End Table Dillemma

I found a great set of end tables for sale today on Facebook. Do I need end tables? No. Have I finished all the projects I have started thus far? No.
You see, I have this problem.
It's best described as see-all-of-the-potential-itis. There is a lot of furniture available online these days that could use some TLC. I would likely be able to make it fairly awesome; but, I don't always see an idea in each item. As long as I can see furniture as pieces of furniture, and not "OHMYGOSH-what-if-I...," then I can pass it up. But, combine a good price with a vision, and I am toast.

Back to the end tables. I got them today, for the sole purpose of redoing and selling them. Hopefully as quickly as possible, since I really don't need them myself! As I was headed home with my quarry in the back of my van, I pondered. I realized that I had three separate ideas for these pieces. Oops. It only takes one, and I have three?!?!? How am I going to decide between them? What if I pick the one that is less likely to sell, and nobody likes what I did with them? What will I do then? Maybe I should do a poll! That could be fun! OOOooooooh, even better...
...some of you have said before that you would buy pieces of furniture that I redid. No pressure at all, but, here's your chance! I'm going to pitch my three ideas for these tables. If you see them, and you would like to buy them for me after I have transformed them into a particular idea, you can message me and let me know which one you would like me to do, and that you want to buy them (first come, first serve, since I only have the two). If you see them, and you don't want to buy them, but you have an opinion as to which idea you like best, you can "vote" by commenting which one is your favorite. If nobody in particular that I currently know wants to snatch them up, I will do the idea that has the most votes, then sell it online. Kind of fun, huh? Especially if it works! And, no matter what, you get to see what they look like when I'm done with them! So, "winning!"

Okay, so, without further ado, here is Table 1 and Table 2:

Okay, really, it's just Table 1 with a very limited view of Table 2. They are both there, I promise. I was too excited tonight to write this post to worry about taking pictures and making inspiration boards. For now, you're going to have to go off of this picture and my descriptions. I'll take more pictures as I go!

They're in great condition. The drawers slide fine, there is no major cosmetic damage to the tables at all. The only thing is that Table 2 is missing the drawer pulls for its drawers. We can talk about the solution to this within each of my ideas; but, I definitely have options. Once I've consulted with my handy friends and confirmed I could do so without negatively impacting my end product, I think I would remove the lip off the top of the tables for all three options.



Idea #1: Rustic Fab
While this is the hardest for me to visualize what it would actually look like, I think this idea is my favorite at the moment. I'd paint the legs, drawers, fronts, and sides in a creamy white. I found knobs that are very similar to the existing ones on Table 1, so I'd order a set for Table 2. I'd paint the hardware in an oil-rubbed-bronze finish, and paint the circle details on the sides of the tables in ORB as well, to make it look like there is more hardware there. I'd then finish both tops in a weathered wood finish; sort of a brown-gray, like the tabletop below.

Idea #2: Tiffany Blue
If it wasn't obvious from the name of this idea, I would paint both tables a "Tiffany Blue." After toying with a few ideas, I think I would try to remove the backplates and replace them with more decorative ones, and a rose knob pull, though they have to be small. I love the ones pictured below (I just hope they would fit!). If I went with that shabby chic sort of finish on the hardware, I would fill in the square line on the table surface white as well.

Idea #3: LEGO Chic
I have been dying to make one of these since I first saw the idea on Pinterest. I would paint the whole thing a crisp white, and finish the hardware in an iron color (like Idea #1, I think I'd just try to replace the missing ones on Table 2 with as close of a match as I can find). Then, I would adhere a gray LEGO base plate inside the square on the lower part (like the picture below). The end result would be a really cute LEGO table with built-in storage! (the colors and components in the picture below are obviously not exactly what I'm thinking, but it'll help establish the concept). Because of the set up of the tables I have, it would be possible to add an additional base plate to the very top; I'm just not sure I would.

Regardless of which option I go with, I was thinking a fair asking price would be $125 for the pair, but am open to suggestions.

What do you think? Good ideas? Bad ideas? Have a favorite idea that you want to vote for? Local peeps, want to pick one and purchase the pair from me? Let me know!

An Empty Frame

At some point in my life, an unknown amount of time ago, I fell in love with Hobby Lobby. I know, not super unique...many of you probably have the same infatuation.

The distinction I can make is that, prior to 2012, I had no children. There is supposedly a correlation between presence of children and lack of money...there is definitely a "presence of children, lack of free time," in my life at present, haha! (not to mention, the carts at my Hobby Lobby are much too small to accommodate my glorious babies and all of my purchases)

So, at some point before I had kids, I was perusing Hobby Lobby, and I found two very large empty frames on mega sale.

One in particular was a large, gaudy, ornate, gold frame, with a broken corner. I took it home, glued the broken bit back into place, and spray painted the whole thing black.

We ended up using it as a prop for photos at the baby shower for my son.

Fast forward, it sat in our garage for a bit, I gave it to my mom for a period of time, and then I got it back again. Haha.

I finally hung it up in our closet. We have this really awesome closet that is simultaneously fabulous and awkward. I am hoping that I will be able to redo the closet, and document that -- but, for now, let's stay focused on the frame.

I bought some screen (like, for a window), then used a staple gun to secure it to the back of the frame. Then, I hung it back up on the wall, and used it to hang up my earrings!

The trick now will just be to figure out how to try to get my stud earrings in here easily...I might have no choice but to put them on one at a time anyway; might be worth it in the end. Necklaces are also going to be tricky, though I'm certain Pinterest will have some tips for me.

Dressers Have Nine Lives?

No, I know, it's cats...but, well, this dresser might.

This is my son's room. Well, it is, and it was. It is still his room, but it doesn't look exactly like this anymore (more on that soon).

See that dresser on the right side, with the changing pad on top?
That is the focus of this blog post. It has since been moved to my bedroom.
But, it needs a new life. Again.

Poor dresser, it was mine growing up, technically, though it stayed in my brother's room. It was part of a set that my grandparents got for me. When we found out we were pregnant with Little Man, I painted it black to match his bedroom furniture.

Now that it's in my room, something has got to give!

I've got the hardware picked out, and I could not be more stoked.

I snagged these babies from Anthropologie:

And found these beauties off etsy to help me cover over the holes from the original hardware that are kind of showing themselves again:

And, I thought that I knew what color I was going to paint it...Coral by Rustoleum

But then, I found this...Poppy Red by Rustoleum

So, what do you think?

I think I'm leaning toward the Poppy Red, and painting the backplates white.

I'm going to add a textured wallpaper to the side panels to spice things up...and some contact paper to the interior of the drawers, because they are in rough shape.

This piece is going to be FIERCE.

Stay tuned.

Bluebird of Happiness

I am aware that a van or a car is just a material thing.
However, today (October 13th) marks the end of a seemingly long and drawn out ordeal to replace a mere material thing with another...and, man, do I feel better!

On September 26th, this happened...

I was on the way home from my parents' house. They had watched my sweet kids overnight, and I had just picked them up. Long story short, a guy coming the opposite direction as us failed to yield, and our van (aka Silver Bullet) was toast.

That whole thing was terrifying. I didn't even really see him coming until we collided. Better in a lot of ways, I suppose...I wasn't too tense, so wasn't terribly injured...and I didn't turn the car. Thank goodness I didn't turn the car; if I had swerved to avoid him, he still would have hit us only, instead of hitting me, he would have hit one of my babies. I don't think I could have ever forgiven myself.
But, we were so lucky. Other than being traumatized, the kids were alright. I was bruised and had whiplash, but it could have been SO much worse; I'm still shocked that it wasn't.

Fast forward to today, past DOZENS of insurance calls, emails, explanations, trips, favors, generous friends and family, and prayers, and we have found a van to replace our previous one.

I woke up this morning, to my sweet son moving around in my bed. Since he saw part of a scary movie on Friday, he has been ending up in our bed before dawn each day. Shortly after I was woken up, I received a text message from my dad, offering me a ride to the car dealership that had the van I wanted, if I could get someone to watch the kids.

My sweet friend agreed to watch my babies, I dropped them off, and went to the bank where the insurance checks had been issued from to get them cashed. Only, that bank wasn't open. I went to the next nearest branch where, apparently, everyone and their cousin had gone to do business after Columbus Day. I waited forever in line, only to be told that they didn't have enough cash to accommodate my request. I had to call Dad, and tell him that there were set backs, and that he might need to get on with his day, so I didn't set him too far behind.
Luckily, I was able to meet him at my house and get a quick hug before continuing with all the fun drama that still lay before me.

I called ahead to another branch of the bank, and they assured me that they had enough funds to cash my checks. I went there, cashed my checks, and then hurried awkwardly to my own bank, so that I could get a cashier's check for the purchase of our new vehicle. I could not hand the envelope over to the teller fast enough - I was a nervous wreck!
On my way to the bank, I was fortunate enough to have a friend be able to join me on the drive to get the new van! It was a huge blessing to us both...we were able to get to spend time together, as well as get my car!

We made it to the dealership, met Albert, and checked out the van. It looked pretty good, was a year newer than our previous van, had almost 15,000 less miles on it than ours did, and had power doors. Oh, and it was a pretty blue color, too! Took it for a test drive, and everything worked great. Went in to sign the papers, handed Albert the check, and he says, "Umm, the bank didn't sign the check. I've never seen that before."
I said, "What does that mean? It's not valid?"
And, he said, "Yeah, I'm afraid so."
Before I even had a chance to start freaking out, he said, "You know? It's close enough to lunch time...how about I follow you back to the branch, you can get the check authorized, give it to me, and then I'll grab lunch and head back to work."

Did I mention that his dealership is in South Austin, and the branch I went to was in Round Rock?

Freaking awesome. Austin Elite Motors, everyone. Albert completely created a new caliber of car salesman to me.
Did I mention that I had initially contacted him about a car on their lot that had already sold? I was SO BUMMED that it sold. But, the very next day, Albert called me to see if I was still in the market for a car, and he said that he had one coming in that next week. He stayed in touch with me, kept me updated, and was willing to work with my schedule so that we could get a car and get our family back to "normal."

Again, I know that a van or car is just a material thing, but the way we got this van, and all the steps involved in it...while incredibly frustrating and stressful...seemed to all work together in the best possible way.

I owe it all to my friends and family, who were so supportive, prayed for us, offered us help, and allowed me to process everything we encountered.
So, thank you...from the bottom of my heart.

And, here we go, a new beginning:

I named her Blue Bird.
Probably because of this song

String Art...AKA Torture

So, as many of you might know, I love Pinterest. I knew, from the first time I ever heard of it, that it was going to be something I became very attached to, and engaged in. So much so that, I intentionally avoided joining Pinterest until after the birth of my son, because I knew I would need/want something to occupy my time during those sleepless nights. Boy, was I right!

Now, all this time later, I still love it. Brilliant idea, that, Pinterest. Maybe someday, I'll get to a fraction of the projects and/or recipes I have collected in there.

One project I did get to was string art. As you might know, after much deliberating, I chose a circus/rainbow theme for my daughter's room. I love it, and have so many great ideas, but it is taking sooo long to actually finalize everything, and bring it all together.

For awhile, I hemmed and hawed over getting a large monogram to hang over her crib. It's sophisticated, but girly, but it just didn't feel quite right.

When I stumbled across this on Pinterest, I knew what direction I was going to go.
I loved that she used cork board instead of wood. I love the look of wood on string art projects, but the idea of tapping all the nails in was very unappealing to me.

As I often do when considering a project, I started looking around for the items I'd need to complete the project. When I stumbled across this bulletin board on amazon, I had to get it!

 

Once the bulletin board arrived, I chose a font that I liked, printed Little Miss' name to the scale that I wanted, and tried to visualize the placement.

I then painted it white. First, I carefully painted over the black trim with white (I was initially disappointed when I received the bulletin board, as the trim is painted around the edge, instead of being raised, as I had initially expected). I was hopeful that, if I painted the edges first, when I went to paint over the cork, it would allow the trim to be distinguishable, albeit the same color. I then cut out the letters, taped them together, and taped them to the bulletin board.

I pushed the nails in around the outline of the letters, and it looked pretty cool!
This was all the easy part, though.

Once all the nails were in, I carefully pulled the paper out from between the nails.

I then took my embroidery yarn (I believe I used six colors), and started twisting it around the nails. I outlined the letters first, then cris-crossed them in the center. Honestly, this was a nightmare. Thankfully, I am really pleased with the result, but goodness, was it less fun to make than I thought! Ha! Someone called it "therapeutic" in one of the tutorials I read. Mmmm, well, I, for one, prefer a different type of therapy.

Even knowing how difficult it was, I would still totally do this again, and might even brave it again for other things in the future. I seriously love the way it turned out!

LIGHTS!

I finally finished the lamps for Little Miss' room!

I mentioned my plan in this post, and then have been doing random things around the house or in decluttering the room itself, so haven't made it to a lot of my projects. Meh.

I have, however, made progress. And, progress at all is better than nothing!

Without further delay, I give you the before pictures of the lamps again:

You'll notice that the lion is missing. I couldn't bring myself to paint him. I really just don't have a designated spot for him -- what baby/toddler needs three lamps in their room?!? And he is sooo cute!
Since I was unsure, I decided to wait. I may end up painting him and using him anyway, if I can find a spot for him, or I might just try to resell him on the online garage sale sites for what I bought him for. We'll just have to see.

I got Krylon white, satin finish spray paint, taped off the cords and electrical parts of the lamps, then got to it!
I also got rid of the lamp shades, as they wouldn't match with the color scheme.
I found these AWESOME, geometric, textured lampshades at Target, picked up a pair, and voila!

I love them! Seriously, I love them! They're so whimsical!

I'm getting everything together for my next projects for her room, and should (fingers crossed!) be posting those soon!

It is coming together! I'm so pleased and excited to get my Little Miss in her room!

Stay tuned for more!

FREE Laundry Guide Printable - from Clean Mama

I found this on my Facebook feed this morning, and am very excited to print it and add it to my newly finished Laundry Room!

I thought I would share the find with you lovely folks as well!

Click here to go to Clean Mama and get your free printable! Thank you, Clean Mama!