Dining Room Tour

After a year and a half, my dining room is done and beautiful!  When we first moved in to this wallpapered house, one of the first things I tackled was the dining room walls. 

The main layer of paper came off beautifully so in no time I was left with just the underneath newsprint type paperiness.  This too came off fairly easily with some water and a scraper.  I did as high as I could reach and then quit.  This is what we lived with for the last year and a half!  I couldn't decide what color to paint and so I just didn't do anything to it.

Last week I had off of work.  All week!  My mom said, "which room are we going to do?"  "Dining Room!" we decided.  Monday we scraped the rest of the paper off.  Tuesday we scrubbed the glue-iness off and bought paint and tissue paper.

Wait!  What?  Tissue paper.  Seriously.  I knew I wanted a textured look.  We thought about a two tone or a glaze or a plaster, but in the end the tissue paper method was the easiest. I do not envy the homeowner who decides to try to take this off the walls!

Thursday we painted more.  Friday we recovered the chairs.

And we put everything back where it belongs.

Pallet Bird House - Completed

Well, It's about time!  Right?  I decided to paint my "Martin House" with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (R) in Old White.  With Annie's paint there is no need to wax or seal it for outside.  One less step!  I set it on a side table painted in Provence (also Annie Sloan).  I added a thin trim along the top edges of the table so that I could pour bird seed around the house itself. 

  I hung a black metal wall sconce with 3 little off-white pots on it from a hook that was inexplicably grown into the tree already.  I hope to plant ivy in the pots that will hang down over the bird house
in the spring.

I placed one of Grandma's painted birdhouses amidst some newly planted ferns and hosta.  When you transplant ferns they often look very dead for the rest of that season.  Don't worry.  They should reimerge in the spring wholeheartedly.

 I have not noticed any birds living in the house yet but several have enjoyed the buffet including chickadee, tufted titmouse, junco, blue jay, robin, cardinal, and chipping sparrow.

Stenciled Tabletop

Driving to work last week I spotted this little farmhouse style kitchen table.  One leg is slightly damaged but I can fix that!  I loaded it in my car and was on my way.  I remembered a stenciled table that I liked and went on an internet hunt to find it again... Here it is from Domestic Imperfection:

I didn't have a stencil so again, I searched for one I might like on the web.  I found this:

{Sawdust & Embryos} offered a link to a wallpaper design that inspired her stencil

I printed this image full sized on a regular piece of cardstock.  (note: This did not work well because the cardstock gets wet and tears.  I found a transparency and traced it onto that.  Much better!)
I sanded the tabletop lightly just to take the finish off.  I then found the middle and began stenciling with a mix of Annie Sloan's Old White and French Linen Chalk Paints.

The stencil has to go on in stages because you don't want to smear your paint.  I did not stencil right to the edge because I wanted to bring out the design.  After the stencil was complete all over the top I lightly sanded the top to give it a worn look. 

I took it outside since it was almost 50 degrees yesterday.  (hard to believe since we are having a blizzard right now)  I used Annie Sloan's Dark Wax on the top and buffed it.  Then (this is usually not the order of things) I applied clear wax.  Normally this would lift the dark wax, but in this case the dark wax has penetrated the wood like a liquid stain.  It might lift little off the painted areas but not much.

I painted the skirt and legs with Florence Chalk Paint then Graphite.  (notice they match Rebekah's legs)  I sanded through the Graphite showing the Florence.  Then clear waxed those parts.  Now I just need to but screws for the legs!

 

Mail Art & Mailbox Art

If you are anything like me, which I would guess you are since you are reading my blog, you LOVE real mail.  Not junk mail of course, but mail in your mailbox that provides inspiration and insight and even long lost love.  How would you like to open your mailbox and find this?

 or this?

 or how about this?

I just started making these and they are so fun and addicting. 
I have made so many that you can find them in my Etsy shop now. 
I can't keep them all.  

Of course, I wish I were receiving them in my mailbox instead. 
But then again, every trip to my new mailbox is fun. 
Take a look at my other newest endeavor.

I need to try these

Some things around the blog land that I HAVE to try soon.

I found these cute coasters through pintrest. They were made by Jess at Twin Fibers. There is a full tutorial at Chasing Cottons. They will be great for using up scraps too.

How cool is this? I have so many crayon pieces that would love to be a part of a piece like this. I have also seen it done with a whole 96 pack of crayons in a rainbow. You use a hairdryer to melt them and they drip down the canvas.

Maybe I'll start with Jack Vettriano's painting. The crayons can rain down on that. Maybe more grey than blue. I wonder how that will turn out.

Lastly, what a cute headband this is. It is lace with a bit of elastic behind the head. Sew simple! I have tons of both. Also maybe a cute idea for my moms dolls.

Thank you all for sticking with me.

Featured Etsy Store: Good Clay Works

Last week I decided to start featuring Etsy stores that I like in order to encourage more traffic to their stores. This week I am featuring Good Clay Works.



Me: Who is Good Clay Works?
My name is Jane Good. I have always loved playing in the mud!



Me: How long have you been working with clay?
Jane: I received a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree in 1976, the same year my son was born. I took classed in both pottery and sculpture for my degree. While I was raising my children, I worked in clay as much as possible.



Me: What kind of clay do you use? Do you get it somewhere special?
Jane: red and white stone ware clay, I get it from the local supplier. I fire to cone 5 (about 2300 degrees)



Me: What inspires your creations?
Jane: What I see and what I feel inspires me. I love animals. While raising my children, we watched many animal and nature shows.



Me: What is your favorite piece you have ever created?
Jane: My favorite piece is the one I call First Mother. I have wonderful photo of my mother holding my child in that pose. It make me feel peaceful and safe.



Me: Do you have a studio and kiln at your home or do you create elsewhere?
Jane: I currently teach classes at the local recreation center. I teach what ever my students want to do with clay, from throwing on the wheel, to hand building and portrait sculpture. This gives me access to the rec's kiln and glazes.



Me: Anything else you would like to include?
Jane: I have 2 other shops on etsy, paperponies (paper mache)



and landscapebygood (water color prints)

dressers for living room

I decided that our living room storage solutions needed to be unified so here are the 2 dressers I put on the far wall.  They were free and I already had the paint.  Just had some loose screws.

Timothy's Star Wars Room

Ok, here are the pics finally.  This entire makeover cost less than $75.  Why do they cost so much on those decorating shows?  Stay tuned for Rebekah's room.

 look out the space ship window and see Luke's w-wing fighter.

new starry curtains.

pillow like the window of the millenium falcon

 under the bunk bed is a reading nook but look out for darth vader

bookshelves are R2-D2 and C-3PO

 bunk bed is an imperial walker

 another window looks out at the death star and vader's tie defender

 close up of R2-D2 shelf

 dresser painted to match, still needs the hardware.

I was going to spray paint it but then it SNOWED out

 even got clone wars sheets at target

ewoks on the quilt