China Cabinet Reveal

I am so excited to share my latest furniture project with you!  This china cabinet has patiently been waiting in the wings storage for a makeover and new home.  It was the first thing I wanted to tackle when we settled into the new house and I have really grown to love the colors.
I asked readers that follow along on Facebook what colors they thought  I should paint this piece and overwhelmingly they choose the light grey with the blue green.  AKA Maison Blanche’s Silver Mink & Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg.  I said I would paint the majority of the piece in the color but in the end I switched that combination.

I’ll be honest,  I was not loving the colors when I first finished but then I waxed it and tried something new and it looks fabulous.  I used ASCP in Graphite and mixed with clear wax for the top layer and the details really popped!



I first sanded the edges for a little detail distressing then I applied clear wax to the entire piece.  To add the darker wax mix I used a foam brush to apply.  This allowed me to get the wax in the small grooves and brush on a thin top layer over the entire piece, buffing as I went.
Unfortunately the glass on the door broke during moving so I still need to add glass to the door or possibly chicken wire, still pondering that decision but I just had to show you guys. 
Here are the before shots.

It really looked nice after I cleaned it up good, really pretty piece and nice dark stain.

However, it needed a bit of repair work  and the finish was not in great shape so painting was needed to make it look complete.

First had to pull all the duck tape off the drawer and glue it back together properly. Please don’t use duck tape to “fix” furniture!  It sticks really well and yes, it holds, but leaves a mess.

There was also molding missing on one side that needed repair. I found the closest thing to the original and glued another piece to that to make it look similar in size.  It isn’t perfect but it was pretty close and painted you really don’t notice.  

I was super excited to try Maison Blanche paint for the first time.  I really love the colors and Silver Mink was the first color I purchased to try out.

This piece has really grown on me in our home and it has a coastal vibe with these colors that I really love.

This piece unleashed my desire to paint, paint, paint!  I have a ton of stuff in the garage I am in the middle of working on and I can’t wait to share those projects soon.  For now, I will sit and enjoy this new beauty!

April
Linking To: 
Liz Marie Inspire Me
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Friday

Easter Wreath

It’s cold in NC today so I decorated with Easter wreath’s I made this week to welcome Spring. 

This was so easy to make.  I purchased the grape vine wreath and fake flowers at Wal-Mart.  I had extra décor eggs and moss from Michael's craft store.  I just arranged and hot glued everything down. 

It was so easy I made a mini one for inside too.

I realized after downloading this photo, I should probably clean that mirror! Yikes!

I used a trick I saw on Pinterest to hang this.  Just take a 3M removable hook and hang it upside down.  I just cut a little hole in the ribbon and it’s done.

Are you guys excited about Spring and Easter?  I love Easter, I think it is my 2nd favorite holiday to Halloween!  This year I get to share my Birthday weekend with it.  I’ll turn a year older the day before but it will be great spending both with family!

 

April

Bunny Jars for Easter

Hello friends!  I had so much fun with my little Easter craft over the weekend!  These were super easy and they look so cheerful.  I found a “pin” on Pinterest a few weeks back and I just had to try these.  I have to say this is probably my favorite “pinned” project ever, mostly because they actually look GOOD!

Say Hello to Bunny Jars!

This craft was really cheap for me.  I only spent around $15 because I already had most of the supplies.  I only needed to purchase candy, Easter grass, a few extra jars, and the bunnies of course.  The following is the breakdown of supplies needed.

The bunnies turned out to be a surprise find in the end but I had a hard time.  I searched Oriental Trading, Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, and Googled plastic bunnies a million different ways and came up empty then I stumbled upon these at my local thrift store for $1.49…LUCKY!

Of course you need spray paint too, I had quite the pastel collection already.

Really simple instructions

Step 1 –Use the Goo Gone to remove the labels from food jars and then wash

Step 2-Super Glue the bunnies to the lids

Step 3- Spray primer on the lids

Step 4-Spray paint in the chosen color

Step 5-Assemble the grass, candy, lid

I can’t pick my favorite, they are all so cute.  I think they make great Easter or Spring décor as well as Easter gifts for friends or family.

I found my “pinned” picture trolling Pinterest one day and these are really great.

Source HERE and HERE 

The site referenced above is in Chinese. I couldn’t tell you what most of it says and Google Translate is little help here, but these jars are great and I love the wrapped foil candy inside too, adds a little more glamour.  To whoever made these, they are great and really inspired me.

I will be linking this post to the Winter Pinterest Challenge that Katie & Sherry host along with two other bloggers.  I hope you will be joining on the fun too and sharing your “pinned” projects to.  I can’t wait to see what everyone else brings to the table.

Happy Bunny Hopping to you all!

p.s. If you are following me on Instagram you got a glimpse of the bunny lineup Sunday…LOL!

To check out last year’s Spring projects take a look HERE and HERE.

 

April

New Closet

I finally finished up operation jewelry storage today in our new closet. 

I have wanted for some time now to have a dresser in the closet for those everyday clothing items to store my jewelry in the top drawer. 

I bought the dresser from Goodwill last Summer and painted.  The new house has the perfect big closet for this piece to fit in.  We love having a dresser for storage in the closet.

I added an accordion style rack on the right to hang my scarves and I like being able to see those. 

On top of the dresser I have my painted jewelry box and a little wire stand to hold a few necklaces.

Before I used a furniture style jewelry box that I’ve had since I was a child and it was filled with all my jewelry, current and childhood.

It literally took me days to go through all of it.  I had a lot of things that were my Great Grandmother’s as well as childhood jewelry that I could not part with.  I separated that out first then decided what to keep and what to get rid of.  Then there was the problem of how to organize the rest so off to The Container Store I went.

I purchased 4 of these Jewelry Stax boxes.  What’s really great is they slide apart and they have clear plastic covers to keep jewelry clean.  It wasn’t the cheapest way to go but I think these will last a long time and it allows me to store the jewelry I don’t wear daily.  I bought three small containers at $9.99 each and one large one for necklaces at $17.99. They range in shape and containment size.

I was able to get everything I wanted to keep in these 4 containers and stack them in the top drawer of the dresser.

I had purchased the yellow egg crate from World Market a few weeks back and it is perfect for storing my everyday earrings and rings. We have room for my husbands “emptying pocket” tray on the left and all my jewelry hidden in one drawer.  It doesn’t look to be super neat but it is all organized.

I feel like the closet is the one room in our new house that is finished.  The only thing left to do in here is hang a blind up over the window.

It is super nice to have BIG closet!  I love it!

p.s. I’ve been working on an awesome furniture project I cannot wait to share!  I have some finishing touches to do but it is looking great.  That will be up next.  Have a great week everyone!

 

April

New House New Pretties

Hey Ya’ll, I know it’s been a while.  We’ve been working hard to get unpacked and settled in to the new house.  It’s been so cold we haven’t been able to get into the garage and get the rest of the house stuff sorted until today.  I was hoping by now I could take some pictures of finished rooms but it’s still a mess. 

With a new house comes new wants and needs and I have purchased a few new things to make it feel more like home around here. 

If you are following me on Instagram or Facebook you have already seen this beautiful rug.  I needed color in the kitchen and a runner so this was the perfect fit.  I found this at World Market for $79.99.

This little 2’x3’ rug was not needed but the colors were so cheerful, I wanted it for the Laundry room or our Master Closet.  It didn’t work out in either of those areas but I didn’t want to take it back so I put it by the bed and it adds a fun pop of color to the bedroom.  Found this at Target for $29.99.  

Love this lamp for our Office!!  I’ve had my eye on this one for a while, I was just waiting to get moved.  Hobby Lobby for $79.99 at HALF off, $40.

 

Our Office is a room I am really focusing on because we both work from home from time to time and we need a nice comfortable work space.  I really don’t want to paint walls in this house since we will likely only live here a year or so but I wanted a place to add color and storage.  I love the Pottery Barn Studio shelves but those are around $300 each and I needed a better deal.  Found these at Target for $129 each.

Again for the Office, I had a bulletin board but the fabric was almost the same color as the wall so I needed something a little different.  I picked this up at a local fabric store and recovered this guy in less than 10 minutes.  I added some pictures and sayings I love and will get great use out of my dry erase boards by having them up on this.

This little lamp is new too.  Believe it or not, I had the exact same lamp in another color (purple shade, silver base) that was broken in the move.  I went to TJ Maxx in search of another short lamp for this dresser and found the same one!! I was thrilled.  This little guy was $29.99.

Last up, new houseplants.  All of my plants except for two died in this winter move.  I left them on our screened porch thinking they would be protected enough and they bit the dust.  I had to have a few more around here.  Houseplants are one of my favorite things to decorate with.  I snagged these at Wal-Mart (except for the rabbit foot fern).

We also had to buy a refrigerator and were lucky to find a great deal on Craigslist for $150.  We had to have a TV for our living room too and got a good deal at Best Buy this week since TVs are in high demand for the big game tonight….at least Will said it was a good deal :).

Now we are back to broke and must curb the spending! We do have to buy blinds and that is last on the list for now…everything else will be a work in progress.  It’s funny, moving 3 times in 6 months really makes you want to simplify.  We got rid of a lot when we moved the first time and now I have even more I’d like to sale or donate.  I’d like to be very patient with all other purchases and really spend time living here and evaluate if we really NEED it.

Also…I have a lot of furniture projects in the works.  Hopefully soon I can give you guys a house tour and a sneak peek at some of those furniture projects coming soon.

Enjoy the Super bowl tonight! Who are you pulling for?

 

April