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 :)