Before and After: Chair and Door

Remember this post?  Here is what that dusty old chair has turned into.  I cleaned off all the years of dirt and dust and then painted it with the same outdoor paint we painted our front door with.  Much better against our white house!

Also, this summer I got tired of staring at our old white door...and decided it was time to give that smudgy door a nice update. You can see from the picture above, that it has turned out quite nicely!  It took about 3 coats of this very heavy duty paint to finally cover it up!

Coming Soon

Check out this "diamond in the rough" for our front porch!  A friend of our family was going to throw this chair away and offered it to my dad who offered it to me and of course was I going to pass it up?  No way! 

1970s At Its Best!

So, here is the story of this bed.  Before I moved into my first apartment in college, someone from our church offered an old bed frame to my family.  It was from the 1970s (clearly) but it was functional and just what I needed.  I bought a mattress, a friend gave us their box spring and we were set.  This little old bed served its purpose for me, then "moved" out of state to go to college with A.  A got good use out of it and then the bed made its journey back in state to go to college with K last year when she moved into her first apartment.
 
Well, the nice thing about being a teacher is that we get summers off.  So, I decided this summer that after going to college three different times and after countless moves in and out of state, this little old bed needed an update. 
We painted it aqua that my dad had left over from another painting project, distressed it...because that's what I love to do, and set it up in K's new apartment.  It looks great!  Cost of the project?  FREE!!

DIY Baptismal Gift

For our niece and nephew's baptism earlier this year, we thought and thought about what we would want to give as a gift that they could keep and look at daily as a reminder of their baptism.  I finally did a little research on Pinterest and found this link.
Here's the version that I created:

Wedding Bouquet Ornament

After!

My wedding bouquet has been on display over the past 2 1/2 years since we got married.  At first it was nice and colorful and then slowly, the colors started to fade and the flowers started to get crispy and collect dust.  So, on a whim last week, I remembered something my sister had told me about on Pinterest.  She said people were taking apart their old bouquets and turning them into Christmas ornaments.   I originally put the idea in the back of my mind, but then after some thinking, decided it was time to turn my dusty bouquet into a keepsake.

Believe it or not, I got very sentimental taking apart my bouquet!  I think it's the fact that that new bride feeling is about 2 1/2 years old now.  Don't get me wrong, I am even more madly in love with my husband now, than I was then...but it's still kind of sad.  It is such a special time, a new time in your life.  

I found a couple good links on Pinterest here and here and went on my way.  I used the ribbon from my bouquet as ribbons on my ornaments.  I also luckily had some silk flowers in my bouquet and from my hair that gave my ornaments some colors.  My ornaments came from Michael's for about $2.99 a piece and were sitting in my craft drawer waiting for another project I had planned to do a couple of years ago.  The end product turned out really well and now we have 2 special ornaments to hang on our tree each year.  

Before...

 

Fall and a Burlap Wreath

I made a super easy wreath this year from burlap and a wire form.  I found the idea on pinterest and was so surprised on how easy it was!  The hardest part was actually finding the roll of burlap, which you can buy at Joann's Fabrics or Michaels.

As you'll be able to see from the below pictures, I made quite a mess as I was putting out all of my fall decorations.  B just chuckles to himself as he watches me sqiry around and try to figure out the best place for each of my pumpkins :) 

Getting ready for fall this year was fun because the colors seemed to be so vibrant!  One day I came home from school and saw that one of the big trees above our house has turned and so I tried to get a quick picture of it.  We definitely had quite a few leaves to rake this year, but B and I always say that having trees around our house is definitely worth it when we need their shade in the summer!

Jewelry Hangers

This summer I made a holder for my dangly earrings from and old frame and some screen.  I am pleased on the result.  To continue the theme of hanging up my jewelry I looked to my mom for ideas.  For years my mom has hung her necklaces and scarves on an coffee mug holder.  In my own house, I've continued that idea for my necklaces.