Monthly Archives: January 2012

Project Valentine

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It is almost the end of the weekend waaahhh. But I really don’t have too much to whine about because I am officially going back to work (as a hairstylist) tomorrow. It’s been over 4 months and to be perfectly honest I can’t tell you what was worse the physical pain from the shoulder surgery or the emotional pain of being housebound with no income. I have worked since I was 13 and I didn’t realize how much value I put on being able to work. There were plus sides too! I started my blog, something I have wanted to do for over a year. I was able to bake Christmas cookies with my kids and their friends since I wasn’t the crazy overbooked hairstylist they have always known in December. I enjoyed time with Kaylee while she was home for the Holidays. So yes my reality changed a lot but it has as much good as it did bad. I can’t wait to see all my clients and catch up on what they have been up to.

Well enough about me, honestly this was supposed to be all about my Christmas Valentine’s project I have been working on and I am soooo excited to share! This project started in my mind in November and they were going to be Christmas presents. I was visiting one of my favorite blogs Shanty 2 Chic and saw Whitney’s Joy Plaques
 I fell in love and thought “hey I could do that”. I ordered the supplies online because a) we don’t have a Hobby Lobby and b) most of our Michaels stores don’t carry a lot but, as Christmas shipping goes I didn’t receive everything until 2 days before Christmas. Since then all the materials have been sitting in my craft cabinet until I had a brainstorm, why not adapt them for Valentine’s day decor. I am very happy with the outcome.

Here is what I started out with:

supplies for Valentine's plaques

Ignore the rock in the background, I didn’t use it. I did how ever use 3 pieces of wood cut from a 2×4, my sweet husband cut them and slightly rounded the corners for me. I used 3 wooden candle sticks 2 shorter and 1 taller. 3 finials and Gorilla Epoxy glue, not gorilla wood glue, it foams up, attaching them all with the epoxy and let them dry for about 30 minutes. Hindsight I think I would paint the pieces individually and then glue them.

unpainted plaque

After the Epoxy dried I spray painted them with Rustoleum Colonial Red. 2 coats

Plaque spray painted with Rustoleum Colonial Red

I then cut out some burlap into rectangles a little smaller than the plaque area, created stencils with my Cricut, using thick card stock so it could be used  as a stencil.

cutout burlap

I was a bad blogger and didn’t take any pictures of me stenciling but I used a Martha Stewart pouncer sponge, black craft paint and then stenciled on a piece of the cut burlap. I used spray adhesive on the back of the burlap and attached it to the painted plaque. To add a decorative touch I used fancy furniture tacks on all 4 corners. Here is the finished project. Do you Lurve them as much as I do???

I Love You Plaques

Buffet Vingette

I Love You Plaque Closeup

I can’t wait to share a few more projects, my Valentine’s mantle, Mister old window dressed up for Valentines Day and a new chalkboard paint project. Sometimes it’s hard to sleep with all of these ideas swimming around in my brain. Do you ever have that problem???

Amy

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http://www.thegirlcreative.com/2012/02/just-something-i-whipped-up-valentine.html

Fun Stuff Fridays

Martha and Annie work well together

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I found this lonely tray at Goodwill  and knew it was meant to be special.

wooden tray before

It was scratched up but it had dove tailed corners and was really solid. Then on a trip to Micheal’s I was looking at all the amazing Martha Stewart Craft Paint, additives and stencils.

Picture from   justsomethingimade.com

Well a nice stencil caught my eye and they used a stucco additive to the stencil paint to make it appear bumpy like stucco.

Martha Stewart Products I used

Then I got out my favorite new Love….. Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.I purchased at Roost here in Napa

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Waxes and Brush

I decided to use Tartan Red in the Martha Stewart Craft Paint and Stucco additive for the stenciled part. First I applied 2 coats of ASCP Old Ochre with a sponge brush.

After 1st coat of ASCP

No sanding before painting and after 2 coats I had great coverage. I sanded down edges to distress it a little, applied the stencil and stucco paint with a Martha Stewart Sponge Dobber (love them!)  Lastly applied a coat of clear wax and a few streaks of dark wax for the aged look. I LOVE the way it turned out!!!! What do you think?

corner and side of wooden tray

wooden tray after

I love the bumpy stucco look of the stencil.

So see how fun it can be to combine your two Crafting loves Annie and Martha!




The Makena Mae Lamp

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Hi this is a story of a little PB lamp that got left behind at Goodwill she was never used, still with her price tag on. She looked so sweet and lonely there.  My friend Nicole and I decided to rescue her for the small amount of 6.99.  Lucky for me, Nicole is having a baby girl…….Makena Mae any day now. So I had a sweet burlapy vision and this is what I came up with.

The Makena Mae Lamp

She is sharing a room with big brother Mason so we couldn’t get to froufrou, but I couldn’t resist adding a sweet burlap/tulle flower and a little burlap ruffle.

Now to be honest this is my first lampshade makeover and it is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, so it definitely not perfect. There’s a lot of “shabby” in the shabby chic. I had the material and buttons so for 6.99 it was worth a shot.

Here she is when we found her.

Makena Mae lamp before

Makena Mae lamp before with PB price tag

I spray painted and distressed the base with Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint. I took the material off the lampshade covered it with the light burlap material and used spray adhesive to attach it. Then put the trims on with a glue gun, hand cut the flowers out, hot glued them and attached the buttons.   Here is almost the identical before from Pottery Barn Kids, Check out the price.

This is a small scale project compared to Mr. Goodwill Hunting but he definitely is an inspiration to me!

Burlap/tulle flower

Burlap/tulle flower

One more look……..

The Makena Mae Lamp

What do you think?

I hope you are having a great weekend!

<3

Amy



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Furniture Feature Fridays

In Love with an Old Window….

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I am here with a new before and after. I fell in love with this old chippy wooden window at an estate sale and for $5 even my husband couldn’t say no to this love affair. Here is what he looked like before:

I could see his potential

and you can see my reflection in the window….

After I had my first adventure with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I knew he would be my next victim subject.

So I applied 2 layers of Old Ochre then just a few swipes with Duck Egg to add to the texture and make him look his age.

Old Window with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

To the left of the picture is 2 coats of Old Ochre with swipes of Duck Egg, on the right side of the picture is after 2 coats of clear wax with a little dark wax over it. I can not express how much I LOVE Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.   Can you see why?

So in Phase 2 I chipped away all the plaster holding in the glass panes and carefully removed them. I had some cork here from another project so I cut it to size and covered it with this lovely Parisian inspired fabric.

cork covered with fabric

I just hot glued the fabric around the cork, making sure there weren’t any wrinkles or creases.

The last phase was the dangerous fun part. Having never worked with chicken wire I learned to next time wear gloves. Yikes its sharp. I stole the chicken wire from my dad, he had it leftover from building his chicken coup, so note to self: next time ask dad for tips on working with chicken wire before you actually do the project. I used my staple gun and stapled one side of the chicken wire to the back of the window frame, cut it to size with needle-nose pliers (next time I will use something that will cut easier) and stapled the rest into place. This is how it looked after 1 side complete

one side with chicken wire

The opposite side I did the same. I bent the wire down with pliers after I stapled it all, to hold the cork in place. I am going to hang it right in my entry, the first thing everyone sees when they walk in the door. I think it will be fun to change out the pictures etc. for each holiday. So watch out mister you are going to be dressed up for Valentine’s day. Every mans dream come true.

window after

His close-up

What do you all think? I’d love to hear your feedback!

I really want to take the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint class at Roost Consignment on the 28th but after not working due to my shoulder for 5 months I can’t really justify spending the money yet. But it sounds like I would learn a lot! You can click here if you are interested in the info on the class.

Take Care,

Amy

PS If you are new to my blog click at the right hand side and follow me on all of my adventures.

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My Brain says “AHHHHH” after Organized Home Challenge #2

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Well it was a busy week visiting Kaylee down south and an “impromptu” garage sale today after cleaning out the shed yesterday. I have to admit I didn’t have a lot of time for week 2′s challenge from http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/kitchen-cabinet-organization.html but I did have time to shape up my pantry. I absolutely LOVE the way it feels when I open the cabinet doors. My brain says “ahhhh” when I look inside. It makes it really easy for the kids to find their snacks. I have found that having the plastic bins with labels make it really easy when I am baking or cooking. I have also been using plastic bins in the refrigerator to corral the different groupings of food like one for dressings, one for lunch meat etc.

Kitchen Pantry view 2

View 2 of Kitchen Pantry

A couple tips that I found that work so well. One is ditching the cereal boxes and use these plastic airtight containers and second  these glass jars from The Container Store rock! I used chalkboard contact paper and cut the labels with my Cricut. A fun thing I did, see the chalkboard container I put our instant oatmeal packets in,well I took a tin (cookies came in it) and spray painted it with chalkboard paint. It worked so well I am going to use this technique for more organization  throughout the house. I love me some chalkboard spray paint. I accidentally did week 3 challenge this week “pantry food storage” so this coming week I will do week 2 challenge by cleaning out my pots and pan cabinet and my lazy susan. Look for that post this coming week, along with a new project that I am totally in love with!

52 Week Organized Home Challenge

First Adventure with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

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Right before Christmas I was shopping in a great little consignment store in Napa on Lincoln Street called Roost. It is so cute. I was looking around and all of a sudden to my surprise I saw a display of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Well in all the furniture and DIY blogs I read they are always talking about how amazing this paint is for painting furniture. Especially some of my favorite blogs, Centsational Girl and Miss Mustard Seed, . So of course I HAD to try it. My mom had found the cutest little magazine rack/table at a great price and has been wanting me to repaint it to go in her new bathroom.

Magazine table before

I sanded it a little before I found the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Napa. With ASCP you do not need to sand first.  I bought a great color called Old White. I also purchased some clear wax, dark wax and a special wax brush. I did everything in the house on a drop cloth. There is no odor and easy clean up.

I applied it with a regular paint brush at first then used a sponge brush for the little feet and rounded edges. The top of this table was made of 2 pieces of wood with a seam down the middle that was cracking when it dried so is decided to just go with it and added Martha Stewart Crackle Medium to the top before the final coat. It dries in no time at all so within an hour I was brushing on a thin coat of the clear wax. Next comes the fun part, sanding. You may be cringing but it really was fun! All I did was use a little sand paper on the edges where I wanted the worn look and it just rubs off into a soft chalk. I applied another coat of clear wax and then took a little dark wax and applied it where I wanted the darker look. I emphasize a little because a little goes a very long way. When it was all done and dried it felt soft as butter and I love the way it turned out.

ASCP Magazine Table

A picture of the top with the Martha Stewart Crackle Medium

Magazine Table with Crackle

It was so nice how a little of the dark wax went in to enhance the crackle effect.

close up detail

I am looking forward to a lot of new adventures with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that I can’t wait to share!!

Have a great day!!

Amy

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Furniture Feature Fridays

52 Weeks to an organized home week 1

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If you remember my post http://winecountrymama.com/2011/12/30/welcoming-2012-and-good-bye-2011/ you’ll see that one of my 2012 goals, number 9 to be exact, is organize, organize and more organizing. To help keep me on track I joined
52 Week Organized Home Challenge

I figured this would help me be more accountable.

Week #1 Organized Home Challenge
Kitchen Organization: Countertops & Sink

I was glad it was a pretty easy one to start out. You really don’t realize how much clutter is on your kitchen counters until you see the after pictures wow. My goal is to keep my kitchen sink clean. No dirty dishes left in the sink. I have shared this with my children, we will see how it goes………

Here are my before and after pictures:

cluttered kitchen counter typical day

as you can see we definitely have a  junk mail/ litter problem

typical day

 

So I worked on de-cluttering. I put a couple of baskets in the glass cabinet for mail and papers. Deep cleaned the sink and counters.

I would still like to figure something out for the cords (chargers etc.)  I can really see how mentally it makes a huge difference having a clean sink and uncluttered counters.

clutter free

 

after: clutter free

 

kitchen organized

 

I love this cute little red plate it adds some color and corrals my soaps. When we put in our kitchen we put in an appliance garage that hides all kinds of clutter.

So my first week is done now it’s just keeping it that way that is the challenge.

Week 2 is going to be more of a challenge its kitchen cabinets

Was she singing to me?”

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This morning in the car after dropping off Ky at school a song came on the radio. It was a familiar song and I knew the words. Then about halfway through the song I REALLY started to listen to the words and I think Ms. Carrie Underwood was singing to me.

It’s so easy to get lost inside

a problem that seems so big at the time

it’s like a river that’s so wide

it swallows you whole

While you sit around thinking about what you can’t change

and worrying about all the wrong things

time’s flying by

moving so fast

you better make it count ’cause you can’t get it back

"Amy listen to me"

Well even if she wasn’t in the trunk of my car singing it to me (she mighta been busy accepting a Grammy or something) the words sure made me stop and think.  Even though this time off work is so stressful financially, and healing and repairing my self has been physically and emotionally draining, I need to count my blessings. I will look back in a couple years (well maybe 5-10 years) and think it was just a grain of sand not the mountain I am thinking it is now.

Have you ever had a song hit you POW over the head like that?

Also I am soooo excited to share 2 projects I have been working on. One is my first experience with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and I am truly in Lurve. My kids better not stand still too long I might try and paint them. It is so easy to use and looks great. My second project is a creation I am making out of an old window I got at a garage sale for $5. I can’t wait to show you.

So everyone make it a great day!

PS If you see Carrie trying to crawl out of the back of my suburban let me know or just push her back in ;)

Amy

Can I get a New Years Day do over?

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Well so much for the start of 2012 being a healthy year. I spent the first part of 2012 in the ER with a kidney infection. It was very painful but they took really good care of me at The Queen. So I want a do-over. Maybe if I rest, take care of myself I could pretend next Saturday night is New Years Eve and start the “New” New Year off right.
I will let you know if it works! Until then lots of fluids and rest are in my future.
I am looking forward to this afternoon though my sweet friend Brandy is coming over and we are going to make our Christmas Thank You Cards. (I will be sitting so that is resting right?)  I can’t wait to share!