privileges revoked ...

Our china cabinet was the second piece of furniture the mister & I bought after we got engaged. That's just the way Mama raised me ... home training! Every southern home is supposed to have a proper dining room & most definitely a hutch to showcase all of the beautiful china, silver, & crystal you received for your wedding, right!?!

I've told you all about switching our dining room into a more casual sitting room, because we are by no means formal dining room type folk. Well, the fully stocked china hutch was the last evidence of the dining room that once was ...

 .... until a couple of days ago.{Had Mama not been 3 states away I don't think I'd had the heart to do it.}

I'd been toying with the idea of using the hutch for more practical storage instead of it housing my 12 beautiful place settings that we have NEVER used in 15 and a half years of marriage. I finally bit the bullet & emptied it out .... with great fear that somebody would show up & revoke my membership privileges to all things southern OR that Mama would show up & put me on restriction.

While it was empty I thought ... well, I might as well go ahead & paint the inside! So .... I did! I'm telling you, half way through my first coat I almost got nauseous because it occurred to me I WAS PAINTING MY CHINA HUTCH!!!!! But then I calmed myself down & after the first coat was finished, I knew I'd love it!

{I used Valspar's Tranquility ... it is a very light blue & just right!}

So, now I have homeless china, but a super cute place for my books!!!! And as a consolation prize for my displaced formal settings, I think we'll eat off of them tomorrow for Big Brother's 13th birthday!!!

P.S. Mama tried ...

snow day makeover ....

I told you guys I had a plan to preserve my sanity during our Snow-tastrophe in the South. I'd been planning on repainting my nightstand & so, that's what I did …. in-between adding on layers of clothing, eating cheese grits, & watching my children get pulled around on an old car hood behind a 4-wheeler (welcome to the South).

Some of you asked for a step-by-step of my little project, so here ya go ...
{NOTE: I am not a professional anything, so just take that for what it's worth}

Here's the little lady's before shot … OK, but not great.

I started out by removing the old pulls, sanding the entire piece & then wiping it down with a damp cloth.

Then, used a small roller to apply Valspar's Sonora Rose.

I prefer using a roller rather than a brush because it leaves a smoother finish … just my preference. I didn't want any of the woodgrain to show, so it took four coats to get the coverage I wanted.

I let the final coat dry overnight & then I applied a couple of coats of clear polyurethane to protect the paint finish & also give it a glossy finish.

After the clear coat, I let it cure overnight.

& then the fun part!!!!! The after ….

 

 

sources:
paint:  Lowe's Valspar - sonora rose
pulls: Hobby Lobby
lamp: Hobby Lobby
bedding: TJ Maxx

linked up with Remodelaholic!
 

snow day priorities ...

While the rest of the world was at the grocery store buying milk & bread for the snowstorm, I was at Lowe's purchasing paint supplies so I wouldn't go out of my mind while we are snowed in .... priorities, people! Mama needs a project or this party is gonna break down fast!

I'm planning a little nightstand makeover & this picture from Pinterest is my project inspiration ....

{source}



I don't plan on doing the stripes or the leaf detail around the pulls .... but you never know how a project will end up.

Real Simple Magazine often has coupons for free 8 oz. samples ... I used mine to get Valspar's Sonora Rose ...

& I bought new drawer pulls {ridiculously cheap} from Hobby Lobby. They usually have their pulls 1/2 off & they have a great selection ... very Anthropology-ish!

So ... while the rest of the South is covered in a blanket of snow I'll be in the garage sanding & painting away!!! What are you doing to keep yourself busy?

not a blue pumpkin in sight ...

yesterday, i showed you all this picture...

 

miss mustard seed

 

 i pinned a few weeks ago &

told you fine people that

i was on a quest to find a blue pumpkin.

well, this may come as a complete surprise to you,

but apparently there is not a blue pumpkin

in all of eastern north carolina...

apparently we north carolinians prefer

our pumpkins to be orange, cream, or black.

{who is gonna pick the black pumpkin out of the patch?}

 

not to be deterred, i decided to take matters

into my own hands.

i headed over the the michael's &

found brown paper pumpkins on clearance.

i picked up some pale blue & gold paint ...

because gold pumpkin stems just seemed like

the right choice.

 

 & wha lah .... perfectly blue pumpkins!

 

add a little burlap, a few pinecones,

a gold horseshoe, & a couple of wood discs ...

& there you have it!

 



 

nothing says fall like a couple of blue pumpkins!!!

decisions, decisions ...

we are in the

middle of having

board & batten shutters

custom built for our home...

my "can do anything", shutter-building

guy has been a busy bee this week!

{for those of you who

would like to catch up on

the progress so far, you can
read about it

HERE & HERE. }

he's been sending lots

 of pictures of his progress
& a few decisions had to be made along the way...

are we using the rough or smooth side of the cedar slats?
i decided to go with the smooth side ...

& on the right ... the painted slats!!!

then ...

3 boards wide? 4 boards wide?

open slats? closed slats?

aaaccckkkk!!!!!

y'all ...

i flip flopped a couple of times

{poor jonathan aka "guy who can do anything"}.

i seriously texted him 3 times with

a different choice every time...

bless his heart, he's so patient.

after hemming & hawing I finally decided on ....

 the 4 board closed slat.

i felt like the 3 boards looked a bit puny 

& the open slats like

it would turn into a wasp motel ...

{is that a weird reason}

so the more substantial looking

4 board closed slat it is!!!

hopefully, next week i'll be able

 to post with the final install!!!!

a little pinspiration: doodle & paint ...

 

i was looking through pinterest

the other day &

i came across

"31 days of scripture art journaling"

on the blog art by erin leigh.
{www.artbyerinleigh.blogspot.com}

she's done an entire series

on how to doodle scripture

& make it into beautiful artwork..

like, so cute you wanna frame it

& stare at it for a couple of hours cute!!!

 

here are a few of her pieces ...

  

{before paint}

 

{after a little watercolor magic}

 art by erin leigh

art by erin leigh

seriously .... how cute are they?!?!
so .... I tried my hand at it!

step one ...
choose a verse (by far the easiest part of this project)
i decided on matthew 5:7
"happy are the kind ... for they shall be shown mercy."
(you know I love a scripture about kindness)

step two ...
doodle away (yikes)
no lie, i was nervous ...
but i just went for it.

step three ...
fill in with watercolors (triples yikes!)
ok ... here's where i tweaked this project a little bit.
i didn't have watercolor paint, so i used
my watercolor pencils.
(i actually sighed a sigh of relief when i
realized i didn't have paint)

step four ...
either sit back & gaze lovingly at my creation
or snarl my lip & wonder what was i thinking
(it could always go either way, you know).

so, here it is ....



 

i'd still like to overcome my

irrational fear of watercolor paint

& see how it would go.

to be continued .... 

 

a little pinspiration ... dandelion painting

time for a little pinspiration ....

i love finding projects in pinterest land &

this is an easy peasy one ....

(source: www.doityourselfpins.com)

a dandelion painting ... perfect for spring!

so, off to Michael's i went to buy a small canvas.

(this one is 8x10)
The canvases found here are perfect!

& guess what ...

 i'm using my FREE paint from Lowe's for my background color. 

(color: Valspar's tranquility)

the dandelion is just a series of straight brush strokes & dots

(so says pinterest).
so after i painted the background & let it dry,
i dove in ...

*you know that moment when you're in
the middle of a project & you suddenly think
well, this isn't going to turn out well ?!?!?*
i ALWAYS have that thought, but i just keep going
like the little engine that could.

this is how it ended up ...

it was really super easy
& a perfect little spring project!

hope you are pinspired!!!!!

free paint & fandeck from Lowe's

there is a sweet little treat

in this month's Real Simple magazine ...

 

 

 

there is a coupon for a FREE 8 oz. paint sample

from Lowe's new color studio 2013 spring palette from Valspar!!!!

they also throw in a FREE color fandeck with

all the colors & great ideas on mixing & matching.

 

 

 

so, I took myself right on down to Lowe's with my coupon in hand

& made my selection .... well, selections ... i couldn't choose just 1!!!!

 

 

 

 

i ended up with "tranquility" & "sonoma rose."

don't you just love them? & don't they look like spring in a jar????

 

now ... to figure out what to make this paint land on!!!

 

 

{from my little pink couch}