The Joy of Decoupage

Ok, so apparently you can decoupage practically anything, with anything!  This is so exciting.  So this is my first decoupage experience.  We had a board that was not being used for anything so I used flower pictures, newspaper and a black and white print, tore them all into random pieces, then I used glue/water mix and glued everything to my board.  You can also use mod podge, can find it at any craft store, but I didn't have any so I used the glue/water mix.   I overlapped all the edges so you can't see any raw edges anywhere.

I think my first try turned out pretty good!  It needs a clear coat of varnish to seal it once it's completely dry and I will hang it on the wall once I attach a picture hanger.

Make sure not to use inkjet printer pictures, because the ink will run when you put the glue on.  You can make a photo copy of an inkjet picture and that will be fine.  The next thing I'm going to do is all of our light plate/outlet covers.  Instead of buying all new ones, I am just going to cover them all with a pretty scrapbooking paper.  I'll post pics of those when I do them.  :)

Now off to find some other things to decoupage!

Kitchen/Laundry Room Before & After

I finally got the wallpaper down in the laundry room, painted it and Brandon got the new vinyl flooring laid in kitchen and laundry room.  We have a small galley style kitchen that goes straight into the laundry area.  It already feels so much better in there.  I need to work on getting the wallpaper out of the kitchen as well, but that will most likely be after everything else is painted and the wood floors are down.  Wallpaper removal is last on my list right now.

I'm happy with they way it looks, so so much better.  And on a totally different note, my tattoo is feeling so much better today!  :)

My Friday

This past Friday Brandon and I spend most of the afternoon in a tattoo parlor.  I've wanted another tattoo for awhile and I've known what I wanted, it was just a matter of actually doing it.  I know tattoos aren't for everyone, but I think there is just something so neat about having an artists work on you.  LOL

 I finally decided to make the leap.  It's on my back, so I wanted to do it before summer so it's all healed and pretty before tank top season gets here.  The guy that did my tattoo, Matty was great.  I was nervous going into this one, just cuz it is so much bigger, but it didn't take as long as I thought it would.  It did hurt ALOT though.  I go back to have color added in a couple of weeks.  I can't wait for the finished product.

So on top of this tattoo being feminine and pretty, it also has a meaning.  The flowers are dogwoods, I wanted a dogwood branch to symbolize the cross, and the butterflies represent being a new creation in Christ.  Based on 2 Corinthians 5:17 in the Bible.  I like to have tattoos that are pretty but also mean something.  I have 2 small flowers on my wrist that are for both my girls - they are colored with each of their birthstone colors.  And then I have a cross on my ankle.  So anyway, am I done with tattoos?  Probably not, but you never know.  I do have one more in mind that I know I want for sure, but after that who knows?  If something jumps out at me that I just have to have, well...

Here is a picture of my latest one without the color.  I'll update once my color has been added...

Have a great weekend everyone!

In The Thick Of It

Well our house is completely torn apart right now.  We are in the middle of doing some much needed updating. Our house is basically an old lake house, complete with wood paneled walls. I am so thankful our landlord is doing so much for us.  I just wish it could be done without the giant mess.  LOL  I will be so ready for the finished product that's for sure.

We just finished up our week of Spring Break.  We try to take vacation every year at that time, last year we went to San Antonio - Sea World.  This year we just hung out at home and did some fun stuff around here.  It was nice to disconnect for 7 days, and of course it went by way too fast.  One of the things we did was go to the Tyler Zoo.  It's small, but the weather was nice and we got there early so it wasn't crowded.  And we ate lunch overlooking the elephants and giraffes.  Doesn't get better than that right?  Here are some pics from the zoo...

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Another DIY & Home Improvement

So I got this cute little bench at a flea market a few weeks ago.  It needed a little work and the legs were all uneven.  So once I got it home, Brandon evened out all the legs for me and I painted, stained and lightly distressed it.  I bought some of that sticky shelving paper that you can buy at the dollar store and use it to re paper your drawers.. and I put a piece of that along the top of the bench.

We have a garden every year, but this year we can't because we are too heavily populated with deer.  We live in a community where you can't hunt the deer and people feed them so they know they are safe and will eat any landscaping or gardens.  So, I decided I wanted to at least grow some herbs and I thought my little bench would be a cute way to display them.  I put the bench in the living room in front of one of our doors.  Herbs need south sun all day and the front of our house faces south.  So now we should be able to enjoy herbs for a while unless I end up killing them, which is entirely possible.  :)

And if you're curious the herbs I planted are basil (love love love basil!!!) rosemary, thyme, oregano.  I also love rosemary.  At our last house we had a huge rosemary bush by the front door and I loved the way it would smell..

Once I notice new growth on the plants I can start snipping pieces to use.  The more you snip the more they will grow!

Now for my other news. We have decided to continue renting this house we are in for awhile.  It is just so expensive to move, and frankly we are so sick of moving.  (13 times in 13 years of marriage)  Don't ask.
So we are staying put for awhile.  I know alot of people are against renting and think it's the worst thing you can do, but I am totally happy with renting for now.  But the great news is that our landlord, who is great by the way, is going to do some much needed updating to this house.  We are getting laminate wood floors, new vinyl in the kitchen and laundry room, I get to paint ALL the wood paneling, laminate wood floors in master bedroom, removal of all wall paper... It's quite exciting.  This will be the perfect little lakehouse once it's been updated a little.  So I will post some before, during and after pics.

Tomorrow is our trip to the Tyler zoo, I need to remember to bring my camera.  I'm so bad about that.

Printer's Drawer DIY Project

Ok, let me just put a disclaimer right here that there was some harming of the antique printers drawer for this re-purposing project.  And while you may think what I did is a travesty to such a great antique piece, I would have to argue that the bigger travesty is having a great old printer's drawer and keeping it locked away in a garage for the past 2 years.  So here is the unveiling of what I did with one of my drawers.  I'll go into what I did and then post pics at the end.  Mine was divided into 2 sections with a large main divider down the middle and a bunch of random size cubbies on either side of that large divider.  So I took a hammer and pliers and knocked and ripped out all the dividers to get rid of all the cubbies.  I know, I know, but it had to be done, and if I'm being honest I did have just a bit of refinishing remorse once I got started. This part was not as easy as I would have thought.  They definitely made those things to last.  Anyway, after I ripped all those out, I took it outside and washed the whole thing with soapy water.  I'm not really sure if that was the proper way to clean it, but it was so very dirty,  it needed more than a dusting.  I will be adding 2 handles on either side I just haven't had a chance to get to a hardware store... and voila!  A tray to display my favorite random items on.  I must confess, this idea was not my own.  I did steal it from a website.  But seriously, how cute is it??   It turned out way better than I thought it would.  And I like that it now has multiple uses. I'm thinking it would make a great breakfast in bed tray... AHEM Brandon Whittall.  :)

I currently have an old china set on it.  I think it belonged to Brandon's great grandmother, maybe his grandmother I can't remember for sure.  I've broken a few pieces over the years, but it's always just been boxed up, I never use it.  So maybe I'll drink my morning coffee in one of the pretty little teacups.  :)

I debated painting it, but it still has some of the old paper in it, so I didn't want to rip all of that out.  So decided to leave it the way it is.

Still deciding what to do with my other printer's drawer.  hmmmm

Much better than sitting in my musty garage don't you think?

You can see the old paper in this pic... I didn't want to get rid of all that.

Will be the perfect little tray once I add some handles.

Have no idea if this is where it will stay, but for now it will.   

I refinished that black cabinet a few years ago.  It used to be white and it was in my mom's attic for as long as I can remember.  I think she told me it was a built in cabinet at one point.  She lives in an old victorian house in MA, my grandparents and great grandparents lived there too.  So it's kind of neat to have a piece of my family history in my dining room.  :)

Oh, and try not to be too jealous of my fabulous wood paneled walls.

DIY Projects

Hey There,
I feel like it's been forever since I've blogged.  Oh wait, that's because it HAS been forever!  Our home computer crashed so we were without a computer for awhile.  And blogging from my iphone just wasn't working for me.  So I'm back.  I will have some new DIY projects that I wanted to share.

This past weekend we went to Canton Trade Days - its like the largest flea market, garage sale, antique shopping ever.  So we spent most of the day Friday there.  I found the best metal pirate ship!  I saw it and knew it was meant for me.  Right now it's in the garage, along with most of my other belongings, because I just have no space for it.  But once we move, I hope to find the perfect spot.

Oh, and I also picked out some hardware for that table that I refinished remember?  See table before and afters here...
I'm happy with the way it turned out.  Ignore the fact that I'm a terrible photographer and the lighting in my house is awful.  But aren't they cute drawer pulls?

Ok, for my next project that I am working on currently... You know those old printers drawers that you can find at antique shops for hundreds of dollars?  Well, I have 2.  One was given to me and one I found for $5 at a garage sale.  Score!  Well, then I had no idea what to do with them.  Putting all kinds of trinkets in them just is not my thing.  So I going in a different direction... ooo aren't you so curious now?  Hopefully I will have some before and after pics to share later this week.