Lampapalooza

The Nester is hosting a Lampapalooza Party today and I had a post in mind for my Goodwill lamps. Since I love a party, I knew I had to join!

A few weeks ago, I was looking for a set of buffet lamps for the dining room. I found a set of lovely forest green lamps at Goodwill for $6. Well, lovely if you are into the late 80's-early 90's forest green and burgundy motif!

So I brought my treasures home and started to spray paint them gloss white. Mistake made here! I forgot to sand off the glossy finish before I started. I did run a tad but it was easily fixed.

I went to Target for some shades. I wanted perfectly round ones to coordinate with the chandelier. This is what I found. Right shape, wrong color....hence the plastic that remains on while I decide what to do with them. They will probably go back but I will hold onto them until I find a better solution.

Love it!

Fairies

Back in March, I read this post from Little Window Shoppe about preparing for the tooth fairy. (By the way, that blog is now closed but she has great things in her archives!) No one had a loose tooth in the house at that time but I thought maybe I should prepare. Gasp! Yes, I would prepare! It would be just like me to be at Target at 9:59PM trying to buy something special for that first tooth on the night the tooth fairy should come. So I shopped weeks ahead of time! I know....it's scandalous!

O lost her first tooth 2 weeks ago after much pain (hers and mine) and drama. If I was a good mom, I would have a photo of her with a hole in her smile. We all know that is beyond me! However, she never did have a hole in her smile because her adult tooth came in COMPLETELY before she lost her baby tooth. AHHH...the guilt is gone!

L lost her first tooth today. There was less pain and drama with this one. She does have a nice hole in her smile!

So here is what I did to prepare. First I bought their tooth fairy pillows. I think they are so cute! I bought them on Etsy from Lil Pink Chicken. I think I paid $10.99 each plus shipping. They did custom colors and monograms. You can add or delete embroidery as you wish. I did as I usually do, told them to do what they thought was best. And they turned out great! I only wish I had bought the little wild man one while I was at it.

O put her tooth in the little pocket so there was no digging under the pillow in the dark trying to find it and exchange it for $1! Making life easy for the momma!

Then I got some books for summer time reading. The girls have really improved with their reading and I don't want them to lose momentum over the summer.

So the tooth fairy comes again tonight! Such excitement in the house! Maybe this "being prepared" thing will become a regular part of our lives.....probably not!

Better

A million years ago (or maybe just a few months), I purchased the stand for my mom's cookbook. I L.O.V.E.D. it in the catalog but neglected to notice is was the same color as the book. Not too smart! So I debated about painting it....

Since I was spray paint crazy last week, I finally changed it!

SOOOOOO much better!

Back Up...I Have Spray Paint!

Jen over at Sanctuary Arts at Home is an ubber-talented artist that does great work on furniture! I love her blog and find tons of inspiration from her. Today she is hosting her monthly Make Over Open House and I FINALLY have something to contribute!

I have been looking for a chest or table for my foyer for months. I also needed it to be cheap because of the money spent on the kitchen. Speaking of kitchen, I'm adding the final touches and will show it off soon! I found this great red chest on Craigslist for $60. I actually liked the red but it didn't really go with what I have going on. It is solid wood with 2 drawers and built in drawer dividers. Really nice!


I asked the hubby to "lightly scuff" the surface one day while I was at work. He went a little crazy! Love you, honey! Please don't make things harder than they are!


Here is the drawer I scuffed. That is really all it needed.

Then I started painting. Spray painting! First, I put on several layers of grey primer. Then the glossy black.

DONE!

New hardware...


PERFECT!

Lessons learned:

1. Don't sand it too much. It just makes for extra work. It SOAKED up the primer like crazy!

2. Lightly sand the surface after the primer too. The primer make the wood grain stand up.

3. Be careful of drips and runs. However, I didn't find a great way to fix them!

4. Love the piece for what it is. This is an old, inexpensive piece of furniture with a pretty new finish. That's it! Not a new $1000 heirloom chest!

***UPDATE***

I have also added this post to Thrifty Decor Chick's Goodwill Party! She does AMAZING things on the cheap! She sees potential in sooo much and must spend all of her time at Goodwill to catch such great finds.....like the $25 train table! Go visit her and check it out!

To the Board...

I have wanted to improve the organization of my desk and my family. Between work, softball, dance and scout schedules, things get complicated. Not to mention all those "little" things I mean to accomplish in a day.

I saw this post MONTHS ago about making a magnetic chalkboard and knew it was a great idea. I found an old mirror at the antique mall near by. I love the size and shape. It would be perfect over my desk and would help keep me on task for the day.

It was old and beautiful. I removed the mirror first. Then I stepped on an old nail....which led to this post. Please remember to wear shoes when you are working!

I put on several coats of gloss white paint. And then it stopped. Finding the sheet metal for it was harder than I thought...my hardware store didn't carry it. Dad to the rescue! But he has no sense of urgency to get it...so I waited like a good, patient daughter.

Hubby affixed the new sheet metal to the old wood backing with gorilla glue. Then 3 coats of chalkboard paint.

Done! I love it! It fits the stop perfectly!

Here is the organization part. Most things crossed off the list. Better get to all those returns I need to make!

Is 30 the New 21?

What a great weekend! I pulled off my first surprise party! Melanie turned 30 last month and I gushed about her here. I wanted to give her a surprise party but I was at Disney and LOTS of her friends are involved in college athletics....which means her birthday is at a really inconvenient time! How dare she?!

So I got her to the house on the premise of a purse party....she really doesn't use purses but it was all I could come up with.

The challenge of Melanie's is trying to find her friends from ALL over the country. She went to college in Iowa and graduate school in Louisville. Thank the Lord for Facebook and google. That is how I found a few "core" people that helped me located the rest. When she came around the corner and saw her Louisville girls, she knew something was up!

SURPRISE!

Melanie got some really fun gifts. Dad even did his own shopping and gave her some nice "Tupperware" aka old butter tubs! Dads are the best!

The sisters! Thanks to Sandy and Kathy for helping me put this thing on!

Is 30 the new 21? It sure looked like it in my backyard! You're only as old as you feel and everyone felt YOUNG that day!

Happy Birthday, Tiger!

Mirror, Mirror....

I have had projects floating around in my head for months. I finally got motivated because I am having a small party at my house and wanted to get a few things done. I have lots to share but only one at a time....otherwise I'll having nothing to blog about for week!

I "borrowed" this idea from another blog but it has been so long that I can't remember where or when therefore I can't give that person credit for the idea. {Remember, I have no creative thoughts of my own!} Oh, well!

My bathrooms are full of builder stock square mirrors...boring. I would have loved to rip the one out in the powder room downstairs, but the hubby had already painted that room and I knew not to ask. So here is how I made boring....better.

I bought an old frame at the antique mall. I think I paid $10. I can't remember, I've inhaled WAY too much spray paint fumes! Then I got my cans of gloss white spray paint and some ribbon.

Before...

After...

If you are going to hang it over a mirror, be sure to paint the back as well. Lesson #1 learned!

I hung the painted frame on a ribbon from my light fixture.

See....I'm right in the middle!

Boring mirror not so boring anymore! Just so you know how unmotivated I have been, it took me 2 months from the time I bought and painted the frame to hanging it! Pathetic!

Run, Forrest, Run!

I have already blogged about not being a chef and not having any creative ideas of my own. Another thing I am not....a runner. I have always felt awkward running as an adult and have never been able to control my breathing. Well, I'm still not a runner but I ran my first 5K this weekend! CRAZY! I won't say that I loved because I didn't. I did, however, feel a real sense of accomplishment. I was just plain proud of myself! What a great feeling!

Why would I do such a thing? For the love of my mom and her love of a parish. Epiphany parish is right at the core of who I am. It is where I spent the first 18 years of my life and where I built friendships that have lasted 30+ years. When I heard about the Run for the Stars, I thought it would be a great way to honor mom and could become an annual family tradition. So all the sisters showed up and we had a glorious time! Kathy and Sandy both walked but Kathy is committed to run next year. Melanie and I did the run. She was there to support and encourage me. She developed plans and strategies for us to finish in 40 minutes. Now understand, Melanie is actually a runner and could have finished in half that time. She was there to help me achieve my goals.

They say the best laid plans are often not achieved. I didn't exactly follow the plan. I did better! At the first preplanned walking section, I felt great and thought I should just keep going. However, our friend, Sara, was with us too and I didn't want to mess up the plan we had made. Then...I thought I should do what I needed for myself. Off I went. Melanie stayed behind to motivate Sara. Mel is such a good person!

Now I was by myself even though I was surrounded by other runners. I concentrated on steady, even breathing. I also prayed. I asked for strength. Then I talked to mom. I told her I was doing this in her memory and I would not fail her. Her voice came to me as if she was right beside me. OK, you can think I crazy but I tell you it's true. I continued to hear words of encouragement from her when I asked for them. I found myself smiling often. I felt so close to her. It was almost overwhelming.

I finished the race in 36:25, well below my goal of 40 minutes!

Melanie and Sara finished a few minutes later.

What a great evening! Will I become an avid runner? NO! However, I will continue to do small events like this that I enjoy. Next race...June 6!

Lindie's First Craft Project

This week I had the HONOR of watching my youngest niece, Lindie. This is her mommy's first Mothers Day. Since she is a single mom, I wanted to give her something from her sweet Lindie. Not having the most creative mind myself, I searched to internet for something to create. I knew I wanted to incorporate her handprint and a photo as a keepsake.

I found a poem that I thought was sweet and copied it as a word document. After playing with the font and size, I printed it on some nice cardstock. Then the hard work began, getting a NICE handprint in one try from a 7 month old! She wasn't happy but I got a good result. I took her most recent photos and used a large hole punch then added them to page. I think it turned out great!

Here is what Lindie and I did today...

Since it is impossible to read, here is the poem I found:

My Handprint

Sometimes you get discouraged

Because I am so small

And always leave my fingerprints

On furniture and walls

But everyday I'm growing big

And soon I will be very tall

Then all my little handprints

Will be hard to recall

So here's a special handprint

Just so you can say

This is how my fingers looked

When I placed them here today!

Happy Mother's Day, Sandy! You are a great mommy!

Help

I could use a litte help...

What color...white, black or other?!

You Can Lead a Horse to Water...

The kitchen remodel continues. The granite counter tops are in but I haven't shown them to you because they look strange without the back splash...that I still haven't decided about!

What I can show you is my new sink! When the granite sales person had it delivered to my house, my initial reaction was........HORSE TROUGH! He had to be insane if he thought he was putting something that big in my kitchen! He assured me that it would be great and they use it all the time. I have learned to trust the people that do this all the time. Trust. Trust. Trust.

Here it is...
{With a sneak peak at the granite!}

HUGE and I love it!

The pictures don't do it justice for it's size. Does this help? I wish I had this when the kids were babies. It would have saved a lot of back strain!

Maybe I should have had a sink full of dishes to prove how big it is!

Back splash in a few days!