Annie Sloan Paint Give Away.....

MOUNTAIN OF GIVEAWAY - FINAL FOUR DAYS 

 Click here to enter:

Make sure you go enter for a chance to win 10 pots of paint!! What a great give away!! Check out Robyn Story Designs while you are there....

Peace, Love, & Joy

Blue End Table

this was a bittersweet project for me...it started when i found 2 end tables on freecycle...i was very excited to get them...when i arrived at the location, i was a little disappointed....they were both sitting out in the weather...the description on the ad stated that they were solid wood...they were so dirty and beat up that i really didn't notice that the tops were laminate but they had been sanded down and it looked like wood...once i cleaned them up and started working i almost gave up...wasp nest were inside..along with what we in the south call dirt dobbers...red clay nests filled the insides..one of the feet on the front was rotten from sitting in dirt and water...i put wood filler on the bottom to build it up...here are the pics below:

someone had spray painted the front an ugly brown...this piece does have some real wood on it but mostly its plastic and laminate

here it is after i applied some primer...looks better already

after some paint...i picked a color pot sample by martha stewart at home depot...it cost about $2.47 i believe...more than enough to paint this piece....araucana teal is the name of the color...

i had a little bit of help..i don't think he minded laying in stain

here she is finished...Renee`, named for my BFF since i was in high school...

after i finished painting, i glazed with some light stain...i let it settle into all the groves on the front...i then used a clear wax on top of that to bring out the shine and to protect...the knob is from a previous project that i almost threw away...i took some sand paper and went over it and the brass shined through! i love the look of the piece  but its not what i was originally going for...with the shape it was in, this is just how it ended up...


Peace, Love, & Joy

Linking Up To These Parties: 

Flamingo Toes/ Think Pink Sundays

Under The Table and Dreaming/ The Sunday Showcase
I <3 Naptime/ Sundae Scoop 
Craft-o-maniac/ Maniac Monday
Between Naps On The Porch/ Metamorphosis Monday
Debbiedoos/ Newbie Party
Skip To My Lou/ Made By You Monday
The DIY Home Sweet Home Project/ More the Merrier Monday
Coastal Charm/ Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Diamond in the Stuff/ Time to Shine
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/ Tuesday's Treasures
Not Just A Housewife/ Show Me what Ya Got
Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy/ Tuesday Confessional
Primitive & Proper/ Piece of work Wednesday
Primp/ Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style/ Wow Us Wednesdays
Sew Much Ado/ We Did It Wednesday
Restore Interiors/ Restored It Wednesday
House of Hepworth/ Hookin Up with HOH
Fireflies & Jellybeans/ Show off Your Stuff
French Country Collage/ Feathered Nest Friday
Fingerprints on the Fridge/ Feature Yourself Friday
Finding Fabulous/ Frugalicious Friday
Shabby Nest/ Frugal Friday
Miss Mustard Seed/ Furniture Feature Friday
Remodelaholic/ Anonymous 
At The Picket Fence/ Inspiration Friday
Funky Junk Interiors/ Sat. Night Special

Another Wreath

its the weekend and i celebrated early by making this wreath!! i found a similar one online but now i can't find it or i would give credit to the original poster even thought mine is not quite the same...the one i saw was made with the straw wreaths that have the plastic around them...instead of gluing the burlap, you poke a hole and stick it in...might have been easier to do that...this got a little messy with all the glue i used...see below:

i started out with a wreath from the dollar tree...$1.00!! i cut some burlap into small squares...it was leftover from another project that i did...my trusty glue gun and lots of glue sticks....i scrunched them up in the middle and randomly glued them on the wreath...thats it...simple and easy

here it is finished...i added the starfish to go with my coastal decor...i already had it too...saving it just for this project...this wreath is small...only about 9 inches across...

Peace, Love, & Joy

Wine to Shell

i couldn't wait to post this!! today i did a small project that i'm so proud of...i'm re-doing my dining room...slowly but surely its getting there...i've been searching the internet for some crafty things to make...i'm going for the beach/coastal look...my husband and i have a fondness for the beach...its our goal to move to the coast oneday...so, until then, here is one of my beach projects:

here is a buffet that i recently did...the pictures above it are not the look i'm going for...my mother gave them to me a while ago for christmas...there was a tag on the back that said 2003..also one that said $72.00!!! YIKES! she might not like this....

here is a close up...wine picture...its not that bad...just not my taste anymore...

i took it apart...the frame was wood and gold?? so i spray painted it white...i'm on a white kick for some reason...i am loving the brightness...

the end!! i left the chocolate brown mat..i may change that but for now i like it...i'm making drop cloth curtains and i purchased some extra for some crafts and stuff i want to do...i used the cloth for the background...i glued some shells onto it that i purchased at marshalls...i'm not quite finished with the other one yet...rainy day in georgia...

Finished

 Peace, Love, & Joy

Linking Up To:

Savy Southern Style/ Wow Us Wednesdays

Someday Crafts/ Whatever Goes Wednesday

Debbiedoos/ Newbie Party

Skip To My Lou/ Made By You Monday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/ Tuesday's Treasures
House of Hepworth/ Hookin Up with HOH
Fireflies And Jellybeans/ Show off Your Stuff
Sugar & Spice/ Throwback Thursdays
At The Picket Fence/ Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage/ Feathered Nest Friday
The Shabby Nest/ Frugral Friday
Remodelaholic/ Friday Remodelaholic Anonymous
504 Main/ Tickled Pink
Funky Junk Interiors/ Sat. Nite Special 

Thank You!!

as of today, i've had 1,071 visitors to my blog since i started it in may!! i'm so excited about this...i'm so happy that i've been able to share what i love to do, whether it be a simple craft, a drastic furniture transformation, or just something i wanted to say...

to everybody that came by to see what it's all about, thank you so much!! 



Peace, Love, & Joy

Chest of Drawers

my kids were cleaning out the bedroom and they brought this piece out for me to work on...i bought it way back when and my littlest daughter has been using it for her clothes...it was time for a refurbish....

here it is before...decided that i will be naming my pieces...this one is allie

someone had put a red colored stain on here...the sanding down process was awful...i wanted to leave the top a bit rustic...there were some scratches that looked intentional like maybe a child had taken something sharp and scratched it...i didn't sand those out...i then used a dark walnut stain...several coats...wax on top of that...probably around 5 coats...i wanted it super shiny...

this is a photo that i took after i applied some primer...i used kilz and brushed it on

here is the end result! i painted it with some cheapo paint i already had...i then sanded, stained, waxed...i bought a pack of knobs at big lots for $8...there were 10 in the pack...pretty good price for me...i painted them bronze with some paint i already had...the only money that i actually had to spend on this piece i already had was for the knobs...

Peace, Love, & Joy

Linking Up To:

Debbie Doos Newbie Party 

Made By You Monday/ Skip To My Lou 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday/ Costal Charm 

The DIY Home Sweet Home Project/ More the Merrier Monday 

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures 

A Diamond in the Stuff/ Time To Shine 

Thrifty Decor Chick/ Before and After Party 

Savvy Southern Style/ Wow Us Wednesdays 

Primitive & Proper/ Piece of Work Wednesday 

Restore Interiors/ Restored It Wednesday 

Domestically Speaking/ Power of Paint Party 

Someday Crafts/ Whatever Goes Wednesday 

Fireflies and Jellybeans/ Show Off Your Stuff 

House of Hepworths/ Hookin Up with HOH 

At The Picket Fence/ Welcome to Inspiration Friday 

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating/ Flaunt it Friday 

Miss Mustard Seed/ Furniture Feature Friday 

Remodelaholic/ Friday Remodelaholic  

Finding Fabulous/ Frugalicious Friday 

Ugly Lamp

my dad gave me this hideous lamp...its been sitting in my laundry room just waiting for me to do something to...so here it is...

green lamp...green shade...kinda dated...not my taste

added favorite paint color and burlap to the shade

yes, it does work!

Peace, Love, & Joy

New Old Chair

a couple of months ago i had a thought...i was probably in bed trying to go to sleep...for some reason thats when i get my best ideas...my mind tick, tick, ticks most of the time...

i saw a chair online that someone had painted and put on their porch with a cute little flower pot on it...i wanted to do something like that on my patio with a sign i bought at ross that said welcome to our porch...so, this is where my thought came in......

about 13 years ago my parents bought a house that was built in 1864 and remodeled it...in the upstairs she found a pair of chairs...one of them was broken during the renovation...she stored them in the barn thinking she would do something with them later...so here we are in 2011 and the chairs were still in that barn...she wouldn't let me have the good one...so i got the broken one...and i had to beg for it...i left with the chair and she had a scowl on her face...she didn't want to give up the broke chair...

scratch the original idea...the chair sat on the porch since the day i got it...i scuffed it up a little with sandpaper and cleaned the cob webs off of it...i was in bed again...thinking...again....i had another idea....

here it is before...

after sanding and some stain...i painted a 5 on it...i like random numbers...my family keeps asking why is that 5 on there??? and btw, i know my pics are horrible...yes, i do have a nice fugi that i paid over $200 but i'm too lazy to use it...i don't have a work space so i do alot of my painting inside...especially in this hot southern summer we are having...

a little staging makes everything much better...this is the end result....it only took me about 30 minutes to do this...

i hope you enjoyed the history of my chair...LOL...i took this old chair that probably wouldn't mean anything to an ordinary person...it means the world to me...it has a past and now its in my present!!


Peace, Love, & Joy

What's For Dinner?

 i'm in a cooking mood!!! tonight i tried 3 new recipes and i want to share them with you!!  below i will be posting pictures of what i made with the recipes to follow...

so here are the nuggets!! i will never cook my chicken any other way...i am so impressed with this recipe...my husband said it's the best chicken i have made since we got married...

 

Chick- fi- la Inspired Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients Needed:
Cooking Oil {you can use Peanut but it is not necessary}
1 Egg
1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Flour
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Powdered Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
I Tablespoon of Salt
2 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast, cut in strips or cubed

Mix together Egg and Milk.

Place cut chicken in mixture and let sit.

While the chicken is sitting, in a separate bowl, mix together the Flour, Powdered Sugar, Pepper and Salt. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil to 375 degrees. You can use a deep fryer or I simply heat in a frying pan on the stove top. The coating makes the oil pretty messy and I just prefer to use a frying pan and discard the oil afterwards. Gently drop your chicken pieces in the heated oil and cook until golden brown.

i have a secret...sssshhhh...i didn't use dr. pepper...i used PEPSI!! i tasted this while it was cooking and its divine!! LOL

 

 dr pepper chocolate cake


for the cake:
1 1/2 cup Dr. Pepper soda
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

    preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13x9 baking pan.
    combine the dr pepper, oil, butter, and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat. bring to a simmer, mix well, and remove from heat.
    add sugar, flour, and baking soda to the pan and mix well.
    in a separate bowl, beat the eggs and buttermilk together. add a small amount of the hot batter to the egg mixture (a couple tablespoons) and mix well. then add the egg mixture to the batter and mix well.
    pour into greased pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
    while the cake is cooling, make the glaze.

for the glaze:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar

    combine the butter, cocoa powder, and milk together in a saucepan over medium heat.
    when the butter is melted and the mixture is combined, whisk in the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth.
    pour over the warm cake.

 

uh oh! somebody got in my biscuits...hehe...it was  me...i can't resist bread...and anything that closely resembles red lobster biscuits i'm all for it...i didn't have any green onions...i cook with parsley flakes alot and thats what i used...also, i dropped a little butter on top before i took them out...

 

Dropped biscuits

Ingredients: 

2 cups self raising flour

4 tbsp shortening 

1 cup shredded cheese - I used a blend of sharp Cheddar, Parmesan and Gruyere

1/4 cup light sour cream

2 egg whites

3 small green onions finely sliced

1/2 cup fat free milk

Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease a cast iron skillet. (a 8-9 inch skillet is possible)

Place everything in a bowl and mix until everything is combined. With a 1/4 measuring cup drop dough balls into the skillet.

so there you have it...i actually cooked a real meal tonight and not something that came out of a box!

 Peace, Love, & Joy

 

Finished Night Stand

finally finished with my newest project...the $5.00 night stand....i painted, distressed, glazed with stain...i learned a lot on this project...i'm so happy with it...i know that this is something i want to keep doing in the future...i still have a lot to learn but now i know that i can accomplish something if i set out to do it...see my photos below

Before

close up of drawer

finished project

another pic...natural light...

Peace, Love, & Joy

Linking up to:

Restored It Wednesdays 

Wow Us Wednesdays

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 

Show Me What Ya Got 

Hookin Up With HOH 

Show Off Your Stuff 

Furniture Feature Friday 

Night Stand & New Paint

first of all i have been very interested in trying this new paint that i found at lowes....i tried to do some research on it but not very much is on the internet...i did find a few blogs that mentioned it but not in detail...according to the can, it has primer built in...but, it says if using on glossy surfaces you might want to sand to scuff up first...the part i didn't want to read....the blog i saw said no sanding required....

the name of the paint is my color...its made by pantone which i'm not familiar with...to best of my knowledge its only sold at lowes...i chose the color bright white because i'm painting a vanity that i had originally planned to paint pink...still not totally decided on that yet but i purchased a night stand earlier today that i'm using this paint on...its pretty beat up but i got it for $5 and thats perfect for me to practice on...

as you can see in the picture i started sanding before i even thought about taking a pic...i'm working on that....

this is the bottom of the night stand...its chipped and broke....i saw in blogger land that someone rebuilt the side corner of a table with wood putty....it said to gradually keep adding until you get it built up and then sand....you couldn't even see where it was broke in the after picture...i'm hoping i can do this...like i said before, this is my chance to practice on several different things at one time...

i have only used 1 coat of paint on this drawer....it gives pretty good coverage and no bleeding of stain coming through...i did run my sander over it a little...mostly where the knobs go....it had a little grunge around that area...the paint seems thicker than what i have been painting with and i like that....it makes it easier for me to paint for some reason....i guess everybody has their own liking to what paints they use...

another reason i wanted to buy this piece is that i want to learn how to glaze using stain...i've been to afraid to use it on my good pieces....i don't have much to lose on this....this is a decent piece of furniture i must say...it has a real wood top on it that i was not expecting...hopefully i can hide all the little flaws that i'm fixing...even though i am distressing it i still want it to look good...


Peace, Love, & Joy