Spring pillow

Who say's spring and fall don't mix? My house is so fall-color-dominate that it's hard to "spring it up" but I found this fabric, Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry and fell in love.

Look my other pillows match!

Lovely! Watch out pillows, now I know how easy it is to cover you...we might need new covers for every season.

I have a lumbar pillow waiting for this fabric...

Alrighty Then

OK, I just love the New Year.
And this year, I'm back to blogging. I don't want to intimidate myself again. So I am shooting for one post a week. Easy enough? I think so. Lets stay connected Lou!

So... we closed on a home in August, did some some serious stuff, including paint. And then we decided to move. It was rough. There was a lot of stuff. These were my color choices. ...and the fitting color of my dreams, for the accent wall, is the dark center green-blue. Its Behr's Agave Nectar. I have been up to my neck in projects. Its so fun. But, like Laura, I do need to document. So, I'll toast with my Martinelli's and... hope for the best!

Wall-hanging revamp

A New wardrobe of paint.

All the metal fixtures.... This was a gift- And it just hasn't felt right....so....

With Yellow being so HOT... I must incorporate it a little more....
Just whip out some Yellow Spray Paint, cover completely.

Then out with the acryllics..... I used Grass-green, turquoise, Sunshine Yellow, Royal blue. At first I started painting things certain colors, but then- i messed up, and had to fix it. Got a little wild- I got to mixing things. I was in Da vinci-mode using my color pallet. A little of this and a little of that. And to finish- I usually Add WHITE! I got out the white last-WHITE is an Artist's secret. You add white, and viola.. its like adding heaven- the purity... just think of flower arrangements (baby's breath)... if you're ever struggling with a painting, flowers, and color ensemble ...ADD WHITE!! (it took on a light-yellow)

I got out the power-sander, with 80grit. (I wanted FAST results) And just touched it all over. This is sometimes where I get outta hand! But managed ok.

To Finish it off, I pulled out some Mini Wax Gel Stain. (in Walnut) Ever so lightly I rubbed it on with a rag, and... a little piece of lovely. It was so fun. And fast! Now That wall is so light. We need to repaint....

Enjoy.

bitten by the painting bug.

While my table was drying (see earlier post) I started on a new project. I had the painting bug and wanted something new to do.
I have a telephone cabinet, that also holds all of my children's arts and crafts supplies. I bought it from Target years ago, and never thought it fit in with my decor. So I knew I could do something different with it.
I forgot to get a before picture in it's place, but here it is in the garage before I started the transformation.
See this hardware has always bugged me. Is it oriental? Or rustic?

So I lightly sanded and painted the cabinet Nutmeg from Rust-Oleum spray paint.



Then I added some black paint to some glaze and painted it all over. Wiping off as much as I wanted. It really added a distressed look. Then I changed out that confusing hardware and added some numbers just for fun.
I'm so happy with how it turned out, and can't wait till my next project presents itself.

Finished!

After sanding, priming wood parts, and painting my table is finally finished. The rain was determined to slow me down, but I finally finished. So here is a few things I have learned:

-spray paint is my new best friend.
-spray paint can look uneven so you'll have to roll the top with regular paint. Luckily I had some lying around.
-not all blacks are alike. You can tell from the photos the table top and legs don't match. Luckily you don't notice it much in person.
-polyacrilic spray from Minwax is NOT worth the hefty price tag. It's around $10 a can and it was really hard to work with. I ended up having to go over everything with stuff from a can and a foam brush. I will not use the spray in the future.
-lastly I learned...embrace what it is. I am a perfectionist, so this concept is hard for me. So I look at the mismatched black, nicks I didn't fill in, and bubbled paint in one or two spots as character.

Use the one on the right, not the one on the left.

Pillow Power

Winters are long in New Hampshire, so I decided to try and inspire the weather outside, with some changes inside my house. I started with my rugs, I traded the downstairs "flower rug" with my upstairs solid red rug(not pictured). Next I went to pillows...

Can't you just hear the birds singing? No? Okay, well in a few weeks they should start singing. again.

Sidetable Makeover

My friend gave me this lovely side table, it's perfect for my magazines and kids books but...it didn't match the rest of my living room furniture, so I gave it a makeover.

I started with sanding and painting with primer, this Gripper worked awesome.
Then two coats of black paint, and two coats of polyurethane, since it will be getting lots of ware and tear.

I added a cute silver pull, so my silver lamp had a buddy, and Voila'...



I really love how it turned out and can't wait till spring so I can tackle my dining room table.

Valentine Decor

My mantle. Thanks to my Cricut- I was able to cut perfect hearts to make the garland. Cut and tie them all together- as you can see there is one stubborn heart (at least you can see how they are all tied.) The idea of the burlap wreath came from here. And I did the roses myself!

So... I went to All A Dollar, and bought pink and red roses. My daughter and I had a girls-night and painted them with Martha's glitter glue, and spooned glitter, shook them, set to dry. Then, I just took the picks, pressed them into a brick of floral foam, wrapped it in ribbbon, and viola! All for $3! So excited. I love glitter!
My MIL bought me the LOVE letters, but I am certain with a little modgepodge you could make these yourself! Michaels, JoAnn's everyone's carrying letters these days. I also get a ton of use out of them. Just about EVERY bridal shower I use them as part of the table centerpiece. The little topiary came from The Idea Room. (which is a blog i check all the time!) love her!
This was a super-fast project, taken from Tatertots and Jello. Great inspiration there too!
The wreath is also from here. Way time consuming. Don't know that I could stand to cut circles for 2 hours again... but wait, its lovely! I still want to add some ribbon, but haven't found the right look- and well, time is running out- so I just hung it. And those candles are straight from Smiths- the grocer! ($4.99)