Gus is 2!

Happy Birthday little dude!

We love you!

Mom Ramblings #32

1. I'm moving. To Wordpress. We're working on it right now. Please come with me. You shouldn't have to do much to come with. Just don't go!

2. I'm thinking about doing this to our backsplash. I would really love to do old tin tiles, but I don't think that is going to happen. Unless I find a thousand smackers under my fridge, or in my oven. This is a sheet from Home Depot. And should only cost me about a hundred and fifty smackers to do our backsplash. Anyone done it? I think it is going to look cool. Hubs is in, as long as he doesn't have to do any work. Deal. Of course I'll show you when it's done.

3. The kids are on a reptile kick. They found a tree frog the other day and carried it around all day long. The darn thing even jumped across my kitchen floor. Porter traded it to the neighbor for a Zooble. Then she let it go. Who won that round?

4. Now they are trying to convince us to get a pet snake. Ha! Have I ever mentioned that Tom HATES snakes?

5. Porter got beat up by a table at school and he came home and his face was swollen and black and blue. The school never called me. I'm a little upset. And when I say swollen, it looks like he shoved two oranges in his cheeks.

6. My middle sister is PG. That's right, I'm spilling the beans. We FaceTimed her with our iPhones (LOVE technology) and we got to see her little belly. I cried. It's just such an amazing thing. They are going to make fantastic parents. Even if their baby has to sleep in the bathtub in their 600 square foot Brooklyn apartment....they should move home.

7. My Bridesmaid dress arrived for my youngest sister's wedding this summer. It's a convertible dress. Which does not mean that the top can come down with the push of a button. It means we can wear it a bunch of different ways. I think I'll try them all out, take a photo of each one, and then you can all decide which way I should wear it. That would be fun, right?! What do you think Lou?

8. My cheek/eye is still twitching.

9. The White Butterfly Furniture site is officially off blogger! We are now at www.whitebutterflyfurniture.com. You should have no problem following it and subscribing and RSS feeding over there to see all the furniture. If you so choose, of course. If you have problems, let me know. I'll try and help you out.

A couple primitives

I like primitive pieces. I don't generally paint them, maybe because I just haven't found them to paint, but I found a couple a few weeks ago. They came from a garage sale. And coincindentally I knew the person that was selling them, but didn't know I knew the person! Lost you yet?

I was recognized at a garage sale last week! How fun is that?! It made me totally embarrassed and I got all flustered and red in the face, and my words came out sounding like a crazy fool, I'm pretty sure. So, Pam, I'm sorry I sounded like a crazy person!

Last year I bought a table from my favorite restaurant in town that closed. I love this table. It was their bussing table.

I took it from this:

To this:

I love this little table. It sits in our master bedroom. It reminds me of when we first moved here and how we knew no one, but we would go into this little place and feel safe and at home. They were so kind in there. And the food! Soooo good!

Off track. Back on. So, Pam had a few items at a garage sale (it wasn't her sale), she recognized me and we talked, and I got embarrassed, and you know the rest.

So, I grabbed two tables from her.

Rustic, shabby, there may have been some paper doilies in the drawers and possibly some hay too.

I took the longer one and spray painted her white, added some wax, and put on some new pulls. She turned out amazing! And she has a new home.

(Anyone need a toaster oven?)

And the smaller one I just adore. I painted her Old White (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) and painted the drawers Duck Egg Blue (Annie Sloan too). Then distressed, waxed and wiped.  I love how the Annie Sloan paint sands. I used a 150 grit sand paper, just in case you were wondering. It gets so smooth! Love, love, love.

Such a great piece! Thanks Pam for selling them to me!

A desk revamp.

I got this little lady, (I named her Reese, again, because I've got a special little family on my mind) from the same woman that sold me a few pieces.

It sat in the garage for a few weeks. It needed some love and I wanted to use my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for the top, so I had to wait a little while.

 (I don't like to touch up the original photos. It makes the after so much more dramatic!)

The back legs (hairpin legs, fancy term, isn't it?!) weren't attached in the back. So I took a piece of extra wood and put it in the back. I attached it using my Kreg Jig. I mean, my husband's Kreg Jig.... ummm, would anyone like a little tutorial on how to use a Kreg Jig? Do you care? Either way, the back legs are now supported and the desk is stable.

I got my Old White Chalk Paint out and started painting. But wait. WAIT. Just. A. Minute. Instead of painting the top so that it was smooth and you could hardly see the lines, I did something a little different. I painted with the idea of actual old world plaster. I criss-crossed and spread the paint in all different directions. I love how the top turned out! It just looks so cool.

I then took some wax and wiped it on with an old drop cloth.

Here's the result. I love this gal. The mix of the hairpin legs and the antique pulls with the Old White wood top. LOVE.

And those key holes! Dreamy.

You can sort of see the difference in the top, see where the lighter areas are? That's the effect I was going for. I love, love, love it.

Say a little prayer for baby Jackson for me.

Mom Ramblings #31

1. I have a twitch in my upper right cheek, right under my eye. It won't go away. I want to scream. It's been there since Wednesday. Please stop twitching.

2. We went to the cabin this weekend and it's tick season and Northern Watersnake mating season. Hello. We saw snakes doin' it. Did you know they give birth to live babies in the fall....and then ditch them. "I mated. I carried you for a few months. I birthed you. Now go away." Oh, and, the females are way bigger then the males. Weird.

3. I'm low on furniture. I need a supplier. Fast.

4. Would anyone come to a furniture boutique if I had one at my house. One weekend. Tons of furniture and yummy things to eat....?

5. There's a huge storm outside and I love it.

6. We just had deer in our yard.

7. I have 5 loads of laundry to fold.

8. My eye is still twitching.

9. We pulled 97 ticks off the kids and dogs.

10. I read an article in Good Housekeeping about not screaming at your kids. It was a nice little reminder. I remembered that article before we bathed the kids tonight. Good thing, because I wanted to yell at them.

11. I'm hungry.

12. We bought a tent. And our first camp out with this tent will probably be in the backyard. It may be our last.

13. The lights keep flickering.

14. I found a guy that is getting rid of a bunch of old wood. Anyone need a table? Or a coffee table? Or a side table?

15. I'm thinking about selling this....

I'm not 100 percent sure though. I love it so much. But there will always be more, right?

16. The thrift stores better have something for me tomorrow.

17. I picked up a dresser off the side of the road on Friday. I'll show it to you. It's in a sad, sorry state, but, it was free, so if I can't fix it, oh well.

18. Happy Tuesday!

Little Red Table

I painted this little desk for a client. I picked it up at a yard sale held by a woman that cleans out foreclosures. I think I found a new friend.

This had seen better days. I had to work a little magic on her. I asked hubs to help me, but he was really busy last week with a huge project at work and I really wanted to see if I could fix it up myself. So, I used the Kreg Jig and my new Mikita Drill (Did I tell you I got my own drill? Anniversary present. Yeah me!) I tried to fix it and the screw wasn't going in all the way. I conferenced with hubs and he suggested I turn up my clutch (whatever that means...) I did it. It worked. I fixed the table. Almost all by myself! Hooray!

The fantastic client that wanted this decided on Barn Red by Martha Stewart. Love.

I love it. I love the pull. I love the color. Just love it. It took less than a sample size and a little wax. I wasn't careful of the application. It helps to make it look older if you kind of just slop it on (in all technical sense of the word) Then lightly distressed. Waxed with a piece of drop cloth, then wiped it the next day.

It seems technical, but waxing is actually much easier than poly and I love the outcome so much more. I just use Minwax Paste Wax in clear.

Isn't she fantastic?!

Painting a Campaign Dresser

I have been on the hunt for a campaign dresser to paint for about a year now. For some reason they are hard to come by here in Wisco. But, I randomly (doesn't it always happen that way!?) stopped at a garage sale a few weekends ago and this popped out at me. It was kismet (That's the term, right?)

It's in fantastic shape! I couldn't wait to get started. I posted it to Facebook (Do you follow White Butterfly Furniture on Facebook? You should.) and it was snatched up quickly.

On this piece the pulls came out and the metal decorative corner pieces were attached with tiny little nails. You ever so gently pry them off. I just stuck a flathead screwdriver behind them and carefully took them off.

I primed it and painted it with a flat white paint and then waxed it. For some reason I am loving flat paint right now.

(Those flowers came from my hubby for our Anniversary!)

I absolutely love how it turned out. I am thrilled with it. I love the brass with the white.

Side note: The client this is going to had to have emergency surgery, so send a little prayer out to her.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I can upload! Hooray!

I got my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the mail on Saturday. I ordered mine from Classic Wall Finishes out of New Jersey. I was so giddy to see it on the steps. But I couldn't paint anything because there were 11 yards of mulch to spread, a small section of sod to lay and a brand new vegetable garden to plant and figure out how to make it grow. AND,  I wasn't sure about this paint because of the high(er) price and the fact that it needed to be ordered....I was a little nervous.

I painted a few things on Monday with it. I couldn't resist painting nearly everything in my house....and a new piece to sell.

I ordered Old White (duh) and Duck Egg Blue. I love each color.

Here's a couple quick before and afters:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

This one, I don't have a before of, I don't know why....but it's the one that's available at White Butterfly Furniture....her name is Daisy....

Needless to say, I really like the paint! It's easy to use and goes on nicely. I did find that two coats worked best.

I wouldn't say I'm a convert from my easy to use Rustoleum spray paint, but I sure do love the colors that Annie Sloan has available!

Dear Blogger, I need my photos to upload.

Hello all! I still am unable to upload photos to my blog! I am so bummed right now. I have a million things to share, so hang tight.

I have tried signing out and logging back in, I already purchased space on picasa a few months back, and I even tried to upload from the web, and I got nothin'.

The transfer to WordPress may happen sooner than I thought!

Hang tight. Miss you all!

Mom Ramblings

1. Our anniversary was on Wednesday. I got Tom and iphone. He brought me sushi and flowers. Couldn't have been better!

2. We are designing our deck/patio today and spreading 3 yards of dirt and 10 yards of mulch and laying a small section of sod. I did a ton of it yesterday and I am plum tired. And my poor 'thrown from a horse degenerative disc back' hurts.

3. Did I tell you we went out on a Thursday night?! We did. We went to an auction and dinner for a fantastic group of artists! You need to check this out. They are absolutely amazing. Donna Lexa Art Center. There was a silent auction (which to me, are so stressful - will I be the last name on the list? Did I bid enough? Kills me.) and a live auction. It was my first live auction and I was so nervous! I bid on a few things, and we donated some money, but they were getting too rich for us! But it sure was fun! Can't wait to do a furniture auction.

4. I mowed the lawn yesterday with Gus in the Kelty on my back. He fell asleep the lazy bum.

5. I got this really cool mirror the other day and I can't wait to use my new Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on it. I can't show you though, because well, I don't want to complain about Blogger, but I can't upload any photos. So really I'm just teasing you with this info.

6. Since I can't upload photos, I can't show you the amazing before and afters that have been happening in my workshop (ha! garage....)

7. Off to move mulch. The key to good mulch laying is a steel pronged rake. Just thought you would want to know.

8. MG....this is for you. I can't send you an email back because you have your email set to 'no-reply blogger', so I have no way of responding. If you could change that, or if you could send me an email, that would be great! Then we can talk about that barn wood you found!

Ta-Ta for now.

Mom Ramblings #Idon'tknowanymore

1. When you click on the lovely header above it takes you to Photobucket, and I don't know how to fix it. It didn't used to do that. Now I'm angry.

2. I had a great Mother's Day! I got to sleep in, got breakfast in bed, got to go on a run with my friend and still had time to hang out and play with the boys. I even got some great handmade pictures and a pin made out of a puzzle piece...with puffy paint and beads...it is gorgeous and I've worn it every day.

3. I've picked up some great pieces over the last few days. I think I need a bigger garage.

4. Speaking of our garage. We cleaned it out and are getting organized. I even saved up for a new work bench and some shelving! When it's done I'll show you.

5. I'm selling my turquoise coffee table....

6. Does anyone else want a french door refrigerator with a pull out freezer drawer on the bottom? I do. Shh...don't tell my husband but I listed our current fridge on CL and if it sells, maybe I'll have to get a new one...

7. I've been searching for a leaning mirror. I finally found one and a couple of other goodies. I'll have to show you.

8. I finally ordered my first couple of cans of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. Not chalk paint, as in you can write on it with chalk, but a different kind of paint. Apparently you can paint over anything no sanding or primer needed and it even has magical powers with pixie dust and gold flakes. Like J.Lo's face cream.....I'll tell you what I think after it gets here.

9. Speaking of faces....I had two moles removed from my face and have four more to go over the next few months. I'm doing it because I'm terrified of skin cancer, but I have a feeling it's going to be a huge change to my face. Maybe I'll do a before and after post.....hmmm...

10. I took off my blogger rankings. It feels good. I realized I could care less what the ranking is. I love blogging and connecting with other bloggers, so who cares what my rank is.

11. Is anyone else watching Friday Night Lights? I heart that show. If you aren't watching it you need to be. Best. Show. Ever. EVER.

12. I've been dreaming of a farm house and a barn and three to five acres of land with 7 chickens....and maybe a goat.

13. I'm switching over to Wordpress. Will you come with me? It will happen in the next month. Please come with. I'll make sure you do.

14. I just read the book 'Two Kisses for Maddy' by Matt Logelin. Bawled my eyes out. But well worth it. Seriously though, if you need a good cry, read it. Then go and hug your spouse. Or your dog. Or your kid. Or all of them.

15. One of my favorite things to do is color.

Happy Tuesday!

Our big backyard

I put an email out to the neighborhood to see if anyone was getting rid of their swing set and if so, can we buy it....and guess what? Someone was! Yippee. So we took our tools and our laborers and went and grabbed it. It wasn't too bad to move.

And now, sitting in our backyard is this:

He looks freaked, but he's really lovin' it.

That's right. Helmets on the swing set. That's how we roll. Oh and cowboy boots with sweats. Cool.

See! Happy boy!

Look at that, helmet, mittens and rain boots. Oh boy.

I'm so happy that it worked out this way. Now my "backyard fort money envelope" has been transferred to my "get a new tent envelope"! Hooray!

Miniature buffet

Ha! I don't know what else to call it. It looks like a buffet, but it has stubby legs. It could be a tv cabinet, but it's old...I just don't know...

I picked it up from a guy...he knew nothing about it. Just trying to get rid of stuff. It was a funky green color and he put contact paper on the top! Ohh...emmmm...gggg...not good.

I used my heat gun and just quickly heated it up to remove the contact paper. It was faster than getting out my razor blade and trying to get it off that way. It wasn't in the BEST shape, but it had potential!

Here's how it looks today. Crisp and clean white. There were lots of layers of paint on her, but I embraced them and worked with it. I love that it has so much character. The top is distressed and emphasizes where the veneer is peeling up and wearing away...and it makes it perfect.

I wasn't going to paint the inside, I rarely do, but I thought it just needed something. So, I grabbed a can of navy. I wanted to keep it dark, but add some drama. And boy did it! Check it out....

So cool.

Oh, this thing is so cool. I have about 4 emails that say, "if so and so doesn't want it and on down the line, then I do"...love when a piece has that much character!