drab 2 fab: vintage frame makeover

I know I'm not the only one who's loving turquoise these days. My cousin's been in love with it for years, and now I see why. It is SO soothing....yet still vibrant. It's exciting....yet mellow at the same time. I like it. I really like it with our wall colors. Our main floor walls are painted either a medium muddy brownish/green (sounds HORRIBLE, but it's nice) or a soft mustard-y color.

Anyways, I found this old picture of my grandmother's. I immediately LOVED the frame, but didn't love what was IN the frame. I'm thinking what was in the frame was a needlepoint my grandmother did, but truly, I'm not quite sure who did it. At any rate, I knew it had to go. Just not my style.

See what I mean? The contents are...meh...but the FRAME! Wowee! I saw potential!!

See that detail?? I mean, it's so 'mirror mirror on the wall-ish', right?!?! At first, I thought I'd paint it. Just spray it white or black, as I was planning to use it in my entryway and I've got a black/white thing going on in there. Buuuutt.....I decided against painting it first and thought I'd just jump right in to replacing the guts, then go from there.

The back of the frame was covered with brown paper, so I just tore it off.

Underneath the paper - another barrier. A piece of cardboard was taped on with masking tape. No worries - I just took it off...only to find....

...MORE masking tape! I mean TONS of it! Was this my grandma's way of making sure no one could ever get rid of this needlepoint?!?! I think so.

It's okay, grandma! I didn't hurt your creation. But I did take it apart. LOL

I washed up the glass and got to work.

I busted out the iron and a scrap piece of fabric I had in mind for this project.

Once I got the fabric ironed, I simply used Scotch tape to get the fabric on the board.

(take that, masking tape!)

Seriously, that part took me a minute or two. Then I popped it back in the frame. Alright, who am I kidding. There was no 'popping back in.' It was more like poking, prodding, pushing, and almost swearing that thing BACK into the frame. I was sweating after finally getting it in.

I should note for any of you are might be cringing at the fact that I may have possibly ditched grandma's creation. I didn't touch the needlepoint at all. I'm thinking it probably came down to laziness....or the fact that I have limited time to create when the kids are napping...who knows, really. I was just on a mission to get it done!!

And I'm so glad I did.

*sigh*

**happy dance!!**

Isn't it FABULOUS?!?! I'm loving it! I still need to actually hang it on the wall - it's just propped up right now. My idea was really to use it as a dry-erase 'Welcome' message board, and write things on it depending on the occasion. I may even take it down from time to time and let my daughter doodle on it, just to change things up.

I seriously just love this! Completely free and totally beautiful!!

What more could a girl ask for?!?!

**linked up to the following link parties:

hot diggity dog!!!!

For the last few months, I've been like this with my computer.

It's really been giving me grief. *sigh* I've had this laptop for 5 years now and Steve bought it for me BRAND. NEW. He surprised me with it - isn't that sweet?!?! I have looooooved this thing. It was my first Mac and my gosh, I really can't say enough good things about it. Well, let me take that back....up until a few MONTHS ago, I only said fantastic things about this sweet little 12 inch Power Book. Lately, though, I really haven't had many nice to things to say about. It's been systematically destroying each and every program. Word won't 'Save As' anymore...my address book no longer opens up....e-mail and other programs randomly shut down...I can't 'force quit' anything...and my iPhoto library is gone. I mean, I'm WITHOUT MY PHOTOS, people!! Refer back to that photo above.

However, last night, we did it. We ordered the new one! Steve found a super deal on a refurb'd 15 incher. CRIMINY! I'm BEYOND excited!!! I seriously cannot wait to get it! And get this....I'll be able to run....

...wait....

...wait for it....

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PHOTOSHOP.

(this last computer couldn't handle PS)

Oh yeah, I'm PSYCHED!!!!

Needless to say, within the next few days, I'll be able to forever forget that image above....

Image found here

...and embrace THIS ONE! Along with my sweet new laptop!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh :)

the bearded lady - NOT!

My daughter is downright HILARIOUS! I'm not kidding - she's a riot. I think everyone probably says that about their kids. But really, we're not the only ones that say this about her. She just has a way with words!

We're getting out of the car at the meat market today, and she says to me,

"Mom, did you know some girls can have beards?"

And I was like, "HUH???"

"You know, mom - beards."

I just looked at her for a few seconds wondering where on earth she got this notion. I mean sure, we've seen some interesting folks at our local Walmart, and I really didn't feel like getting into a long discussion with her about how some women DO have some hair on their faces....

But finally, she said,

"See mom, LOOK?"

and she pointed to a person coming out of the meat market.

And that person....

...was a MAN!

A man with very long hair in a ponytail and a thick beard.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started HOWLING with laughter (we were still in the car, mind you, so hopefully this gentleman didn't think I was hysterical over him). But, in her little 3-year-old mind (actually, exactly 3 1/2 today!), that was a woman with a beard, because hey - only ladies have "piggies," right?!?!

Oh, how I love this little girl.

drab 2 fab: dining chairs

There is absolutely no denying that we were in DESPERATE need of new chairs at our table in the kitchen. I mean, to say we had 4 mismatched chairs would be an accurate statement, but it really doesn't describe what we lived with for FAR too long. These mismatched chairs had all been covered in nice, gold velvet chair covers, with funky bead trim. But after 4+ years, one house move, 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a whole lotta meals, those chair covers were dead. They really had to go once the beads started falling off and Lydia started collecting the beads as "gold." So we lived with the mismatched chairs for awhile without the covers, but when we got the opportunity to get some new ones, we JUMPED at the chance!!

While cleaning out my grandparents' house, we realized that their old dining room chairs might work for us. We had to have vision, as they were not overly pretty to look at...they needed some bleach, some paint, and some new fabric.

I liked the 'bones' of these chairs, but the creamy/peachy/yellowy finish had to go. They had mildew spots on them that needed cleaned up as well. And the fabric??? Well...it was time for updating. (and let's just pretend, shall we, that there is no mess whatsoever in the garage BEHIND those chairs.)

I think the legs on these chairs are pretty neat.

The old fabric up close - not HORRIBLE, but definitely not a fit for our house.

Steve removed the chair covers for me. His assistant was a very big help. ;)

And after some white spray paint, and new fabric on the seats, here's what we've got now...

Muuuuuuch better! Seriously - a ginormous improvement over what we had prior to this! Heck, if I'd have left them exactly how they were in the photos above, they would have been a vast improvement over what we had! Steve can't wait to start a fire with the old chairs we had.

I like the dark fabric - I'm hoping it won't show too many food stains (from the kids, of course).

And just a shot of the tops of them, all pulled up to the table. I need to get some better shots of them altogether, but honestly, we were so excited when they were done, we wasted no time getting rid of the old ones (a.k.a, kindling) and sitting down on these new fancy schmancy ones!!

So things are coming together here, slowly but surely. I'm starting to feel as though our house is turning more into our home...we're making it more 'us'...and that feels good. :)

looking and loving: Fishers of Men

Alright, I *just* stumbled across this sweet little creative genius over at Playing Sublimely. I've only gotten to read a few posts, but I already can see the she'll be one of my favorite bloggers out there. Ok, so this week, she's doing an art camp (I'm guessing through her church) and the kids are doing some AMAAAAAZINGLY cool projects!! Like THIS:

HOW GORGEOUS IS THAT?!?!?! The theme for day 1 was 'Fishers of Men.' I mean, c'mon - where are the ADULT CHRISTIAN ART CAMPS for crying out loud?!?!?! I want one of these. Like, NOW! This could be my calling....although, I need to know how to paint. MOM! MOOOOOOOOM, I neeeeeeeed you!!!! (she can paint - think she'll hear me calling her from the internet??) At any rate, my eyes are going to be glued to this blog all week. Genius. GENIUS I tell you!

And now I'm off to find some old-school Bob Ross on PBS so I can learn how to paint.

too early for this.

We woke up to ants this morning. OY. You know, those little, tiny, little baby ants that come in packs of thousands? They're pretty slow, but man, they're annoying. So, with no coffee in my system, I tackled those pests. I'm sure a few are lingering, and we're fresh out of Terro, so we'll see what the day holds.

While I'm trying to process the whole ant situation, Steve was fixing a crashed server, and Lydia's like, "Mom, I need something.....something that's yellow, has salt and pepper, and is on a Mickey plate." Here's what I want to know - when did everything turn into a CLUE around here?!?! It's like we live with Dora, but with fewer Spanish words. And no talking backpack. And I guess we don't have a sneaky fox trying to take our things either. But still - you get the idea. Instead of asking for "eggies," she has to go through this big mystery to figure out what, exactly, she'd like to eat. I'm not really complaining. In fact, I really love it. It's darn cute and someday I'll say, "I remember when you made us figure out what you wanted by giving us clues! Awwww!!"

So I'm off to drink my coffee and make eggies for my most favorite little girl.

drab 2 fab: grandma's armoire

I had mentioned in a few other posts that my mom is in the process of cleaning out my grandparent's house. It's chock full of stuff. Much of it needs to move onto others who can give it love, but there are a few gems - like this armoire. When I was talking one day with my mom about how much sewing stuff I'm acquiring, she told me about what my grandma used back in the day to hold all of her material. It was this armoire! She told me grandma loved how deep the drawers were and that they could hold lots of supplies. My mom was like, "You should take it! It would be perfect for what you need!!" Check this thing out!

Now I should mention, these photos were taken AFTER I had doused the thing in bleach. It had some mold and mildew issues, so it really needed a good cleaning.

It's got some nice details...

...and some details that were a bit too dated for my liking.

I took care of the datedness that was bothering me and got to work.

And after some sanding, 3 coats of white paint that I got for free (thanks, Dad!!), a little more sanding, distressing, and new hardware.....

...here she is!! Isn't it GREAT?!?!

How funny is it that the top drawer is different than all the others??

I just distressed it slightly, to add a little character.

I was able to keep it's black hinges - they worked great with the new hardware.

And guess what?!?! PEEK-A-BOO! The 'closet' part is CEDAR!!! WOOHOO!

So, to recap this project:

Armoire: FREE

Paint: FREE

New Knob/Pulls: around $30 from Home Depot

A few hours of my time and sweat (it's been humid here!)

TOTAL: $30

Pretty awesome for this beauty, I think!! I need to make room for it tomorrow in my craft area, then bring it in and fill it up!!

Now, wait 'til you see the dining room HUTCH!! EEEEK!!!!!!!

**Linked up to Friday's Remodelaholic Party**

master bedroom inspiration

Soooo...I'm thinkin' about redoing our master bedroom. I decided the other day that I'm going to jump on the beachy bandwagon. I mean hey, everyone else is, right?!?! No really, we want something soothing in our bedroom...a retreat, of sorts. Right now, it's a dark box with nice furniture, buried under clothes (mostly clean, surprisingly...just not put away). We spend so little time in our room right now. I rush piles of clean laundry upstairs during the day, but rush back downstairs to make sure the kids are ok. I hardly ever get stuff put away and almost never get it totally cleaned up. BUT, I'm thinking...if we can do it up NICE and have a place for EVERYTHING, perhaps it can turn into that sanctuary we're looking for.

With that in mind, hows about some inspiration!! We're thinking a robin's egg blue color...perhaps a little seafoam in color. We'll paint the trim white (right now, it's the same color as the walls, which are a dark olive-y color), and use our current furniture - a gorgeous dark cherry sleigh bed, matching night stands, and a couple of dressers - also dark wood. I'm toying with the idea of painting a dresser - maybe white, or a few shades darker than the wall color - something a little different than the rest of the furniture. Here are some pics of rooms that have different things I like...

Decorpad

I love the khaki/lt. bluish-green combo in here - very calm and refreshing. And those bamboo shades? Mine. I want 'em. BAD. Oh, and I think I now have my heart set on a board and batten wall. Just one. The main one that the bed will be up against. I think our dark bed will just pop with the crisp white b&b background.

Courtesy of HGTV (Credit: Caren Baginski)

I love seeing how the dark furniture will work with the beachy theme and that blue-greeny/khaki combo.

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

And I think that's our bed up there! It looks just like that! Now, the rest of the room...well, it's much...much more tidy than our room at present. I see no clothes in this room. Yeah, not really the case in ours. Seriously, the only way we may be able to keep the room looking tidy is if we become nudists - not even have to worry about clothes. The hubs might like that idea...'specially since he's been workin' his p90X.

Coastal Living

Again with the dark wood, the light blues...and I'm likin' the glass accents. Very cool and calm. We need some of that around here.

Perhaps a tropical looking ceiling fan sorta kinda like this one.

And I'll be honest, there's nothing I want more than Nester's striped drapes. Yeah, I'll DEFINITELY be makin' some of these for the room. I'll be on a wild and desperate hunt for wide khaki and white striped fabric, I just know it.

That's what I've got for now. Steve's agreed (PRAISE THE LORD!) but feels as though we should paint, like, tomorrow before he changes his mind. He loves the current setup (minus the bazillion stacks of clothes) and really could care less. But, I think he'll see just how heavenly it could be with a little paint, fabric, and TLC! Wish me luck!!

how does your garden grow?

Here we are again - another year of gardening! Last year was the first year that we actually tackled a garden, and Little Miss Blueberry LOVED it!! She loved planting the seeds, watering, and then picking the veggies. So we got excited this year to get going with the garden.......a little TOO excited, in fact. We decided to plant the seeds at the end of March. GULP. We learned something from this. In these here parts, that's TOO. EARLY.

Here's Steve reading over the directions with Little Miss. She's making sure he does everything correctly!

Next is the careful and precise placement of the seeds.

She was quite fascinated with the different kinds of seeds. We used a little ready-set-go type greenhouse that has the little dirt pods that you water, then put the seeds into. BAM. You've got a garden. Put the lid on and watch the magic happen!

A week later, this is what we had! A very curious set of eyes couldn't stay away from the garden.

Fortunately, I failed to take pictures of the in-between stage from what you see above and what you see below. Here's the deal....since we planted SO early, the plants quickly got out of control. We had to REplant everything into bigger pots and leave them inside for awhile (because around here, an Easter or May snow is NOT unheard of...). When it got warm enough, we put them out on the deck and they basically baked themselves into oblivion since the deck gets full sun. They all started growing together...some started dying because they didn't have enough space...it was getting a little ridiculous, really. By the time this last weekend rolled around, we still had some beans and peas that were makin' it, and then of course, the giant ball of zucchini and cucumber plants that had grown together. Our tomatoes and peppers could not be saved, so Steve picked up a few at Agway. Oh, and let's not forget the blueberry bush he decided to snag. ;)

So here's the garden now! We just had the one box last year (on the left) and realized we just didn't have enough space. So he threw together another one!

Here's my sweet hubs working on the second garden box...and his tan. ;) And Belle, of course, was barking incessantly at the staple gun. After all, she IS the boss around here.

Here's a shot of the zucchini/cuke box. I think those are beans in the back. Are you loving the stakes and yellow yarn trellace?? I think it works.

Then here are the tomatoes and peppers. Our neighbor told us that he grew some fantabulous cantelopes a few years back but that he won't plant them again since they took over his whole garden. We're contemplating doing another box, just for cantelopes!! If that's the case, we better get on that.

So, here's hoping to a summer full of fresh veggies!!