Flower and Urn Project

So....remember when I painted and glazed this ugly colored urn? 

Ugh.

Yes, that's much better.

 

Well, I've just been holding it in the garage because I can never seem to find the right thing to put in it.  I thought, "I'll just make my own flower arrangement."  And that's what I did.  

I bought all the faux hydrangeas and carnations they had at Everything's a $1 and Wal Mart. 

 I bought a styrofoam half round and a big styrofoam square. 

 I glued them against the inside of the urn.  After cutting the stems of the flowers with wire cutters, I tightly pushed as many flowers in the foam as I could.  

 Voila!

 It could use a couple more flowers.  

 But, for a $10 project, not too shabby!

Spring Cleaning!

There's just something about spring that urges you to have order and cleanliness. My mom took my little girl with her the other day while my son was napping.  

Image via House Beautiful

I thought, "I could actually clean those cupboards that have been bugging me without interruption!"  Oh my....my first thought after clearing out the shelves was, "Wow, how did I not see all of these crumbs?"  My second thought was, "Wow, I'm grateful nobody has seen these because I should be ashamed!"

First Cupboard Before

First Cupboard After

Look how little is left after I threw everything that was old, unused, or just plain garbage, out!

Second Cupboard Before

Second Cupboard After

I guess it was time to get rid of all the baby food jars I'd been saving.  Don't worry, I'm recycling!  Isn't it nice when your home is organized? 

 Image via

Ah, now this is something to aspire to!

My Finished Bathroom!

Finally, I finished the bathroom since my daughter ripped the towel rack out of the wall!

  First I used a mesh patch and covered it in a joint compound. 

After it dried, I sanded it and reapplied to even out the meshy-er areas. 

After sanding it again and wiping off the dust it was time for paint! 

I can't even tell you what color it is.  I want to say that this beautiful grey-blue color is a Martha Stewart brand and I think it was called "Dolphin."  Don't quote me on that though. 

Here's a Before Shot

After

Before

 After

 I love this new rug!

 Before (Terrible lighting, I know)

 After

With the lights on!

One more last shot.

Why is it that a simple project like patching a hole in the wall takes me two weeks to finish? 

I'm addicted to this show....

I know you are too, so don't try and lie to me about it.  Don't roll your eyes and think, "Oh, you too?"  I did NOT jump on a band wagon.  This is ridiculously cool to watch.  Nicole Curtis is amazing.  She can build, she sands, she designs, she demolishes, but in the end....she has some pretty jaw-droppingly gorgeous results!  I cannot say, "no" to watching this show if it's on.  It's like my list of to-dos go out the window and I'm concentrating so hard!  

Check out this Minnehaha house if you don't believe me.

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

 

She made the vanity in this bathroom....well rehabbed it, if you will.

Who wouldn't want this bedroom?

Click on image for source

Inspiring, no?  

Coincidentally, if you google "Rehab Addict Pictures" just be prepared to see Lyndsay Lohan's face plastered all over your screen :)  I'm just saying!

Get Used to Disappointment.

The list of things that have gone wrong this week are endless.  I thought of doing a low budget flower arrangement and I found some great options at the dollar store!

I wasn't loving the butterflies and flowers on the side so I thought I'd spray paint it a dull bronze.  Literally the day it was drying in the garage, my daughter either stepped on it or ran her bike into it.  This is what I found: 

She seemed unconcerned and said, "It's okay, Mom.  It was just an accident."

I guess that project is going to be postponed.

The day after that I heard her quietly calling my name in the other room.  I finally came in to see what she needed and low and behold, she completely ripped the towel rack out of our wall.  

 I was so annoyed and frustrated!  I said, "What did Mommy say about swinging on the towel rack?!!!"  

She said, "Mom, Mom, calm down....it was just an accident."  AAAAHHH!!!!  

 

The towel rack is now inhabiting our tub because, let's be honest, where am I going to put it? I guess the only good thing after I'll have to patch and sand the wall is that I can repaint my bathroom, right? 

I'm trying to look on the bright side people!  I didn't love that color anyways......

Does this situation seem familiar to anyone?

Distressed Dresser

When my husband and I got married, we inherited some of his childhood furniture.  This dresser was old.  I mean peeling wood, broken drawers, dull stain and varnish kind-of-OLD! It's been sitting in the garage because I have procrastinated facing this Ugly.

It has horrendous hardware that somehow suggested an obsession of a Texas sports team....which The Hubs isn't even a fan!

 I sanded the entire dresser with a pretty rough grade.  After I re-sanded with a finer grade just to smooth it out.

 I used a Gripper primer.  This primer can go on pre-stained or painted woods without the need of sanding.  I chose to sand the dresser just in case!

 I chose "Garden Sage" from Sherwin-Williams as my paint color.  As shown here, it's in my empty, but finished basement.  I'm going to put it in the guest room where the walls are a buttery/golden yellow.

I spackled the holes where the old hardware had been before.  I sanded down the spackle and then painted the drawers. 

The hardware is from Home Depot.  Easy as pie.

I chose not to use a brown glaze to antique it at the last minute.  I decided I liked the clean green look.  Funny, because I really wanted to antique this "distressed dresser" due to some very inspirational dresser photos.  (To be shared later...)  Hopefully, I made the right decision!