Welcome back!!!

It has been a REALLY long time since I have done any crafts and it makes me quite sad! I went through a bit of a...craft drought. But now I am back and ready for some projects! We have moved which has sparked my creativity and I am loving it! Theses are some things I have done these past two nights, not being able to sleep! The first is some candle votives. I have had them for a while but wanted to spruce them up a bit. So I was rummaging around and found some twine. I saw it on one of the various blogs that I stalk and totally went for it! P.S. I am REALLY bad at bow tying so please forgive.
Next, Mike & I got these box shelves for our wedding and have never really liked them, always thought they were kind of boring. And today I had an idea and this is where it took me! I love them now!
Anyways, I hope to be getting more things done in the next few days here so stay tuned!!!

One man's trash is one man's treasure!

While driving to church yesterday I spotted this...Someone left it by a dumpster!! Haha talk about dumpster diving! We drove by it and I glanced and immediately thought it would be soo cute above the toilet in the guest bathroom! I have been searching for something to put there for a very long time!! Mike asked me if we should go back and get it and I told him that if it was still there when we are done with church, then we would take it. Luckily for us, it was still there! YAY! It is actually a standing shelf but I don't really like it as a standing shelf, so we are going to put some hooks on it and hang it. It needs A LOT of work done to it, I can't wait to see what it turns into!!

I'm done and I am NOT doing it again.

So yesterday I made a resolution to finish this chair. Andy Porter from "poppies at play" did a post with a lot of REALLY helpful tips! Go check them out, I am sure you will find them handy! I sure did! So I went back to the stripes and used one of Andie's technique and it totally worked! Wahoo!

It took a while but...

Voila!! I am finished! It took about a week to figure out what I wanted to do with it. I was trying to come up with something for my living room...when all along it was staring me straight in the face and I just didn't get it. No wonder nothing came to me that I liked. Mike and I were talking about what we should do with it and where we should put it, and it the thought came...Ethan's room!!! I haven't done ANYTHING with his room because...I don't know why. I am making his room the next room I finish. So we went to home depot and bought this really pretty blue paint. I love it! I covered the backing with green paper and mod podge. I didn't do the step by step pictures because once I got the idea in my head I just kept going and going. Ok ok I forgot but who can blame me?! It took me a week to figure something out for this nightstand and I finished it in one day! Not to mention, I spilled green paint all over my porch...not very smart.Now I know this may sound weird since mod podge is a glue, but that is what I used to seal the top. Mike came up with it and it actually turned out pretty great.

Dining Room Chairs

These are the chairs that came with our dining room table we got when we were first married. Before we moved into our new place, they were sitting in a garage for over a year and boy were they disgusting!!! We have been wanting to cover them for a while now and this weekend we finally got around to it! Woohoo! They look so good, I love them!

This is one of the originals, there are 4 in the set.

This picture doesn't even do any of the stains justice! haha

To cover them we had to dis-assemble the chair.

Here is the pretty fabric. And of course, Mike found it. haha

Staple gun time!!!

The finished chair! I love them! They really bring a lot into the dining room! It's amazing how one thing can completely transform a piece of furniture!

I (heart) the D.I.

So, did you know the D.I. has a backroom? I didn't, but today, my hubby told me about it. I can't believe he has been keeping this secret from me! I usually don't like the D.I. but today made me a true D.I. shopper. My husband found this...Now why is he always the one finding things? Not fair. I guess he just has a better eye than me. I have NO IDEA where I am going to put it, or what I am going to do with it buuuut...I just had to have it. It took some convincing, but it worked! I was all worried that I wouldn't have anything to do while Mike is away this next week but not anymore!!! I will surely be occupied! This picture was taken after we sanded it down. I am a total ditz and forgot to take a before picture. But let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. The detail is what got me! I can't wait to finish this and share it with you all! Stay tuned!!!

Go Green!!

So my little sister-in-law Jasmine saw this vase on Urban Outfitters website and we thought it was pretty cool...
She is "going green" so she thought I should make this. I think it's pretty cute. My re-make isn't as good but I thought I did a fair job. haha I think the next time I do it, I will do a straight vase. Urban Outfitters has a bunch of recycled decorating accessories! Who thought recycled paper could be so cute?!

This is the original vase I bought at the D.I. for $1!!!

All you need is a vase, mod podge, a paint brush, an old magazine, and scissors.

My best friend lately :)

The finished product! I think it turned out ok!

HELP!!!!!

Anyone remember this chair? I don't know what it is, but no matter what I do, I don't like it. When I painted it before, I REALLY liked it. The lines were perfect and asymmetrical, it was awesome. BUT the paint was too thick, so when you would sit on it, you would leave patterns in the paint and it looked horrible. My pants actually stuck to it. Sad day. So Mike sanded it down for me, and I started again. Only this time, I wasn't so pleased. The paint kept seeping through the tape, which happened before, but for some reason the first time was a lot easier. This time, my hand kept shaking and I just couldn't get it right. SO after hours of re-painting and touch-ups, I let my anger get the best of me and sanded it down, once again. Ahhhhh!!! So I decided on something else...Mike says he likes it, but I just can't wrap my head around it. Maybe I took the wrong approach. I did it all my hand, NO TAPE. I don't think it was a good idea. I painted it last week, and have been letting it sit in my living room ever since. I stare at it thinking of new ideas. This chair will be the end of me, I'm sure. What to do, what to do?? I am seriously contemplating sanding it down AGAIN and starting from scratch. I guess we will have to see what happens. I will keep you updated!

candlesticks

These are the candlesticks I found at the thrift store. They turned out pretty great. Practically everything in my living room is black so I decided on a change of pace and painted them white. Then I roughed up the edges a little.

Here they are before I painted them. The one on the left is sanded down and the one on the right is the original.

I like the detail on them. They kind of remind me of chess pieces.

sanded down.

Right before I roughed them up with some sand paper.

The finished product! They were really dull so I sprayed them with some clear glaze and they look really good! I just need to go get some candles for them now! Anyone got ideas for a color?

strawberry bonanza!

My sister used to make this cake when I was little for my birthday. I have loved it ever since! And I made it for Mike when we were first married and he loves it now to! This is the cake I always make for birthdays now. Instead of using frosting, I use whipping cream. Since I'm not really a fan of frosting, I love this! It makes cake a little more sinless for me :) Today is my hubby's birthday and I just wanted to share my yummy creation!

Finally!

I kind of feel like I have been out of my realm the past few weeks. I haven't done a single project!! What?! That's crazy. So yesterday, I went to the thrift store in desperate search of prospects! And I found some! This one isn't much but I saw it & loved it! I have fallen into an apple theme for my kitchen. How, I have no idea. It kind of just, happened. Decorating with food items aren't exactly my thing, buuuut for my kitchen, I made an exception. :) I never EVER remember groceries that I need. If I write them on paper, I lose the paper. If I try to just remember, I forget. So yes I have been wanting to get a chalkboard for some time now, & when I saw this apple-themed one, I was in heaven! haha it sounds kind of cheesy but I really liked it! I wasn't totally pleased with the chalkboard itself, but the thought of what it could be, I loved. All it needed was a little red paint and it is now my favorite item in the kitchen.

the original

I love the picture on it. It's way cute.

And the finished product! So cute!

PREVIEW:
I also got these yesterday. They are candlestick holders. My hubby found them! He's so smart! I have started them, but I'm not quite done. I have tried a few things but am not completely satisfied. Finished product coming soon :)

Almost 6 months!

I took these pictures of my little man this morning, and I just had to share!

New blog...

So I decided to start this blog because my family blog was being swarmed with projects! This blog is purely devoted to projects and photoshop! I LOVE feedback and ideas! Also, I would love to see what you guys have to share!!!

Some more!

These are some projects Mike & I have finished in the past few weeks, but I haven't had the chance to blog about them. I guess I haven't not had the time, as much as I just forgot... :) So here they are now!I REALLY needed a place to hang my necklaces. So, Mike got this idea off of a blog...I can't remember which one, it has been too long. We bought this wooden board at the D.I. for a dollar like forever ago! Originally I was going to use it for something else but I just couldn't resist when he mentioned it! I have such a smart hubby! Woo then we painted it black and got some cute knobs at wal-mart and VOILA! It's much better than the door-knob! hahaha
This chair was really sad before I spruced it up! I was just going to paint it black but then ideas started rollin' and it ended up turning out great! I really like it! Don't worry I re-painted it like 5 times before I was actually pleased! I love the stripes, mostly because it's not usually something I would like, but I love this!!
nd this isn't something I really did to be crafty, as much as I just really like this shelf at IKEA and needed something to fill it with! We got our family pictures done after Ethan was born so we used those, and the boyadjian plaque was given to us last last Christmas from my sister Dorothy, the real crafty Lance lady! I really like it so I just wanted to share with you all!

Mirrors covered in paper :)

It's weird, now after being married for almost 3 years and having a kid, there is really nothing else I like to do with my time. Except for hangin' out with my boys of course! haha seriously tho, this is how I spend my Saturday afternoons??? I happen to like it, A LOT. My friend Ashley gave me this idea. I really really loved it so that's what I decided to fill up my empty wall with! The hubby and I went to IKEA this afternoon and bought these great mirrors!!! They are pretty cute and REALLY cheap (only $2.99)! A lot of people have used them to decorate, and I plan on using them in other places in my house!! Then we went to Michael's and bought some craft paper, that's what we used to cover them with! They turned out great! And I like how simple they look on the wall! Now that I have those on one wall, my other wall is starting to look really bare...I guess that means ANOTHER project!!!! yay! They are really versatile, and you could pretty much do anything with them!!