Entryway

This is a project I've been working on for a few days. Remember that huge black bookshelf that is now in the office? Well, when we had someone living with us, it was pushed up against this wall. So, in the last few weeks since I've been re-doing the office, I've now had this space free to decorate. So, here is a picture from our front door looking into the house. My mother-in-law had this table from ikea that she used a while back and then wanted to get rid of. We gladly took if off her hands. The baskets underneath are from ikea as well. The table is now working well as a place we put our keys, and mail. Sorry about the mess in this picture.

Here are some different angles looking at the wall. (and with a clean table!)


Here are some close-ups of the pictures on the wall.


In order to hang these pictures so nicely, I cut newspaper out the same size as the frames. I "hung" the newspaper using a nail. Then, I ripped the newspaper out, leaving only the nail.


Lastly, I'm looking for ideas/inspiration for this last wall. See when you walk in how this wall just is so blank? It sticks out like a sore thumb......

My Office

So, I posted quite a bit ago about my office. Here is a history of this room.


This first picture is what the room looked like when we moved in. Not too bad, just a little plain.


So, I thought a red paint would liven it up. Which it did. Maybe a little too much!


This is what the room looked like first. It was going to be the "office" and I had just started arranging things.


We had someone come live in that room for a few months, and when I finally re-claimed it, I wanted to update it before it became the office again.


So, fresh coat of paint helped a lot! In the next pictures, you will see what the room looks like now. Certainly it is not done, but we're further on the way!


This is where I have been doing some crafts. I borrowed the sewing machine from my mother-in-law and have figured out how to use it!


This picture is the bookcase. Things are not quite organized right yet, but its a great storage area for me!


Finally, this is how the red dresser looks in the room. Doesn't it just pop? Do you notice the bulletin board above it? Eventually that will be hanging on the wall, but baby steps....

Dresser Part 2

I have now been working on the dresser for a few days. It has been stripped of the paint and sanded as best as I can. The next thing I do is to paint it a dark brown color. The top of the dresser is a laminate, not wood, so painting it was a little difficult. Anyways, here are some pictures of what I've been doing. This picture is a drawer. It has been sanded and is ready for painting. It is a beautiful wood!

Along with doing the dresser, I also painted the handles. They were an ugly gold color (from the 70s), and with some metallic spray paint, I drastically changed their look.

It took a few days of sanding and scraping to get the dresser to where I wanted it to be. Finally, I was able to paint the first coat. I chose Behr Spiceberry. It is a dark chocolatey brown.

If you notice, I didn't paint the whole dresser that brown color. There are still a few spots where the original wood shows through. That is because I want to distress it and have the wood show through in some spots and the brown show through in others.

When I was done painting the brown, I covered the top (remember - laminate!) in a thing called Weathered Crackle Glaze. I got it at Lowe's, but I believe that have it at Home Depot, too. You can see the glaze on the picture. It is shiny colored, compated to the dull brown. I did not cover the entire dresser in the glaze. I didn't want the whole thing to be crackled, just in certain spots. After the stuff dried, I began painting the top coat. I chose Behr Awning Red. It is an awesome, bright red color.

When I paint over it with the red, you can see the brown from underneath. See how the brown is showing through? That is thanks to the crackle glaze. Coming soon is the big reveal!

Dresser Part 1

So my biggest project lately has been the dresser that I bought at the Salvation Army. This is a picture of it on our patio.

What I first did was remove the drawers and hardware. I bought some of this

and sprayed it onto the dresser to remove all the paint. When I was done it looked like this.

Since it is not perfect, I took a scraper to it and scraped away any excess paint. This is a picture of the front of it in progress.

Here is an up-close picture of some of the work I'm doing. More to come later!

Bulletin Board

Quite a while ago, I had stumbled across someone's blog and they had re-done a bulletin board. You know those plain brown cork bulletin boards that are very functional but not so cute? Anyways, I had seen someone cover it with fabric, and I had an idea. So, I bought some great fabric and completed this project with an old bulletin board of mine that I never used.

So, I bought some strong glue and glued the fabric onto the bulletin board.

I then took the super cheap push pins that are sold at Wal-Mart. They were just a plain white, and I wanted to add some color. So, I took craft paint and swirled several colors together and painted the pins.

I took the pins and pushed them evenly around the fabric to create a sort of boarder.

I have finished this project, but you'll have to wait to see what I've been doing in the office! Depending on my jury duty, I should be able to show you later this week!!!

Necklace

I have to apologize in advance because the pictures are a bit blurry and didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. But, I have a friend who wore a necklace to a wedding a few weeks ago. It was cute, and I thought that I could totally make it.


Can you see the girl on the left with the black dress wearing it?
Well, on Monday I went to a huge fabric store. I found some cheap (I think 2.98/yard) black and white fabric and decided to give it a try. I found some "directions" online that helped me figure out how to do it. So, here's what I did. I used white hemp thread, some necklace clips and some cheap, wooden, different-sized beads. Here's the fabric that I used. I cut it into a 4-5 inch wide strip. (not very evenly)


Here is a close-up of how I attached the thread to the hook. Its very simple - I just tied it in a knot. Nothing fancy. I only attached one side.


The next picture is of the beads that I used. I purchased them at JoAnns, but I'm sure you could get them anywhere.


Next, I tied the fabric around the string and hook. I used black thread to tightly secure it. I would take a 12 inch (approx.) piece of thread and wrap it around and around and then tie it.

Next, I threaded beads onto the string, and after each bead, I would wrap the fabric and tie it securely with the thread.
This is a close-up of what tying a bead looks like.


This is what it looked like after a few beads were attached:



This is the finished product. Its a shorter necklace, and I think next time, I will add a few more beads onto it and make it longer.

Wisconsin

This last week, Dave and I went to Wisconsin to visit my family. We stayed a bit in Milwaukee with my mom's dad, but we spent the majority of time in northern Wisconsin with my dad's family. Every year we do a sort of family reunion, at a family camp - Camp Forest Springs. This year, there were over 40 family members who came. It was a lot of fun to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins. At this camp, there is so much to do! The lake (see the picture above), hiking trails, mini-farm, archery, mini-golf, and so many more! Here are some pictures from our trip:
Dave and I (and my brother in the background)


Teresa and Jon (my sister and brother) and Missy, a cousin.



This picture was taken on my grandpa's property. Can you tell I love this place? This is the view from the house.
This picture is on my uncle's property. He has this old barn that is probably over 100 years old, and it is so neat!
Anyways, there is a lot to come. I have been busy since I've been back with different craft projects. In the next few days I will post some pictures.