lilacs and snowball viburnum

I admit it. I had to look up the name of these white flowers. But aren't they gorgeous?

 I think I got it right. Snowball Viburnum.

And lilacs, of course.

The house next door has this bush with beautiful white flowers spilling over the fence.
And the house is currently vacant.

Well, I just couldn't resist picking a handful...

...and grabbing an old soda bottle, a few mason jars and a rusty old container.

Hoping everyone is enjoying their spring and the beautiful blooms that come with it! 

I Guess We Make Lots of LOVE Stuff :)

I love aqua. For anything. I think this sign would look awfully cute displayed with red! I love me some teal and red!

This was just another vintage frame we purchased from an auction. With a little cleaning and a light coat of aqua paint, the details on this beauty just pop!

I usually end of taking the glass right out of the frames for most of our projects but, for this one, I decided to keep it. We simply glued some black and grey floral fabric on the backer and inserted it behind the glass. The only thing left to do was cut a white vinyl stencil and apply it to the top of the glass.

We think she turned out quite lovely! How about you...?

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Guest Post at Alderberry Hill

I'm guest posting at Alderberry Hill today!

This is my first guest post ever and I love Alderberry Hill, so I'm very excited!

Did I mention it's my birthday, too?

Well, it is!

Help me celebrate by checking out the guest post!

We made over an awesome antique chest of drawers and I just know you're going to love it!

Here's a little sneek peek of it...

To see the rest, head on over to Alderberry Hill.

Have a super day.

As for me, I'm definitely going to eat cake and ice cream with my kiddos to celebrate.

Only one more year in my thirties, after all, so I might as well live it up! :)

A Blue Beauty {The Sequel}

 
We previously showed you our Beauty in Blue Desk Makeover in Duck Egg and Old White. It's one of our most popular posts, so go and check it out if you missed it. :) In the meantime, here's a photo so you can check the two out together. 

A friend snatched up that desk and she loves it. She loves it so much that she wanted a dresser to match! She ended up choosing a dresser from a little shop known as My Garage Showroom. It's actually very far from a showroom. There's hardly any room to move in there right now! And it's currently much more full than in this before pic...

This particular dresser was a free-to-me from another friend. Her husband had started scraping the old (and quite bad) paint job off already. He had most of it done except some scraggly areas and one whole side. As soon as Karlye decided to go with this one, I started sanding and scraping. The weather was nice, as it had finally started to get warm here in Michigan, so it wasn't an unpleasant task. And the scraping was pretty easy. I had to fix one corner of the veneer at the bottom, too, but it was basically just gluing it back down and then putting wood fill over it to smooth the edges.

 Once sanded, I stained the whole thing in Minwax Jacobean so it would be a nice dark finish like the desk. I did the whole piece since I had to sand it and I wanted it to distress the same as the desk too.

 

I painted the drawer fronts and the sides in Duck Egg. For the front, I used Old White.

Then, because the desk had nice Old White trim along the corners but this dresser did not, I taped off the sides and the bottoms of each side and painted a faux trim along them. 

I distressed. Then waxed with a combination of clear and dark aging wax.

For the finishing touch, I chose knobs that actually didn't match the desk. We used the original hardware for the desk but this dresser only had one knob and, truth be told, doesn't even need any. But it looks so much prettier with the knobs I chose, all white and distressed and flowery. Just a touch of girly :)

I chose 2 different styles but they all have the same chippy finish.
I staggered each drawer so that the knobs on the top and 3rd drawers are 10" from the outside of the dresser and the other four knobs are only 8" from the outside. I thought this boxy dresser deserved a little more pizazz and the knobs did the trick!

Although it seems like the blue on the dresser is a different shade than desk, it really is just a product of the difference in lighting I had to work with for each photo shoot.

I hope she is as happy with her new dresser as she was with the desk! Next week, we'll be showing you a really awesome chest of drawers we did for her too. But you can get a sneak peak of that project this Thursday when I guest post at Alderberry Hill {So excited!}

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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, Pin It Hop at Minette's Maze, Marvelous Monday at this Gal Cooks

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, Brag About It Tuesday at Bebetsy

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, One Sharendipity Place at The T2 Women

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

Moms

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday.

Although I wasn't feeling very well, I spent the day with my two little munchkins and Eric's family.

We had a lovely time!

On Friday, we all went to Chris's classroom and had muffins.

Here's a pic of me and my lovelies.

I'm so proud to be the mom of 2 really special kids.

My daughter, Keara, is a wonderfully bright and beautiful girl with a kind heart.

And my son, Chris, is so funny he just about knocks my socks off sometimes! 

They bring so much joy to my life that I can't even put it into words. 

Above is a little sign we made that we sold at our last show.

It rings so true to what I feel being a mom is.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that,

all rolled up in a big bundle of unconditional love.

It's what I always felt from my own Mom and what I always hope my kids feel from me.

Above all else, is love.

Happy week to everyone! 

A Custom Mother's Day Gift

In honor of Mother's Day, I wanted to share with you this custom sign we made for a friend of mine.

She sent me the poem a while ago and asked if we could make something rustic for her Mother in Law.

Yeah... we do rustic. :)

I first laid the poem out in Adobe Illustrator to set the text  up in a pleasing way.

Then I cut a stencil.

I painted the leftover banner material with ASCP Old White and then Coco, adding some dark wax over that. I normally don't put wax on this material, but I just love Coco with dark wax on it. 

Next I laid out the stencil and painted the serif text in Graphite and the script in Aubusson Blue.

That part was done.

Next up, Eric made a frame with pallet wood. I asked him to make it slightly larger than need be so I could put a burlap matte around the canvas.

I stained the frame and, once dried, measured my burlap out and cut it, also cutting the inside portion out to about the size I wanted it. I then placed it on the back of the frame, making sure to check to flip it over before stapling to be sure it was relatively straight along the inside edge of the frame. I stapled it onto the back at the corners. Then I added the banner, stapling that, along with the burlap, along the whole edge all the way around. I trimmed up the inside of the burlap then, just to straighten the line a bit. 

My friend thinks her Mother in law will love it.

I certainly hope so!

I'm happy with the burlap matte.

I had never tried it before but it turned out really cute. 

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

Hope you have a great one!  

Sharing at Mother's Day Categorically Crafting Party at Someday Crafts