May 19, 2012

{$20 Patio Table Redo}

 I am on a really tight budget right now, but I desperately wanted a patio table for my backyard. My solution, of course, was to go garage selling! I found this beauty for a whopping $5. Can you say score? I will admit, at first I didn't see the potential. But desperate times call for thinking outside the box, right? Here's what I did...
 After getting rid of the hideous, I mean dated, glass tabletop, I made a trip to Lowes and picked up some fencing. I got the board for under $2 each. I then placed the table base on top of the base to get it centered and added the bracing boards from scrap wood in my garage (I added two braces in the center as well, but they aren't shown here). This gave the tabletop stability and nestle it on the table base so it wouldn't shift.
 See the tops of the fencing? I chopped them off one the tabletop was assembled. I wasn't lovin' the red hue of the wood, so I sanded it down and gave the tabletop a wash.
 I mixed some black and white craft paint until I got a medium grey color. Then I watered it down 50-70% so that it was really watery. This part was all trial and error until I got the consistency I wanted.
 You can see here how the wash got rid of any remaining "too new" looking wood, but the finish looked a little bit flat. Sooo...
 I got some white craft paint, and using a really dry brush with just a touch of paint on it, I gave the table a quick once over.
 Close up again, you can see how the white paint added some depth to the boards. Next I did some hand painting using the same process I used on my sign. I got the graphic from The Graphic Fairy. Love her stuff! I finished it off with a couple coats of polyurethane to give some protection from the elements.
 
Here's the after.
LOVE IT!
 Here is the close up of the graphics. I was going for a old french crate feel.
Pay no attention to the old peeling deck, its on the list.

Who'd a thunk... a $5 garage sale patio table...

May 16, 2012

{ I Did It! }

I painted our piano!
I have wanted to do it for such a long time, but was so nervous.
I'm so glad I finally did it...I love it!
Boo kept running through my pictures...silly girl.

This is where we started.
It was {yay, past tense} an oak player piano with funky 70's tulip stained glass windows...

I took it apart... 

and while my husband was gone for the weekend {so he wouldn't freak out that I was painting in the house} I got started... 

I sanded & painted 3 beautiful coats of antique white paint...

sanded it again & applied a wax polish to finish it aaannnddd... 
I LOOOOVE IT!

Why didn't I do this years ago?

The only thing I'm not sure about is the N monogram where the glass windows were.
I have some thoughts, but I'm very open to suggestions, or do you like it the way it is?
I would love to know what you think. :)

Linking up to:

May 8, 2012

{ Working on this... }

Yikes!

May 2, 2012

{ ABC Shower }

I got to host another baby shower.
This time it was for my nieces, who are sisters.
One is having a boy & one is having a girl so I needed to come up with a theme that would work for both of them.
There were lots of ideas out there, but I found this one on this cute blog and had to do it!
Here's my version...
It was held at my sister-in-law's beautiful home.
I didn't get a picture, but in the blue pot are bookmarks that the guests got to take home.
They have a Dr. Seuss quote on them & I found them here .

I found the abc wall cards at The Land of Nod

These big blocks were from Home Goods.

The food display on the island.
It's kind of hard to see with the stuff going on behind it.

Lunch menu:
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Pear & Cucumber Salad w/Poppy Seed dressing
Strawberries & Grapes with fruit dip
Vegetable platter
Cupcakes

The scrabble tile holders I already had & I got the mini chalkboards from Michaels in their wood section.

The cupcake flags were from Target. Love them!

I made the little pendant banner & hung it with the flashcards on the poles that I made.

Pretty flowers.

My cute nieces.
I am so happy for them & was glad I had the opportunity to host their shower!

May 1, 2012

{ Little Man Baby Shower }

I recently hosted a baby shower for my friend, Erin.
She has 3 girls & is now expecting a little boy!
So, of course, I had to throw a "Little Man" shower with mustaches!
I apologize for not taking very many pictures...I'm not sure how that happened.
I love my chalkboard.

My friend, Erin, is on the left.

Here is the horribly blurry picture of the food table.
I printed out the cutest subway art at Costco.
I found it here for free!...there's a girl version too.
I made the pendant banner from fabrics used in the nursery.

On a side note, I made the pole things holding the banner for this purpose.
Since it was an idea that came out of my brain I was nervous about how they would look & if they would actually work. In the end, I'm happy with out they turned out. Phew!
And, I used them for the shower I hosted that weekend.

Yummy whoopie pies with mustaches.

It was so much fun!
Now, on to the next shower.