First Annual Halloween Party

I have not been painting furniture lately.  I have had a couple of things going on.  The first thing is our family's first Halloween party!  I have been a very busy bee putting all the stuff together. I always joke and say that the parties are the reason I had children!

 
I made these fun little cupcake toppers using two punches, craft paper, witch hat stickers, lollipop sticks, and puffy tape.

What kind of party would it be without cake pops?  I used strawberry cake and cream cheese frosting.  I usually use lollipop sticks, but I thought it would be more festive using paper straws.

It always seems that we have tons of sweets left over, so I found these little take home boxes at Michaels.  I used a couple of glass jars to hold candy.

Here are the witch's brooms that I made.  They are just chocolate covered pretzel sticks covered in sprinkles.

I found pumpkin marshmallows at the grocery store.  I dipped them in chocolate and sprinkled them.

Here are the munchkins ready to start the party.  They refused to wear their hats, but that is okay.  Ella is a pirate princess, and Lucas is a knight in shining armor.  Holidays are so much more fun with the kiddos!  I think we may just have to have to have a party every year!

XOXO
Wendy

How To Make a Flower Ball

I was browsing Pinterest one day, and came across these gorgeous flower balls.  After doing a little research, I hightailed it to the store to get all of the stuff I needed.

  Let me first tell you that I did NOT rip apart a perfectly good book.  I know a place where you can buy old books that are on their last leg, and the next stop is the dump.  This book did not have a cover, and was missing about 50 pages.

Here are all the supplies that you will need.

An Old Book

Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Ribbon

Foam Ball

Bamboo Skewers

Paper Clip

Sharp Object to Poke Holes in Your Ball

A Ton of Patience




The first thing you need to do is rip out all of the book pages.  Then you need to make a cone out of it, and glue down the edge.  You will need to do this over 200 times.  It is a long process, but well worth it.

The next thing you need to do is, break the top of your skewer off.  I wanted my skewer 7 inches, and all I could find were 10 inches.  Then you take the skewer and slide it threw the cone.  Make sure that you glue down the skewer to the cone.

After you are done with that, you need to get the ribbon attached to your ball.  I used the bottom of a paper clip to press into my ribbon and added a little hot glue to secure it.

To insert my cones, I hung mine from the chandelier in my kitchen.  It took me a while to figure this out, but it makes it much easier if you use something sharp to poke a bunch of holes in the ball before you put your cones in it.  I used a pair of manicure scissors. 

Now here comes the hard work.  You need to use a little muscle to push the skewers through.  It is a long process, and your fingers will probably hurt after a while.  I recommend taking a break now and then.

 

Pretty soon it will start to fill up and begin to take shape.

And that is it my friends.  I think these are super fun.  I see these being used for parties and for the holidays.  I am making one more.  I just need to give my fingers a little break.

XOXO
Wendy

Thrird Time's a Charm...

Sometimes things don't go right.  Here is proof that if you stick with it, great things can happen.

I had purchased this table for my bestie.  She had called and asked if I would keep my eye out for a round table.  When I found this, I snatched it up.

She had decided that she wanted painted light grey with black glaze.  Easy enough, right?  Well, here was my first mistake.  I hadn't finished it yet, so I put a blanket over it. The next morning, I went to take the blanket off, and this is what I found.

One of my kids had spilled a whole container of bubbles on the blanket. Which sat there all night.  The paint just peeled right off.

I then decided that I was going to be a mean friend and let her fix it herself.  She did not want to, so I put it aside for a couple of months.

While working on another project I accidentally spilled a whole bunch of aqua paint right on the table.  Looked like it was going to be painted aqua.  How bad could it be?  Aqua is such a pretty color.  Here is what it looked like.  I'll let you be the judge.

I was not a fan.  Don't get me wrong, I love aqua, but it was just all sorts of wrong on this table.So out came my electric sander and I got to work.

First I gave it two coats of dark grey.  I didn't want the aqua showing through, so I used latex.  I then gave it a whitewash.  This is my absolute favorite finish of furniture.  I have done a couple of pieces in this finish, and they are always my favorite.  I then did a layer of wax to make sure that it was protected.

Yes, this is my living room, and this is where it is staying.  I just happened to need a coffee table.  I love it.  It fits perfectly in my home.  I am pretty good about not keeping my pieces.  Have you ever heard the phrase "The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes"?  That is me.  While I make pretty furniture, my house needs some serious love.  It is getting better now that my children are getting older.  I wasn't a fan of my things being broken by little hands, so after I had my kids, I quit putting decorations out.  Now that they are 2 and 4, they understand to not ruin mommy's things.

                                                      Here are some more pictures

XOXO
Wendy

Thrifty Thursday #3

It's no secret that I am obsessed with vintage milk glass.  I don't collect many things, but I have such a soft spot for milk glass. (Okay, you got me. I also collect old Mason jars, and Ironstone.)

I used to just put the milk glass in my hutch and use it as decoration.  Then it hit me.  I was being silly.  They made these bowls to be used.  With the exception of my stainless steel, I got rid of all of my big mixing bowls.  I figure if I have them, why not use them?

I bought this bunch at the Goodwill.  I paid 7 dollars for everything you see.  Most of it was half off.  I have never come across this many at one time.  I usally only find it one piece at a time.

I found 3 Pyrex dishes that have dividers, 1 Anchor Hocking mixing bowl, 2 Anchor Hocking chili bowls, 1 Glassbake chili bowl, and 1 Pyrex loaf pan!  The loaf pan is my favorite.  I didn't have one.  I guess I will be making some yummy bread now!

Here is a bigger picture.

XOXO
Wendy

The Ick Factor

The other day I was at my super duper secret furniture spot, when I came across this.  I practically got it for a song. Let's just say that I paid with a 5 dollar bill and I got 2 dollars back. 

  I didn't notice how gross it was until we loaded up into my SUV.  I think that it had almost every species of spiders underneath it.  The whole way home, my skin was crawling.  All I could think about was all of those spiders.  ICK!!!  Anyway, when I got home, I made Mr. Sometimes Twice take it out for me.  I got my big gloves out.  You know the ones that go almost all the way up to your elbows...  Armed with Simple Green and Windex, I got to scrubbing.  Took me 3 hours to get the grime off of it.

The drawers were in bad shape.  I had to glue them down.  I couldn't find any clamps to use, so I improvised with my paint cans.  Worked like a charm.

Now for the fun part.  I gave it 2 coats of my homemade chalk paint.  I used an "oops" paint that I had on hand.  I distressed it with 150 grit sand paper.  I love how easy chalk paint is to distress.  It saves my arms from falling off.  I used Valspar glaze that I tinted with black paint.  This is my favorite product hands down.  It is so forgiving.  To finish the outside, I gave it two coats of wax.

I wanted a pop of something, but I wasn't quite sure what.  As I was strolling past the paint samples, I saw this hot pink. 

The hardware on the doors were broken, so I bought these at Joann's.  I think they are perfect!

 I spray painted the hardware on the drawers to match.  I used Krylon in black.

As I said before this little buffet was really dirty, so I scrubbed the drawers with vinegar. Then I lined them with contact paper that I found at the dollar store.  I buy some whenever I go in.  I want to make sure that my stock it always full.  I used to use scrapbook paper.  This is much easier and way less expensive.

I love that this buffet is neutral on the outside, but really girly in the inside. Maybe my hubby will let me keep this one!!



XOXO
Wendy