Chalkboard goodness and lessons learned!

I love the look of a nice chalk board so of course I had to add a few to my home. So when i saw a can of Valspar Chalk paint I scooped it up ...my mind running wild with ideas. Mr. Wonderful suggested I get some Magnetic paint as well. I picked a quart of the Rust-Oleum Magnetic paint and got to work.

I was Not happy with the magnetic paint! The can said 3 thin coats should do the trick for small magnets....well 7 layers later and finally some of the magnets stick.It gave the surface a horrible texture and the odor is Horrible! Next time I will just get a piece of galvanized metal and paint it with chalk paint.The above picture is my pantry door in the kitchen. I was very pleased with the chalk paint but I may sand it down some more and do a few more coats of it. i used the magnetic paint here. Three coats and even the smallest of magnets barely cling and then slide down.:(

For the pantry door I used some clip art i found on line. You can find tons of free clip art...just search for vintage outlines or frame borders. I printed it out and used my projector ...you can find info on it

Here in my DYI Seuss nursery. I modified the shape slightly for my liking and traced on the wall with a pencil.

I also did underneath our bar area for K and E. They LOVE it!

K was so cute...I was priming the bar area as you see below and he kept saying mommy move I want to chalk it up. They are my cuties....always being clever!

K was so excited he didn't even wait for me to clean up all the dust. Oh and by the way we will be getting dustless chalk! It was everywhere. He got right to work with his drawings while E had fun with all the magnets. We are probably going to get a small sheet of metal to put over in the corner for his fridge farm and heavier magnets. It will only stick for a minute and then start sliding down the wall. :(

I also had they bottles stashed away for some sort of craft project. i didn't know what until I saw something like this on pinterest. I love how they turned out. They will be so cute on the table and we can write on them to suit the meal or occasion.

Thinking of giving Chalkboard paint a try ...you should it is fun for everyone! I am not sold on the magnetic paint and probably won't ever use it again!

As for my beautiful mirror.....I am having issue after issue with it. Turns out a piece I keep trying to paint is going to have to be covered with fabric. The paint just keeps scratching off. Ugh!

Oh and I have a sneak peek pic...see f you can guess what it might be... it has something to do with K's up coming Star Wars party!

Linking Up!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

Happy Birthday !!!! If you didn't know Dr. Seuss is a big deal in our house. We have a whole nursery inspired by the great magical writings. Check out my Dr. Seuss Nursery Post. Since I was a child the books held a special place in my heart. I love nothing more than to get lost in the pages of an amazing new world a book holds.   I hope my boys have the same passion for reading as I do. I had planned to make some cupcakes to celebrate such an occasion, however, life happened, appointments had to be kept and the cupcakes were at the bottom of my list. Maybe tomorrow. So we will end the night reading all our favorite Dr. Seuss Books...this may be a long bedtime reading session. We love them all! I really love The Sneetches.

Oh and I just need to get some pics of the finished mirror I promised. For now here is a before pic to give you an idea of what I was working with...

Stay tuned for the reveal!!

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." -- Dr. Seuss

I really love Dr. Seuss!!!!

The Best Laid Schemes O' Mice an Men....

Source

So I have been working on this piece I got when I received the revived dresser i previously posted. It is a beautiful mirror. I took it apart thinking oh I will just clean this up, fix the broken parts, and paint. Yeah well I got as far as cleaning it and ran into snag after snag. Turns out it has been painted multiple times, the metal was in horrible condition, and it needed a little more TLC than I anticipated. I channeled my inner Lucy and stuck to it. I am close to being finished and will post about it as soon as it is done. I can't wait to share it with you. It is such a beautiful piece.

In my little hiatus I celebrated my anniversary. Mr. Wonderful and I eloped on Valentines day 4 years ago. We had been together for 6 wonderful years prior to that. We had a quiet afternoon in with our little cuties. Just like we like it. Nothing better than quality family time. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines!!!

I will be sahring my master piece soon....make sure to check back!

P.S. I will also be sharing some Star Wars birthday ideas soon too. K will be three and is requesting Star Wars and a R2D2 cake.....this should be interesting and entertaining. If you have any Star Wars tips feel free to comment.

Facebook shop up and running!

Ok so i have all my prices and policies up. Tons of pics and hair bows to choose from. I am working on a few other designs I have sketched away in my head. Hopefully I will have them done and posted soon. Here are some pics for you.....

Let me know what you think! Fingers crossed! I hope my prices are fair. I am not out to make oodles of money. I am just a stay at home mom that would like to help out a little every month. Even if that only means taking care of the grocery bill. I would be over the moon.

Here a little personal tid-bit about my self. Before Mr.Wonderful and I got married and had kids I was very independent. I worked full time.. sometimes 50 plus hours a week in an animal hospital. I went in before dawn and came home after dark. I made a decent wage and was able to pay quite a few bills and had money to buy this or that if I fancied it. Well we knew when we decided to have kids things would change drastically. They definitely changed in a good way but being who I was before I feel as if I am lacking. Mr.Wonderful reassures me that I do more than my fair share and I do a great job at being a mother. I still feel that little part of me that was such a contributor money wise before. I love being able to stay at home with my boys and would be devastated if I had to leave them with someone else.  I think i would cry every day that  I was working out of the home. i know that I am blessed in that I am able to be at home with my kids and that there are mothers that have no choice but to work. So I am grateful for being able to be home with them.

Hopefully with this I can stay at home with my children and make a little extra money to help here and there. So I try to keep my prices fair and if you don't think they are let me know and we will talk about it. I am all for constructive criticism.

The link and like button are in the sidebar if you would like to check me out!!

 Thanks and have a great weekend!!

Furniture Makeover!!! Super Excited with this one!

Finished Product

So a dear family friend was downsizing and gave us a some furniture that they couldn't take with them. I went over to take a look at what she had and this little beauty was staring me in the face. Sure it wasn't pretty at the time but I could see past all the ugliness and knew that beauty was just beneath the surface.

Original piece minus a drawer that was sitting in the floor. Ignore the horrible garage floor. It is a terrazzo floor and the previous owner was a mechanic. We have cleaned them endlessly but oil stains are not easy to get off a white floor. I really should pressure wash it again. If you know of any tips for cleaning this floor I am all ears.

Now I say we because Mr. Wonderful really helped me out with this one. We removed all the hardware and gave it a good clean. I sanded it pretty well and Mr. Wonderful fixed the bearings on the bottom drawer for me.

I was a little disappointed to find out that it wasn't really wood. It seemed to be some sort of laminate over wood.  The handles were in horrible condition. I had planned on just cleaning them really well and spray painting them with a Brushed Nickel paint. However, Mr. Wonderful had a better idea. I got my first lesson on the wire wheel and the hardware came out better than I could have ever imagined. Now don't go out and use one if you have never done so. Have someone there with you who knows how to use the machine and where the proper safety items....goggles and such.

I probably should have been wearing gloves. Not my greatest photo and no my tummy is not that big. The machine was kicking up some pretty good air and blowing my shirt up like the Stay Puft Marshmallow man.

My lesson. Really make sure someone is there that knows what they are doing because this machine is no joke. It can and will hurt you.

I can not believe how thay cam out. Here is a side by side view of before and after.

 Isn't that just crazy! I am so glad Mr. Wonderful was there to stop me from spray painting them.Now the handles were a little trickier because of the curves. For the spots I couldn't get with the wheel I just used a small wire brush and a whole lot of elbow grease. ;) Placing them in the vice really kept them steady while I brushed. I also wrapped the clamped piece in a clothe so the vice wouldn't do any damage to the handle.

After everything was painted and polished. I put a few coats of sealer over everything. Even the handles got bout 3 or 4 coats. This was our finished project. It now greets visitors in our entry. It is still lacking any real sort of decor on top but we have two sets of small hands that love to meddle. Especially if it is breakable. The phone is in the middle like that so they can't reach it. I love my little meddlesome monsters! ;)

I am not sure if I am crazy about the black stripe. I was following the original paint job. I think I may need to paint it silver or scrap it all together and maybe do a floral stencil around the edge. What do you think?

I am over the moon about the hardware. I LOVE it! The whole piece is awesome. I love the lines and all the little details. This my kind of furniture. Plus I got some new tricks up my sleeve thanks to Mr. Wonderful.

Now to finish the bookshelf that is taking up space in the garage. I really do love making over furniture! :)

Happy Friday Everyone!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking Up!

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/02/06/made-by-you-monday-85/

Yay! Facebook Page!

Ok so I have my facebook page up and started!!! I am very excited and nervous. Soon I will be putting up all the products I have for purchase. I still have a few things to finish up before I am ready to post everything. Just got my like button all squared away...so check me out on facebook. I hope to have it all done by next week. Wish me luck!!

~Venturing into something new~

So I have been MIA for a week or so.

I am sure you can guess what I am venturing into by all the photos. Having only little boys I have been getting my feel of handmade girly stuff through my friends. I have been told before that I should sell my goods. So I am doing just that. I am trying to stock up an inventory of different hair accessories that I will sell online and locally. I am really excited I have been a SAHM for almost four years now and a new adventure is just what I need.

I am really digging the large flowers. I think the Peonies are my favorite.

How cute are pinwheels! Everyone loves a pinwheel. I am planning to make all of my headbands in two pieces. Any decoration will be on a clip so that it can be worn 2 different ways. All clips will also be lined with the no slip grip for fine hair.

Of course there will be bling!

I am also doing a few different styles of smaller clips like this. I will also have 2 inch Pinwheels for small clips and a few of my own designed bows.

K, my 3 yr. old, was terrified of the Mannequin head. The girl that rang us up at Hobby Lobby didn't like her much either. She couldn't stand the feel of styrofoam. Pour thing got goose bumps just looking at it. Can you see her nose and the small dents in it? E bit her nose off and i had to do a little cosmetic surgery. LOL!

Just a few different flowers...

Lately I have been feeling kinda ugh and stuck in a rut. I told Mr. Wonderful I felt like maybe if I took a little more interest in myself I might feel better. So I got some new make-up (Thanks for all the help Megan) and took on some new hair styles. I already feel much better. What do you think? Oh and I got the hair tips and some makeup tips from Super Kawaii Mama ...She is Awesome!

I plan on getting the site up and running for online purchasing soon. Keep a look out for a link on here. I plan on just starting a small one of facebook for now until I get a feel for things. Please email me with any questions or for customs. I am more than happy to work with you if you have a certain dress or outfit you my want to match. You can find my email address in the About Me section at the top of the page.

Wish me luck!!!

P.S. Let me know of the pictures are too dark...I need to make a white box for photos.