Ya gotta be crazy to start a project in the middle of the Christmas season!  But this one was  born out of necessity.  The necessity to keep me sane!  I usually wrap gifts on the pool table. Pro’s? Lots of space. Good lighting. Con’s? I have drag everything out. Usually leave a mess because I am in a hurry. Drives the Hubs cray cray!  BIG TIME!

I am up to my elbows in projects,work, decorating and wrapping gifts when I decide that it was time for a wrapping center makeover!

The dust catcher exercise room is just off of the game room and has this teeny, tiny closet that has housed everything from Halloween costumes to knick knack paddy crap from all over the house.  I have been eyeing it for years thinking that there should be some way to make it into a wrapping center or at least organize my many rolls of paper! All I had to do was clean it out ( see the Hubs laughing hysterically!) and do the makeover with what I had on hand as much as possible. Lots of pics so bear with me.

I had this small dresser that a neighbor had graciously given me that was the perfect size. Only it was HOT pink.  Normally, I would have spent a lot more time on painting this piece, but did I mention it is in the middle of the Christmas season?

So spray paint it is until after the holidays!

The dresser installed! Woo Hoo!

I found these drawer pulls at Hob Lob.  I am in love!!! Only one problem.  They only had five and I need six.  What the heck!  I bought the five and will pray I can find another at a different Hob Lob. Bonus! They were half off.

Ya’ll KNOW I love to line my drawers.  Ross had this paper for $3.99.

If you think this is too time consuming – I timed myself.  Literally took me six minute to cut and install. So worth it.  A little fun surprise every time I open the drawer!

Dresser – done! Now how to store and hang the wrapping paper? If you look closely to the side of the dresser you see rolls of paper stored in a container made just for that.  It works fine but I wanted to have some out and ready to use. Especially the Christmas paper.  I had two gold tension rods and two black hanging rods with brackets.  Perfect. I spray painted the hanging rods gold and hung all four above the dresser.

Then it was time to hang it all up.  BUT! Before I started I realized just how “white” the walls were.  Y’all know I can’t stand all white so I used a circle sponge and gold paint ( thank you Martha Stewart) and randomly painted circles on the wall. No rhyme, no reason. Just eye balled it.  I only put the circles around the dresser because this is a small space.  I was afraid it would be too busy!

Time to hang ribbon and wrap rolls.  I only put up the Christmas stuff. When Christmas is over it will go back in the roll bin and the everyday stuff will come out. If you look closely I hung a command strip hook on the wall to hold larger decorations,scissors etc.

Time to load the drawers. I had a few containers to corral all the stuff…but not enough so it is off to the Dollar Tree where I bought a whopping’ $12.00 worth of containers.  Drawer 1 – all of the small bows, decorative embellishments, small cloth bags,scissors, tags, glue etc.

Drawer two – small boxes and unusual bags.

Drawer three – note cards, greeting cards and small gifts.

Thanks to my son who left a whole lot of wooden hangers when he moved out I had the perfect tissue organizer.  I used the hangars to organize my tissue papers. Crazy smart right? Thank you Pinterest!

Christmas bags – I didn’t have a container and haven’t found exactly the right one. So for now the lid to the wrapping paper storage container will hold them just fine! I had this extra trash can in my office, not all that pretty but works okay for now.

So here it is for now. I love it. Girl squeal! It is small but works hard!

I still have some minor things to improve on.  Repaint the dresser to something awesome! Find my sixth pull. If I get up enough nerve I am gonna paint the hangers and the original clothes hanging rods gold. ( worried about the paint flaking off of the hanging rods!) I would love a prettier storage container for the sacks. Also, in the top drawer there were some hot pink containers that will become gold. Oh, and if you are wondering where the everyday bags and boxes are stored they are in bins above the dresser on the shelving.  Once Christmas is over I will swap them out.

This project took two half days. One to paint and install everything and one to do a little shopping. Not much time at all!  Mainly because I had most of everything I used.

Cost: drawer pulls $15.00 plus tax

drawer liner $3.99 plus tax

dresser -free

Paint – free

Containers – $12.00

Hangers – free

trash can – free

Basically, for under $35.00  I have a new “room” and my sanity!  Not bad for a wrapping center makeover!

Until next time…

I love a pretty Christmas tree. I love one that is sentimental more.  Over the years I have tried to combine the pretty with the meaningful and I think I do okay with that.  Since my boys were old enough to choose, I let them pick out an ornament each year.

Some years it was REALLY hard to pay for the ornaments that they chose. This green octopus thing? For reals? Now I look at those ornaments every year and smile.  Each of them hold memories. I guess you could say we have a storytelling Christmas tree!

Batman is my youngest sons all time favorite, followed closely by Jack Skellington.

My older son has many Scooby Dos, Star Wars, Muppets and sports.

The hubs?  Camping, Airplanes and barbecue. The man makes a mean briquet!

Me? Anything with a crown, queens, Maxine or crosses.

There are many “firsts” on our tree. First Christmas together.

Baby’s first Christmas.

The Shiny Brights remind me of the vintage ones  we had on our tree growing up. We don’t have any of those anymore. Most were destroyed when our house caught on fire on New Years Eve when I was in second grade.

We also try and buy ornaments from places we vacation.  This year it was Savannah, GA…..

New Orleans….

and Las Vegas. We had a good year!

There is a lot of “life” on our tree and I love it that way.  My tree will never be the most beautiful or the most color co-ordinated. It definitely has no “theme”.   I am more than okay with that.  It warms my heart every time I look at it and come away with another memory that makes up our lives.

Merry Christmas to me!

Until next time…..

Hey! I hope you all survived Black Friday but more importantly had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!  Lots more decorating and shopping done here at the castle, starting to be able to sit back and enjoy the fun stuff. Woo Hoo!

In an earlier post I gave you a sneak peak at my Christmas decor. Today, I begin sharing just exactly what goes into getting the castle ready for the holiday season. This year I wanted to go more simple. ( If you know me well I know you are laughing! Cuz it is so dang hard for me to go really simple!) I also wanted to use more of the things that I already had. With that said, today I am going to show you How to update your Christmas wreath.

I am apologizing ahead of time, this post has tons of pics and is a little long so grab a drink and settle in and enjoy!

Here’s my old one… yikes!  It definitely seen better days!

So I ripped everything off.  I will reuse some of it, but the ribbon had to go. The flowers? Out of there! In this case, it was the majority of the decorations so it was just easier to start at the beginning.  After removing everything, I “fluffed” the wreath.

I like to start with the ribbon.  You could glue your ribbon in, or you can simply take two pieces of the wreath and twist it around the ribbon.

Running the ribbon loosely around the wreath, I twist the ribbon every so often, leaving plenty of slack in the ribbon to fluff at the end.

You could add just one ribbon, but my motto is if one is good two is better! I add a smaller ribbon the same way I did the first one. I start in the same starting place ( only one ugly place to hide later) and followed the first ribbon for placement – with one exception.  I alternate the placement of the second ribbon – placing it in the front of the first ribbon loop, then placing the it on the back side of the next loop. Have I lost you yet?  Just alternate between placing the first ribbon in front or back of the larger ribbon. It gives more interest and movement. Now your ribbon is done!

You could be totally done at this point and ready to add whatever embellishments that you want.  I chose to go ahead and add a bow made from my ribbon.

This is truly the easiest bow ever!  I generally make this bow when I am using really wide ribbon. The ribbon I used was 5 inches wide. With the ribbon  facing toward you, Run the ribbon away from you, at about six inches  up, grab ribbon and make a loop. This loop can be any size you want.  At this point you will have a six inch tail and one loop of your bow.

Now here is the only part that is important for this ribbon to look good. Normally at this point I would just twist and be done, but this ribbon is really wide. If you just twist it kind of wads up. Pleat the ribbon and then twist.  I makes the ribbon prettier, when done.  So now you have completed your first loop.  Make your second loop only in reverse, pleat, twist and cut , leaving  a six inch tail. Make sure that your tail is the same size as the first.

Now using a smaller width of ribbon, I used the same 2 inch green ribbon as on my wreath, I cut about 12 inches and placing it flat in the middle of the bow where I pleated and twisted my bow. Simply tie a knot on the back side of the bow. You may need an extra set of hands or if you are like me I use my teeth. Yucky I know, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! Ha!  Using the same green ribbon tails that you tied the bow together with, tie it to your wreath.  Fluff. Ta Da!  you’re done.

Here is what mine looks like at this point.  Now I just glue the original sparkly bulbs and snowflakes that were on the original wreath onto the wreath.  And this baby is DONE!!!

TA DA!!!! MUCH better!

This wreath update took little time and I used only things that I had to had on hand.  Simple and blingy at the same time.

Here is a list of my supplies:

5 inch ribbon

2 inch ribbon

old wreath 

scissors

glue gun or glue of your choice

That’s it for today.  I have a few more things to share with you and then I promise that I will give you the complete Christmas Castle tour.

If you would like to stalk me… go to www.patinaandpaint.com and sign up!

Until next time…

I KNOW !  It isn’t even Thanksgiving yet, but in the blog and retail world you have to be one step ahead.  I spent this weekend decorating the castle for Christmas like a crazy woman on a mission. I have lots of upcoming jobs and I just wanted to get ‘er done before all of the hustle and bustle starts. With that said, I refuse to post Christmas before I have even had my Thanksgiving turkey dinner OR the opportunity to be truly thankful for all the goodness that has been bestowed upon me this year. Not. Gonna. Happen! I WILL give you a Christmas sneak peak of all of the fun things to come!

LOVE all of these fun colors!

I purchased a new tree this year, although I did not get the one my heart was set on…BOO!

What’s Christmas without a little sparkle?

That’s all I can show you right now.  HOWEVER,  once this Thursday has passed and the turkey lethargy has worn off  -it is on like Donkey Kong! Bring on the tinsel, the tree, the fun and all things Christmas!

Until next time…..

I am so darn excited!  Giving myself a huge pat on the back right now.  I bought these two channel back chairs last spring to reupholster for my newly designed office/library.  Then got side tracked.  Big time.  After reupholstering the big red chair for my seester, I wasn’t sure I had it in me to tackle these.  However, low budget and needing more room in my work shop lit a fire under me to get these babies DONE!  I have to admit that I do love these cheetah print chairs!

I found these fab chairs on-line and snatched them up.  I had never repurposed a channel back chair before so much research was needed.  I immediately started the hunt for material to recover the chairs.  A good friend of mine recently moved into a house and had these totally AWESOME wingback chairs made for her dining room.  They are this absolutely gorgeous peacock / teal green velvet.  So. In. Love.  I had to have something like that.  Except that finding  a material that fit my criteria AND was in my price range proved to be impossible.  I decided to go more neutral, using that color on the wall, since I wanted this room to be warm and cozy anyway. I wanted a warmer, darker neutral that wasn’t a solid black or brown, but was neutral enough to go with almost any color.  I ended up with a cheetah print.

Gold is back “in” so the wood part of the chairs would be gold.  I lightly sanded the legs and arms then taped up any of the upholstery batting that was showing so that I could paint them with my new favorite gold paint.

TA DA!!!  This paint is seriously the bomb.  It is a true gold with out being blinding. It goes on with even, perfect strokes – no crazy lines that you get with other spray paints!  AND usually it covers almost everything with one even coat! For reals! Dry time?  Super fast.

Once the chair was dry, I “antiqued” the gold slightly with a black glaze to hid all the imperfections in the wood. Had I left it shiny gold I would have sanded and filled all of the dents and dings in the wood for a more perfect finish.

I have to admit that this project had some sewing involved.  Each channel had to be sewn together and then “stuffed” with the channel batting.  I was lucky that all of the batting was in pristine condition so I was able to use the old batting.  Then the side arm material was sewn to the back channels. If I am honest this was why I procrastinated for so long.  Eeekkkk!  Just the thought of it scared me.  But guess what?  It was do dang easy it was ridiculous.  Once the sewing was done it went back together so fast it was crazy! It looks awesome.  Even the Hubs, who is kind of jaded from all of my projects over the years, said that he was impressed!  Woo Hoo!

Here is the side detail.  I may have gone crazy with the gimp embellishments, but I love the black against the cheetah!  As you can see the wood on the wings is a little battered, but I am good with that.  You don’t notice it that much in person and I like that it has a little patina and wear to it.

Here it is again…. I can’t wait to get started on the library/ office so these beauties have a good home!  Oh, yeah.. that project got put on the back burner too… oops!

Until next time…..

To take a page out of Scarlet O’Hara’s book,  As God as my witness I will NEVER  reupholster a chair of this difficulty again!  For reals! EVER!!!!

My sweet baby sister called me and asked if it would be worth $20.00 to buy this chair.  “OF Course!”  Would we be able to reupholster it or slip cover it?  “No slipcover… the wood is too pretty! Let’s reupholster it!”  Was I out of my mind?  I have no  chair upholstery training and I have certainly never tackled anything of this degree of difficulty, but I had plenty of enthusiasm, imagination and was ready to go.

And then it literally took me more than a month to take the old crusty red fabric off of the chair.  Who ever had upholstered it before apparently knew how to make it LOOK good, but that was all.  The front arm panels were attached with four inch nails, the “wings” on the side of the chair had at one point been broken off and had four inch bolts – not screws- put into it in an attempt to reattach it.  Basically, the only thing holding this chair together was the fabric.  And the upholstery foam and batting? Ewww!   Over time it had been recovered several times and had modern foam and batting added to the existing horsehair.  It was a nightmare! A big, dirty, hot mess. I am not totally sure – but if it had been mine I might have added some kerosene and a match at this point.

I put the hubs to work rebuilding the arms and then I started in on rebuilding the chair from the seat out.

Here is the old/new chair.  Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination!!! A little lumpy, but since it is in a shabby chic style I think that it works out just fine. It is pretty comfy too. I painted the wood in AS Pure White and Gray Linen followed by dark wax. Love it!

We decided to use two different fabrics, a bleached drop cloth on the main body and then this beautiful floral on the back and the seat.

As with all shabby chic you have to have a little bling so we added this really cool rhinestone upholstery tacks.  All business in the front and a party in the back!  I like little surprises like that.

I am so happy to say I am DONE! I am sure that my sister will be too.  I do have some tips for those of you who are crazy enough to try this.

1.  WEAR A MASK!  I cannot stress this enough.  Even my dog Sadie had a sneezing fit when she walked by this thing.  Who knows where a piece has been or what was done to it!

2. Use the fabric you remove from the chair as your pattern for your new upholstery fabric. This saves a lot of time!

3. Take lots of pictures as you take it apart.  You may think you will remember how it looked and went together as you are taking it apart, but I can tell you now that you won’t!

4. Before undertaking this project have a good psych eval! lol! Seriously, think long and hard before you leap.  This chair took longer to take apart than it did putting it back together – a first for me, but it was way more labor intensive than even I would have expected!

That’s all of the words of wisdom I have for now…

Until next time….

Before I painted furniture, I painted glasses…. Hard to believe that is a real job, but it is.  I really loved it, until it became really hard to find my favorite paint and that fact that over time everyone and their dog was selling glasses everywhere for $2.99!  So I moved on to painting furniture.  Which I love even more!  I was recently looking at Pinterest and saw that painting dots on glassware was one of the “crafty” things trending right now and thought – why not? Here is my Pinterest hack on hand painted glasses!

As you can see in the past my designs were a bit more detailed.  These aren’t even some of my more complicated glassware.  The great thing about the “dot” design is that you don’t have to be an artist to paint these! No intimidation!

Since Christmas is right around the corner, I decided to use colors that I knew I could use with my holiday decor. I chose red, white and gold. I grabbed an extra wine glass that I had in my glassware stash and started painting.

In the Pin they used sharpie pens.  I didn’t have sharpies and was in too big of a hurry to start painting to go buys some, plus I had leftover paint that was just sitting there so I decided to use that. I used the handle end of a brush to dip into the paint and make my “dots”. I thought that painted “dots” on the glasses would be a breeze.  And it was – until my A.D.D. kicked in! My “dots” quickly became “spots”.  But you know what? I kind of like that even better. I quit worrying about making perfect dots and just enjoyed the creative process. Super easy and after I got over my perfectionist self, it went quickly.

Here is a picture of the Christmas glasses I that I have used in the past.  I still like them but sometimes you just need to shake things up a bit.

Here is my finished product.  (Sorry not the best photo of it – it’s  kind of hard to photo glassware!)  I like it and will probably make more for my holiday table.

WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS PROJECT?

1.  It was super easy!  On a scale of 1 to 10 – this is a one.

2.Also, I didn’t have to worry about what the inside of the glass looked like! In the past when painting glasses I had to make sure that the back of the painting, on the inside of the glass, was as pretty as the front.  I mean, who wants to look down into a glass and see ugly messy paint? My “spots” looked almost exactly the same on the inside as the outside. That I like.

SEE? 🙂

I am ready to grab other stemware and use different colors for everyday. They would be great as party favors ( think dollar tree glasses), girls night in, Pokeeno, Bunko… well, the list is endless.

My friend Sally runs away screaming when we mention  having a girls craft night. Not. Her. Thing!  But even Sally would enjoy this. I think!  This is so easy even the craft impaired will have fun. So get your craft on!

Until next time….

I can’t believe that Halloween has past and we are on the down hill slide to Thanksgiving!  I spent my weekend putting away Halloween decor and bringing out the Fall decor – again! Oh, OKAY!  I watched a lot little football in there too!  I don’t do a lot of decorating for Thanksgiving because we usually always go to my Dad’s house for the holiday.  I usually have my tree up before we leave for Dad’s house so that I can do last minute shopping the weekend after AND focus on the rest of the indoor decor while the Hubs does the outdoor lighting.  It can take days. One thing I did get done was my Thanksgiving Table.  And I am going to show you how to do it without buying anything new~

We will start with the dining room tablescape. I decided to do something a little different this year instead of the same old thing.  I started with an off white runner.  I’ve had this one for awhile now.

And these fall placemats. I have used these ones for a long time now.

I put my pumpkin candle centerpiece in the center of the table and added fall leaves, pinecones acrylic jewels and acorns…

All of these I have had for awhile and are in my fall “fluff” or small extra “stuff” box.

Here’s the other end of the table.  I am not a “match-matchy” person, so I don’t always do the same thing at both ends of the table.  It’s OK to do this as long as the scale is the same.

Then it was on to the place setting. I started with a gold charger that I always use, but quickly decided it was too much gold and went with the orange ones that I used for Halloween.  I love to use my Granny’s china. I have to admit that when I was younger I didn’t like this pattern at all!  Over time I have come to love the brown against the white in this Noritake pattern.  Also the mum’s are perfect for fall! I normally would have just used white dishes.

I then added green salad plates.  I love layering.  It makes the table look more interesting and colorful.

This year I skipped my jeweled napkin rings and went for something a little more simple that had some glam.  Ribbon, feathers and glitter!  I used two different type of napkins for interest.  This one with a leaf embroidery pattern, tied with a faux leather brown ribbon into a simple bow.  I used the faux fall leaves – let’s face it, here in Texas it just got cooler. There are NO leaves that have fallen or changed colors as of yet. So while I would much rather have real leaves, faux it is!  I used that leaf as decoration AND as a place card by adding a gold glitter initial to the leaf and placing it on the napkin.  I added some cerise feathers for a little glam.

On this place setting I used an orangish-red napkin with stamped leaves.  My bow is a cheetah print.  Again I added the fall leaf with the gold glitter initial and the cerise feathers.

I added brown water glasses that and silverware. My Thanksgiving table is complete and I didn’t spend a dime! Woo Hoo!

What I like best about this table?  I used everything that I had here at the house. So this table cost me nothing!  I will admit that I think that I will be hitting the Thanksgiving days sales this year in hopes of finding a different placemat. I have had these for awhile and will admit to getting a little tired of them.

Best tip?  IRON EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU START.  I cannot stress this enough.  The napkin above looks a little wrinkly and I ironed it thoroughly. Imagine what it would look like had I not.  A few extra minutes of ironing can make your linens look like new, no matter how old they are, therefore make your table look fantastic.

Tip two:   Your holiday decor doesn’t have to be new every year. Shop you own house. Mix it up!  A lot of times we have stuff we have never used or an abundance of stuff that we have had forever, that can be used to make a great tablescape or vignette.  So get creative, you can use the money you saved for something you really love!  Like a manicure, or chocolate, or wine or a massage….

Here are a few more fall vignettes that are placed around the house.  This is in my kitchen eating area.  We have had these little pilgrims since our boys were really small! I usually put these on the mantel.

I have never used this soup tureen that I won at Pokeeno before, so I thought I would dust it off and use it on the sideboard.  I love the faux wooden tray too.  Just added a bit of “fluff” – pinecones, leaves, and  berries for a five minute vignette!  Again, I had all of this here at the house.

Moral of this story?  Unless you have had a natural disaster of mass destruction totally level your house, I think that you can dig in cupboards and use grandma’s china, mom’s tablecloth, your old dishes and little imagination to create holiday decor that you love!

Until next time…..

              Tammy

Okay… if you are paying attention to the pics above your probably thinking “What?  That is not her entry!”.  You  would be right.  I will get to that in a minute, but before that I just want to say that I was wrong. Yup.  I. WAS. WRONG!  This past week I posted about my master bedroom dresser update.  If you read that then you already know how I put a zillion nail holes in my wall trying out new art work for above my dresser.  I finally decided that the entry hall art that I had updated would be better in my bedroom.  I was happy.  At least I thought I was, until one hour after posting I was in Ross and found this:

I was in love and knew that the entry hall piece that I thought I could live with?  I couldn’t!  I scooped this piece up and had it hanging in my bedroom in under an hour. For reals!  I don’t just love it…. I Lurve it!!!

The perfect colors! (although it looks a little yellow here, it really is a perfect match for the curtains in real life!)  The perfect size: BIG!  It makes my heart sing it is so perfect!  Every time I walk into the room I want to shout TA DA!!!! Spot light please! There was nothing really wrong with the entry hall art in here, I was just ready for some color.

Now I know you are wondering when I am going to show you my entry hall update, so here it is…

So here is just a quick reminder of what it used to look like.  Kinda boring, plain, outdated color, no rug…. I could go on and on.   After taking down the art and almost playing slip and slide on a wet tile floor last week, I decided a few things had to change!

One… I needed a new umbrella stand!  I found this one and loved the design but it was way too dark in the entry.  Gold metallic spray paint to the rescue!

Two… I needed an new rug!  No more slip and slid for the Queen!  I have given up on rugs for the most part due to the fact that I have a psycho cat that LOVES to destroy any rug that isn’t in my living area. But enough was enough. Safety first, right? I found this rug when I found the bedroom art work.  I wish it were a little larger but it fits the bill!  I usually like to find an entry rug that has all of the colors of my downstairs rooms in it. I feel like it just ties things together. This time that proved to be a bigger challenge than I had anticipated.  The entry is right off of the dining room, which is navy and off white, so this works. Plus, my entry table and mirror are navy.

This is my updated entry hall. Umbrella stand, check. Painted gold, check. New rug, check.  Artwork hung, check.  Much more functional.  I still admit that I am looking for artwork to hang in here that makes my heart sing just like the one in my bedroom does.  But until then I am more than content with this one!

Until next time…..

           Tammy

I’ve had my bedroom suit a long time.  When we moved into our house I bought a new set.  I was so excited until I realized that it wouldn’t fit down our short hall into the bedroom. So back it went.  I just haven’t found one that I love.  And I really want to LOVE it , ya know? So I decided it was time for my master dresser update.

Here is what I started with.  Awhile back I almost got rid of the pulls because they were gold. Ha! Glad that got put on the back burner since gold is back in!  I would paint it, but still haven’t talked the Hubs into painting it. You know – good wood, good finish, blah, blah, blah… I get it.  The mirror was VERY dated and was it was time to go!

I just want to say that most of the art that I have been looking at just hasn’t moved me. I have literally spent hours looking! I went shopping and found these. (AFTER I had already tried these really cool bird prints that so did not work. At. ALL.  Sorry no picture.) After I hung these up, I was totally underwhelmed.  They just didn’t show up. It was seriously blah.  I wanted a little more glam. Frustrated much? OH yeah.

I figured that I would just keep searching for the right art and move on to my next venture – which was the entry hall. I had this piece of art up for awhile, I liked the art but not the color of the matt.  I couldn’t decide what color to paint it so that the art would show up and still match the new colors I was putting into the house.  So I went white.  And I loved it.   But not in the entry – too stark.   Then it hit me …what about the bedroom?

Woo Hoo!  We have a winner!   Simple, but it fits the space perfectly.  I am still on the hunt for something with more color in the same scale, but until then I am perfectly content with this one.

I found this demi john and was so excited. I really, really, really LOVE colored glass! So this was perfect.  I can’t believe I bought sticks to go in it. Hey, don’t judge!  It’s still hot here in Texas even if it is October. No bare branches for me to find.

I had an awwww…moment when I was looking at my photos to decided what I wanted to put out.  The small gold frame is a picture of the Hubs and I kissing on our wedding day.  The large black frame was taken almost 30 years later at a family photo shoot.   Almost the same pose.  Really wasn’t that hard to decide which ones to use!  I found this small crown at Hob Lob – ya’ll know I had to have one in here – AND it is glass. Seeing a theme here?

Once again, here is the finished vignette.  A little more updated.  Simple, but perfect!  Thanks for following along on my dresser update, it is  always so fun to share!

Until next time….

         Tammy

A few days ago I walked into the laundry room and it hit me that it was looking a little tired.  The cabinets needed dusted and maybe a little paint touch up.  The laundry basket was overflowing with who knows what and the tile grout was well – I’m not even gonna go there! It was time for a laundry room mini makeover!

A few years ago we remodeled our laundry room.  I didn’t take pictures of it back then. It was just a small rectangular room that had a shelf and clothes hanging bar that ran the length of the room over the washer and dryer. The hook ups for the washer and dryer were not even side by side, they were at opposite ends of the room.  All I can say about it was that you could wash, dry and hang up your clothing.  Oh, and have a small amount of storage.  But that was it!  The hubs built shelving, relocated the hookups and installed a countertop on top of the washer and dryer.  I repainted the walls and shelving, bought baskets for the shelves , hung a curtain to give Firehydrant, the cat, some privacy for her personal matters, hung a three hook rack and decorated the room.  This was no mini makeover this was an almost total face lift!  But I loved it. Until now.

You can see from the picture above it was looking a little tired. A lot little cluttered.  Time for that mini makeover!

I started  by removing everything and cleaning. Then I removed the shelving and got some black and white wrapping paper that I had and cut it to fit the back wall.  I installed it with glue dots.  This way if I decide that I want a new pattern or no pattern tomorrow I can easily change it out.  Plus, it was way cheaper and easier than wall paper!

I originally had large brown wicker baskets to keep stuff organized and contained. They were great for towels etc but, when I put in laundry soap and cleaners they were way too heavy.  I had these smaller baskets  from my craft room that I wasn’t using any more and decided to go through and reorganized, decrapify ( new laundry term!), and split up the  heavier items into the smaller baskets.

I hate to admit it but, I scrubbed the tile grout for over an hour on my hands and knees before it came clean.  Apparently we came in and out of the garage way more than I thought.  I had always avoided a rug in here because (a.) it was such a small skinny room and (b.) I have a psycho cat that loves to tear stuff up! At night she is put in her bed and the door is closed to keep her from going on a wrecking spree.  I decided that I will just put on my big girl panties and pick it up at night and replace it in the morning.  Way easier to wash a rug than scrub the grout!  I also bought Firehydrant a new bed that I put into an extra basket that I had.  She hates loves it! No, really, She does.

I am a creature of habit.  Since I moved everything around I decided that I had better put these tags on the baskets so that I could find everything.  Plus, it didn’t hurt that they were super cute!

I also bought  a new laundry “basket”. I like that when I am not using it it will collapse and I can store it.  SNORT! Like that is gonna happen!  But it might…. in an alternate universe. I also recovered my little bitty “trash can” with the same paper that I used on the back wall. Yup, makes me happy when it all is co-ordinated!

So here is my finished laundry room mini makeover.  Clean, reorganized and updated  – just a little!   I love that it feels so fresh and my hubs loves that it didn’t cost him very much since I had almost all of the stuff  to give it a little face lift.  I bought the new pet bed – $12.00, new laundry basket – $10.00 and the rug $15.00.  All were on sale, cuz that is just how I roll.  The only thing that I didn’t do that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY  want to do is find a mini chandelier to hang in here.  Still on the hunt for that!

New room – or it feels like one – for under $40.00.  Score!

Until next time….

          Tammy

I finally decided to get rid of my Summer chalkboard! My family is VERY happy…

Just a little “eye candy” for my kitchen!  Happy Halloween!!!

Until next time…..

            Tammy

So I am doing a little Halloween decor tweaking.  If you saw my earlier post on decorating my halloween table you saw that I decided to  put purple and orange fiesta plates on it.  And it was cute.  However, I still felt like something was missing.  My white plates.  I LOVE white.  Always have and probably always will. But when I put the white plates on the table the white just seemed …too white.  So how to make them work with the table?   Vinyl cutouts!

Here is what you need:

1. White plates of your choice.

2. Vinyl cutouts.  I just used my Cricut machine and black vinyl to make some spooky cutouts to stick on the plate. So easy!  Just cut out, peel and stick!

Almost too easy.  But the finished result is perfect.  I love that they look really cute and tie into the rest of my table!

I really LOVE them!  There are some pro’s and con’s.

Con?  Well you can’t eat off of them. If that bugs you, you might want to put the cutouts on a salad plate that is easily removed before eating.

Pro’s?  When I am done with the Halloween tablescape, I simply peel off the stickers and I have a beautiful white plate again. The vinyl leaves no sticky residue.  Woo Hoo!

TIPS:

1.  Don’t have a cricut?  You could always use contact paper and cut out your own design with scissors.

2.  Still too much work?  Use glass cling decorations.  You know… the kind you buy to put on glass doors?  They have them at Party city, WalMart, etc… economical and easy.  Win, win!

So there you have all of my ideas on plate decor, and this idea is not just for Halloween either.  Holidays, birthdays, showers…  You are only limited  by your imagination.

Until next time….

           Tammy

I HAVE A NEW DINING ROOM CHANDELIER!  TA DA!!! So excited!

For some time now I have been drooling over this chandelier at Ballards. The Claire for $399.00.  But the price???? Not so much. It’s not terrible expensive in the lighting world but there wasn’t really anything wrong with my old one.

Here is my old one.  It came with the house when we moved in 9 years ago.  I didn’t LOVE it, but I didn’t hate it either. So I continued to drool.

And then I spotted this  chandy on Ebay.  I hardly ever go on Ebay, something just said GO! So I did.

And I found this chandelier originally from Home Depot. It is the Hampoton Bay six arm Tuscan Chandelier in Copper originally $369.00.  The Cost on Ebay? $150.00!!!!  Now I know it isn’t exactly the same chandy as the one from Ballards, but it is one that is less than half the price of Ballards. I good with that!

I couldn’t wait to get it.  I was a little worried about the color. Copper?  I was hoping that it was more like the photo on-line and be closer to a dark oil rubbed bronze.  And it was!  Woo Hoo!  Only one issue with it.  The “candle” sleeves. In the on-line photo they are white.

These are what came with the chandy. They looked like something that should have been on a chandy in a slasher movie.  Eeewwww!  Too yellowed. And the antiquing?  A purplish black. Ummm… NO! But that was an easy fix.

Spray paint!  I quickly tossed them into my small paint booth ( a box ) and gave them a light coat of white.  MUCH better!

Here is what my new chandelier in the dining room looks like.  Pinch me!!  I LOVE it.  This room is finally shaping up.  Now if I can just find a rug that makes my heart sing like the chandelier…….

Until next time!

         Tammy

Happy October!  I finally got around to do a little more decorating – very little.  I keep thinking I am not doing any more but then with every little vignette I end up thinking “hmmm…maybe just one more?” Hey, just how I roll these days. I just wanted to share with you my Halloween decor that I have done.

Last post I shared my Halloween Table with you.  I didn’t have any napkins because I just couldn’t find any that I loved.  Well, I still didn’t find any napkins but I did find some bandanas!  Woo Hoo.  Hob Lob had these black and white polka dot and I thought that they would look fab with the table runner!  Me likey!

I found these placemats at Home Goods awhile back.  They work great in the kitchen eating area.  As much as I would like to go overboard and decorate this table like I do the formal dining area, this is where we eat daily and  it is a much smaller table than I used to have in here.  I don’t have the time to remove the cute stuff to make room to eat, so I keep the tablescaping in here to a minimum. I also found this mercury glass pumping at Home Goods and LOVE it.  Glass pumpkin, purple charger, spanish moss, eye balls, skeleton hands and I have my Halloween centerpiece!  So easy and so little time to put it together!

Also in the kitchen dining area – a witch crashed into the fern, oh my! Love her sparkly shoes. They make me giggle. I recently had someone tell me that my home was very whimsical.  Huh?  I can’t imagine why!

A few pumpkins, halloween linens, and an apple that  proclaims how “wicked” we are, dress up the hutch.

These pumpkins were on the dining room table so they found a new home in the living room.

Along with these stuffed pumpkins which I adore!  I love that they aren’t traditional and that they are soft enough that if my Lab’s tail or small hands knock it off of the coffee table no harm is done.  Ya gotta love that!

I do have some lighted haunted houses in the living area too, but enough with all of the pictures already! How is your fall/Halloween decor coming along?  Are you already finished or like me, still trying to get into the fall/ Halloween mood? Who knows, the next time I post I may have the whole house decked out – or not!

Okay… I finally got into the “fall” decorating mood.  I warned you that it might be Halloween decor time before I got there!  I have slowly added things here and there for both fall and Halloween that I will share with you later. Today I want to share my Halloween tablescape.

For me decorating your table is all about the layers.  I didn’t change much from last years table except for a few new touches.

1. Start with a clean empty table.  Add your tablecloth or table runner.

I skipped the table cloth and added my new black table runner with white and orange polka dots.  ( it is just so happy!)

2. Add your placemats and chargers.

I used two different kinds of placemats. I like to mix it up. Half of the table has black rectangular placemats that have silver sequined cobwebs up in the corners, the other half are round lime green and orange placemats.  Then I added orange chargers to all.

3. Add your centerpiece.

I had this metal witches hat for years and never really liked anywhere I put it. Until I used it on the table last year.  So this year I added a burlap bow with leaves and shiny spider and my own magic wand!  Put some shiny pumpkins around it and TA DA!  I have my centerpiece!

4. Add dishes, cutlery and glassware.

I normally would have added white dishes but they looked like a neon light on a sea of color.  So I decided to use my purple and orange Fiesta ware.  Perfect.  Add in the silverware. I have visions of spooky cutlery some day but every time I find something I love I back out. Where to store, is it worth the price if you only use it 30 days of the year?  I think too much!

Next up was the glassware.  As most of you know I painted and sold wine glasses in a former life.  So I use my glassware.  All different styles, shapes and sizes.  Eclectic much? OH, yeah!

I would add napkins at this point but I haven’t found any that I just love! Ugh.  When I do… I am going to roll them up and let these cheesy vampire teeth be the napkin ring.  Ya gotta have a little whimsy in there somewhere!

Speaking of whimsy… I hung these really cute jingle bell glitter bugs from the chandy!  Love them!

Yay!  I finally have my fall decorating mojo going.  Look out house!  I DO have more to share with you so come on back in the next few weeks to see how I get my decorating mojo on!

Good Monday morning to you! It’s time for another Before and After. Woo Hoo! My sister is contemplating a new business adventure that has a slightly chic country theme to it and needed some seating.  She had scored some pretty steel blue and white material – and I mean ALOT of material – for $3.00!  I have a pile few chairs in my stash here at the castle and this is the one that she chose.

My good friend Shelli called me about a year ago and had found this chair at the curb.  One of the legs had been broken off.  The Hubs rebuilt legs for it and I had been storing it until I could decide how I wanted to give it a makeover.

Here is this sweet little chair after removal of the old fabric, staining of the legs to match the rest of the wood, and adding  the new upholstery with the blue and white material.  I also added the skirt to give it a little bit more  of a country chic feel.

Of course it needed a little bling so I added some white trim and these really cool rhinestone nail heads!  LOVE these and can totally see using them on future makeovers.  Found them at Hob Lob for $3.99 a box.  The cool thing is they also come in about 4 different sizes.  Woo Hoo!

If it seems a little plain, we plan on adding pillows from another fabric and stenciling her logo in the middle of the chair back IF she decides to go ahead with her business adventure.  You can be sure that IF and When she does I will be sharing all of the news with you.

I have to say that this project may just be one of my very favorites.  I love the color, the lines and the practicality of this piece.  I love it so much I would love to keep it – but I have NO place for it.  That’s right, you heard it here first.  I have no room here at the castle. ( So it goes up for sale… and it is a sad , sad day!)   Right now I have a ton of chairs just waiting to be painted, repaired and repurposed. What to do with so many chairs?  I could have worse problems! At any rate, I wanted to share the process with you just in case you want a sneak peek of how we turn chairs into a bench.

I won’t bore you with the building process, other than to say thank goodness for the Hubs!  He took three chairs, two regular and one with arms, removed the middle chairs legs then screwed all three together.  You get that?  Me either.  I basically  let  leave all of the major building to the hubs.  If you really want to know how to build one there are a billion youtube videos to help you with that!

Now it was my turn. I gave the bench a couple of coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Granite, followed by a top coat in clear and dark wax. The dark wax makes the Granite look more black than charcoal. Then I added a few gold accents to the details of the chair backs and legs.

The beauty of this design is that I was able to use the chairs seats.  We just turned the middle seat  around with the long side to the back.   The hubs also cut a board the size of all three seats put together and then screwed the seats to the board.  Yes! Ready to reupholster!

Before covering the seat with material, I wanted to hide the separation between the seats.  I used batting rolled up and pushed it down into the cracks.  Then wrapped the entire piece in poly-fil to smooth it over and make it look like one long, smooth seat.

Next wrap the entire seat in double layers of poly-fil and staple.  Time to cover the seat with the fabric of your choice.

All that is left is to attach the seat to the chair frame with screws.  Did I mention that I love how this one turned out?  Just one or two times?  Love this material… my sister has used it for her bathroom for curtains – so versatile!  It makes me happy every time I look at it!

So what do you think?  Great use of extra chairs? Some day I will have an entry hall big enough to put a bench like this in…imagine me projecting Scarlet O’Hara!

Until next time….

         Tammy

Happy Monday morning!  I haven’t been in the mood to decorate for fall. AT. All!  It’s still in the 90’s most days here in Texas and well… it still feels like summer. Kinda hard to get in the mood when you are still drinking sweet iced tea and getting in the swimming pool.   I started on my fall porch a week or so ago with a new wreath.  LURVE it!  I finally made myself get in gear and start on the rest of the front porch.

For those of you who missed it, here is my new fall wreath… sigh.  I love the colors and simplicity of it.   Now – to finish the rest of the front porch.

Here is what I started with.  It’s really tiny, so decorating has to be at a minimum.  Which so goes against my nature!

As I mentioned earlier, it is still hot here.   Most of my flowers are still going strong.  Usually by now it has been well into the 100’s for weeks and they are looking puny, so I don’t mind ripping them out and starting over.  Cooler temps this year and I am having a hard time ripping out healthy plants.   I decided to weed out the droopy, tired plants and slowly add in my fall flowers.  Genius!   I didn’t realize how genius until I went shopping for new plants.  Not much to choose from.  Remember I said it was still in the 90’s here?

A few years ago I saw a beautiful garland in Southern Living Magazine and HAD to have one.   It even has orange lights.  I do love a little bling!  I staple it to my door surround .( which is why I paint it so much! I really need to go with Command strips.) Now I have instant fall color even if  we don’t often get fall leaves here. Slowly getting a little closer to getting in the mood for fall now!

Now for a little plant face lift! A close up of the before…

After…. a few pumpkins, kale and pansy’s.  A little weeding out of tired plants and we are rocking’ the planters! My mortar looks like it has black mold on it… eeeekkkk!  The sprinkler system went off a short while before I decided to redo the porch and it still wasn’t dry!  I KNOW…. poor planning on my part!  But when the mood strikes….

I did the same weeding  of old and adding new on the opposite side of the porch.

Added a new rug.

Stage 1- fall porch is complete.  For now.  As the flowers get wilty and tired, I will add in more fall/winter plants.  I plan on adding more pumpkins.  Guess I am just too picky and couldn’t find any that make me happy yet!  Maybe a few gourds?  As I said earlier, it is a tiny front porch so I have to be careful that I don’t fill it up to the point where you can’t walk with ease. Maybe  a surprise or two here and there?

Can’t wait to share Stage 2 of the fall porch with you when I get the new stuff.  Although at the rate I am going it may be Halloween decor!

Until next time….

            Tammy

One of my sweet clients asked me to make a magnetic chalkboard for her children’s playroom.  Woo Hoo!  I love kids stuff!  The Hubs made a trip to our local hardware store and quickly had a frame and hardboard ready for me to paint.  I had made a small one years ago using a magnetic primer with chalkboard paint on top.  I wasn’t too thrilled with the results.  After a little on-line research I was assured that the new and improved magnetic paint was far superior to it’s fore fathers.

I purchased Rustoleum’s Magnetic paint at Lowe’s for around $20.00.  All I can say is – WHAT A TOTAL HOT MESS!  You can tell by the can what a mess it was.  Not only was it messy, it did not clean up with water ( my bad) and when rolled on it was a gritty mess.  Now before all of you out there in blog land blast me and tell me that I didn’t stir it enough, let me assure you that fifteen minutes ( I so totally counted!!!)  of stirring this paint to absolute creamy smoothness still left a gritty uneven mess. Total. Epic. Fail.  I give this product a D-.  And that is being generous. Sorry Rustoleum!

On to plan B.

We called around and found a local sheet metal shop that was willing to cut out a light weight gauge of sheet metal for around $30.00. The Hubs sanded the original board painted with the magnetic paint down until it was smooth.

Then applied contact cement to the board…

And to the sheet metal.

After letting both sit for a bit, he laid small scrap boards on top of the black board…

Then laid the metal sheeting on top, being careful to line up with the blackboard that was beneath.

Then starting in the middle pull out the scrap boards one by one, pressing  and smoothing down the metal to the hard board below.

TA DA!   Now as this was glued together using contact cement you basically have one shot at getting it on there – cuz it ain’t going anywhere after it has been pressed together that is for sure!   So be sure that you have it lined up really well before removing the scrap boards!

After cleaning the sheet metal, all that is left to do is roll on two to three coats of chalkboard paint.

The hubs had made a simple frame using molding that was pre-primed.

A few coats of spray paint and my chalkboard was ready to put together!

Here is the finished project.  So darn cute AND it is a smooth, even surface that makes writing on it super easy.  I give the sheet metal and chalkboard paint an A!  The hardest part of this project was building the frame.  However, if you have an existing frame it would be a fail proof project!

Until next time…..

           Tammy

Hi!  Hope you all had a really fun weekend.  Much cooler temperatures here and we are loving it.  I haven’t been all that ready to decorate for fall and… I am still not there yet.  If I don’t get with it soon I am just gonna hold out for Halloween. Who knows?   I did take an afternoon to try and tie in the Master bathroom with the new curtains in the bedroom and the newly  organized closet.  I didn’t do much – just a bathroom mini makeover!

Here’s what I started with.  Eeekk… kind of crazy how you don’t notice that something needs work until you see it in a photo! Really boring.  Not much color.  Yawn….

I thought I had my work cut out for me but, it really didn’t take that long.  I made a valance from the same material that I used for curtain panels in the Master.  I found this cute garden stool at Sam’s for $29.99!  BARGAIN! The perfect color too since I was trying to bring more of the green into the room. I did pick up some new white towels, but otherwise I just used what I had.  Much better!

I pulled out an old brass tray that we received as a wedding present and shined it up a bit.  It was perfect to hold all of my bath jams and jellies. I have collected old bottles for years and like to put my bath oils and bubble bath in them.  And scented bath soap… I am in love with! The floral arrangement  – as you see it here – was a little blah to me so I added some greenery to it later.  I will admit that I would love to put an antique demijohn in here with some natural twigs in it instead of the floral arrangement… keeping my eye out for just the right one!

Here are my new white towels.  I love how white just makes the bathroom looks so fresh and clean.  I rearranged the shelf above.  Again, I may keep my eye out for something else to add to the vignette, but for now I like how this little corner of my bath turned out.

With the new towels and the garden stool, I think I may have spent under $50.00 total.  Not too shabby for an afternoon’s work and a tight budget!   I finally feel like all of the rooms in my master bedroom suite actually go together!  Will I change any of this?  Probably.. when I do, I promise to share all of the new changes with you!

Until next time….

          Tammy

Lately I’ve been doing some fall cleaning on my computer.  Well, let’s be honest. My computer was full and I had to clean it up to make space!  I started by deleting old files, imports and duplicate photos.  Two things occurred to me during this marathon of cleaning: 1. I take WAY to many pictures of my feet!  Don’t ask.  2. I am terrible at taking photos of my “before” projects.   Those that I DID take photo’s of made me a little nostalgic. So today I  thought I would share some of my favorite before and after projects with you today!  In no particular order… here are the Before and After ….

Okay… I will stop there, I don’t want to be one of those parents.  I have enjoyed going back and looking at all of the fun projects that I have done this past year.  So much so that I may be making this an occasional feature post.  So if your favorite project wasn’t in this post – stay tuned, it may be in the next Before and After!

Until next time…

             Tammy

As I told you in my last post, I haven’t really gotten into the Fall decorating spirit yet –  at least I didn’t think so.  I was recently at Big Lots picking up a Pokeeno gift and I saw the cutest Fall Wreath.

Okay… so maybe I was ready.  A little bit.  I loved the colors and the simplicity of this wreath.  It was calling my name.

I added a small bow made of two different types of burlap and some raffia.  My fall wreath was done!  In years past I would probably have added a bigger bow or something glitzy to give it a bigger impact, but this year I am loving the simplicity of everything. I love that the color and texture really make an impact statement on my black door. Sometimes less really  is more!

Here is my tiny entry porch. That wreath just screams Happy Fall!  As you can see, the flowers are still going strong so it may be a while before I pull them up and add Mums and Pansies.  Although I may add a few pumpkins 0r replace my cute little chair for a rustic crate filled with flowers and pumpkins, maybe a new entry rug?  Just not today!   Today I am just happy with my sweet fall wreath!

Until next time…..

                   Tammy

Happy Fall ya’ll! It is  officially time to decorate for fall.  I know… it is really 19 days until the official Fall season begins and if you are like me and live in the South the temperature let’s you know that it is still summer.  However, the powers that be, who ever they are ( big eye roll!), dictate that the beginning of September is the time to dust off the fall decor and get decorating!

If I am truly honest with you, I will admit that I love this time of year.  Especially IF we get a true Fall season.  I love the feel of fall in the air, the smell of pumpkins and spices, and all of the beautiful colors!  And don’t get me started on Halloween.  I love that decor too! The only thing I don’t like about Fall is that they drag out the Fall decor in all of the stores in June!  Get’s earlier ever year. GGGRRRRRRR….

So here’s the deal. I have gotten my Fall decor out of the attic, but honestly I am not ready to go full speed ahead yet.  I’m still enjoying being in the pool for a few more days.  So here is my one concession to decorating…. my kitchen table!

This is where the family eats everyday so I try to make it pretty.  We deserve it!  Normally I stick with white plates, but my Fiesta dishes were callin’ my name. I may pull out the white in a few days, but today I am really loving the color! I decided to go with red, orange, brown, yellow and purple. Throw in some pumpkins and leaves and my table is done!  My motto in the kitchen, in all things, KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Here is another angle.  Really simple, really easy. Now, like I said earlier, I may change my mind in a few days.  I just can’t help it.  I see something on Pinterest or out shopping that I LOVE and the next thing you know everything changes!

So for now, this is as far as I’ve gotten here at the Castle.  I know that my pool time is limited and that before long I will be itching to get my Fall on.  And when I do, ya’ll will be the first to know!

Until next time……

                  Tammy