Planting some flowers

Sometimes some of the simplest tasks are great jobs for the kiddos to take part in.
My parents had a ton of ceramic pots that they were getting rid of so I grabbed a few that I thought would have some potential for a project or two.

So, I took the girls to Lowes and we picked out some flowers that we could plant and put on our breakfast table. I was originally thinking about doing seeds for a vegetable but I think I will leave that for one of the larger pots. Here’s the 3 we chose to paint:

and the flowers that Avery picked out:

I wasn’t too crazy about the pink but since they had some solid white I was ok with it. (I really didn’t care what she picked because honestly, I don’t have much of a green thumb so we may be replanting soon ha!)

We picked this yellow which actually turned out really pretty!

Once they had 2 coats of paint and 2 coats of polycrylic (I put a clear coat since I could already tell that the paint would chip really easily), I needed to seal the hole at the bottom. I did not have the plates for the bottom so I will just have to water a little at a time.

I first put some duck tape on the bottom.

Then I went to look for some caulk in the garage but found plumber’s putty instead. I think it will work just fine.

I plugged the hole then tested it with a little water and there wasn’t a leak so it seems to be a success!

Now, it was time to plant the flowers. Avery actually loved getting dirty…. for a few minutes. Then insisted that we wash hands and clean up our mess! haha she is such a girl!

Here they are on the table! I think it turned out pretty nice!

Such a simple little project can be so much fun!…. for toddlers, too!

Now, if I can just get the curtains made!!! It would really make everything come together!

Treats, anyone??

Avery and Norah know that the pantry holds all of their “treats.” How could they not know where I hide all of the candy and goodies??!
So, as my husband liked to put it when I asked him what he thought, why not spell it out for ‘em?? literally.
My FIL cut out the wood letters for me upon my request. I know he probably thinks I am crazy with all of the weird little requests I have for him… like cutting out the letters T R E A T and S… Thanks Ronnie for humoring me!!!
Here’s how I made them:
1. I painted the sides of the letters purple. I am disappointed with this color because, after 2 coats, it came out darker than I wanted so you can’t even tell it’s purple now. booo!

2. I found some scrapbook paper that I liked and would look good with my house and blue walls in the kitchen. Then, traced the letters (backwards) on the back of the paper

3. Cut the letters out then adhered the paper letters to the wood letters using Modge Podge.

4. Once the paper dried I knew it needed something else but it took me a bit of brainstorming with my stash of craft stuff to figure out what I wanted to do. I thought about adding ribbon… then thought about puffy paint around the edges…. a few other ideas came to mind but I really didn’t want these to look too “crafty,” so I decided on a stencil to give a touch of frill. I simply laid the stencil out where I wanted (different on each letter) then used a sponge brush to apply white paint.

5. Let the paint dry then added a coat of Modge Podge to the top and sides.

** Side note: I try to get my kids involved in my projects so Avery was “helping” me when this happened:

This is what happens when you share a craft room with toddlers……

ok, back to the letters.

6. I still felt like they needed a little more so I found some jewels that I decided to add. I think they add just enough sparkle with out being too gaudy.

7. Finally, How to hang them?? I was 1 too short of picture hangers to nail to the back so I had to get creative. I found some flat thumb tacks  that were super easy to push into the drywall (yes, I tested it out and yes, there is a random hole in the wall now lol) I glued them down to the back of each letter and it worked great!!

** By the way, the super glue in the picture, Basket Maker’s Insta-Cure is THE BEST glue I have ever found. I discovered it during college in one of my architecture classes that required us to build models. it’s amazing! I use it on everything that needs gluing!! I have to order it here and I typically order several bottles at once, but it is worth it!!
8. I centered them up on the wall, pushed the pins into the drywall and…. voila!

Maybe I will start working out again….

These clothes from LivFit make me want to start working out again. That’s enough motivation, right?? lol

New Furniture: Revisited

Remember this custom piece of furniture that my father-in-law made for me?? It is wonderful and I still LOVE it! However, it had some structural issues we needed to address. The legs were simply too unstable for the weight of the top, especially when I had it loaded down with stuff. I originally used to for office supplies since our other house didn’t have an office but now I have it in our craft/hobby room. It was one of those projects I knew needed to be done but I just kept putting it off; with the girls around it, though I couldn’t procrastinate any longer. It was so unstable that we took the legs off completely in fear that it would fall on the girls. They use this craft room just as much as I do so it NEEDED to be extra sturdy!!
In all honesty, I didn’t really know how we were going to fix it. A few not-so-pleasant and ugly options crossed my mind such as just adding some of these:

Yuck! I just couldn’t do that to this beautiful piece!
I finally got around to brainstorming and decided that Victorian trim work would be the best option. Luckily, that same F-I-L used to make and sell Victorian trim work so he has TONS of stuff on hand and patterns for me to choose from. I also took this opportunity to spruce it up a bit and make it a bit more “frilly.”
He had some simple corbels in his stock pile. They did not really have the scroll pattern I was originally wanting but they were free and they fit so I took it! It was a bit of an ordeal trying to figure out how to get them attached to the legs and the cabinet without going through the drawer above and making sure that the screw that went from the leg to the cabinet was secure. Eventually, he was able to find something called a bushing to work.

I had no idea what that was until yesterday! lol Basically works like a drywall screw but for wood and metal. I learn several things with every project!!
Anyways, we got the corbels on and then I was able to paint them to match. Thank goodness I remembered the paint name from 2 years ago!!

I was kind of  glad we decided to tackle this project because there were spots that needed touch up painting that I was able to finally get to. I considered repainting the whole thing but I was able to just do some touch up and it turned out fine.

Once those were finished I added the decorative wood accents to the doors. I drew out where the center was and used wood glue to attach them. (I had to do some sanding since these pieces don’t come as smoothly as you would think).

I also don’t have any wood clamps (another item on my wish list) so I had to improvise.

After the glue and paint dried, here’s how the doors turned out.

I thought they looked great but then I decided that the drawers were too plain. Off to the hardware store I went AGAIN! I decided that the best option was to add something behind the knobs so I got some oval shaped appliques that were similar to the ones on the doors and drilled a hole in the center.

Problem # 5000 (or so it seemed) then arose. After I got the appliques painted I went to put them on the drawer and realized that the screw was too short to go through the drawer, the applique, and then the knob. grrrrrrrrr. I stared at this cabinet in disbelief, brainstorming what to do next and how to rig this one up! Luckily I have a wonderful husband that agreed to go BACK to the hardware store for me and get longer screws. (I can only imagine what the guy working at ACE thought of him coming in with a crystal knob and frilly applique looking for a screw to fit lol). Anyways, the screw he got was a little too long and I was afraid I would have to go BACK and get screws that were just 1/4” shorter. How annoying!!!

One of my biggest pet peeves is working on a project and being forced to stop because you don’t have the right supplies and you cant go to the store because it closes early/I am up too late so no store is possibly open/I have the kids with me and taking them to the hardware store AGAIN would be pushing my luck and they would just act like wild animals/or something of the sort. Patience is not one of my virtues!

I guess this kind of thing forces me to get creative because I was able to make it work and get them all to fit together nicely. Disaster averted! lol Here are the drawers:

Yay! It is all complete and I was able to refill it with all of my scrap fabric, notions, and patterns.

Let me just say that it is not budging! It is so sturdy and not going anywhere!!

I still love this cabinet and I absolutely love it in my craft room!!

Avery’s First Day of School

Today was hard!! I cried as I left her in the classroom. I could hear her screaming all the way down the hall. I knew she was in good hands and this will be good for her but it hurts to hear your baby cry like that!
She was so excited about starting school and has become familiar with the environment since her school is at our church and we have been in her classroom several times now. She was doing fine, playing, and excited… until she realized I was leaving. The screaming and waterworks started. Luckily, I know the MDO administrator and she sent me texts throughout the day and a picture of her playing. That was so helpful and I am so glad she did that!
I chose to pick her up early before they were going to lay down for naps. 12:00 is too early for her to nap, if she even does, so I figured getting her early would only be a good thing. When I got there she lost it again but she seemed to calm down very fast and under her tears she told me “had so much fun at school” and she said she wanted to go again. The teacher said she loved music class and danced away! The teacher also commented on how well she spoke for her age and said that if we wanted to move her up to be with the 3 year olds we could. We are considering it but once those kids got to move on to preschool she would have to stay in MDO for another year. Right now we are planning on leaving her where she is and just seeing how the next few weeks/semester goes.
Later this evening out of the blue she would randomly come tell me she wanted to go back to school. Hopefully she really does like it and it only gets better/easier from here!

White Sheet fort

What is it about throwing a sheet over the back of chairs that can entertain children for so long??

I wish I could be this easily entertained!

Breakfast Table Remodel : sneak peek

I have been working on this for a few weeks now and I still have a LONG way to go on it. I couldn’t resist posting a sneak peek, though, to give you a hint at what I am doing and planning. I plan to give a big reveal post when I am done but who knows when that will be….

Here are the chairs. White distressed. Let me just say that these were just about the end of me and were not intended to be distressed but they were such hell that I decided I would make the “distressing”  that did happened (ok, more like evidence of an inexperienced furniture remodeler) be more purposeful. lol. In the end, I think they turned out really well but I will tell the whole story later.

Here is what I plan to make the window treatments out of:

I love every bit of this fabric. The picture doesn’t do it justice but there’s a little bit of shimmer in the threading.
Here is a sneak peek at the table leg. This is my favorite part of the story (also saving that for later a). I love the character and plan to strip it and restain it (it has some pretty yucky varnish and scratches on the top)

Hopefully I can have the final reveal soon! I am going to wait till it cools down a bit outside before I tackle the table. It is just so dang hot and humid in Houston right now!!

Yellow Nails?

Ok, so this might be the most unglamorous post I have done, but I know that every girl that paints her toe nails has this problem… yellow nails. It’s impossible to avoid; especially if you paint your nails red or a dark color.
I tried lots of solutions…
Baking soda and water; didn’t work
lemon juice; didn’t work
non acetone nail polish remover; didn’t work
buffing; didn’t work
I wanted to try hydrogen peroxide next but I am out, so I went for my last resort: Clorox.
I hesitated to do this since it just sounds so harsh but it actually worked!!
I dissolved 1 TBS Clorox with 1 cup warm water. I let them soak for about 30 seconds then buffed them, soaked them again for another 30 seconds and buffed again. It worked so good! My nails are so pretty and clear that I have actually gone with out polish for several days now!
I went and got some of this base coat to try next time I paint to see if it helps.