Oh Say Can You See?

I took on some big sign orders this year.

Time consuming-stretch of my "talents" signs.

I enjoyed the challenge but found myself very ready for them to be over.

 

I painted these for the sweetest, most patient women ever.

Both of these signs were HUGE!

The American Flag one was based off of this one that she had seen and loved but wanted painted by an artist.

Artist. Ha.

 

 

The Cycle Shop sign was a copy of one I had done for myself (then sold) a few years back.

It was customized with their family name to make is personal.

 

 

We did some big projects over the summer that I look forward to showing you soon!



That Beachy Feeling {a new sign} & a Story

My mom is an auction guru.

She picks up some pretty cool stuff now and again.

Whenever I make it to Virginia then I have a blast picking through some of the loot.

(She does sell some of it on her own etsy store here)

One such time I was wondering through the forest beside their house,
(being careful to leave a breadcrumb trail for myself).

when I stumbled upon an old broken table.

I took the top to it and turned it into this lovely sign.

The legs and body of the table I sadly had to leave there.

My mom happens to be a kind and thoughtful lady though and before I know it, a broken down table arrives on my doorstep.

I had plans for it.

I truly did.

My plans got delayed and waylaid until I had no plans at all.

I sadly dismantled the poor, forlorn table and started to haul it to the trash...

But the beautiful old wood called my name and I could not bear to leave any of it behind.

Some of its sturdy legs are now working as a trellis for my soon to be dead cucumber plants. 

(How was I to know the trees would leaf out so much that there would be no sunshine for the poor things?)

Some scraps of it still await my imagination.

Some have come to fruition.

 

 

I happen to love them.

 

 

But the call of the brokendoorslableakdentalworkandmore call me to sell.

Plus, that's why I painted them anyway.

For you.

 

 

 I have two, both different sizes. 

 

 

You can find them in my etsy store.

 

The table is happy again.

I am happy for the table.

Jillian

Getting In The Groove Again

Have you ever come home from a wonderful vacation and tried to jump back into normal life?

It's not easy.

Especially when you spent a week in Florida with you parents, 5 siblings and their spouses plus 17 grand kids.

In one house.

For one one week.

At the beach.

Am I repeating myself?

 

Anyway, it was great.

 

 

 

Then we came home.....

 

 

I sat in a lounge chair in our back yard trying not to move a muscle.

Trying to hold on to the memories.

Bragging (via text) to my two younger siblings who were still driving back to VA about how wonderful the weather was here and how I wasn't doing anything but relaxing.

 

Yup.

That's what I said.

 

Then a ball got stuck on the roof and our boys tried to get it down.

With rocks.

Life is always interesting.



 

Teacher appreciation week was also last week.

I had fun creating a few things for our wonderful teachers and staff.

Beau specifically asked that I find or make a piece of jewelry for his teacher.

He wanted it to say "I love you".

I had fun making it and thought it was sweet of him to want that for her.

 

 

You know those bloggers that have beautiful homes?

You know.

The ones that show your their home one day and then the next day they post again with the new flooring they installed the evening before.

On a whim.

With only a toothpick and a paint scraper as her tools.

She actually did it all by herself while she took care of her 4 kids and 3 dogs.

Look at her go.

 

Yeah that's not me.

We have started the demolition of our flooring.

We are down to the nasty, gritty concrete that forces me to wear shoes all the time because I can't stand the feel of it on my bare feet.

Yup.

That's the stage we're in.

It's a stage we will remain in for a while.

We're buying a new back door.

Ahhh!

It's good to be back!

Join Me For Coffee? {A New Sign}

Why have they not made an authentic smelling coffee candle?

The kind that fills not only your nose but your whole head with that aroma that makes you want to crunch right into the whole coffee bean.

The aroma that makes non coffee drinkers wish they were coffee drinkers.

Why?

How hard can it be you candle makers?

I am a coffee lover.
Not a connoisseur mind you.
Just a lover of coffee.
I like coffee you can chew.
Yup.
I said chew.

I will admit that I drink a latte every morning.
I'm not ashamed.
You can chew espresso too.

Unfortunately this slice of coffee went off to new lands.
I sold it to my brother-in-law in Virginia.
It will be for sale at his store there.

Bottoms up you coffee fans.
Chew that coffee down!

(and somebody get busy on that candle)

Renewed, Upcycled, Recycled , Cube Footstool

I can't even begin to tell you how long I've wanted to do this sort of project.

Let us hear the story of how it came to be...

 

So Derek and the two older boys went on a men & boys camping trip this last weekend.

Fun for them, fun for me.

Now those of you who have been around for a while will remember I have a third son.

My in laws (who are awesome btw) called and asked if they could keep him for the day.

I may have interrupted them before they finished asking with a hearty yes!

 

I love my kids.

I do.

But in the back of my mind I've been wishing for a trip to HomeGoods.

I wanted it to be the kind of trip that memories are made of.

But not the kind where memories must be paid for because they were accidentally broken.

 

I browsed through HomeGoods at my leisure.

I. looked. At. Everything.

Twice.

At the end of my browsing then I set one measly item on the counter and asked if they could mark it down even more for me since the lid was missing.

They did.

Nice people those HomeGooders.

I rushed home with my burn-your-eyeballs-pink-cube.

I yanked out my burlap coffee bag that I had been hoarding for just such a moment.

(Not sure who I was hoarding it from? Perhaps myself?)

I realized as I lovingly draped my coffee friend over the pink cube that the pink cube was still showing through.

I ran outside with my pink cube and quickly sprayed it down with some black spray paint.

Then I went to stapling....

 

 

 

The lid was next.

Not very exciting.

I cut.

I screwed my planks to another piece of wood.

I stained.

I stuffed.

I stapled.

I banged tacks around it. 

 

And I was happy.

Toothpaste - It's Not Just For Teeth Anymore!

Do you use toothpaste?

I mean really use it?

 

Yes I see you have shiny white teeth, but come on!

We can make it do so much more!

 

Let's take a look...

Sorry about the blur

 

So if you're a mother and if your kids have ever gotten into the markers then you're going to need this one.

My youngest is one of those kinda kids and his brothers are his suppliers.

They leave markers out that just lay there, begging to be used in the naughtiest of ways.

 

On one two three such days he decided to add some decoration to my living room coffee table.

Now luckily this coffee table is very rough and rustic, so they weren't glaringly obvious.

 

Anyway, after staring at them day after day, I remembered...

TOOTHPASTE.

So I went and brushed my teeth.

When I came back I rubbed some onto the marker spots...

Let it marinate...

AND VIOLA!

Okay, so they aren't gone all the way.

In real life though you don't even see them unless you know where to look.

Plus, as I mentioned, this table is very rustic so... ya know.

I could have most likely done it again and gotten them all the way out, but I was happy already.

I will mention that it kinda dries out the finish of your wood.

I simply applied some olive oil to remedy that.

 



 

Now here's another pretty cool one.

Once again, if you have kids then you have scratched DVD's and CD's.

I had many of them.

I did this with CD's that would skip and stall.

VIOLA!

No skipping.

No stalling.

I did this with DVD's that would freeze up due to scratches.

VIOLA!

No freezing.

 

Okay, so this is a miracle worker but it's not a magic wand.

If you've got scratches that you can stick your fingernail in then probably not going to work for ya.

Sorry.

Now I got this handy little tip from this lovely lady's blog.

(via Pinterest)

Now she suggests using Kids CREST toothpaste.

I had no Crest, but I did have Kids Colegate.

Worked great!

As she mentions, you may have to do it more than once on some of them.

Check out her post because she gives you the step-by-step that I am obviously not doing for you.

 

Have anymore toothpaste miracles?

Do share...



Etsy Spring Fling & A New CHRIST IS.. Sign

If I had a dollar for every time someone has emailed me about this sign...

I still wouldn't be rich.

But, I would have made a decent chunk of change.

 

I painted a few.

I plan to paint more.

Sometime...

 

 

You can find this lovely gray and white one here.

 

Or this dark brown stained and creamy white one here.

 

And lastly, this rustic, weathered gray and white one here.

Believe it or not, this one is my favorite.

It actually didn't photograph as neat as (I think) it looks in real life.

 

So to celebrate the glorious arrival of Spring and of these new items, I am having a SPRING FLING sale!

Stop by my Etsy Store and pick out something special for yourself or someone dear to you.

 

Enter the code SPRINGFLING when you checkout and get 10% off!

Sale will end on Monday, April 8th.

 

DIY Magnetic Chalkboard

This project falls into the "Could be Cheesy" category.

Lets be honest with each other though...

Some of us blogger people sometimes do cheesy projects.

Can I get an Amen?

 

Okay, so let me preface this all by saying, I hate stuff hanging on my fridge.

I have stuff hanging (on the sides) of my fridge.

AndIHateIt

 

I love my kids sweet (if many) little drawings they make me though.

I like for them to see them hanging proudly.

Then there's that dentist appointment card reminder thingy.

The count down till vacation.

And so on and so forth.

These things need there own places in the circle of life.

 

So I actually didn't use a cookie sheet cause I already had this sheet of metal stuff that a friend of mine gave me.

She thought I could use it for something.

She was right.

I like the kind of friends that gift me with random sheet metal.

 

So I took my gifted metal and I:

Took a hammer and nail and punched two holes in the top for my twine to go through.

I then decided that there had to be an easier way to punch holes that didn't involve my ears bleeding.

Enter the Dremel Tool.

I used it to drill my other two holes for the upside down wood desk pull.

Now you could stay primitive and stick with the hammer and nail.

But.

If you have the dremel, use the dremel.

You could also just glue the handle to the metal.

I guess.

 

 

I would strongly suggest using the Spray Chalk Paint because it will adhere to the metal much better than brushing it on.

After it dries then thread your twine in.

Screw your handle (pull) on.

Plop on your magnetics.

 

Now wait for your life to be transformed and automatically organized.

 

Or not.

I (and "I" use "I" loosely since it was actually the husband) picked up the magnetic hooks at the Wal-Mart.

You don't have to go the magnetic route if you don't want.

Dremel some more holes.

Go for real hooks.

 

If you want.

 

 



 

By the way...

I am going to Florida.

But it's not in 40 days.

I'm excited.

Wedding Signs... again

If you're still in the wedding mood then raise your hand!

 

 

 

 

Nobody??

 

Okay...well the great thing is, these don't have to be wedding signs.

 

They can be front porch signs, pool signs, bedroom signs, kitchen signs.

 

Well maybe some of those would be slightly odd.

The point is...

Anywhere you and the Mr. or Mrs. are, there can be a sign to make sure you know that you're there.

Or is that odd too?

Whatever.

Decorating is 50% trend and 50% whatever makes you happy.

Go with the happy.

It'll last longer.

 

 

I added some new signs to my Etsy Store.

(Not the one right above since it would require a U-haul to transport it)

 

Make yourself happy.

Buy a sign.

Chair Renew- Fabric Painting

Don't drop your teeth.

Yes it's me.

Posting more than once in a weeks time.

Miracles (and sick kids) do happen.

 

You may remember about a year ago I picked up this little number from a local junk shop.

You can see the post about it here.

.

 

I did a semi-good job of disguising how dirty the fabric really was on the chair, despite my best scrubbing.

I had plans to paint the fabric, but I am anything but fast!

I've lost to the snail on many an occasion.

 

 

So yesterday I had three sick kids at home and needed something that was easy to do, not much mess and I could be right there with them.

Enter...

the chair.

 

Now let me make a few notes here if you plan on doing this kind of little redo.

 

1. Make sure you have a chair that has the kind of history where the only way to go is up.

2. Make sure you're not looking for perfection. (what's that?)

3. Make sure you don't want fuzzy soft fabric when you're done.

4. Make sure you're sure.

 

This is a simple easy peezy project that I didn't even take "how-to" pictures of.

You just need:

A spray bottle with water in it.

Acrylic paint (I mixed my own colors)

Water.

Paint brush.

Rag to keep things un-drippy.

And this:

 

Do I know if you could do it without Anita's Textile Medium?

No I do not.

I've only done this once and since I already had the medium then I thought I would throw it in.

You can throw it out and see what happens since you only spent pennies on the dirty chair that you're getting ready to paint too.

Right?

So I mixed up some paint, some medium and a fair amount of water.

I shook it.

Watched my arm flap.

Thought about working out.

Decide shaking the jar was a pretty good work out.

 

I sprayed the fabric till it was damp to the touch.

Dipped my brush in my concoction and gently applied,

I say gently cause I mean gently.

Don't go slopping it on like chili on a hot dog.

Use some grace.

Some finesse.

 

Do that all over and let it dry some.

Do it again if you see some spots you missed.

I did it about 3 times.

Making sure my fabric was damp each time.

 

 

You can see on the front of the chair that I should have gone back and done it a little more.

It actually doesn't show as much in real life though.

 

So the variations in fabric color and all that was actually like that before.

It is a velvet kind of material (a good one to paint).

So it changes when stroked in different directions.

 

It isn't hard or poky.

Just not soft and velvety either.

 

It isn't perfect.

Just perfect for me.

The snail.

With floppy arms....

 

I'm going to go work out now.