Spring is in the Air

Can it be.... is spring here?  If not, it is definitely near and we pulled out flip flops and are enjoying this beautiful weather today!

(picture is from our vacation to Rehoboth last year)

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How to Make a Silhouette

I'm so excited, look what I did!

I made a Chloe silhouette! It was so easy... I took this picture,

added a few details, like a collar and a bow and traced an outline of what I was going to cut out.  Then I taped it to black construction paper and cut it out.  The curly hair did make it a bit challenging to cut out, but it just took a little patience.  Genius right? I can't take credit for the idea, I got instructions from here (thanks Lindy for the great tutorial).  I found some of this beige fabric in the basement and the picture frame was an extra one I had laying around. I think I'd like to paint the picture frame white and put the picture on a lighter colored fabric, maybe a light blue or something. I'm not loving the beige, especially on a beige wall.  Ideas? 

I am so happy with how it turned out and Chloe thought it was the greatest thing ever!

Now if only I could get the dog and cat to pose so I could do one for each of them too.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Remember my Antique Desk Makeover from a few weeks ago?  I got so many great comments recommending how I should accessorize it.  (Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions!)

First, Ricki suggested I use some small books and a small picture frame for accessories.  Well, I tried that and could not pull off Ricki's elegant style.

One comment from Julie suggested I put a mirror on the wall behind it and Amy suggested I put a single leafy plant in the center.  Well, I combined both of these ideas.  As soon as I thought about a mirror, I remembered an old mirror we had in the basement just collecting dust.

Doesn't it look fantastic?  Don't you just love it? What? No?  Yea, me either.... but this was just for the sake of a before picture... a little paint can change the look of anything!

I have painted too much white lately (here, here and here) and wanted something more bold to hang above my Luxurious Red desk.

Honestly, I am not sure I could ever recreate this color again. After sanding and priming the frame, I took some blue paint that I had and darkened it with black. I painted it on but it looked too gray and bleh! Then, I took another blue paint that I had and darkened that slowly with black, mixing it until it was a color I liked.  After two coats I did some glazing.
We had this family seal hanging above the desk before...

and replaced it with this mirror...

and a few coats of paint later....

What a change, I LURVE it!  Oh, and how do you like Chloe's decorations in the plant? I think it's so cute.... gotta have that special kid touch to everything in our my home, keeping the style real!

The best part..... (like most of my projects) it cost me nothing! The mirror was given to us a year or so ago and I never had a place for it (until now), the paint and supplies I had from previous projects.  What do you think? I love reading your comments and/or suggestions!!
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How do you like them knobs?

I updated the coffee table knobs from this...

to this..

 How do you like them knobs?  

Some of you might like the old ones better. They weren't bad, but I love these!!  Really I have just been dying for an excuse to buy some knobs from World Market! Happy almost Friday everyone!

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100 Followers and a Feature

I am stunned and speechless.  I reached and exceeded 100 followers today! 

This is amazing and really means a lot to me.  Thank you all for your interest and support in my blog.  It would not be nearly as much fun without your support and wonderful comments!

Thank you so much Denise at Extreme Personal Measures for featuring my blog! Check it out here!

Denise has a great blog with lots of fun inspiration, be sure to visit her blog!
Also, be sure to check out my new pages I have been working on, including an About Me page, a Before & After page, a page listing cool Blog Parties I like to join and a page dedicated to where my blog has been Featured! Pin It

Craigslist Coffee Table

I bought this ugly coffee table off of craigslist last year for $50, it came with two matching side tables too.  I love the size and that it has a drawer. I hated the color.

This was an old picture of it, with our old ugly (and super comfy) couch that we really miss.
I sanded the ugly out of it and filled in the lines with wood filler.

I wanted to do so many different colors but what it came down to was an unopened can of Sherwin Williams Toque White that I found in my room.  I bought it a few months ago to paint the baseboards in our room but never got around to it.
Anyway, our coffee table now looks like this...

Notice how Obi is looking at me like I am crazy?  Of course a white freshly painted coffee table is bound to get roughed up in our house.  That's why I went ahead and distressed it a bit here and there.

I wish I didn't fill in the lines though, because I can still see them.  I also don't really like how the knobs look now but I ordered some new ones from world market!  Can't wait until they come.  At least the coffee table is an improvement from this

(yes, I do most of my sanding and painting in the dinning room) to this

Notice our pretty blue hand-me-down sofa?

Look at those pretty distressed legs (yes Obi, your legs are pretty too).

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope some of you get to enjoy the day off... not us.

**UPDATE** Coffee table now has some new knobs... check them out here.

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Weekend Recap

How was your weekend?  Chris was working so Chloe and I had a fun girl's day at the zoo on Saturday.  

This is a picture of Chloe, Chris and Fred (her bear) her first trip to the Maryland Zoo, she was 2.

This is a picture from our trip Saturday, look how much she has grown!!

It was a gorgeous day but windy enough that there weren't a lot of people at the zoo. 

Most of the animals were sleeping, like this pretty arctic fox...

Check out this gorgeous arctic owl...

and these pretty cranes...

I got a picture of the rarest of all turtles...

The funniest part of our day was when Chloe was playing with the barn yard animals and this goat kept smiling for the camera!

It was hilarious!

Chloe had a blast and it was a nice day together.  

Also exciting news, my begonia 'escargot' that I bought at the farmer's market in October 

got its first bloom.

Yes, to me this is exciting!

I also found some time to paint my ugly coffee table...

More on that soon!

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Pictures, dreary to cheery

A friend of mine gave me a set of picture frames that looked like this...

No, the bad night shot of this picture didn't make them look ugiler than they were. They really were this ugly.  The mats made me wince when she gave them to me, no wonder she didn't want them!  I thought about just tossing them -- but the pictures are great and the frames had potential.  I took the old out dated frames and mats and painted them with some paint samples I had laying around. (It's almost like I have a paint store in my basement!)
I didn't have anywhere to put the pictures in the house but I need something for my office's naked walls. (Sorry about the terrible glare in all of the pictures... office lighting, what can you do?)

I'm very happy to finally have something fun and cheery to look at all day!
This easy project cost me nothing, just a little time.  Let's see the before again....the dreary old frames went from this

to this....

and this....

and yup, one more... this...

so much better!

Notice my new header? I've been playing around with Picasa, found directions on how to make a banner here. It's a lot of fun and if I get sick of it I can just make a new one!

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