Goodwill Chair Makeover

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This weekend my friend and I braved the Midwest weather to try and find her a dresser for her new flat screen to sit on. We struck out on the dresser but I did find myself a couple of cute cane back chairs at goodwill for$ 4.99 each!  

About 4 years ago my dad made me a six foot long farmhouse table (yup, he's awesome) and benches to match.  I have been on the lookout for a couple of chairs to go at the head of the table for a dog's age, so I was super excited to find these guys!

They were a little beat up but the canning was all intact, they just needed a little pep talk.  I removed the seat and spray painted the chairs with a primer.  It took pretty much an entire can of Rustoleum's Heirloom white to cover both chairs. 

I sanded down the edges and any areas that might be distressed with natural wear and tear. 

 I painted some glaze onto the chairs wiping it off almost as soon as it went on.  The glaze just gives it that extra, gritty, old effect.  

Since my children beat the holy Hades out of everything, I have just decided I'm going for the "shabby, distressed, beat to hell" look (that's a thing right?).

I polished them up with furniture wax just to add some extra protection.

 I recovered the cushions in a black and cream fabric I bought at hobby lobby awhile back and viola!  

Chairs for my kitchen table.  Whew, that only took 4 years!

We are obsessed with honey badger around our house so my mom got me the pillow from etsy for Christmas.  I giggle every time I look at that little stinker in his crown.  

Our new little little kitty approves.  

One last before and after:

 

P.S. I'm linking up with these awesome blogs:

savvy southern style - wow us Wednesdays #103

skip to my lou - made by you monday
thrifty decor chick - february-before-and-after

Tales of a bored housewife...

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Maybe that's what I should have titled this little blog.  

I will do just about anything to avoid housecleaning.  Anyone with me?  Can I get a "holla"?  

Anywho...Instead of tackling laundry mountain or vacuuming my ever dirty floor I wander around my house trying to find little projects.

Don't get me wrong, every morning I spend some quality time with some special friends.  As soon as the wee ones are off to school we cuddle up on the couch together...okay I admit it...these "friends" are a cup of coffee and pinterest.  sigh...good times, good times.  

Before I begin totally rethinkng the direction my life is heading let us take a quick peek at my cutie patootie project.  

I saw this little number while spending time with my buddy pinterest:

                                                                  bjdhousedesign

Do you see a little project in the making?  Me too!  Actually I see several but let us not get ahead of ourselves.  It was the little etc. basket that caught my eye first.  I just knew I could do something similar with things I already had at home.  So I turned to some trusty tools.  

Enter my ancient hobby lobby stencils, my much loved sharpie marker, and a sea grass basket I bought a while back at Target. 

My little loveys are incapable of coming home and putting their shoes in the shoe closet (that is literally feet away).  So my entryway always looks like a shoe war zone. 

Exhibit A:

(and this is a good day-usually the hubster's shoes are also among the casualties)

So  I bought this little basket thinking they could just toss their shoes in.  Easy peasy right? 

Exhibit B:

Are you kidding me?  GRRRRRRR...

Oh well.  So rather than deal with the real problem; my children's lack of organizational skills, I decided to purdy up the "shoe basket" instead.  Are you seeing a theme here?  

Ta da!

At least she looks a little cuter with that one dusty lonely pair of flip flops in her and the scattered muddy, dirty, stinky boy shoes thrown in front of her!

  

Now...on to the next project or I may be forced to wash dishes!

P.S. I'm linking up with these awesome blogs:

skip to my lou made-by-you-monday #136

homestories a to z- tutorials-tips-link-party #93

savvy southern style wow-us-wednesdays #102

New Stairs!

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Oh my Lawdy!  I feel like I have abandoned this little blog!  I have just been crazy busy lately.  


I FINALLY finished this project and wanted to write about it!  I  have longed dreamed about doing something with my stairs.  Ripping the whole thing down and using a ladder even crossed my mind.  I mean really, the boys would just love me!  Or better yet a rope swing.  They could just swing down like Tarzan in the morning.  Coolest mom EVA!  No worries I haven't totally lost my mind.


Here are my lovely stairs before:

Snooze.  Not to mention the three crazies that live here and that horse of a dog have wreaked havoc on that carpet.

So while the hubster was recently on a trip I went out and bought myself a can of poly shades in Bombay Mahogany and a can of white gloss paint and went to town!  I also painted the little wall green to match the rest of the walls.  'Cause that beige wall covered in little hand and foot marks (I was blessed with climbers) was just nasteeee....


Here is what he came home to. 

I'm gonna be honest here, I was pretty stinkin' proud.  Do you know what he said? Do you?
He said "You made the stairs look to good, it just made the carpet look worse".  Serious.  Like a heart attack.  
Okay pull on your Pollyanna undies cause...
                            I'm getting new carpet!  
oh yeah, oh yeah...


So after 800 trips to every local carpet place within a 50 mile radius, my stairs now look like this.

Did you notice all the "junk" on that goofy plant ledge?  It is a hobby of my boys to see if they can land helicopters, planes, wrappers, window crawlers, etc. up there.

Sigh.

The joys of boys.

One last before and after:

What do you think.  I'm loving them!

I'm linking up to these awesome parties:

savvy southern style-wow us wednesdays #67

home stories a to z - tutorials and tips link party #62

project queen-turning the daunting into the do-able #33

Prettied up the Garage Door

 We have had some crazy nice March weather this week.  Which of course means the kids are outside playing.  I like to leave the garage door open so I can hear them fighting frolicking nicely in the sunshine. Plus it creates a great cross breeze through the house.  The only problem is that my garage door is right in my entry way.  It is one of those heavy steel numbers.

Shuddering as I look at this.  This is what you see when you look to the right after coming into our house. 
Apparently one of the boys took a hammer to it at some point.   
Why?  
Who knows.  
Because they are boys.  
Nuff said.  
Look how gross and dirty it is.  Bleeeech... 
So I got out some paint left over from this project and mixed it with some cream paint leftover from who knows what and got to work.


I wanted to do something besides just the paint. 'Cause that door is U.G.L.Y.


Here is what I ended up with. 

What do you think?   All the hubsters said was "It's a lot of words".  What is wrong with that man?
I used a simple transfer method.
All you do is print off the words in whatever font you choose and flip the paper over.  Color with pencil over the letters (on the back of the paper).

I used a level and some chalk to draw lines  onto the door.   If you have read any of my entries you know I am notorious for crooked writing.  

Then flip the paper back onto the printed side (not the side with pencil) and trace over the letters.  You will be left with the outline.

Then just fill in with paint using  a steady hand.  I only did one coat, I kinda liked the chalky painted look of it after one coat.

At least I don't have to look at that dirty metal door anymore.  Now if someone could just come clean up that garage...

P.S  I'm linking up to these great parties:

skip to my lou - made-by-you-monday 92

project queen link-turning the daunting into the do able #26

home stories a to z - tutorials tips link party #52

savvy southern style - wow us wednesdays #58

no minimalist here-open house party #21

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Lamp Shade Latitude and Longitude

I have long admired the demijohn lamps in Pottery Barn and it kills me when bloggers show a table full of demijohns they found at goodwill or better yet just beside the road!  Seriously. 
Where do you people live?  The Land of the Lucksters, obviously.  
Needless to say I couldn't find a demijohn where I live to save my life.  But my mom did find this little number at Goodwill for $3.99.  Many Thanks mommy!

 

Okay, so he isn't a demijohn (not even when I squint) but I liked him.  He had ripped black felt on the bottom that I painstakingly goo be goned off (my tennis elbow screaming in pain the whole time). 

He needed a special top hat so off to Target I ran (any excuse, right?)  and bought the bigger version of the lampshade I used here.  

I've seen a couple lampshades on pinterest with numbers on them but I wanted something special...I decided to go with the latitude and longitude of the town where the hubsters and I grew up, met, and fell in looooove. 

Using these supplies:

I made this:

When the lamp is turned on you can't really see the numbers.  

Awwwwwwww....so sweeeeeet.  I haven't been blogging much since I have been slogging my way through a h.u.g.e project.  It is the never ending project. Whew.  Can't wait to show you!

I'm linking up to:
mom 4 real - 4 Real Friday Link Party

School House Scraps- Weekend Wind Up
skip to my lou- made-by-you-monday-89
home stories a to z- tutorials-tips-link-party
savvy southern style- wow-us-wednesdays #55
no minimalist here-open-house-party #29
project queen-turning-the-daunting-into-the-do-able #23

A New Life For Some Old Frames

I have had these two pictures hanging on either side of my sliding glass door for for-eva.  My friend made them for me when we first moved in and decided on a rooster theme (it was the era of "themes" what can I say?).  She had the wallpaper up in her kitchen and just cut two roosters off her leftovers and "mounted" them on some paper. 

They were cute but I was done.  And just ask the Hubsters, that is not a good place for me to be.  Done with roosters and chickens.  I love them but...done. So my wheels got to turning.  I found this on pinterest, no source though, so thanks, whoever you may be...


                            


I printed it out on my silhouette and put it  right onto the glass totally crooked.  Of course.  But, ya know what, it wouldn't be my home if it was perfect.  So I will just grit my teeth and move right along.  I put burlap behind the glass and hung it low on the wall.

Then I popped over to the Graphics Fairy (LOVE) and found this guy:

                                   source:    

          http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

I placed him over an old cookbook page I found through google using fotoflexer and came up with this:

He is sooooo cute.  Feel free to take him!  I ran over to Office Max and had him printed up for .89 cents!

I can write a little note on him or our menu for the night with a dry erase marker!  I loooooove him!
I hung him above the table manners picture.  The frames are in terrible shape, but I am going to repaint our kitchen and I want to paint them some fun color.  Just not sure what yet.  

And the best part is it only cost me .89 cents.  I had everything else on hand!

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I'm linking up:
skip to my lou made-by-you-monday-83