FREE Living Room Mirror Makeover

Here is a mirror that I found lying on the side of the road waiting for the trash man to pick it up. No sense in throwing away a perfectly good mirror just because it had a few scratches on it! I love the shabby chic look anyway.

I just wiped it off and painted over the brown with the trusty Heirloom White that is so popular all over blogland.

Here is the picture of what it looked like before I finished painting it.

Just your basic brown.

I love how it turned out and best of all, it was FREE!!

A Few of My Favorite Signs and Sayings Around the House

I LOVE any kind of handmade signs and sayings.

I have them in just about every room in my house.

Some sayings are to remind me and some are to remind my kids.:)

Here are just a few of the signs and sayings that I enjoy reading each day.

This one below is in our Master Bath.

This "Bless Your Heart" is hanging in the half bath.

This is a staple in any Southern home and the saying itself can mean a plethora of things. :)

My grandparents always had a little sign at their front door with this saying on it. I will always remember it, so I decided to make my own one day. I don't really like my own writing, but I was in a hurry and wanted to get it up on the wall. So this will have to do... for now anyway.

I got this one at a craft show from a lady who paints all kind of sayings on signs.

She is always at each craft fair that I go to in our area. I am ABSOLUTELY SURE that my kids read it and obey it every day! Just like yours do, right?!:)

I am not quite sure where I came up with this saying, but I LOVE it!~ (Pardon the glare on the photo.)

Now, I came up with this when I saw a sign painted by the lady that I mentioned before at a craft fair. Her sign said, "Iced Tea: House Wine of the South". I told her that it would be much cuter if it said "Sweet Tea". She agreed, and the next time that I saw her, she told me that I wouldn't believe how much money I had made her by her changing that! She gave me a free one just for that. Woohoo! I made this one on my own with scrapbook paper and modge podge on a wooden plaque from Hobby Lobby.

This is my favorite saying, because since I am a Flight Attendant I am gone from home way too often for my taste. I ALWAYS LOVE to come home!

I hope you have enjoyed my signs and sayings tour throughout our home. I have a few more that I might post at a later date. (I am not in the mood to go upstairs to the kids rooms to take pictures because I would see their clothes all over the floor!):)

HAPPY EVERYTHING!!

Easy and Cute Memo/Picture Board

I have been trying to work on some more quick and easy projects this past week since I didn't have to end up flying my trip. Yahoo! :)

I have seen these cute wooden painted and distressed picture/memo boards all over blogland reccently (unfortunately I can't remember all of the links to give credit where credit is due.) That's bad blogger etiquette and I apologize. Sorry!:(

First I took a wooden plaque that I already had on hand. I purchased this for less than $1 with a 40% coupon at Hobby Lobby. I drew where I wanted the holes to go and my sweet husband drilled them for me. Yes, I know, I could have done this myself, but I wanted him to feel useful! HA!:)) Afterward, I painted it with acrylic paint, let it dry, then sanded the edges with my beloved Mouse sander. I honestly don't know what I would do without that thing! After I got the distressed look that I love, I glued a bulldog clip(that is their official name I believe, but when I was searching for them at the store I just asked for magnetic clips) between the holes to hold a picture or note, or whatever you want to put there. Then I chose a ribbon and pushed it through the holes with a nail, tied it in a bow and just hung it by the ribbon on the back. You can also sit it on a stand if you have run out of wall space to hang things.

Shown below are the different items that I used. I have made a couple of them now for gifts and actually kept one for myself. These are so easy to make and take no time at all. You can make them in any color combination that matches your decor. Just have fun playing around with different ribbons, twine, raffia, burlap, and jute. I love the texture of three different ones put together.

The was first board that I painted. I chose white, then used glaze to antique it and give it a bit of a faux finish.

This is the black one that I made for myself. I haven't found a place to hang it yet, since I seem to be running out of wall space in my kitchen.


This is one that I made for a gift. I used a wallet size photo on the square ones since a 4x6 is a little too big unless you cut it down a little.

Cute Wooden Valentine Wreath

Goodness, I just can't believe that it has been so long since I actually posted on here! I have been so busy with my 4 kids and flying around the country for my paying job that I haven't gotten to complete as many projects as I have had my *heart* set on!:) This is one that started with a trip to our local Goodwill Store. Yippee, we FINALLY got one here in the town that we live in and I am surprised that the employees don't know me name already! You just never know what you can find, so I MUST check in often (that's what I tell my husband anyway). On this one particular visit I spotted this wooden heart wreath that someone had spent some time and energy on, and I just couldn't let it go unappreciated. I know how much time can be spent on projects, and whomever spent the time cutting out each individual heart and nailing them together deserves to know that their time was well spent. I found this wreath for .99 cents and scooped it up knowing that I could paint it and make it look pretty cute.

Here it is hanging on our front door.

These are basically all of the supplies that I needed: Wood filler, two shades of acrylic paint and a foam brush. Plus the gingham ribbon to hang it by. I didn't even bother sealing it since I like the shabby chic distressed look anyway.

I started off with filling the nail holes with wood filler, then just painted the hearts with two different shades of acrylic paint. After the paint was dry I took my hand sander to the edges and went over them to distress it a bit. Then I just took a ribbon that I already had on hand and hung it on the front door. So easy, cheap and pretty cute if I may say so myself. :) Just the shabby chic, cheerful look that I like on my front door around Valentine's Day, or any day of the year for that matter.

Keep checking your thrift stores around town, you just never know what you will find, and you will probably have so much fun while doing it!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

$1.00 Garage Sale Cross Re-Creation

There was a 5 family garage sale that I stopped at today on the way to pick up a cake for my youngest sons class. I didn't have a whole lot of time, but spotted this cross that was made of wood and MDF and was embellished with some flowers and wire, etc. This wasn't my taste, but I could see past the current state of the cross and envisioned making something that would suit me and my whimsical and colorful taste perfectly. I got to work after serving pizza and cake to my sons 4th grade class. They won "Spirit Day" for the whole 4th Grade a couple of weeks ago and a local pizzeria provided them with some pizzas. I thought that they needed some cake too since they just finished the state achievement tests today. Of course I think that cake is a requirement to celebrate just about any kind of special occasion! :)

Anyway, when I finally was able to get to work transforming the cross, I pulled off the flowers, petals and wires. Then I sanded it all down and primed it and then spray painted it with Green Apple by Rustoleum. After I painted it green, I applied Antique White colored polka dots and hung it on the front door. A little late for Easter, but just as cute to celebrate Spring! Even though I think we might have completely by-passed Spring this year and skipped directly to Summer. Temperatures in the mid 80's already. If that is the case, then I just can't wait to see what kind of heatwaves the Summer will bring!

Craigslist Dining Room Table

Our new kitten, Jackson

Since I have discovered Craigslist (in a completely innocent way- trying to find our missing cat) I have become addicted. I like to see what is the best deal I can find for something that I have always wanted or needed. I especially like the items that need a little work like being painted, etc. So far I have found my daughter a new solid maple full size bed, solid oak night stand, dresser and desk with hutch all for $115! I am painting all of the pieces the same color of the ever popular Rustoleum Heirloom White. I ran out of the paint and found out that our local Home Depot is planning on discontinuing it. Why, I will never know since it is so popular they have a hard time keeping it in stock in the first place! Anyway, my mom was on a mission to find more and found 3 cans for me at a store about 30 minutes away.

In the meantime I have found a cute solid wood dining room table with a leaf and 5 chairs (I guess they broke the 6th chair) all for $80! The lady that I bought it from came down on the price twice before I decided that I just couldn't pass it up! The pieces were even prettier in person than from the pictures posted on Craigslist. They were already lightly glazed- similar to my kitchen cabinets that I posted. We needed a bigger table and more chairs than the small rectangle table that only seated 4. I LOVE a bargain!! Not too sure my husband feels quite the same way though!:)

The table had a few paint spots (I think the family that owned it before likes to paint almost as much as I do:)! That is what a table cloth is for anyway. Our kitten, Jackson, seems to like it alright even though he is not allowed up on the tables- he doesn't seem to listen too well yet (he is only 10 weeks old after all).

Anyway, hope you have found some awesome deals on Craigslist like I have!

Painted and Glazed Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen Cabinets after I sanded, primed, painted two coats of Benjamin Moore Maritime and a coat of Ralph Lauren Smoke Glaze, then two coats of Polycrylic.

The entire process took over a week to accomplish because of drying time and time needed to do other things on my to-do list. Before I got finished the kids were out on Spring Break and I definitely didn't have to time to finish then!

Kitchen Cabinets After painted with Benjamin Moore Maritime and

Ralph Lauren Smoke Glaze.

Kitchen Cabinets Before Photo

It is hard to tell in this photo, but last year I replaced all of the hardware with some that I found on Ebay for around $1.50 a piece. Just changing the pulls added a lot, but I was never happy with the color of these cabinets so I was so glad to finally get this checked off of my to-do list!

Ever since we bought our house a little over 10 years ago I have wanted to paint our kitchen cabinets. We had to move within two weeks of selling our old house and didn't have time to build or find a house that was being built therefore be able to pick out fixtures, cabinets, paint colors, etc. so finally after getting all 4 of my children in school every day and having some vacation time from work I was finally able to complete the project that I had wanted to tackle for so long. I love the outcome and hope you will too! Take a look. Who knows what I will end up painting next, probably the counter tops since they now look like they have a pinkish tint to them since I painted the cabinets. It is always something and I wouldn't know what to do anyway if I didn't have at least 5 0r 6 projects going at a time anyway:)