Photo Gallery

I used to have nine photos on this wall. All the same frame. All lined up perfectly in a 3 x 3 configuration. I liked it, then I didn't like it, cause I thought I was being kind of boring....

I've wanted a gallery wall forever. We had one growing up, maybe I'm imagining it, nope, I remember, it's where I had my first kiss...that's right. Sorry, Dad. His name was Aaron, he's now in the army. I don't think there is a correlation....Tom's family had one too. I remember the first time I went there and saw all the pictures of him and his family....so much fun to look at those old photos!

So, I had this wall of photos and since hubs in away for a few days, it was time to change something....because if you've read for awhile, you'll remember that while hubby is away something has to change....

So, I took this ho-hum wall, that you can see a little of here:

And I changed it to this spectacular display of crooked photos.....

The photos will never be straight, they just won't. I'm slightly okay with it. Except that right now I want to go over there and tip each photo, just slightly. I hope I can sleep at night. Please don't be the person that says, say if you could just move that photo three in from the left and two down, to the right a little....

I love it. It makes me happy looking at all the photos in the room we spend the most amount of time.

Oh, that white frame behind the lamp..it's just a frame. It surrounds a light switch.

I was tempted to paint all of the frames white...I know! Can you believe it? Instead I just threw in the white ones I had whether there was a picture or not. And now my mantel is bare nekked.

I did not have a plan. I did not lay them all out and figure out which fit best where. I just started on the left and worked my way over. Things worked. I got lucky. I only had to re-nail three photos. And only one photo fell down while hammering into our flimsy walls....I call that a successful project.

Now. Let's see how long it takes hubs to notice....unless of course he reads this...

Channeling My Inner MMS

Miss Mustard Seed. I think I'd like to be her. Or marry her. Or just be inside her head for a few hours.

My friend Ann Marie over at Twice Lovely says I have MMS envy. She has it too. Mine took over and I had to try making a slipcover for something. Anything!

I found this chair at Goodwill for $20 while my Dad was here. I hemmed and hawed over it while at the store and left without it. I couldn't stop thinking about it, so during quiet time I ran back there. I was seriously having a panic attack worrying that someone had picked it up after I left.

I ripped that tag off and took it directly to the front. It was thrilling. I was stressed. It makes for a good story....

That kid wouldn't get out of my chair. It's in great shape except for the tear on the armpit....that's right, he's wearing a Halloween costume. We do that here.

I watched all of MMS's videos. All of them....at the same time...and then if I got confused, I rewatched.

I am not going to bore you with how I did it, because so many others do such a better job (at boring you...no....just kidding...at explaining the slipcover process) and mine is NOT perfect. In fact, if someone came over, I may hide the chair. No I wouldn't, I'm too lazy for that.

I couldn't help but think of The Cosby Show while doing this project. Remember the episode where Denise tries to make a copy of the very expensive shirt for Theo. It was yellow and black. And totally wrong. That's how I felt. I didn't feel like MMS. I felt like Denise.

There was a lot of pinning, a lot of poking myself with needles, a ton of swearing like a sailor, and to be honest, I shed a few tears of frustration. But, she's done. And she is the most comfortable piece of furniture ever.

Actually, I did a pretty stellar job at the cushion. I'm pretty impressed with myself on that part of it. The armpits of the chair, eh....but if I put a pillow on it, you can't even tell....

 See...nice, right? I know. Totally awesome. Please ignore the misaligned bottom hem...look at the cushion, look at the cushion!

 I may do another one sometime. Maybe.

That's right. She did ribbon, so I did ribbon.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I'm just praying it doesn't come apart...

Happy Tuesday!

I'm nervously sharing this with MMS. She's going to find out I have a furniture crush on her....or I'm obsessed.....yikes....

Holy Red Batman.

I can't hold off any longer. I am dying to show you this buffet. D-I-Y-ing (get it?! DIY...do it yourself....nevermind....)

Here's the humdrum before. Cute enough for an old lady living in a shoe.....

It was in fantastic shape. The small drawer is even lined in velvet for silver!

Here's a peek at part of it:

And now, meet Lisa. (She is named after the most wonderful Massage Therapist I have ever had, plus she's going in my Chiropractor's office where Lisa works....)

She is bold and brave and beautiful. I am in LOVE. Double heart with puffy paint LOVE.

Seriously, look at the inside! My favorite lagoon color on the inside! LOVE....

Outside is Rustoleum Colonial Red in Satin. Inside Rustoleum Lagoon in Semi-gloss. Love it. Don't want to give it up. I can hardly stand it. It makes me giddy! Just plain giddy!

Two dresser Refabs.

I told you it was going to be a week of furniture posts!

I finished up two dressers this past weekend and they found homes before I could even blink. I LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS!

I grabbed these two dressers at the same time. And had a list of people that were interested.

This gal needed a little work...one of the cross support pieces was warped and so we had to make a new one...it turned out great and Tom helped so much with her.

Since my Dad has been here, he took some photos of me hard at work.

She turned out great! Even Hubs approved.

And this gal....holy smokes.....

I am so glad the new owner was up for a fun color. Leafy green from Rustoleum. LOVE!

A little distressing and some understated ORB pulls. I am in love with this gal. Did I tell you I love her? I do. LOVE. Gorgeous green love.

Buffets....buffets....

For some reason my all time favorite thing to refab is a buffet. I love them. I love the way they look, the way they turn out, the functionality, the hardware, the drawers...everything about them.

This one is no different. Another favorite...

Not too bad before. The top needed to be redone and the insides of the cabinets were kind of gross....

And now....not bad at all!

Of course, she's already found a home. Bummer. I wanted to keep her. Those green knobs are to die for!

Next on the buffet agenda is this little gal. She's going to be an amazing color and I can't wait to get started!

She has a velvet lined drawer and is so dreamy!

A sewing table refab.

Some of my favorite things to refab (that's re - fabulous!) are sewing machine tables. They make great nightstands, end tables, entry tables, or hall tables. And they are small enough where it can be fun to be funky and bold.

This little table I picked up for a couple dollars. The top was not attached and it had some kinda ugly stain on it.

So I painted it sea glass by Martha Stewart stained the top ebony and rubbed ebony stain all over the thing. Oh, and I put some fun Anthro pulls on it too. And now....I love.  And I named her Gertie. She already found a home...so she will have a happy place to land.

I love that you can see the old handle outline - looks a little like wings....

Super cute.

Mom Ramblings #27

1. This is my little sister. We call her Lou. Her real name isn't Louise. This is her new fiance. They have been together for as long as I can remember and they are gettin' hitched this summer at a lake resort (how cool is that!). They complete our little family. And we are thrilled. (That's my Dad's house, by the way. Photo courtesy him, and one of his three Nikon cameras.)

2. I was going to participate in What I Wore Wednesday this week over at The Pleated Poppy. BUT,  this is the only photo I've taken all week long. This was last Wednesday. So it goes. One photo. The rest of the week I was in painting clothes and my red carhart jacket. So be it.

3. This is Gus. That's it. Oh, and that's my nose. Geez.

4. This is the hubs and me working on a piece. This was a combined effort as part of the dresser was warped and we had to replace the piece and put it back together. He helped a ton! So my Dad, who is here visiting for the week, took a picture of us by it. Don't we look cute in our coordinating Carhart jackets?! (Carhart should pay us....just a thought...or give us stuff....another thought...) See how I'm tilting my head and sticking out my neck so I don't have an ugly neck...I'm not sure if that was a good idea. I look a little dorky....

5. I spent Sunday morning doing something that I never want to do again. I pulled out my hair, I cried, I was frustrated, but I made a cover for the cushion on my favorite chair. It was hard, and yes, I will probably attempt it again, but not for awhile. It didn't turn out too bad...until I tried to stuff the foam and the pillows inside and the underside ripped. Ugh. I was so mad at myself! But, it's the underside, who cares!  And from far away it looks pretty good!

6. See that cowhide rug? You think it's the same one that I just got a few weeks ago, but it's not!
Here's the other one:

7.  I found this real cowhide rug on Craigslist for an amazing price and just had to have it. So we now have two. This fake one is currently in our room and it looks awesome in there. And the real one with real branding who happens to be named Harry, given by the previous owners who found that name on the back of it, is sitting under my favorite chair. I love it. I love that it has scratches from barbed wire and it's branded...it's cool.

8. My Dad is here, so of course the spoiling has commenced...he took the boys to Target and bought them each toys, just because....that's what Grandpa's are for, right?! Oh, and I may have gotten a pair of shoes. I'll show you sometime....

9. If you've been reading for awhile, you'll know that I have a love/hate relationship with Dave Ramsey, the psycho money manager. Well, today I want to thank Dave Ramsey. That's all. Tomorrow I'll probaby hate him, but for today. I love him.

10. I think that's it for the day. I've got a few pieces of furniture to show off this week. So sit tight!

Happy Monday! Off to thrift and get a massage!

Craft Closet Makeover

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Yesterday I showed you our office makeover: (BTW, that bulletin board is going somewhere else!)

Today, let's talk craft closet. Ugh.

We made a trip to Ikea a little while back and picked up a drawer unit a small shelf/drawer and lots of boxes.

Then we made a trip to Home Depot (again, they really should pay me...) and had them cut some shelves for us. We have the tools to do it, but really, it is so much easier for them to do it for us.

We, and of course when I say we, I mean Tom, measured everything and hung up all the shelves. I supervised. I did put the cabinet and the shelf storage thing together!

Then I put everything in the pretty white boxes and filled the jars and put the toys away and labeled all the pretty white boxes...

And now, we have a pretty storage closet to hide all our stuff. I will probably paint the closet at some point, but right now I'm just enjoying being organized!

Oooh...look how pretty it is! So, that bottom drawer unit and the two plastic containers came from Ikea. The two drawer pull out shelf came from Ikea too. As did all the white boxes. The glass containers came from everywhere. Target, G-dub, garage sales....You can use whatever kind of glass container you want, I just think they are convenient and available.

I think it turned out great. I've got lots of room, some things hiding so we don't have to see them and toys that are constantly played with easy to reach.

The bottom drawer unit is full of craft stuff for the boys...they love to draw.

And you are getting a sneak peek at our new doors!

Love this closet. I know, it's the little things. Do I think it's pretty? Yep. Bonus points if you can tell me how many times I said pretty.....