Our Fun Announcement!

Well, I've been a little bit of a slacker with my blogging lately...and it may be due to the fact that I'm pregnant with baby #4!  We are so thrilled and excited.  We live in Arkansas, and the rest of our family is in Arizona.  We were trying to think of a fun way to announce it, so we decided to take this picture and  have Wal -Mart make it into a puzzle for us.  We mailed it to them, and they found out by putting the puzzle together. We feel very blessed to be adding another member to our family! I'm finally getting my energy back up, so I'm hoping to post more furniture soon:)

Shabby White End Table

I found this on Craigslist for $20 and had to snatch it up.  I usually don't like to pay that much for end tables, but I really liked the style of this one.  I sanded the entire top with my electric sander.  I usually use about 80 grit sandpaper to get the finish off, and then sand it lightly again with something more fine like 120 or 150.  After sanding the top, I wiped all of the sawdust off with a rag.  I then took a different rag and dipped it in Dark Walnut Minwax stain. I then wiped the surface evenly with the stain until it was completely covered.  You want to make sure to wipe the stain on in the direction of the wood grain.  After the stain dries, you want to put a coat of Polyurethane or Polycrylic. I then painted on 2 coats of Magnolia chalk paint.  After letting it dry I distressed with sandpaper, and then wiped it down well with a rag.  I used a light brown wax on top and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, i buffed out the wax with a soft rag.  I love experimenting with all of the colors of chalk paint.  I was really happy with how this turned out!

China Cabinet Makeover

I found this china cabinet at a flea market for $75.  They are so much work, but fun to paint!

I thought that the wicker made it a little more unique, so I decided to leave it unpainted.  I used Robin's Egg Blue from Maison Blanche. On the inside and for the handles I used La Bonne Terre.  I used a light brown wax on top of my blue, and clear wax on the white.

 I love how the colors turned out together!

Craft Table Redo

I got this adorable and unique craft table from my friend Jodie.  I've never seen anything quite like it, so I was really excited to fix it up!

BEFORE

 I decided to sand down the top and stain it with dark walnut Minwax stain.  After letting the stain dry overnight, I added 2 coats of Johnson's clear wax (found at Home Depot).  I just got a new jar of orange paint and I thought it would be a perfect color for a craft room.  I painted it using Cayenne Maison Blanche chalk paint and I spray painted the knobs turquoise. One of the drawers was broken beyond repair, so i decided to take use the wood from the bottom of the drawer to make a shelf for a basket.

 AFTER

I love how it folds out into a bigger table, perfect for crafting!

Chalk Paint Projects!

Ever since I've started using chalk paint, it's become a little bit of an obsession.  I mostly use Maison Blanche chalk paint, and I've made a little of my own chalk paint as well.  I've tried a few new colors that I absolutely love! 

This chest of drawers and nightstand I found for a good deal on craigslist.  I painted it using Maison Blanche chalk paint, Colette.  Love this color!!!  I used a light brown wax on top.

This was painted with a grey and turquoise that I mixed up myself.  I finished it off with some clear wax on top.  

For this coffee table, I sanded the entire surface down to the wood using my electric sander.  I then stained it using dark walnut minwax stain.  I made some of my own turquoise chalk paint for this one, and put some light brown wax over everything.

This coffee table was painted using Maison Blanche color La Bonne Terre.  I stained the top with a dark walnut minwax.  I distressed and added clear wax on top of my paint and stain.  

This desk was painted with Cerise Maison Blanche chalk paint with a dark wax on top.

I found this lingerie chest online for a great deal and painted using Cerise as well with a dark wax on top.  

I painted this chest of drawers using the colors La Bonne Terre and Cerise chalk paint.  I got the red knobs from Hobby Lobby.

I painted this with Robin's Egg blue and La Bonne Terre with a clear wax on top.

How to Transfer Ink onto Wood

Every time I see an old cabinet door at a garage sale, flea market, or restore I snatch it up.  I love trying to figure out new and interesting things to do with these doors. I had a few lying around and I couldn't figure out what to do with them.  I finally came across a cute idea on Pinterest and I thought I'd give it a try. Art is Beauty is where I found the idea, and the tutorial was found on Home Frosting.  After reading through the tutorial on how to transfer the ink, I decided to try it out myself. It didn't work out exactly how I thought, so I had to change the tutorial slightly.  I'll show you exactly how I did it!

For this project, you will need an old door, or piece of wood, spray adhesive, freezer paper, paint, wax or polycrylic, scizzors, a piece of paper, and a spoon.  

I started by painting my cabinet door using Magnolia chalk paint.  You can use regular latex paint as well, I just like chalk paint better. 

I then cut out a fairly large piece of freezer paper and used my spray adhesive to glue the non shiny side of the freezer paper to my regular paper, so that the shiny side is now showing.  

I then cut the freezer paper to the same size as my regular sheet of paper. You now have a piece transfer paper that you can reuse over and over again.   I put the paper in my printer ( make sure to position your paper so that the image will print onto the shiny side.  I went over to The Graphics Fairy, and found a really cute graphic with a fork, knife, and spoon. 

I printed this on my paper and rubbed it onto my board with the back of the spoon.   I was a little dissapointed because the ink was so light that it could barely be seen.  I tried it over and over again, and it just wasn't working very well.  Finally, I had the idea to try a fresh coat of paint to make the ink stick better.     So I repainted the door very lightly, and let it dry for about 5 minutes.  I then tried it again, and it worked perfectly!  I then distressed it a bit with some sandpaper, and then coated it with a clear wax.  I let the wax dry for about 30 minutes and then wiped it with a soft rag.  If you aren't using chalk paint, you can use polycrilic instead of wax.  

I was so thrilled with the result. This can also be done on fabric or other surfaces.  I think I will be doing more ink transfer projects in the future!

I linked up to these awesome parties:

Gingerbread, Be Different Act Normal, I Heart Naptime, Funky Junk Interiors

Chalk Paint Makeover

 I have been using Latex paint for my furniture over the past year.  A couple of weeks ago, the store where I work started offering Maison Blanche Chalk Paint, which I was super excited about.  I've heard great things about different kinds of Chalk Paint, but I had never tried it myself because of how expensive it is.  

I finally decided to try what everyone has been raving about, and oh my gosh I fell in love!!!  I don't think I'll ever go back to using regular paint again.  With this paint I didn't have to do any sanding, stripping, or priming.  All I did was clean off my furniture with a rag and start painting.

I found this gorgeous china cabinet on Craigslist for $65, and was super excited.  I've never done a hutch before and I've always wanted to fix one up!   I gave the entire thing a solid white coat, and then decided to give it a light 2nd coat for a little better coverage.  A second coat isn't necessary with chalk paint...it just depends on your preference.  After letting the paint dry, I did some distressing.  Chalk Paint distresses very easily and gives the furniture a very professional look, even if you've never painted furniture before.  After distressing, I wiped everything down again with an old t-shirt.  I then applied a layer of light brown wax and with a rag and let it sit for 30 minutes.  After letting it sit, I wiped off the wax using another rag.  By buffing it out it gives everything a nice, smooth finish.

 This is probably my favorite, but one of my most time consuming projects so far. I was so happy with how it turned out! 

I link to these awesome parties:
Southern Lovely, DIY by Design, Embracing Change

Before and After Projects

 Before

 After

Before

 After

Although painting furniture is a lot of work and doesn't seem worth it at times, it has become a little bit of an obsession of mine.  It's so fun to go shopping at thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets and new things to fix up.  I have a booth at a store called The Bees Knees, which is located in Searcy, Arkansas.  My husband and I moved here for him to attend Physicians Assistant School and we have loved it.  While he's busy studying into late hours of the night, I do my painting.  Jodie, the owner of this store has created a Facebook page with a TON of cute furniture ideas.  Right now she is giving away an adorable piece of furniture if you share it on Facebook   You just have to live close enough to be able to pick it up.  If you can't enter the giveaway you should at least check out the Facebook page cause there are so many adorable ideas!

Here's the piece of furniture she's giving away

Here's the link to her page: http://www.facebook.com/beeskneesfleamarket?fref=ts

How To Refinish a Kitchen Table

I recently bought a new orbital sander, which I love!  Since I got it, I've been obsessed with sanding and staining everything.  I found this old table for $40 at a garage sale and it sat in my garage for about 6 months taking up way too much space.  Sometimes I buy things that I never get in the mood to paint, and this was one of those things.  I finally got the motivation to do it, and I'm happy with how it turned out. 

This is what I started with.  I forgot to take a picture before I painted two of the chairs, but you get the idea of the ugliness of the table. 

I started by sanding the entire surface down to the bare wood using my new Dewalt orbital sander.  If you are trying to take the finish off completely, its best to use a very course sandpaper until everything comes off, and then use a fine grate to smooth it out.  I used 60 to get it off, and then 200 to smooth it out afterwards.   It probably took about an hour to sand it all down.  

I then got some dark walnut stain

I used an old t-shirt, made it into a ball, and dipped it in my stain.  (I really recommend using some gloves so the stain doesn't get all over your hands.)  I rubbed the stain in sections back and forth across the table ( make sure to rub with the grain). I let each coat dry about 20 minutes before applying the next.  After applying 3 coats, I was finished with my stain.

I then painted the bottom of my table using Valspar color Secluded Garden.

I thought this would look more turquoise than it did, but I really ended up loving the color.  

I decided to use Polycrylic on the top for protection.  Since it is a table that will get a lot of wear, I put 4 coats of this on top of the stained surface.  Between coats it's best to sand the surface by hand with a very fine sandpaper.

The chairs were in pretty rough shape as you can see.  After taking the fabric off, I realized that they were made with a piece of board and foam batting, which were not cut to fit the chair.

I took all of the seats off, and spray painted Rustoleum white primer on my chairs.
After letting it dry, I painted them using the same color as the bottom of my table. I did some distressing with medium grate sand paper and sprayed each chair with polyrcrylic spray paint for protection.  I then had to cut the wood and batting to fit the chairs, and then attached the fabric with a staple gun.

This is how they looked when I finished.  I really like the gray fabric with the paint color.  

This would go perfectly in a small dining area or nook. 

I link to these parties:
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating/, Classy Clutter, The Gingerbread Blog, Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, Five Days Five Ways, Shabby Nest, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Craftionary