Pumpkin Spice Table Revamp

I found this former little girls dresser hiding in the back of my grandmother's garage, as you can see it had really had a tough life! It was in bad need of a makeover, I knew as soon as I laid eyes on it that it would look perfect in Mom's new space. I had camera malfunction issues, so the before pictues and step by step glazing pictures were lost... :(  This dresser was cream, dirty, missing pieces and hanging on by a thread when I found it. Just so you understand how big of a before and after this actually was.

 My mom's favorite color is orange, and she requested that it be the color for the new room. When I decorate I try and use the 60-30-10 rule of thumb. 60% of the room is neutral such as walls and large expensive furniture pieces, 30% of the color is brought in with fabrics such as draperies, pillows, and throws. The remaining 10% is your accessories thats where you can really have some fun, because it isn't as expensive to change it up if you ever decide to change your mind.

I really wanted to have some fun with this piece so I decided as small as it was we needed to go with a bold color: such as orange! I found a great color spray paint Krylon Terra Cotta Satin, and I knew that was the color this little dresser was calling for! I sprayed the piece with spray primer also Krylon, and then sprayed  2 coats of the Terra Cotta color.

I let the piece dry several hours then whipped out my secret weapon: Glaze!! In a future post I will do a step-by-step guide in the glazing process, but today I will just show you what it looked like when I was done. I used the glaze to get into the nooks and crannies of the piece to really give it an aged quality, make it look slightly worn. I hate when all the furniture in a room is brand new, it just doesn't give a homey vibe to a house. Your home should look like its been lived in, pieces collected over time.... anyway here is a picture after I glazed the chest and attached the hardware. Normally, I use new hardware that I've purchased in this case I couldn't find anything I liked as well as the original nobs so i just painted those too :)

Tada:   Here is the first piece in the makeover, next is going to be a custom art piece for the wall..... and yes there will be some holes put in the wall lol!!

Love and paintbrushes,
Heather

Makeover at Mom's

As several of you who know me are aware my parents lost their home a few years ago in the February Tornadoes that hit the Atkins area. They were very blessed to still have thier lives, but they weren't left with much else except a new fear of storms. The home I grew up in was destroyed, but my parents rebuilt a beautiful new home that they love. Now ever since I can remember my mom has had this obsession with holes in the wall, she is literally like a fanatic about "holes in her walls". The obsession with holes in the wall coupled with the fact that she has been afraid of making a decorating mistake has left some rooms in the new house boring, bland, and beige; feeling like no one really lives there. My mom is a fun, sweet, loving woman who is always doing something for everyone else. I decided to redo one of the rooms in my parents home for my mom before the holidays get here.

Here are a few pictures of what the room looks like now....

Because the holidays are approaching that doesn't leave a lot of room in the decorating budget, so I am going to transform this boring room with a little diy thrift store chic, and post the step by step transfromation in upcoming posts; so stayed tuned it is going to be fierce!!

Love and paintbrushes,
Heather

cinderELLA's Pumpkin Carriage

I just finished making a pumpkin with my niece, Ella. She is really into all of the Disney Princess stuff, and I thought that it would be fun to try and make Cinderella's carriage instead of carving some old scary face. On the plus side, the carving is not my favorite part and this had minimal carving involved.

Ella's pumkin Carriage

Step by Step Guide:

1. Spray paint your pumkins. I used gold metallic for the smaller (wheels) pumpkins, and a Vanilla colored spray paint by Valspar for the large pumpkin. I chose the Vanilla instead of white because it had more definition and looked almost pearlescent when dry. Perfect!

2. Cut the top of your pumpkin and scoop out the contents.                                                                      

3. Next, carve out a place for the doors and windows.                                                                            

4. I took gold rick rack (the trim around the door) and glued it around the doors and windows, and put a jewel over the corners to hide where the seams were glued together.

5. Set your large pumkin on a brick or book about the height of your small pumpkins. I took a nail and used it to make my holes in the large and small pumpkins. I took small dowel rods and ran them through the holes I made in the large pumpkin and took the outside ends and inserted them into the small pumpkin holes. I also added a little bit of glue, to the holes in the small pumpkins to hold the wheels in place.

6. This is not something that likes to be moved around a lot, so make sure you find a base that you are going to use and decorate for pumpkin carriage to sit on.

I haven't had a chance yet, but I like the idea of making a few mice to sit around the pumpkin... like Cinderella's little mice helpers!! Vines would also be really cute draped around the pumpkin!

Hope you enjoy!! Have fun creating you very own!

Love and paintbrushes,                                                                                                                      

Heather