Welcome Spring!

I've been feeling creative lately.  I don't know if it's the fresh air coming in through open windows, the amazing colors of spring popping up in our yard and all around me or just knocking the cobwebs of winter off but it feels so good.  Wanted to share just a little of what I've been up to in the painted furniture area recently.

Pretty disappointed I've somehow lost the before pictures so just a little after today on the first two projects.  Little girl's rocker is so sweet.  Started out dark wood with lots of nicks and scratches but now it's cotton candy pink.

    

Still trying to decide if this once ashtray stand is now a plant stand or large candlestick?  I like it with a glass hurricane on top.  Great farmhouse yellow color and screams Spring!

Don't let the photo fool you it stands about 3 feet high

Tried out a new method of a paint & primer together then finished by distressing and glazing with a dark stain.  Really liked how much it speed up the process because the worst part of this hobby is the wwwwaaaaiiiiiitttttting for paint to dry. 

My mom found this footstool for $2 at a garage sale (which was the ugliest before photo and of course I found this one)  Adorned the gloves to disassemble the nasty material and padding but with just a little paint and half a yard of new fresh fabric it's pretty fabulous!

I'll use any excuse not to Spring clean and these little projects have worked so far!

Another desk????

Hi my bloggy friends!  It's been awhile.  I planned to take some time over Christmas to reflect and that rolled into January and re-evaluating my priorities.  Here I am today with a new perspective on my mission as a wife and mother and how I can use my time to turn our home into a haven...that's why I started blogging right?  To keep me on task with projects and such.  That's still true I just need to make sure I always have it in the right order:

1) Quiet time developing a relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ.

2) Being a wife to my amazing hubby.

3) Always being intentional with the awesome kids God has entrusted to me.

4) Everything else.

Okay, there is a ton of "everything else" and I could probably write about that a lot more but you get the idea. 

I did do a little something besides reflecting in January.....

That's right another desk.  My mom hauled this to me from a garage sale in Salina.  It's a laminate student desk but the really cool part was the bookcase/cork board hutch that attached above it.  There's even a light above the cork board.

It had been well used and abused.  The previous owner really didn't like somebody named Sasha and used a marker to declare that all over the cork board.

Because it's laminate I put two coats of primer on it to make sure the paint would stick.

Then two coats of paint that were meant to be a soft gray.  The problem was it ended up being the same blue color of the primer!  I went round & round with the paint.  Adding black to make it more gray, paint a drawer, add more black, paint another drawer.  The desk and I played this game together for multiple coats of paint until I finally made a compromise.  Not as gray as I intended but no longer more blue than gray.  Lastly, two coats of poly because I really intend for my kids to use this for homework and play.  I also reused the hardware just spray painted them with a hammered nickel I had on hand.  Really updated their look.

I added some material to the back of the bookcase and a cut out above the hutch for character. 

 Then finally recorked the cork board.....we don't hate Sasha at our house!!  Abby likes to do homework here and even Aidan has claimed a drawer for his flash cards.

I'm blessed to have a mom who likes to "junk" as much as I do so she bought the desk for next to nothing.  I put in about $5.00 in material, $10.00 in cork board & $10.00 in paint supplies for a total of about $25.00 for this amazing desk!!

I Heart Homemade Gifts!

Last Friday I got an unexpected Christmas treat from my workout buddy Jennifer.  She made bonbons and delivered them wrapped in cellophane, looking too cute to eat, to the whole group.  Made me laugh a little as I indulged that afternoon thinking that A) this came from a workout friend and B) in 6 years as a stay at home mom I've joked several times about spending my afternoons eating bonbons and I was actually doing just that.  They were delish (of course, I gobbled them up before thinking about taking photo) and was reminded once again how much I like homemade Christmas gifts.  Something about the time spent and thought put into homemade gifts makes them extra special.  Here's just a few of my favorites over the past couple of years.

My sister Janelle made this quilt for Abby for her second Christmas.  Still just as beautiful as it was 8 years ago and is on her bed every winter.

When the scarf craze caught on several years ago I jumped on board.  I got the red & gray from my sis-in-law Crystal and purple scalloped one from good friend Amy.  Both are hand crocheted and gorgeous!

 

Last Christmas my sis-in-law Bobbi Jo gave us cookie mix in a jar X 2.  The cookies were terrific and now every time I drink from the glass drinking jar the mix was in I think of her.

The kids have made me some pretty cool stuff too.  Last year Abby carefully painted, glittered and wrapped her Jesus Shines masterpiece for me.  Honestly one of my favorite gifts last year.  Aidan had some help from dad on his popsicle frame but it came from his heart.

Finally, this year I'm doing the usual gift cards for the kids teachers and bus drivers but adding our own homemade touch.  The gift card holder is an upside down binder clip, covered in Christmas paper and metal clips wrapped in fuzzy yarn.  It holds the gift card and then can be used as a picture or recipe card holder.

Don't get me wrong I like store bought gifts too!  I'll be the first to admit I don't have the time or energy to hand make all the gifts we give this time of year.  So I choose to make what I can and appreciate all that I receive.  Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6