bodner006

Meet Josephine, the dresser.  Josephine is shy, probably because she was neglected (of course I forgot to take "before" photos) and left to age in peace.  But her beautiful knobby legs, detailed hardware and dovetailed workmanship was not to be ignored.  She just needed a little extra love and paint to brighten her life. Josephine was painted with Annie Sloan Antique White chalk paint, distressed lightly, and waxed for a beautiful sheen.  The top was stripped, sanded, stained, and sealed with multiple coats of dark wax.  Since she was missing a knob, clear pulls were replaced on the top drawer and the rest of the original hardware was painted, distressed, and waxed. Josephine will be waiting for you at her new home:  Robin's Egg 326 Nashua St., 101A, Milford, NH. Have a beautiful day, Debbie Sharing with: The Shabby Creek House of Hepworths  Sugar Bee Crafts  Not Just a Housewife DIY Home Sweet Home  Someday Crafts 

I am so excited to be moving out of my garage to a respectable business -- Robin's Egg, in Milford, NH.   It will be so nice to have a little corner of the universe where you can come and check out my latest creations.  Yahoo!  Bye, bye Craigslist.  I won't miss you.  :( Robin's Egg is over 9,000 square feet and is "an eclectic melting pot of vintage, rustic, primitive, shabby chic, country, farmhouse, french, artistic, travel inspired and uniquely infused designs to help you create the perfect combination in your own home!".  I plan on moving in next week, but thought I would give you a little tour of the new home for The Reclaimed Life. LOVE the wire basket lights The sweetest little vignette Loving me some old windows I kind of fancy a globe bowl Fantastic rustic table I have a thing for old, chippy beds Need a sign?  Beautiful crib turned bench Loving chunky mint green! Also, check out Robin's Egg Facebook page where the new items are featured...

I'm almost embarrassed to write this post because it is just too simple.  Yet there are a lot of you out there who never thought of this method and have been searching for just the right person to share this tid-bit of wisdom.  Okay, well, maybe it's not that dramatic or earth shattering, but here it is anyway. If you are looking to "age" your paint, to give it that time-worn, vintage"y" look, just add stain. Now, you don't need gel stain.  Actually, it's probably better that you just stick with the good ole' liquid stain.  Also, you can experiment with colors, but I like to work with the darker browns.  Also, I am doing this tutorial on frames because it is a small project and would be better to "mess up" on than your beautifully painted armoire.  Once you have mastered this application, feel free to use it on your larger pieces. Before we begin, STAIN DRIES FAST.  You have to work in small sections and work quick.  Now, if you are not...

There were a few rough days last week. Wednesday was my scheduled yearly mammogram.  I haven't had many of these "yearly" visits yet, as I'm in my young 40's, but I understand the routine.  Stand up to the machine, get your boobs squished like a flat pancake while the sweetest person talks your ear off.  I find it funny, in an interesting way, that the nicest people are hired for these jobs.  Which makes sense:  intrusive exam = lovely grandmotherly type. Anyway, Thursday comes and I get a call.  "We would like you to come back for more pictures of your right breast.  We have openings today."  Gulp. Now, I know this is not uncommon.  Of course it makes sense that they may not have all the right angles to see all they want to see.  But I did not think of these common thoughts.  I went into full panic mode. How could my kids grow up without me? I won't see Haley get married? I need to be here for Jack. You see, if you don't already kn...

Oh my gosh, these little guys are sooooo easy to make and so versatile.  As my dear friend Alison would say, "I need this to be easy.  Not Debbie easy.  Easy."  Well, Alison, my little charmer, this is EASY.  Not Debbie easy.  Just easy. (Wow, you type "easy" that many times and it just doesn't look right anymore). These boxes are great for anything.  You can store your pens, paper, and scissors in them for your office desk.  They make a great caddy for a picnic by holding the utensils and napkins.  Or they can be show stopping centerpieces. My mother-in-law and I were in charge of table centerpieces for a recent family gathering.  I had tons of scrap wood sitting in my garage, just waiting to be created into something useful.  So I thought we could recycle jars as flower vases and I would create little wooden boxes to put them in.  So, over a month's time, we collected pickle jars, Snapple bottles, natural peanut butter jars ....