Nothing a little black paint can't fix...

As I wrote the other day, I've been doing a lot of prep work on some crafts around the house.  One of the things I've been working on is this cabinet.  It was U.G.L.Y.  I wish I was kidding.  I didn't take a before picture because you would've said..."You spent $10 on that?"  Yep.  I did.  I saw its potential.  And, even though it is slightly TOO big, it does look great!  I had to WASH it before I did anything.  I really wish you had seen how black it was.  YUCK!  I sanded and sanded it down on top.  I mean, there was all kind of gunk on it.  I also had to pry the old handles off.  I skipped the whole priming it thing because the paint that was on it WAS primer.  Then I painted it.  And painted it.  Because it was WHITE underneath, it took several coats and a small touch up brush to get rid of all the white.  I only painted the outside of the cabinet.  You'll never see the inside.  I didn't even take the doors off the hinges.  I didn't want to take them off and change them so I just painted right over them.  You can't tell.  Its not, I'm sure, what the "experts" would do but for a $10 cabinet, I didn't want to invest more money on hinges...especially when I'm not sure where it will end up when we move to San Diego.  It might be in the garage...and then who cares, right? 

I love it!  Reed even loves it!  And with it "dressed" for fall...perfect, for me anyway.  I had a couple of those things laying around the house but mostly I bought stuff for the top of it.  I know...bad.  But, the runner and the lamp are the only things that will stay there year round and they are also the only things over $10.  I picked up those little flower pots at Micheal's for half off and they were cheap to begin with.  I had one of the silver pumpkins...although it was green and I had to paint it silver to match the other one.  The books are mine.  I did get the pedestal at Target and the candle too.  I got the other glass pumpkins and the other silver pumpkin at Ross for cheap. I love a pumpkin!  I had that silver tray that we will use for mail and other odds and ends that end up right next to the front door.  I've been getting GIDDY just thinking about it a cute for Christmas.  I can't wait! 

And, it really serves its purpose!  Look at all I can fit in there...and there's more room!  Plus, if you look closely, you might see how nasty it was inside there.  Don't worry, its clean...just not so pretty!

 

Fall Sign

Ok, I'm slightly in love with this new sign I made.  I think I may make one for Christmas, Spring/Easter, and the 4th of July.  And, maybe any other season or holiday too.  I love it THAT much. And the cost on these babies?  Free for me...but really, I think you could do it for under $10.  I have a HUGE scrap-stash so I had lots to work with.  And I swear that it is way cuter than anything I just saw at the last local craft show.

I'm linking it up to Today's Creative Blog!


Here is what I used:
2 coordinated scrapbook papers 12x12 (1 sheet will be the main pattern, the other the accent)
2 different colors of card stock that complement the scrapbook paper
4 brads
3 flowers
3 buttons
11x14 black frame (I got mine at Walmart for $5 a couple of years ago and never used it)

You'll need to trim an inch off of one side of both pieces of scrapbook paper to make it 11 inches.  Then I glued the accent paper to the back of the main patterned paper so that I essentially had a piece of paper that was 11x14.  I used my Cricut to cut out the letters "FALL" and then I distressed them using gold ink.  I cut the other color of cardstock in a rectangle to fit the fall letters.  I used the brads to hold them together.  Then I glued the flowers down along with the buttons.  The nice thing about the cheap frames from Walmart is that they have a thin cardboard backing so it allows for some of it to bulge in the back. 

Ain't she cute?  Don't you love her too?  Really, this is way easy to do.  Just adjust it to suit you.  Use a smaller frame.  Use ribbon instead of flowers.  Use wrapping paper if you don't have scrapbook paper.  I was on the phone with Steph while I made this, from start to finish and it took less than an hour!  I'm sure it would've taken less time if I'd been able to settle on my scrapbook paper. 

What's the hold up?

So, this rockin' craft blog of ours hasn't been so rockin' lately.  I'm working on it!  The past couple of weeks have been just a TAD bit busy!  Belle was baptized on the 11th and her birthday was on the 18th although we celebrated on the 17th with a bowling birthday party.  I have been busy...and my can of black paint has been my best friend.  No joke.  I now have a black front door.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it would look better any color other than WHITE.  YUCK.  But, what color?  I've been thinking about this for years.  My plan was to paint he shutters outside which are black and then the door to match.  Well, the shutters are already black and look pretty good with the white siding and red brick.  I bought black paint for some other projects and decided that I would have PLENTY to go around...and why not a black front door?  I can't WAIT to see my Christmas wreath on it! 

I have a very LONG list of things on my to do list.  As I get them done, I'll post about them here.  In addition to my new black front door, I'm also painting an old cabinet that I got at a garage sale for $10.  It was hideous!  I had to sand the top of it pretty good.  I'm still not pleased with it but I'm not sure you'll notice the imperfections when its all decorated.  Fall decorations are waiting for it!  Another black paint project is my grandma's coffee table.  It also has a crack in it so its going to take some repairing too.  I need to make some new dog beds for the dogs.  I also started a project last winter.  I can't wait to share it with you because it is SUPER cute!  And, there's more!  I'm just in prep mode.  Stay tuned!

The other day I was making Velveeta Shells for a girls since it had been a crazy day and I couldn't think of anything to feed them. As I was getting ready to throw the box away I noticed a yummy looking recipe on the back. I figured Lil Boo ( my oldest daughter) would really like it. So.... I went to Walmart for more Shells.
It was really good. I liked it even better the next day for lunch. I knew my youngest daughter Mamacita) wouldn't touch it, but I just saved a little of the shells and cheese out for her.
I didn't put the tortilla chips on top, and I used whatever salsa and taco seasoning that I had on hand.

VELVEETA Nacho Bake
Recipe Rating: Prep Time: 15 minTotal Time: 35 minMakes: 6 servings
1 pkg. (12 oz.) VELVEETA Shells & Cheese Dinner
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
3/4 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided
3/4 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa
1/2 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips

HEAT oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat with taco seasoning as directed on package.

STIR sour cream into prepared Dinner. Spoon 1/2 of Dinner mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of meat mixture, 1/2 of Cheddar and remaining Dinner mixture. Cover.
BAKE 15 min.; top with salsa, remaining Cheddar and crushed chips. Bake, uncovered, 5 min.

Too many projects..

So I have been busy shopping all of my Goodwill's and the other thrift stores lately. I keep finding things that can be remade. Only problem is now I officially have too many projects, no more storage place, and no place to put the finished product. Of course that isn't stopping me though.
Steph

Its FALL!

I love fall!  Did you know that?  I love to decorate for fall.  I love the smells of fall.  I love the weather.  Pretty much, I love everything about the season.  This year, we've had a really nice fall so far.  We've never turned our AC off this early.  In fact, last year, I didn't turn it off till mid-November!  ANNNYWAY...my favorite room to decorate is my dining room!  I inherited my grandma's furniture but the chairs were in bad shape so I also now own my mom's old dining room chairs.  I dig them even if they are hard to move.  They aren't antique like the rest of the stuff in there but they look pretty okay.  I love both the china cabinet and the buffet and I love them most during fall and Christmas.  Here's my fall look:

See?  There are my lovely sunflower topiaries!  Cute!  Steph pointed out that since I didn't glue the balls onto the sticks, I only need 2 new balls and some different flowers to match other decorations!  So true!  I may try red and white roses for Christmas.  I made that other flower arrangement last year.  There is a mirror behind it with gold and red colored beads on it.  The flowers are red and orange daisies and green hydrangeas.  The daisies are in the center, then the hydrangeas on the outside.  I also stuck REAL sticks in the arrangement, right out of the front yard.  That bucket came from the dollar spot at Target last year...LOVE the dollar spot!  And then around the egdes is moss.  The toile dishes were from my grandma.  I love them!  The charger...well, I just like it and needed something to balance out the dishes on the other side.  I also found that great ceramic pumpkin at Target last year on clearance.  The other glass pumpkins came from Ross.  I stumbled across them on a shopping trip a few weeks ago and went a little overboard with the glass pumpkins.  There are 4 more smaller ones on the table.  See, I bought some awesome glass pumkins for my mom and my sister way back when at my favorite shop (in Maine...not in Virginia...boo) and have been searching for my own ever since.  For me, a display like this really needs to be balanced on both sides because there are 2 of the same lamps on each side.  When I worked at Lillian Vernon in college, I was in charge of balancing our shelf displays.  It helps lots of stuff look less cluttered, don't you think?  I'm a little anal about it!  The reason the ceramic pumpkin made it to the buffet was because there is a coffee cup infront of the toile dishes.  See?  Anal, I tell you!

 

 

Don't look too closely at my china cabinet!  It needs some serious windex.  There are all kinds of finger prints at the top of the door from me opening and closing it.  More toile dishes.  More ceramic pumpkins.  The small white ones are from the dollar tree!  Seriously!  Too cute.  Then there's some garland from Michael's thrown in there on the middle shelf.  The cream colored dishes match the charger although I would never use them together (I have brown for that..and black...and red...and black...and maybe gold too).  I don't have china, except the plates hanging in this room but I did want a really nice set of dishes to use in this room that matched the room.  They were a Christmas present from mom and dad a couple of years ago.  I heart them!  I seriously wish that this cabinet lit.  Granted, the shelves are wood so the light wouldn't reach the bottom anyway...but the top shelf sure would look pretty!  I tried putting small tap lights in there tonight but the light was too blue (halogen).  

I'll post more pictures of the dining room soon.  Like I said, this is just a peek!  See, I ran out of storage space in the dining room.  I have vases, candle holders and serving dishes that have no home right now.  I've been looking for a cabinet or dresser to store this stuff and had a spot all picked out for it...in the hallway right by the front door.  Well, I found one last weekend at a yardsale but it needs some work.  I plan on starting tomorrow to getting it look up to par.  I can't wait to see it painted black, housing my stuff, with some more cute pumpkins and fall decor on top.  Stay tuned...you'll see it as soon as its done!

Toni

What's Pottery Barn got that I don't?

See these cuties?  They are a pretty penny at Pottery Barn.  I saw them a couple of weeks ago and was instantly in love.  Yep.  I needed them.  Then I looked at the price tag, I about died.  Online it says they are $59!  See why I almost died?  YIKES!

But, I knew that I could make them!  I had the sticks from some leaf branches that I bought for another project.  I also had some floral foam to put in the pots.  So I hit Michael's tonight WITHOUT a coupon.  Shame on me!  But I still only spent about $19!  Here's my supply list:

2 branches

2 pots

2 foam balls

floral foam cut to fit in the pots

44 flower blooms

moss

First fit the floral foam into the pots.  I wish I had put rocks in the bottom or even maybe plaster of paris to make it more substantial.  Mine are a little wobbly and I will have to be careful when I store them.

Then I cut my sticks at about the same height and placed them in the foam about about the same height.

I went ahead and placed the balls on the sticks too to get them just about even.  It also helped knowing where the top and the bottom is while gluing them on.

Then I had Belle take all the blooms off while I started gluing them on with the handy dandy hot glue gun.

 

 Isn't she cute?  Belle too!  :-D

 

I love them!!!  I can't wait to get the dining room all decorated for fall!  I gotta figure out what to do with all my pumpkins though.  I have a bit too many!! Yikes!

Also, take note of my red birdhouse/candle holder.  It was UGLY green.  I spray painted it RED and love it!  I figure I can do RED for fall, Christmas, Valentines Day and the 4th of July!  She's a beaut!  For fall, she has red, orange and gold bead garland from Michael's, some fall leaves and a yellow candle.  Please ignore the Gymboree bag in the background...its Gymbucks time... I just now noticed it. 

Toni