Jessica Sprague Bloghop Starts Tomorrow!

Please join us starting tomorrow evening at 9pm CST for Jessica's 4th birthday bloghop! There are free goodies available at each stop on the bloghop (including mine!), so don't miss out on the fun!

New Digi-Frames Release and Some Mini-Makeovers

Jodee Lee released some simply gorgeous vintage postcard frames this week at Jessica Sprague! They are on sale for $2.40 right now...that's practically free! **wink** Check them out here! I just love Jodee's old-world style! I used my new favorite model, baby Jackson, for my sample this week...works great with a thrift store frame I had on hand!

I'm posting some before and afters today for some of the little thrift store makeovers I have been working on. I have a ton more in the works that may or may not show up in my little etsy store! :)

Before

After

Before (scary lighting!)

After

Before (the brassy tin bucket)

After

Before (I found two of these at GW)

After

I found the great tutorial for this "mummy" lampshade here! The pair of these lamps are on the bedside tables in my bedroom now. They are small and simple and match the brown and vintage blue color scheme we have going on right now. :)

Before

After

Have a wonderful weekend!

Chair Redo

I am finally posting my chair project from two weeks ago! This is certainly nothing too exciting, considering all of the amazing furniture transformations out there; however, this was my very first attempt at furniture and I am giving myself a big pat on the back for getting it done! :) The chair was a GW find and I only paid $4.99 for it. I used some of my Old White Annie Sloan chalk paint, which is really WAY too expensive to be using on a piece like this...but I needed something that would cover a surface that was not evenly sanded and had some old poly on it. I think it's adorable now all shabbied up and I even found some great pillows at Target to dress it up a bit.


This is my only BEFORE pic. You can't see the whole thing, but there's enough showing to know that it's a pretty standard, wooden kitchen chair.

And here we are after our first coat of paint.

And the finished chair after a 2nd coat, wax, distressing and a bit more wax.

I also wanted to share a makeover that I am sending to my mom. This is an amazing little key cabinet! I adore the great latticework on the front and the fabulous dark wood.

I used a Valspar color called "Vintage Blue"...it is a really great grey-blue! I used two coats of paint, distressed a bit and then used (my new fave) wax to seal everything. LOVE!

Thanks so very much for stopping by! Happy Thursday!

My New Nephew and a Sale!

I have been in Charlotte for the last week helping my sister with her new baby, Jackson, and he is truly an angel! I have never seen a baby with a sweeter disposition. He only cries if he is hungry or wet and spends a lot of time just chilling out and looking around with his sweet blue eyes. Just want to eat him up! I got this sweet picture of him that she is using on her announcements:

Don't you just want to kiss that little face?

I also want to mention that Jessica Sprague is having a great sale to celebrate the 4th birthday of her fabulous website and shop! Please go check it out!

Before and After...

So I spent all evening last Friday and then all day Saturday working on my two fun practice pieces and overall, I am happy with the way they turned out! I love the way the chalk paint really can be painted over any surface without stripping or doing any major work!

Here's the fun 70's table:

Before...

During the process... I used two coats of Annie Sloan's Old White Chalk Paint and then updated the fabulous existing hardware with ORB.

And, after--lots of sanding and then coating with Minwax Paste Wax. This is my new fave! So much better finish than a coat of poly.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will post the chair later this week. :)

Speed Scrap!

Happy Friday! This evening kicks off a big 4th birthday celebration over at Jessica Sprague's site. We are starting the fun with a speed scrap, starting at 9pm EST.  In case, like me, you have never heard of a speed scrap, here's what our amazing coordinator, Laurie has to say:

What is a speed scrap? The host of the speed scrap will lead you through creating a layout in just one hour. You will receive one set of instructions every 15 minutes. After you receive the last instruction, you will have one hour to finish and upload your layout to the Speed Challenge Gallery for that particular challenge. If you complete the challenge in the given time period, our Creative Team Member host will send you a download link to a special little freebie created just for you.

Please click here and come join us this evening!


Earlier this week, I splurged and bought my very first quart of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in "Old White".

I have been obsessively reading about this fabulous paint for the past few months in blogland and think I'm ready to try my hand at upcycling some great Goodwill finds this weekend! Hopefully I'll have some great "after" photos for you next week...for now, here are the "befores":

I just want to give this great 70's (??) piece a BIG kiss! I love it so!

Just $9.99 at GW this week!

Wish I could strip the top and refinish the wood; however, after sanding a bit last night, it appears that the top has a veneer of some sort (like formica or something?). Oh well!

This chair is hard to see, but at $4.99 it was tough to pass up as a "practice piece"!

Have wonderful weekend!

Just added more goodies!

I am having so much fun with my little etsy shop! It really is amazing all of the treasures I have come across at Goodwill now that I am looking. "Looking" is actually a bit of an understatement..."stalking" and "obsessing" is more like it! I find myself in one of my two local stores at least once a week, but figure that with most items at 99 cents or $1.99 I am better off there than at Banana Republic or J. Crew, right? :)  I made a little trek over lunch and found a ton of goodies...many of which will probably stay in my home rather than making it onto etsy. Can't wait to share a picture of the funky 70's side table I picked up for $9.99! I have ordered some Annie Sloan chalk paint and am so excited to give it a go with this fun piece!

Here are some recent goodies I have added:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Can you believe tomorrow is Friday already? Just a few more days until I get to see this little sweet-pea (my new nephew!).