Front Porch Christmas

Today I will share with you my front porch décor. I didn't do a ton outside as to not take away from my husbands spectacular light show he has created this year (I'll have to take some pictures when its dark and post those up).

 

Here is my front door! Surprisingly I did not make this sign. I got it from my Mom's hand-me-down Christmas decorations. Although it would be very simple to make. The wreath is from Hobby Lobby.

 

 

M patio chairs were once a dirty tan color that I spray painted this summer a flat gray to match the front porch.

 

 

Handmade JOY sign 

 

 

What I did here is I used a extra wood crate that I had stained awhile back and filled it with some fake poinsettias and a pair of old ice skates that were also a hand-me-down from my Mom's décor.



 


One last shot of the porch with my favorite piece of outdoor décor the "JOY" sign.
Thank you all for stopping by!

a bit of christmas

I've been trying to get pictures of all my Christmas decorations but just have not had the time. Here a few for you to peak at...

 

 

 

 

Make sure you check back this week to see the rest! I promise I will have them posted soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Bathroom Sneak Peak

My downstairs main bathroom has been a work in progress since I started working on it a few months ago. The main work is done but I've slowly been tweaking and adding things.

For today I thought I would post a few pictures of what I've been working on.

Breast Cancer Sign

Happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of my AMAZING mother who has been fighting for 4 years I have made a new PINK sign!

My Mom had her first NED (no evidence of disease) PET scan this month which has given us all new hope in this journey and a little peace of mind for the moment. We are praying for continued healing and good test results. God is good and we know he is working through our family even in this terrible situation. I would love to be able to sell a bunch of these signs and be able to donate a percentage of the proceeds to breast cancer research. How amazing would a cure be?

Don't forget to take a peak at the other new signs I have been working on. Check out my Facebook page to place an order.

Hand Made Signs

Holy Cow have I been busy! I have been working like crazy on all my new signs and been selling a ton too! So happy hat people are loving them and that my business is finally on the move.

The signs are made on high quality 3/4in thick wood. I then paint them, stencil, and sand them. To finish them off I place either hooks on the back to hang or pegs to stand them upright.

Here are a few that I have been working on...



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas is around the corner so I have been working hard to get some samples done. Here is what I have so far. My favorite is the "Have yourself a Merry little Christmas" what's yours?

 

 

Chevron Painted Plywood

Thought I would share a few picture's today of an easy DIY project that can make a drastic change to any space. Chevron painted plywood!

I have a huge wall I was looking to fill and didn't know what kind of large art work to buy. Instead I took a piece of plywood and painted it chevron. I used the same color of my walls along with a tan in the same family. It was so easy and makes such a change to the room without having to paint an entire wall or buy an expensive huge piece of art.

 

I didn't have to bother with hardware to hang it either. I simply set it on top of a dresser and leaned it against the wall. How easy is that?

 

ANOTHER GREAT IDEA! This project would work for an apartment or rental space where you are not able to paint the walls but want to add some life to those walls.

Here's a couple of pictures of it in progress. I measured equal lines both vertical and horizontal to make equal squares. I then used a ruler to mark lines inside each square corner to corner create the zigzag.

Last step was tape it off and paint. As you can see puppy got a little tired helping me out. (I wish they stayed that little forever she is currently 60lbs and growing).

Kitchen Table Makeover

I am so excited to share with you my latest DIY project...my Kitchen Table Makeover. This has been one of my most exciting projects yet. Here she is...

I bet you won't believe I bought this table for only $30!!! Yes I said $30 not $300 like a similar table they sell at Ikea or not 3,000 like one's for sale at Pottery Barn, just the "I basically stole this table" price of $30. I got it from an Antique Barn sale I stopped by in my parents neighborhood.

Since this was going to be my dinning room table I decided to go all the way with restoring it. This took a lot of patients which is something I don't usually have a lot of when it comes to projects. I'm just always so excited to see the finished project. Since this table is going to be our dinning table I figured I might as well spend the time and make it perfect.

Here are some before pictures...

Restoring the table consisted of 4 different steps sanding, priming, painting, and sealing.

I started by hand sanding the entire table. Yes that's right I hand sanded it. Like I said before I don't have a ton of patients and I couldn't wait to borrow my Dad's sander so I went ahead and did it by hand. It really didn't take too long. Plus I was able to get all the angles of the base pretty easily.




 The second step was priming. Since the table was black to start with and that's what I planned on keeping it I just did 2 light coats of primer. Make sure that you read the label and wait the full amount of drying time if not more. You don't want to just keep caking layers on without them drying completely or you'll most likely end up with a gooey mess.



I then painted the table with my black paint in a gloss finish (I already had the gloss paint from painting my interior doors black). It ended up taking me 3 coats of the black to look even.



And now the last step! Sealing. I bought a water based seal and applied 2 coats with a foam roller. You can see a few of the lines I made with the seal but you probably wouldn't notice unless I pointed them out. *My Dad suggested next time I do a project like this I borrow his spray painter!*

So here is the final product! I hope you enjoy!

 

 

Saturday Bench

So I haven't been a fan of my entry way since we moved in. I have a few ideas of tables I would like to make but just haven't made the time to do it. So in the meantime I decided to make a simple bench that I could whip up quickly.

Here it is complete. I love how it turned out!

 

My Dad of course helped my with the bench! I bought a yard of the stripped fabric so he simply cut me a board that would would give me enough room to wrap the fabric around it. I used a foam camping pad from Fred Meyer for the cushion. I then stapled the fabric around the board and the cushion. The legs are an old table my dad had and he cut them off and down to 16 in. for me. I painted them with a few coats of the black paint I had left over from my black doors and screwed them in.

The entryway somewhat become an Ikea project. I got the fabric for both the bench and the pillow there. Plus the large gray frame and the basket the fern is in. The picture that is in the frame is actually a poster from Walmart along with the fern. I have about 10 of these ferns around the house. They are a great filler to any spot that just needs a little something more. I think want to add a lamp on the left side of the bench but don't have one at the moment that I like for the spot so I will be on the hunt for one.

Here's a closer look at the pillow. I used an extra piece of fabric I had from making a pillow for my bedroom and made a cover for a $3 travel pillow from Walmart. Can't beat a $3 pillow! Hope you enjoy!



Black Doors Galore

Ever since I saw someone paint their interior doors black I have been so excited to try it. I had thought I would just do my front door but once I got started I loved the results and had to just keep going! I ended up doing all our doors downstairs. Here is how they turned out.

This is my front door along with my crafting room double doors. The black added so much to this space. It feels so much cozier and gave it a very rich feeling.

Here is a look at just the front door. Doesn't it look so much better. Who knew what a huge difference some black doors could make.

This is our garage door. Not to sure why my camera makes the coloring look so different in both these pictures. The walls in person are kind of a mix between both the gray and brown.

Now here is our bath room and the double doors are the laundry closet. One of these days you will get to see whats behind all these doors but for today we will just focus on doors.

And for the last shot here is a look down the hallway with the addition of the closet door on the right. I love love love how they turned out. Now that you have seen the results I let's talk about how this wasn't the easiest of projects.

Being the cheapo that I am I ended up getting the paint at Walmart  for the project. I bought Glidden interior Semi Gloss in Onyx. I wanted a glossy finish but didn't want to see my reflection in the doors so I went with the Semi Gloss. While I was getting supplies I also bought 1. an angled paint brush 2. a small and large roller 3. painters tape

First I took off the hardware on the doors...mainly just door handles and locks and placed tape over the hinges.

I started  with  my angled brush to paint the indentation of the doors. I then used my rollers to paint the rest of the door. I found the large roller worked best for the front of the door and the small roller for the sides.

This is after one coat. Don't be nervous that you see lines and smears! I ended up doing three coats on all these bad boys (and a few touch up spots on a few even after three coats)! One thing you do need to be careful of the paint dripping. You want a nice smooth finish so if you are coating the paint to think it is likely to drip down as it is drying. I made sure to go back with my brush when I was done with each layer and make sure I wasn't leaving any paint to run down the door.

Hope you all love the results! Happy Painting!