Is there a birthday today???

Did you really think I would go the entire day without dedicating a spot on my blog to say......

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!!!

Clouds In My Coffee

You're so vain, I'll bet you think this project's about you, don't you, don't youuuuu?

Sorry bout that. I couldn't help myself considering my next project is a vanity. This isn't just any ole vanity though! It was my Granny's and there's a possibility that it could have also been my great-grandmother's too.....my mom wasn't too sure on this history of this bad boy.....or girl......yeah, it's definitely a girl.

My mom has been trying to pawn my Granny's furniture on all of us, but to be honest, it just it's our style. However this bad boy girl, is different from all of that Early American furniture she has. It's a little too fru-fru for me but I'm going to try to modernize it a bit by painting it either black, white or metallic silver and adding shiny, fancy hardware. I'm not a big fan of the scroll work or curly q's and don't even get me started on the flower motifs on the 2 larger drawers. I am not a flower girl......well, I was a flower girl once in my cousin Lisa's wedding but that's neither here nor there. I talked to my dad about possibly filling in the flower part with wood filler but I think it would make it look like something was missing. We have plenty of time to figure it out since we're still in the stripping and sanding phases.

She's been sitting in a bedroom for years with it's 2 coats of paint and a couple layers of dust. When I was at my parents' house last weekend I decided to pull her out and stare at her for a bit and figure out what I was gonna do with her. When I rolled it out (thank God it's on casters), I was thinking, "Geez-oh-pete, you're heavy!" Then I opened the drawers and found 2 tin cans of change that my Granny had left in there. I'm sure I'm not the only one who had a grandparent that kept stashes of change all over the house. I loved seeing her scribbly-granny-handwriting. And how cute is it that she wrote down the total and marked it out 3 different times as she added more change? For those of you that don't know, my Granny passed away 6 years ago so it was a pleasant surprise finding these stashes-o-change.

I guess she didn't want to total all those pennies. LOL. It's ok, Granny. I wouldn't have wanted to count all those pennies either.

Let the stripping begin! You can see where we my dad was showing me a couple different stripping methods. Ok, hold up!....I'm not really liking how this is sounding. My dad is not a stripper-stripper. He only strips the paint off of furniture!

To get the 2 coats of paint off, we thought it would be easier to use this method: Hot air gun and scraper-thingy.

I gotta say.....this was not fun. I am way too A.D.D. for this. The good news is when I talked to my mom yesterday, she said dad was outside working on it. :) I'm glad we're tackling this together(?) because it would never get done if it were just me. I spent about 45 minutes working on it then I had to go upstairs and watch Oprah announce her big shocking family secret that she had a half-sister she never knew about.

Several months ago, my dad was playing with a stripper that my uncle was telling him about. Seriously! I need help re-wording this. I don't know how else to put it! Anywho, he went ahead and stripped the 2 smaller drawers and sanded them. Look how smoooooth. Ignore that ugly wooden knob. It's gots ta go!

Here's a better shot of the flower on the drawer. Ya'll got any suggestions? I can't wait to show you all the finished product cuz right now, it ain't lookin' so hot.

The Office Quote of the Day:

I don't care if Ryan murdered his entire family, he is like a son to me.

~Michael

Tippy Tuesday

How can I be productive when I have THIS laying in my lap looking up at me?

Master Bedroom Lamps.....Check!

Good news....I can mark something off my list! I purchased 2 adorable lamps for my nightstands. I spotted these at Target before Christmas but I didn't get them because they only had one in the store and I couldn't find them online. Last weekend, I stopped in Target to look at their cute filing boxes and (somehow) found myself cruising through the home decor section. I only had about 10 minutes to spend in the wondrous Tar-jay because my furry sidekick was in the car waiting for me. I walked down the lamp aisle and THERE THEY WERE! Not one, but 2! They only 2 they had left. And the good news doesn't end there :) They were regularly $19.99 but they were on clearance for $13.98. Even better! The lamp shades were an extra $7.99 but $22 for one lamp is a heckuva deal! Here is what it looks like....

Now you should know me by now and know that I would have to spruce it up in some form or fashion. I had (just enough) furry zebra print ribbon left over from this project to trim the base of the lamp shade. I think it adds a nice touch!

Ooooo!...Ahhhh!....the drama.


The Office Quote of the Day:

Michael: Why do you have a diary?
Dwight: I keep secrets from my computer.

Tippy Tuesday

This week on Tippy Tuesday, you will not get a picture of Tippy. Instead, you're going to get a song. I found this awesome app on my iPhone and let's just say that I had too much fun with it.



Click here to listen to my masterpiece. :)

And the Golden Globe goes to.....

Lucky for you, I tackled a couple of projects while I spent 7 hours watching coverage from the Golden Globe Awards last. No, you didn't read that wrong....7 hours!

5-6:00: A show on E! highlighting the fashions from past award shows.
6-8:00: Live from the Red Carpet on E!
8-11:00: The actual awards show
11-midnight: The after party on E!

See, I told you! So in order for me to not obtain a permanent butt indentation on my couch, I decided to multi-task and work on some projects.

Project #1.....my wrapping paper storage. Oh, I really wish I would have taken before pics because it was a disaster......I promise, it was an unorganized mess and I couldn't find anything! I already had this bin, purposely for wrapping paper, that comes with a lid but some of the rolls are too long so the lid can't go on it. I would like to eventually get a tall vase to store the paper in so that it doesn't look so plastic-y and rubbermaid-ish.

It doesn't look like much, but I have rolls of wrapping paper, then boxes on one side, and gift bags on the other side. Very easy to see what I have and even easier to find things.

I'm sure you're saying, "But Shari, what do you do with the tissue paper, ribbon, tags, tape, etc?" I'm glad you asked! I got the idea from this blog. I don't have nearly as much stuff as she had but it worked. I organized all the tissue paper by color and put each color in their individual large zip lock baggie. Then I color coordinated them when I put them in the basket (of course). I also had an individual baggie for all the name tags and put them in the back of the basket. Don't you hate it when you're wrapping presents and you can't find a pen to write their name on it, or the tape, or scissors? Well, I took a small baggie and placed 2 pens and a roll of tape that will not leave that basket! I also put a pair of scissors in there that (you guessed it) will not leave that basket! I laid all the ribbon on the bottom and there ya have it! I hate wrapping presents but I'm actually looking forward to the next birthday/celebration. I can tell you there will be no more digging, digging, and more digging when I'm looking for white tissue paper!

On to project #2. I got this cover for my Kindle for Christmas but it lacked some personality. I knew I could spice it up with the help of some fabric, ribbon, spray adhesive, and a hot glue gun.


So I went shopping in my craft room and pulled some fabric and ribbon that I already had. I cut out the fabric, leaving a couple of inches around the perimeter.

Then I glued the fabric to the cover using the same adhesive I used on my headboard. A little side note: Since I was doing this project on my coffee table, I laid down a large clipboard so that I wouldn't have to scrape goo from the adhesive off of my coffee table for the next 6 months.

I folded and glued all the edges and lined it with ribbon. I'm actually not real pleased with the way the inside looks but there won't be too many people looking inside.

I am however LOVING the outside! If the fabric looks familiar, it's the same fabric I used on my headboard, except the pattern is turned the other way. How's THAT for some personality!

The best part about these projects? I only spent $1.97 for the large zip lock bags (Thank you Great Value brand from Wal-Mart). Everything else, I already had! Nothing like completing 2 projects for basically nothing. :)

You won't believe it, but I actually tackled a THIRD project earlier that day. (Yes, it was a very productive Sunday.) You will have to check back and see what it is later this week. Ooooo....the suspense!

The Office Quote of the Day:

The new receptionist is also named Kelly, so Kelly Kapoor has decided to hover around my desk so that she can run into Charles's office every time he calls for Kelly. She thinks that if she says, "You wanted me?" enough, he will in fact want want her. It's not the worst plan she's ever had.

~Jim

Tippy Tuesday

My child is FAMOUS! Well when I say famous, I mean famous in Richmond. As I mentioned from this post, I entered Tippy in a "Santa Paws" contest. Well, she didn't win but her picture made the Richmond Register!

I kinda feel like that parent that puts her child and a pageant and KNOWS she's the prettiest one there but doesn't win. Pff!...Poop on them! And trust me, Tippy would poop on them.

Master Bedroom: Phase 1....Paint, Headboard, and Nightstands. Oh my!

So I realized that I painted my bedroom about 2 months ago and never showed you the dramatic difference. And I never showed you how my headboard looked mounted to the wall either. Keep in mind, this is still phase 1 of Mission: Bedroom.

The HORRID before with late 1980s black, lacquered headboard with adjacent nightstand and vanity.

Everything is soooo black. The black, fur duvet is new so it's stayin'. I usually like color but if you recall, I have a little K9 that is also black and furry so I had to snatch it up! No sign of Tippy hair anywhere. Yes, I'm that person that buys duvets to match her dog. Sue me.

The first phase of the after with new mirrored nightstands and the headboard I made.

Here's a close-up of the nightstands. I still have lamps and small accessories to add to them but they make a WORLD of difference.

So, be honest....what do you think of the color? I'm going for color on the wall and everything else black, white, silver/gray, and SHINY!

So as I mentioned in my list, I have several other things to do to this room. Add lamps, buy new throw pillows (I have my eye on one on Etsy), turn the current snow leopard fur pillows into a throw, dress up the dresser (which I didn't show you here), hang window treatments, buy/make wall art. I think that was everything! Sorry but this process has been a whole heckuva lot longer than expected.

The Office Quote of the Day:

My goal is to make this office as peaceful a place for Stanley Hudson as I can. And I think sounds have a lot to do with that. Here are some downloaded peaceful sounds. That one makes me think of death. Its kind of nice.

~Michael

Tippy Tuesday

Ok, pink and green miniature ball.....I own you!

The List

As I just mentioned in the last post, I'm making a list of projects I want to tackle. I figured, why not share the list with you! Maybe you can help me stick to it. So here it is room by room. You would have thought that I just moved in!

Master Bedroom:

• Buy drapery hardware and hang window treatments
• Touch up dresser and add knobs
• Buy lamps
• Take apart snow leopard fur pillows and make it into a throw for the end of the bed
• Buy/make wall art

Master Bath:

• Paint
• Add cabinet hardware
• Buy/make wall art

Kitchen:

• Add cabinet hardware

Dining Room:

• NOTHING....at the moment

Living Room:

• Add decorative shelves above sofa and accessorize
• Find throw pillows

Guest Bedroom:

• Make headboard
• Accessorize nightstands
• Hang window treatments
• Raise bed (nightstands are a little tall but I love them....sacrifices, people, sacrifices)
• Find white piece of furniture (or something I can paint white) to put TV on.
• Make/buy wall art

Guest Bathroom:

• NOTHING! Check out the final look here.

Craft Room:

• EVERYTHING! I can't even walk in there right now. It's an unorganized mess that makes my head hurt.

Hall:

• Print pictures/art, frame and hang.
• Find buffet on Craigslist or have daddy build me one :)

Well, there you have it. Six months from now, I'll check back in with you so you can see which of these things have been crossed off the list. Let's hope for a productive 2011!

New Year, New Projects

Happy New Year!!! Hopefully with the new year, I will be more inspired to make more time for the 435490983705 projects I still have to do in my home.....that I've been living in for 8 months now. I am going to sit down and make a list of everything I want to do and tackle it one project at a time. Nothing feels better than crossing things off that list!

One thing I've done is put some night stands together that I got for Christmas. They are for my guest bedroom and I got them at Ikea if you like them as much I do.

I'm working on my furniture building skills and I've never put together anything with drawers so *fingers crossed* for me!

Sure is a lot of pieces!

I did it!

You like? I haven't placed them in their new home (or accessorized) because I still have some other work to do to that room. BUT once I get things where I want them, you'll be the first to see it!