Some Chalkboard Fun

After letting the kids draw on and have there fun with the chalkboard wall in my kitchen for a few weeks I decided it was time to do something useful with it for awhile.

My husband suggested a weekly organizer to help with the chaos and I agreed right away. I have my calendar on my computer but it helps to see certain things written down on the wall as a reminder, not to mention Scott never looks at my computer calendar, ever.

I don't claim to be any kind of chalkboard artist that's for sure. I had to rewrite a few things because Casey said he couldn't even read it. sigh. It's partly the chalk, do people use those chalk pencils on there walls or am I just that bad??

Oh well, I like it :) And I'm getting a little better. 

At small groups a few weeks ago we talked about memorizing Bible verses and I was embarrassed to say that after years of Bible memory work at school I felt a little bitter about it. I was never good at it and it always just felt like something I did because my Bible class grade depended on it. 

Well I know now that it's not something you do because you have to but because you want to. I want to memorize God's words and have them written on my heart and brain, there to comfort me when I need them most. So to help me I reserved a spot on the wall.

Again with the bad handwriting...

Nana's Secretary

I've been excited about sharing my grandma's secretary for awhile now. I finished it weeks ago but never had time to get it upstairs for pictures. Not to mention the lack of sun. I'm saving up for a dslr camera which will help with that problem  a little. But it's going to take me months.

Anyways, I think I managed to get a few good shots of it :) This piece is going to my younger sister's house so she made the decisions on color and everything. 

She decided to go with a mix of cocoa and graphite Chalk Paint for the body and pure white for the drawers. 

Do you see that dark spot on the drawer?? That's my camera! That spot is on ALL of my photos if you look closely :(

I didn't give her a choice on the inside of the desk though....I wasn't about to try to paint the insides of all those cubbies!!! ;) But seriously, I thought the natural wood looked beautiful next to the colors we used. 

This is my sister's first time seeing it, I hope you like it Sarah!!! She doesn't have room to bring it home with her on one of her trips here so we'll have to wait until Spring when my parents go up to Michigan again. I can't wait for her to use it though! :)

Sharing at:
Funky Junk Interiors
Silver Pennies
Miss Mustard Seed

Did I meet my goals?

I'll give you the answer right now. A big, fat, resounding NOPE!!

Last January I wrote a post with all of my goals for my home in 2012. (You can see it here) Looking back now I'm pretty sure I knew there was no way I had the time or budget to finish all of those rooms. The only room that looks any different is Casey's bedroom.

(hopefully I'll finish it sometime and share all about it)

 Last February Scott made him the loft bed we had promised him. It took me months before I finally got it primed and then nothing. I never painted it, put up the curtain that is going to be underneath, finished the bedding, or put up lights by his head and underneath for reading. This would be why I never shared it here!

So as I thought about writing another post about my goals for 2013 I realized that they're the exact same. And I once again feel that it's unrealistic time and budget wise to think I can finish all of these rooms. So I have a new plan.

Here are my goals for the month of January. Nothing too big, but 2 things around my house that need to get done!!

First up, reupholster my kitchen chairs. I did a post about them here. But since then they have become very badly stained, not just by food, but a year of potty training...yuck, I know...so they have towels on them to hide it from guests.

(classy)

Secondly, fix up our basement stairs. These stairs go down to our basement but we live in a split level home so the basement is one of our most used rooms. Almost 2 years ago I told Scott I wanted to rip off the carpet and paint the hardwood stairs. He loved the idea and immediately ripped off the carpet for me. Then he had to pry off the linoleum tile underneath. There is so much glue on the wood that he tried to pry up a couple of steps and flip them over but the wood started splitting and cracking so he stopped. Now the first 2 stairs aren't even nailed down and this is what it looks like.

(gross)

Bare feet on the stairs?? Be careful for splinters, Casey!!! I still don't want to buy all new risers for this staircase just to paint them so I might give my palm sander another try or borrow a belt sander from someone.

So that's it!! Just two goals and 24 days left in the month to do them. Fingers crossed!!!

Brass Chest

One of my neighbors came knocking on my door last month asking me if I had time to do a project for her. Her dad was about to get rid of an old brass chest/trunk that he had had for years but she rescued it in time. The fact that it was shiny brass had me a little nervous but we both felt it was worth a shot.

I decided to start by spraying the whole thing with a primer spray paint. And I realized part way through that I hadn't taken a before picture. 

This was the only side that still showed how shiny and brassy it was. Here's the rest of it after a coat of primer...

I sprayed the whole thing with a couple of coats of primer and then went over all of the edges and hardware with some Rustoleum spray paint in Brushed Nickel.

Then came the tricky part. I painted the body of the chest with some Napoleonic Blue Chalk Paint. There were lots of tiny areas to get my paint brush into and I didn't think painters tape would be much help so I just used a tiny paint brush from Hobby Lobby and a very steady hand. After a few coats and a little drying time I waxed the whole thing with clear wax. 

Done! It is in her twin boys' bedroom so I will have to ask her soon how the paint job is holding up. I knew right away that I could paint over the brass but my concern is wether or not it will chip easily. Only time will tell! In the meantime it looks so cute in their room!

Handmade Christmas

I know you've heard this a million times and probably feel the same way but, YIKES!!! How has another year passed so quickly?!? 

Our Christmas was truly wonderful. It was a lot more slow paced and really felt Christ centered. We also had lots of time to relax and be with our families. Scott and I ended up making some gifts this year so I thought I would share them with you :)

First we have my father-in-law. He's the master meat carver over at his house and most of the time he's carving on Sundays right after church with his nice clothes on. So he wears my mother-in-law's apron :) I decided to buy him a manly apron but after looking around I realized I could just make him one! 

I used my mother-in-law's apron as my pattern and it was a very quick and easy project!

Next we have my mom's gift. She loved my stocking hanging solution from last year so much that she asked me to make her one. Except hers needed 15 stockings and room for growth!! I wanted hers to be somewhat different from mine so that she'd be extra surprised and excited, this is what Scott and I came up with.

She loved it and I can't wait to see it hanging next year!

Then we have my dad's gift....it was the hardest!! Scott was looking online at building projects as possible gifts and came across a fishing pole holder that he knew my dad would love and could put to use. I convinced him to just buy the plans rather than wing it so after waiting 2 weeks for them to come we only had about a week to build it! 

I didn't take any photos of the process, there was just too much going on the week before Christmas! Scott did the building and I did the painting.

Awesome, right?! Don't ask me how Scott cut out those tiny fish fins and all that, all I know is he still has 10 fingers ;)

I always try to put a lot of thought and effort into the gifts I give people but I have to say, giving hand made gifts was extra fun :)

Bedroom Set Makeover

Hey guys :) Remember when I made over the black hutch this fall? Well as soon as i finished I got started on an entire bedroom set for the same client. They wanted the same finish as the hutch had gotten for this furniture.

It only took a few weeks to complete but I just got the chance to come over to their house the other week and see it all set up in their room. I forgot my camera (I swear my brain has stopped working) so my client took the pictures for me, bless her heart :) 

Here's the bed and nightstands...

And here's the dresser...

I painted them with my new toy, the Wagner Power Painter.

Here's the befores...

I started by taping up 2 big plastic drop clothes on the inside of my garage door.

After sanding everything I sprayed all of the furniture with primer. To do the drawers I used a brush around the edges, wrapped them with more plastic tarp and then stood them on a crate to spray the fronts.

Then I went through these steps again with the black paint. Using the paint sprayer really sped up the whole process except when I got to the head board and foot board and had to wait for one side to dry completely before turning them around and spraying the other sides! 

I used an eggshell paint finish and then sprayed everything with a polycrylic spray in a gloss finish. I think it turned out great!

Sharing at:
Funky Junk Interiors
Two Yellow Birds
Miss Mustard Seed

Daydreaming

Finishing a fun project like our new chalkboard wall in the kitchen has a way of energizing me. It gets the gears in my head moving and I find myself standing in the middle of my kitchen staring at the cabinets envisioning things...

Wouldn't it look nice if I took off those cabinet doors and painted the insides of the cabinets?? I mean that cabinet of the far right doesn't even open ever since we put in the new hood vent...

Of course then I'd have to make sure everything in all of those cabinets was pretty and find a new place for all of my kids plastic dish ware....

And wouldn't it look nice if Scott built new cabinet doors for all of these bottom cabinets and I painted them boxwood green from Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint line? I mean that cabinet on the far left doesn't even have a door! 

I spent 15 minutes standing in my kitchen the other day, just staring...thinking about wether I have enough pretty looking dishes to fill those cabinets if they were open, where I'd put the coffee, would I need to buy new shelving or could I paint what I have? How hard is it to paint the insides of all those cabinets?

There's a million things I should have been doing during those 15 minutes but I won't worry about that. Daydreaming is one of my favorite past times :)