Primitive & Proper

Friday Guest: Megan from Miss Madison's Charmed Life (And Come Visit Me at Oak Ridge Revival!)

2012-02-10T05:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday! Anybody have any exciting plans this weekend? My kids are headed to my parents for a couple nights, and then we have Emmy's "boyfriend"'s birthday party. She says he is her boyfriend anyhow. ;) So tomorrow, I am hoping to maybe find some new pieces to work on. Oh, and speaking of FINDS, come visit me at Oak Ridge Revival today! Andrea has asked me to be her first guest in a new series about favorite finds! So if you want to know what my all time favorite find is, hop over and see!

Now, time to introduce my own guest this Friday. I am so excited to have Megan from Miss Madison's Charmed Life. Megan is super talented and has a fresh, fun style- she is a breath of fresh air and radiates energy! She is full of creativity! Her latest project has me wanting to do this one day... check out her dyed ruffled bedskirt!

Isn't that fabulous???? I am in love! Moody and dark and ruffled! I will let Megan show you today just how awesome and fun she is!

Hello Primitive and Proper readers! As I'm sure you all know, Cassie is like super awesome and I totally stalk her blog every single morning when I get up, so I'm uber excited to be guesting {um, is that a word?} today! I blog over at Miss Madison's Charmed Life, Miss M is my chubby cheeked 2 year old.

She's a mini me and we don't USUALLY dress this way, just special occasions :)

I blog about a great many things, like my long road to losing over a 100 pounds and my home decor projects. Today I wanted to share one my FAVORITE projects, my living room wall was a thorn in my side from the day we moved in. It's large and because the TV has to be on that wall I couldn't find a good way to decorate it. One day I decided to try painting chevrons on it, I just pulled everything off the wall {while my husband was watching TV} and started painting :) I'm not really a planner, I just get an impulse and do it!

First, I divided my wall in to 8 sections and using a laser level put up vertical stripes. I decided to use stripes down the middle of the chevron to avoid any 'Charlie Brown' looking zig-zags. {I used a 3m putty sticky thing to get the laser to stick to the wall}

Next I measured down 10 inches on each blue strip. I *kinda* planned this out by dividing the height of my wall by the number of chevrons I wanted. I was really unsure how many would look good, I didn't want it to be too much and make me dizzy every time I looked at it.

After marking it on the tape, I then just connected the dots starting in the upper left hand corner by the ceiling.

{Don't worry no crazy climbing 2 year olds were hurt during this tutorial.}

Next I used the same color grey that is already on the wall to paint along the tape where I wanted to place my second color, this stops any bleed through so when you pull the tape off you have perfect lines.

Next paint your second color in, mine was Martha Stewart Talc {the grey is Pebblestone also from Martha}

While the paint is still wet pull it all off, if you wait for it to dry it will peel off the paint too.....trust me :)

I used Scotch Edge Blue Tape and the results were fabulous!

Now I'm in love with this wall!

Thank you so much Cassie for having my 'over'! Hope you all enjoyed my tutorial!

Thank You's and a L'il Announcement

2012-02-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hey there! I have a special announcement! As of today, I am a new monthly contributor over at Remodelaholic! I was so excited when Cassity asked me to join her team- Remodelaholic was one of the first blogs I followed and is chock full of inspirational ideas. I will be there the second Thursday of every month. So hop on over and visit me!

And now....
It's time for me to pay some thank yous!

Knock on wood, I tend to have fairly good luck with it comes to giveaways. Recently I was the lucky winner of a few...

I won Sherry's giveaway over at her blog Design Indulgence. Sherry always has monthly giveaways antd they are always SO fun! She also happens to be an incredible designer, and also the best friend of my boss at one of the gyms I used to work at. Small world, huh? Sherry grew up in Severna Park (where I used to live!), but no longer lives there. Anyhow, here are the goodies I received!

This fabulous book on entertaining...

Sorry the picture is sideways, but here is my favorite picture in the book!

This cheerful yellow pillow...

This gorgeous vase....

And also two huge summery pillows I am saving for warmer days, but here is the picture from Sherry's Blog.

I also won a few bottles of fish foam from Jeannie at Maxwell House. I need to take some pictures to share with you how awesome this fish foam really is! I tried it on my windows and I seriously have not seen anything clean glass like it! It's amazing!!! Until I get some pictures of that for you, how bout some picture of the talented Jeannie's home? I love her bathroom!

Over at Our Humble Abowed I won (again from them!) for an art print giveaway from Scissors, Paper, Mouse. I let Emmy choose a print for her room. I plan to build some shelves for her some other art prints and I thought one of these prints would be a perfect addition! Here is the one she chose....

Yasmin, the shop owner was so nice! When I told her that I let Emmy select one for her room, she told me I could also choose another for myself! Well alright! I chose this print that I am going to put either in our master bedroom or bathroom.... I love the glitter!

Aside from my lucky wins, I also received some very nice gifts from my friend Allison! We received a package with an adorable sweater for Emmy (for her birthday) and some goodies for me. There was an owl ornament (which I put away for next year), and this little guy who sits overlooking the top of our stairs....

And this sweet rose heart that I placed in this glass jar....

So thank you so much for all the goodies everyone! They are much appreicated!!

25 Things

2012-02-08T21:46:00.000-05:00

So many of my blog friends are participating in 25 things with Shaunna. I read Kara's, Tonya's and Sarah's.... And this may be just an exercise in writing and talking about myself and maybe no one will read it. And that is OK by me! But if you want to get up close and personal, then read on, friend, read on!

1. My skin is so dry I had Chris stop at the body shop to buy me body butters. Today I tried the Almond and I could not stop smelling myself because it smelled so good.

2. I finished the Hunger Games series a few weeks ago and have yet to pick up another book. I just can't yet.

3. I have an iphone, but I don't like apps. I tend to fight technology until I am ready to come around to it in my own time.

4. When no one else is home I sing along very loudly to my music and imagine that I sound really good.

5. We went to a party at a little gym type place and there was a huge trampoline. The rest of my family was jumping on it so I decided to join them. And I came really close to peeing my pants and had to get off after less than one minute.

6. Ok so really I peed a little and then got off.

7. I believe in honesty above all else.

8. I worry about how on earth we will pay for college.

9. I love American Idol. And now I love watching my kids play it... picture them out in the driveway. Emmy is sitting on her big wheel and Sawyer is standing facing her. She is saying, "Alright, where are you from and what's your name? How old are you? And what are you going to sing for us today?" And then Sawyer sings some made up song. And Emmy says, "I'm sorry, baby, but you're just not ready. Come back again next year." Seriously that was the highlight of my weekend.

10. I believe in the power of the hug. Hugs are the key to happiness.

11. My front tooth was broken years ago when I fell of my bike. It has been repaired several times. It chipped right after we moved here, but it's not noticeable enough for me to want to go fix it because I dread the dentist. See the chip... (a blog post needs a picture, so here it is!) Not noticeable, so no need to fix it just yet, right?

12. All four of my grandparents are deceased, but I really miss my Grampa and wish he was still here. I would love to see him play with my kids.

13. I get up most mornings and leave the house when it is still dark with Jake for our little mountain walks. It's hard to get out of bed sometimes, but I love that quiet solitude, and I love the moments where Jake keeps jumping up at me as we are walking to show me how happy he is that we went.

14. My hair is still naturally brown, knock on wood.

15. I am a creature of habit. I eat the same breakfast every morning... a banana before I walk, then when I get home a bagel thin with whipped cream cheese and 2 egg whites and coffee. Every morning.

16. As a child I was obsessed with Debbie Gibson and I wrote her several letters. She never wrote back. It still hurts. ;)

17. I never thought I would get Chris to live out in the country. He really loves me. :)

18. I am afraid of diving or jumping in water.

19. I was put here for a reason, but the reason is not yet clear to me.

20. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to go on hikes with me.

21. I wonder when everyone will start stripping all of my work and refinishing pieces in wood tones again.

22. I really wish I had worn my retainer. Mom, I know you are reading this and I am so sorry.

23. I have a small mole above the left side of my top lip (you can sort of see it in that picture). In middle school another girl asked me if I drew it on. Um, no. I guess that was the age of Cindy Crawford, but seriously, people.

24. I would really love to change the name of "Primitive & Proper" but it's so old now I am kind of stuck with it!

25. My happiest moment today was this morning at the breakfast table. Sawyer said "Emmy, on your first ay of kindergarten, I am going to walk you to your class. You are really going to love kindergarten- you get to go to recess first!" He is so excited for her and proud of her. And the moment they shared at the table melted my heart.

So there you have it.... 25 things about me! And it was actually hard to think of which makes me realize that number 26 might be I am boring! :)

Head over to Shaunna's if you want to play along!

Snow Day Flowers (in a Chalkboard Crate)

2012-02-08T12:44:00.016-05:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring some flowery cheer to your day!
Click here to see today's earlier planned crafty post!

It is snowing here, too cold to work! But I managed to finish up a little project I worked on this weekend. I painted a, old fruit crate with chalkboard paint, filled it with the lovely flowers my brother and Viri gave me, and am enjoying it on this snowy day! Though it will be landing in the shop soon.
(Clearly I am on a chalkboard kick- there was yesterday's gold chalkboard, and check out my chalkboard conversation hearts in the background I made from 50 cent wooden hearts I found at the Salvation Army!)

I hope this project brightened your day like it is brightening mine! And I hope if you are getting snow, too, that you are enjoying the view out the window as well!

Sharing here:
My Repurposed Life-Catch as Catch Can

Shimmery Heart Pillow (AKA, "Look Ma, I Sewed! & Even Baked, too")

2012-02-08T06:00:00.003-05:00

Before I begin, I want to extend a ginormous thank you to Amy of Whisperwood Cottage and Jickie Torres of Cottages & Bungalows for selecting my craft closet as one of the 12 finalists! I was honestly shocked, and don't really think it will win (not being negative here people, just honest!) , but I am honored to be among such fabulous projects. If you haven't seem them yet head over to check out the top 12!

Yesterday Emmy and I took a "Mommy & Me" baking class offered by the local rec. department. We had a blast creating different dishes. We were able to take much of it home, and Daddy was lucky enough to choose from leftover pizza, leftover spaghetti, or Emmy's own baked mac n cheese, or Emmy's own taco pie for dinner! She was so proud of herself, and when I told her I was going to let her cook for me all the time, she was all for it! :) We even made these healthy muffins (we add chocolate chips) later in the day, too! We make those muffins all the time now because they are healthy and the kids DEVOUR them. They even choose them for dessert over cookies and ice cream sometimes!!! You should try some! Super easy to make.
We ended the day doing a new yoga dvd with our neighbor and her daughter as well, while Sawyer tried to quietly play with his loud monster truck around us...

Anyhow, I should stop boring you and get to a project.
My mom taught me how to sew when I was pregnant with Sawyer.... and I became addicted. I loved it. I sewed all the time when I wasn't at work. I sewed on the weekends. I sewed in my sleep. I was eating, breathing, living sewing! Then when the second baby came along, she was not a great sleeper, and I had to be careful of sound... but I needed a hobby so I picked up a paintbrush. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now my kids are older (at the old ages of 5 and 6) and every once in a while I am inspired to sew. So I sew. I just made this heart pillow cover by combining my hobbies- I painted and I sewed it! :)

Hop over to The DIY Club to see how I did it!

Piece of Work Wednesday Furniture Link Party Number 74!

2012-02-07T16:00:00.002-05:00

NOTE: sorry about the pixely pictures in the first links.... i had the linky set up with thumbnails that were too small but it has been corrected. if you want to delete and relink so your thumbnail looks better- feel free!!

Happy POWW!!! I have a fun little chair makeover for you today! A couple of years ago I picked up a few of these chairs for free from craigslist. As you can see, the caning was torn on a couple of them...

A year or maybe two ago, my dad helped me cut out some new thick plywood seats for the chairs so I could cover them. Since I only have 3 of these chars I am not keeping them as a set and plan to do each differently. My assistant helped me add batting and fabric to one wooden seat- we stapled it on. Here is my assistant, holding the newly cushioned seat.

Now, for the chair I used a new to me brand of paint! I had heard about a new paint called CeCe Caldwell's from my good friends Julie and Sharon, aka the Vintage Shabby Chicks. You can click here to see what the ladies say about the paint, but when I heard it was made in America, low VOC and packaged in recycled containers, and can be used without much prep or without sanding I knew I had to try it so I ordered some! I love buying products that are eco-friendly and socially responsible as well. I ordered Seattle Mist which is a gorgeous gray and decided to test it on the chair. (Because I do NOT like sanding chairs, as I mentioned last week!)

So I did not sand and merely wiped the chair with a rag to remove dust. I applied the first coat of paint, and it went on very easily- it was very liquid like and easy to work with. It dried quicker than any paint I have ever worked with but because it is so fluid the finish is smooth and not streaky. It also dries much lighter than the paint goes on when wet. After just one coat the paint stuck like no other I have tried. I added a second coat for better coverage, and then distressed by hand. I applied CeCe's wax with a brush and the results were beautiful. The chair has a gorgeous rustic and weathered look that I love! Check it out....

And here is my assistant modeling the chair for us, in her gymnastics outfit. She only takes the class once a week, but almost every day at some point changes into her clothes and practices dance and tumbling moves. She is a funny gal.

So there you have it.... a fun little chair, an adorable assistant, and a fabulous new paint!

So what have you been up to? Please remember the rules- I have been a little more lenient but I am going to start deleting posts again if the rules aren't follows. Sorry guys!

RULES:
1. Must be a follower.
2. YOUR PROJECT MUST BE A FURNITURE BUILD OR REDO. I allow portions of the house, such as built-ins, cabinets, vanities, etc that are more like furniture, but anything else is pushing it!
3. YOUR PROJECT MUST BE NEW TO THIS LINK PARTY. I do not want you linking up the same projects week after week. I already saw it the first time!
4. No Etsy shops or the like. This party is for creative sharing and not selling.
5. Place my button or a text link in your sidebar or post. If it is not there, you will not be able to be featured.

And yes, I know I sound like a big meanie, but to me it is about respect and if you can't follow the rules, that shows a lack of respect- not to me, but also to the other people who come here to link.

Now, let's see whatcha got! And remember to leave others some comment love!

A Happy Accident Chalkboard & A New Party

2012-02-07T06:00:00.008-05:00

A couple weeks ago when I painted my nightstands with glossy red oil based paint to prepare them for gold leafing, I also painted a large mirror frame. I figured I would gold leaf that as well if I had enough leafing left. I ended up with only a few sheets left which was not enough to get around this frame which is about 3 feet tall and 2 1/2 feet wide. Of course I don't have a before picture, but just picture a plain maple hued molding style mirror frame. It also had a backing, but the mirror had broken (before I got it). So I thought it was kind of cool in the glossy red, but I wasn't in love- I wanted gold! Luckily, I had a can of gold spray paint on hand. I don't know what brand- it was the generic brand available at Michael's.

Anyhow, I had liked the red showing through on my nightstands as seen here:

So I thought I would paint them with the gold over the red, distress to show the red and be all set. But the gold paint had other plans.... When I sprayed it over the red oil paint (which had been dry for almost a week!) something in the paints didn't agree and the gold crackled in some areas. But guess what... I really liked it and thought it looked super cool!

So I continued on with my project! :) I used the backing of the mirror and trimmed it slightly with my circular saw so that it would fit into the mirror inset of the frame. After it was trimmed I painted it with two coats of chalkboard paint, added it to the frame, added some hangers to the back of the frame, and voila, project complete!

And here are some detail shots so you can see the effect the paints caused....

See- the crackling is subtle, not everywhere and looks cool! This huge chalkboard will be for sale in the shop soon! Though I really wish I had a place for it.

Also wanted to let you know that we have a new link party at The DIY Club for all you pinners out there. Here are the details!

Here is a fun new party to get us all inspired and find some new creative types to follow with Pinterest! Here is the scoop on

The PINTEREST Project at The DIY Club!

On the first Monday of every month we will post the theme for the upcoming month. Some months will have colors, some seasons, some – well who knows that is part of the surprise!

The theme for February is RED!

Now, are you ready for the RED PARTY now?

The RULES – Here’s what you have to do:
1 – CREATE a Pin Board (on Pinterest) and name it: I {heart} RED at The DIY Club
2 -FOLLOW The DIY Club on Pinterest
3 – Make your first pin the link to THIS POST AND USE THIS PIN IT BUTTON RIGHT HERE TO DO SO! Pin It

4 – Fill your board up with RED inspiration Include anything RED that inspires you (clothing, accessories, crafts, furniture, repurposed items – you name it, it just has to be RED!)

5 - Link it up – link the url of your “I {heart} RED at The DIY Club” pin board to the linky here (PLEASE LINK YOUR PIN BOARD…not your blog)

Schedule:
First Monday: Theme is announced
Second Monday: Linky Opens
Third Monday (at midnight PST): Party closes
Fourth Monday: Features and maybe a hint to the next months theme!
We will feature THREE – 3 – Boards!
Just remember to follow the RULES for a chance to be featured.
And in the meantime we will all find new fabulous boards to follow and inspiration to inspire out creativity!
Pin It

Sharing here:

An Interview with the Kiddos & MirrorMate Winner

2012-02-06T06:00:00.004-05:00

First of all, just wanted to let you know that our shop, Persephone, is now on Facebook! Thanks to Sarah for taking the reins with that one! Hop over to check out our page and even like us if you feel like it! Please? :)

I am so excited to be sharing a very fun interview I conducted on my kiddos, Sawyer and Emmy, over at one of my favorite blogs, June and Bear. Hop on over there to hear answers to questions such as, "What do you like most about yourself?" and "What is one new thing you want to try this year?". I had a very hard time keeping a straight face while conducting the interview.... I mean look at these jokesters! (We took these photos using the camera on the computer during an American Idol commercial!)

And here is the next Eminem, yo.

Yeah, we are a family of goofballs! So head over to June and Bear to hear what the mini goofballs have to say about life.

And finally, the winner of the MirrorMate giveaway is #111, Joy. Joy, please email me at cassie8978@gmail.com by Tuesday at 8 pm to claim your prize. If I do not hear by then a new winner will be selected.

Opening Day Recap, Paying it Forward, and February's Before

2012-02-05T06:00:00.005-05:00

First of all, let me just say, yes, I am cramming a lot of info into one post.

It is Saturday evening as I write this post, and I am exhausted- about to snuggle in with the family and watch Rio and try to stay awake. Sarah and I had a fabulous opening day and are so far enjoying being a part of the wonderful Wild Rose team that has welcomed us with open arms. Lynette is the sweetest shop owner and I am thoroughly going to enjoy working with her.
I also want to extend a thank you to the people who made an effort to come out and visit us today.... our friends Leslee, Debbie, & Michelle, Brooke, Sharon and her fabulous daughter, Megan, Rebecca, Shannon, and Gail. We truly appreciate your friendship and support!
Thank you also to my brother, Dana, and his awesome girlfriend, Viri for having flowers delivered to me at the shop. That was the sweetest surprise!
And of course, you need to see photos...
Here is a picture of Sarah and me (nabbed from Sharon's blog!).

I already shared photos of our space the other day, but here are some other shots from around the shop...

The ladies in the shop all work together so well to create a beautiful, cohesive, and fun shopping space! Thanks guys, for allowing Sarah and I to be a part of it!

Secondly, I wanted to share a new fun project that Jaime from That's My Letter and I are starting up. Jaime e-mailed me last week and wanted to send something she made to Emmy. A fellow craft vendor had given Jaime some fun fabric and she thought Emmy would love it, and she wanted to pay the favor forward be making something for Emmy with the fabric. Want to see? She made me her this adorable toadstool change purse! Isn't it the cutest? (Sorry for the dark picture- when I came home this afternoon it was snowing and was very dark!)

Anyhow, when Jaime asked me if she could send something to Emmy in this pay it forward manor, I asked her what she thought about starting a "pay it forward" chain. So I will be creating something for a fellow blogger and sending it along... I need to decide what and to who, but then that blogger in turn will pay it forward to another and so on... just a big chain of happiness! I hope if you get tagged you will continue the chain!

And FINALLY, the last part of this long post....
Lisa is again hosting her monthly before and after link party. I went for my morning walk yesterday and the whole time I contemplated what would be my February project, because I have a billion to choose from! I really want to work on our guest bath, especially after adding the new silver leafed MirrorMate frame. (Speaking of which today is your LAST CHANCE to enter the giveaway!) So I have decided that my project will be painting the vanity!

Wish me luck! After all, this month we only have 29 days! And it's already the 5th! YIKES.

POWW FAVES & Opening Day

2012-02-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

First of all, all you local peeps, I expect to see you today at Wild Rose & Co from anytime from 10 am to 5 pm. No excuses. I don't care if you are sick. Or your kid's sick. Or your dog's sick. Or your kid's dog is sick. You just get there. ;) In all seriousness, hope to see some of you there!

Let's check out the awesomesauce makeovers you shared this week!

I am totally in love with this crate from Blue Roof Cabin and want one for my Valentine's Decor for next year! How cool does it look in the fireplace?

I am currently working out a way to get to Kacey's house to borrow this vanity for my house for a few, maybe like twenty, years. It's exactly what I am wanting for my living room. Check it out at Refreshed Decor.

Amy from The Salvage Collection always hits the nail on the head in her own special way, and I love it. She is funny, too. Really funny. These chairs are a rainbow delight.

I adore this mid century dresser from The Mindful Nest. And how about the amazing styling? Dala horses make almost anything even ore awesome. And you really need to go see the whole space. It will rock your world.

And here is another crate project I love. Lauren from West Furniture Revival added a pallet lid to this crate! I love that idea!

Happy Saturday! Get out and enjoy your weekend or kick back and relax! And good luck to your team! :)

Friday Guest: Anita from Going A Little Coastal & Shop Day Tomorrow!!!!

2012-02-03T05:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!!!!! I am so excited for this weekend because tomorrow is the big "opening day" for the shop space Sarah and I are sharing at Wild Rose & Co under our new business name, Persephone! We are so thrilled to be joining a fabulous team of creative and talented ladies! Tomorrow, the shop is open from 10 am til 5 pm and Sarah and I will be there and look forward to seeing those of you who can come. Coffee will be brewing, and Snickety Snacks will be there with some amazing cake bites! And just in case you didn't catch the post the other day with pictures, here is a glimpse into our space! (Again, sorry about the blurred out piece!)

So please if you can, join us...

Saturday February 4 from 10-5

Wild Rose & Co Marketplace

21 West Pennsylvania Ave, Walkersville MD 21793

And now, let's get to today's guest, the fabulously sweet Anita from Going a Little Coastal! Just as her blog name suggest, Anita is all about beachy cottage style! One of my all time favorite posts is where she shared with us a new bathroom space that before had been a closet! Seriously. Check it out.

Here it is before:

And here it is after:

Pretty amazing, right?

Well, yesterday was Groundhog Day and sadly, little Phil saw his shadow, so there supposedly will be 6 more weeks of winter. Well, I don't care what Phil says, I am ready for Spring and playing outside! And so is Anita!

Hi everyone, I’m Anita and I blog at Going a little Coastal. Thanks Cassie for inviting me over to guest post today. I always enjoy coming by here to see the magic that you have performed on your furniture. You can turn any sad looking piece into a work of art!

I know it’s still winter but a lot of people are having a warm snap. Even here in Florida. Shocking I know! It’s given me a bit of Spring fever. I’m thinking of what I would like to do out in the yard this year. I thought I'd show you some simple projects that I have done in the past. They are great to brighten up your outdoor space. Maybe you too will catch a little fever.

This is an easy project that can add some height and color to your entry or the corner of a deck.

The bottom is a heavy clay pot but the top is just plastic. I gave them a little paint and added my house number. You can see more on this project here. The paint is peeling a little now along the rim. So if you want it to stay put then use that outdoor paint that you can find at craft stores. I’ve used it on other projects and it lasts. I just didn't have any at the time. And I'm impatient.

Some tape and spray paint transformed these cheap plastic pots into these fun striped pots that look great by the pool. I did use a plastic primer first but they also make spray paint specifically for plastic. You just get more of a selection of colors if you use the plastic primer and regular spray paint. It’s easy to transform the ugly into something cute with a little spray paint.

Repurposing this chair into a planter was fun to do. I stapled some window screening that I had around the opening then filled it with moss and soil. It’s really easy to do. You can use chicken wire or just set a pot in there if it fits. You can transform a lot of things into planters to bring some uniqueness to your yard.

This year I’d like to concentrate on a better vegetable garden. I lost my zucchini and cucumber to a nasty worm last year. So for Christmas, one of my gifts was this.

I was thrilled when my husband put this together for me! The legs will be buried and then it will be lined with weed block. I can’t wait to fill it with good soil. I’m probably one of the few that love the smell of soil and mulch. You can see we have a lot of sand around here. Not the greatest for growing veggies. The pvc arch will be for either netting to keep the critters out or for a cover to protect them from frost. But they come out if needed.

via

We will need a better trellis for the cucumbers and zucchini.

Maybe something like this would be good.

Then cooler seasoned plants like lettuce or spinach could go underneath.

via

If I were to have a dream garden it would be something like this. Maybe on a smaller scale. But I like how two boxes are connected with an arch. That might be doable.

via

I also like these obelisk. Some snap peas would love to climb those.

and as long as we’re dreaming……

via

How about a greenhouse! Gorgeous isn’t it!

Well, I hope I got your mind going for some ideas for spring. It won’t be long.

I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to bring some color back to the yard.

Thanks so much for sharing your readers with me today Cassie.

You all can come by for a visit any time.

You can find me at my blog, Going a little Coastal. I also recently opened an etsy shop called Skyland Drive. I carry vintage item and will be adding handmade goods as well. And I just started a facebook page for it. I’m still learning my way around but I’d love for you to pop in and say hi.

A Guest Post at Between Blue & Yellow

2012-02-02T06:00:00.004-05:00

NOTE: if it is not there yet, it will be soon! I have to go out all morning so needed to schedule this before! :)

I can't believe how many furniture makeovers I have had for you this week! Ok, so only 3 (4 if you count the frames) but it feels like I am back in the swing... Finally having a space in a shop has lit a fire under my you know where, and I have been getting lots done. And it feels really good!

Finally I made my own chalk paint to make over these chairs....
I am sharing all the details today at my good friend Kathleen's blog, Between Blue and Yellow. So if you want to know how I did it, and what I thought of the experience, hop on over! And while you are there be sure to check out Kathleen's gorgeous furniture makeovers! For now, here is a little sneak peak...

Head over to Between Blue and Yellow for the full scoop!

My Gold Leafed Nightstands!!!!

2012-02-01T17:02:00.027-05:00

After finally trying out leafing with my silver leaf mirror frame this past weekend, I couldn't wait to gold leaf my nightstands (part of our master bedroom plan!). And honestly, I was going to save this project to share with you next week, but I just can't. I am about to burst I love them so much! OK, so this is where they started after I made them over last year....

They were a glossy golden delicious color and I loved them! I loved them in that color in that room, but with the new home comes a new plan and I am going a little more rustic glam. So Gold leafing was the perfect solution, and I planned to keep the mirrors in them as well.

I saw this makeover from Brittany Makes, where she had gold leafed this gorgeous chair!

Gorgeous, right? I vaguely followed her tutorial, but hers started with an unpainted piece. Mine was already painted, so I red online at a few different places that starting with a base of red oil based paint was best for under gold. So I took the tables outside, sanded them, and the tool them into the garage where I painted them with Rustoleum's high gloss red oil based paint. At which point they looked like this... scary!

Seriously, as if that was't scary looking enough, just wait til the next picture! I took them inside (free of wind and the temperature could be controlled) and sprayed them with spray adhesive. I waited a little while for it to get sticky (about 30 minutes) and then I started leafing. It did NOT go as smoothly as with the silver. I found the gold to me much more delicate, an I also found that because of all the nooks of the tables, the adhesive was not everywhere so it was hard to get it to stick in some areas. Also, it was shinier than I anticipated. So it was starting to look like this....

At this point in time, I was having a mild panic attack and was fairly certain I had ruined my beautiful nightstands. Luckily I had read that Rub n Buff could be used to help fill in the little missed cracks. So I had a new tube on hand in "gold leaf". I used a soft brush and brushed the gold leafing to get excess pieces off. But it was so delicate it tore easily... more panic. Deep breaths, deep breaths, trust the rub n buff. So I did. I put a little on my fingers to cover the red showing through, then tried rubbing a teeny bit over the gold leaf as well, and it was a MIRACLE. It saved my tables and gave the leafing more of an antiqued look! Here is what it looked like after a little rubbin n buffin....

And here is what my hands looked like! The kids thought this was pretty awesome! I think they love when mommy is messy.

So, after both tables were rubbed n buffed to the idea look, I sealed them with the gold leaf metal sealer spray. And here they are in our room.... AAAAH I am in love! I feel so Hollywood!

Here in the close up you can see teensy bits of red, and I am glad I read those blogs, because the red showing through is perfect. Overall, they have a very antique French gilded feel.

That was a lot of pictures of them, I know. But I can't get enough.

Linking here:

Peacock Artwork & My Favorite Room

2012-02-01T06:00:00.002-05:00

I am so excited to be over at my friend Rene's blog today sharing my favorite room! Cottage & Vine is one of my most favorite blogs, and Rene is full of style! I hope you will pop over and find out which room is my favorite room!

Oh, and here i a hint.... this project I am about to share just might be in my favorite room....

I have been struggling for some time with what to put on the far wall of the dining room that has just one smaller window. I thought about shelves, but I really want the room to feel clean and open and I thought shelves might make it feel cluttered. Then last week my friend Rene at Cottage & Vine posted an E-design for a client and the design featured a mirror with peacock art on either side. I thought something similar might look great on either side of my window.

And as luck would have it I won a giveaway from my friend Tammy at Type A Decorating for a stencil a couple weeks ago! (Thank you, Tammy!). As the winner I was able to choose 2 stencils (a larger and a smaller) from Maison De Stencils. I had chosen the stencils before I knew what I would use them for, but I had chosen a lovely nest stencil as well as a peacock! Here are the images from the online store:

So being the cheapskate that I am, I picked up a 2'x4' piece of plywood at Home Depot and had them cut it in half. (I will say I wish I had gotten MDF which would be smoother, and I may redo this in the future on MDF!) That left me with two pieces each 2'x2'.

I painted them each white, and then used a wet rag to wipe on a sea green color just to give the white some color. Then I stenciled the peacock in the center of each piece. I used a turquoise color craft paint, and then I went over that with a green craft paint just to give it more peacock coloring.

Then I taped off the edges to create a "frame". I painted the frame in chocolate brown as a base for the gold paint I was planning to use. After a few coats of the chocolate brown I applied two coats of Martha Stewart's gold paint (from Home Depot). I used a 2" angle brush for this so that I could create what appeared to be frame corners with the gold paint.

After it was all dry, I removed the tape, added some hangers to the back, and voila! 2 pieces of artwork for approximately $6!

They aren't perfect, but not too bad for spending hardly anything!

Piece of Work Wednesday Furniture Link Party Number 73!

2012-01-31T16:00:00.007-05:00

Happy POWW! Before I get to the party I want to share with you a couple pictures from the space Sarah and I have just finished setting up at Wild Rose & Co for our new venture, Persephone! We will have our grand opening this Saturday from 10-5, but the shop is also open Weds through Saturday! And please note, you do not need to get your eyes checked. I had to blue out one item as it will be in Annapolis Home magazine and I can't show pictures of it yet. :)

And we are proudly carrying some of the awesome pom pom garland's my talented and crafty friend, Ali, made! Sarah and I had so much fun setting up and both laughed that even if we sell nothing we will have fun decorating it each month! :) Of course, we do hope to sell stuff, too. If you are local, please come out and see us this Saturday! We would LOVE to have you there!

Ok, this is one of my absolute favorite pieces I am going to share with you today. If I had room or the need I would keep it! But I love the white midcentury dresser Chris and I already have and it fits more than this one. So up for sale it goes.

I am sharing all the details, and the how-to's over at the DIY Club today, but will share with you a quick before and after. Oh, and you will want to go check it out because I swear by the wood filler AND I tried out a new finishing wax that I love! It was so easy to use! Anyhow, here is the before. All the screws had fallen out as I drove home with it, thus all the handles barely hanging on! Plus, it makes the before/after even more dramatic! ;)

And after"

To see all my projects at the DIY Club, just click on the button:

Also, wanted to let you know the new monthly DIY Club Project Party starts TOMORROW! Click here to see the fabulous prize package! And head over there tomorrow to link up your DIY projects!

So let's see what you have been up to! Remember the RULES!!!
RULES:
1. Your project must be a complete furniture project!
2. It must be a new link here- never before linked to one of my parties., though it can be an old post.
3. NO Etsy shops or the like!
4. You must be a follower!
5. You must place my button or a text link in your post or sidebar.

Leave others some comment LOVE!
Sharing here:

MirrorMate $200 Giveaway!

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

After I posted my own MirrorMate silver leafed frame yesterday, the lovely people at MirrorMate asked me if I thought my readers might be interested in a giveaway for $200 towards the purchase of a MirrorMate frame. Well of course! So many of you commented that you needed something like this for your own home, so here is your chance! One winner will receive $200 towards your very own MirrorMate!

I went with the unfinished Soho, but if you don't like that there are several other options and finishes to choose from.

The Bellemeade...

The Pacifica...

The Tribeca...

These are just a few of the many different styles to choose from! This is the easiest and most efficient way to upgrade those builder grade mirrors!

So, would you like to win $200 towards your very own MirrorMate?

Here are the ways you can enter, and remember to LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH!

1. Be a follower of my blog!
2. Hop on over to MirrorMate and let me know which frame style is your favorite!
3. Like Primitive and Proper on Facebook.
4. Like MirrorMate on Facebook.

Giveaway ends Sunday 2/5/12 at midnight. Winner announced on Monday 2/6/12. Good luck!

$250 West Elm Gift Card Giveaway at Hometalk!

2012-01-30T19:54:00.001-05:00

I recently signed up to be a member at a site called hometalk. It’s a great community with lots of knowledgeable people on all topics ranging from building, to gardening, design and MORE!

I recently shared one of my all time favorite projects over there. This project was done about 2 1/2 years ago, so maybe some of you haven't seen it? This is the piece: the turquoise French sideboard:

The lovely people over at Hometalk asked me if I wanted to select a diy/home decor type of store to giveaway $250 credit to! So since I love you so much (and I know whoever wins will split it with me, right? right? ), I chose one of my all time favorite stores for textiles... We own rugs, curtains, bedding, pillows, from this amazing place. That's right, West Elm, baby.

Hometalk is giving away a $250 West Elm gift card to one of their members. It really is a great community, and the interface is very similar to FaceBook. Hop on over and check it out, become a member and answer the weekly giveaway question about my project to be registered to win! You know you want it!

How to enter:
Please note you do NOT enter here. You enter on their site! I am just informing you!

Become a HomeTalk member.
Answer the weekly giveaway question here for a chance to win a $250 The West Elm gift card. The hometalk weekly giveaway is open to both US and Canadian residents. Giveaway ends Sunday 2/5 at midnight. HomeTalk announces the winner every Monday morning.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. The opinions shared here are my own, and I thought you guys would LOVE a West Elm Gift Card!

Turning a New Leaf with MirrorMate & Winner!

2012-01-30T06:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Chris gave me some much needed time to work on projects this weekend, which was amazing and I feel like I got so much done. And I even tried a new and super easy recipe for whole wheat pizza crust that I found on pinterest. It was yummy a little healthier as far as pizza goes! The kids made their own mini pizzas, and Chris and I made a larger one. I love trying new things I find on pinterest!

Today, Sarah and I start moving into our space at Wild Rose and we are SO excited!

Anyhow, I want to share one of my weekend projects with you today.
I was beyond thrilled when Amy from Beach Chic asked me if I would like to review a MirrorMate frame for our home! The only hard part was choosing which mirror as all 3 of our vanity areas have builder grade mirrors.
I could choose the guest bath....

Or the master vanity area....(this picture is from move-in week- the boxes are all gone! )

Or the kids vanity area....

So many ugly bathrooms, so many builder grade mirrors, but I had to choose one. Well, since I hope to work on the guest bath this year, I thought I would start there! It also is the bathroom on the main floor that most visitors see, so I thought it would benefit the most.

I ordered the Soho in the unfinished as I knew I wanted to paint it or finish it somehow.

I wasn't sure yet how I wanted to paint it... black? gray? aqua? Then inspiration hit via a blog. I KNOW I saw someone silver leaf a frame and I can NOT for the life of me remember who did it or where the post is, so PLEASE if you know tell me so I can link back! Anyhow, I decided to silver leaf the frame. Before that though, I had to put it all together as it came in 4 separate pieces and the hardware and glue to assemble it.
Assembling it was extremely easy and my corners all lined up beautifully. Once it was assembled and the glue was dry (I waited 1 hour), it was ready for the the finishing process. There are several great tutorials out there for leafing such as this one from My Champagne Taste, but I found I sort of vaguely followed it while also making up my own as I went along.

I started by painting the frame with Rustoleum's glossy black oil based paint. This is an important step as if there are any gaps, this is the color that will show through and black works best with silver. One coat was enough though as it doesn't need to be perfect since it will get covered.

I let the paint dry overnight, about 18 hours, and then I sprayed it with a special spray adhesive (I purchased mine from Michael's). Most tutorials said to wait 45 minutes to apply the leaf, but my can said wait two minutes, so I trusted my can and got to work after just a short time. I went around, piece by piece, adding the leaf, using the wax paper to hold and press in place. Then, most tutorials suggest using a soft brush to go over it. I tried that but found that my fingers worked better, so I brushed gently with my fingers, and then also filled in any gaps by picking up little scraps and rubbing onto the gals with my fingers. Here are a couple pictures during the process...

I made it around the entire mirror with one sheet to spare, after frantically calling Chris who had been out running errands and begging him to stop and get me one more package as I was sure I would run out. Oops. I will be returning that to Michael's. Once it was all in place I did use the brush just to free it of any little scraps before I sealed it. Then I sprayed it with 3 coats of Mona Lisa Metal Leaf Sealer (again, I got mine at Michael's). Then I allowed it to dry.

Then it was time to follow my MirrorMate hanging instructions, which were super easy! You do need one person to help while you hold the frame in place, but my husband was happy to help me out and it took all of 5 minutes. Here it is hanging now.... Ooooh Aaaah... imagine the rest of the bathroom is as glamorous as the mirror!

I absolutely LOVE it! Hopefully I will get to work in this bathroom soon so the rest of it looks as awesome as my MirrorMate frame!

I also was very happy about my silver leafing experience and now feel more ready to tackle my nightstands which I plan to gold leaf!

Please note that all opinions are mine and mine alone. And I happen to think the frame is AWESOME.

Also, the winners of the Welcome Home E-books are....

Korrie from Red Hen Home & Deb from Twice Nice! Ladies- shoot me an email! :)

My Impossible: Complete! (and Last Chance at Giveaway!)

2012-01-29T06:00:00.017-05:00

First of all, today is your last chance to enter the giveaway for the Welcome Home E-book!!!!

As you can see in my sidebar, I am taking part in the "Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge". My impossible was the tast of painting Emmy's closet doors. This may not seem that bad to some of you, but I can't stand painting trim or doors- especially cheap brown hollow doors. In our last house, it took me forever to paint any doors (the trim was already painted), and even then I only ended up painting the doors to our master bedroom and then grew tired of painting doors! I wish it was more fun, but oh how those doors daunt me!

Emmy's closet doors are those ugly hollow doors, and to make matters worse, someone had thought it would be a good idea to shellac the crap out of them so they were nice and shiny. I thought I had a proper before picture, but I do not have one that shows them closed, so here you get the idea. This picture was taken the week we moved in and shows that they are brown brown brown.

I was inspired by a fabulous idea I saw on Pinterest to give them some life!

How fun is that with the chalkboard grass? Of course, Emmy's room is headed more in a woodsy direction, so lions wouldn't work for me. And her bedding is very patterned and floral so I wanted to keep the doors free of pattern. I ordered a fawn vinyl in light brown from the etsy shop tweet heart because I loved the style and the size was perfect and the price was very fair. I also cut out two shimmery gold vinyl mushrooms by hand with some vinyl I got in a Pick Your Plum giveaway I won from my friend Anna.
So I had the vinyls on hand, and now came the unfun task of painting! I sanded the doors by hand since they were so shellacked, and then primed them with two coats of Zinnser BIN water based primer. I then put n two coats of Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue as that will be the wall color. Then I drew a chalk line of where I wanted the grass. I used an angle brush to follow that line and then painted under the line with Rustoleums chalk paint tinted in Pea Pod Green. Once it was all dry, I added my vinyls, and it was DONE!

NOTE: Before you see these pictures, please note that the room and trim will be painted soon. I know the trim is ugly. Yes I do. Also, her room has one window at the north end of the house, so we don't get the best light.

The rest of her room is a little more "big girl" so this side is all fun for her! I am really happy with how it turned out and happy to have one set of doors checked off my daunting list!

Sharing here:

POWW Faves & Giveaway Reminder!

2012-01-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

Happy weekend!!! We had fun "National Pie Day" party plans for tonight, but we can't get this cold out of our house, and our friends throwing the party have a new baby... so we will be staying away from the party. It was going to be so fun- you bring your favorite kind of pie to share! We are sad to be missing it, but would be sadder if we made anyone sick, especially a baby. So instead this weekend is going to be "project weekend" for me! YAY! I do love me some projects! Yesterday Chris had the day off, so I spent the day conquering my "impossible" (see button in sidebar for details). I am also working on finishing a MirrorMate frame (I ordered the paintable, so I could put my spin on it), working on some artwork, and maybe getting to some furniture if I have time! I love having the weekends to work on projects! Wht are you doing this weekend? I hope it's fun for you!

So let's get to my faves from this past week!
Katie from Craptastic (I always love saying that... craptastic craptastic!) shared this FUN hot pink chair with a nice fluffy seat! Don't you want to sit in it and feel like a star?

Kristen from Sophia's Decor shed this fabulously gorgeous bed! What princess would not love sleeping here?

Betsy Speert also shared some very girly and pretty beds she made beautiful with new paint!

Wow, I must be feeling girly, huh? Should we keep it girly? Yep, that's what I thought?

How bout this modern girly ombre dresser from Catherine at Paisley & Polka Dot Threads? Do you love it? I do! You really need to see where it started to see how far it has come!

And I love this Moroccan stenciled desk from Savvy Young Something... for the grown up glamorous girl!

And finally... I just LOVE the color and hardware on this desk from Melissa at Shabby Loco. Isn't it gorgeous?

That's all! I will be back tomorrow with the reveal of Emmy's closet doors!
And don't forget to enter the giveaway for the "Welcome Home" Ebook!

Friday Guest: Kim from Keller-Creative (and Find Me at lemondrop Dreams!)

2012-01-27T05:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday! Can you believe I am guesting at another blog today? I feel way cooler than I really am this week. ;) You can find me today over at lemondrop Dreams sharing my design for our master bedroom! Want a sneakity peek? Of course you do! A portion of this gorgeous room inspired me!

And you guys should really check out Colleen's blog if you have not already! One of my all time favorite projects was this vanity! She uses such fun happy colors in her home and has a fresh take on vintage!

So go check her out!
Now, I also have an awesome guest for you today sharing a fabulous and fun DIY project! Kim is the mastermind behind Keller-Creative. Kim has a very fun and eclectic style! I love this glimpse into her office (the little pictures hanging on the wire are awesome!)

And check out this view into her laundry closet! I love the aqua stripe!

She is here today to share the details of a fun furniture transformation! Take it away, Kim!
Hi Primitive and Proper readers! I'm Kim and I write over at the blog Keller-Creative. On K-C I run a little series called Behind the DIY. Cassie participated this time around with an amazing reveal of her striped dining room (which I'm still trying to recover from that awesome-ness) and I'm so excited for the tables to be turned so that I get to share a little of my own Behind the DIY on one of my favorite striped projects.
What is the project you will be sharing today?
I'm talking all about my 1940s utlility cart turned monogrammed outdoor bar cart.

Did anything inspire this project, or did it all come tumbling out of your head?
I had seen lots of great bar carts around the blogging world and while I love the look of the faux bamboo and glass ones, I had no room inside my house for one, however I did have a perfect spot on my screened in porch for an outdoor version.
When I saw the cart at an old antique store I orgianlly had no idea what I wanted to do with it. I thought a pattern could be nice and my orginal thought was chevron but since I had just done that I decide to go with stripes instead. I'm wild and crazy, I know.

The idea of making a circle in the center for a monogram didn't come to be until I saw a plastic bowl sitting in my garage. I thought it would make the perfect template. And I'm a girl who loves a good monogram so it was the perfect fit.

Did the project stay on the original track, or did it evolve on its own?
Like most of my projects, it evolved as I went. The towel bar was a pretty late addition in the game.

What did you love about doing this project? What did you love not-so-much?
I love how it's a functional piece and it fits perfect in the space between my door and window on the porch. That was pretty much dumb luck. But I do have to admit the one thing I don't love so much are the colors!

I like the green stripes but I think I went a little too preppy with the pink "K". Interestingly enough the "K" was orginally yellow but I changed it with the first color paint I could grab. The green and pink is cute but it doesn't really go with the rest of the porch. I've considered changing the pink but can't decide what color it should be....
And if you could do it all over, would you? Or do you love it so much you keep walking by it just so you can look at it? (oh come on, I know we all do it!!!)
I would definetly do this project again! I had so much fun transforming a 1940's utility cart into a bar cart. I think next time I might just plan my colors a little better ;)

Thanks for having me Cassie! You can see the entire tutorial (plus more before photos here).

Valentine's Mantle and a Guest Post

2012-01-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

I am so excited because I got to do another very fun guest post this week! Today, you will find me over at White Lacquer sharing "things I wants". Here is a little peek at something I want....

And while you are there, be sure to check out Patience's blog, if you have not already! I love her eclectic and dramatic style. Here is a peek inside of her own home!

Um, hello... check out that headboard! So hop on over to White Lacquer for a visit!

And now I want to share a little Valentine's decor with you.
As soon as Emmy's party was over, I was ready to take down the rest of the Wintery decor, and get out the Valentine's Day decor. In doing so, I discovered that I barely had any! My most precious Valentine's decor I keep out all the time on my bookcases, but I moved it to the mantle for now. It's a ceramic heart that Sawyer made for me in art class last year. I also gathered some aqua glass pieces, milkglass, a pink frame with scrapbook paper in it, the heart that Anita gave me, and I made some pipe cleaner hearts on pipe cleaner stems, so I have my very own jar of hearts. :)

But it needed something more! So I consulted my Valentine's pin board and found just the inspiration I needed.

I am sharing all the details of how I made my new banner at The DIY Club today, but here is how it looks on my Valentine's Mantle!

And here is the look all put together... I love the colors against the gray. I still don't love the TV getting in the way of my mantlescaping, but I have to admit I enjoy sitting in there watching TV at night with a fire going!

To see this and all my other DIY Club projects, just click on the button!

Sharing:

Giveaway: Welcome Home E-Book!

2012-01-25T17:22:00.000-05:00

Let me preface by saying that I wanted to put together a much prettier and better post, but I have a sick child at home today... he has been throwing up ALL day! So between changing sheets, doing laundry, rubbing his back, breaking up ice chips, putting on movies, and tending to Emmy as well... my time has been kinda limited! Oh, and let's not forget Charlie deciding that it was a good day to dig, so I had to bathe a very muddy dog, too. And Charlie hates getting bathed.
That being said....

I have an awesome giveaway for you today! The very talented Shannon from AKA Design has written an E-Book that will help you de-clutter and decorate your home! The Book is titled Welcome Home: Tips, Tricks & Ideas for Creating a Beautifully Cozy Home, and let me tell you that Shannon certainly knows how to create a "beautifully cozy home". Here are some case in point images of her own home...
'

Shannon's book takes you through a step by step process that is a fabulous guide for the novice or the seasoned decorator! I read through her book and loved the approach she takes and found her breakdown to be so easy to follow. And what is really fabulous about it is that she doesn't tell you how to create this style or that style, but helps you find your own style. Here is what Shannon has to say about the book and the giveaway!

"I'm so excited about this giveaway!!!

Creating a cozy home for our family and helping others to do the same is my passion. I love beautiful spaces. But I also I love it when someone visits our house and feels right at home putting their feet up with a cup of tea. Or when my kids sprawl on the shag area rug in the living room to play a board game. And I love when things are easily tidied up because everything has a place. I want to help others create the same welcoming spaces in their home. Welcome Home is my way of showing you how to do that.

My eBook is divided up into three sections. Part One is called Begin at the Beginning and it shows you how to do just that; a few do's & don'ts plus three elements that make a great space. Part Two is all about where to find inspiration and how to use that inspiration. Part Three helps you get down to business with small space decorating ideas, budget decorating tricks and bargain shopping tips. Plus a whole bunch more all packed up neatly in one little package!

I'd like to offer up two free PDF copies of Welcome Home for Primitive & Proper readers. If you'd like to purchase a copy now and you win the giveaway, I'll credit you back in full for your purchase. You know, if you just can't wait! :)

Thank you Cassie for having me over today!!!"

So here is how you can enter to win one of the two free copies! Leave a separate comment for each that you do.

1. Mandatory: Be a follower of my blog and let me know!

Bonus Entries!

2. Be a follower of AKA Design, and leave a comment letting me know you are!

3. Like me on Facebook.

4. Like AKA Design on Facebook.

5. And finally, let me know what you struggle with most in decorating your house.

That is 5 chances to enter!

Giveaway closes Sunday, January 29 at midnight. Winner will be selected using random.org and announced Monday on the blog, so make sure to check back here! Winner will be given 48 hours to claim prize and if not claimed a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck, and thank you, Shannon!!

If This Blog Were a Room

2012-01-25T03:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to let you know that I will be over at Simple Dwellings today sharing what I envision my blog would be if it were a room! Here is a little sneak peek...

And while you are there check out Amber's home and blog! I am in love with her dining room:

Isn't it gorgeous? So hop over to visit me and Amber at Simple Dwellings!

Piece of Work Wednesday Furniture Link Party Number 72!

2012-01-24T16:00:00.013-05:00

Happy POWW! I have a fun little piece to share with you today, that was inspired by one of your links! But before I get to that I want to tell you a little feel good story!

Last night, Emmy had dance class. it was so foggy and visibility was very low... a bad night for driving. I actually passed the dance studio because it is in a house and I could barely see the house from the road. I had both kids with me, and Chris was working late and planned to be home after midnight. We headed into class and Sawyer and I sat and watched while Emmy did her "Lyrical" class and then her "Acro" class. An hour later we headed back to the car, and I saw I had left my fog lights on. D'oh! We had been the last ones to leave the class as Emmy was slow to get her boots on, so no one else was left in the parking lot. There were still cars there though from the class that started after ours. I got the kids buckled up, sat down in the drivers seat, turned the ignition... and nothing. Deader than dead. I told the kids to wait a minute (this house is out in the country, it's not a huge shopping center, so don't worry!) and I ran inside to ask any of the parents of the next class if they might be able to give me a jump start. One of the dads volunteered to help me and another lady. She pulled up her car to mine, we hooked up the cables, and nothing happened still- even after several tries. At this point, I was starting to wonder how we'd get home, but tried not to panic. The dad offered to give us a ride home even though it was completely out of his way. I told him I would try calling my neighbors and let him know if that failed. I called them, but there was no answer. We just moved here in October, so my list of possible people to call in an emergency is still rather short! I ran back in and asked if he wouldn't mind giving us a ride home.

I put the carseats in his car, and we headed to my house. He drove in an area he wasn't familiar with through horrible fog to get us home. On the way home, I asked him about his family and made friendly conversation. He told me that their daughter was 10 years old and had been adopted from birth. He and his wife met later in life and married and tried to have children. She miscarried 3 times, and they of course were heartbroken. They both were school teachers, and she was a special ed teacher. One of her students became pregnant, and the opportunity for them to adopt the baby from birth arose. They were thrilled and so in love. It turns out that the wife's student since then has had 8 more babies. Last year the student's mother called these wonderful people and told them there was an opportunity for a baby boy. They were elated... their 9 year old daughter was thrilled at the thought of having a baby brother. They had already gotten rid of all their baby things because they were sure that they would have just the daughter. So they had to purchase all new items, set up a nursery, but it was worth it. Their family was on cloud 9. They were in the room when the baby was born, and when their hearts were broken by the birth father, who would not sign the adoption papers. All the planning, shopping, dreaming had led to this moment of heartbreak. They spent the summer in funk, and very sad. They have since recovered and don't feel that vid they did at first.
Why am I telling you this story? I don't really know. I just wanted to share it because I feel like sometimes people come into your lives at different times, and it can be very brief, but they touch you. And this gentleman and his story just got to me. The kindness of strangers is sometimes the best gift we can receive, and paying it forward is the best gift we can give.

Ok, and now to the furniture and party! A couple of months ago, my furniture-revampin' friend Ann Marie at Twice Lovely shared this amazing herringbone desk, that was so amazing that it was featured all over the blogworld, and even on design sponge! Get outta here! For real! Check it out so you can see its awesomeness for yourself...

Ah, yes, it still makes my heart skip a beat! LOVE it.

Well recently I found a sad little mid century table at Goodwill for $5. It wasn't so sad really, but it had a hard laminate top.... YUCK. And I can't seem to find my before picture... um.... oops. So imagine it was a warm maple color and the top was fake hard warm maple.... Can you picture it?

I gave it a good sanding, primed it, and painted it with two coats of Dutch Boy's Lake Champlain, the color I used on my sideboard. After it was dry, I wanted to add some sort of detail to it to give it a little "oomph". I knew Ann Marie's treatment was perfect for this so I whipped out a paint pen and got to work drawing a herringbone pattern on the drawer. Here it is now! I like its fun mod look!

So what have you worked on this week? I am looking forward to another week of the best links on the block!

RULES:
1. Must be a follower to party here.
2. Must be a complete FURNITURE redo or new build.... NO crafts!
3. Must place my button or a text link in your post or sidebar.
4. Must be a NEW LINK HERE. If I have seen at at my party before, I don't want to see it again.
5. Leave others some comment lovin'!
Sharing here:

Easy Removable Snowflake Decor

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

As you may have read, this past weekend was Emmy's Winter Woodland birthday party. I kept the decor pretty simple by just keeping out many of my wintery Christmas decorations, and added a couple other things here and there. I shared some pictures and you may have noticed some pretty silvery snowflakes on the wall....

Here are a couple more pictures of the snowflakes (before the food was set out) so you can see. I thought they added the perfect touch!

Aren't they pretty! And the best part is they didn't damage my walls at all! I am sharing the how to today over at The DIY Club. This project took me all of 10 minutes, and is in fact so pretty, that my kids and I decided the snowflakes need to stay up a little longer. So here is a sneak peak of my Valentine's decor with the snowflakes!

To see this and all of my DIY club projects, just click on the button!

My Big Announcement!

2012-01-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

Last week I teased you all, and told you I had a big announcement coming today! It was a lot of fun reading the comments, and hearing from you via email. A couple people thought I was pregnant... one of my best friends even called me and asked! NOPE. DEFINITELY NOT PREGNANT. While I admire those of you who have 8 kids, are able to craft, decorate your home, and still look pretty, I don't think I could do it. I had a little baby itch, but it went away and I am thankful for that... as wonderful as babies are, my kids will BOTH be in school full day starting next fall and I will have 8 hours a day, 5 days a week to myself. Why on earth would I want to give up that??? So no- no babies here.

Some of you guessed an etsy shop, which is closer, but nope, not it. Maybe one day I will get it together enough to have one! For now.... I will be joining forces with my good friend Sarah, aka The Thriftress in a new venture! Sarah and I met through blogging and were able to meet in person last year for the first time. Now that I have moved, we live a little closer to one another and have been able to get together a few times. We enjoy each others company so much (and our girls love each other- Sarah's daughter was one of the owlets I shared yesterday!) and have similar styles that we decided it would be fun for us to venture into business together! We both are stay at home moms, so we wanted something that would be fun, a creative outlet, and the appropriate pace for us. I am so lucky to have someone so fabulous to share with in as we travel through this new journey!

We are pleased to announce that Sarah, aka The Thriftress, and Cassie of Primitive and Proper have joined creative forces in a new retail venture called....

"Persephone" is our new business name for our own little retail space at Wild Rose and Co in Walkersville, MD. Wild Rose & Co was founeded by my pal, Lynette, and is the cutest little boutique featuring vintage finds, furniture, and even cute boutique style clothing, candles, soaps, and more! Here is a glimpse of the shop in case you have never been there...

Sarah and Cassie are thrilled to become part of the creative team of vendors at Wild Rose. We hope to bring even more fabulous upcycled vintage finds, fresh home decor, and even more vintage hip-ness!
We hope to see you there for our Grand Opening on Saturday, February 4 from 10 am until 5 pm! Wild Rose is located at 21 West Pennsylvania Ave, Walkersville, MD 21793.

Sarah and Cassie plan to start up a Persephone Facebook page as well, so we will let you know as soon as that is up and running! Thank you so much for your friendship and support- we would not be doing this without you!

Emmy's Winter Woodland Party

2012-01-22T06:00:00.015-05:00

As you all know, my baby girl turned 5 this past week, and yesterday was the party, which we had spent all week preparing for. I already showed you a peek at the cupcakes, and some of the activities and decor, but I wanted to share with you the entire set up, as well as some actual ~~mayhem~~ party shots! Before the guests arrived I snapped pics of the party decor and food...

The chalkboard was decorated for the event.

Even the weather provided us the perfect scenery out the window!

The dining table was first set with all of the feathers, glue, and crayons necessary to decorate the owl masks.

The cupcakes were placed on their stand, and were ready to be devoured!

The sideboard was set with snacky foods fitting the theme.

Peanuts served as "squirrel food" and pretzel sticks became "twigs". And side note- the snowflake place card holders were purchased on super clearance at Michael's after Christmas.

Pirates Booty became "snowballs" and I used whole wheat tortillas along with my woodland creature cookie cutters (owl, bear, moose, hedgehog, rabbit, and squirrel) to make baked "critter chips". The chips went with this healthy cookie dough dip from Chocolate Covered Katie.

Veggies and dip served as "Reindeer food".

I set up all the dishes and plastic ware, with a metal galvanized bucket of bottled water on our small server.

When all the guests had arrived, they hay had a blast decorating their owl masks!

The first two pictures are my two favorite owls (Emmy and Sawyer in case you weren't sure...)

How cute are all those owlets???

After the masks the kids played in the playroom and then we played "Pin the Tail on the Deer", but I am sorry to say I don't have any pictures of the game happening, but you can see the original here.

Then of course, the kids were ready for CUPCAKES!!!!

After cupcakes were done, we cleared the table, and Emmy opened her presents. I always love this part, because all the kids get so excited to "help" and to give their gifts- I just think it's sweet.

As the kids left they got their "snow covered branches" and clay owl or penguin charm favors I shared earlier, but here are the pics again in case you missed it.

We had so much fun planning and putting together this party! And we had so much fun with all of our friends that came out to see us and spend some time with us. Now I can relax until August when it's Sawyer's turn again.... he's already decided on "rock star" theme. Looking forward to planning that one!

Sharing here:

Some Gifts for Emmy & POWW Faves

2012-01-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

It's Saturday! That means today is Emmy's party! The cupcakes are made, and the kids helped me decorate them...

Now I just need to spend the morning cleaning the house and getting everything really ready!

In my quest to really do better at creating handmade gifts for occasions other than Christmas this year, I made sure to give Emmy a couple "handmade" (more like upcycled) gifts for her birthday this year. Since her room is going all "woodsy" on us, I was ecstatic when I found this adorable large scale trinket holder at the Salvation Army! And you see that price tag- yes I paid a whopping 75 cents, friends! It's my favorite thrift shop for fun little vintage oddities.

I took a can of spray primer to it, and then a can of white spray paint, and now she has a cute little squirrel trinket box!

Emmy and I may be the only people who really truly love it, and that's ok. Because that's all that matters.

Now, Emmy also loves to help in the kitchen. Middletown offers a variety of "Mommy & Me" cooking classes for her age group. So for her birthday, I let her choose the class she would like to attend with me (We are going to baking fun!), and I gave her some cooking tools to go with it. She received a couple mini pizza pans, some aqua spatulas, a red flipper with a dog on it, and these wooden spoons which I painted for her with acrylic paint, and then wiped some polycrylic on (just the handles) to protect them as well as food.

She is looking forward to putting them to use! And I am looking forward to spending a couple of hours in a baking class with her!

Let's check out POWW faves, shall we! This week there were some fabulous striped projects, so let's check out some of those first! And I really am just blown away by the wealth of creativity out there. This week again, was one of those where I wanted to feature pretty much every piece. You are all freaking amazing.
Love love love this dresser from my friend (in real life!) Kathy from All About Vignettes. The colors and design are awesome!

And Sue at Uniquely Chic created this gorgeous beachy dresser! How fun are those starfish?

Check out this bad-a** desk from Bad Rabbit Vintage! Awesome!

And some striped-y honorable mentions go to....
June & Bear and Fab Rehab

I love love love the color (love it- did you catch that I love it???) on this amazing vintage desk from Emily's Upcycled Furniture!

My pal Ann Marie is always SO good. You need to go to Twice Lovely to see this fabric covered piece!

And Finally, the girls at Design Par Deux are always rocking my world with their fresh and modern style. They know how to update a vintage piece... just check this one out! Oh, and I am referring to the desk, but they did the awesome chair, too! Design times two, Style times a million.

Happy Happy Weekend! Wish me luck as my house is about to be bombarded by 20 children!

And I also want to say a very very happy birthday to Cora, who turns 2 today and is doing well, though still confined at home for the most part. If you have been following me for a while, then you know about Cora's battle with Aplastic Anemia, a life threatening disease. You know about her super hero older brother who saved her life with his bone marrow. And if you don't know all about it, check out her blog, pray for a continued path to health. And you know that she is blessed and lucky to be celebrating her second birthday today. I wish I could be there to celebrate with her, but germs must stay away from their home for Cora's continued health. Heather, I know you read this, I love you! We all wish we could be there celebrating with you. I will be lighting an extra candle today for Cora on Emmy's cupcake, and thinking of you all.
I created some handmade gifts for Cora as well that I will be sharing next week. She loves horses, so it's all horse related!

Friday Guest: Michelle from Prudently Painted Vintage

2012-01-20T05:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday! I will be busy today making cupcakes with Emmy to get ready for her party tomorrow! We are so excited- this will be the first "big event" we have had at our house since moving in, with lots of friends from our old town. I am just so glad they are all making the hour drive for Emmy, and really looking forward to seeing them. I will be sharing pictures on Sunday I am sure!
For today, I have a fabulously adorable and glowing blogger, Michelle from Prudently Painted Vintage, as my guest today! She redid her bathroom last year, and I love everything about it! Check out the ruffled shower curtain, the beadboard, and the awesome artwork!

Here is a better picture of the artwork she created....

Isn't it gorgeous?? And don't you love that wall color? I do! She is here today to share a quick project, and one that is a 9 month project!

When Cassie asked if I wanted to guest post I literally did a
happy dance while I was reading the e-mail. I Love. Her. Blog! She is
one skilled girl! So I am delighted to be here today (if you couldn't
tell already). Thank you for having me!

I am Michelle, I blog over at Prudently Painted
Vintage. I do a mix of stuff. Some crafty stuff. Some decorating
stuff. Some funriture stuff. Mostly I just have fun finding ways to
make my home uniquely me. Here are a few of my favorite projects:

Trunk
turned coffee table

Wood
Canvas Art

Bathroom
makeover

So that was just a few of my favs, there is lots more where that came
from ;)

Today I want to share with you my very first project of the year. I
know, I know I'm totally slacking this year, but I have a good excuse!
I wanted a large chalkboard in a pretty frame too (of course) for a
photography journal I am doing for my last pregnancy (see good excuse
for slacking, right?!). So I went to Goodwill and found the most
hideous framed picture I could find (just joking, it is pretty creepy
though).

My daughter was like "Mom that picture is scaring me" I first
taped up around the frame and sprayed it with a lovely shade of
turqoise:

I then covered the frame with tape and sprayed on two coats of
chalkboard spray paint (because that's what it says to do and I follow
directions.....most of the time :)

Now here it is finished and I have a cute way to keep track of my soon

to be huge belly :)

Hope you all enjoyed having me here! Come visit me sometime! Prudently
Painted Vintage.

Winter Woodland Party Prep

2012-01-19T06:00:00.007-05:00

As you know, my baby girl, Emmy, turned 5 on Tuesday. We are throwing her a birthday party this weekend and the theme is "Winter Woodland". It has been too cold to get much furniture done, so I thought I would share with you some of the things we have worked on to get ready.

My favorite preparation by far is the favors! I wanted to give the kids some handmade favors that fit the theme. I bought a couple bags of the mini pretzel rod's from our local PA Dutch market. I also bought white melting chocolate, crystal shimmery sugar, and white snowflake shaped sprinkles. The idea was to create "snow covered branches".
Using a double boiler, I melted the white chocolate. i dipped each pretzel into the chocolate and set on a cookie sheet covered in foil. I sprinkled on the sugar and snowflakes while the chocolate was still liquid, and then put the pretzels into the freezer.
I aslo had a Martha Stewart chocolate mold in snowflake shapes purchased after Christmas on clearance at Michael's so I made each child a white snowflake chocolate as well.
Here they are wrapped in their treat bags!

I also wanted to give the kids something they could keep for a while (longer than food!). I created little clay penguin and owl charms using sculpey and wire. Each of the treat bags is tied with a charm tied onto it.

For activities, the kids will be decorating owl masks when they arrive. I created a template, but just drawing freehand. I then traced it over 20 times, and cut out 20 owl masks. I used hot glue to attach a small dowel to each so the kids can hold them to their faces. We will be putting out crayons, glue, and feathers, to decorate their masks. Here they are in their plain white form. You can see I wrote the kids names with marker on the backside so there would be no confusion! Once they are colored and covered in feathers, you won't notice that I am sure!

Another activity we've planned is "Pin the Tail on the Fawn". I drew a picture of a fawn copying an outline I saw online, and then cut it out, and proceeded to cut out 20 tails! Here it is on our secret pocket door between the dining room and kitchen! (And this door will be painted soon.... have no fear!)

I think Charlie wants to play!

Finally, I also made more rustic wood decor. I used my wood burning tool to create the number "5" on one and "Eat cake" on another as I had seen here. I plan to just set them out on the table.

So that is what we have been working on this week at our house! I will have more to share after the party I am sure!
Sharing here

I O Thank U's & A Fabulous New Etsy Shop!

2012-01-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

I O U some thank you's!

First of all, I need to say thanks for some of the awesome Christmas gifts I received.....

Many of you know that one of my very best friends is Andi from Jane of All Crafts. The blog name completely suits her, because she made me all sorts of fun goodies for Christmas!

She made me a silver and pink sequins Christmas bulbs... (sorry it is rainy today and gray, but you can see better pics here!)

She crafted this awesome bookmark (we share a passion for reading)....

and these fun clay sand dollar magnets because I have a history with sand dollars. ;)

and made me this lavender stamped soap...

Sawyer received his own bug soap...

And this bug lampshade... Oh wait, that's a real stink bug on my lampshade.

Thank you so much, Andi, for lots of crafty goodness!

I also received a fabulous gift from one of my other very best friends who does not have a blog. Jenni is born and raised in Louisiana. We met in November of 2002 when we had just moved to Louisiana. I was engaged one month later, and one month after that I asked Jenni to be in my wedding, saying something like, "I know we just met, but I know that you and I are going to be very good friends.". Almost ten years later and she is still one of my best friends, and even Sawyer's Godmother, and the thing I miss most in Louisiana, even more than the food. ;)

Anyhow, she was married in 2009, and her husband is a handyman above all. For Christmas, she had an idea, and he put it into action. And this picture is what I received....

Oh but wait, there is more! This is a two for one! Check out what it can do....

The picture insert slides out, and can be flipper over to hang showing this on the other side!

How cool is that? You are jealous, and that's ok. I would be, too. I have the craftiest and most caring friends!

And finally, I was the very first customer for my Anita who just opened her very own etsy shop!!!! Here is her shop banner, just click on it to get to her shop!

Anita has awesome vintage finds at great prices! I purchased some rice sacks to make pillows with....

Won't these make awesome pillows? I just love the blue rose!

And she was so sweet and included an adorable Lavender quilted heart. My mail lady actually asked me if my package was what was smelling so nice in her car. I sniffed the box and confirmed for her!

You need to check out Anita's shop! Here are some of her other in store items:

Thank you to all my wonderful friends! Happy Hump Day!

Piece of Work Wednesday Furniture Link Party Number 71!

2012-01-17T16:00:00.008-05:00

Hello! Hope you are all having a wonderful time on this fabulous day! We started our day with a birthday waffle for Emmy, with 5 chocolate chips for each year of her life, and a candle. We have an evening planned for Emmy.... it includes her favorite meal (pizza from a shop, not made at home!), and opening her presents from us. I made her one gift, so I will share that later. She is just so darn excited to be 5 and heading to kindergarten next year. I, of course, am thrilled about what her heading to kindergarten means for my schedule, but I am also heartbroken that my baby is growing up. Sigh.

Anyhow.... I am sharing the full makeover details of this dresser today over at the DIY Club, but I will give you the quick before ad after here.

BEFORE:

And after....

Ooooh, aaaah. ;
I actually really like this one- I can see it in a boy's room, for sure. It has a very nautical feel to it.
Remember for all the details on color, paint, primer, etc, head over to the DIY Club!

Let's see what you have got this week!
RULES
1. Your link MUST be furniture- a complete project! No crafts!
2. No etsy shops or the like.
3. Must be a follower here.
4. Must add my button or text link to your post or sidebar.
5. Leave others some comment love!
Sharing here:

This Girl....

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

.... is turning 5 today, no longer a baby.

.... dances with grace, beauty, and humor one cannot find in the self-aware.

.... sings with all her heart.

.... gives the strongest, most heart-felt hugs imaginable.

.... draws the happiest of happy faces.

.... came into our lives a surprise, and continues to surprise us.

.... is the snuggliest of snugglers.

.... is my number one fan.

.... is Daddy's favorite grocery store buddy.

.... is the apple of her brother's eye though he will never admit that.

.... is ready to take on kindergarten in the fall, and frankly, the world.

.... has such heart, that I know she will make an impact on our world.

Happy birthday to my baby girl. I am so proud of you and who you are becoming. I am astonished by your wit and beauty (inner and outer) every day. I am enjoying the time we have now, rueful that you are no longer a baby, but also looking ahead years from now, to when you become my best friend. I hope that the age of 5 is all your dreams have made it out to be! Love you much much ever so muchly.

Owls, Snails, & Polka Dots!

2012-01-16T06:00:00.008-05:00

I am over at the DIY Club today sharing a couple of smaller makeovers. First of all, I made over a cloche with aqua and polka dots... I love it so much I want to keep it, but it will soon be for sale. (BIG ANNOUNCEMENT COMING NEXT MONDAY!)

And I think I have a new love.... snails. How CUTE are these guys? Well, now that they have had a makeover anyhow! (And the little guy was a little chipped.)

Hop over to the DIY Club for all the details!

And I am sure you are all dying to see the "romantic clone trooper" cookies we made... Here is a little peek! I didn't get any pictures of the clone trooper, but you can see a lovely orange yoda on the cookie sheet.

Sharing here:

Custom Built Furniture

2012-01-15T06:00:00.004-05:00

Disclaimer: Before you get confused, no, I have not honed or mastered any carpentry skills, so this post is not about me or any of my own abilities. :)

We have been very blessed with fabulous neighbors who live behind us. Their daughter is in Sawyer's class. They always think to include our family in any gatherings. Our kids often head up there to play for a few hours on the weekend, and their daughter often comes here. We spent New Year's Eve together, and plan to start swapping nights out, so we each get date nights. The point is, we are really lucky to have them.

Last weekend at their monthly family fun night, the husband shared with us a machine that he built called a CNC machine. Seriously, he built it after seeing it on YouTube. Some time ago, he worked for a carpenter/furniture builder, and that is where his real passion lies. Yesterday, he showed me the bed that he made for his daughter. I did not have my camera on me, but let me tell you, it was amazing. It even featured built in book storage on the footboard, akin to this style...

The headboard and footboard had a beautiful shape and they were made out of solid India wood, and painted in a cottage style. To say I am impressed is an understatement. His talent is immeasurable.

I am writing this post because building furniture is not something I have experience with, but I would really love to help him follow his dream. For now I suggested perhaps creating a portfolio and trying to find a boutique or retailer that could share it with clients, but I would love to hear any thoughts you may have. Your input is much appreciated!

POWW Faves

2012-01-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Saturday!!!!!
I had a weekend plan of decorating fun heart shaped cookies with our neighbor's daughter. Last night I discovered that I have a hedgehog, a squirrel, a horse, a frog, a star and all other sorts of cookie cutters. But I have no heart. (cookie cutter, that is- I hope by now you know I have a heart. You do, right?). Santa brought Emmy some fun fairytale cookie cutters though, and Sawyer has Star Wars cookie cutters, so the plan has been revamped a bit. Cooke decorating will still prevail! We will just have to make romantic clone troopers.

I have to admit, I am so intimidated by your talent, people! Every week, you guys surprise me with even AWESOMER (spell check says that isn't a word, but whatevs) projects than the week before. So I am only going to be able to scratch the surface here. You really need to check out the original party to see just what i am talking about. This small sample will give you a hint....

LOOOVE these graphic lockers from Lovely etc.. Carrie constantly produces fabulous projects- this is one of my all time favorites. Methinks me needs some lockers! (and really, methinks is a word according to spell check.... hmmmm)

And I really hope you did not miss this silver leafed dresser from My Champagne Taste. It is the epitome of glamorous and beautifully executed! I feel prettier just looking at it.

And I have seen some fabulous chevron pieces, but I looooove this dresser from Stacey of Embracing Change. Is it not amazing????

Now, you all know I love some bold color, too, so how bout this red dresser from Amy at The Salvage Collection. Even though she made a slight jab at me in her post, I still love her, her dresser, and her humor. :)

And let's end this round up with another BOLD piece... this fabulous orange (holla, color of the year in da houz!) dresser from Lily Filed Furniture. Love it....

And you know what. This is my blog and I am feeling frisky, and I am going to feature ANOTHER piece.... this makeover from Lilyfield Life (not to be confused with Lily Field Furniture above!) also knocked my socks off and I may have to visit Australia, just so I can sit in one of the awesome chairs at this awesome table. Seriously, who's coming with me?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Guest: Kathleen from Between Blue & Yellow

2012-01-13T05:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday! We are already just about 2 weeks into the new year. How on earth did that happen so fast? Are you all ready for the weekend? I am! We are having a neighbor over tomorrow for some heart cookie decorating, and Emmy and I have a party to attend on Sunday for her classmate, and Monday.... well Monday I don't know! The kids are off from school, and Emmy's actual birthday is Tuesday, so maybe we will do something special together. This weekend I won't be attacking any projects, but just enjoying family time, and starting preparations for Emmy's birthday party.

Today, I have a fabulous guest for you! Kathleen from Between Blue and Yellow is a long time blog friend of mine! And hopefully this June she will become a real life blog friend because there is about a 95% chance I will be attending the Haven Conference and staying with her! :) I am so excited about meeting her in person! She is a beautiful young woman, mother of 2 little girls (well one is a baby still!), and has so much talent and a sweet vintage style. Check out a glimpse into her baby's nursery!

And here is a peak at the girls' bathroom vanity she refinished.

See what I mean? Soft and sweet vintage style! And she is super talented with furniture makeovers, which is how we became acquainted. She is here to give you some tips on refinishing those dresser tops!

Hi everyone!
I'm Kathleen from Between Blue and Yellow. Thanks to Cassie today for inviting me to do my first guest post ever. Cassie has been such an inspiration to me. And I'm so honored to be here on her blog.

My blog is mostly about furniture re-dos but I also dabble a bit in DIY projects around the house.
Today I'm here to talk to you about staining the top of a dresser. Most of my pieces have a stained top and I think now I've got it down to a science.

Step 1: Some may not choose to do this, but I find it makes the sanding part a little easier. I choose to strip off the old varnish first. I use Citristrip I get from Lowes. It’s a better alternative to those stinky strippers of yester year. And it works great. Follow the directions on the bottle and get a good tool for scraping off the stuff. It gets pretty messy so wear some gloves. I wipe the gunk on an old paper bag. Use what ever works for you.
After you scrape/wipe the stripper all off and it’s dry move on to the next step.

Step 2: (You must have a sander for this part) Sand the top down to the bare wood with some 60 or 80 grit paper. I recently got an orbital sander and it works great. It will take a bit of elbow grease, but it will be worth it in the end. I also highly suggest you get a nice breathing mask, it’s probably not a good idea to be breathing in that dust. After this sanding part, go over it again with a 120 grit to get the top smooth.

Step 3: Make sure you clean the top of all dust. I just use a wet rag and wipe it down several times. Allow it to dry completely. Then to get a more even distribution of the stain, I recommend using a wood conditioner. I use Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner. Follow directions on can.

Step 4: Get the stain you want to use, I use Minwax. They offer a large variety. Use a good quality brush and begin to paint it on with the wood grain. Allow it to sit for as long as you want. The longer you let it sit, the darker it will be. However, try not to let it dry completely. You will want to wipe off after 10 min or so. If it’s not dark enough for you, do this process again.

Step 5: Once you achieve your desired color, allow it to dry. You can also brush some polyurthane on top as a protective coat and to make it shiny. Clean your brush right away, because the stain is a b*%$@ to get off when it dries.

Come on over and visit me if you have any questions!

2012 Home Goals & Front Door Input Wanted!

2012-01-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

I am joining the Nester and a kajillion other linkers in....

As many of you know, we just moved into our current home in October of 2011. With that in mind, I could probably pen a novella all about my house goals! But I am going to try to keep it real. And something you should know about me if you don't already, is that my attention jumps. Oh yes, my friends, my brain works in patterns unknown to scientists. I will be thinking of one project, planning it out, maybe even in the middle of it, when BOOM, an idea hits me for a completely different project and I am off and running! That is how I came to paint the stripes in our dining room, after all. A flight of fancy hit me and I followed it! So while I am physically capable of jotting down goals, I am not always mentally capable of following through. What happens this year might be nothing on this list, though I will still accomplish a lot. You will not be disappointed. Capiche?

So here goes...

2012 will ROCK!

1. Pretty up the downstairs bath. Here is what it looks like now.

I am thinking something like this for the vanity. The walls will either be painted a warm white or a grayish aqua. The mirror will be framed out, and of course what can I say about all that wood trim? Puke.

2. Paint Emmy's room, trim, closet doors. I shared with you a glimpse of her room here and here. I also shared the wall color, but there are some other ideas I have for her room. In case you did not click back, here are the glimpses....

I will be painting the walls a soft aqua-hued blue, and here are some of the ideas I have.

Paint her closet doors, like these, but instead of a floral-print lion, using a couple woodland decals like this.

She also has a little nook in her room that I would love to give some sort of treatment like this or this

or this or this. (Sorry for the funky alignment- having some blogger issues, meaning I am probably doing something wrong!)

Her room is going to be so fun for me to put together!

3. Pretty up the Playroom/Family room in the basement. I organized it all the other day so now it looks like this... (And there is a couch/tv area not shown here).

So it's organized, yes, but it needs some fun wall art. It doesn't get any natural light, so I am going to keep it white, paint the trim, and paint the doors some fun colors.

I would love to add stick letters like these and a bigger rug and a colorful bunting. The glitch with the rug though is it has to be inexpensive and durable!

I also LOVE how fun this room is!

4. Paint Sawyer's room and trim. I had planned on doing his room first, but he has had so many disruptions and loves playing in his room that I thought it best to let him have it as is for now, and paint later! Right now, it looks like this, except it now has the same bedding on the other bed.

If I let him choose the color, his room would be as red as his rug. But that is NOT going to happen. It will be some shade of gray or blue, I am sure. I love these rooms from my pinboard of his room.

But I just don't know what I will do yet in there.... It will be one of those things where when it hits me, I will be off and running again!

5. Paint our exterior doors. Here are a couple pictures of the exterior at Christmas time.

I love the porch, love the Cape Cod Style. I don't love the brown, brown, and more brown going on. BUT we won't be repainting the entire exterior and trim until it is time to replace the roof. Because the roof is of course, a shade of brown and it's difficult to coordinate with it. I am considering a burnt orange color like the interior of our bookcases or perhaps a shade of aqua like the tables in our living room which are wedgewood gray. I would LOOOOOOVE to hear any thoughts you might have! Maybe you have another idea- PLEASE SHARE. Because I can't live with the brown, and if you have followed me for a while, you know I like front doors that pop!

6. TAKE MY TIME. So I am going to stop there.... that list is plenty long to get me started! Of course I also have dreams for our master bedroom. And I have big dreams for our kitchen (which we hope to start this Spring, depending how tax time goes!). I have many more ideas, dreams, but you know what? My family is going to be here for a long long time. That means I have nothing but time.... and I can get it all done eventually. I hope you will stick around while we make this house our home!

Emmy's Toadstool Tea Table & a Rustic Valentine's Door Decor

2012-01-11T06:00:00.026-05:00

So, the other day I showed you the before of Emmy's tea table and then I showed you a little peak into her room which is taking on a very woodland fantasy/fairytale life of its own. In case you don't click back, here is the before of her little table....

I am sharing all the details and the "how to" over at The DIY Club today, but I will also share with you the after pictures here. Now remember, her room will be painted this spring, closet doors and trim included, so just avert your eyes from those uglies.

I am also sharing today at The DIY Club how I created this rustic Valentine's door decor (which I am pretty much in love with and it was SO easy!)

So click on my DIY Club button to get all the details and how-to's on these projects!

I am sharing at these parties:

Piece of Work Wednesday Furniture Link Party Number 70 and a New Party to check out!

2012-01-10T16:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Tuesday! I hope you are all having a good week so far. It's been busy at our house! I spent Sunday doing more closet organizing. I hit the kids rooms, their closets, and the playroom. I made major progress in the playroom which I hope to share in the next couple of weeks. Sunday I also finally sold my red dresser and had a client pick up a table I refinished for her. So it was pretty busy, but it felt good to get so much done. Oh, and I finished up Emmy's tea table, with the reveal coming tomorrow!

Before I get to my piece for today, I wanted to let you know about a new party in town, that just started TODAY! My good blog friend Sharon at Elizabeth & Co is starting a new party where you can link up whatever is inspiring you..... furniture makeovers, crafts, recipes, thrifty finds and more! Click on the button to get there!

Anyhow, let's talk about the piece that the client picked up, since that is what I will be sharing here. Recently, I shared a plywood topped coffee table I finished for the same client. She also brought me this table, which was factory finished, made in China, but I knew we could make it look less "factory". Here is the photo she originally emailed me....

I sanded the painted body of the piece, and I gave the top a nice thorough sanding to get all of the stain off. Unfortunately, it was pressed wood, so the sides show that slightly, but the top came out beautifully. I used Minwax gel stain in aged oak. The body was primed and then painted with Sherwin Williams Alabaster, and then it was lightly distressed and wiped with Minwax golden oak for an aged effect. The top was also sealed with Minwax wipe-on poly in satin. I did not put the hardware back on because she will be changing it. But here is the after- not dramatic by any means, but it looks like a much better quality piece now!

So let's see what you have been up to?

Remember there are rules.
1. No etsy shops or the like.
2. Your post MUST BE A FINISHED FURNITURE PROJECT. (NO CRAFTS!)
3. Your project must be a new link to one of my parties- never before seen here!
4. You must add a text link or my button to your post or sidebar.
5. Leave others some comment love!

Battling Bad Behavior & A Glimpse into Emmy's Room

2012-01-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

This is a different kind of post for me today. In general, I consider myself to be lucky to have two very spirited, energetic, and social children. However, with all of the changes our family has gone through over the last 6 months, Sawyer has had some behavioral issues at school over the last month. We are doing our best to modify his behavior with positive reinforcement. Here is a little teaser of what we are up to to fix it...

For all the details head on over to the DIY Club!

In other news, I thought I would share a couple glimpses of Emmy's room with you. I plan to paint it this Spring in Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue seen here:

In the meantime, I have been working on some other things in her room and thought I would share what I can. I also redid a piece that I can't share until Annapolis Home comes out in March/April. I wish I could!!!

Last weekend I hit the outlets and found a fabulous set (the LAST set) of papier mache antlers at the Pottery Barn outlet. They were $19.99 plus an additional 20 percent off. I wasn't sure what I was going to do above Emmy's bed yet, but when I saw those, I knew they were perfect. And fake, which is all I can do when it comes to antlers. I had a large white frame in my stash that was just the right size to frame them out.

Also, here is a little glimpse of a table I redid a couple summers ago that fits perfectly as her nightstand.

The room is coming along and I am really loving it! It is not at all what I had originally planned, but at least that gave us a jumping off point. Then the room just took a life of its own, and I can't wait to see it all complete!

A New Before & After Party and POWW Faves

2012-01-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

My friend Lisa at Shine Your Light is hosting a new party! Each month you will link up your "before" images of pretty much anything you want to work on. At the end of the month, you link up your hopefully completed project! :)
I am joining the party this month with a table I am going to redo for Emmy's room. It's her little "tea table" as I call it, where she and her friends can have tea parties. Here is what it looks like now (this photo was taken the week we moved in- it's the round brown-blah-in-need-of-love table you see on the right)

So head over to Lisa's to link up your own before!

Now let's get to POWW faves! You people really know how to start the year out with a bang! I think we are all refreshed creatively, and excited for the new year and new start.
Oh how I love this glossy peacock blue dresser from Decor Adventures. Everything about it makes me feel tingly all over.
This playful set from Double Take Decor would make any child happy. And me. It makes me happy, too.
This sideboard from Fabulously Flawed has me seeing green!
I have to admit I don't love al the bed to bench makeovers out there... I just want my benches to look like benches. I know that is weird, but that's just me. This bed-to-bench transformation from The Hollie Rogue blows me away though. So warm and rustic- I love it! Ok, well I can't seem to click on her pictures, but go see it- I promise it is worth it! Hollie, if you read this, email me a picture of it!
Jacqueline from Simple Home Life made a mistake with her stencil, but worked it all out in her favor and recovered it with an awesome stripe! I love these!
And finally, I am a fan of pretty much everything Allison from Fab Rehab does, but I think she picked the most winning color combination for this cabinet. it's sleek, vintage, yet modern, and I love it.
I am headed to IKEA this morning for some playroom organization. And then I plan to work on the aforementioned table. Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Friday Guest: Lisa from A Vintage Vine

2012-01-06T05:30:00.000-05:00

Happy first Friday of the new year! How is that first week of resolutions going??? All is well here! I am just really excited about all this year holds for me. I know it's going to be a good one.
I am really excited to have Lisa from A Vintage Vine as the first guest of the year. It's rather fitting because she is so sweet and like a breath of fresh air and a great source of positive energy. I have followed Lisa's blog for quite some time and am always blown away by her style. I have gotten to know her quite well over the last year, too, and am so happy to have her as a friend. She has a very cool project to share with you, but before I let her do that, I want to brag about her a little bit and show my favorite glimpses from her home (which is on the market by the way!)
You can click here for her home tour, but here are my favorites....
The dining room. Sigh!

The entry....

Lisa and I also share a fondness for our friend Ali's shop. Lisa has several items from the shop, but here is her Thanksgiving banner below her awesome painted mirror...

Alright, enough of my yammering! Let's get to your guest, Lisa!

Good Morning fans of Cassie and her wonderful blog! Cassie's blog was one of the first blogs I ever read....WOW, was I hooked after that first visit!....A day rarely goes by, that I don't head over here for inspiration. I am sure you feel the same. Cassie, I am honored to be here guest posting for you, THANKS!
For those of you who do not know me......I am Lisa, from A Vintage Vine, a self proclaimed DIY'er...Most days you can find me at my blog, knee deep in projects, gardening and kids....I hope you come join me on some of those adventures.
Today, I wanted to show you my latest furniture makeover.....I can't believe this one did not involve paint! HAHA! Usually, paint is my furniture makeover tool of choice......Even though paint was not used, I did use these pretty little industrial wheels found in the hardware department of your local hardware store.....They were a grand total of $16 for all four..

I added them to this antique travel trunk.....

To make a new coffee table in my living room.....

I have had this antique wicker trunk for several years and it has always been used for storage.....I wanted to give it some new life, change it's function and make it more versatile but at the same time NOT alter it's originality.....I thought using it as a coffee table would do just that and adding the industrial wheels gave it the pizzazz it needed.......Since the bottom of the trunk was braced with wood the wheels were easy to attach with 4 screws in each corner.

Here is a final look......Hope you enjoyed this furniture makeover...Using these industrial wheels was so easy my mind is spinning on other ways to use them too....How about you?!

Thanks again to Cassie for having me over!

A Valentine's Wreath

2012-01-05T17:01:00.004-05:00

I had NO plans on making a Valentine's Day wreath today, friends. No plans. Emmy and I drove to our favorite thrift shop and found lots of great treasures! We came home with 5 vintage children's books (sorry, but these will be used for crafts!), a book for her, a couple of vintage resin kitchen vegetables for the wall which I will paint, 5 vintage glasses to use for candles, and a heart-shaped straw wreath! I spent $5.50 on all of that. I love that place.

Anyhow, I decided to make a yarn wrapped Valentine's wreath. I went to my craft closet and pulled out my yarn. I found a bumpy cream colored yarn that was perfect, and more importantly, that I had enough of. Emmy and I whiled away the last hour before picking Sawyer up at the bus stop watching a movie and wrapping the wreath. Here is the wrapped wreath...

Once it was wrapped it was ready for embellishments. I went to my craft closet and was going to use felt to make felt flowers, but I have a GIANT stash of vintage ornaments in all sizes, and lots of pinks and reds. Aren't the little vintage angels so cute?

I use them for decorations and fillers at Christmas, and planned to make an ornament wreath (but that didn't happen!). I also had lots of silver and gold tinsel pipecleaners left. I had used them to decorate trees in our Christmas snow globe jars we gave as gifts to teachers, and I also used several to make my heart garland yesterday. I still had enough left. I used two twisted together to create the word "Love" to attach as well. I used my hot glue gun to attach the word in the upper left, and a trio of pretty colored small vintage ornaments in the bottom right. Here is the finished product!

The hardest part of this wreath is definitely the wrapping in yarn, but I think it was worth it. I can't wait to get to work on my other thrifty finds! Have you found anything good lately that inspired a spur of the moment craft? And do you notice that I tend to work in spurs of the moment often for my crafts? I like to fly by the seat of my pants, live on the edge, live dangerously! Watch out because you just never know when I will whip out my glue gun!

String of Hearts

2012-01-05T06:00:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was cold. Not just cold, but the kind of cold that if you thought it was a good idea to haul out the heaviest maple dresser you have and work on it, you would find that in under 5 minutes your fingers would hurt so much and be immobile. Not that I know from experience, just sayin'.

When it is that cold outside, it's perfect for some indoor crafting. Now that I know where everything is in my craft space, it was easy for me to find exactly what I needed: gold and silver pipe cleaners. I pinned this simple heart garland on pinterest yesterday via Suzy.

I loved the sweet simplicity of it, and thought it would be perfect to add a touch of Valentine's Day to the chalkboard in my dining room. I wanted to add some glam and just use silver and gold though, as I love those colors against the blue of the frame. The whole thing took about 5 minutes, it was SO easy. My dogs could probably make one, too. In fact, that gives me an idea....

Anyhow, All I did was take one silver pipe cleaner and fold it in half to create the bottom point of a heart. Then I molded each side of the heart with the rest and twisted the ends together to form the center. Then I took a gold pipe cleaner and wove it through the silver heart and repeated. I continued in this pattern until I had enough. Super easy, but I think it adds a nice touch of sparkle and simple elegance.

I used to say, "What did I do before blogs?" Now I say, "What did I do before Pinterest?"

While I worked on this project, I listened to some beautiful, soft music. Megan of Homemade Ginger introduced me to The Civil Wars. They are a duo that writes and sings beautifully haunting songs. Here is one of my favorites from the album I purchased, Barton Hollow. Enjoy!

Sharing here