Waterfall Desk

I finally finished my desk! Yay! :)

I bought this desk with a few other pieces from Craigslist this fall. I have to admit I didn't even want the desk. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you that I saw no potential and am not a huge fan of the waterfall style. This is how it looked when I bought it:

So it sat in the garage while I worked on other things...Until I saw this beautiful piece of inspiration from Twice Lovely:

via


I knew right then exactly what I wanted to do with my desk. So the stripping began.....and went on and on and on and on. Under the white paint was pink paint, then gold paint, then the old stain. There were so many crevices that I couldn't get into. It was such a messy job that I couldn't just run to my office and work on it when I had a spare 15 minutes. 

So it sat for days at a time untouched. Finally my husband, Scott, realized that sanding all of those crevices was holding me back from finishing, so he lovingly spent a few hours getting it completely ready for staining. I'm forever grateful :) 

I stained the desk with Minwax Polyshades (stain & polyurethane in 1) in antique walnut. It was my first time using it and it was okay. I used 3 coats to get the color I wanted and afterwards I still felt it needed a coat of polyurethane for strength and for more of a glossy finish. But it was really easy to apply with a cheap sponge brush and I'd definitely use it again. 

For the drawers I knew I wanted to use some cardstock with pretty script writing on it. I got it from Hobby Lobby while it was 50% off. First I removed all of the old hardware, then filled in all of the holes with wood putty and sanded them super smooth. 

I painted around the edges of the drawers with annie sloan chalk paint in graphite, then I attached the paper to the drawer fronts using Modge Podge. I bought the drawer pulls on Ebay and got enough extras to use in my office for whenever I get around to that project! The two little knobs came from Hobby Lobby and were spray painted to match the pulls.

I am really happy with how it turned out and have been enjoying having it in my living room, but it is for sale :) If you live in the Chicagoland area and are interested in buying it you can find my email address above on my contacts page.

(The inset panels were all painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in graphite and then waxed)

While I love how this desk turned out I'm not looking for any projects that involve stripping in the near future!! ;)

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The First Day of the Rest of my Life

I'm not huge into Valentine's Day. There's no decorating or big plans or anything. Me and the kids will be celebrating this afternoon by making heart shaped rice crispy treats and making their valentine's cards to bring to school tomorrow :) 

But this is still a very special couple of days for me. Nine years ago today my life changed forever. But let me give you some back story first....

I was 19 years old and working as a bank teller. I was quite outgoing and never had any problems talking/flirting with guys. I started to notice this cute guy who came into the drive thru every Friday evening. He was from my church but I had never actually really met him before. It turned out, after a little investigating, that he was 7 years older than me. Shoot, there goes that thought, he'd never ask a 19 year old out :( 

So I went about my business while he came in to get his cash every Friday night. I started dressing really nice on Fridays and fixing my makeup as often as possible. Everyone I worked with knew to let me run and help him whenever he pulled up in his black Mustang. But even with my usually outgoing personality I couldn't get myself to say one word to him other than, "Thank you, have a nice weekend!" As he drove away I'd mutter (or maybe yell, I was a ridiculous teenager after all) "Will you marry me?!" But I resigned to the fact that until I was at least 21 and able to go search for him in the bars he must hang out at, it was never going to happen.

To try and be proactive about it, you know with out actually talking to him ;), I told my mom about him. Even though he was 7 years older she was excited that she knew him and his family from church so she helped me out :) One Sunday after church she casually started a conversation with this guy's mom and started asking how old he was and if he was single and that she had a daughter who worked at the bank. Just enough to plant the seed!! But nothing happened.

A couple months later Valentine's Day came rolling around. My valentine's were going to be the 4 and 1 year old boys I babysat every weekend :)

I was, of course, at work in the drive thru on the night before valentines when my crush pulled up. My boss informed me that HE was here, which was the rule ;) But it was Thursday! I wasn't all dolled up! Then his canister dropped in the tube in front of me. It looked different....I opened it to find this:

(photo courtesy of my mom 8 years ago for a surprise wedding shower invitation:) 

It says:

 Hiedi (spelled wrong!:) 

Do you have plans for Valentine's Day?

I almost fainted. I got on the intercom and told him I was babysitting. I then PULLED myself together and told him I would find a replacement and I would love to go out with him!! 

After exchanging numbers he drove away and I ran to the back room and laid on the ground kicking and screaming in excitement.

The next night on our first date the restaurant was taking photos of all the couples for Valentines Day. I was ecstatic, even if he never asked me out again I would have a picture of us together! :)

Well, when he dropped me off that night he asked me if I could go to the car show in Chicago the NEXT night. I was on cloud nine. And I stayed there for a very long time :) 

The next Valentine's Day on our 1 year anniversary we were already engaged and about to be married in just 2 more months. Somehow, someway it turned out that we were absolutely perfect for each other. And we still are :) 

(on a family vacation, married 6 years)

In the end it turned out that Scott's mom started asking him casually about the cute girl in the drive thru at the bank here and there :) He thought I was in high school or something so hadn't really noticed me but that winter I chopped off my super long hair to my shoulders and looked a bit older and he took notice. He thought that I was only a few years younger than him and found out on our third date just HOW young I actually was! hahaha, but it was too late, we'd both already fallen for each other. So he was just going to have to put up with years of teasing from his friends for robbing the cradle ;)

So that's my story :) 

I suddenly feel the need to call Scott and tell him how much I love him!

Holey Jeans get a new life!

If you have a little man in your life you've probably experienced the frustration of watching as every single pair of jeans he owns quickly get holes in the knees. 

So the other day while browsing the awesome blog make it and love it I came across her boys jeans refashion and realized I could use this british flag to patch a pair of jeans that had gotten a hole! Awesome!

I already had plenty of torn jeans that I could cut up to make the flag so I figured this was worth a try. I didn't measure or use a ruler for any of it. I just cut a rectangle out of the holey jeans, cut a patch and some strips out of a lighter pair of old jeans, sewed the strips on to make a british flag, then attached the flag!

I'll leave the directions to Ashley but will just point out some things I noticed while making them. I used a pair of jeans that had a small hole in one knee. If the hole has already torn all the way to the side seams it's too late for this technique, sorry! Also, I would recommend just opening up the side seam of the jeans right away. It made it so much easier to sew in the patch and sewing up the seam afterwards was so quick and easy it was worth it!

Here's a picture of the side seam that you want to open up. It's just one little seam that will be easy to sew back up afterwards.

But here's a picture of the side seam you want to leave alone. 

Those are the only pointers I've got for you, but go get the whole tutorial here! There aren't a whole lot of clothing projects for boys out there so this was very exciting for my guy :) And the fact that his ruined holey jeans have a whole new life as fun and funky is just an added bonus!! ;)

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Andes Mint Chocolate Chewy Cookies

It's the last Friday of January? Seriously? 

On the first Friday of the month I put up a picture of the children's table and chairs I got off Craigslist. I was supposed to have it done by today for the "after" party at Shine Your Light. But the day after committing to finish that project I decided to quick re-do a desk first. The operative word in that sentence being quick. The desk is still not finished. 

I started the table and chairs 2 nights ago when I realized this was the last week of January and haven't finished yet. sigh....

But on a positive note I was able to run up to the kitchen and make some yummy cookies in between paint drying/stripper....doing whatever stripper does!

While grocery shopping the other day I saw some Andes Mint Chocolate baking chips and thought they'd be so good in some chewy chocolate cookies!

I got the recipe for the chocolate cookies somewhere on the net last spring. I made about 300 and packaged them for my little sister's wedding favors, that was a long day ;)

So here's what you'll need to make them:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup semi-sweet morsels

Andes chocolate mint baking chips

(semi-sweet morsels not pictured, oops!)

Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl gently stir the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

I had to quick show a pic of one of my favorite Christmas presents from this year, my stainless steel measuring cups and spoons from William Sonoma! :)

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture while beating on low until it is completely combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes until firm enough to handle.

When chilled take a heaping tablespoon size of dough and roll it in a ball, flatten with the palms of your hands and place on cookie sheet (I use my Pampered Chef stoneware). Then sprinkle with your Ande's baking chips.

Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. You want them to still look somewhat doughy and not crisp at all when you take them out. Let cool for about 5 minutes, transfer to cooling rack carefully. They're fragile, but that's good, once completely cooled they're not as fragile, but they're still nice and chewy in the middle!

Now get out a BIG glass of milk, you're going to need it. ;)

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Kitchen Chair Makeover

After days of stripping and sanding the desk I'm working on I needed a little break. So yesterday I thought doing some painting would be a nice change of scenery.

I had been looking for some chairs for my kitchen table for almost a year and finally last week I found these at my Savers store.

They were a bit wobbly and didn't have the exact look I was going for, but after a year of sitting on and looking at folding chairs I was willing to give them a shot. I even had a coupon :)

I only needed 2 because we have 2 benches for the other sides of the table. It's a long story, but the table and chair situation has been a work in progress....hopefully I'll get it all finished soon and then you can hear how it has all come together :)

So anyways, I started by removing the seat cushion and taking off the 2 old layers of fabric.

I'm not sure what the underneath flowered fabric was. It seemed like it maybe had once been someone's house coat and it was GREASY. ewww, ewww, ewww, I washed my hands really well after that :(

I used a painters drop cloth to recover the cushion. It was my first time doing a project with one, I know I'm a little behind on that trend.....as usual ;) The color is a little too white for me, but I'm on a tight budget right now so it will have to do. Putting a colorful pillow on the chair helps though :)

I painted the chair with 2 coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White. Then I distressed all of the edges with fine sand paper. As I distressed I got really happy, it was looking awesome! I used some tinted Ralph Lauren faux technique glaze over the paint to darken and age it a bit.

I just took a scrap piece of an old t-shirt, dabbed it in the glaze, then wiped it on the chair. Nothing to it. I'll try to remember to takes pictures of the process next time!

When I have some extra cash I am going to run to Home Depot for some wood glue and polycrylic to fix the wobbly-ness and protect the finish. But for now this will just have to do! :)

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A Progress Report

My house is a mess. There is nothing to eat. We're DANGEROUSLY close to running out of toilet paper. Why?

Because I had a vision :) 

And because my sweet, sweet husband supports my visions :)

So while I am itching to go back down to the basement, put my goggles and gloves on and finish stripping the other side of this beauty, I unfortunately have to hit some grocery stores first!

Preschool Tote Bag

Over the Christmas/semester break we decided to switch our daughter to the preschool where our son attend's school. She was very excited about it :) 

The back pack she had been using was a few years old from the nursery years of her life and at her new school they encourage tote bags so the children can pack up their own things a little easier/faster.

And honestly, I totally wanted to make a cute tote :)

Isn't it fun??

And of course I'm more excited about it than Lainey is :) Isn't that how things always seem to go?!

Anyways, I'm no expert on sewing and if you were to inspect it in person you'd surely find some flaws, but it is cute and functional and with some more practice I'll be able to keep my seams a bit straighter!

To get started I looked up tote bag tutorials to get a basic idea of the construction of a bag. The one I ended up liking the most can be found at The Long Thread.

I used some of their techniques but also added my own style and size to it :)

SO! To get started you will need: outer bag fabric, inner lining

fabric, coordinating pocket and stripe fabric, and twill tape for the straps (you can find it near the ribbon at the fabric store).

(pocket and straps not pictured)

The Measurements are:

Main Fabric: 14 1/2 x 15 (x2)

Lining Fabric: 14 1/2 x 17 (x2)

Stripe: 14 1/2 x 3 (x2)

Pocket: 8 1/2 x 15

Strap: 18 inches (x2)

To make cutting my fabric easier I made myself a cutting mat out of poster board from Hobby Lobby. I already had the poster board, the opposite side was a score board for my son's birthday party last summer. 

I just marked 1 inch increments all the way down each side and used a yard stick to connect them. It only has 1 inch marks and no 1/2 inch or smaller, so it's not the best solution, but better than spending $50 on a big one at the store!

Once you have everything cut take one piece of main fabric and one stripe and pin them together right sides facing each other.

Once you've sewn across the top with a 1/2 inch seam iron the seam down.

Repeat this with the 2nd piece of main fabric and stripe. 

 Next make your pocket. Take your pocket piece and fold it over with right sides facing in and pin up the sides. (sorry no pics) Sew up each side with a 1/2 inch seam. Turn it right side out and iron it. Fold up the bottom, unfinished edges about a 1/4 of an inch and iron.

I wanted my daughter's name embroidered on the pocket so I took this piece as is to an embroidery shop and had them add it. After that you should attach it to one of your main fabric pieces. I made the mistake of making the rest of the bag first, don't do what I did, attach the pocket first :) 

Pin the pocket to the front of the fabric wherever you'd like it to be placed, I just pinned it to the middle then took out my ruler and moved it around a bit making sure it was centered and straight.

The edges that you folded under and ironed should be the bottom of the pocket. 

Then sew it in place along the sides and bottom. I sewed it about 1/8 of an inch from the edge. This is where I get a little crooked at times and hope that practice will make perfect :)

Then take your 2 pieces of main fabric and pin them together right sides facing in.

Sew around sides and bottom with a 1/2 inch seam.

Do the same with your lining. It would look really cute to use fun coordinating fabric for your lining, I used some white curtain lining for mine because I had it on hand and was trying to keep costs down :)

When finished take one of the bottom corners of your lining and fold it onto itself lining up the bottom seam with the side seam.

Iron it in place. Measure from the corner (exactly where the seams meet each other) down 1 1/2 inches and mark.

Sew along your line, trim off excess leaving about 1/4 inch, then zig zag stitch along the edge. This will make it nice and strong.

Now do the same thing to the other corner of the lining and again to both corners of the main fabric.

Next turn your main fabric inside out and your lining right side out. Slip the lining into the main fabric lining up the seams.

Take one strap and slip it in between the lining and main fabric making sure it's not twisted. Pin one end 3 inches from the side seam and the other end 3 inches from the opposite side seam. Do this on the other side with your other strap as well. Finish by pinning the lining and main fabric together around the rest of the bag.

Start sewing, using a 1/2 inch seam, right before one of the straps, go over the strap and then all the way around the bag, stop right after you've sewn over your last strap, leaving a space between the 2 front straps. Pull the straps and bag through that space (it will take some maneuvering). 

Once you have it all pulled out iron the top seam that you just sewed and fold under the fabric in the opening. Iron it in place. Then sew about 1/8 seam all the way around the whole bag. 

And you're done! Whew! I think it took me longer to write the tutorial than it did to make the bag! :)

Now I just have to wait 4 more days until she has school again to use it!!

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