Oct

24

alternative to pumpkin carving

we made a visit to our favorite pumpkin patch this past weekend to search for the most perfect of pumpkins:

what is it about pumpkin patches that just makes you want to take tons of pictures?

i passed the cam off to my 7 year old…this was the result:

it might’ve been cute :) but at least it proves that i really was present! and with all that blur…i don’t have to do one bit of photoshopping! j/k :)


anyway…we came home with some great picks of the crop:
so that we could boycott pumpkin carving again this year and create our creatures:
in case you missed it or you are new around here, check back on this post to see the full how-to and the link where i originally found this fantastic idea!

i decided last year that i was done with the whole pumpkin carving thing. i was always the one who was left with the dirty work, and cleaning out that darn pumpkin always made me gag big time! so i found this alternative, and i was instantly smitten. i mean come on…i think they are cuter than any carving i could muster up…and a double plus is that our pumpkins last a whole heck of a lot longer…long enough even to double as Thanksgiving decor! (minus the faces)

this year was especially easy, because i stored all our pieces from last year so all we had to do was just re-stick all our pieces on!
the felt was actually still very sticky even after being stored for a year, but we did have to use some double sided tape on a few pieces to keep them in place:
the crazies got right to work:

and this project went so quickly that they didn’t even have time to lose interest, which typically happens whenever i try to include them in a craft project, after say…oh…2 seconds 5 minutes!
i had to take this picture because Bella kept telling the Pirate to smile and say “cheese” and, as you can see, he happily obliged:

our pumpkin friends:

go try it out for yourselves!

my goal for the rest of the night is to finish making the crazies Halloween costumes. here’s a little peek at my supplies. i’m taking guesses as to what you think we came up with for this year. (and if you are my friend/fam and know…shhhh…don’t give it away!!)
leave your guesses in the comments section…this should be fun!!


ps: if you have any interest and would like to view our past Halloween costumes, see here and here :)

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Oct

17

glazing furniture

remember when i showed you this picture last week? i got this baby off Craigslist….

and i just knew she had some potential!
i went back and forth on whether or not to buy her, but the possibility of this extra storage was just too much to pass up!
she now holds all of our games:
and cards:

i tried my hand at glazing for the very first time, and i am SO pleased with how it turned out, and how simple it really is to glaze furniture.
so…in case you ever wondered how one might glaze a piece of furniture, i figured i’d give you a little tutorial!
i’m no expert…y’all know that! but i’ll show you what worked for me!

first things first…i needed to fill in all the deep scratches and dings with some wood filler, cause this piece had a rough life before i got to her, and had the scars to prove it!
i then sanded the piece just enough to rough up the surface. in other words, i didn’t spend a lot of time sanding! always a plus!

i primed it using an oil based primer made by Kilz. a water based would work too. i just happend to have an oil based on hand. (don’t worry…i opened up our entire back wall of sliding glass doors to eliminate the fumes!)
i then applied the first coat of paint. i left the inside untouched, cause in my opinion, painting the unexposed inside of furniture is a waste of time and supplies :)
the paint color i used was Martha Stewart’s Bedford Gray, (you might remember that color from here). i did have the paint department lighten it by 50% though. i was going for a very light gray and was very happy with the final color.
after the final coat of paint (i used two), and an overnight dry, i gathered my glazing supplies:
a bucket of water
a bunch (and i mean a bunch) of clean rags or old t-shirts or sheets
water based stain (i’ve also heard you can use paint)
glaze (untinted)
a disposable cup and spoon
i used a walnut colored stain, and mixed it with some glaze.
stir it up and keep adding stain until you get the color you want. i actually made it quite a bit darker after i took this next picture. i was going for a deep brown:
once your glaze is mixed, start brushing it on. i worked in sections:
make sure to get a good amount of glaze in all the nooks and crannies, but brush glaze over the entire piece, not just the detailed parts:
dampen a rag, making sure to squeeze out as much water as possible:
and start wiping off the glaze. you can wipe off as much or as little as you’d like. i wanted a lot of glaze in the detailed parts of the piece, but just enough glaze on the other flat parts to lightly show through. i found that if i went in long swoops along the grain, i liked the end result better. be gentle around the nooks and crannies, cause you want the glaze to stay in those parts. you’ll want to switch out rags and rinse them out often to avoid putting old glaze back onto places where you are trying to take glaze off! i used a combination of wet and dry rags to achieve my desired look.
i kept repeating that process in that same area until i achieved the look i was going for. can you see the difference? its subtle, but once the whole piece is done, it really adds life and dimension!
move onto other parts, and do the same thing.
you have some time before the glaze dries to really play around with it to get the look you want. at times i moved on to another part, only to look back and wish that i had evened out the glaze more, so i just used a damp rag and some elbow grease and i was usually able to move around the glaze even after a little bit of time had passed.

see the difference when that glaze is in all those detailed parts of the furniture?
it really makes the details pop:
here’s a before picture of the painted piece, before glazing:
and after glazing:


the perfectionist in me struggled at first, because i couldn’t get the glaze even or perfectly matched. but then i realized that this project is supposed to be imperfect! that’s what adds to the character of the piece. once i got over that, i really enjoyed the process!
since i’m on a roll, and i have all the supplies already, i’m thinking about tackling this big boy next:
i’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

i spent a lot of time researching how to glaze furniture, and there are alot of different techniques. i was so intimidated at first, but now i’m realizing that i should’ve jumped in long ago. so if you are like me, and thinking that this is something you could never attempt, please let me encourage you to go for it! its SO super easy, and it gives your pieces a unique, antiqued look.

now…GO GLAZE! :) and then come back and tell me all about it!

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Oct

09

“office” makeover

remember how i showed you a pic like this last week? and i told you i had a big project i was working on?? well…a friend sweetly texted me in the midst of it and reminded me that…

“things always look worse before they get better!”
this is one of those projects, now that its completed, that i keep telling myself that i should’ve done a LONG time ago!!


these before and after shots should convince you of the truth of that statement!
really in the market for a cool, funky wooden chair, but this one will do for now. to paint or not to paint…that is the question??

believe it or not, i was able to fit everything back on those shelves that we had before…just in a much more organized fashion!

its amazing what baskets can do :)
here’s my trick so that baskets don’t scratch surfaces when they are slid in and out. take a piece of soft fabric…(felt works the best and is cheap)…cut it to the size of your basket, and hot glue to the bottom. problem solved!
check out what a difference it makes to take the covers off hardback books and group them by color:

i went out in search of more hardware, and after buying some beautiful glass ones, trying them out, finding out they were the wrong size, and then shattering it in the process…i decided to keep the old ones. but i love them. they look alot better on a white desk! i’m even thinking about possibly brushing them with a little bit of paint to antique them a bit…but still debating that idea!
and while i was at it, i gave the crazies’ table a little makeover too:
they were happily surprised to see what i had done!
and i was happily surprised to find this “No Dust Chalk” at Hobby Lobby the other day. and even happier to see that it really works!
first thing in the morning, they got right to work on their new table:
and since we’re talking projects, this is my newest one:
i just bought this baby tonight off Craigslist, after contemplating it for 2 weeks. as the circumstances played out, i began to realize that God just might’ve set this one aside for me :) it clearly needs alot of work, but she’s got some hidden beauty! afterall, things always look worse before they get better, right?

but i couldn’t pass her up when i realized all the storage it would give me! we are desperate for more storage around here in our little place!
and since we’re speaking of things getting worse before they get better…we’ve been in the middle of a Nor’Easter down here on the coast of Florida for the past 3 days that has brought HEAVY wind:
like blow-you-over-in-the-parking-lot-as-you-are-walking-into-the-grocery-store-kind of wind…
like wind-that-if-you-wear-a-skirt-or-a-dress-you-better-be-prepared-to-flash-anyone-within-a-50-yard-radius-kind of wind…(i know from experience!)
like wind-that-you-can-hear-blowing-and-whistling-through-every-door-and-window-kind of wind…
like debris-and-seafoam-all-over-the-beach-kind of wind….
like wind-that-blows-heavy-rain-sideways-smack-dab-into-our-sliding-glass-doors-that-aren’t-really-sealed-well,-flooding-our-back-room-kind of wind:
but its also brought some wonderful surprises delivered right to our doorstep!!
see…things do often look worse before they get better!

i’ll let you know how my next project goes. i’m thinking of dabbling in some glaze techniques…perhaps with the color grey! anyone have any experience in that?? i’d LOVE to hear your thoughts!


ps: FYI: i’ve decided for the moment to keep my subway art just the way it is! i kinda like it like that! :) it makes me laugh!! :) and it keeps things real around here!
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