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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pictures That Make Me Smile - Sold!

Here's is my classic picture of the week.  I have entitled it simply SOLD!  My son and his wife who married a little over 8 months ago just moved into their own little starter home! 
I'm so proud of these kids young adults and happy for them.  Also featured in the photo is my granddog, Willie.



SOLD!

Much Love & Laughter,

Laura

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Out With the Old, In With the Older

In the middle of all the Senior 2012 end of year business, I've been slaving away on the furniture replacement for our master bedroom.  Remember this post about a month ago?

Here's some of the progress, SuperDave's Chest of Drawers....

Out


In
   
Started out solid cherry, partially custom painted by Stacy at Smashing Teacups

SuperDave's nightstand

OUT


IN



I painted this one myself, still seeking one drawer pull that was missing when
 I bought it for $30, beginning to think I may spend another $30 to replace the missing handle! 
The picture shows two missing because one of them is in my PURSE!

Seriously, seriously, LOVING THIS!


OUT
 
Don't worry, it didn't go far, the daughter wants this in her room

IN

Purchased this desk with the chest above, paid $30 for this one also,
they both looked more shabby than chic when we got them.
A little TLC goes a long way on an old piece of furniture.
I'll post the before and afters on both pieces soon!

And I also found a replacement for this item purchased 25 YEARS ago

VERY VERY OUT!



VERY VERY IN!!!
HOORAY!



I know all you chalk painters and fans of all that is Shabby and Chic are out there screaming for this to be painted.  Truthfully, I'm not sure SuperDave will let me touch this with a paint brush. 
 I think he kinda likes it 'as is' and I do need to let him
have a voice in my our decorating occasionally once in a blue moon, I suppose. 

Also, I'm kinda tired and ready to lie by the pool for a day or three
and just read a book and sip on a cold beverage. 


Cheers!

Laura

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been too busy at work and home to even think about blogging most days the last couple of weeks.  It makes me sad because I really enjoy writing the blog and I also love having time to read other blogs.  And THEN there's always the linky parties where I drool over those who not only had time to post but had time to completely make over a room until it was FABULOUS!  Oh my!  If only!

Over the weekend, my daughter had the last two banquets of her high school years, we attended a graduation party and a birthday party.  We also drove a couple hours (round trip) to see our son's sweet little first home.  In between I did the grocery shopping, laundry, some yard work and painted on my latest piece of furniture I'm making over.

Did I mention it's finals week at the high school and less than a week until the FINAL high school graduation for one of my own offspring?  The same young lady I am daily urging to apply for a lot of summer jobs and finish up all the college paperwork.



I am woman, I am Mom, I will not cry!  Yeah, right......

Believing life will calm down soon, 
(okay, I know, let me live in my little fantasy world for a moment)

Laura


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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Chalk Painted Hexagon Table - Everybody's Doing It!

Before entering the wide world of blogging I had - believe it or not - never heard of chalk painting furniture.  I really wanted to try it because I had refinished (stripped and varnished) exactly ONE piece of furniture in my life and swore never to do that again - YUCK!

A while back I ran across a post describing the makeover of this hexagon table.  
That's a cool table!  It was my INSPIRATION!


Photo credit
Also, cool - I have a hexagon table tossed into the corner of a guest bedroom. 

Not so cool - I made it over with map wallpaper a bazillion years ago for my son's bedroom and when he left home I tossed it in an unoccupied bedroom and left it looking like this.



Let this be proof that I'm no stranger to repurposing a piece of old rejected furniture.

In this case I'm going to make it over the second time.  Since I already had this little table I figured it's a good candidate for my first chalk paint project.  If I mess it up - no big deal.

I removed the old wallpaper, washed it down, removed the hardware and taped off the slate top.  I sanded it lightly all over.  Part of the the table it real wood and part is laminate.  I'm guessing there was some molded decorative plastic on this at some point, but if I remember correctly it came to me like this.  My table doesn't have the detail like my inspiration table or the cute legs. But it's free since it was already sitting in the corner.



I made my own chalk paint by adding plaster of paris to my paint and I applied three coats.  It's called Toasted Marshmallow but it is REALLY white.  It darkened a little when i waxed it, but I think next time I will choose a less bright white.


I distressed the edges. I got a little more paint off in some places than I meant to when the table was on it's side on the rough surface of my patio. Oops!  And of course that area was in the front!  I learned to be a little more careful next time.


I don't like to paint good quality hardware so had planned to leave the knobs as is with a just a good cleaning.  But they didn't clean up very well and I was already thinking how good they wood distressed with that flower in the center. So I painted them and then sanded some of the paint off - I think they turned out well.

I used a Minwax finishing wax and it made the surface nice and smooth.

It is finished?  Probably not - I'm considering a french decal and some feet.  Anyone know a good source for french furniture decals?


Yeah for chalk paint!  It really is easy and fun to repurpose furniture using this method.


Much Love & Laughter,

Laura








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Monday, May 21, 2012

Home Sweet Home

Last week was one of THOSE weeks.  A week where life balls up a fist and punches you in the gut and reminds you that there are no guarantees of tomorrow.  The lady who sat in the cubical next to me for last 4+ years died unexpectedly last week.  A young fit 50something gal who could, literally, run circles around the rest of us, just up and left this world.   

After struggling through the emotions involved with a tragedy all week, I was exhausted.  It made me want to go home and pull the covers over my head and wear my pjs all weekend.  It made me want to hug every member of my family tighter and call everyone I love who lived too far away to hug just to hear their voices.

But I didn't crawl in bed, I LIVED.  I was taken out to celebrate life and Mother's Day by my awesome son and his wife on Friday night. After that I stayed inside the boundaries of my small homestead for the next two days and nights.

I sat on the patio and sipped coffee with family and friends, I finished one project and started another, I did yard work and house work, laundry and mending, I read a book, I watched shows I had recorded on the DVR.  I cooked a little, ate a little, kept my mind and body busy and I probably hugged people even more than usual.

And I finally captured a few shots of those noisy Bluejays.

Are you looking at ME?




Three in the bush
I thought all four of them were in that tree but the fourth one hid from me pretty well.


Hugs,

 Laura


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Friday, May 18, 2012

Sit a spell

While hunting through craigslist, antique and resale shops I happened upon this little cutie on sale half price.

I wanted a little bench for the front porch.  This is actually a wide chair, but it works perfectly and I think it says WELCOME.  It's in excellent shape and surprisingly comfortable and sturdy for an old wicker chair.

I just tossed on a pillow and left it the way I found it.  It may need a coat of paint at a future date. (after I paint all my other projects in progress)

 We don't do too much sitting on the front porch, usually we sit in the back so it may end up there at some point.  But I do sometimes sit on the sidewalk when I need a break from pulling weeds or trimming shrubs out front.  I might just take my break on this comfy little chair and sip some lemonade.



TGIF,


 Laura


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Pictures That Make Me Smile - The Hunter

This is Obi, he's a prince of a kitty who loves to sleep on a pillow.  Even outside.



He's not the cat who chases every bug that accidently comes into our home.

But he's a brave and fierce hunter when you bring home a new bag of dry food.

So my classic masterpiece painting photo today is called.....


The Hunter

He loves to rip the belly of the bag of cat food and eat right from the sack.
I don't understand this from my meek little guy,
 but he enjoys is so much that I usually indulge him.

On this day I decided he really didn't need to rip open the beastly bag
 so I set it in the laundry sink, but he sniffed it out anyway and had a snack. 



Animals bring a lot of joy and amusement to our lives, don't they?


Much Love & Laughter,

Laura

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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Fabric and Glass Art

Don't you just hate it when life is so busy you don't have time to write a blog or read all your favorite blogs?  This has been a very VERY busy day week.

And I've got something cool to show you - at least I'm pretty happy with it.  For a while now I've been considering covering some art canvases with fabric to make a LARGE grouping of "ART" for a big wall in the 'not so formal' living room.  I found two beautiful blue glass bowls on a trip to Michael's and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but the color was so amazing I took them home to think about it.  I decided to go forward with the fabric covered canvases and include the blue bowls in the the grouping so I chose fabrics that were fairly neutral but had blue as one of the colors.

I placed the fabric over the canvas to get the pattern arranged, then I cut out a piece large enough to cover the canvas, turn under and staple to the back.



The fabric for the small size canvases was light weight so I ironed it good and flat.



I sprayed the canvas with spray adhesive and smoothed out the fabric.  This wouldn't be absolutely necessary with heavier fabric like I used on the large pieces, but on this lightweight fabric it was very important to get the fabric smooth.  I considered using lightweight batting under the fabric but for these pieces I just went with the adhesive.  I used the adhesive on the heavy fabric also because it made it easier and I already had everything out.


I turned the raw edge under and stapled all around pulling the fabric as tight as possible.  Fold the corner so that the fabric lies smooth however you can get it to work, there are multiple ways to fold the corner, use the one that works best for you.



I used disc plate hangers I ordered from, you guessed it, http://www.amazon.com/ on the back of the plates, but I read that you can make your own with felt and paperclips. (after I order mine)

I laid them out on the floor to show my super helper, Super Dave, how I wanted them to be arranged on the wall.


After getting them on the wall I hurried up and took a picture (without cleaning up the room at all).
Don't you like how I posed that cat on the table?






I'm very pleased with this little project. I keep going in there everyday just to look at it again.
Much Love & Laughter,

Laura


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