Duvet.....

Finally! It has taken me awhil to get it done, but the Duvvet cover is finally finished. Don't judge my pillows without cases just look at the pretty duvet!

Magnet Board

Several months ago I purchased this....


I bought it for $1 at Goodwill and had a vision for it. I went to Michael's and picked out some cute trim that was on clearance. Well, since I am not skilled at cutting angles and making them fit back together I handed it over to my very skilled brother-in-law Austin. After a few months this is what I brought home.....

Isn't it amazing? He went totally above and beyond my expectations. Granted the trim is the only original part! I am completely satisfied and my vision has been fulfilled. Thanks Austin!!!

Dresser

So this project has been long awaited for me. For months I was searching craigslist for the perfect dresser. It had to be wood and have detail and lots of potential. I was literally looking every couple of hours, every day, for about 2 months. Then I found this.....


What a masterpiece and it was only $35. Well, of course I had to be at work and my husband was dealing with a back injury. I was very disappointed but I called and they said they would save it for me, but my husband being the amazing man that he is went and picked it up for me anyway! It sat on the back porch for about a month- I was in school and just couldn't find the time. School is on break and so last week I dedicated myself to finishing this dresser. I had picked out fabric for our new duvet cover and finding the perfect blue to match seemed impossible. Walmart was the only place that had anything close to what I was looking for.

First I primed it (primer is my new best friend.... it really cuts down on the efforts of sanding!



Then painting it the color.... it looked much better on the dresser that in the can. i can I just give some advice here? Use spray paint. It is way easier and looks great.



Next was a coat or two of black glaze to make the beautiful intricate details pop! And here is the final product.....


I seriously am in L-O-V-E with this dresser. I sat on the floor in front of it with a huge smile on my face for like 20 minutes, just admiring it once it was in the bedroom. Seriously though I really did, my husband thinks I'm crazy!

FINALLY....

It's about time I know, but school has been keeping me busy and unfortunately has taken away from my project time. So, here is what I have managed to accomplish over the last several months.

Back in April my mom called and asked if I wanted a chair. She had seen it sitting on the curb and I accepted it into my home with open arms. It needed a face lift, but had tons of potential.


I stripped her down and this is what she looked like. I thought she was pretty comfortable already so I didn't add any padding.


Now it took me some time to find the right fabric. I wanted something simple and not to intricate. And since it was my first re-upholstery project I wanted to to be simple. In that process of finding fabric I stumbled upon one of my new favorite stores. SAS fabric store on Indian School. OMG, so much fabric, so many options, and fantastic prices. Most places like Joannes home fabrics run around $30 a yard, well I got mine for only $3.99! And I can't wait to go back.

So after months of this chair sitting in the corner of my living room partially finished I used my off time to get it finished. Here she is....


She is a great addition to our living room and I am glad that it is done. And for my first re-upholstery I am kinda proud of it.

Lima Beans

I got this idea from another blog. Let me just say this is a very time consuming project. But once you find your groove its not too bad. It took me at least a month to finish just because I kept pushing it off. But here is my Lima Bean wreath, the first of many to adorn this door!

Mother's Day

This Mother's day I decided to hand make gifts. For my mom I stitched a family caricature portrait. I forgot to take a pic of the final project but here is the just of it.


And for Diane I made an apron. I think it turned out well. I love the pattern though!

Spice Rack

I found these spice bottles at goodwill for $2. I didn't love the look on them and was very prepared to put in some good effort to get all of the paint off of them. Well, I was truly mistaken. I soaked them in soap and water over night and they were spiffy clean when I woke up. no effort needed.


And then I found this rack at DI for $1. Actually I bought 3 spice racks and had to figure out which one fit best on the wall. Then black spray paint to coat the rack and the tops of the jar.


And I tried something new and bought some chalkboard paint. Taped off all of the jars and put a few coats on. It dries fairly quickly!! And is so fun.
And here is the final product.



It fills the blank space much better.

The wall above my stove was a little bare so I decided to clean out my spice cabinet a little bit. So here is what I came up with.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

In my new venture to redecorate, or rather actually decorate, the guest bedroom I decided this nightstand would be perfect. Of course it had to be red to match the desk. but here is how it turned out. It started as this...

And this is how it turned out. I must say that I LOVE it. It is totally up there with the yellow nightstand:)

Sew Fun...

Well, I got a sewing machine for Christmas and I guess I have been a little scared to try it out. I have been collecting lots of patterns and material and have some fun ideas so I decided to break it out yesterday. After fighting with the bobin things started to take shape. I kinda ignored the pattern and pieced it together myself. Hopefully that doesn't bite me in the long run. Anyway.... here is the finished project.



Everything fit great... except in the bust. I don't know what happened there:) And a huge thank you to my mother-in-law Diane for the Fabric! I love it:)

F-A-M-I-L-Y

This one was fun for me. I love picking out things that match my house! So this project was so simple and easy..... not to mention inexpensive. I think total for the board, paper, and letters I maybe paid $4. And I love it. And I had the absolutely perfect place to put it!!!!

Mellow Yellow

This is a nightstand I bought at the Good Will in Fountain Hills (seriously one of the greatest Good Wills ever!) It was a whopping $4 after my 20% off coupon. It had so much potential.


I have really been wanting to try this glaze technique that I saw HERE

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2010/01/yellow-furniture.html

I was really scared and nervous to try it I didn't think I had the talent. This night stand had just enough detail that I figured that it wouldn't hurt to try so here is how it went......

I had to Sand it first and let me tell you why. Do you remember in the 80's how the splattered pain look was totally cool. I guess this piece was from the 80's. Beneath the gold layer was a red layer and then blue, green, and yellow splatter! CRAZY. And all of the splatter was textured- thus the need for sanding.

Then I primed it. I tried the spray can primer first, but I am not such a huge fan. I had some laying around from back when we bought the house so used that. It took 3 layers to cover up was left of the splatter paint.


And I decided to venture out of my red and black comfort zone and go bold!!! Sunshine yellow:) Isn't it pretty:)


Then the glaze....




It was missing a knob, so I found some basic ones at Target. A 10 pack. They were oil-rubbed bronze, but I figured they could be come very versatile with a little paint. They worked out just perfect. And here is the finished product.....




And on my side note, I absolutely LOVE it:) I am so excited about this new technique and look. I can't wait to make a red one for my guest room. Also, since I don't have much yellow in my house I am selling this nightstand. If you are interested let me know....

David's Chair

When we first started picking out furniture David found this chair. He loves it. It is a beautiful and sturdy chair, just a little bit worn.


I had a vision in my head for it. It sat on the porch for awhile until recently I sanded it just a bit and stained it. I think it turned out great! And I think David was pretty proud of it too:)

Layers and hundreds of staples

I bought this chair at GoodWill for $3. Yes I said $3. It was in pretty much perfect condition. I didn't love the green and I really didn't have a place to put it but it was so neat I had to get it.




So I brought it home and it just sat for awhile. I finally got to JoAnne's and headed straight for the fabric clearance bin to find the perfect fabric. I had about 6 different ones picked out and couldn't decide so I brought 3 of them home.

After I removed the seat from the chair to begin uncovering it so I could recover it, I found this!



HUNDREDS of staples. UGGGGH really, do you need that many staples. Just as I thought I was done.....




Two more layers and hundreds of more staples. Who recovers a chair 3 times without taking the layers of first! It was frustrating to say the least, but then it transformed to this



And I love it. It looks fantastic in our guest bedroom!

At first...

This was the very first piece of furniture I bought to refinish and I am just now getting it done. It was a very simple and quick project but I just got caught up in so many other projects. But here it is start to finish:)And it only cost me $7.

Trial and Error

This dresser was a pain in my butt! Here it is before.





It took FOREVER to remove the layers of paint and stain from this. Sanding for hours and hours and hours. And several coats of paint thinner. I did however learn that they have thinner that comes in an aerosol can and I LOVE IT! It works so great and is much easier to deal with. So once it was all sanded it was time to paint it. I decided to try out spray paint for the first time. It worked but wasn't not amazing. By this point I was just ready to be done with it. So I painted the handle pink with craft paint, sealed it, and called it done. I know I shouldn't have rushed, but I was loosing my patience. But now it is done and its on to the next project!!!

Tall back chair.....RED

I know I know I am really letting red get to my head, but I can't help it. I just love red. I got this kids tall back chair awhile back. While it was already painted very nicely I wasn't a fan, but I saw the potential. So here is how it has progressed.

Total cost $6

I used left over paint I already had!