If you saw my earlier post on my closet makeover, you know that it took me seven days to transform my closet and give it a really great makeover.   I left off after day 3 in my last post.  Three days of hard work, painting the walls, trim and staining concrete. Now for the fun part – the organization and putting it all together!

Day 4:  On day four it was time to put the protective sealer on the stained concrete.  Easy in the work load department, but one of those days where you did a little work and waited.  Not a lot of closet makeover action going on – at all! So while I was waiting for the floor sealer to dry and decided to get crafty and work on the closet decor.

First on my list – organize my jewelry!  I had a ton of jewelry all over my closet and bedroom. It was all in jewelry boxes of one type or another but, if asked to list all of the stuff I had, I honestly don’t think I could have told you!  When the nieces were here a few weeks ago I helped them make their own jewelry organizers. So I decided that making one to fit the new decor of my closet makeover was just what I needed!  Now I can see exactly what I have and I have worn earrings that I haven’t worn in years.

Next on the closet makeover list – a mirror.  It needed to be small enough to fit inside one of my closet cubbies.  I had a decorative one that would be  a perfect fit  but, it was too dark.  So I added gold Rub n Buff. Problem solved! I was starting to get excited about my new closet space!

DAY 5:   Decor finished and sealer dry, it was time to load the closet.  I liked the spacious feel of it when it was empty so much so that I almost hated to put everything back in!  So I didn’t.  I took all of the winter clothing and loaded them into tubs, hung them in spare closets and or got rid of anything we hadn’t worn in awhile. No junk going back in!  For the most part I tried to use hangers that were all the same so that the clothes would hang well and it would look good!  I’m not gonna lie, this took me most of the day because I couldn’t decide where I wanted everything to go. Or, I would put something where I thought it should go, only to change my mind later….  At this point I must admit I was a little frustrated!  I had eliminated a ton of stuff and STILL felt like I needed more space.  Plus, the mini chandelier I had ordered arrived – in 500 pieces!  I needed a rocket scientist to help me put it together!  End of day 5!

DAY 6:  My rocket scientist arrived in the form of my Hubs! Thanks goodness.  It looked worse than it was.  He did the wiring and I attached the crystals!  I love, love, love it!  So pretty, so sparkly – my one true splurge!  Looking at the picture here it doesn’t look like 500 pieces but trust me it was a mess!  A bit of rearranging in the closet and we were done for the day!

DAY 7:   A little shopping for  a rug and a few organizational containers and this closet makeover is done! I found a rug, one with a non-slip backing.  I really wanted a white fur animal skin rug, but who am I kidding? I would be constantly freaking out over dirt and fluffing it…. um, no!  So I did what any practical girl would do and bought the sensible rug.  Still not happy with it but, I figure the price was right and if I find one the I am in Lurve with later on I can always buy it and move this one somewhere else in the house!

Overall I am happy with my closet.  Would I love for it to look like all of the Pinterest closets where everything is color co-ordinated – including the clothes?  You bet.  But this is the real world and I don’t plan on wearing turquoise everyday so I am just gonna be content with a well organized closet that actually works! I think that this closet makeover was a success!

Until next time…

Tammy

Yep, it took me seven days to make my closet better, cleaner and prettier.  Much longer than even I imagined.  So I am going to share with you my closet makeover! We cleaned, stained concrete, painted walls and here is how we did it.

I am really embarrassed and can not believe that I actually took a picture and shared it with you!  The thing is, this is the smallest closet I have ever had since before I got married!  Seriously, I have lived in apartments with bigger and better arranged closets. Ugh!  This closet is only 10 X 6.  Shouldn’t a castle have a bigger closet? Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that it is as big as it is…it could be smaller.  It is just so dark, poorly laid out and in big need of a paint job.

Day 1: Prep for the closet makeover.  Empty the closet.  Oh. MY. Goodness!   Easier said than done.  I kept thinking “If this is such a tiny closet, how come we have so much junk?”  For reals!  I kept hauling and hauling stuff out of there.  Note to self: get rid of some stuff!

After we had removed everything from the closet, it was obvious why we need to have better closet organization, not to mention new paint on the walls and trim.  What I didn’t plan on was putting in new flooring.  The floor was – well – disgusting! Cheap builder grade carpet had to go.  It was the only installed carpet left in the downstairs of the house anyway. Since the rest of the flooring was either tile or stained concrete, we decided to go with the stained concrete in the closet too.

So… we removed the carpet and that was the end of day one.  At this point I was getting really excited about this closet makeover!

DAY 2: Staining concrete is easy.  It’s the CLEANING  of the concrete that is hard.  I am talking like trying to scrape dried Fruity Pebbles cereal off of bowls hard!  But once it is clean and dried, it’s a piece of cake!  I like to use Kemiko stain – which is really an acid etching product.  The big DIY stores carry a  concrete stain, which is just what is says.  It only stains the surface area.  Which means that it will wear off and you don’t get that rich, mottled look that you do with an acid etching product.  Plus, when I say etching, I mean it eats down into the concrete.  It isn’t going anywhere! Trust me on this!

I painted the walls the same grey as my bedroom, then cleaned the floors ( HOURS people! Hours!) I then waited for it to dry over night.  If the floor isn’t completely dry it will look “milky” when you put on the sealer. No Bueno!

Doesn’t sound like I make much headway but, that brought day two to a close. Seriously doubting my sanity!

Day 3:  I stained the concrete!  Woo Hoo!  Be sure to cover your walls or you will have discoloration and  acid eating into them! ALWAYS wear protective clothing, shoes, and gloves!  I used a plastic garden sprayer to apply.  Then you let it dry and apply again.  Once thoroughly dry, you scrub off with water until really, really clean!   Again, it has to dry over night for the next step!

So, there you have the first three days of my closet makeover.  Just writing this wears me out again!  I am going to show you the rest on Friday….

Until next time…..

Tammy

Happy Friday! My sweet friend, Miss K, recently decided that she was ready to shed her little girl room for a room worthy of a teen.  As we all know, one of the best ways to makeover a room is with paint.  However, Miss K has just moved and is living in a rental home.  So no paint on the walls!  The next best thing? Give her bedroom  furniture a makeover with Annie Sloan Chalk paint.  

Earlier in the week, I showed you how to make great drawer pulls for painted furniture.  Here is the bedroom furniture set we started with.  A really sweet, white washed pine dresser.  Great for a little girl’s room, but for a teen?  Uh, NO!   First thing we did was give it two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure White.

We then slightly distressed it and then gave it two coats of Annie Sloan clear wax, followed by dark wax only where we had dressed it.  This gave it an old used look.  The beauty about Annie Sloan chalk paint is that it is perfect for a teen furniture makeover!  If it gets any dents, dings, abuse or wear it will still look like it was meant to be that way!  And with teens we all know that the furniture is going to get some wear and tear!

Ta Da!  Here are the finished pieces! The mirror and dresser….

The headboard…

I loved this Annie Sloan chalk painted bedroom furniture makeover – and so did Miss K!

Until next time…..

Tammy

Great dresser knobs  for decorative or hand painted furniture are a must.  Really great knobs can make a good, pretty piece of furniture and make it the focal point in the room.  They are like shiny jewelry that dresses up a little black dress. Great knobs are like icing on the cake!

Miss K had gone from a sweet little girls room to a teen room and wanted her bedroom furniture to reflect that.  So we decided that painted bedroom furniture was the best way to go. Before I share the finished painted bedroom furniture pieces with you, I want to show you a little detail that can take painted furniture from just being good – to being great!

Here is what we started with – a pine dresser, hand painted with a white wash.  Really sweet!  However, not what your teen dreams of in the way of furniture.  And the drawer pulls? Not so much.  Really plain and a little boring. So here is how to make those pulls into something awesome.

We took a rubber stamp, a permanent pigment ink stamp pad and the painted dresser knobs.

Stamping the dresser knob was a little tricky since the stamp was flat and the dresser knob was not!  However, with a little patience and using a rolling – rocking motion we got the knobs stamped pretty well.  I wasn’t so concerned with it being perfect as the dresser was slightly distressed and made to look a little old.  So if the stamping of the  knobs wasn’t perfect, then that was OK – it matched the rest of the furniture!

Here is what we ended up with.  Not too bad! However, the dresser pulls needed a little bling.

I found these at my local Michael’s and thought they would be perfect for our dresser knobs.

Here is our finished dresser knob.  A little old and a little bling.  Perfect for this teens room and so easy to do.  These little details can make your painted furniture piece beautiful!

Later this week I will be sharing with you the finished bedroom set – featuring the awesome, rock star dresser knobs featured today. I can’t wait!

Until next time….

Tammy

I couldn’t wait to show you my before and after pictures of my latest find. My good friends Laura and Nichola work for a school that was having a garage sale.  They gave me a call and said “Can you use these and do you want them?”

Oh, yeah…. and there were a pair of them!  Girl Squeal!  At $20.00 each they were a steal.  Not so pretty now, but these girls had great bones.

I took them down to bare bones – being sure to take pictures along the way so that I would know how to put them back together.  I always THINK that I am going to remember the sequence, but I don’t.  Let’s face it, some days I barely remember what I ate for breakfast!

I checked to make sure that the foam and batting were in good shape, which they were.  No replacements needed.   I spray painted the arms and legs  a shiny white to match the navy and white fabric I found to recover them.  If you live in the DFW area, you must go to Home Fabric and Rug in the HEB area and check out them out.  Their fabrics are always below market price and a couple of times a year they have an awesome sale that has designer fabrics at rock bottom prices.

Here is the after photo.  I love how the white looks so clean and updated.   I LOVE navy blue… to me, navy goes with everything!  It is a great neutral AND it is my favorite color!  I almost hate that these beauties are going up for sale in the shop…. they really do match my dining room!  Oh well, on to the next project!

Unitl next time…..

            Tammy

My Closets are black holes!  For reals.  Here is a warning for you: Danger Will Robinson!  If you are looking for a post about a wonderful, color coded, perfect, pin worthy, “after” closets – well, this isn’t it!  This is about how  a super busy, slightly un-organized gal trying to wrangle in a whole bunch of years of her children’s knick-knack- paddy-crap!

Over the years my boys have moved out of the castle –  and back to the castle.  And out of the castle, and back in…. you get my point.  In some alternate universe I pictured my boys leaving and taking ALL of their “stuff” with them. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, I love it when they are here but, over time their closets have become worse, not better.  So it was time for an intervention!

Here is an example of  my black hole “before”.  (Sorry about picture quality, the strange shade on the light gave me some really odd lighting for my photos!) For some reason my “before” pictures really didn’t turn out well.  Conspiracy theory? hmmmm….

First thing first, I pulled everything out of the closet, sorted the stuff by category, threw out the trash and bought plastic containers.  My biggest disappointment in this whole process was that I couldn’t find matching containers in different sizes that matched AND didn’t cost a fortune.   So while I gritted my teeth, I bought the ones that clashed the least.  What can I say?  For a tiny, tiny moment I kinda had an expectation of a “pin worthy” closet!

After loading the bins, I arranged them all on the top shelf and while it was soooooo much better, I realized that I needed to label them.  Yeah, my type A personality was rearing it’s ugly head!

So using my trusty Cricut machine, I cut out the labels and attached them to the bins with super strength industrial double sided tape.  MUCHO Bueno!

Yes!  My closets actually had room for guests to use.  Or for ME to store things in!  I heard birds and angels singing!!!

Until I opened the closet two days later and found this…..huge sigh!  Not so super sticky tape.

So I was forced to do what I really didn’t want to do.  Use packing tape on the outside of the label to attach the tape to the bins.  REALLY not pin worthy but FUNCTIONAL.

Here are the labels with the packing tape on the outside, and you know what?  You can barely see it!  Bottom line?  My closets are organized, clean and you can actually use them!  Score!

So there you have it.  I won’t be getting “pinned” but I will be using my closets and happy.  So worth it!  I would like to paint the closets and trim work at some point in the future  – but that may be in an alternate universe for a few more years!

Until next time….

            Tammy

My nieces visited the castle this week! Yay!  We had a ton of fun. Always enjoy family time.  While they were here they wanted to do a little DIY, so I showed them how to make a jewelry organizer!

We started with these cute picture frames from Michaels. Plus a little craft paint, ribbon, embellishments of their choice, and some wire mesh.

First thing is first, we removed the back …

and painted both sides of the frame. At this point we could have put a protective coating on and gone on to the next step.  But that is so not how we roll.  A Princess needs a lot  little bling!

The Princesses decided to have them match their bedrooms.  So on Princess A’s we base coated with a hot pink, then drew on zebra stripes, then painted them in with black craft paint!

Princess K wanted chevron.  I had some chevron Frog tape in the castle dungeon so she taped the frame with it, making sure that she pressed the tape on securely, then painted a purple craft paint over the turquoise.

After drying for about 5 minutes she removed the tape. Woo Hoo – we had beautiful chevron stripes!

Time to add the mesh.  Up to this point it was all hands on for the Princesses, but this stuff is sharp.  So it was time for the Queen to step in.  Using the insert that came with the frame, I used it for a template for the wire mesh.  Using tin snips, just cut out the rectangle and insert into the picture frame just like you would a picture!

These frames come with these nifty metal inserts that you fold down over your photo to keep it in place.  I used those to help secure the mesh.  Then for some added stability in all four corners – and anywhere that the mesh stuck up – I stapled the mesh to the frame.

Now it was time for the bling!  Re-purposing furniture – I have a lot of old hardware in the castle coffers.  We decided to use some old knobs.  The Princesses painted them, added some rhinestones and then attached them to the bottoms of the frame to hang their crown jewel necklaces and bracelets on!

We then had a ton of fun with the embellishments – ribbon, flowers, rhinestones… whatever caught their fancy!

Here is Princess K’s finished jewelry organizer.  Love those colors together.  She chose them herself.  I see a Interior Designer in the family soon!

Here is Princess A’s masterpiece.  Matches her room AND  her personality perfectly!

We worked off and on doing these the better part of the day.  That included shopping, painting, assembly, decorating, swimming, eating, watching TV and playing pranks on the King.

A day well spent here at the Castle!

Until next time…..

            Tammy

Seems like everyone is having babies!  I always try to have a few things on hand for the last minute gift – last minute meaning “Oh, dang! I forgot!” I still want the last minute gift to be cute and not look like I forgot, ya know? So I make really cute baby burp cloths! And since I love you so much, I am gonna share with you  how to make cute baby burp cloths!

You will need:

1.  Diapers.  I always buy them in a package of 10 – so that I can make a bunch up at one time – and I usually buy the Gerber 3 ply diapers.  You will need the ones that are thicker in the  middle.

2.  Material.  Buy good material!  I want my cute burp cloths to look cute AFTER they have been washed!  Cheap material means that usually it’s gonna  look BAD after a good washing and let’s face it – you are gonna wash these, a LOT!

3. Thread.  You can go two ways here.  Thread to match the material, so that after sewn it “disappears” OR a contrasting thread color so that you can see it when sewn.  It’s all personal preference.  I have done both.

4. Embellishments.  Today I have used some trim that I know will wash well… when choosing trim for your cute burp cloths, remember that you will wash them over and over.  I also am lucky enough that my BFF has an embroidery machine and is will to occasionally monogram these for me.  Really the sky is the limit here!  Use your imagination!

5. Sewing machine, pins, and scissors.

Lay your material out wrong side up.  Lay one diaper on top of the material.

Cute the material around the diaper.   Now here is where you will add your trim if you are going to have any.  Pin it to the right side of the material. Sew on the trim.

Pin the diaper to the right side of the material. This is important because after sewing the diaper to the material you will turn it inside out.  After turning, the right side should be on the outside.

Using a 5/8 inch seam, sew all the way around leaving a 3″ to 4″ opening for you to be able to turn the cute burp cloth right side out.  This is important!  Don’t sew it shut!  After you have finished the sewing, turn right side out.

Iron the cute burp cloth, making sure that the opening that you used to turn the cloth’s edges are tucked in even with the edge of the the cloth.  Now sew a 1/4″ seam all the way around.  This will close your opening and sew the diaper and material together making it lie flat. Iron the cute burp cloth again to give it that crisp finished look.

That’s it! You are done.  That is how to make cute baby burp cloths!

Here are a few that I have already made.  No trim here but the material is so darn cute that you don’t need any!

I give this a beginning experience level.  These would be a perfect project if you are just learning to sew.

Until next time…..

          Tammy

I have been looking for a cabinet for my media room for awhile.  Something to hide all of the wires and components and cords – I really, really, really hate cords!  I’ve been looking so long that I had kinda forgotten that I even wanted one.  Then I get a text from my friends Laura and Nichola:

They were having a garage sale at the private school where they work and were kind enough to think of me when they saw furniture!  Rockstars! This is how I got my Annie Sloan Napoleonic Blue media cabinet.

I took the Hubs to help me pick the credenza up and as we were driving home he asked me what I was going to do with it.  Hmmm… not really sure. He thought it would make a great media cabinet!  Well, duh!  Of course it would!!!  As soon as I got home I quickly took it apart and cleaned it up.

My media room is navy and gold.  Navy walls, navy and gold curtains, pale gold-ish sofa…. We started out with a ginormous big screen TV. Over time the Hubs put in a projector and screen, which meant lots of components, surround sound, wires, remote controls and various other things that I can’t even begin to learn how to work!  Hence the need for the cabinet. I wanted the cabinet to blend in as it would be directly under the projection screen.  No one wants to try and watch a movie and have the furniture below scream “LOOK AT ME!”  So I decided to use Annie Sloan Napoleonic Blue.  One of my favorite colors!

After two coats, a little distressing of the edges and a coat of wax.  I let it dry overnight.  The next morning I couldn’t wait to burnish the wax to create that beautiful patina.  And bonus!  I got to use my newest tool – a burnishing brush that you can attach to a drill.  It gives it that beautiful shine in half the time.  Love it.  Although it does occasionally leave brush marks.

So I used my manual burnishing brush, after using the drill  brush, to give it that really smooth even finish. Even with having to go back over the finish to even out a few spots, it was still done in record time!

Here you can see a few uneven spots on the front doors before evening it out.  I also decided since it was the media room I could go  a little over the top and use VERY gold hardware.

Here it is in the media room. I still have a few more things to do to get it all set up like I want it, but I have to say that it really is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in my house.  Ok, so MAYBE it is because it hides all of the cords… but I still love how it co-ordinates with the rest of the room!

until next time…

              Tammy

I have a Schizophrenic foot stool.  I bought it at a yard sale and it was originally painted white with eyelet lace covering the cushion.  I bought it thinking that I could use it to sit on, at my vanity. The style wasn’t really me, it needed a little facelift.

Plan B: It went from white to this really pretty steel blue that I have in my bathroom.  I covered it in a steel blue and white paisley print.  ( I had pictures but for the life of me I cannot find them… next project – picture organization!)  One HUGE problem though, it was too tall! After much gnashing of teeth and hair pulling I left Plan B and went to Plan C! A footstool/extra table for my living room!

As you can see above, I was in the process of spray painting this schizophrenic foot stool a lovely metallic gold when I took this picture!

I used the same material  to cover the seat that I had used to make zipper pillow covers for my new sofa pillows.  Lots of jewel tones and just a hint of gold!

Here is a picture of the material if you missed my post on How to Make a Zipper Pillow Cover!

So now my stool has a really pretty gold legs and a beautiful top.  But, it lacked something. It just didn’t have the pizzaz that I was looking for. And then it hit me…  Mongolian Lambs Wool Fur.  Hey don’t judge!  Give it a chance – step out of the box! Seriously, I had seen a beautiful stool at a furniture store recently that had this wonderful fur on the seat cushion part and was dying to find something to put it on in my house.  When this came up, I knew it would be perfect!!

Pland D: So I quickly ordered some on-line and recovered the seat cushion- again! Here they ( schizophrenic – remember?)  they are in all their glory!

Here it is at another angle. A little swanky, a little blingy, a whole lot of fun!  After it having four different lives that I can personally account for, I figured it had to be a schizophrenic foot stool!  I love it today, but who knows what it will look like tomorrow.

Getting close to being able to show you my finished living room – soon. Really soon.

Until next time….

                Tammy

Hi!  Hope you had a wonderful week.  Sooooo busy here at the castle this week!  Can’t wait to show you what has been going on.  First and foremost – last month I bought a new sofa.

And I love it!  I look at and hear angels sing!  It took me FOREVER  to find the perfect sofa.  With the sofa came a few changes to the living room.  A new rug and a few new accessories.  At the top of that list was to get rid of the no good, awful, really terrible pillows that came with the sofa.  So here is how I made a pillow cover with a zipper.

See what I mean?  The inserts were down, so I was definitely using those but, the pillow case itself?  Unh… NO!

Now here is where my disclaimer comes into play.  I am no seamstress!  In fact, after a small amount of initial training, I am basically self taught, so I come at things back-ackward as my Granny used say! This is just how I do it.

I’ve never really taken the time to make pillow covers this way because I always thought that it was too much work. It really wasn’t!  In some ways, it is actually easier to do than sewing all four sides and hand stitching the bottom closed.  It definitely looks better AND I can change the cover out whenever I get a whim to do so!

1. After finding some really great material, the first thing I did was measure the pillow.  It was 20″ square.  I cut two 20″ squares from the material. Using a seam allowance of 1/2″ on all four sides this will put the sewn cover at 19″.  Which will make the pillow nice and tight.

2. With right sides of the material together, sew a 1/2″ seam on one edge of your material.

3. Your two squares will be sewn together, grab the opposite edge from your sewn seam, open your material and lay flat, wrong sides up. Iron seam open. It will look like this.

I had these two 12″ zippers that were left over from long ago unfinished project and decided to use those.  As you can see it came with a card on the inside of the zipper packaging that will tell you how to sew a zipper if you forget any steps!

4. Center the zipper and lay the “teeth” part of the zipper directly over the seam of the pillow case, pin in place. ( Make sure that you change out your sewing “foot” on your machine.  You want to be using a “zipper foot” on this part of the project.  When you are done sewing the zipper, just change it back to your normal one. )  Now just sew the zipper to the material! I like to sew across the bottom of the zipper first, continuing up one side of the zipper, across the top, then down the remaining side. Don’t ask me why, it’s just how my crazy brain works!

5. Once it is sewn, remove pins and turn the material over, right sides up.  Starting at one end of where the zipper was sewn, gently take a seam ripper and “rip” the stitches of your earlier seam from one end to the other of the you first seam! This will create an opening to get to your zipper.

6. Your zipper is done!  Be sure to find your zipper pull and lower the pull, leaving the zipper open.  This allows you to have an opening to turn your cover right side out after sewing the other three sides.  If not, you have effectively sewn your pillow case shut! No bueno!

7. Close your material, right sides together. Be sure to match up the outer edges. Pin the other three sides and sew all the way around.

8.  I like to cut the extra material off of my corners. Just cut at an angle, being careful not to get too close to the stitching!  This helps create “pointy” corners. Now, go to your zipper opening reach in and grab your material and turn right side out, being sure that you get your corners turned well. You can use a pencil -eraser end or they actually make a sewing tool for this task for this purpose.  I have no idea what the name is….remember? Not a seamstress!  Insert your pillow form into the cover and zip closed.  That is it! You are done!

Here it is… Love it!  It really ties in my neutral sofa with the rest of the room.  I love how colorful it is and the best part? If I get tired of it , and you know I will, I can just make something else and easily change it out.

Skill level?  Well, if you have basic sewing skills – you can sew a straight line – this is beginner.  In fact, when I was teaching my boys how to sew this is one of the first things I taught them.  Hey! Boys need to know how to sew too!!!!

I have a few more projects to share with you before I show you my completed living room.  Can’t. Wait!

Until next time……

                                   Tammy

Year’s ago I found this great looking dining room table by the road side.  It was in great shape except for one thing. This huge burn hole smack dab in the middle of it!  I still saw potential and brought it home much to my family’s dismay! After tons of wood putty, sanding and a few chosen words, the table was brought back to life. I faux painted it to look like wood and painted a fancy gold vine around the top. The thing is I don’t use it as a dining room table.   It is a dining room table in the living room!  It has had many lives. Sofa table, side table, and Nic-Nac-Patty-crap catch all!

Here is what it has looked like for the last 12 – 15 years.  It was time for a change!

For years I have stalked Miss Mustard Seed.  I love her web site and if you haven’t visited  it, you need to. The girls got mad skills!  The only thing that has kept me from trying her Milk Paint was that you had to mix up the paint yourself.  I still have really bad flash backs to art class in college of mixing milk and chalk paint myself.  Let’s just say I am not the neatest person and move on! But I have matured, right?  If I can pick up heavy furniture out of a ditch, haul it home, clean it up, and make it look beautiful I should be able to mix paint right?

I bought MMMP in tricycle. Yep, I went red!  I quickly red the brochure and even watched a youtube tutorial on how to use it and started mixing.  I am not gonna lie – I still make a mess.  A really big red mess.  I put it in a clear cup just like suggested and used a popsicle  stick to mix.   It was just like I remembered – It takes a good 5 minutes of mixing to get it mixed well.  Once I got it all mixed I just applied it to the table in nice even strokes.  I painted one coat, let it dry 30 minutes and then painted my second.  And then sat back and let the magic happen – I waited for it to get “chippy”!

See MMSMP does a couple of things chalk paint doesn’t.  It chips off in some places and it has an uneven “old” finish to it.  This is great if you want a really old, distressed looking piece with none of the work to get it!

I let it sit over night and here is what I got the next morning! Pretty cool!

I love how it looks like it has been out in the elements for years!!!

MMS says to take a small putty knife ( nope – I couldn’t find a smaller one!) and gently remove the flaking before applying your finished top coat.

Since I was doing all things new in the paint department, I went with the MMS Hemp oil instead of wax.  Hemp oil has been around forever and is an excellent, durable protective finish.  Note: if you use hemp oil you will need to re-apply yearly! As you can see, the painted piece starts off with a “chalky” look and as you apply the oil it gives it a slightly darker more weathered look.

Here is the finished piece.   It is uneven in finish, looks like it has paint peeling, is very “chippy” in some places and very smooth in others – it looks like a table that is 100 years old and has been painted several times.  I love it!

I am not sure that I would use MMSMP all of the time just because I am a total hot mess when mixing it but, I would use it for the occasional piece just to change things up or when I want an elegant rustic piece.  Other than my mixing issues, which I am certain the average person wouldn’t have to that magnitude!, it was really easy and fast to apply!  I give it an A and a beginners level score.

until next time…..

              Tammy

Queen Lally’s ( one of my 8 besties –  our families call us The Queens) daughter is having a baby and is due in two weeks.  My BFF Queen Roxanne  and I were asked to paint a mural in her nursery to welcome the new baby.  Of course, we said yes! One of my very favorite things to do is to design and paint murals in nurseries.  I absolutely love it!

Our client had chosen a really cute animal theme in soft browns, beiges, and pink.  Totally boy… even if there was a touch of pink! The walls were painted a pretty sky blue.  The window had bamboo blinds with a beige valance.

We were given a picture of a monkey swinging from a tree and asked to replicate it on left side of the bed and asked to paint the giraffe, that is in the quilt, on the other side of the bed to complete the crib wall.

Here is the sweet little monkey…..

The giraffe from the bedding….

Our finished crib wall mural…. I loved how it turned out and so did our client!

Of course, we couldn’t just do one wall!   Our client said that her Hubs didn’t have much to say as she was choosing the mural theme – except for one thing.  He wanted an owl painted in the room somewhere.  Well, we gotta make Daddy happy, so after looking at the room we all decided the best place would  be above the changing table.  The changing table was on the wall directly across from the mural wall.  The other adjacent walls were filled with either windows or closet and door.  Plus, by painting across from the mural, even though it was small, this helped to balance out the visual weight of the room.

If you look closely at the crib quilt, you will see this owl.   So cute…love the big eyes.

Finished changing table wall….

Now all that’s left is for Mom to add her finishing touches – and the Baby! I must say that it was super fun to paint and I had a blast doing it will my BFF Roxanne!  Thanks to my Bestie!

Until next time…

            Tammy

Hey!  Good Morning!  I just wanted to follow up on my last post where I showed you how to do the lazy girl’s guide to paint lettering.  This time I  want to show you how to apply the same technique using garage sale stickers.  Yep.  stickers.

I basically used the same technique as before.  I started with a wooden frame and spray painted the base coat white.  Then instead of lettering I wanted to do polka dots.  Again – who has time to sit and paint all those dots?  My ADD kicks in SO badly at this point! For reals!  I could have cut the dots out on my Cricut machine but I had these garage sale stickers sitting around from the last garage sale and they were the perfect size!   I placed the stickers where I wanted the polka dots to be. (yeah –  I might have gone a little dot crazy here!)  Then I gave them a good rub to ensure that they were stuck tightly to the wood.  Then using my top color, a pretty little girl pink, I painted over the entire piece.

Once again, be sure to let the paint dry until it is no longer shiny.  Using a craft knife, gently pull up the edge and pull off of the dot.  You should have a beautiful perfectly round white dot at this time… if not grab a slight damp, small brush and remove any paint the has bleed under the sticker.  Let the entire piece dry completely and then paint a poly coat if you so desire!

Here is the finished piece.  By using this technique, I have saved myself a ton of time!  And quite honestly, I am not sure that my  hand painted polka dots would have that crisp of an edge or all be the same size!

This project is definitely a beginner level.  Remember, you can use this technique on just about anything! Happy painting!

Until next time….

      Tammy

I like to hand paint just about everything but, sometimes time prevents me from doing it by hand.  Ok… let’s be honest sometimes I am just to lazy to be bothered with hand painting it! I want it done NOW!  As they say “Ain’t nobody got time for that around here!”  So here is my Lazy Girls guide to paint lettering.

It all started here.  Well, it really started when I bought a new sofa and rug.  The sofa was larger than my old one so I shifted the arrangement about a foot to the right.  Which meant I needed to shift the TV.  As you can see, that also meant I needed to shift the photos on the wall.  However, that arrangement had been bugging me for awhile, so now was the perfect time to mix things up.  I decided to add in some wall decor other than just family photos.  I started with making a “family” sign.

I already had some wood blanks that the hubs had made for me a few years ago.

I spray painted the base coat using a Metallic gold.

Here’s where the lazy part comes into play.  Using my Cricut machine, I cut lettering out of vinyl.  So. Darn. Easy!  I just stuck it on.  I didn’t even measure or use a level.  Just eye-balled it.  If you don’t have a Cricut, you can find adhesive lettering at any craft store. Be sure to burnish, or rub, the letters down onto the surface really well, focusing on the edges to insure that you get a nice crisp edge on your lettering.

I chose black as my finished color.  I just painted it right over the entire board.  Here’s an important tip!!!  Let the paint dry until it isn’t shiny, then using an exacto knife gently pull up the edges of the lettering and gently remove.  It is very important not to let the paint dry for hours before removing the lettering for a couple of reasons.  If there is any “bleeding” of paint you can take a small, slightly damp paint brush and remove the unwanted paint.  If you let it dry for hours you run the risk of the bleeding paint drying and having to do paint touch up.  Also, when pulling up the lettering, the paint may tear leaving jagged edges.  Let dry completely.  At this time you can distress the edges or add any other embellishments that you want.

Here is my beautiful “family” sign hung, along with a few other fun things.  Much better.  At least for today…

I give this project  a beginners rating.  It really is that easy and turns out really well.  You can use this technique on just about anything!  Truly, a quick project from beginning to end!

Part 2…. next time….

       Tammy

I thought it was going to be so easy!  Really I did.  I picked out the perfect paint in under five minutes. A record for me as I usually agonize over it for days.  Take down the wallpaper border, paint the walls, paint the vanity, add some decor and I would have the perfect powder room makeover.  Ha!  I have decided that when I say it should be “easy”   – it’s NOT!

Powder room inspiration

So I showed you my inspiration in a previous post.

Here’s what the powder room used to look like. Sorry about the poor photos.  This room is small!  Like 4’X 8 ” small!  Any smaller and it would be a “stand at attention” bathroom! Anyway it makes it really hard to get good photos. Everything is taken at an angle or with the light in the way.  And the light has to be on….. no windows..sigh.

I loved the eggplant color but I have had a powder room with this color for the last FIFTEEN YEARS!   A record for me.  But like anything else it was time for something lighter, brighter, newer… If you look really hard you can see the black border in the upper left hand corner.  It was here when I moved in nine years ago.  It was the bomb then, so I left it.  But all good things come to an end and it was time for it to go too.

Not sure what I was thinking with this tiny little shelf floating around…

First things first.  Remove the wallpaper.  When removing wallpaper I like to use warm water and a drop of bleach in a spray bottle.  I simply spray the wallpaper until it is saturated and gently using a putty knife I lift the paper and peel it off.  Usually this works beautifully.  Not so here.  They put this wallpaper up directly onto the sheetrock without a primer! Ugh.  It took 3 1/2 hours to remove a very small amount of border but, I got it all off.  Finally!

Next up was the paint.  It went on beautifully.  Two easy coats and in no time I had a really BLUE powder room.  Not what I had in mind.  I had the paint color matched at Ace hardware – they did a great job but, it was off just enough that I knew I wasn’t going to be happy livin’ with it!  So another gallon from Sherwin Williams later, another coat and I was finally ready to put the bathroom back together!

Here is the sorta finished room.  View from the hallway… I love, love, love my prints from New Orleans!

The new painted vanity…  I painted her with ASCP Pure white and then distressed the entire piece.  Added new black handles to match the new mirror and black frames.

Front view of the vanity.  I also added a new mirror that had a little french flair to it.

When I said that I was “sorta” finished with this room this is where I am still working.  Above the toilet. I hung this piece of art for now.  What I really want is something old and chippy.  Like a small old gate, or maybe shutters?  I am still looking for the perfect piece.  When I find it you will be the first to know!

I am still playing with the accessories but I was so excited to be moving forward with this room I just had to share!

until next time….

    Tammy

I lied.  I said I was finished with my kitchen dining area. But apparently I wasn’t! For years I had this really cute three tiered wire shelving unit under the chalkboard to hold jars and canisters of all of the dog and cat’s multitude of treats, pond paraphernalia and whatever anyone sat on it going in and out of the back door.  At the end of the day?  Not really so cute as you could see everything! And I mean everything! Remember my friend who was moving from her lake house and gave me some furniture?  She gave me this really rustic, small cabinet.  Not really the same style as the rest of my dining area, but I figured that all of  the “nick nack paddy crap” on display wasn’t either!  ASCP Duck Egg paint to the rescue!

I forgot to take a before…AGAIN!  Just how I roll these days.  Anyway, you can see that it is very rustic, but I love rustic and old! I decided to leave some of the original wood and just add color to the inset panels.

Here is the side view… If you look closely at the top you can see the warped top. When I said rustic I mean really rustic!!!  Even with the warping, it has some really nice detail.  So these are my Before pic’s…

And here is my after!  Much better! I will probably change out the treat jars and accessorize  at some point in time but, for now I love how all of the daily “stuff” is hidden! Makes my heart sing!

Until next time…..

                      Tammy 

Hi peeps! Hope you are enjoying your summer!  I have been so busy here at the Castle with new projects that I haven’t had time to get it together enough to show you all of the new stuff goin’ on.  Here is a little teaser for my next post!

You’ve seen the pillow and the drapery material before.  Any guesses as to what my latest purchase is?  So. Darn. Excited!

Can’t wait to “get er done!” to show you all of the new and fun things goin’ on round here!

until next time…..

        Tammy

A friend of mine’s son got married recently.  They are just the cutest couple! So when I got a call from them asking me to redo an old china hutch for them, I jumped at the chance!  I love taking pieces and re-working them to better fit people and their style. This couple is traditional, but in a fun way.  I really hope that I got this one right!  So, here is what we came up with – a Paris Grey Hutch, before and after.

I was so excited to get started that I almost forgot to take a before picture.  If I am honest with you that is my M.O. anyway!

As you can see, the hutch is a bit dated. Honestly, if I had been looking for a piece to paint, I probably would have passed on this one since I usually pick one with a little more movement, more scrolling, more rounded recessed areas. This one didn’t have that – which once I had time to think about it, kind of excited me.  It has brown smoked, wavy glass in the doors and glass shelving on the right side.  On the left side it had some unusual wooden shelves and half shelving.  Very seventies. But, this hutch is solid, heavy wood!

The first thing I did was remove the door hardware.  Usually this just means unscrewing the knob.  Not this piece.  The plain “knob” was attached by a hidden nail and glued on.  It may as well have been part of the door.  I had to chisel it off, patch with wood putty and sand.

When I remove hardware I am obsessive about marking where it came off of the piece.  For example in the above photo you can see that these hinges came off of the lower left door.  I also like to put the screws in the hinge hole opening, then I tape the entire hinge, which keeps the screws and the hinge together.  No lost screws and the screw goes back into it’s original hole when time to re-assemble.  This may seem a bit much, but trust me you will thank yourself when it is time to  put it all back together.  I learned the hard way early on, if you aren’t picky it is easy to have uneven doors or doors that won’t close!

After cleaning this piece, I painted her with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Paris Grey.  Paris Grey is one of my absolute favorites.  It’s the perfect grey in my opinion.  I added a little ASCP Graphite to the Paris Grey, making a mid-tone grey and painted to back panel of the hutch.  I think this lets your dishes “pop” – you can really see what you are displaying.  After two coats, I applied  a coat of  clear wax, followed by a coat of dark wax.

The inside of the hutch with the ASCP Paris Grey and the Graphite mixture.  The clients kept the glass shelving, so please use your imagination here!

The wavy glass makes it a little hard to photograph, but the difference between the before and after is unbelievable! The clients chose not to put the funky half shelf back in, although I left it so that if they change their mind down the road the shelf could easily be reinstalled.  I love the finished hutch!

Until next time….

                     Tammy

In my previous post “The Big Easy”  I shared with you some of my vacation photos that I had put into an Ap called Waterlogue.  This Ap turns ordinary photos into watercolors!  Lurve it!  I loved them so much that they have given me inspiration for my powder room up-date! Here is a sneak peek at the up-coming powder room re-do:

I was at Hobby Lobby and came across these awesome frames!  Love how thick they are – these babies have some visual weight, which I love!

To make them even more perfect they were on the 80% isle.  Yep ! $5.00 whole dollars!!!!!  My deal of the week, maybe the month!

After I had printed off the watercolors and put them in the frames, it was time to decide where to hang them.  Yeah, I know some days I have a plan and some days I just roll with it.  I wanted them someplace that I would see them all of the time and be reminded of what a wonderful trip we had.  And then it hit me – the powder room!

I began looking through my paint decks for the perfect color to coordinate with pictures and quickly chose Sherwin Williams Raindrop.  Which was a miracle and so appropriate!  A miracle that I chose a paint color that quickly and appropriate because it rained – I mean really RAINED – every day we were there!

That’s it for now!  I can’t wait to share the finished room with you!

until next time….

I am here to let you know that it is soooo true.  Every Queen needs a crown… or two… or three!  I have been looking for a large statement piece to put on my dining room table.  I didn’t want just candles, or just flowers, I wanted something different.  A little Quirky.  A little fun.  And really big,  I wanted BIG!  I have been looking for awhile.  Finally, I found the PERFECT thing!  A CROWN!  Unbelievable, right?

I was shopping with my bestie, Rox, at a one of my favorite stores – Gracie Lane.  It has a ton of vendors who lease booths to sell their wares.  We had gone through once and had returned to pick up a totally different piece from this booth when I looked down on the floor and there was this humongous crown.  I am talking HUGE peeps!  I can’t believe we didn’t see it – or at least trip over it, the first time we hit the booth.  It was love at first sight.

The price tag however, wasn’t.   This is where my bestie went to work convincing  me that I so totally needed it AND I did have a gift certificate to help with the price tag!  What are friends for?  Don’t worry, I am sure I will return the favor some day! Ha! Well, needless to say I left there with both arms hands full of this wonderful crown with a much lighter wallet.  But hey!  Sometimes a statement piece is just worth it!

My Bestie suggested that I decorate it with all natural items: rocks, moss, candles, geodes… OK she had me cracking up there.  Not that I don’t love geodes… I just don’t happen to have a ton of them lying around.  And due to the hefty price tag, I would definitely have to have things on hand to fill this crown up.  At least for now!

I did take to heart her advice about all things natural.  I started with some foliage and a grapevine wreath.

I wanted to add some candles – all of mine were the same height, so I added another crown candle holder as a lift. Then added two more candles.  I had two of the cutest metal birds ever, which I placed inside of the grapevine wreath, making it look like a birds nest.

It still looked a bit empty.  So it was out to my water feature where I stole some river rock!  I sprinkled some around the perimeter of my foliage.

Here is my finished dining room table centerpiece!  Not too bad for using only found items in my home!  I may eventually change it up ( maybe even add some geodes!), but for now I like the texture and natural look of it.  Kind of like bringing the outdoors in!

How about you?  Do you ever just go shopping in your home for found items to decorate with? I do often.  I can’t decide whether that means I have too much stuff, or whether hanging on to the stuff makes me thrifty!  One of life’s many issues to ponder!

Until next time…..

OK. I admit it.  I am in love with New Orleans.  I love all of the wonderful colors and textures.  In some parts of the city you even feel as if you have stepped back in time and I guess in some ways you have!  They don’t call it the Big Easy for nothin’!

Our trip started off well, but by the time we hit Louisianna it was raining cats and frogs!  I am talking torrential! Flash flood warnings.  The next few days held sporadic rain, but for the most part it held off so that we could see all of the sights on my list. I was a newbie, so I had a ton of things I wanted to see with a limited time frame as we were only there for 2 days. I not only had fun, but I realized as I was sightseeing that New Orleans taught me valuable lessons that I hope to use in my home and life!

The French Quarter – they love their outdoor living spaces!

You can make a lovely green outdoor sanctuary just about anywhere!  If they can do it with limited space, flowers and greenery, so can I!

SIGH!!! My favorite building anywhere…I hate that men were out front!  But what are ya gonna do?  I LOVE the patina and color combo on the building!  I just look at it and get the feel of being in Europe somewhere!  The peeling paint, mis-matched shutters, the balcony…..I could gush forever!  There is a reason I love taking old things and make them into a piece of art.   One of the reasons I love my job!

Cafe Du Monde…. the food in NOLA – well it’s an event!  I loved everything that I ate…  it reminded me to try something new everyday.  If I can’t find something new to try every day, then as often as I can!  Oh, it also reminded me to exercise more.  A lot  more!

While we were waiting on our St. Louis Cemetery #1 tour we came across this cat.  In the middle of all of the hustle and bustle on Royal street, right next to the police department, and he (or she) is having no trouble sleeping!  I guess it really is OK to take a nap!

On our first day we came across this for rent sign.  NOT HAUNTED!  Good to know, just in case I was planning on moving!

On our second day we saw this sign.  Sorry it’s so blurry – I was a little skeerd!  lol!  I am reminded to find something humorous in every day life.  It’s there… I just have to look for it!

If you have read my posts before, you know that I love colored glass.  This was a hotel lobby!

Glass Jelly Fish at an Oyster bar and Pub….  Surrounding yourself with art and with the things that make you happy is a good thing!

So much so, that I couldn’t resist using the Waterlogue Ap on a few of the photos I took on vaca!  Here is a sneak peek at my inspiration for a new room….

You knew I was going to do this one… My heart smiles every time I see it!

The Garden District… love me some old houses!

This was the view from our hotel window.  We stayed in the Warehouse district in an older hotel.  I love old hotels…such class and character!

The gates to Jackson Square….. such cool iron work!

And I couldn’t resist this one… Ryan is my oldest son’s name! I may need to make a print just for him!

Thanks for letting me share a small part of my vacation.  So good to get away, I always come back home reminded of all of the good things in life!  Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler…. Let the good times role!

until next time….

My neighbor had a garage sale and of course I  had to shop. There are several items that I always look for at a sale. Cool old furniture, artwork, white glassware and lamps. So I was really pumped when I found two pretty old cut glass lamps.  At $5.00 a piece that was a total bargain!  I proudly showed the Hubs and I got that “what in the world?” look from him.  They were totally dirty, had no shade and the base was really worn but I knew they had potential.  They just needed a good cleaning.  Both on the outside AND the inside.  Here is how to clean the inside of a glass lamp!

Sorry this post is a little long, but I don’t want to leave anything out for those of you who haven’t ever taken a lamp apart. I took a really soft cloth, a little windex and gently cleaned the outside of the lamp.  As you can see from the picture above it still had this milky, cloudy look.  Yuck!

Basically, to clean the inside of the lamp you have to take it apart.  Which is really easy.  A lamp is just a puzzle!  First thing- MAKE SURE YOUR LAMP ISN’T PLUGGED IN!  Trust me,unless you want to risk having the shock of your life, this is very important. Remove the harp and any light bulb that may be in the lamp.  You remove the harp by gently squeezing the outside wires together and pulling up the caps on both sides.

Start by placing a soft, old towel out on your work surface to protect your lamp.  Lay your lamp on it’s side and take a look at the bottom.  Some lamps like this one, have a felt bottom that helps protect your furniture from the lamp base’s rough edges. I tried to gently pry the felt off from the edges but apparently someone liked to use a lot of glue and this piece of felt was on permanently!  Since it was so dirty I just decided that I would cut it off and replace the felt later.  I didn’t have felt here at the castle, so I just cut a large X in the middle, tapping the edges back so that I could get to the bolts on the bottom.

As you can see here, there is a plastic screw on cap that is attached to the bottom of your lamp rod.  The lamp rod goes up through the center of your lamp and basically holds it together.  It is hollow, allowing the power cord to travel up it’s center to attach to the light socket.  You want to unscrew the plastic cap.  Under that, you will see a hexagon shaped washer/screw that is also screwed into the lamp rod.  Unscrew that as well.

Then grab the lamp socket – which is attached to the rod and gently start turning it to unscrew the rod from the base.  You will know when you are successful -cuz it will all start coming apart. You will see all of  the different pieces of your lamp at this point.  You may also need to gently pull on the lamp socket ( the piece at the top where you turn the lamp on) when you see that the rod is no longer attached. This will pull the cord through allowing you some slack to move the pieces further apart.

Here is my lamp in pieces!  Now, don’t freak out.  As long a you don’t pull it completely apart it will go back together beautifully.  Your cord is keeping it together – running up the center of everything. If you feel like you can’t clean it properly attached, you will have to detach the cord from your light socket at the top. Pay close attention to the order in which you take it apart so that you can put it back together the same way!  I usually  only take a lamp apart when either I can’t get it clean when it is semi-put together or I want to spray paint the inside.  Which, by the way gives you a really shiny, colored glass lamp.  But that is another post!

Clean the inside just like the outside – I used a soft, clean, lint free cloth and some windex.  Be sure if it is wet, to let the inside dry completely before putting the lamp back together or you are going to get some mean condensation.  Not a good look!

Be sure that you clean all metal parts too.  For these I just used warm water to start with.  At this time I could have repainted the base gold but I really kind of like the distressed look on this.  It keeps the gold from being too shiny.  I’m just getting used to the fact that gold is back in…. so I really didn’t want too much of that bright gold going on!  So for now it stays. I can always redo it later if I decide I love shiny gold!

That’s it!  Now, gently pull your cord until it pulls the lamp back together tightly, inserting the lamp rod through the bottom of the base. Tighten the hex shaped washer/screw. Then tighten the plastic cap and you are done!  Be sure that if your lamp has a pattern to it, that as you are tightening, the pieces remain lined up.  I lurve you enough to give you this nugget of info.  I learned the hard way!

Now with the lamp all shiny and clean it was time for a shade.  I found these beauties at Ross.  BARGAIN!

Here she is – all shiny and pretty!  See the difference from the before picture? Well worth the time spent to take it apart!

Here is a picture of both of my beauties!  Not too shabby for the $15.00 that I spent on each of them!  I can’t wait to find the perfect spot for them!

Until next time…

Washi tape to the rescue!  The story of  how washi tape came to my rescue when I made an outdoor solar lantern.

Awhile back I saw these really cool solar lanterns made from mason jars and solar yard lights.  I loved the idea of using both of these products to create a really unusual ambient light for the patio. ( less bugs Romantic!)  I had the mason jars and lids – just need to pick up the solar lights. Wal-Mart here I come!

All of the lanterns I had seen had the medium size jar with lid and a wide based solar light. This looked good but, I wanted to see If I could come up with something a little less noticeable. Also, the bigger solar lights cost a lot more money, anywhere from $5.00 and up.   Not a bad price however, I wanted to make  a bunch of these for myself and for presents and that kinda put it out of my price range.  The cheap-o dollar solar lights were more in my price range.

I asked the Hubs to take the smaller light, ditch the base,  and somehow attach it to the lid in a less conspicuous way.

This is what he came up with.  I love how the light fits inside the jar.  I DIDN’T love the raw edge where a square was cut out of the lid. So now I was on the hunt for a solution of how to hide it.  I had done a faux stain glass window for my sister and thought that I might be able to use the leading paint on the edge to look like it had been soldered .

Here is the finished product.  It was OK, but not what I was hoping for. So the hunt was still on!,

During a shopping trip to Michaels, I saw the Washi tape. I loved the color and the ease of use. My concern was that it was going to be outside in 100 degree weather before the summer was over.  Would it peel off?  If it got wet would it stay on the lid?  You can see how my twisty brain works! But ya know what?  What if I wanted to change the tape out depending on the holiday, party, or just because I was bored with the old design? This just might be perfect.  And it was certainly easy to put on.

Just tape it on!  How easy is that???? Oh, please excuse my messy work table, guess I really need to paint that.  That, my friends is another post!

Here is the finished lantern! Cute, right?

I used two different patterns and two different widths.  The teal blue one is about 1/4″ wide.  I went strip by strip matching up the pattern.  Sounds tedious but it was super easy.  The second pattern that you see above, was an inch wide.  I used a total of four strips for this one – even easier!!

Here it is during the day time.  Not too bad to look at .

And here is my ambient light!  I love sitting on the party-o patio in the evening and not having bright lights on. Kind of a romantic right? – and fewer bugs!

Will this hold up well outside even under the covered patio?  Who knows.  For now I am going to run with it.  Worst case scenario?  It doesn’t and I look for another solution. In the mean time, you can find me on the patio! Yep, it really was washi tape to the rescue!

until next time….