I love to read. Two birds with one stone right? Call it the "One Honestly Lovely Scrap Blog Award(s)"

Happy Together
Hitting My Stride
Gingham Cherry
So Alaurable
It's Great To Be Home
My Rambling Thoughts
In the Mommy Trenches
The Rantings of a Drama Queens Mum
Raising Colorado
Pink and Polka Dot

What is the first thing that comes to mind when I say Fake and Succulent?

thepurplepeablog@gmail.com (Kristina at The Purple Pea) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:47:00 +0000

I wish I could tell you that my indoor plants were thriving and that all greenery in and/or around my house was totally blowing up. Figuratively speaking of course. But frankly, I'm sort of sick of live plants. The light isn't right, it's too dry, it's too wet, turn me, etc.

I've got a green thumb too so this sort of stuff comes easily for me. But I just can't seem to remember to do...well, anything to them- except kill them.

I'm not big into fake plants. The only fake plants I have are a few on top of my kitchen cabinets, which I don't even like and put there because I thought that's what I was supposed to do.

With that being said, I filed it in the back of my mind to look for semi-real looking fake plants.

Here's what I found:

Yeah looks completely horrible right? I got it for $2.99 because it was missing a chunk of the Styrofoam planter.

* I'd like to note one thing at this point in my story. I have a diversion to Styrofoam. I have a really hard time dealing with it. So much so, that if I have to touch it, or hear it, I automatically start talking through my teeth and get goosebumps. Styrofoam is my nails on a chalkboard and I will do everything in my power {usually} to avoid it. But because I think this is important, I trek on.... *

Do you see now why I bought this bundle of Styrofoam hell?

That's right, the fake succulents. They are all the rage right now, you know.

With earplugs in, I shoved a block of Styrofoam into a cheapy IKEA pot.

And then just stuck the succulents into the foam. Knowing that they were fake and stuck in foam, I decided that something had to go at the base for some sort of realistic feature. So I just used so flat river rocks.

And here you go!

The moral of this post is to remember not to overlook things. Take a second look and see how exactly you can take it apart, repaint or redo a piece and give it a new life in your home.

Oh! And make sure you go check out Inspiration Tuesday at It's Great To Be Home today