The Bench.
The bench sits on my parent's little front porch--it has for many years. I'm guessing at least 20-25 years....maybe longer.
As is apt to happen, the bench has gotten a little worse for wear over the years. I've been saying that I was going to tear it all apart and paint it for a few years now, but I finally made good on the promise. I enlisted the help of my teenage daughter and we scrubbed, sanded, primed and painted the old bench. It's looking so pretty now!
The hubby is away on business, so the kids and I are taking spring break and "camping out" at Grandpa and Grandma's house. The kids are having a blast, btw. I'm threatening to tear into the bathroom cabinets and re-paint them, but I figured I better work my way up the ladder, gain some trust, rung by rung. =)
While I had the paint out, I treated the old milkcan to a fresh coat and a new sunflower. Sort of the same story here, I was probably 14-ish the first time I painted the milkcan and it needed some attention too. I didn't do the fanciest job on the flower, but you should know that I just used the colors of paint I had on hand and some old brushes I found...they really weren't even the right size for the job.
My mom's basement is full of treasures....I found this 'G' down there today. I dropped it and broke it, so after I glued it back together, I decided to hit it with the spray can too.
Sometimes, all the doing mom and dad do for you, you just have to go back and do a little for them. Of course, they get the added blessing of watching the munchkins while you "do" but hey....
Anyway, back to the old bench for a minute. Going on 17 years ago, the man in the photo below made me very happy by asking me to marry him, while we were sitting on that very bench! No red carpet, but it worked pretty well I'd say and being married to him has brought lots of red carpet along the way!
I guess you could say I had a vested interest in fixing up the old bench. =)
Normally, I have a hard time liking those somewhat cheesy kids crafts....I liked this idea though. It was a great tool to illustrate to the kids how Jesus paid it all, especially since I made them use pennies from their own banks. They felt the sacrifice in a very real way....especially the little ones who don't realize that pennies are really not "worth much." None of us were worth much either, but Jesus thought we were worth his all.
~~~Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow!~~
So, the first picture is not really a closet at all....I mean, it's no bigger than a closet, but it's best known as a laundry room. Being a laundry room doesn't you have to be ugly though, so I made a curtain to hang in front of all the lovely stuff like fabric softener and bleach. Then I hung the "speed dating for socks" deal. It's like this--socks without mates gather on the line there, and every once in a while, one gets lucky and finds the perfect mate! =)
I also bought a glass jar for laundry soap, looks pretty, huh?
Next, I added some cheery shelf liner under the sink. It was clean, but UG-LY before. Now I smile when I reach for the dishsoap because red is my all-time favorite color of kitchen cheerfulness!
Am I crazy because my spices are alphabetized? I had seen these kind of spice racks around, but when I went looking they were nowhere to be found. Then....I was standing in line at Michaels of all places and there they were. Sadly, they weren't giving them away so I only came home with one. I thought I could make do, but I really need another one.
I'm a little OCD when it comes to organization, but it saves me time in the long run (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!).
My girls are pretty good about keeping things organized too--probably much better than boys, but then I really wouldn't know. =) Barbies always pose a bit of a problem, but this over-the-door shoe bag was an awesome save for this situation. They are now conveniently placed for playing, and neatly kept. Momma is happy.
Kammy has a shoe rack in her closet...for SHOES....
I guess my inspiration inspired her though, because she decided that the shoe rack makes awesome horse stalls. Ah, well....you win some and you lose some.
I've even been organizing files on my computer. Oh, and I pinned a bunch
of my own things to Pinterest. I you don't already follow me, please use my pinterest button at the top left of my page and get on over there. I want to follow you back because I know you have some awesome things pined too!
Are you thinking of Easter yet? We are. It is early this year -- April 8th. We have acheivement testing the week of Easter, so it will be a busy week. I have been shopping for Easter dresses already and we are starting to work on a little Easter program at church.
We also made these fun musical eggs. You could use any egg-styrofoam, wood or plastic. We used plastic because that's what we had on hand. We just tore sheet music into all sizes and ModPodged it onto the eggs.
We placed them in a big glass vase with moss and are letting these little birds keep watch. Yes, I know....those are some awefully big eggs for those little birds.....
Are you sick of the master bedroom yet? Well, just bear with me on one more thing and then we will get on with the cleaning of the closets. =) I mentioned to hubby that our room needed a few maps, so he said to mount one on some of the leftover sheet metal. Great idea! He printed a great vintage map for me and I just drew on "Our Journey to Happily Ever After." The journey starts in the state of our births....
....and travels to the state of our first meeting. It makes a stop in the state of our first home and ends (at least for now) in the state we now reside. I just Mod Podged it on the metal and then hubby added all the "pretty" screws and a piece of plywood behind to steady it. I'm slowly working on more photo books to chronicle our travels as a married couple. They will be added to the stack of those already in the wash tub there. Once again, let me say how much I LOVE decor that means something--it's so much more "meaningful" than the generic stuff you can buy in the store. =)
Here is a little better picture of what else we did with the corrugated metal. I really think my husband was pretty creative with it here. The cool thing is that this nightstand looks great from all sides, so I can switch it up for a little variety.
One more little look at the map. I've had my fun for the day, now I really must wash the girls hair, make dinner for tomorrow and tidy the nest. Thanks for journeying with me! Happy trails to you, til' we meet again!
I showed you in recent post, what we did for our 15th anniversary. I am really, really enjoying the new cottage look in here. It's more relaxed and casual and very simple. It's also a little more masculine--and I do have a male person living here with me. =)
The only thing we were missing was a nightstand. Truthfully, we don't really need one with drawers--I know this will sound funny, but I have a lot of empty or almost empty drawers and cabinets around here. I don't like "stuff." Anyway, I suggested that an old crate or spool would make a nice nightstand, so my wonderful, talented husband got right on that. I was thinking that small would be nice, but I guess in a man's world things are bigger. I love it, but he better behave, because the "crate" is just about big enough to ship him away in.
I gave the whole thing a coat of mustard yellow paint and then "graywashed" over that. Hubby helped me design a logo and we incorporated the "21" from the day we were married and also the brand of love we package. =) In case you missed it, the month is on the mirror and the year on the headboard.
The nightstand is on casters and there is a shelf hidden on the side. I love how he used the metal accents. Very industrial. =)
I dug up some of our old love letters and tied them with twine as a final touch. I still have a "spring to-do list" but, with this crossed off, it's getting shorter all the time. I've been knocking out some things, like kitchen cabinet cleaning and touch up painting along the way--it feels good and now when spring really comes, we can head outside! I want to say here how much I appreciate all my husband's hard work on this. There were a few mornings where he was up and at his "real" job by 6am, yet still working on this in the evenings-not to mention preaching here and there along the way. He's really amazing--guess I'll keep him--but if not, I do have that shipping crate.
Hubby and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this week. Since we just got back from a trip to DC, we elected to work on a project instead of doing something special--turns out, the project WAS special.
We needed a new mattress. Boring. I decided that it would be less boring if I "needed" a new bedroom set as well.
Maybe a few new wall decorations would be in order too. =)
So, our anniversary was spent working in the garage. I wanted barn wood for the headboard. We looked at some that they wanted $300 for-- old things are valuable, I guess. Finally, we found some for $20. Yes!
Speaking of old things and value, Rick used this OLD table saw to cut the boards. It belonged to my Grandpa Hayford. I would say it's at least 75 years old. Pretty cool, huh?
The dresser set we had for the last 12 years was just a cherry wood veneer, so we also had to find a dresser to refinish. That would be my job. We located a pine one at Idaho Youth Ranch that was fairly easy to strip since it just had a couple of poly coats. The photo above is inside the drawers. They are lined with what looks like old newprint, but it's really part of the wood. I love getting things out of the drawers!
Once we got it down to the bare wood, I whitewashed it a dark gray. The gray paint we got in a gallon on the "mistake table" at Lowe's. It was a mistint, so cost us $5 instead of $25. I mixed about 70% water to 30% paint for the "graywashing". Then I painted on the birds, sanded a bit more, and finally gave it a coat of poly to protect it and give it just a little shine.
We also got new knobs that really made it "pop" and I painted a "2" in the corner of the mirror frame for the month we were married. I had a stencil for the basic bird, but the vines and numbers are freehand.
I listed the old set on craigslist for $375 to which my hubby was aghast. It sold the first day though--in fact, when they saw that I was trading it for unfinished thrift store junk," they had mercy on me and gave us an extra $25! =) LOL
I picked up an old galvanized trough and painted it mustard yellow like I painted the lamp on the headboard. It stores books, magazines, and yarn. I also painted the birds on the canvas there on the wall.
You've seen this corner of our room before--only new item would be the music canvas. I just printed off some of the songs from our wedding and modge podged them on a canvas. I like my decor to mean something, not just be pretty alone. I thought all the numerology ect, turned out pretty sweet!
And there is the headboard again. We used the same paint and same technique for finishing it as for the dresser. Rick got the light at Grover's and I gave it a nice antique mustard finish. Hubby wired it in and I must say, I REALLY, REALLY, LOVE the finished product. The "97" on the side is for the year we were married. It was a little hard to get realistic pictures of everything, it really almost has a demin look to it. I think it rivals a Polo or Nautica look--maybe even Pottery Barn. If you google it, these headboards are selling for about $1500--and I like mine better! The complete cost of the headboard was less than $50. The dresser about $125. We have wood and plenty of paint leftover so hubby will (soon, I hope) be making me some end table(s).
I LOVE what we did for our 15th! We are so blessed--working together was so fun--as is living together! =)
This post is a little old now, but since I am still getting action and pins on this project, I am going to link 'er up for Finished Object Friday. I always enjoy the fun and yummy thing Charity and the others share here.http://charitree.blogspot.com/2012/03/finished-object-friday-smores-cake.html
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This little corner has been causing me no small amount of grief. Here you see what it looks like now.....
But here, is what it looked like before. We rarely wear shoes in the house, so they tend to pile up at the door. No matter how many times I straightened, it always went back to this.
So....I started shopping for a shoe rack....only I didn't find anything I liked. I finally found one that wasn't too terrible. It was a vertical shipping pallet nailed to the wall with shoes stuck in the side. Sort of the idea I had in mind, but not quite. Well, it just so happened that there was an old shipping pallet here when we moved in, so I helped myself! That was as far as it went. I do okay was the whole design thing, but I really need a man and some power tools when it comes the actual work part.
Hubby did not disappoint! I'm really in love with the finished product! He also made the chicken wire memo frame from the same pallet. Love that was well! I'm hanging recipes, birthday cards, and notes from the kids on there with clothespins! The shades on the french doors are new as well, but you saw those in the last post and I told you how I made the ruffles for the top.
It's taken a while, but this area of the house has finally come together to my liking! Perhaps the best part of this little project was the cost. We had the pallet and the
chicken wire, so a little stain and the $2.99 chicken/barn plaque were the only costs.
I always enjoy
Charity's Finished Object Friday so much and always mean to link up...usually I get busy and forget. Today, I remembered...so I'm sharing a "few" things I've completed over the last couple of weeks. I love the inspiration I recieve from reading these and other blogs.
The girls remembered the candy pumkkins we made a few years ago and wanted to do them again. They are so fun and easy for kids. You just need candy circus peanuts and some sort of gum drop or tootsie roll (depending if you want brown or green stems on your pumpkin. Cut the candy peanut in half and "stick" it together- cut side down, with a small cut piece of the gumdrop. Let part of the gumdrop stick out the top for a stem. Draw pumpkin lines on with a toothpick or small knife.
(Sorry, sometimes my computer won't let me link a word, and sometimes it will). Strange.
To kick of the Autumn season and the soon arrival of school, we made a Autumn looking cake. Chocolate Cake with Cappuccino Icing was a HUGE hit at our house!
...and underneath are the everlasting arms...Duet. 33:27
As is apt to happen, the bench has gotten a little worse for wear over the years. I've been saying that I was going to tear it all apart and paint it for a few years now, but I finally made good on the promise. I enlisted the help of my teenage daughter and we scrubbed, sanded, primed and painted the old bench. It's looking so pretty now!
The hubby is away on business, so the kids and I are taking spring break and "camping out" at Grandpa and Grandma's house. The kids are having a blast, btw. I'm threatening to tear into the bathroom cabinets and re-paint them, but I figured I better work my way up the ladder, gain some trust, rung by rung. =)
While I had the paint out, I treated the old milkcan to a fresh coat and a new sunflower. Sort of the same story here, I was probably 14-ish the first time I painted the milkcan and it needed some attention too. I didn't do the fanciest job on the flower, but you should know that I just used the colors of paint I had on hand and some old brushes I found...they really weren't even the right size for the job.
My mom's basement is full of treasures....I found this 'G' down there today. I dropped it and broke it, so after I glued it back together, I decided to hit it with the spray can too.
Sometimes, all the doing mom and dad do for you, you just have to go back and do a little for them. Of course, they get the added blessing of watching the munchkins while you "do" but hey....
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