I Entered a Giveaway

Emily, over at Nest. Nesting. Nested. is having a great giveaway. She has some really cute ideas and does some great stuff and I became a follower of her blog. I'm also hoping to win this prize package as everything in it would look great in my upstairs bathroom. : )




If you're into decorating, you should check out her blog Nest. Nesting. Nested.

My First Shabby Makeover

Ok, so I actually did this a few months ago and I shared the pictures with my friends on Facebook, but never blogged about it. So for those of you who've already seen this, I apologize for the repetition.

So in my "hunting and gathering" phase of getting ready for Halie's Shabby Chic room makeover, I searched and searched Craigslist and thrift stores for the perfect bed. But it was so hard! Everytime I thought I'd found the perfect one either it was already sold, the seller never responded to my inquiry, or it was too expensive. Then I came across this one that a friend was selling. I almost passed it up without a second glance, but, after reading many inspiring blogs on furniture makeovers, I did give it a 2nd look. And I pictured it white, shabbied up, and with a little extra detailing to make it more feminine. Underneath that dark wood ugliness, it really did have great lines. Perfecto! At last I'd found a bed for her.







I sanded it down a bit, bought a $4 scrolly thing (that's the technical name) and epoxied it on. This was when we still lived on the ranch in Florida, so our nosy horse, Toothpick, had to check it all out, sniff it, bite it, and knock it over while I was trying to prime it.




Here it is all painted, but not distressed yet.





And here it is after some distressing with sandpaper. I had read about glazing furniture to give it an aged look and to bring out all the details, but I decided I didn't necessarily want it to have a "discolored" aged look. I wanted it to be white and just have a shabby/chippy look. But, I still wanted to emphasize the details in the scrolly thing a bit more. So I used a very fine paint brush with some black paint and filled in the lines here and there to make it stand out more.

Again, here's the "before."

And here's the "after," (in our new house), with the bedding added.

Gonna link up to:

Bicycles and Bathrooms?

While walking through Walmart last evening, in the bicycle aisle no less, I was struck with a decorating inspiration/problem solution for my upstairs bathroom. Once I get a little extra $$$, I shall reveal my ingenuity. : )

Gettin' Big!

I took these pictures on Sunday morning. It's one thing to see a picture of Burl and think "he's getting so big." But when you put him next to Halie then you can really see just how big he's getting!


Aren't they just the cutest things ever?!?

Here's Burl lookin' all handsome and ready for church. Our friends Darryl and Jodi bought him this outfit.

It's hard to see, but he's finally getting some fuzzy hair on that bald head. : )

(Don't forget that if you want to see a larger version of any of the pictures on my blog, all you have to do is click on the picture to enlarge it. Then click the "back" button to go back to reading.)

Halie's "Kitchen" is Finished!

So, remember at Christmas when my dad gave Halie this kitchen set he had made her?

I wanted to take it a little further once we moved and actually decorate it and make it into a "real" kitchen for her. It's finally finished now!

I slowly got it all put together, but decided it needed a sign declaring it to be "Halie's Kitchen." Because we spell her name different than most girls with her name, there's never anything "pre-made" with her name on it, such as mugs, keychains, signs, etc. So I knew I'd never find one with her name on it and to have one custom made would be way expensive, so I decided to attempt it on my own for the first time.

I had thought to buy some wood, new, from Lowes or something. But I happened on this great little piece at the Restore for.........wait for it....$1. Can't beat that. I have no idea what it was originally, maybe a skinny cupboard door or part of a shelf. Dunno. But I did know it was exactly what I was looking for.

So I took my new sander (my 30th birthday present from the Hubster - yes, I specifically asked for it, he almost had a heart attack) and sanded off the shiny finish.

Coated it with a couple of coats of white paint as a primer base.

I put a coat of Krylon Candy Pink on the back, then dusted off my left brain and did the measuring to put in the hanging hardware evenly and correctly.

Then I finished off the front.

I used my Cricut to cut a stencil.....

Painted it....

And voila! My first sign. Not bad for $1, huh? She was SO excited to have a PINK sign with HER name on it!

So here is her kitchen, all decked out in pink.

My sister, Dee Dee, gave me 3 of these pink flowered, handpainted frames she found at a yard sale. This larger one was missing the glass and the backing was kind of falling apart. So I painted the cardboard backing with black craft paint and then used white paint to make it look like a chalkboard. No glass needed. I used "Chicken & Fries" because every single time we go out to eat, it doesn't matter where it is, Halie always wants chicken and fries. : )

My dad bought her this A-dorable apron set! And see that little pink trash can in the corner? From the dollar store.

It originally looked like this.

I have to admit, I saw this idea in a magazine used as a pen/pencil holder, and I ate it up in a heartbeat! It was perfect for all her cooking utensils.

Also at the dollar store, I got her these white plastic baskets to serve as her vegetable and fruit bins in her fridge. Sickeningly cute right? : ) And no, she does NOT keep it that organized. That was a little staging on my part. That orange pitcher was mine when I was little and loved to play house.

One more look for ya. Oh yeah, see that little salt and pepper shaker set on the counter to the right of the sink? My mom sent her those, they were originally a bright red and yellow. Spray paint works wonders. Meemaw Cantrell sent her the pink microwave, and the pink mixer was from my sister's husband's parents, who were here visiting from England at Christmas and were sweet enough to buy her a gift. It was perfect!

Halie LOVES it, so what do you think?

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Linking up to Funky Junk Saturday Nite Special