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February 28, 2011

Lucky Me, Lucky You Printable

Want some yummy green St Patricks Day eye candy?

I was completely blown away by the reponse to my Valentines Day printable and wanted to give you something fun and free for St Patricks Day!

I've never really decorated for St. Pattys and because of my crazy school schedule lately, I probably won't get much up this year either. (I do have a couple fun projects to show you soon though)

So here's the printable I whipped up for you this time
I guess I'm still on a semi-romantic kick (we just got back from an ah-mazing marriage conference)
so it's got a little 'aww' factor and a splash of green :)



Go here to get it and download it for yourself!

As with all my free printables,
these are for personal use ONLY.
Please do not claim them as your own or alter them.

I printed it as an 8x10 and it worked great- but it should be saved to go bigger if you want.
(and pretty please send pictures if you use it!!)

So run off and go green-arize your house! :)




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February 25, 2011

The 'Nook" Grand Reveal!

I FINALLY get to show you my favorite little place in the house.

(yup, it's pretty much already my favorite!)

It all finally came together and I can't wait for you to see everything.

If you've missed anything so far here are the posts so far:


But now we can get to my favorite part:
The big reveal!

Are you ready?

Here's a little peek...


And...... the final, fabulous reveal...


Watcha think?
They look pretty good together, huh?

And a few little accessories never hurt anyone.
The white lamp was a cast-off from my mom and a new shade from Target made it perfect for the nook.
And of course, you have to have books in the reading spot.


I threw my 'be calm' pillow on the chair but soon it'll have it's own.
I posted about redoing that blue tray a while ago and it's looks right at home holding some of my favorite classics.


Remember my scrap wood H and lovely blue frame?
That wall looks so much better without that huge tv fighting the frame for attention :)


Here's a bigger glimpse of the room...

I have plans to share more about my coffee table soon.


I know I might have a big faux pas on not decluttering my bookshelves.
But, well, I don't know that I care.

Me and hubby LOVE to read and I love our books :)
Call me werid, but they're comforting and lovely.

There's just something about a great book...
so I really don't mind if my shelves are overflowing with them :)


Wanna peek at what's actually on the shelves?
Tons of classics... the more worn the better...


And stacks of Ted Dekker books.
Love.Him.Tons.
Oh, and Frank Peretti too.


Some more of our random books... and sweet baby pictures of the hubs and me.


There's tons more too... Francine Rivers, Emily Dickison, Orson Scott Card, JRR Tolkien...
and boxes of books in the garage.
Hubby has a Nook now...and this space is my non-electronic version :)


One last look...
and if you want to see what the space looked like before, check the picture out on the part 1 post.


It's come a long way.
And I lurvve it.
Especially since it cost less than fifty bucks for everything.

What do you think?
Are they a good match?
And most importantly, do YOU have a 'nook' area?
Tell me, tell me!

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February 23, 2011

'Nook' Part 2: Vintage Chair Transformation

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Are you as excited as I am to see part two of the nook process?

In case you missed Part 1, go here to see the Quatrefoil Table.
And don't forget to stop by on Friday for the Final Reveal!

But without any further ado,

Vintage Chair Transformation!

Well, I call it vintage anyways.
Because it's so beautifully chunky and very well-loved...


I scored this lovely for a whopping 22.00 at the Restore.
It was half off furniture day and I was EXCITED.

It's VERY sturdy and in great shape minus some scratches.
Nothing some paint can't fix.
The upholstery wasn't gross...it just wasn't me.
Plus- it came with the awesome little ottoman.

So pretty miss thing came home with me!


I love her chunky arms- made to be the perfect reading chair!

Here's the cute ottoman...
and by the way, these pieces are heavvy.
I wasn't joking when I said they were sturdy.
Hubby calls her the 'viking chair'.
Not very lady-like.


She was another one of my big snow-day projects.
Honestly, I was way stir-crazy.

I stipped it down...the cushions just come off but it had a bottom piece that screwed into the chair.
And the ottoman piece just screwed right off as well.


I gave her a good coat of my favorite American Accent Espresso brown.
It goes on so silky.
Lovvvve it.

And, yup, painting in the kitchen again.
Somehow I managed not to get paint anywhere else but the chair.
Completely miraculous :)


While she dried, I reupholstered the bottom seat.
Just as easy as doing my simple dining room chair.

I got the fabric at JoAnns.
I love the simplicity of the brown and white.

Here she is with the seat screwed in after she had dried...

(can you tell that I ran out of paint after a little bit? I didn't finish painting those back slats...but you won't see them anyway, so, shhhh, don't tell!)


The ottoman got the same treatment...
just wrapped, stapled and screwed back into place.

This thing is cushy- another thing I just adore!


Now the horribly embarrassing part comes in...

because, well, I really just can't sew.
Like hardly at all.
I've sewn a couple easy pillows...but my machine hates me.
I promise.

It tries to massacre anything I put near it.
So I got super lazy.
And used....hot glue.

Are you completely appalled?
Oh well...because it so worked.

And since it's not one of our main chairs, it should last awhile regardless.
It's just wrapped like a present.
Nice and tight.


Are you ready for little miss thing's reveal?
(imagine drumroll)

Ta-da!


She's all painted up and cushioned up.
I plopped my H pillow on there for now but I'll make some just for her soon.


I love those arms, don't you?

Perfect to cuddle up next to with a good book.


Speaking of good books,
I, of course, had to let her pose with my favorite book.
It's 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck in case you didn't know :)

In a classic, mint condition.
One of my favorite things on my bookshelves.


How I can't wait to curl up with some hot tea and my book :)

Want one more look at the transformation?


I love our little viking chair.

What do you think?
Perfect nook chair?

I can't wait to show you the final reveal!
But for now, I'm being forced to study for my research class.
Ugh.

See ya Friday!

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February 21, 2011

The 'Nook' Reveal Part 1: Qautrefoil Table

I have been dyyyying to get this post up.

Like, literally, dying.

But I really wanted to wait until I had all the pictures ready and then after editing a bunch of them I realized that I had WAY too many for just one post.

So welcome to the Reading Nook Reveal in
three parts!

Part 1: Quatrefoil Table
Part 2: Vintage Chair Transformation
Part 3: The Final Reveal!

I decided I would keep you from having to sit down for over an hour to read my whole post so I split it all up.

Plus, it makes it a whole lot more fun :)

So I will be posting a piece of the reveal today, Wednesday and Friday.

This is the area that is to become my fabulous 'nook' area
Keep in mind that this is when we FIRST moved in and I just threw stuff in this room.
Don't judge, kay?


Almost everything in this picture is pretty much gone..,except the book shelves, but it gives you an idea of the space.
That corner where the shelves and tv are is the destined area for the 'nook'.
Don't look at it anymore!
Just move away from the awful-ness :)

So...Are you ready?
Because I'm way excited to show you this cute table transformation.

Almost exactly a year ago, I posted about this cute little end table I picked up at a church garage sale we went to.

I transformed it last year from it's dated oak to this beautiful blue using my favorite Valspar Mediterrean Blue.
(This is also the project where I fell in love with Valspar spraypaint!)

And it was left like this...


Now I love this little blue table.
I don't know what it is...but something about it just makes me happy.

So when I went to transform my 'nook' space, I knew that this was not a piece I wanted to get rid of...

But for the past year it's been the grand resting place of this beauty...


And I say 'beauty' as a very loose term.
This tv is just as heavy as it is ugly and would you believe that it's been used about twice in the past two years of living with us?

It needed to go.
Plus...look how it scarred my pretty table...


Never fear.
During my crazy winter snow days... I got incredibly stir crazy and decided I had absolutely had ENOUGH of not being able to use my garage to spray paint...
so I used my kitchen.

Yup.
But I did lay stuff down first, don't get crazy.

I gave it a good touch-up with some left-over meditterrean blue.


And went to work on my grand idea.
I've been dying to use this stencil from Jen over at Tatertots and Jello so I printed it out on cardstock.
Then I used my exacto knife to cut the template out.
I also had my lovely Valspar paint samples I got a few weeks ago...
This one is called 'Mint spritzer'.


I placed the template on the top of the table and started from one of the sides and worked my way out from there.
I just used a foam brush that I lightly dipped into the paint then dabbed on.


Here it is drying while me and hubby were watching 24...


After it had dried overnight, I lightly sanded it to give it a more distressed effect.
I didn't like the starkness of the white against the blue.
So distressing it toned it down perfectly :)


The last time I redid this table, I glazed it with brown glaze.
But it didn't pop as much as I would have liked.
So this time I went over it with my trusty black glaze.


Worked like a charm, it did.


I'm in love with it now.
I loved it before but now it's just perfect :)


And I still love the aged bronze handles so I didn't even touch 'em.


I'm thinking this table has a whole better life ahead of it now, huh?
Especially without that horrible clunky tv on top of it.


Here's one more before and after picture.
The before picture is the one from the very beginning of the whole process.


I adore my little blue quatrefoil table.
What do you think?

Will it enjoy being a reading nook table a ton more than bearing the weight of that tv?

I can't wait to show you the rest of the reveal!

Don't forget to check back in on Wednesday to see Part 2:
The Vintage Chair Transformation!

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February 10, 2011

Coffee Filter Heart Wreath

Another snow day!

UCA closed today's school sometime yesterday so I have yet another lazy day.
Best part: hubby's work sent him home since he wasn't running emergencies today.
They don't want any hospital transports going out  :)

So I get to snuggle in with both my boys today!

So I decided I should really get all my valentine tutorials (the few I have) up before Valentines actually hits!
I worked super hard on my reading nook yesterday and cannot wait to show you guys!

But it needs a few more tweaks before it's big reveal.

Here's something me and little man did during part of our snow day yesterday,
because we decided my subway art wall needed some love...

I made a template for the wreath by cutting a heart shape from some thick posterboard...
Then I just bent that in half and cut the middle out


I used just basic brown coffee filters that came in a humongous pack.
These ones are actually still leftover from my

I love the vintage feel the brown gives it.



Little man handed me filters and I glued them down...
dont' want to burn those precious little fingers!
He's a great little encourager... saying 'you're almost done' every couple of minutes.

We just glued and glued all the way around.


Little man wanted to give the finished heart a hug.
Apparantly our kitty, Hobby, liked it too because he kept wanting to put his paws on it.
He's mad at me in this picture because I kept taking them off.

(and yes...his name is Hobby. But hubby named him! Not me. But little man does call him Hobby Wobby- haha!)


And for now, it's hanging between my subway art.
How is it that coffee filters can be so pretty?


Little man says he loves the 'coffee heart'.


And I love it so much that it might stay out a little past valentines :)


But that's okay right?
We all need some lovin' every day.


Are you ready for Valentines?
I have no idea what to get hubby... he says he doesn't need anything. Ugh.
Any ideas?

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