Can't get enough!

It seems with each time we move I get the craving to do projects. It really all started when we moved to Colorado and we had areas that needed new furniture but we didn't have the funds to go out and buy brand new, so I decided why not find some pieces that I could put a little work into and save us a ton! Naturally when we moved to Utah we had room for more projects and I was excited to have something to take my mind of the Lonely.

This latest piece came about because for the last 2 years we have had THE UGLIEST TV stand (in my humble opinion). In our last house the t.v cutout in the wall was not large enough for our TV so my husband thought he would try his hand at salvaging...he worked at an air force base and someone mentioned to him that there was a building that was being cleaned out and that anyone was welcome to take the furniture that was left behind. "Lucky" us there was a t.v stand!! Let me just say that the t.v stand was left for a reason, but he thought "It's still functional, I am not letting it go to the trash!" so alas he brought it home and I didn't have the heart to tell him how much I disliked it, so it stayed.



Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I spotted the PERFECT piece at D.I for just $10, I swooped it up!! When I brought it home Jimmy's face was like "You think that is better than what we have??" but he humored me and unloaded it from the van anyway.

This past Saturday was her day in the sun!


(the doors actually had black slats or mini shutters that were breaking and I ripped them out and then remembered to take a picture)


I sanded all over and primed it and then painted the tops and sides first, leaving the front alone. Painting the front was a bit more tedious because it needed to be taped off in areas but the time was worth it in the end. As I was finishing up the last coat of paint it began to rain, now while I was under a covered porch the wind was pelting the rain into me and "The Precious" so my husband swiftly helped me move her into the garage and I decided I would have to complete her another day.

Then today I had some time once the girls were home from school to finish, I pulled out the chicken wire, wire cutters and stapler and was able to add the finishing touches pretty quickly! I really am happy with the way she looks, yes I do get quite attached to each piece, but when you have no other friends nearby they become your company. My husband was nearly shocked to see the difference and even gave me a high five, I guess he approves! Isn't she lovely?!?!

Projects!!

I have written a few posts but haven't posted them, am I the only one that has "post guilt"? I start thinking "oh that was way too much complaining" or "I should have saved that for my private journal" but today I am pretty sure this post will be 100% appropriate!!

I have been in a funk since our move and I have been really lonely so I decided to get myself busy with some projects and while I am still kinda "funky" I at least feel as though I got something done, WOOHOO!

The reason: In our new house there is a "formal" dining room which will never be used formally, however there is a rather large chandelier that is at the perfect height for people, ok me, to hit my head on it.

My solution: I decided to place a small round table with a few chairs and turn it into a homework table/don't hit your head on the chandelier table!

After searching a few thrift stores I finally found the perfect table, it just needed a little sprucing up.





The color was actually pretty close to what I was wanting but as you can tell from the pictures it had been neglected over the years. The best part was that I only paid $10 for the table!!

Now with many of my projects I use spray paint but since I wasn't able to find the color I wanted in spray paint I went with what turned out to be a custom color with primer from Ace hardware since they were unable to match the swatch I had found exactly. Once I had the paint I went to work.

I lightly sanded the entire table and then wiped it down with a sticky cloth to collect all the sanding dust.

(forgive me for not taking more pictures)

After I gave the table two good coats of the new paint I let it dry over night, and then my favorite part the "Aging".

When it comes to giving some age to a piece I use everything, chains, hammers, sand paper, gardening tools and anything that I might find in my garage. This is why when choosing a piece to re-finish you want it to be of sturdy wood construction otherwise it could fall apart from the abuse.

Once I had aged it sufficiently I decided that the color was just a bit too bright and needed something else, so I dug in my magic bag of tricks and found a dark wood stain that I had from another project and rubbed it gingerly over the entire table, wiping it with a clean towel as I went.

The result:
The perfect piece for the space!

(These pictures were taken with my phone so it's hard to see the detail)

Now the table was lonely without chairs so my next search was for the perfect set, again this took a few days of searching thrift stores but I finally found a matching pair that would work.

The chairs started out like this (not bad if I wanted black) the chairs were $10 each

After some sanding, primer, paint and top coat...



I completed the second chair and allowed them to dry completely, when I brought them in next to the table I still felt they needed a little something so after a conversation with a fantastic friend she gave me a great suggestion...and here are the final results





I must admit that I am kind of in love with this room now! There is something very satisfying about giving a piece of furniture a new identity and even better when it's in my house!!

For You Marissa!

So I told my BFF that I would post some pics of a recent project! So today is for you Marissa, all of it, the pushing everything out in the hall to make it look clean, the open curtains for lighting, the made bed, and the frog doing yoga on the dresser to the left! Oh and please don't ask about the sock between the headboard and the wall (how embarrassing)

Flashback Friday!!! Uppers & Downers

The last week with the Kelley's has been abundant with UPPERS & downers, mostly up, but how could we call it life if we didn't have the down along with it??!!

Last Thursday Lexi was leaving school to head to the bus when two boys were coming into the school pushed open the heavy metal door and it went right over the top of Lexis left foot!! She was only wearing flats so there was no protection for her foot and a big chunk was taken out of the skin!! ( YUCK, I can't really look at it) The nurse was off that day but the office staff made up for it and took really good care of her until I could arrive to pick her up. Long story short, she was doing pretty well until Wednesday of this week when it started to look infected so we took her to a medical clinic close to home (it stinks not having insurance). They were really great with her, cleaning the wound up and prescribing her some antibiotics to help the infection and taking an x-ray to check for a fracture, which there wasn't one. She is still on crutches and will be for a while longer while it heals, but she has been a trooper throughout the entire thing. I have missed her help with her siblings and around the house, and it has been a bummer to be hurt over Spring Break!! However it forced us to just relax and spend time at home with each other, and we have managed to come up with projects to work on here.

(The white stuff is medicine)

Speaking of projects, with the weather being absolutely PERFECT, and some fabulous finds on Craigslist I have been busy refinishing, rearranging and organizing many of the rooms in the house! The Spring Cleaning Bug has bitten and the itch has been ferocious, Monday I refinished both girls dressers and then attacked just about anything I could get my hands on with spray paint. I also started and finished some sewing projects, began the revamping of the Master bedroom, hung curtains in the living room, and continued organization of my office/guestroom/sewing room!!

Lexi's new dresser from Craigslist ($10), I had already removed the handles...

...to do this

(The finished product along side Graces' dresser from a thrift store for ($7), it was white)

My new favorite piece of furniture (Craigslist $40)

(Latest Baby blanket)

Whew I am tired just typing it!!

By Thursday I finished the overhauling of the girls room, and wanted to crawl into bed but instead I continued on with more sewing projects and spending some much needed time with the husband.





This week we also participated in an Easter Egg hunt and I had Young Women's on Wednesday evening. Jimmy has been working lots of hours on his website and other side projects, as well as hearing good things about the continued contract at the Base.

(James and Grace waiting and listening to the instructions)

Something very exciting for me, I have been offered the opportunity to write for an internet company, and get paid!!! The details are still be worked out but it looks like I will be able to do it in my "spare time" ha ha, and make a little extra spending money.

Don't worry, just in case you think I have it all together, this week has also been sprinkled with crying, fighting, tantrums, yelling and pure exhaustion not to mention the kids have been acting up as well!! LOL

(My Fantastic new hat that I won from Sew Sanity)

The Master Bedroom is still in the works but I can't wait to finish cause I am already in....

The Itch!

The last week here in Mountain Central Time has been A-MAZING!! The sun has been shining and the temperature as been just right! For me that means.......PROJECTS!! Oh yeah! Friday I hit the thrift store and found a great side table for $5.95, came home revamped it (it used to be a dark dark wood color) and now it has a nice place in my front room!!




Saturday I cleared out an extra bed we had in James' room, went for a bike ride with Jimmy, grocery shopped, and just when I thought the day couldn't get better or more productive I found THIS great idea last night around 7pm and decided it was perfect for the pictures I had been wanting to frame!!!


So that meant......


a trip to here...


here..


of course here....

Here (for their pretzels).....



back to here cause the above didn't have what I wanted......




then so my husband would feel it was worth it (yes he came along), a trip here!!! Ok, so I had some ice cream, sue me!




Then I got home, put it together and here is my version of the idea!! I HEART it!!



(these drawings are from a recent FHE (family home evening), where I had everyone draw a picture of how they feel when we get to sit and eat dinner together!) For more pics and details on how I did it go here