Closet Spruce Up

I think every girl needs a chandelier in her closet. It just makes it more fun to get ready in the morning, for me anyways. It adds some glamour for not a lot of money. Before we had just a regular builder's grade flourescent light in the closet. These get the job done, but don't do a whole lot aesthetically. I really thought I took a "before" picture of this chandelier but I cannot seem to find it anywhere so I'm just going to show you one that is similar to it so you can get an idea of what it looked like. It was actually in a little worse shape than this one. I found it for $5 at Goodwill, a deal that was too good to pass up!



I primed it and sprayed it black and now it makes my closet look totally different! Please ignore the holes in the ceiling that need to be patched from the previous light, I just couldn't wait to show you. I'm thinking about maybe adding some small shades to it in a fun pattern.

The glass part was one of my favorite things about it....

DIY dogwood branches

I found another fun thing to do with sticks. I love the look of just plain sticks but sometimes I like them to have something a little more, like a flower. There are so many beautiful floral stems but the ones I'm drawn to are always very expensive, probably because they are so realistic. Anyways, this challenged me to make my own. So, I started with some sticks that just happened to be from a Dogwood tree but you could use any sticks you can find. I like to find sticks that have as many branches as possible instead of straight scraggly ones. So, I spray painted all my sticks dark brown so they would all be uniform in color but if you could skip this step if you like more variation. Then I found this floral bush at Hobby Lobby for $5. I plucked all the flowers off. The great thing about this particular bush is that it had different sizes of flowers and even little buds. I used them all. I just hot glued them to the sticks where I thought the flowers would naturally be. They look surprisingly realistic! You could do this with any type of flower and they are so inexpensive and easy to do!



Here they are in my dining room...

I liked them so much that I made some for a bridal shower I just did.  The bride really liked them and we are able to use them again for her reception which is much better than real flowers!

I added limes to the vases to freshen things up.  I used two separate vases, one inside the other, to hold the limes in place.  I thinly sliced them and slid them in between the two vases.  Then I added water to keep them fresh and add another dimension.

I added some clear marbles to the vase inside the larger vase to hold the branches in place.  So easy and I think they are really elegant. 

Hope you all had a great weekend!

The reason for my pink grass...

So...here is the reason for my pink grass. I had to decorate for a ladies event at our church and the colors were pink, white, and black. I was trying to work with a tight budget and so I once again turned to my trusty sticks. I also used the runners I made out of these tablecloths. I added small strings of beads to the sticks to give it another dimension. In these pictures they look like worms but I promise in real life they didn't :)

I made these pom pom balls for the other tables following these instructions from All Things Thrifty.

and this was just a mixture of sticks and floral stems for the food table...

What to do?

I have been contemplating painting the china cabinet in our dining room for quite some time, but I keep going back and forth.  I like that it matches the table and it's in really good shape, just not my first choice for the color of wood.  (It was from my hubby's house before we were married)  I'm very thankful for it but just feel like maybe it needs a change?  It would be quite a big project to take on.  So...I'm asking your opinion?  To paint or not to paint?  I'm thinking of painting it white and painting the inside of the cabinet gray.  I think my white milk glass collection would really pop against the gray.  My husband thinks I'm crazy for wanting to paint this, you think he'd be used to it by now :)

Here is what it looks like now...

and here are some inspiring images of what it could be if painted...

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something two toned like this, only gray and white...

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I just ran across this cabinet that centsational girl did and it is almost exactly what I had in mind...

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this one from Little Green Notebook is adorable too, love the pattern...

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or this one that Holly from inthefunlane.com did for Frugal Contessa...

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So what's a girl to do?

Dish Towels

My grandma came for a visit and brought me these adorable dish towels.  They are just too cute not to show you.  She buys them from a friend who makes them out of old flour sacks.  I love the vintage look they have to them.  They are almost too cute to use!  In fact, I thought about framing them in my kitchen or something.  I think she needs to open an Etsy shop.  She sells 6 of them for $10, which I think is a steal.

and here you can see the detail...

I found these cute flour sack towels on Etsy.

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Easy Runners

I seem to always have trouble cutting a straight line with fabric. I know there are different ways you can do it but I discovered one way that worked for me. I love my laser level and use it for lots of projects and thought it would work perfectly for cutting a straight line. I had to make several table runners for a women's event so, I decided to use some tablecloths from Target to make it a little easier. You can typically get about 5 table runners out of a 60 x 84 table cloth. It works well and there's less cutting and sewing involved and a lot of times it's cheaper than buying fabric. So, back to the laser level. I measured in on each side where I needed to cut, then I used the laser level to line up the two marks and then I just cut the fabric following the laser as a guide.

Here's one of the runners on my table. I think I will try this technique again in the future. It worked pretty well for me.

and my new salt and pepper shakers from Goodwill for $0.99!  I was immediately drawn to them for some reason.  I love the basket weave pattern.

Work in Progress...

Our backyard makeover is moving right along. I repainted the patio set using Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spraypaint. It's hard to tell from the pictures but it has a really nice finish to it. I found the cushions on sale at Target for $10 and picked up an outdoor rug from Overstock.com. I think rugs make a huge impact on any space, inside or out. The pergola is up too but I'm waiting for the grand finale to reveal that. :)

Even my little herbs from the dollar section at Target are finally GROWING!!  I can't believe it, I'm terrible with plants.  They actually inspired me to plant a garden too.  We'll see how that goes.

Chives

Basil

Parsley

It's hard to believe these all started from little tiny seeds.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

Amazing Glazing!

I just love the look of glazed anything! I love the way it makes the details pop and adds a little aged effect. I found this urn at one of my local thrift stores and of course I had to buy it because I love urns. I thought it would be the perfect piece to try out some glazing. (I tried once before and it was not good...) So, I spraypainted it with SATIN krylon spraypaint and then went over it with some black glaze. It says to apply the glaze with a rag but I just used a cheap sponge brush so I could make sure it got in all the nooks and crannies. I let it sit for about 15 seconds and then I wiped it off with a t-shirt rag (to avoid getting lint in my finish). You can do several coats of glaze depending on how you want it to look. I just did one coat and was happy with the outcome. It says on the can to wait one week before sealing it, so I did (as hard as it was for me to wait) and then I sealed it with some spray polyurethane. It's important that you use paint that has some sort of sheen, satin or semi gloss works best. I found this out the hard way with my first glazing project. If you use flat paint the glaze will immediately be absorbed into the surface and you have no time to work with it. It will still work, but it will show large streaks and you won't have as much time to manipulate it. (especially if you are working with a large piece that has a big flat surface, like a dresser) This may not always be the case, but for me I will pass on the flat paint from now on.  Ok, enough rambling...


So, here is the before...



and AFTER! (They have these hanging baskets of petunias on sale at Lowe's right now for $5.99!)

I added this little "D" beside our door for a nice personal touch ($5 at Hobby Lobby)

The backyard upgrades are moving along nicely . The pergola is up and I hope to show you the whole thing soon!  Happy Friday!