Be in Love with Life Pallet Sign

Well hello everyone! It's been forever since I've put out a post and I've sincerely missed interacting with you! I had some changes happen in my life and needed a little time. Then I got preoccupied and couldn't get back into the groove of blogging. I'm seriously hoping to change that now!

Fabulous Farmhouse Tour: On the Back Porch

Welcome to the final post in the Farmhouse Tour Series. Today we're going to relax on the Crosby's pretty back porch...

Fabulous Farmhouse Tour: Mudroom & Storage

This vintage white scale sitting atop an old cabinet with a beautiful dark wood top is the first thing you'll see when you walk into Mary's house from the back porch. I just can't get enough of those little pops of red against the turquoise walls! Follow me inside the mudroom for more lovelies! 

Fabulous Farmhouse Tour: A Vintage Bath

At the Crosby farm, no room is left out when it comes to fabulous decor!
Today I'm sharing a few creative pieces from the downstairs bathroom.
Like this great cabinet, just chock full of vintage goodness!

Fabulous Farmhouse Tour: A Turquoise Living Room

Why buy furniture when you can build your own, custom-made to fit your exact needs? 

Well that must be my friend Mary's philosophy because the items you see in this room were all made by her as the prefect way to store her items! You've got to check out these pieces...

Red and Turquoise Table

I love using bright colors on my crafty projects, but I seldom get quite this colorful with furniture.

The mix of red, white and teal just seemed to be calling to me...

Flowers and Turquoise Birds

It finally stopped raining long enough for me to take a few photos.

So I'm showing off my flowers today.

And these oh-so-cute shabby turquoise birds.

Oh, What Love Can Do!

You may remember our Card Catalog Inpsired Table. If not, we'd love for you to check it out. But. long story short, before that was an eight-drawer table, it just a simple cubby bin. We actually flipped it sideways from what was intended to be the top in order to make the table. Well, it had this piece of wood on the top that we removed.

Now, it's this pretty little sign!

I just love making signs for our business.

What can I say...

I'm a sign maker by day so I guess it spills over into the evening as well. :) I enjoy designing pretty little signs without any restrictions put on my by the customer. These signs are all my handy work. I think that's why I enjoy them so much. 

 This little piece of wood was a dark color, not quite green and not quite brown. Pretty much mud! I liked the look of the wood and the way it was weathered and chipping a little on the edges. So I decided to work with the color.

I painted some Ce Ce Caldwell's Traverse City Cherry over the original color.

I immediately fell in love!

Once it was dry, I applied my vinyl stencil and began painting the love part of the lettering with Santa Fe Turquoise. I decided to use a different color on the rest because I wanted the 2nd part of the saying to stand out from the first part. So I used Johnston Daffodil on the other lettering and then on the flowers. Once dry, I simply dry-brushed some Turquoise over the Daffodil to give the flowers a softer look.

I couldn't have been happier when I took the stencil off!

This is one of my favorites :)

Hope you've enjoyed it as well!

If you haven't liked our facebook page yet, you can do that here.

And you can follow me on Pinterest with this link.

To get my new posts at bloglovin', just click this.

Getting new followers and comments absolutely makes my day! :)

Everyone loves a good party!

Check my project out along with other great inspiration, at these great blogs...

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff, The DIY'ers Link Party at Home Coming

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner, Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster, The Creative Spark at Clean and Scentsible, Tuesdays at Our Home at Our Home Away from Home, Homemade by You at Made to be a Momma, Trendy Tuesdays at Sweet Little Gals

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara, Create and Share at The Trendy Treehouse, A Little Bird Told Me Link Party at The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Oh What a Happy Day Link Party at Not Done Growing

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change, Simply Create Link Party at Redfly Creations

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Shabbilicious Friday Link Party at Shabby Art Boutique, Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House, Rustic Restorations Weekend Link Party at Homespun Happenings,  Great Idea Thursdays at A Handful of Everything

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing, Craft Country Cottage Party at Old Red Barn, Saturday SHOW-licious Craft Showcase at Sew-licious

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again, Silver Pennies Sundays at Silver Pennies, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop at A Blossoming Life

Shabby Striped Stools

These two shabby stools have been mine for awhile. I used to have the perfect spot for them , a long, long time ago in another house. I had an island between my kitchen and dining room and these were great there.

But when I moved into my current house, they ended up sitting in my garage. 

One day, one of them wound up back in the house, for my scrapbooking area. The legs got trimmed about 2" to fit the table height I would be sitting at. 

I was all set to scrapbook.

And then I had my second child...

I got a tad bit busy.

And ended up not doing much scrapbooking after that! :)

So last week, I dug one of them out of the garage and grabbed the other lonely, unused stool from my bedroom. Once again, I forgot to take a before picture. I get so excited about starting things that I dive right in without thinking! :) But I can at least describe them for you. They originally had white legs and a light, natural stain on the top. Pretty plain and relatively boring. But functional stools, nonetheless. 

I painted some Virginia Chestnut on the legs where I knew I would be distressing them. Once it was dry, I painted Old White over that.  I added Old White on the bottom of the seats as well. Then I painted the top of the stools in Chestnut and added Santa Fe Turquoise around the edges. Then I did the reverse.

I just love aqua and chocolate brown together, don't you?

I shabbied them up a bit, bot the legs and the seats, and I waxed them with both clear and dark wax.
I thought they were finished. But they just weren't...

A few days later, after staring at them, trying to figure out what else I wanted to do to them, I finally figured it out! I got out some masking tape and taped off lines of various thicknesses and spaced unevenly apart. And then I got out the Destin Gulf Green and painted some stripes, distressing those after they were dry and adding wax to those areas.  

Now I think they really are done!
And I couldn't be happier with them. 

What do you think of them?

If you haven't liked our facebook page yet, you can do that here.

And you can follow me on Pinterest with this link.

To get my new posts at bloglovin', just click this.

Getting new followers and comments absolutely makes my day! :)

Everyone loves a good party!
Check my project out along with other great inspiration, at these great blogs...

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff, The DIY'ers Link Party at Home Coming

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner, Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster, The Creative Spark at Clean and Scentsible, Tuesdays at Our Home at Our Home Away from Home, Homemade by You at Made to be a Momma

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara, Create and Share at The Trendy Treehouse, A Little Bird Told Me Link Party at The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Oh What a Happy Day Link Party at Not Done Growing

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change, Simply Create Link Party at Redfly Creations

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Shabbilicious Friday Link Party at Shabby Art Boutique, Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House, Rustic Restorations Link Party at Homespun Happenings, Great Idea Thursdays at A Handful of Everything

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing, Craft Country Cottage Party at Old Red Barn

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again, Silver Pennies Sundays at Silver Pennies, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop at A Blossoming Life

Eggs in a Basket {or two!}

I have seen so many beautiful decoupaged eggs on Pinterest and all the different parties I've been linking up to. Combine that with the beautiful sunshine we had yesterday (although very cold temps), and I've got spring on the brain.
It made me get the egg fever too!

So I got out the plastic eggs from last year's Easter baskets, the Mod Podge and some fabric scraps.

And started gluing away!

I found that it was easy enough to use strips around the middle of the eggs, but much easier to use smaller pieces for the rest of them. They just conformed to the contours better that way. And the biggest problem with decoupaging the eggs was my time constraint and, therefore, sticky fingers! I was trying to get them done before I had to leave the house on Saturday and didn't really have much time for drying. If I do more (and I just might!) I will do the middles and then let that dry before doing the tops and bottoms. My uber-sticky fingers kept wanting to pull the material off the egg. And that's just no good! :)

I chose aqua fabric for my eggs. No big surprise there! I do love aqua after all! To coordinate with the baskets I had already painted, I also used a white fabric with pretty light brown flowers and some orange paint.

I added some twine and a vintage button to one of the orange eggs. If I would have had more time that morning, I would have added the twine and button to the other orange eggs, too. I like how it turned out. I may go back and do just that when I get a chance. :)

I got out some brown paper grass and then stole some aqua and lime green grass from my son's basket (shame on me!) and mixed it all together and added it to these precious little baskets I had painted  the day before. I used Ce Ce Caldwell Cottonwood Sienna on the baskets and then applied a light coat of Johnston Daffodil over that. I simply LOVE how these turned out. 

I'm not usually a big fan of baskets, but these were too cute. They were small and made of wood chip so I purchased them awhile back for 25 cents each at our local thrift store. 

Once I had the baskets painted, I then painted a couple of chipboard embellishments (first in Destin Gulf Green and then in Santa Fe Turquoise). I had bought these at Michael's for only $1 for the whole bag. I think there are about 12 similar pieces in the bag. I sure do love me the dollar section! I painted a vintage button with Johnston Daffodil and attached the shipboard pieces and the button to the baskets with some trusty old gorilla glue. Kind of overkill on the glue, but it was in my reach and I was in a hurry! :)

Hope you enjoyed reading about my eggs in a basket.
Think Spring!
{it's just around the corner!}

Springing into these parties...

Six Days of Spring Party

Countdown to Spring Party at Domestically Speaking

March Madness Party at 4 You with Love

Hop To It Linky Party at Liz Marie Blog

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphisis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change, Tickled Pink at 504 Main

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again

Romantic Jewelry Armoire

I sure wish I had taken some before pictures of this jewelry armoire, because it sure was not very pretty to look at, that's for sure! It was painted black and had dark gold scrollwork and stars on it. Don't get me wrong, I love scrolls, but this piece looked liked some bad magic show relic. Not attractive at all. But it was cheap and had good potential, so we bought it!

The first thing I did was lightly sand the whole thing down. From there, I used some antique white homemade chalk paint on the outside, even on the black hinges, and some aqua on the inside of the cabinet and the drawer. I distressed it so the black would show through. I just love the way an old white looks with black showing through! I then added some furniture wax for protection.

For the insert areas of the cupboard doors, I simply took some coordinating scrapbook paper (in a faded aqua with white flowers and just a pop of poppyseed orange), cut it to size and mod podged it on. And it was that simple. A little paint, a little paper, and we turned a pretty-ugly Goodwill find into a romantic jewelry armoire!

Sharing this at these great parties...

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill

Making the World Cuter Monday

Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster

The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

Chicken Wire Memo Board

I purchased a box of frames at an auction for $3 last summer and, imagine my surprise, when I found this gorgeous little beauty in there! This frame was originally all gold (and quite ugly). But just look at some of the details on this thing...

I started off on this project by painting the gorgeous details with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ in Graphite. I then added some home-made aqua chalk paint (a leftover accent color from Eric's bathroom makeover). I dry brushed the aqua and didn't try to cover the details very well. This technique works much like a dark wax over the paint... all the architectural gorgeousness of this frame just pops right out with the Graphite underneath the aqua. But I did put a heavier coat on the straight lines of the frame to cover the original color. 

I had Eric staple some chicken wire on the back. And this was not without incident!! No one got injured (except my frame), but I thought I might have to shoot Eric. Okay. That's a bit strong. Maybe I just considered punching him. lol. Despite my warnings to the contrary, he actually stapled right through this wonderful frame! In his defense, however, it was on the side, not in the details, and he did fix the problem with some handy-dandy wood filler. Thank goodness he didn't staple through any critical areas! Who knows what might have happened... :)

Once that was done, it was just a matter of adding some clothespins for a vintage memo board! No more ugly, just plenty of gorgeousness! 

Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House

Salvaged Cabinet Door Chalkboard

I found this great old cabinet door at an antique show that I happened to have the good fortune of driving by one day. It was a great show at the Lake Odessa Fairgrounds. Tons of vendors and awesome stuff. But I picked this up from a young kid who salvages items and resells them as he is putting himself through college. He had some great architectural pieces!

Just check out the rusty old hardware on this thing...

And this great weathering too!

It was easy to create a chalkboard for this piece. It already had the groove to slide a board into so all I needed to do was use some chalkboard paint and slide it right in there! Easy as pie and perfectly awesome. I'm sure it's looking fantastic on its new owner's wall. :)

By the way, check out this piece that I also bought from the same kid. All I did was paint some crackly teal on it and add a hook. Some pieces are just so full of vintage charm that they don't need much work at all! 

A Quick, Rustic Valentine Project

This cute little project was made with recycled pallet wood, some stain, paint and a handy-dandy stencil. I love stencils! So glad I have access to make them out of my own artwork to use on whatever my little heart desires! :) 

Eric had originally cut the base as a shelf project. But the more I looked at it, the more I thought it would be cool as a decoration to sit on a shelf, instead of the other way around. So I asked him to make me some wood blocks. I absolutely love the wood he chose for those, by the way. It really has some character to it! :)

I stained the wood, cut a stencil and painted the blocks in my favorite color... teal blue. Any shade of it will do. I so, so, so love it! I then gave the back a little wash of it, too. 

And there you have it. Easy-peasy and so rustic. I only wish I had a mantle to put these little projects on! Oh well... maybe one day!

I'm sharing this post at The Gunny Sack, The Rustic Pig and Thrifty Decor Chick, Ginger Snap Crafts, 4 You With Love, The DIY Dreamer and Southern Lovely. :)