Itsy Bitsy Spider

My friend Annie stopped in this morning. She has, what I like to think of as, a magic bag. It seems as if she's always pulling treasures out of it each time she visits. Today, she pulled a super cute top out for me...it's WAY too big for her! Did I mention that I could snap her like a twig?

Sorry . . . I digress :-)

She also pulled out this dirty, old metal spider that came from her garden. The thing about Annie is...she NEVER likes to throw anything away without trying to find another purpose first. Sometimes her "treasures" are more junk but not today!

 

Annie said she thought one of the kids could paint it up real cute. And my son, Murphy, jumped at the chance. He couldn't find a paint brush and was too excited to wait for me to find him one so he used his fingers!

 

I loved how this turned out!!! Murphy has always been so creative. He has a sixth-sense with color that amazes me :-)

 

 How often do you look at your children and wonder what they will become?

With the look of joy on his face and his raw talent, I can only dream that it will be a life full of creativity and color!!!

I love you buddy!

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Chirp, Chirp, Chirp

Here's a quick project I completed a few weeks ago. Sometimes it takes me that long to get the camera out and get a good picture taken. I thought I would take advantage of the great weather and drag it outside. It's soooo much easier to get a good pic in natural light.

My plan was to paint the table red and be done with it. But once again I couldn't leave well enough alone and HAD to add something to the top.

This little birdie and curly branches added the right touch to this plain, square table. A little distressing adds a bit more interest.

I would love to know what this table was originally meant to be used for. It's taller than your usual nightstand and larger that your usual plant stand...but it will work for both. Very versatile :-)

I just had to throw in this picture. My little guy and I went to visit Grandma Murphy earlier this week. She turned 90 last September. 90!!!! Can you believe it? She has been such a wonderful influence and I thank God everyday for having such a great person in my life.

Here's the funny thing: we named our middle child "Murphy" after my grandparents. Well, my youngest, Tucker, cannot understand her being named Grandma Murphy, so he insists her name is Grandma Tucker...how cute it that? Gosh I love 4 year olds and 90 year olds! She just goes along with it. After 90 years she's now Grandma Tucker :-)

Have a great weekend...go play outside!!!



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P is for Paulie

This is my nephew Paulie. Isn't he adorable? I love doing projects for Paulie. I painted the argyle wall behind his bed this past summer. He was spending the week at his grandparents while I was working on it and when he got home he said "That's pretty good." Gosh I love that kid!

I found this headboard at a garage sale many months ago and knew right away it was for Paulie and RED was the color.

P is for Paulie. I really wanted to finish the rest of his name in a fun script but my ever sensible sister thought it would be too immature as he got older...ugh. But I've got to keep my clients happy...ha!

Paulie's argyle wall is so clean, straight and sharp so I wanted to shabby things up a bit :-)

I really like how the dark color of the wood shows through the distressed paint. It pops wonderfully!!!

Ummmm...I think he likes his new headboard. Of course this has nothing to do with the fact that I gave him permission to jump on his bed...a big "no, no" when mom is around :-) But that's what aunt's are for...right???

Paulie, I hope you really, really like your new headboard. I love you buddy!

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Oh the places we will go!

Here is another project I've completed recently for our home and I couldn't be more happy with it. I knew the moment I found this trunk that I wanted to use it in our toy room. We really needed a place to put all the pillows and blankets that gather in this room. I was constantly folding blankets and putting them back on the futon...ugh! Problem solved!!!!

Here's a before shot. It's not too bad black but I love me some color so of course it was gonna get painted!

The really nice thing about this project is that it was quick. No muss no fuss. It did take me a little time trying to figure out which fabulous color to use. As you can see there is already a lot of color going on in this room...but...it is a toy room so let's just go for it!

I knew this piece would be sat on, stood on and even drawn on...chalk board paint to the rescue. It's not too often kids hear their parents say "sure, draw all over the top of that trunk!" Their friends really like it too and it's amazing some of the things they draw. **idea moment** take pics of all the great drawings for memories and maybe another project down the line :-)

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint again in Antibes Green...my personal fave color. This is probably why the last two projects I've done for our home has been in green :-) I distressed the sides and again this works great for the toy room. If it gets (or when) more distressed it will only add to the character. Basically, it's kid proof :-)

Oh, and the cat C.C. would like to go wherever we might be going. She has to check everything out and wholeheartedly approves...how do I know??? She sleeps on top of the trunk most afternoons.

I just had to show you this picture. My camera is always laying around the house and so whenever I download pictures I never really know what I might find. This one cracked me up. I'm guessing from the point of view that it had to be taken by my 4 year old. What young child takes a picture of a can of paint??? My kid!!! I'm so proud!

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A Full Circle

The desk is done!!! Whoooohoooo!

This desk has been a personal project for my daughter's room. I believe I started this around Halloween and it's finally done and in place. Ali is so happy and excited.

Here's a quick before shot. As usual I started it and then thought of taking a pic. This desk used to be my father-in-laws workbench in his basement. I was talking to my husband the other night and said "this had to be used as something else at another time." He thought about it for a bit and realized it was in he and his brothers bedroom when they were kids. Talk about a full circle!

I used Annie Sloan green chalk paint on the desk. I decided to use a little dark wax on it to tone down the green a little.

Using chalk board paint on the top of the desk means Ali can write all over the top of her desk and mom can leave reminder notes as well. Like...Ali, clean your room :-)

To "season" the chalk board paint you need to rub chalk all over the surface and then wipe it clean. This will ensure that whatever you write on the surface won't "burn in" forever.

The inside of the drawers were pretty rough. One of my favorite treatments is to decoupage the bottom of the drawer. I had these scraps of paper already laying around that worked great.

My little assistant who's always around to lend a helping hand!

A little distressing just makes the color pop even more. Also, Ali tends to be hard on furniture so I kinda figure I'm just working ahead :-)

Completing this project has me soooooo excited again to paint more furniture. I've got a lot of projects in the hopper so stay tuned.....

Toy Room Buffet

WOW! I've been MIA this month. Once I finished my show I was spent and had to take some time to clean my house! It had been completely neglected for about a month and was trashed!!!

I've been wanting to paint the T.V. buffet in our toy room for quite a while but was too busy getting ready for my show and had to produce products to sell. So I knew this would be the first project on my list of things for the house. I LOVE decorating my home. It's truly my passion.

I pondered what color to use for quite some time. The room is orange. I mean REALLY, REALLY orange. Not every color goes with orange. Of course I was going to use an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. So I considered Old White but this buffet gets used a lot...with kids. The art supplies are housed in here as well as many other toys. Something darker would work best. I had Aubusson Blue on hand and I went with it. I loved this color on the dresser I finished right before my show.

This is not the best before pic ever. I went through all my photos and this was the only one I had. I think my son was doing one of his newest dance moves...sorry buddy. But if you can look behind that fabulous stance you can see what the buffet looked like before.

I did a little distressing to this piece as usual. I figured it would probably get a little more distressing the natural way so I kept it light. I also decided to use the original hardware; frugal as always. My husband is a lucky man :-)

When I purchased the buffet to use for the new T.V., I knew right away that I wanted a large shelf above it. This shelf is 7 feet long and made by my "other" hubby, Tom. He's a fantastic woodworker and is always willing to indulge me in all my "great" ideas. He custom made it to my specs and I think it's just perfect for the wall. On top of the shelf is one of my newest collections...globes!!! I'm loving this collection and still have plenty of room for more! I'd really like to find a black one. One thing I'm learning with collecting is that it takes a great deal of patience.

I just couldn't resist putting this pic in. Gosh...he's so darn cute and growing up way to fast!!! I love you T. Finn and my other babies too! Now make sure to keep the toy room clean :-)

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