Re-inventing faux flowers

I am not a big fan of faux flowers, but sometimes you just need that little touch of color and softness that doesn't require picking up flowers at the grocery store every week!

I've had this arrangement for several years, but the orange flower wasn't working for me anymore.  I decided to try spray painting the stems. Why not?  I spray paint everything else.

I started by wrapping the branches in foil so they wouldn't be painted and covered the base with a bag.

After a few coats of spray paint, the orange was still showing thru as a faded pink color.

I really didn't want the pink.

With a small paint brush I added a little white paint to the petals to cover most of the pink.

I also added touches of brown paint for the center of the flower (can't remember the name of that part of the flower?).  And, I touched up the "buds" with a little brown paint.

And here is it's new home, my bedroom dresser.

I'm linking to the following parties:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Uncommonly Yours Link Party at Uncommon Designs Online

Chic and Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls

Thanks for hosting ladies!

The heart of the house gets an update

This summer we re-arranged our Family Room after having 

the same configuration for about 10 years!

  (I think that's a record for me)

Click here to see how the room looked a couple of years ago, during my red phase :)

Here it is now (looking in from the kitchen):

I guess we could call this my brown phase!

 

 

 

 

I'm on the lookout for fabric to re-do some pillows.

 

 

 Love Ellen!

 

Painting this TV cabinet a creamy white is on my "to do" list.  The room feels like it needs some lighter color on this wall to balance the browns/creams.

Have a great weekend!

We'll be sitting right here watching college football :)

Making new furniture look old

I purchased this chest at Pier 1 several months ago.  It has great character, and with 3 drawers, great storage too. I was in search of something to use for a bedside table, in a cream color, because our master bedroom is dominated by browns. The chest was on sale and I knew I could give it a new life.

 I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White and went through the steps of paint, wax, etc with sanding in between to add a distressed look.

I wasn't satisfied with the chest in the final white finish so I took another step to age it a little more.

  I forgot to take a picture of it before I started "glazing", but if you look closely you can see how the drawer is a chalky white and just above it is more aged looking where I've been adding brown paint.

I call this process "glazing", but I'm really just painting on some old brown paint and spraying it with my water bottle to thin out the paint before I rub it in with a cloth.

 Can you see how it looks a little more aged in the photo below?

 I'm pretty happy with the end result.

Hoping to get a few more things done in the master bedroom before I share the whole room :)

When Falls Comes A Knockin'

I'll be ready.....with my new Tom's.

 Aren't they cute?  

Still summer here, but it won't be long before we're seeing this...

Have a great weekend!

Milk Chocolate Walls

I have milk chocolate colored walls in 4 rooms of my house.  The actual color I used is "pepper spice" by BEHR.  I love the warmth of the chocolate color, especially with white and/or cream accents.  These are some of my favorites I found while browsing the web.

I've been doing a little updating in our chocolate colored master bedroom that I'll post about soon.

Displaying Special Memories

I always get inspired when I'm flipping through the pages of a  Pottery Barn catalog, but this time was a little different.  This time it was this quote that got me thinking. "Display cannot be measured by worth.  IF AN OBJECT BRINGS BACK MEMORIES, put it out to display."

When I lost my dad a few years ago, this dog was one of the things I kept from his belongings.  We always had some kind of dog when I was growing up.  I think this was a gift someone gave to my dad.  It always makes me think of him, but I haven't had it out on display in a prominent place because it's not really my style. 

My dad lived on the MS Gulf Coast in 2005.  This dog made it through Hurricane Katrina and the 6' of water that got into my dads house.

Then I saw this cute dog online at ZGALLERIE and got more inspiration.  Maybe I could spray paint my dog to give him new life, but still have the special memories he brings me.  (I've assumed he's a "he" somewhere along the way.)

As always, I turned to my trusty Rust-Oleum spray paint.  This time in gloss white.

 And, while it was a tough decision to make, because I hated to lose the authenticity of my dads dog, I am happy with the end result. Thanks, Dad!

Before

 After

I hope to display "him" in a prominent place in our home office (once I re-do it in greys and whites) and enjoy the memories!

I'm joining the following parties:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesdays Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

I've missed this place ~

Last September I was knee deep in a volunteer role at my daughter's school.   I dedicated most of the school year to the job and put other activities, like blogging, household projects, etc on hold.  It's good to be back.

I feel back in more ways than one....project time!

The 1st project I've been working on is adding a chalk/magnetic wall to the kitchen desk area.  This area is kind of the "command center" of our lives so it's a great place for reminders.

Here's what it used to look like:

I taped off the area. This is my 1st time using the Frog Tape for a project.  

 

As you can see it worked great.....nice clean line. 

I used several coats of the Rust-Oleum Magnetic Primer 1st to add the magnetic piece.

 As you can see it's VERY thick so it needs to be stirred real good.  I rolled it on with 

the paint roller that later had to be trashed.  One thing about the magnetic paint....it's not 

an easy clean-up.  Plan to say goodbye to the roller and/or brushes you use.

Next was the Valspar Chalkboard paint.

I used 2 coats of paint and chalked it thoroughly after it was dry to "season" the wall.

Here's how it looks today:

It's great for hanging notes with magnets (but they have to be strong magnets) 

and for writing a quick note. 

  The tall picture frame is camouflaging these ugly things.  Why would a builder

 put these up high rather than below the desk?

I'm joining the following party:

Simply Creations Friday at Simple Home Life