Gold Dipped Armchairs {AKA- The Chairs That Made Me Cry}

Thursday, December 5, 2013 -


I sell most of the furniture I make-over, so I don't typically share the price I originally bought it for. Some pieces I net a fat profit,  and some I barely break even. I don't want my buyers to see what I paid for the piece and think "Hey, I'm paying 5 times that! I got ripped off!" There are other materials and LOTS of labor to consider. Some pieces require a LOT of labor. These chairs happen to fall into that category. 
14

Pewter Herringbone Dresser Tutorial

Friday, November 29, 2013 -

This is my favorite piece I made for the doomed boutique last weekend. Here's what it looked like before.

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Mother Nature is a Real "B"

Monday, November 25, 2013
des·ert (dzrt): 1. A barren or desolate area, especially:
a. A dry, often sandy region of little rainfall, extreme temperatures, and sparse vegetation.
b. A region of permanent cold that is largely or entirely devoid of life.
c. An apparently lifeless area of water.
______________________________________________________________________________

No, I'm not dead and I haven't given up on blogging. I've been SUPER busy the last couple weeks and haven't had any time to post. I'll explain why.

Many of you know that I live in the Phoenix area. Phoenix, as you've probably heard, is nestled in the geographic area called the Sonoran desert.

Just as the definition above (pulled it right off the internet) describes, we get an extremely small amount of rain each year. Aside from the summer "monsoon" season, it is a rare occasion to see rain in the Valley of the Sun.

I've mentioned here that I was a vendor this past weekend at the Vintage Charm Holiday Boutique.

 Let me share a Doppler image of Arizona from Friday.

source
No, I'm not kidding. I wish I had doctored this image, but it's true. The sky decided to un-zip right on top of my furniture.

Here's a photo taken just a few miles down the road from the venue.


And the best part is, it lasted for 3 days. Yep. In fact, Friday was the rainiest day we've had in 10 years. This is the second wettest November in recorded history. So, you can imagine how my OUTSIDE booth at the boutique fared. 

Thankfully, I sold a few items on Thursday before the rain started. Friday, I was stuck at home waiting for a client and watching the kids while my husband went to school and work (the venue was about 45 mins from our house). I asked him to stop by on his way home to survey the damage.

The good news was, only 3 of my most valuable pieces were destroyed (did you hear the sarcasm in my voice?), and everything else had been thrown into a pile under my tent, which was now sitting in 3 inches of standing water. 

We borrowed a truck, grabbed the trailer and drove off to try to salvage what we could. I made sure to grab my camera to document the devastation, but when we got there, I went into panic/survival mode and completely forgot to snap any pics (sorry).

It was great fun wadding through the mud and flooded driveway to retrieve my soggy, wet work! Thankfully, some wonderful person grabbed my white tufted bench and placed it inside before it could get soaked. Other than that, everything looked like you had pulled it up from the bottom of a lake. 

Apparently, my tent had also collapsed as some point in the night landing on my furniture and destroying my tent. I wanted to cry. All I could see was the hours upon hours of work, the time ignoring my kids, the dirty house for weeks. That was all washed away. Not to mention the financial investment. 

I'm going to get real personal for a minute: The money that I planned to earn at the boutique already had a destination. Since we don't have medical insurance, last year I incurred a medical bill that has been looming over our heads. It has now been sent to collections and is perpetually damaging our credit. The money from the boutique was supposed to pay off the bill and get the creditor calls to stop. Now, the little bit of money I made will have to go to repairs and buying a new tent.

Sorry to be such a downer today. On the bright side, I did take photos of everything before I took it to the boutique. So, I'll have posts showing all the "before and after"s. I was REALLY happy with the way most of the pieces turned out. I'm excited to share them with you guys! So, look forward to some update posts coming soon. And thanks for letting me complain about my crappy weekend!


6

Faux Tarnished Brass Finish

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

As promised, I finally got the Faux Tarnished Brass tutorial together.
16

Milk Paint Card Catalog

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 -
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Finish Max Paint Gun Winner!!!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Hi everyone! I'm a total loser. 

I picked a random winner for the Finish Max paint gun by HomeRight, wrote my emails to the company and winner, left for San Diego for a family vacation and COMPLETELY forgot to announce the winner! 


                                                                        HomeRight Finish Max Fine Finish HVLP Sprayer




4

Guest Bedroom Make-Over: Guest Feature from Home Coming

Wednesday, October 16, 2013
10

The Tool Furniture Painters CANNOT Live Without! (GIVEAWAY!)

Thursday, October 10, 2013


I have been dying to share this post with you guys for weeks! Seriously!

35

VIBRANT Blue Buffet Make-Over

Sunday, October 6, 2013 -


1

SUPER Distressed French Coffee Table

Thursday, October 3, 2013 -
19

Meet My New Friend

Saturday, September 28, 2013
I have some exciting news to share with you! I am going to have a new monthly contributor!




One of the very coolest parts of blogging is meeting so many talented people. Other bloggers "get me" like friends and sometimes family can't. That being said, one of the coolest girls I've met so far is Kayla.

My friend Kayla from Home Coming is going to be stopping by once a month to share one of her awesome DIY projects with you. Trust me, you'll be in love with her too!

Just check out some of her past projects.

Living Room Collage
Bright and fun living room

DIY Striped Tray
Such a cute accent tray!
DIY Coffee and End Table
The coffee table I have been eye-balling for months

Does she have great style or what? I'll be totally honest, I can decorate well enough to get by, but I am no designer.  I'm sure a monthly post from Kayla will add some much needed home design around here.

Stop by, check her out, and look forward to some great guest posts, starting next month.
0

Bold Make-Over: Striped Teal Chest of Drawers

Friday, September 27, 2013 -
21

Song In Your Head? (Music and Decorating)

Friday, September 20, 2013



I was out working in the garage, listening to music, when I noticed something. A song would come on and I would get mental picture of a room or piece of furniture. The notes and voices would actually create a visual in my head.

Music is so emotionally powerful. Music is expressive, much like home design. With that inspiration, I came up with a fun idea.

I've found a few rooms and paired them with the song that fills my head when I see it. Just demonstrating the way my little brain works.

So, the idea is this; play the video, listen to the song, check out the photo. I think I nailed it : )
6

Circa 1890 Dresser Make-over

Wednesday, September 18, 2013 -
21

Tip for Adding Trim to a Wall Mirror { And $100 Giveaway Winner!}

Saturday, September 14, 2013 -
9

Making Lemonade out of Lemons {MCM Desk Makeover}

Thursday, September 12, 2013 -
14

Talkin' Tools #3: Speed Square

Tuesday, September 10, 2013 -
4

Bathroom Upgrade Part 2: New Light Fixtures and $100 GIVEAWAY!!!

Sunday, September 8, 2013 -
26

Mr. & Mrs. Wall Art

Friday, September 6, 2013 -
16

Bathroom Upgrade Part 1: Splitting the Vanity Light

Wednesday, September 4, 2013 -

7

From Black Hope Chest to Blue Vintage Trunk

Sunday, August 25, 2013 -
21

Talkin' Tools Tuesday #2 (Power Drill)

Tuesday, August 20, 2013 -
15

My Husband's Brain Brought Us Into the 21st Century

Saturday, August 17, 2013
I'm a blogger, right? So, you would probably think my work space looks something like this. Beautiful, organized, with high end technology. 

source
9

Talkin' Tools Tuesday #1 (Air Compressor)

Tuesday, August 13, 2013 -


If you read my "About Me" page, you may notice that one of my main focuses of this blog is to educate women about tools (especially power tools). I'm constantly reading comments and emails that go something like this:

"Love this! I'll have to wait till my husband can cut/drill/nail it for me". 

This makes me so sad! I don't define myself as a feminist. I believe there are some characteristic special to each gender, but LADIES!!! You can use any tool your husband can! I promise! Men can be amazing hairstylists or interior decorators. So why can't women be amazing carpenters? Admittedly, most of us probably didn't grow up getting garage lessons from Dad or attending Shop Class in high school, but even without a Y-chromosome you can successfully wield power tools. 
That being said. Safety first! Fear is nature's way of keeping us safe. It makes perfect sense that when you see a sharp, metal, blade spinning extremely fast, your natural reaction is to stay away. That's probably how you've made it this far in life with all your fingers.

 By no means am I suggesting for your to grab the first power tool you see and flip it on without any knowledge or experience. 

Hopefully, that's where I come in. I decided to start this series of posts to help educated and explain before you take a chance on a new power tool. I also recommend finding someone who is familiar with a certain tool (friend, neighbor, guy at Home Depot), and have them show you in person how a tool works.
34

Custom CeCe Caldwell Blend {on Serpentine Dresser}

Sunday, August 11, 2013 -
20

How to Build Your Own Drawer Slides

Friday, August 9, 2013 -
20

Weathered Wood Finish {World Market Knock-Off}

Tuesday, August 6, 2013



26

How to Build a Wood Crate

Friday, July 26, 2013 -

19

Cottage-Style Coffee Table Transformation

Sunday, July 21, 2013 -
27

DIY Boxwood Topiary

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

I love boxwood topiaries. Dried, fresh, plastic, you name it, I love the look. I like the organic element it brings indoors while looking polished. I decided I needed to make my own.
16

Welding Lessons

Saturday, July 6, 2013 -

If you take a look at my Furniture Inspiration Board on Pinterest, you'll see multiple projects involving metal. I'm pretty comfortable with just about any power tool when it comes to wood, but metal is just an area I haven't really delved into.
10

DIY Dark Antiquing Wax (And a Dresser Re-do)

Tuesday, June 25, 2013
36

My Second Liebster Award!

Friday, June 14, 2013
I'm honored to have received a second Liebster award from the talented Britney from The Princess and Her Cowboys.


The Liebster Award is an award for blogs with under 200 followers. Liebster is German for dearest, or beloved and a blog nominated for the Liebster Award is said to be worth watching.

* There are a few things to follow once you have been nominated:
* Acknowledge the blog that nominated you with a post.
* Share 11 facts about yourself.
* Then answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
* List up to 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers that you believe deserve some recognition.
* Post 11 new questions for them to answer.
* Notify all the bloggers you've selected that they've been nominated.
* Do not nominate the blog who nominated you.

Here are the questions Britney wrote for me:

1. Where would you travel if money were no object? I know it's not very exciting, but I've always wanted to stay in a Bed and Breakfast in New England in the fall.
2. What language would you like to learn if given the chance? I'm about 3/4 fluent in Spanish, so I should probably finish that one first! 
3. What do you like to do as a hobby besides blogging? I kind of have a problem adopting new hobbies. I like to stay busy, but I'd say the one that has been the most consistent is baking.
4. Who is your hero and why? My momma :) While she was dying, I had the opportunity to view her as just another person, not just my mom. I discovered what a patient, resilient person she was.
5. What is your favorite childhood memory? Hmm, maybe our family trip to Savannah. 
6. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why? AZ! I love living by family and could never move away again. I would like to move a little closer into town though. 
7. What makes you unique? That's a hard one! I'm kind of a blend between a boy and a girl (yes I realize how weird that sounds and no, I don't mean anatomically) I have a large collection of high heels, I often wear extensions, and I love putting together and outfit. On the other hand, I have no problem with splinters, I love the hardware store, and look for any opportunity to shoot my bow.
8. How did you come up with the name for your blog? I use my pneumatic nail gun, stapler, paint gun, etc, just about every day, so it made sense. 
9. What is your favorite part about the summer? I live in "The Valley of the Sun". My favorite part of summer is when it ends. 
10. Favorite food? Doughnuts :)
11. What blog has helped you out the most as you've started? Well, the person who has helped the most is Miriam from Be Book Bound


I'd like to nominate these four ladies:

Beja from Howdy Honey - This girl is amazing! Beja JUST started her blog and already has been featured on some of the "big dog" blogs. She's got a bright future!

Mindi from My Love 2 Create - Mindi is a sweetheart. She is often the first one to comment on anyone's post and she gave me some good advice when I first got started.

Kelly from A Swell Place to Dwell - Kelly is so much cooler than me. I love her style! All of her projects are young and hip. She has a great eye for style!

Andi from Delusions of Ingenuity - I'm pretty sure Andi has been nominated multiple times, but she still deserves another. She makes me literally "laugh out loud" (which is grammatically incorrect, and Andi would appreciate me saying so) with every post of hers. Such a funny gal!


So my questions for you four are these:

1. Were you a "cool kid" or a nerd in High School?
2. What is your favorite project you have ever done?
3. What is your best physical trait?
4. As a little girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?
5. What's your favorite power tool?
6. What is the greatest product or technique you have discovered this year?
7. If you could go back, would you change the name of your blog? And if so, what would it be?
8. Do you think you're funny?
9. Does your husband think you're funny?
10. Do you attend church?
11. What's the best thing you've ever eaten?


Thanks again to Britney for my second award! And I hope my nominees will share some fun info about themselves with us as well!

1

World's Largest Coffee Table Transformed

Friday, June 7, 2013 -

I've mentioned one of my aunts before and how fabulous she is. Well, the truth is, I have 5 aunts and they are ALL fabulous. More than half are a little crazy too, but the good kind of crazy. Aunt Leann is possibly the craziest of them all. She is so much fun! I've never met a person who didn't like Leann.

20

Tutorial: Build You Own Chunky Furniture Feet

Tuesday, May 28, 2013 -

When I was writing the post for Mr. Don Draper Desk I realized it would take WAY too long to explain everything I did to the desk, plus include a tutorial on how I built the chunky feet. So here is the follow-up tutorial.
3

Mr. Don Draper Desk {With DIY Hardware}

Thursday, May 23, 2013 -


22

Layers of Color: Ce Ce Caldwell Georgia Clay Desk

Thursday, May 16, 2013 -


Remember that fabulous aunt I mentioned a couple of weeks ago? The one that gave me a few pieces of solid wood furniture? I have her to thank for this fantastic piece as well!

18

A Different Headboard Tufted the EASY Way

Saturday, May 11, 2013

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a nice lady who was interested in having a custom headboard built for her. This is the inspiration photo she sent me. I'm sure you all have seen it floating around Pintrest. Very beautiful, classic, and clean.
20

Tutorial: Ballard Design Inspired Pear

Friday, April 26, 2013
6

Industrial Numbered Crate

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

After I refinished my table and got my industrial chairs I needed something on the table to tie the whole "Industrial Farmhouse" look I was going for. I planed on just constructing a planked, wood top but then I found another great, heavy-duty farmhouse table for dirt cheap at a yard sale. Now, my thoughts are to sell the original table with the matching chairs and just make my own table from the newly found, yard sale table. Anyways, I digress...
12

My Kitchen Table: Before and After...and After

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 -
12

Target Mirror Hack: DIY $18 Mirror

Thursday, April 4, 2013
9

DIY Chevron Rug

Saturday, March 30, 2013

YES, you CAN paint a pile rug!
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