Pinterest Party

I can't even express how excited I am.
I am hosting a Pinterest Party soon.

AND NOT A VIRTUAL ONE!!
A real live Sleepover Pinterest Party
It is going to be crazy.

Here is the motto for the party.
I pinned on Pinterest of course

Each guest is bringing either the finished recipe or ingredients to cook something they have pinned.

We each have projects we are planning on doing/making. 

Some are simple, some are more complex. 

One guest is going to build a console table.

Most others involve paint. 

Which is a good thing because I know or least I think I know a little about painting. 

Here are some inspiration pieces I pinned that I am planning on reproducing with my own touch.

I wanted to do numbers but when I asked my son (for whose room it is going) what numbers he would want he said "RB" knowing those aren't numbers he giggled.  They are however, his initials so I will be doing, "RB in army letters and all scratched up like it is old"  his words.  I love that boy.

If I have time I am also going to do one for my youngest son. 

 He wants his orange with a big power T for the TN VOLS. 

I am also going to try this Hairdo!

So wish us happy crafting and pray for good weather, otherwise we won't be getting much painting done. 

I would love to hear about your latest crafting party...What you haven't had one?? 

Well, now is the time my friend. 

 All pins shown are on my board "pinterest party" !

Chalkboard Welcome Sign

We are having friends over this evening for a cookout.

I always update the chalkboard in our entrance with a welcome
message or inspirational quote.

To make this, I found an old empty frame and painted it blue with some brown glaze.

I cut a piece of thin plywood to size.

Painted it with brush-on chalkboard paint.

Then, I secured the board to the back of the frame with metal brackets.

Not perfect but who really cares, it is on the back and it works.

Since there were no hangers on the back, I attached these.

And hung those directly onto these things in the wall.

Love them and use them all the time but cannot remember what

they are called and all my packaging is gone.

So, there ya go! 

A quick and easy project!

Linking to:

Kitchen Island Wanna Be

I had the crazy idea that I wanted

to build/remake a kitchen island. 

I searched and searched for a good candidate.

I was excited to find this student desk on craigslist. 

 I measured and checked the listing measurements etc. 

Everything SEEMED right!

Knowing that I was planning on adding a base and casters, I didn't think much of the fact that it looked really small when we went to pick it up.

The listed measurements were correct.

I just wasn't visualizing correctly.

This was my first time re-working furniture.

Many times, I kept wondering, why it was I wanted to try this.

Since this project, I have finished my

Desk and TV Stand in our Master bedroom. and it turned out great!

So for this guy, I added, well, all the new wood. 

I added a base, that should NEVER see the light of day.

Thank goodness for trim.  Ha!

I found the trim at the Re-Store.

I added a shelf in the middle.

It is truly amazing, the POWER OF PAINT!! 

Since there was both old, stained wood and lots of new wood, I used a dark primer. 

I wanted it to all show through dark after distressing/sanding it. 

So, as you can tell the AFTER pictures are NOT in my Kitchen.

After all my hours of hard work, I was excited to bring my little island inside. 

Only to realize it was way too small in our kitchen. 

I had planned on adding a butcher block top to it

and have it hang off one side and form a "bar". 

Even though we have a breakfast nook, the boys like to eat breakfast in the kitchen.

So, luckily I had been looking for a piece to go on this wall in our living room.

It turned out to be "perfect" there.

I took the casters off and added legs.

It is hard to tell its size in these pictures but in the one above you can

see the light switch, so that gives a reference point.  

I was planning on painting a piece orange for that spot, but for now, green will do. 

So, I am happy that my mistake worked out ok in the end.

Linking to:

A Quick Shelf Makeover

I love it when I am not looking for anything particular and I find the perfect thing!  It is so much easier that way.

I found this little shelf at, what is becoming one of my most reliable places to find good pieces, my local Salvation Army. 

It didn't take long at all to clean it up, prime it and then paint in this fabulous blue.  I let it dry then sanded and waxed it.  It was so easy to work with.

Since our master "suite" is still in the process of transformation from builder blah to something I am still trying to figure out, I am not sure this is where it will stay.  For now, it is holding towels and other bathroom items. 

Oh and there is my Savannah Sign from way back when. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Master Sitting/Seating area

So, I "finished" this piece for our office/media/sitting area just off our master bedroom.  It is very heavy so once we put it in the space and I realized I didn't love the finish I wasn't very pleased with my work.  I didn't know what else it needed to make me love it.  So, it just sat there while we sat there in our seating/sitting area.  Ha!

Here is where we started...a white kitchen table.  It used to be, and is now again, with its twin in my craft room.  I like it much better in there. 

My husband needed an upgrade from an old, very slow and on it's last leg, laptop.  He chose the iMac and he loves it.  But, this meant we also wanted an upgraded desk.  Preferably, something that would also house the TV.  So we began to look and draw plans and figure out a way to keep it all within reason (budget).

Then I found this

It was my husbands first trip to the Re-Store...I knew I wanted it the second I rounded the corner and saw it sitting there.  He, on the other hand, was not convinced.  He could only see it there in its sad state.  Over the years he has learned to trust me and the next day...after he was shown a few Million pins on Pinterest, we went back to get it.  I was so worried it wouldn't be there, but it was.

. 

I also found a wooden file cabinet the perfect height at the Salvation army. We bought some wood for the desk top and some trim

I took out the top two drawers of the dresser and put a shelf in their place.  I Finished off the edges with trim, that I also found at the restore.  I added the legs.

I also added some flat peices of wood to the front of the drawers on the small cabinet so that I could use the extra hardware left over from the dresser drawers. 

I put it all together and painted it.  Leaving it unattached so it could be moved.

  

We had my sister and her family over for dinner, so her husband could help mine carry it upstairs.
And there it sat.

 UNTIL yesterday. 

 I finally just got over it and tried some anitiquing glaze on it.  It actually gave it the life it needed.  So, then I finished it off with some paste wax and a buffer.  And now I love it!!!

 

I don't know why I didn't try the glaze before...

Joining The Party at

I have been holding on to these tables for over a year now. 

Trying to decide if I wanted to keep them for myself or sell them.  Well, today I decided to finish them and posted them on Craigslist.

I primed them. Then waited for a little while. 

About 6 months.

Then I painted them a mis-tinted blue I picked up from Lowe's.   "Just right" blue if you ask me.

 Then, I waited another couple of months and today, I distressed them lightly to show some of the white and wood underneath. Lastly, I finished them with Minwax Paste Wax to give a nice smooth feel.

 I just wish I had room for them.  But since I don't, maybe you do.

Happy Mothers Day

This is what I made for my Mother in Law.

It was very easy.
I just took the pictures and emailed them to the computer.  Now that I think of it I probably could have printed them straight from my phone.  Anyway, I printed them out in the size I wanted.  These are 5x7.

Next, I just placed the print out on a piece of black card stock (didn't tape or anything) and just cut out the outline with an exacto knife. Then glued the cut out to a piece of white card stock and framed. 

This is so easy anyone could do it.

Here is our Christmas mantel from last year where I used a silhouette that I made in the "old-fashioned way" about nine years ago when my oldest was three.  Back then, I used a bright light and a bribe with candy if he would sit still while I traced his shadow. 

I will be doing this project again soon.  Especially now that it is so much easier using technology.  Ha!