little place called home sweet home

annie sloan chalk paint dresser.

2012-02-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

So one of the big perks about having a blog and a huge circle of friends that know you love redoing things is when they have furniture they want to get ride of.. they call you :) With this next piece i got a message on facebook saying the dresser needed to be gone by that night so if i wanted it, come on by. Well of course i hopped in my van and loaded it up.

Its a solid wood maple dresser. It really was in great shape just some scratches on top.... super heavy! i had large bruises on my legs from moving it lol.

before

step 1

take hard ware off :)

step 2

tape it

step 3

put striper on the top of the dresser according to the directions on container

step 4

i mixed up annie sloan chalk paint old white and a little water

step 5

first coat of paint.

now i wanted this paint job to be a messy one, not smooth. it was a fun one to paint because of that i just slopped it on there :) and look at the fun little hand print my one year old left for me lol.

step 6

by the time i got the first coat on it was time to scrape the top of the dresser

step 7

paint another coat on there real messy like

step 8

i sanded down the top of the dresser and im sure some of the dust got on the drying paint but i didnt mind. remember im going to a very messy look :)

step 9

after the sec coat dries i got out the crackle paint.. now a big tip for using crackle paint is not putting it all over. i put it only on little areas of the dresser. follow the crackle paint instructions...

step 10

after it dries paint another coat of white over top of the crackle. only go over it once other wise it is a messy look and not in a good way!

step 11

after you have let it dry. it doesnt take real long. its time for the fun part! distressing time. i use heavy sand paper, light sand paper, scrapers, tape and pretty much anything you think would ding it up :) (i use the tape to pull some of the paint off, it kinda looks like its chipped)

step 12

tape around the top of the dresser so you can stain and wax the top.

step 13

stain the wood on top. i use a dark stain by minwax. i wipe it on with a rag.

step 14

then i use a dark soft wax by annie sloan... then buff it out after 15 plus mins

step 15

now wax all of the painted parts with a soft wax i used a clear one with no stain in it. I also buff it out right away working a 20by20 area.

and there ya have it just put the hardware back on and your done! :)

Here it is (sorry the room has no natural light so they are not the best lit pictures)

linked up to
http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://typeadecorating.blogspot.com/
http://shadesofamberinc.blogspot.com/
http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/

deck the halls part 3 the kitchen

2011-12-05T13:51:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the few days it took me to get this up.... this weekend flew by!! Here is my kitchen decorated for christmas. i think it might be my favorite part of the house. hope you enjoy as much as i do :)

whats really neat about this nativity is my grandpa and grandma Johnson got these for all us grands from mexico but when they got home ours was missing the baby Jesus. so my grandpa molded the baby out of clay and then my grandma painted it. it very special to me excecialy since my grandpa Johnson is in heaven now.

here is our entry too. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

deck the halls part 2 the office

2011-12-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

SO next is the office and couple pictures of some other Christmas decorations around the house :)

I had found this great idea on pinterest for filling bulbs with twine and buttons, i also used coffee beans and shredded up music :)

Then i put this awesome lace i have been saving for this. i found at a yard sale for 7 bucks!

(we also finally got our chandelier hung yippee!)

but i still needed more for the tree so i got small pine cones and tide twin to them. Went out side and finished getting all the hydrangeas of my bushes and put them all over the tree :)

i love it and am so happy with how it turned out.

I also saw bunting on pinterest where they painted on burlap and loved it. so i made some for all over the house :)

* first i cut out the triangles

*then i hot glued them to the twine

*then i painted on the triangles

(sorry bad phone picture)

here is my wonderful messy work space ;) at least i have one though hehe

i then took the back end of a small paint brush and painted the letters on. :)

i hung the peace one above our stockings in the living room (i need to get Gabe and i new stockings i only have the kids ones up)

The garland! that was a hunt to get. my arms were so scrapped up from cutting through black berry bushes to get to it. but oh was it worth it :) i have a few kinds, pine, cedar, and redwood. i love them all :)

I first was using wire to tie it up but then found that twine was way easier! :)

I also made a vintage Santa bunting with some twine and flash cards and hot glue :) this is actually my first time ever decorating with Santa's.

hope you enjoy and have a most blessed day! :)

linked up to
http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com
http://thecorsoncottage.blogspot.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com

deck the halls with LOTS of trees part 1

2011-11-30T19:14:00.001-08:00

Well it is no secret to anyone that knows me I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! Everything about it i love the decorating the TREES the cold the cozyness, family, friends, parties and of course celebrating Jesus! i love snow too but it just does not snow here but maybe once a year and only at most a couple inches. oh how i love snow i grew up with it and wish that redding got feet and feet of it!

It is our family tradition to get a tree(s) the Saturday after thanksgiving. SO out we went to a local tree lot here in town.

Now i grew up in a charming mountian town where cutting down your tree was the norm. (We did go to the tree lot now and then but mainly cut it down.) But for some reason i just love the tree lot experience maybe it reminds me of all those hallmark movies were they go to a cute little lot and its always so well... hallmarky haha. You know what i mean? To be honest im also very picky and like my trees pretty close to perfect.

Anyways we loaded the kids up and must have walked around for a hour if not more looking for just the right trees. We normally get a silver tip but this year we wanted to get one noble fur, one silver tip and two mini trees for the kids rooms. the guys were so nice and gave us a deal for getting so many and threw in a 5th tree for cheap! I got SO excited knowing now i was going to get one tree for the living room, one for the office, one for the kitchen and one for each kid room.

judah with the boys room tree :)

they found a bunch of lady bugs too :) i didnt know they were out now.

next to the HUGE santa :)

(cruz was sleeping in the warm car hehe)

we fit the two huge ones on top of the van and two smaller ones in the back and one more in the front squished on the floor ;)

So we got home and unloaded the trees i spent all night putting lights on.

the kids did there trees with a little help :) and the next day we decorated them :)

heres isabellas tree

here is the boys tree so cute :) (i need a picture with them next to it still)

and the living room tree :) and of course the Grinch while we decorate! :)

reach!

and with a 1 1/2 year old this is how decorating the tree went for him hehe pure temptation lol poor little guy

The only thing this house is missing is a fire place. so my ipad has a app that is streaming to my apple tv and making the crackle sound. haha i love it!!

(more of the house to come tomorrow)

armoire redo

2011-11-30T11:37:00.001-08:00

So this one has been a long time coming i got this piece about a year and a half ago :) it had lattice in the door ways and my hubs was never the biggest fan of it but i told him just wait you'll love it once its done......... well i can gladly say it is now done and we love it!!

So i have been going back and forth on what i wanted to do to it. I on a frenchy greyish blue :) ha.

BEFORE

(IN THE STORE)

* first the funnest part ;) it needed a little dimo so i too a axe to the lattice to pop it out. (it was so cold in the garage!)

* next was to paint it. I took a latex flat white paint and added some french grey milk paint powder and a couple tables spoons of annie sloans Aubusson Blue chalk paint, and little bit of black and a little water to thin it out. since the powder made it thicker. well since the armoire was a glossy white and i didnt want to prime it adding the milk paint totally helped the latex paint adhere to the glossier paint and it worked so well. i used two coats. it probably could have used 3 but i was going to destress it anyways so it worked.

i also left some white around the door openings.

after it dried i took a rough sand paper to it .

* then i used annie sloans soft wax and made a mix of the clear and a tiny bit of the dark. i used a round wax brush and then buffed it after it sat there for about 10 mins. it gave it a very light distressed look. just what i was looking for :)

* now came the fun part... (kidding) i took a old latic part and traced it on card board

*then cut them out a smig smaller then the trace. layed those templates on the burlap and cut it out about a 1/4 inches bigger to leave wiggle room.

*then took a glue gun and glued one side of the burlap to the cardboard pulling taught and then gluing the rest.

*after it was all glued i trimmed the excess burlap and then put it in the opening. i liked that it was a little snug so then i didnt need to glue it or staple it. (thank you honey for helping and doing half of them) I also chose different knobs from anthropoligie what can i say im a not very matching person who also listens to her music on suffle ;)

All done!! yay!

hope you enjoy :)

linked up to

http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/

http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

http://www.beneathmyheart.net

http://www.atthepicketfence.com/

http://redoux.blogspot.com/

http://missmustardseed.com/

christmas ornaments

2011-11-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Well this week has been full of getting house cleaned up and ready for Christmas in a couple weeks! I plane on doing lots of Christmas diy decorations this year so i started one today i saw on pinterest.

first i dont have a shredder so i just cut in strips my self stacking the paper up so it goes faster! :)

sorry i was lazy and just took iphone pictures. so there not as great hehe

then i got twine

and then went to my moms to rade her buttons :)

Here si the result. i love them! i also used soem lace i had and coffee beans (not in the picture)

The kids also got to do a little crafting and paint some ornaments :)

CrAZy hair day!

2011-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well today was crazy hair day for the kids :) i took some inspiration from pinterest and got up bright and early to fix there hair. Isabella doesn't go to school on Fridays so we just sprayed pink in her hair:) but watch out next year her hair is going to be killer ;)

Here is judahs crazy hair. (poor guy is not used to his hair being up he was hurting)

heres diegos shark attack hair :)

and here is isabellas pink hair (eating her poptart ;)

new post on my photography blog :)

2011-10-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

thought i would share that a post is fresh out the oven on my other blog Leah mari photography.

:-)

Filling my walls

2011-09-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

I dont think filling the walls is easy at all in fact i think its down right stressful. So most of the time i have a piles of frames and such just sitting there collecting dust! BUT i am determined at this house to hang stuff up and fill my walls :) maybe what ever is not hung i will just get rid of, theres a idea ;) !? :)

SO today i got out my chalk paint and really quick painted over that piece of green wood with hooks in it i got at that barn sale the other day. I used old white. (love!) Then just screwed the hooks back in and hung it over a bench i have in our entry way.

I decorated it with a basket i had laying around, some deer antlers form one of my hubbies deers, pine cones my daughter collected, a hanging candle and some drying hydrangeas form our bush. Also a little piece of drift wood my son found at the lake this summer rests on top.

i also found a place for my new tamale can i found for $5 (not sure why it says that on it lol ) to go right next to the honey one

and these are hung right above them (i need pictures in them still but at least there UP haha)

Thanks for reading. :)

linked up...
http://justagirlblog.com/

boys bunk bed from drab to fab :)

2011-09-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

So after months of me putting off doing the boys bunk bed i finally got it done!! yippee! i told my self after there bed was done i could move on to the other pieces i have to do. so im so excited about whats to come with my pile of finds in the garage (all smiles)

I must say first before i show how i painted it. that i wish i would have been using annie sloan chalk paint It would make it easier but i had already gotten the supplies for the bed. :)

So here is the before. Just a all wood bunk bed from walmart in pine.
(the only picture i could find was from our old house)

* first i spray painted it to prime it.
(in this picture part already had the first coat on it.)

* Then i painted it with martha stewart black flat paint. I did about 2 coats of that

(big pile of bed ha there were sooo many pieces!)

*then i took a heavy sand paper and sanded up the edges.

* Then dust off before sealing it.

* I used a wipe on poly for sealing it. i only did one coat partly cause im impatient and second because i really wanted a flat look.

*let dry and have your husband put it together while 4 kids and 1 wife try to help ;)

Judah with his bed all done!

(snickers just cause)

this is cruz's new smile haha when ever we get a camera out or our phones he does it haha

linked up to...

abowlfulloflemons

redoux

Our trip to san diego

2011-09-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well two weeks ago we drove about 11 hours to san diego. Our cousins wedding was down there so we all made the fun journey down there. I did the photography for it, my husband officiated it and our 3 year old daughter isabella was in it :)

Ready to drive!!

I must admit i was very nervous about the drive. the fact is that cruz cries a lot in the car just driving around town. so being in the car that long made me concerned haha. Gabe has been saying they were going to do great and dont worry! WELL they all did soo amazing i mean very amazing and yup my husband was right. Well and it did help that we had TONS of snakes and drinks and i saved the blues clues and suckers for emergencies. :) One thing i love is that the two older boys could pee in a water bottle if cruz was sleeping and we couldn't stop hahaa. oh the memories. :) :)

the kids after we stopped in bakersfeild for the night lol so happy to be out!

WE had rehersals the next night it was so fun to be in sand diego at sea port village.

The wedding was beautiful and so fun riding around in low riding while driving around san diego taking pictures it was a blast.

so the next day we surprised the kids with going to seaworld. and after 14 hours of being on my feet the day before i was ready for comfy clothes! so what better to wear then my favs! ;)

I love sea world and we went with my in laws and brother in law which made it so much better. we only had one real day to see them before we ha to go home to we soaked it all up :)

i sat with the boys in the soak zone while we saw shamu it was so fun!!

Isabella got to go on her first ride :) she was soo excited

Tea Cups (judah wanted to ride by him self) :)

I think cruz took every nap on his grandpa it was so sweet

the kids got to meet elmo :)

WE all had a great time :)

So when sea world was all done we hopped in the car and had one more surprise for the kids before heading to Bakersfield then home in the morning.

I had been looking for new chihuahua to add to our family and found one in la jolla so we picked her up and it was so ute when i showed the kids :) she became instant family :)

on our drive home

after we got home the next day her and peanut became fast friends :)

oh and i just had to show one of the pictures of isabella as a flower girl. (they carried starbucks cups as flower baskets cause that where they met :) )

SO it was a crazy fast trip but very fun!!

fall entry

2011-09-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

Well despite the fact that its 103 outside in sep i am pretending its fall :) i have been dreaming of decorating this porch. So yesterday i finished it. (pretty much) i will be adding a few more pumpkins when we go to the patch (i went to walmart for these ones haha) but until then its good enough to blog i think hehe. I also have some ivory spray paint to put on some :)

i also revamped my wreath :) i know the moss is a little spring like but thats fine i like it lol.

(pine rocking chair to be painted some day lol)

my cute helper hehe

I also hit up a barn sale early this morning and got all these find for 50 bucks!! :) score!

linked up to ...
fishtailcottage
beneathmyheart

SCHOOLS BACK!

2011-08-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

Schools back!!! so crazy how fast summer went. Judah and diego were very excited for it to start though. Judah said, "mom i thought it would never come." lol I love that he loves school! diego was a little scared though. He is in kindergarten now and he was very nervous about math. he would say, "i dont know how to do math mom." so i informed him that he is not really supposed to know how yet, thats why he is going to school :)

I was asking them while we were driving to school what they were most excited about. Judah raised his hand yelling MATH!! He did not get that from me lol. and diego yelled out RECESS!! Now that, he got from me. ;) Well my favorite was really any chance i had to eat something ;)

So i have been kinda emotinal the last week about the kids going back to school and had already cried the day before school and got a little misty eyed dropping them off. I love my kids being home as crazy as it gets around here i love it and wouldnt trade it for the world! here are a few pictures of there boys first day

posing was all them!

my sweet diego

my sweet judah

Yes i bought my kid acid wash skinny jeans! ha

Now my baby girl is starting preschool two days a week so her first day was today. She has been asking for weeks now when does she get to go to her school. She was so excited that it was finally here!

so last night as i tucked her in and sang her to sleep i was drinking in ever moment with my little girl, she is growing so fast. i dont want to let her go! but i know she will love ever min of it.

So because it was bellas first day i needed all three kids in a picture together. so i drug the kids out and took some more with them all before we left :)

isabella waking up still ;)

"TEETH SMILES PLEASE"...ok mom! lol

"look mom a flower"

The hands a color-er :)

yup the cutest for the cutest :)

Im ready mom!

isabella peeking in her classroom door :)

she went right to work :)

hehe working so hard :)

Saying goodbye to her was kinda hard an weird but i actually didnt cry (i think i got it all out already lol) so proud of her she did so good.

I love watching my kids grow and learn and become who they are meant to be. Even though it is a little bit bittersweet and hard letting go... I love what my parents say about raising kids. how every age just gets better and better! YES even those teenage years. :) (man im blessed to have my mom and dad:) ) After all, I have been given the BEST role in life!

camping fun

2011-08-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

We are back from camping. it was a blast! Now i love all things camping, from dirt to camp fires to even peeing out side ;).

i was driving the van while the hubs drove the truck... the kids opened up the mashmellows and started early :)

the things i dont want to leave with out! pack-n-play first-aid and jumper :)

and yup the first aid came in handy as always. in fact so much i had only three band-aids left lol

my very dirty feet lol

my very dirty kids :)

me and cruz ready for the lake

so cute isabella loves her brothers!

our group of friends

our CaMP

feeding the deer!

Today we went on a walk with a couple of my nieces that are spending the night. so i snapped a few shots with a lens baby. (trying it out) :)

yup still alive :)

2011-08-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

so yes we are still alive and having a fun summer! it been very full and fun! i cnat believe in just a couple weeks its back to school! Im kinda ready but really do like when my kids are home. i am very ready to start getting furniture done around here!!

We leave tomorrow for our yearly camping trip. So im running around trying to get things all ready and squared away. we go food shopping in a couple hours and im making the list now :) We go with a big group of people and its a blast! i will post pictures and such when we get back.

ill leave you with a few pictures :)

BUSY/FUN SUMMER

2011-07-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well it has been action packed around here! None stop pretty much since school got out. We have been having a blast though. I have had no time to do furniture but i thought i would show some of what we have been up too.

cruz turned ONE

The boys got done with baseball and got there trophies :)

Lots of trampoline fun!

We found out one of our three chickens is a rooster lol so we said good bye to him and gave him to our friends who dont live in a neighborhood :)

I went to Massachusetts to do my cousins wedding with my mom, cruz my aunt dalra and grandma and grandpa . it was so fun! this is the 250 year old church they got married in!

cruz and i swimming at the hotel

and cruz and i up late with the time change haha

Having fun at the house boat!

we got to go to a friends house this last week, katie and jeremy riddle. they are living my dream! ;) but for now at least we get to visit them and there many animals :) what great friends!

we got to milk a goat ( and took some milk home..so much better than store bought)

visit the chickens (they are the ones who took our rooster off our hands :)

rope swing! man was i dizzy after this lol

this picture just make me laugh lol

Now my home town of Weaverville CA tucked away up in the mountians really

knows how to do the 4th of july!

we camp out at a friends house and take a group of friends.

we do fire works on the nigth of the 3rd the at 6 am on the 4th do a anvil firing then 6:30 do the pancake breakfast. then on to my favorite coffee shop the red house (even though i dont drink it)

then off to the parade and craft fair :)

this small town of 3500 people about doubles in size on the 4th of july. its one of my favorite holidays.

we had a great 4th!

and one more picture just for giggles

my boys tan lines and its only the beginning of july haha

SO..... for now that pile gets to wait a little bit cause im having fun with my family well and its 106 out ;)

Our little miracle Cruz Ryder Cash turns one today!

2011-06-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today our little boy Cruz Ryder Cash Valenzuela turns ONE! i cant believe it was this time last year our wonderful little miracle was born.

When cruz was born It was a fast and furious labor. He Came out, and soon after with out me being able to hold him he was whisked away to the nicu. (daddy follow right behind) Not thinking it was as serious as it was until the head of the nicu came in the room a while later and in a very serious voice said that she needed to talk to me about my baby and if I wanted her to ask them (my mom and bff) to leave. WELL that scared the crap out of me! I said no they can stay! So She starts out by saying, “your baby is very sick.” He breathed in A LOT of muconium and his x-ray is really bad he needed to be inhabited and put on an oscillator to help him breath. He needed 100% oxygen and his body was really acidic."

The next 12 days would be a roller coaster of emotions. with many things going wrong. But in the end all going right!! YAY God!! If you want to read the whole birth story and the days that followed click here.

me finally holding him 9 days later

Im so thankful for the gift cruz is to us! and im so glad we got surprised with this little man (as we were done at 3 hehe). He is a joy to us all of us.

His ONE year old mini shoot :)

We love you little cruzer

Annie Sloan chalk paint side tables

2011-06-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

So finally i have my side tables to show you.... well really i just have the finally picture of one of them since the other one is in my husbands office at work now ;) but they are exactly the same as far a paint goes. :)

For these pieces i was so excited to use annie sloans chalk paint and was equally thrilled with how great it was to work with!! First off you don't need to sand, prime or anything just paint it on virtually any surface and it will stick... secondly its ready to distress way fast and does it beautifully.

I found these tables on craigslist for free! like most of my redos i spend very little if anything at all on them. i love FREE :)

here they are needing some TLC!

i watered down the Louise blue chalk paint a smidge and started painting away i used two coats. also i barley used any of the paint i have so much left! yay

(ignore my crappy brush here lol)

I then painted the old white chalk paint over the louise blue on some of the areas i saw fit

i also sanded down the tops cause i wanted to stain them and keep wood on top. (although they are not solid wood on top i still am very happy with how they turned out)

then i waxed it with a clear soft wax from annie sloan then sanded with a fine sand paper and a heavy sand paper. i also used a flat head screw driver to scrap of some parts of the paint.

Then i used annie sloans dark soft wax working with only a very little area and rubbing of with a wet towel. working fast and getting it in the grooves!

then i just used the old pulls and there ya have it!

(SIDE NOTE) I also got to go to one of my favorite things of the year!the rose and rust vintage home and garden show its in a big barn on a ton of beaitful land with horses all around. It was raining this time and parts where out side the barn it was hilarious how funny my hair looked by the end! i walked around for over a couple hours and was pretty wet but it was vintage heaven so who cares it wasn't a fashion show right?! :)

Well i got a huge wood ladder, painted white chair, a little egg basket, a white hook also that day i found a antiques brass chandelier from spain (at another place in redding) for 20 bucks! woot

so here is what i did with them and the side table..

so there ya have it :) now hopefully this rain stops and i can get some more furniture done! i have a huge lot to do :-) cant wait to get my hands on it.

blessings!!

im linked up to these parties

elements-interiors
serendipitychicdesign
restoreinteriors
primitiveandproper
abowlfulloflemons
atthepicketfence
shabbynest
missmustardseed
frenchcountrycottage
redoux
shadesofamberinc

Update

2011-05-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so I feel no need to apologize for not posting in 3 weeks since life has just been FULL! BUT really I'm sorry hehe things are kinda getting slower ok well really who am I kiddy things are never slow, somedays I can just handle the LOAD a little better than other times lol. it's so nice to have people love reading my blog and seeing the posts and commenting. Thanks to all who read and comment :) it makes my day extra fun seeing your comments in my inbox :-)..... anyways :) my computer cord went belly up ( one to many times in the baby's mouth will do that) and so during the day I have been computerless :( moment of silence please!;) And I still have not got a new one.(I'm posting from my iphone) Hopefully soon. I have a couple things I am working on. Then a pair of twin side tables redone with thee amazing chalk paint! Man I love that stuff! So till I can post about that I thought I would tease you all with the befores of the pretty little tables :)

Hopefully in the next couple day I can show you the rest have a amazing blessed day!

vintage close to home

2011-05-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

So a few months ago when we lived with my dad and mom waiting for escrow to go through on our house. My "work shop" was in there garage. (well to be honest there are still pieces of furniture in there..sorry mom and dad hehe ill be over soon to get them)

Well i was searching for something in the cupboards and came across these amazing old wooden tool boxes. so right away i took a picture with my phone and texted them to my parents saying "um i want these!" and letting them know if they were sentimental not to worry i will be ok if they say no! As i am so sentimental so i would totally understand. Well turns out my great grandpa morken used to make wooden tool boxes and these were his. My dad had been keeping them along with some old tools. He said it was ok for me to have them.(yippee) and i promised i would not paint them or change them in anyway. They would be showed off and talked about. The greatest part they have a story. There not just any old tool box but ones my GG made with his own two hands. I can see him in his work shop making them now. I have heard stories from my grandma about what a talented man he was a Pastor, interior decorator, he would paint all kinds of things using plaster and such he even painted on the ceiling of the Angeles Temple. He remodeled many homes, Prayed for the sick and they were healed. He was a hunter and fisherman thats how they ate. He even Baked many of the pies for a reasterant they had.

A fun little story i love is when my grandma was a little girl her mom made all of her clothes until right before she was married, but when she was about 15 her mom (my great grandma) broke her arm. they had the material & pattern for her 'Easter' dress, but none of the Ladies they asked would make it 'cause of the kind of fabric. Her dad (my great grandpa) said, no worries - I'll make it - and he did - and it was perfect!! So yeah needless to say he was a very talented man!

So here they are in all there glory im sure they will be moved around many times through out our home but for now here they our i love them!!

(i moved it to my room on our new dresser)

Here is the long one perfect for my table!

linked up to these parties
type a decorating
funkyjunkinteriors

french dresser

2011-04-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Here is my newest redo

So i bought this dresser about 1-2 years ago and it has needed a makeover bad!! i started out by painting a brown over it so the gold and yellow wouldn't show through to much.

then i put wax from a yummy smelling candle on the parts i wanted the cream paint to come off easily. the yummy part was just a bonus ;)

then i took 3 coats of creamy flat white paint (not chalk paint yet i had already bought the paint for this one a long time ago) to cover this bad boy!

*then i put a clear soft wax with a great brush. then sanded it and distressed it with both fine and rough paper.

Then i used dark soft wax (very little) just mainly getting it in the cracks and only doing a area of about 4 inches at a time so it wouldn't get to dark. and rubbing a lot with a old pair of tights haha.

here is the before picture ( probably the best before picture ever ;) i couldn't find the other one so you get this one of my newborn shoot of our cruz :)

Heres the after

im linked up to these parties :
miss mustardseed
french country cottage
redoux
at the picket fence
chic on a shoe string decorating
funky junk interiors
elements-interiors
restore interiors
primitive and proper
type a decorating
pink postcard

A Legal dutch babies breakfast.

2011-04-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

I love breakfast! i should add that i love sweet breakfast! pancakes, waffles, cinnamon rolls you name it if comes in a sugary breakfasty form im game! WELL since i have gone gluten/sugar/dairy free for 2 weeks now and counting all those things are well .... out of the picture..... you would think! BUT after this mornings breakfast. i think not!

My grandma Johnson is a amazing cook. She has a amazing COOK BOOK that has all my favorites in it! I have been know to put away 6 cinn rolls. :-) she makes by far the best ones in the WORLD! This cook book is a piece of art as she painted a amazing floral water color for each recipe, and her hand writing is well incredible. If you only get the cook book for that one thing its worth it but there are so many other things in there that are amazing. Well i am determined to figure out how to make some of these things LEGAL for me to eat. hehe :)

So on todays menu is Dutch Babies.

they are super easy! (NOTE im going to be giving you my gluten/dairy free version)

*first pre heat your even to 375 put a 1/4 cup of coconut oil and a 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt in a shallow pan and place it in the preheating oven. (note, this picture is of my test batch in a small pan normally i put it in my dutch baby pan)

* next put three eggs in your blender and mix for 1 min.

* next add 3/4 cup rice milk slowly while its blending (or almond milk ect....)

*now add 3/4 cup gluten free flour slowly.....blend for 30 secs this is what i use for it

Just a note i start the blender with the lid on then take it off and put flour in. ;)

* pour in the hot pan thats been warming in the oven and bake for 18-22 mins until golden (this picture is of the pan i made with real butter for the kids.... i didnt know if the coconut oil would turn out yet and they were hungry so i used real butter for theirs just in case haha)

*then when ready this is what they look like (another pan lol)

this is where you can be super creative with toppings but I serve them with berries and drizzle a little maple syrup also bananas mix with berries are super yummy too. My kids eat them with just maple syrup :)

washing wool diaper covers (woolies)

2011-04-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

i thought i would share with you how to wash your woolies. its super easy and doesn't require much skill once you know how ;) I actually like washing them its kinda relaxing and makes me feel like im old school hhehe...... so hear goes.

* Firsts take your woolies and turn them inside out if possible.

*Take wool shampoo of your choice, if you dont have any you can use baby shampoo or a gentle liquid dish soap.

*put it in the tepid water and mix around.

*place your woolies in the water and work gentle around. if they are soiled then you can scrub them a little until clean, just not to much.

*let sit in the water for about 15 mins.

*drain the water and squeeze out excess water. i like to rinse them under running water to make sure all the soiled water in gone.

*next fill your sink with a little bit of VERY HOT water (the reason for the gloves).

*then you get your lanolin. i use the kind most have for chapped boobies from breast feeding (you can get at most stores) ;) haha.

*rub it around in your fingers under the water to get it to melt.

*add about 1/2 cap of the wool shampoo at this point, it helps get the lanolin of your glove and get it mixed in. make sure there are no clumps left.

*fill with more water to make the temperature luke warm.

*place your woolies in the water moving them around and working the lanolin water through them.

*let them sit for at least 30 mins. i usually forget about them and leave them for hours, and thats totally fine too.

*Next drain the woolies just like you did before.

*lay them out on a towel

*fold the towel over

*roll squeezing to soak up the water.

*take them out and lay flat to dry. also it can take longer than 24 hours.

there ya have it. :) all clean and whats great is you don't have to wash for about 2 more weeks.

P.S. im working on a couple furniture redos.. post soon as i can finish then. (pray for sun hehe)

a family of bloggers ;)

2011-04-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

I have a wonderful family full of amazing people who i look up to and admire. After being introduced to one of my cousins blogs today, a thought came to me how i would love to talk about my families blogs and brag a little hehe ;-) (none of them have asked me to do this BTW hehe)

My mother is so amazing and my best friend! she has so much wisdom about many things. One thing that she is such a inspiration to me about is health and wellness. she takes such great care of her self inside and out. im always learning new things about health and wellness form her. Im so excited to say she now has a blog about it and gets to share with so many more people and help them to be the best healthiest "them" they can be.

My cousin charis is so amazing with words the way she puts them down is wonderful to read. she has great help with the bible, shares her stories as a mom of 4 young boys and being a loving wife. she is a inspiration to me in how she does life! she has had her blog for awhile and there are so many to go back on and read. i just love it.

My other cousin nichole (charis sister) just started blogging and i just love all the tutorials she has on there. from yummy ice cream to bows :) she is so creative. her blog title is so great...blog not perfect

she too like her sister can write great and is so fun to read. She also designed her blog and her sisters blog super cute huh?

I shared a while back about myriahs photography blog. she married my cousin nathan (nicholes twin brother) We grew up together and we loved to do photo shoots together. her being the amazing photographer.. well she grew up and still takes pictures so amazingly! i love her eye its just great!

Now i have a cousin hannah who loves all things vintage and im pretty sure her wedding was my all time favorite ever!! if only i had pictures to show all you! it was vintage heaven im sure! lol

she has a great fun blog just looking though her post you get visual inspiration at how everything she touches is made beautiful. she made her little apartment to look amazing! which she has pictures of on there.

now the next person in not my sister by blood but she is in every other way! i met her after she became my moms P.A. and that was it. Best buds/sisters for life so its only fitting to add her blog in here :)

i love the way she writes she is very honest with her words and the way she puts her life to the page.

hope you enjoy looking at them. (and again they have not asked me to do this) just thought i would brag on my family and all our blogginess hehe.

P.S. some of my friends got together and got this great rocker for my front porch. i just love it.

(also time to wash the porch hehe)

our chicks

2011-04-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Our chicks are 3 weeks old now.... but i just have to show you them when we first got them. they were my birthday present. :) we had to buy 6 at a time but we can only keep 3 for our small city yard :) so we gave 3 away...

we love them :)

drop cloth wreath

2011-04-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

I have a wonderful friend heather armstrong and it was her birthday the other day. she is amazing at so many things, so creative and such a amazing giving heart. i adore her inside and out! She loves giving gifts! So of course i had to make her something special.

her is the wreath i made and put a little twist on from ones i had seen.

First i cut three inch strips of drop cloth canvas. im actually not sure how long i cut them but i did three different strips and used the edges of the drop cloth so i didnt have to hem it. woohoo.

i do ruffles a different way. i just scrunch and sew as i go....

then it looks like this.

here they are all done.

then bust out the hot glue gun and glue one end down to start......just glue as you wrap it around. i glued lightly at first in case i needed to move it around a little. then glued more once it was all done.

then i picked the fabric for the cloth flowers and the buttons for the flowers. (I forgot to take pictures)

but here are the after pictures :)

im linked up to some parties
shabby nest
funky junkinteriors
type a decorating

an update and a free find

2011-04-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

Well its been to long since my last post for sure! Judah and diegos baseball seasons started, between practices and games we have had a pretty full schedule and since there on two different teams due to there ages being different that means a lot. We love watching them though! It brings back so many memories of growing up. we are a baseball family for sure!

cruz hanging out at practice

diego and judah playin ball

We also got chickens!! there so cute and i will be posting some cute pictures soon but till then here are some cute ones taking with my phone of my boys sharing them to there class rooms for school :)

I have also been trying to finish up some editing that was put on hold during our move im almost done! (i didnt have my screen to edit on)

its for my brother eric his wife candace and my two nieces i love them! :)

last night we used our fire pit for the first time. it was so fun and i cant wait to do it again. Im so ready for school to be OUT!

after the kids went to bed last night i made a wreath for a wonderful friends birthday here is a sneak peak. tutorial to come soon ...hopefully lol

and ok im so excited about these two side tables i found for free on craigslist!! there going to be beautiful i think and well for free who could pass up these little pretties hehe.

well hopfully soon i will post some finished furniture! once i get a grip on our new routine and can find the extra time oh and when my little guys aren't sick :(

blessings to you all have a wonderful day!
(sorry all phone pictures)

dinning table and chair redo

2011-03-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well when gabe and i first got married we got a very nice dinning table and 8 chairs from pier one. but its not exactly the style im going for anymore its all wood and has great potential to make it fit but i have been nervous to redo it. so when i saw on craiglist a table and 4 chairs for 50 bucks i was sold! i drove a hour to go get it. I figured i could redo do this one and practice for the bigger table redo. i will talk more another day about my big plans for that table.

So i got steal wool and vinager. let it sit over night. now what i read said, use the finest steal wool but i didnt have that so i used i medium one. and it worked great. i put a few coats on.
here is the butter block table half done

here it is after a couple coats and just 30 mins or so

i had to sand some areas done more and reapply but it finally worked.

here is the after all waxed and buffed. (i still need to put another coat of wax cause my kids spilled juice on it and it left a spot :( )

here it is!

Now for the chairs

they were just this orange finish bleh!

i lighty sanded them and painted a white flat paint on them it took two coats

here is one coat on the left and two on the right.

i had to work inside cause it was freezing and raining out. and im proud to say i didnt get it anywhere it wasnt supposed to big lol.

then i sanded them and distressed and use a water based poly

here is my after picture (taken with my phone )

here you can kinda see them in this better picture :)

hope you enjoyed :)

im linked up to these parties :)
designer garden
french country cottage
miss mustardseed
funky junkinteriors
primitive and proper

milk paint side table

2011-03-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

So i have had this side table for a while just waiting to use my milk paint on it.

I got this blue milk paint that i thought was going to be lighter but i was to impatient to wait for the white MP to come in the mail to mix with it. so i just used the blue as is. although i still may do it some lighter later i do like it. let me know what ya think :)

here is the before

( picture at our old house. yucky blue carpet!! and not set up)

I sanded it down then mixed up the milk paint using hot water.

then applied the first coat

then waited

painted a sec coat and sanded once dry

distressed it a ton

waited and sealed it with a wipe on poly.

here are the afters

hope you like it :)

im linked up to a few linky parties

elements interiors
designer garden
miss mustardseed
funky junkinteriors
primitive and proper

My Isabella is 3!

2011-03-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

So for isabellas shoot for turning three we stayed in. Our new house has amazing light!! its a photographers house for sure hehe. Its been raining for days here with little breaks but still pretty muddy so inside it is!

Its my birthday today but yesterday was my most favorite little girl in the worlds birthday. i love that our birthdays are a day apart! i see a lot of spa days and birthday weekends filled with girly things.

Isabella is such a huge joy in my life. shes silly, fun, spunky and always full of character!

We had a great birthday party too with all our wonderful friends! it was a great day!

so much progress!

2011-03-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

Well we have made so much progress on the house! But we took on the garage which it is looking so great but more stuff came into the house to organize haha. so i still have that stuff more to do. I did how ever get to start on and finish a couple redos today. The hubs is gone for ten days so we will see how much more i get done ;). Not sure if you remember that very mildewy free chair. well i finished it and have pictures to show.
Here it is :)

And here it was before

I had to sand it down and clean the mildew off then remove all the rusty staples and pray i didnt stab my self!

Then i painted it white the sanded it and dinged it up... stabbed it with a screw driver.. hit it....

then used a glaze and sealed it with a rub on poly. I used a vintage burlap sack to recover it. I had to hand wash it and hang it out to dry first cause it was sooooo smelly!

but it washed up great and im really happy how it turned out. Here are a few more pictures!

cruz wanted mommy to pick him up! (i did :) )

I just want to post a couple other pictures from today too of the kiddos there just so cute if i do say so my self :) silly isabella

My sweet diego :)

My judah man and his cute smile :)

And just had to take a picture of this... my sweet baby girl in my favorite new room :)

I also finished my side table using milk paint... post soon to come!

and one more picture of us on move in day :)

Have a blessed day

also i got featured at for my french chair

yay!

im linked up to these fun linkie party

funky junk interiors saturday nite special

miss mustardseed feature friday

primitive and proper

french country cottage

shabby nest

finding fabulous blog

type a decoratingrestore interiors

savvy southern style
wassup wednesday elements interiors
designer garden
vintage revivals

its been MOVING WEEK

2011-03-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

As you may know we got the key last friday but we were not able to go to the house till sat.

Our 7 year old son judah open the door, it was a great moment :)we are so excited to be in our house and so far it is just the perfect fit!

We have been soo busy unpacking all week. I have had some great help unpacking the kitchen and our closet!

I have been kinda stressed that this house would be come cluttered and that we would be keeping things that just take up space and stuff we dont need. So as i have been unpacking i have been purging and loving it! i never thought i would say that. Look at my huge pile of stuff so far that we are giving away!

I have been a very sentimental pack rat my whole life haha. i still have my many keepsake boxes but at least its organized now! :)

Also after seeing this huge pile of more clothes that needed to be put away i knew we had too many cloths! for a family of 6!

It took about 6 hours to fold hang purge and put away it all

Im so glad that part is done!

so i have finished unpacking everyroom with exception of a couple boxes and thee office.

Isabella loves her room :)

I havent really started to decorate anything yet im just trying to get stuff unpacked first :)

but by far my most proud unpacking moment is the playroom/ craftroom!!

Its was so overwhelming i still cringe thinking about it lol

im also loving all the storage in this house! we have tons of extra space for things!

this is one side of our laundry room storage

I cant wait to start getting back to my furniture redos! i was right in the middle of a couple and am itching to get back to it! also to start decorating every room! oh so fun! but first things first FINISH THIS UNPACKING!! :)

oh and i must show you this amazing find my wonderful friend and amazing photographer myriah grubbs found on the side of the road i still need to go pick it up from her but its so great. i have been wanting a kitchen island to redo and this is so perfect.

crazy busy week!!!

2011-02-26T00:22:00.000-08:00

Well first off this week has been so crazy! today i didnt even eat till 1:30... and the day we have been waiting for since the beginning of december. Our amazing Realtor daniel miller brought us over the key to our new house!!!!! yeah it has been a roller coaster journey! We bought our first house a few years ago and boy have times changed! there are so many more hoops to jump to get in a house now days. Our great loan guy benji edwardson worked some miracles on our part.

so whats crazy is we got the keys but didnt even have time to go see it today. BUT for a very fun reason. We got to go see jonny lang and go out to eat with great friends! we bought the tickets weeks ago and it was a great way to celebrate our new home.

(hmmm i think something is wrong with the sign?)

The show was unreal! so amazing! me and my hubby have loved him since forever and used to listen to him a lot while we were dating.

What was just so fun about the show was our friend charles is friends with jonny and got to go play some amazing keys and organ!! one word for it was WOW!

so we are so blessed and excited to move in tomorrow. and start the not so fun unpacking lol. I am sad though to leave my mom and dads i love staying with them and seeing them all the time! (tear) One thing tht will be great though is when our kids come in our bed we will have our king size bed instead of a queen hehe. there were a few night where not much sleep happened after being squished by our 4 kiddos and dog. :) but such fun memories!!

I LOvE my life!!!

oh and p.s. my hutch was featured on a great before and after blog betterafter you can check it out if you want :) she has a great blog there!! THANKS!

mellow day

2011-02-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

So its a pretty mellow day around here. It sure is nice to have one more day off before our CRAZY week begins. We sign the closing papers on our house tomorrow (hopefully) then hope to get the keys thursday.

we have a conference this week starting Wednesday till friday and i sing a few times. we also have jonny Lang tickets for this Friday. im soo excited!!!

I also wanted to post a couple pictures of what i got on saturday. one of my fav places to look for treasures is oregon street antique mall. They were having a sale 25% off sale. So off i went just me and cruz. We walked around for about 2 hours i totally enjoying my self with my sleeping baby all snuggled up in the sling.

I love the rusty chair i plan to keep it just like this.

this I may paint white but either way i love it. little miss bella loves to help in the kitchen so its perfect for a little stool :)

I also found this for isabellas bed i want to use it as a bed skirt

i also got a white enamel bucket but dont have a picture :)

Hopefully i will be posting pictures soon of my house!!

(cell phone pictures)

snow ice cream!

2011-02-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

SO one of my favorite memories of the snow growing up, is making snow ice cream. My mom made it for us and now i make it for my kids :)

We had just a little left from yesterdays 3 inches :) so i went out and snatched some up per request of my children. :) Well and i love eating snow too! i crave it!

number one SNOW

then dump some real maple syrup in

then vanilla, i don't measure but its prob about a half teaspoon for every cup and a half of snow. i like vanilla :)

Then i add a little milk and stir it all up. taste it to see if you need more of anything.

enjoy :)

Jesus loves me the snow tells me so :D

2011-02-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

So we have snow today!! now for all those that live or have lived in the mountains you may laugh at our snow. being from a mountain town i probably would have too at one time in my life. but im ok with that! im proud of our little bit of snow. even if its only about a inch :) (still snowing though)

So today called for my moms agave hot coco. heres how you make it.
first it calls for some organic milk.
then some coco powder (i add to taste i dont measure )we like to use this kind cause it is 99% caffeine free. (this momma doesn't do caffeine)

Then raw agave nectar, and a pinch of salt. stir simmering over medium heat

Pour in in the blinder it makes it all frothy and fluffy :) careful start slow!

pour in your favorite mug or tea cup haha and enjoy

Wool and cloth diapering

2011-02-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well i must say i never knew wool was so amazing before cloth diapers! poor wool gets a bad rap cause guess what NOT all wool is itchy!

i just had a refresher on how amazing it is. i had stopped using it for some dumb reason! and just started up again. well my poor little guy had a diaper rash from teething and me not changing him as often as i should (shhhh hehe.) After one day of him being in a cd and a wool cover his rash is gone!! Oh why did i ever stop using wool??

a wonderful friend on mine let me use about 6 of her wonderwrap covers. she is having a baby anyday now so i am giving them back. :) Time to shop for some new covers! im going mostly wool now. i will still have a few PUL (polyurethane laminate) covers.(flips mosly) i have been looking on diaperswappers and spots corner
you can get gently used ones for great prices!

first i will give you a few fact about wool.

1. Wool is naturally anti-bacterial. It does not hold in dirt or odors.

2.You dont need to wash it very often. every couple weeks (some times longer) will suffice. unless it gets poo on it.

(i recommend using a fitted diaper with it so poo is less likely to get on the wool cover, prefold are good to though)

3. Wool can regulate body temperature. Wool naturally wick excess moisture and heat from your skin. This makes wool perfect for a hot summer's day. its also good for sensative skin believe it or not when using the soft wool.

4. Wool can absorb 30% of its weight in liquid without feeling wet. So even when your baby has a wet diaper, your wool cover will still feel dry to the touch. Not unless your diaper is very WET will you need to change her wool cover. And because it dries pretty fast, you can air out your wool for a short time and use it again with no washing.

5.There is a thing called lanolin in wool that makes it water repellent. It's what keep sheep dry when they are out in the rain.

6. wool needs to be hand washed (some can be washed on gentle cycle only if directed to do so) you use lanolin and a wool wash (or a gentle baby wash some even use liquid dish soap) It is so easy to wash! i learned by watching a video:)

7. wool is breathable so your baby does get as soaked while wearing wool covers. which is great for night. and if you have a HEAVY wetter.

now there are many types of ways people use wool with CD'ing. here are some.

interlock and jersey ... awesome for under clothing as it is really trim

felted recycled wool is virtually bulletproof. its pretty much when wool is washed and shrinks up really tight.

knit or crochet woolies and longies. if you know how to make these your set cause some are upwards of 75 dollars. (unless buying used there between 25-75)

there are some amazing ones on hyenacart. there are also some amazing yarns on there as well.

my wonderful friend holly made cruz these wonderful wool longies i researched for weeks on the softest wool and cutest :) there made from the merino wool .
for all you skeptics i dare you to feel them you would never know its wool!!

also go thrifting to find some old wool sweaters (i like the ones mixed with cashmere) and upcycle them into some longies or little shorts its super easy!

so thats my 2 cents on wool. i hope you guys will try it its truly amazing stuff.

p.s. i used pictures off of the web.

out junkin in the wind

2011-02-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

After i dropped the older two off at school and came home got ready. i decided to go to epersons auction yard (aka junk yard) on a crazy windy day i was kinda glad i hadnt done my hair yet lol. I had never been there. well they have a building that has the nicer things in it so there protected from the element. BUT where did i go? In to the field of JUNK! (this is only a quarter of it)

yeah it was pretty bad but so fun! i found this little chair needed some major TLC

then as i was leaving i saw this broken old foot board...

They were both free (not surprising they need work) i think the lady was happy i took them out of her hands! not that i even made a dent in the amount of ~~crap~~ stuff that was there. hehe

after that i picked up diego my second oldest from school we made a stop at home depot to get a couple things i needed for another project. Then just cause i wanted to go to a place that had pretty things to wash my eyes with after the other place we went to one of my favs ...Oregon street antique mall. found many things i wanted but nothing i couldnt live with out :) here are my little troopers who heard dont touch MANY tines today :)

soon as i got home i took the electric sander too them. i wish i could have used the chippy paint to my advantage but there was to much mild due. so here is what they look like now. ready to be painted.

so stay tuned.

It had me at hello ..picture HEAVY!

2011-02-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

(picture taken at my parents house)

I have wanted a french chair for a while and when i saw this hidden gem for 10 dollars. It had me at hello! So after a few days of tlc the chair is now a beauty! Its not perfect but im pretty proud of it. its my first chair like this.

This whole chair makeover was inspired by thee amazing miss mustard seed
and the copy me challenge she has the most amazing style and talent for redoing furniture! i really loved the way she does her chairs and the paint technique she used on this chair

If you want to see the beginning process of my chair click here

So after painting it the bright base color i brushed on a grayish white with a dry brush. (i didnt have french grey so i added a little black and a tiny bit of blue to a white paint i had)

.....i went to town with a heavy grit sand paper!

..... i used Ralph Laurens glaze and added a little dark wood stain to it to make it darker to my liking. i bushed this glaze over an area the wiped off with a wet paper towel (dont use a wet towel it will be too rough and wipe your paint off.. opps lol)

then came the use of my new staple gun, i put burlap to create the support for the back of the chair.

.... i put batting in

...cute a piece of drop cloth and stapled away

after stapling both sides of the chair i cute around it.

....added trim with a hot glue gun

before and after!

Here come the pictures! :)

and my little helper :)

im linked up to a couple fun linky party

french country cottage

designer garden

progress

2011-02-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

So today i went out to get a few things to start on the chair. i picked up a drop cloth (for the fabric), a test paint (perfect size for the chair), and a staple gun and staples.

first things first.....

get kids occupied

then...

take off the cushion

down to the bones

then....

tester paint is a perfect size for a chair

i mixed both of those colors

all painted with the first stage of paint

then while the paint dries its time to work on the upholstery (i had wanted to do a slipcover for the bottom of this seat but my sewing machine is packed up in storage so i will later)....

take staples out

Let me just say that the manual staple gun i got today sucked!
look it barley got them in. so i will be going back tomorrow to return it and get the good one! (very worth it!)

ugh

I will redo this tomorrow

so thats where i am with the chair for today. i will do more tomorrow but for now its time to get ready for date night. We get to see sleepless in Seattle in the theater here in town im so excited

thrifting oh how i love you.... maybe to much hehe

2011-02-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

So i have been on the search for a small dresser or taller side table for some time now. but dont want to spend over 40 bucks. if i could get it for 20 or less thats even better. WELL ya know what that means.... going to the not so nice places to dig. haha
i however did not find what i was looking for BUT i found a chair its so pretty or will be. here she is. i love the detail. i plan to reupholster it on top and do a cute slip cover for the bottom... also give it a little paint.

i also found this stuff on craigslist for 5 bucks it came all together. i mainly just wanted the boxes but it all came together.. not sure if the other vintage stuff will go right. the grinder thing is cool i think that may work but the other thing we will have to see. :) i also got two coco cola tins but i will sell thoughs or something im not a big fan of them.

then i went too another thrift store and found this adorable pillow for my daughters bed. It matches her big pillow perectly and only 2 bucks!... so crazy.

i also got some fabric for 60 cents. also a slip chair cover i will use the fabric from and use it on the new chair. so my running totally for today was 20 bucks :)

on a side note... life has been crazy lately with the house and other things! escrow is still going and not sure when it will close there was a bump in the road but it is getting ironed out. in the mean time we are having lots of fun at my dad and moms house! the front of my there house is filling up fast with things i keep buying for the new house! when it comes time to move to the new house im going to have a garage sale of all our old stuff i dont want anymore!! yay purge baby purge! (for those who know me that's easier said than down haha hopefully i will not be to sentimental that day lol)

blessings all!

Ok so i couldnt wait...

2011-02-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

Which is no surprise to me haha. i took pictures of the hutch in the garage even though its not the best place to show it off! Oh well. im just loving it.

so here it was before.(also here and here )

i didnt get a picture of it all put together but you get the idea

here is the AFTER

Hope you love it just as much as me :)

im linked up to a linky party at

Sneak peak

2011-01-30T15:07:00.001-08:00

So I have been working for a few days on the hutch that will grace our dinning area. Well folks I finished it today!! I took a few pictures with my big camera but it was in the garage and not the prettiest setting. So for now I am just going to tell you what I did to finish it and then a few sneak peak pictures :)

After the crackle paint was done I sanded it some all over with a fine paper and sanding square. And use the scraper to chip some paint off and put some dings in it. Then I used a rough sand paper to get more destessing. Once it looked how I liked it. I used wipe on poly all the piece. I gave it a couple coats with a rag and used a small brush to het it in the cracks. I had been debating if I should rib a stain on it. I tried part and disliked it a lot for what I was going for. So I took the little brush and put it in the cracks and wiped really fast! Then i thought why not mix some with the poly to delute it. It was perfect!
Here are the things I used.

I really wanted this piece to look chippy cracky and kinda dirty lol. Well since I used dirt to destress before the crackle it was all over the floor of my work space. Which actually helped in achieving that exact look. Cause when I was wiping on the poly some dirt got in it haha. I love it.

Next came the chicken wire. Pretty simple just cute it to size. And atach it. I kinda bent mine some cause I wanted it to be imperfectly perfect. (someday I hope to find vintage wire) but till then I put a little of this glaze on it

Then I got my knobs from world market.

Here are the sneak peak pictures (taken with my iPhone) till it gets in our house :) then the big reveal with the big momma camera so you can really see it!

shopping day :)

2011-01-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

So i have been itching to get out and go shopping for new thing for the house. my hubby and i didnt give each other gifts this year for christmas so we could get stuff for the house. we were wanting to get new towels, new dishes and new flatware. Well today me and my younger two kids went out on our hunt! first we started at a wonderful store named Lulafaye (amazing antique store).

After that we went to a store called eppersons that is like a ross but for furniture and house things. well they had this set of dishes for 39 dollars from jcpennys the only thing that was wrong is it was missing a mug. (who cares lol) originally the set of 8 is 249 dollars. um can you say steal! and its ever thing i wanted in dishes!

well then i was thinking i prob need more than 8 so i got on jcpennys and they happen to be having a sale on those dishes instead of 249 they were 139. and i also ordered the serving dishes for the set.

then we got new towels and jcpennys was having there sale on all there stuff
this is a bad picture but we got cream and white

also here are some things i have collected at thrift stores and such over the last month. :) i cant wait to use it all.

....more to come from my hutch its almost done :-)

Using dirt!?

2011-01-27T13:45:00.000-08:00

So me and my hippie self was thinkin today, why cant i use dirt to give my furniture that "old farm i have been weathered look." i mean when you have a piece of furniture thats very weathered it most likely has dirt on it anyways. so i went out in the yard and got some moist dirt and moss. took a hand full of the dirt and rubbed it all over my hutch in the areas that i though would have it. and also where im going to be putting the crackle paint. so it would show through.

after dusting it off. it was time for the crackle paint... im only putting it on parts of the hutch. im going for the more natural look so i dont want a allover crackle. thank you barb over at knack
for the tips on using crackle paint. i only can hope it turns out even a 1/4 as nice as your pieces :-)

here it is after i added the top coat of white flat paint. This is my first time using crackle medium its very tricky!! you are only supposed to go over the crackle once with the top coat but some part didnt cover up, even though my brush was loaded with paint. so i had to quickly put more on. well the first part i did is so clumpy and messy lol. but after i sand it i think that it will actually achieve the very warn old farm hutch im looking for. there are still a couple things im going to do to it so its still in that middle of "im getting my hair done" look. haha

to be continued :D

on and look what i found today from craigslist. 3 of these crates for 25 dollars :) i am not a soda drinker but i am a sucker for crates. i think im going to use them as shelves.

on a different note..... cloth diapers

2011-01-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

So i have loved helping many of my friends with cloth diapers. i started using them with my daughter (third child) and absolutely LOVED using them! so much so that when we found out we were having a little surprise #4 (cruz). I got so excited thinking about getting to do cloth diapers again. When i started thinking about making the switch to cloth diapers after having used them with my first two kids it was kinda overwhelming. I really had idea what i was doing and no one to help me. my mom had used them but that was a long time ago and so much had changed. so for months i read blogs and forums researching and finding what i thought were the best options in the big wide world of CD'ing.
when it comes to things that one may think i would quiet on it just makes me want to succeed even more. im pretty stubborn that way! :)

I have a long list of info i have saved in a word document and so much more i will touch on in later blog posts. but for now this is a big chunk to chew on for those wanting to know about it. :)

verybaby

sunshine diapers
this next one is the forum you can read stuff with out becoming a member or anything but the first things that say like diapering 101 that stuff is VERY HELPFUL. and it will keep you busy for a long time reading all the stuff on there!
i really recommend joining the just mommies forum!
just mommies

this next one is one that i ordered some of my stuff from
green mountain diapers(where to get the prefold as well as other things)
diaper swappers(where i bought most everything as well as a lot of great info) you get everything for way cheaper. just find the forum part that sells the diapers.

cottonbabies

another forum
she knows

i also have two wet bags so when i put the wet bag in the wash with all the diapers i can just put the next one in the pail. the key for me to have cloth be easy is having a good set up. i use nellies detergent and oxi booster.
so a cold rinse with vinagar. then a hot wash with nellies detergent and nellies oxibooster. with a extra cold rinse and the end.

on a side note it is pretty important that when using nellies (as well as other detergents for cloth diapers) you use it for all you clothes as well. or it will strip the sides of your washer and put the other detergent on your dibs (diapers) and create unwanted build up. resulting in bad chemical diaper rashes! i know this from experience and its not pretty :( nellies works great on all our clothes and i nly use half a scoop unless it a huge load.

so with isabella i started out with 2-3 dozen small Indian prefolds and 8 covers ,three AIO'S (then i went up to regular size)

with cruz i had more fun buying and got 4 AIOS and about 4 fitteds and 10 newborn covers with 12 newborn prefolds, also 2 pocket diapers. i also cut up a old shirt and had it ready to line the newborn diapers with to keep the tar poop at bay and then just throw it.
now that he is bigger i use about 12 newborn prefolds (i just fold in three and lay in cover) 12 regular size prefolds, 4 fitteds, 6 AIOS and about 10 covers. i find i have way more than i need :) but its fun to have variety.

i cut up a old receiving blanket for wipes (about 24) two big wet bags one small wet bag (for diaper bag) 6 snappis, flush able diaper liners in case of diaper rash so i can use diaper cream. (and for when poop get solid so you can just dump in toilet and flush)

theres a lot but once you just read on it for a while it is not so bad :) and seriously fun which is weird LOL but i love it! and i love sun drying it gets stains out amazingly! so in winter i hang them out even if they dont get dry cause the little bit of sun still gets the stains out and i just finish the drying inside. you can use the dryer to if you like :) i only dry to fluff mainly ....but never dry covers.

my fav brands
green mountain prefolds for sure, goodmamas (i have only gotten as gifts cause there pricey! lol) if you can sew or know some one who can the darling diaper pattern for fitteds and AIO are my all time fav! mutts, there a lot of good ones wonderwraps are a good cover too. thristie covers are good but the velcro goes out faster.The thing with covers is they will fit pretty much every babies. Aios are the tricky kinds that don't fit all kinds. And leak more the prefolds and covers for the most part. Fitteds and covers I use also . i try to stay away from all micro fiber diapers they smell and are harder to get the smell out than cotton. :)I really like cotton!
I also sell my stuff on diaperswappers that are still in good shape. You def can't do that with all of the diapers cause some get really worn. But newborns you only use for so long. I also suggest get all snap diapers if your going for longevity. The only Velcro diaper cover I buy anymore is the wonderwrap. There velcro is tough stuff!
Ok anyways I could go on and on!
Oh one more thing if you can find osocozy aios, the older version with snaps there a great cheap aio that's just plan white cotton kind nothing fancy but hold great! The new ones I have not tried cause there Velcro. They may be great though. I found my older ones on DS and got like 6 for like 15 bucks.
i aslo have a few different fitted that i found on diaper swappers that where just cute and a great deal i bought.

I TOLD YOU IT WAS GOING TO BE A LOT OF INFO hehe
if anyone has other questions just ask :) i love to help!

so excited!

2011-01-25T21:49:00.000-08:00

Im so excited to decorate our new house! hopefully escrow will close the first week of Feb. all though i will seriously miss staying with my parents i love them so much and its so fun seeing them all the time!

After looking for months for just the right house and the 4th house offer me made we found such a perfect house. It is like it was remodeled with me in mind. its a newer house but has old charm. less then 5mins from my boys school and just a couple more to my hubby's work. its not on land which we really wanted but i don't think its time yet for that (someday).

Many of you may know that im pretty much hooked on craiglist and ebay. Im always looking for my next deal! i check a few times a day either on my computer or on my iphone. (woohooo apple) currently im searching for a crystal chandelier for my soon to be office
this is what im looking for. actually one of the ones i lost the auction on. :(

but i did happen to find the chandelier for isabellas room and won that one.

and also a 1920-30's hanging light that i won on ebay. it needs rewiring but hopefully i can get it working :)

hopefully soon i will get to look around town and see if i can find that perfect chandelier. that wont break the bank! :)

my first

2011-01-25T18:43:00.001-08:00

So i have wanted to start a home blog for a while now. I found my self wanting to write about my every day life such as cloth diapers and redoing furniture, just the every day life of me. i didn't think it was going to work to put that on my photography blog. So low and behold this will me my home/everything else blog :)

I have so many projects i want to do right now but since we are in between houses (staying with my amazing parents) i don't have access to all of those projects. there tied up in the garage of our soon to be new house just awaiting the close of escrow. They better watch out cause either my paint or sewing machine is coming after them very soon!

Well i do how ever have one cabinet i purchased while staying here. i got it for 30 dollars. all wood but the glass was broken totally fine with me since it was ugly glass anyways with those fake brown lines on them.

SO finally today after many days of kids being sick and rainy days i started to paint it!

here is the piece before

and here is the middle of the project with just the first coat of paint. there ar estill many parts that need to be done to it. but its a start!

I will keep you all posted on how it is going!