bodner006

Have I ever mentioned that I love to recycle?  It definitely drives my husband nuts, as he thinks I over-do it.  I mean, I don't put the ziploc bags in the dishwasher?!? (I clean them by hand.)  And I will find uses for pickle jars, store my spools of ribbon on my plate holder, and rarely forget re-useable grocery bags. So when I create something new, by recycling wood, well, that just makes me happy!  And these little animal friends of mine are just so damned cute, you should be smiling too! I only got as far as the dog and hedgehog, but I'm bound to add more to the little zoo. I have to give tons of credit to Sand and Sisal , this wonderful blog that I discovered on Hometalk . I saw her amazing shark pallet art and HAD to create something of my own.  Thanks so much for the inspiration! Each one of these little guys was made with deconstructed pallet wood.  After blowing up the images, and creating them into line drawings, I traced around them on the woo...

Why, OH WHY, do I continue to forget to take before shots?  It's a shame.  I wanted you to see how I transformed this boring, greyish, you-stick-in-the-corner-of-a-room-and-pile-it-with-loads-of-crap side table.  All I've got is the after to share with you. So, I covered this little lady in a dark brown Valspar Ultra paint and primer.  Next, I thought I would try some Williamsburg Buttermilk Paint, in Fancy Chair Yellow.  After some distressing, I then glazed with General Finishes Van Dyke Brown.  Finished it off with furniture wax. I decided to keep the original hardware and just paint over it.  Updated the inside drawer by coating with the dark brown paint/primer.  I think she's pulled herself quite nicely out of the corner and belongs in the spotlight. If you would like her in your home, you can find her in my shop .  Thanks for looking! Debbie  Sharing with: Primitive and Proper The DIY Dreamer  Sugar and Dots  Happy Hour...

Part of my goal in transforming our living room was to spend as little money as possible. Cheap, frugal, thrifty, economical, tight-waddish . . . . call if what you may.  I call it smart.  Or that's what I tell myself. So, I liked these side tables.  The kids hadn't broken the glass on top and they had withstood a good seven years of paw scratches, spilled nail polish remover, sticky juices, fishy cracker crumbs in their crevices, and many other unmentionables.  So they deserved to stay. And one coat of Paris Grey chalk paint would do the trick. There was no need for more than one coat as, you can see, I heavily distressed the pieces.  Heck, there are bound to be more doggie paw scratches, so this worked perfect.     I added a coat of wax over the paint and called it a day.  Seriously took me about an hour to clean, paint, distress, and wax.  No pre-sanding or priming needed.   I do love to mix heavily distressed pieces with the clean ...

On the morning of Haley's big party, we wanted to wake her up with a bang (or pop).  I found the idea on Pinterest:   tape plastic (we used a sheet with tacks) on the door and stuff with balloons.  When she opened her door, she was welcomed by an avalanche of balloons.  (photo courtesy of Pinterest). Our little girl was turning four.  So I thought . . . what does Haley like?  Princesses, Barbies (she calls them ladies), clothes, shoes, etc . . . . all the girly things.  But what does she love?  CANDY.  That began my Google and Pinterest search for all things candy.  :) My vision:  a beautiful candy shoppe, set under a white tent, where the kids can "shop" for candy after earning Haley Dollars through playing games.  Unfortunately, the weather did not agree with my vision.  After taking 2 hours in the morning to set up the shoppe in the backyard, under a white tent, I checked the radar to find showers were moving in for ...

Subway Art.  It's just not getting old with me.  Yet.  Ask me next year and we'll see if I edit this post.  ;) I wanted a piece of that subway art in our home.  But I wanted it to have meaning.  So I choose to create memory subway art:  people, places, and times that hold a special place in my heart, as well as my family's.   But I didn't want the lettering to be vinyl.  I'm a paint girl and it had to be all about paint. How in the world was I going to get those crisp, clean fonts to pop on my board?  I wasn't going to get the same look with hand painted lettering.  I knew I could use vinyl and then pull it off, revealing the paint underneath.  But that's kind of an expensive way to waste the vinyl and I'm all about saving where I can.  So, when I heard that people can use contact paper instead of vinyl, well giddy up sista, cause I'm on that train!  (I've never used that phrase before and promise not to use it again)...