Thrift Store Chair Makeover

I wanted to swap out my old glass round dining table and metal chairs for wood. I wanted to do it on a budget – it’s more fun that way, so I started looking for chairs and a table I could refinish to my liking.  I went to my local Hospice Thrift store and found 4 ugly green chairs that were $19.99 on sell for 50% off!!!  I knew I didn’t want to spend more than $10 for each chair – SCORE!!!  Here is my makeover.  BTW, still searching for the table, I may just have to make my own.  I don’t want to spend over $100. on the table.

The chairs were a faded shade of hunter green. I had to wash and sand them real well before I could start painting.

The cushions were in pretty good shape, just badly stained.

I spray painted them with four thin coats of this happy yellow color.

all painted and ready to put together!

TA-DA!! Happy chairs!!

LOVE the outdoor fabric I found to cover the cushions. Easy to keep clean. I had enough fabric left over so I made four placemats to match.

Wrigley’s Nursery

Our new grandson, Wrigley, will be arriving on July 3rd. He will be joining his big sisters, Layla and Joley, to add more joy and love to our lives. My son, Zachary and DIL, Ashley were trying to decide how to decorate the nursery – I bet you’re thinking baseball….. We thought of that, too and decided to go with a cute surfer theme. I went into my shop and came up with a few cute ideas to add to his room.

The surfboard all finished and in place

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I started with a light stain, taped off lines and added a darker stain

tape removed and waiting for the poly coats.

dry brushed on three different colors to give it an aged look

I added some twine to finish the look

love how it looks aged and beachy

Added Wrigley’s name and some rope around the edges.

I bought some canvases and cut out some letters. My DIL taped around the edges and used 3 colors of spray paint I had on hand

the oar on the wall with the mosaic fish and seahorse I made

close up of seahorse

close up of the fish

we added a fishnet and some ‘woody’ cars with surfboards that I found on Amazon

the hooks are so cute, I think I want my own!

my mosaic turtle – I love that my grandson will have so much of my home made stuff in his room!

now we just wait 3 more days for our Big Wrig to arrive!!!

Pallet Wood Christmas Tree

I have seen a lot of Christmas crafts made from pallet boards and thought it was time I tried my hand at making a rustic Christmas Tree.  I love the way it turned out.  I used pallet boards and some scrap wood I had laying around, some green paint from another project and decorations. It only took a couple of hours since most of the wood was already the size I wanted.  Hope you like the finished product! 

OWLS, OWLS, OWLS!!

My sister, Carrice, loves owls. She has collected them for as long as I can remember. Through the years I have bought her a fair amount of them but now I have decided that I will make her some very unique ones. Here are some of my first attempts. As you can see they are made from dishes, old hardware, jar lids, etc. No rules here!! I thought I would post a few before I head back out to the shop and make some more. Don’t tell her, they are Christmas gifts!! I happen to know she wants to do a whole wall in her kitchen with Owls, so I plan to help out with that. 😀

picked up 3 new ‘bodies’ to play with. Can’t wait to get started!!

this is the VERY busy corner of my kitchen where they are all resting for now.

this one is made from a tray and some jar lids, his feet are little girl hair clips.

this little guy was made from a kitchen spatula and some bottle caps

This fella was made from a glass platter and was so heavy I had to use a plate holder to hang it.

this skinny guy sports and old pair of earrings as well as bottle cap eyes.

Pallet Boards Headboard

added a mew yellow pillow!

A few months ago I changed all the colors and decor in our bedroom. I like my room dark (my husband calls it the cave) because it helps me to sleep better. I went with grays and tan with a splash of yellow. I knew I wanted a big headboard and I knew I wanted to make it myself. There was no doubt that pallets would be involved! I’m very pleased with the end results. Now I have to find those perfect pieces to redo for bedside tables and a couple of unique lamps.

Summer Time Flip-Flop Wreath

I first saw a flip-flop wreath on Pinterest and knew I had to try my hand at it. I hit the dollar store and bought all their children’s bright colored flips and then dug through my craft stuff and began to decorate them. I wanted it to look like something my two granddaughters would do – you know, lots of feathers, jewels and flowers. I love how it turned out and it makes my front door look very happy. Can’t wait for my first visitor!

Palm Tree and Turtle Mosaic

My husband loves palm trees so I have decorated our den with an assortment of art pieces. I made this one for him over the weekend from scrap glass tiles I have collected over the years. He loves it!! I really enjoyed making it, even if I did end up with little cuts all over my hands. 🙂

hanging on the wall in the den

there is even a little glass gator on the corner

I wanted to do a second mosaic piece to go with the Palm Trees so I went with Turtles! They are going from the sand into the ocean.

Christmas Craft Challenge

This past Christmas my husband and I went home to VA where my dad and two sisters still live. We took our RV and camped in Newport News Park and had everyone over (at one point there were 17 people!) to celebrate and hang out around the camp fire. My two sisters are wicked funny and love to gang up on me. (I am the baby….) They love my crafty stuff and decided to give me a craft challenge. I’ve never seen the food show Chopped, but the premise is that you are given certain ingredients and have to prepare a meal using all of them and any items from the pantry. Well….. my sisters gave me a gift box with several strange items in it and challenged me to create something using each item plus what I have in my own stash. I have had a blast putting this together. I like to think I am getting the last laugh on this one, though. I was able to make TWO pieces from everything so each sister is getting an original tacky art work by yours truly!! I will be terribly hurt if they don’t hang them up in a prominent spot in their homes. *cue wicked laugh*

Candle Holder Re-do

A friend gave me this set of candle holders about 10 years ago. They were originally a bright gold – I’m not much of a gold person so I painted them in layers of green and brown and then sanded them down some. This matched my living room much better. Now…. after looking at them for the past 10 years I though it was time for a change. I wanted to go with a shabby chic look so I made my own chalk paint – it’s pretty pricey at the specialty stores. I used unsanded grout and some white paint I had on hand. After painting them I sanded them down some (back to that brown/green) and then added a light stain to give them an aged looked. I am pretty pleased with the way they turned out. I have 10 more years to come up with something else to do with them!!

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Paper Doll Wall

I have some of the fondest childhood memories of playing with my huge collection of paper dolls.  I had saved them since I was a little girl but had to throw them out recently.  *sob*  The years, not to mention mildew, were not kind to them. So imagine how pleased I was when I received my late mother’s hope chest and found some Shirley Temple paper dolls that had never been taken out of the box!  I knew I wanted to do something special with them in the room I designed for my two young granddaughters, Layla and Joley.  I came up with the idea of putting them in frames and using them as art.  Here is the end result.  I hope you like it.  Can’t wait for my girls to see it, too.