Spring Flowers and Project Tween Room

Hello!
Gosh,blogger has been having trouble for the past two days and it has been killing me! I think I am addicted to crafting/decorating blogs.....YIKES!!

Anyway, this week we have been working on gardening and my almost eleven year old and I have been working on refinishing her headboard:)! It is almost done and I think it is going to look really cool:)! She is excited...poor thing, we kind have neglected her room (we moved her out of her little sister's room to downstairs a few months ago). It is a great space with her own bathroom, but it definitley needs some mama/daughter love! Right now it looks like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and other random teens threw up on her wall. Gross, I know. I allowed her to hang posters out of a magazine and they are all crooked and unattractive. Soooo, walls are next for that young lady!

Here is a BEFORE shot of her sad little headboard.

Not very cute for a young girl's room! So we have brainstorming ways to soften it up. It is a great shelf for her because she can put her water, books and alarm clock on it, and we definitley do not have the funds to buy a new one! After going back and forth between covering the whole thing with padding and fabric or painting it....we decided to paint it. That way she could still use the shelf. But don't worry, we aren't stopping there! She choose white to match her dresser and desk. She does not like distressing or shabby chic look and it IS her room. But buddy, that little shelf was HARD to paint white!!!! YIKES! I will show you one picture of the shelf after one coat of primer and spraypaint. I began to panic at this point.

Don't fear,I was finally able to transform the headboard into a white beauty. Okay, maybe not a BEAUTY, but definitely better than last pic.! I will post the final product after we add last touches.

Moving on, took lots of pictures of our yard. I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE to take care of flowers, plants and apparently, fish. I am not saying I am a Master gardener, but I find planting, watering, and taking care of my yard is the most relaxing activity. Spring is my definite favorite time of year. Not too hot, but absolutely amazing everywhere you look! Here are some pics:


Flowers from the rose bush in my favorite vase.

Our teeny tiny veggie garden:)

Flowers in and around pond

Whew! I am exhausted! The kid's end of the year activities and finishing up work/training have worn this mamma OUT!

Toodles,
Beth

Gossip Table Redo!!

I was going to write about my fantastic Mother's Day, but it was just too wonderful and special to describe and share. Really, that great. Memories created for all. The kids keep talking about what a great day it was....and it was!! Gardening, relaxing, and eating yummy food. Okay, so I shared a little. Here is a picture of the kids and I making silly faces after dinner (yes, I am in my jammies.....again)!

Now, my second reason for this post....my gossip table redo! I LOVE how it turned out. And I definitely learned some lessons in painting furniture....the biggest being that I need to SLOW down and be patient!!

Here is a before of the lovely. My in-laws gave it to us. I know my mother-in-law used it while sewing. She is an amazing quilter and I think when she was handstitching, she would sit at this table and watch t.v. while working. I am not sure where it came from before then. Anyway, we have had it for a few years and just kind of moved it from area to area and threw a blanket over the cushion. The past two years it has lived in our garage.

It is hard to see in the picture, but the chair/table really has some pretty detail and curves on the chair. I decided I would paint and then attempt to distress, hoping to reveal some detail. Easier said than done. And I started out WAY TOO FAST. I bought a sample container of Martha Stewart Sea Glass paint. I read somewhere that since I would be distressing/antiquing it I didn't need to prime. Not sure if this is accurate or not, but I went for it. First mistake, painting with five year old son who wanted to help. While entertaining him and trying to keep him out of trouble, I accumalated a few drip marks on side:(. Oh well. It took two coats to cover dark wood. I did one coat, waited 24 hrs. and did second.

I next finely sanded edges, purposefully (no accident this time)taking off a bit of paint here and there. I then used my black antique glaze and rubbed it all over with towel. This only turned out OK. Definitely need to practice that !!! Without alot of detail ( I am used to antiquing smaller items) it was difficult to achieve the look I was going for.

My third mistake was to leave the table in the garage for days and days without sealing it. My girls put a cooler on top of it and left big chip marks:(. So, I fixed that today. I also sprayed the table with Miniwax. It took me forever (and I am still not done searching) for fabric for seat cushion. I typed dishtowel for cushion cover in google yesterday and found a post from a girl who used a Target dishtowel to cover hers. The chair and color looks so similiar to mine, so I had to run to Target and get the same dish towel...for $2.88! I had to put it together right away. While I love it, I am still searching for fabric because the lamp I am putting on it does not go with that fabric. I am very wordy right now. Here is the reveal pics!!

Here are some daylight pics, you can see more details.

So, I need less paint where the detail needs to show through. And paint slower. And hide from children to finished. The towel is not attached yet because I am keeping my options open. Carly had to jump in a shot:)! I am going to see if I can find the site where I got the Target dishtowel site.

Toodles, Beth

Transitions

Busy, exciting, and frustrating past couple of days. Busy because I am finishing my student's grades and wrapping up end of semester stuff (actually, this has been the frustrating part because of students arguing about grades and missing deadlines. Also busy because it is Teacher Appreciation Week and I have tried doing some little things for my children's teachers. AND, exciting because I registered Jack for kindergarten and Madison had her MIDDLE SCHOOL orientation tonight. And I am typing this because I am trying to distract myself from the fact that I have the stomach flu. Gross. Gross. Gross.

So here are some pics and recaps of the events. First, Jack's registsration. He was so super sweet. I asked him what he wanted to wear and he told me a "handsome" shirt and jeans. He knew just the shirt. He brushed his hair and looked soooooo stinking cute! Here he is on the way to the school.

He ran, skipped and jumped all the way to the front door. He, of course, got a bit bashful when we got inside. I told him not to act silly. Then I felt bad, because as we left, he asked, "can I act silly when we get back in the car?" Of course he was just acting silly because he was nervous:(! Anyway,he did great. We got tours of the traditional kindergarten classrooms (as opposed to multiage). I think this is the best choice for him. I picked up his graduation pictures from preschool today....ADORABLE!! My family followers, you will get pics soon:)!

Jack on his way up to the school!

Madison's orientation was bittersweet for both of us. I can not believe she is going to middle school!!! She is excited,nervous, and sad (to be leaving Lake Ridge). I am excited for her. I REALLY liked the middle school. She will be doing chorus. I, of course, did not bring a camera inside the tour, but snapped a shot before we left. I told her we can see how much she grows from now until then:)! She looked so tall, mature, and beautiful at the orientation. I am proud of her.

I have managed to do a bit of crafting this week. I attempted a Shabby Chic redo on this "gossip table". It turned out okay, but I definitely learned some lessons in painting furniture! I am currently looking for fabric for seat section. I will post an after picture when all is complete:).

Before:

I hope I am not sick all night!!! Too much to do tomorrow!!

Toodles,
beth

My sunburst mirror.......finally!

I have been wanting to make a sunburst mirror for my entryway FOREVER! I bought bamboo sticks from Michaels, circle mirror from Target and a glass plate from Walmart. I also bought some silver spray paint (which I quickly discovered is addicting, I painted a couple of items around the house, fun)!. Anyway, I spray painted the plate silver and was going to do the same to the bamboo sticks. But I just didn't have a good feeling about spray painting the sticks silver and taking away their natural appearance. I didn't really feel like silver even went with the look I am going for in our home right now. So, the mirrors, bamboo sticks and everthing else were just laying on the back porch....for weeks.

Then last night, I was sitting on the porch reading and began looking at a circular bamboo tray/charger I bought at my one and only trip to IKEA last summer. I found the center of the sunburst mirror creation!!! I thought about painting the bamboo sticks turquoise, but again I really wanted the natural look. A couple of hours (I had to take breaks) of cutting the sticks to different sizes and hot glueing them to the back....I had my creations!!!( I also glued the mirror to a piece of styrofoam and placed in center.....thank you Chris for this idea). Chris hung it for me and I am in love.

Here a couple of shots, it fills the space that I wanted it to perfectly!

A couple of more pics from this weekend. First, Madison and Jack having a picnic lunch yesterday.

And my two young Jedi!

Toodles, Beth

Honey, I shrunk the chairs!

A couple of weekends ago, Madison came up from the garage holding a couple of small wooden chairs. I totally forgot that I had them stashed in there! My sister had ordered them from Pottery Barn years ago and could not figure out what to do with them, so she offered them to MOI! And I stuck them in my garage!

Fast forward three or so years, and a fine painting project presents itself! Since I have really been into lightening and brightening my home, I saw huge potential in turning these sweet chairs from dark brown to antique white. Fun, fun, fun!!

Here are the chairs in their original brown state. Cute, but too dark and not enough character (of course being cute little wooden chairs of different sizes and styles is pretty darn "charactery" to begin with).

I promptly dusted off the wee babes and painted them with a creamy white acrylic craft paint using a variety of small brushes. After allowing them to dry, I "antiqued" them using some black antique glaze and rubbed with a towel to obtain a distressed look.

Now that I was addicted to painting teeny little pieces of furniture, I decided to add some detail. I created an "H" stencil and traced the stencil with pencil onto the seat of the chairs. I filled in the "H" using the antiquing paint.

Still not satisfied, I decided to paint over the "H"'s using a turquoise paint. This added an element of fun to these sweet chairs!

I love my chairs! And I plan on making little, spring pendant flags to hang on the back. Can dress them up for Holiday! Super Fun!

Maria Selby Gardens

I discovered one of my students has a parent that lives in Sarasota and is going there upon graduation. Previous to this discovery, she was telling me how much she loved gardening and flowers. Naturally, I had to tell her about the Maria Selby Gardens in Sarasota. I reminded her on the way out the door and had her repeat the name back to me!!! They are amazing, she will be amazed. She better go!!!

Anyway, I have been inspired to post some of my pics. Too lazy to add captions right now, but the beauty of the gardens speak for themselves~

And speaking of my students.....AMAZING. Amazing how much I learn and gain with each class I teach. The relationships formed, lessons learned, and futures brightened. One of my students asked me to come to graduation. She teared up as she told me this is her first graduation, she never graduated from high school.....GED. I told Chris I need to be there. I am so excited for these ladies. Three going to ETSU, 2 to Milligan, 1 to King College and my sweet student who overcame many obstacles to complete this course. I am so proud of these ladies.

Anyway, I love what I do. And I would like to think they love what I do, too:)

D.C. and Jack's 5th Birthday!

How perfect that our niece was in D.C.with her daughter, Emma, for Easter and Jack's 5th birthday! We were so excited to see Amber and Emma and Jack was super excited to celebrate his day with his cousins! Perfect, perfect, perfect. Of course, Chris, Brian, Katherine and I have all had fun hanging out, eating good food and drinking wine, so........that lends to a good weekend, too! Here are some pics of Emma, (who is super sweet and UBER smart) and Jack's b-day celebration. We are super, fantasically blessed~!

Emma and Great Uncle Chris!

Sweet baby hand

Five year old opening gifts!

Matt dying Easter eggs

Brothers

Hans Solo trapped in Carbonite

Jack wearing the top of his Dark Vader Pinata, he cracked it after 3 swings with a baseball bat

Jack blowing out the candles on his Dark Vader/Angry Bird/Life Saber pretzel rod cake!

The cake

I will add more pictures after our Easter celebration tomorrow!~

Toodles,
Beth