Goldilocks Ride Finisher!

In an effort to be more active, Jocelyn and I decided we would enter a local woman's only, non-competitive bike ride that was about 3 months out and 15 miles long. Jocelyn hadn't ridden a bike for over 10 years, and even though I had ridden more recently than that, the skills we had were about the same. Never-the-less, we started training...but didn't get as much time on the saddle as we had hoped. We started with three miles at once, then upgraded to five, then seven. Finally, with only a week before the ride, we decided to try out the actual route. Wow...we were surprised by the very steep 2.5 mile stretch that started the route out! We didn't even make it to the top before we gave up and turned back. The next day, we were going to get up the hill, even if we walked the whole way. We did it, and continued on to finish 9 miles of the route. We felt confident that we would be able to finish. And we did! In all, we rode about 18 miles that day. What an accomplishment!
The route went right in front of my house and the best part of the whole ride was passing by and having both of our families out at the end of the driveway cheering us on as we passed! These photos are Jason's attempt at capturing us going by. (his test shot turned out perfect...but he didn't quite catch us).

Farmhouse Coffee Table Upcycle

I found this smallish farmhouse table at the local thrift shop a little while ago. I loved the turned legs but not the yellowish "glaze" that was dripping down them. At a $10.00 price tag I decided to go ahead and upcycle this baby! (Still not sure how so many gals in blog land find their curbside treasures)


So, I began what turned out to be an arduous process of removing the paint and stain. The finish on this piece was like armor! it just couldn't be budged. I was using a paint remover that was "safe on antiques" and took "30 minutes" to do it's work. After 3 days of working on it for a few hours each day, I gave up. Most of the paint was removed from the legs, but not all. Luckily, all of the finish off the top came off.


After adding a bit more character to the table with my awl, hammer, and a screw, I stained the top with Minwax Provincial stain and painted the legs. I used the stain as a glaze on the paint and then two coats of sealant. The sealant is water based and I was warned that you have to use very little and move quickly so that your glaze work doesn't dissolve and move around on you. So I tried to do that...but sure enough I had stain dripping down the legs. I almost cried...but since it was one of my first projects of many that I have planned, I decided that it was ok to not be perfect. My first project was fine...but I used a different brand of stain... so I am wondering if Minwax isn't the best to use as a glaze; so if you have any experience with it, I would love to hear from you!

But after all the heartache...I ended up loving this little piece of art!

Here is a closeup of a leg. You can see where I sanded down through the teal paint to the bare wood and how this exposed the white paint that did not get removed. After all the hard work trying to get the paint off..I'm glad that some remained, because I like the way the distressing turned out.

Coffee Filter Wreath

One frugal Friday, I happened upon a link to a super cute blog, The Little Brown House. She had made the most adorable wreath and I just had to make one too.

I purposefully didn't follow the way she used safety pins to secure her filters! I went for the easier option, straight pins. But I accidentally didn't squnch and puff my filters the way she did, and I really wish I had. My wreath looks a lot like a coral (or a toilet brush, as my mother pointed out). I like the way Little Brown's looks like dried hydrangeas or something. I think I might take mine to pieces and try again. But I'll save that for a rainy day!

Linking up with The Shabby Nest and I Heart Naptime!

Repurposed frame

Here is my new decor montage above my fireplace. (It is a really odd space...our fireplace is in the corner and goes up most of the wall, but then has this 'shelf' area that is like 7' up. Anyway, it is really high up on the wall.) I did my new favorite thrifty trick: finding gross art in an ornate frame and turning it into something fabulous.

Here is the tutorial. Step one: find a great deal on an ornate frame because the 'art' that it encases is so awful, no one can imagine anything good is possible. Step two: take the icky 'art' out and discard. Step three: give the frame a new coat of paint. I simply used acrylic paint and a foam brush and after dry brushed a coppery paint to accentuate the detail of the frame. Spray paint would have been oh so much faster...but they don't make the shade that I wanted. Step four: use the frame for a) an awesome message board, b) an awesome family portrait frame, c) an awesome jewelry holder, d) an awesome object d' art (my choice in this situation).

I left the hanging wire intact because I wasn't completely sure this would be the frames final landing spot and I kind of like that it has a shabby look to it. I added an iron wreath holder with a berry wreath (wildly marked down after valentine's day or Christmas, don't quite remember) and a birdcage that is caging a finial that I spray painted and two paper mache boxes that I covered in scrapbook paper that coordinates with my room. Now this strange space in my home is one of my favorite places to gaze upon!

Linking up with The Shabby Nest and I Heart Naptime!

Divine Giveaway!!

Oh my! While chasing down what has to be the best give away ever...a spot at Oh Sweet Sadie's Academy... I found the fantastic photographer Becky Earl's website. Wowzers...just stop by for a minute or two and drool over the awesome photo slideshow that runs on her home page. The way she captures those beautiful eyes of those kids is just amazing!! And I love her use of contrast. Just fantastic! So stop on by there and check out her awesome work

Fabric Flowers Flourish

Oh how I love it when a great friend has a great idea! Jocelyn had seen these beauties around boutiques, blogs, and (insert catchy 'b' word here). Well, her great idea was that we should whip some up. My first attempt was better suited as a hat in the New York Easter Bonnet Parade... but after I restrained my natural instinct that bigger is better and saw Jocelyn's gorgeous creation, I came up with these:



Want to whip one or six up for yourself? You need some fat quarters. I got a package of 6 from JoAnns. And you'll need some other layers like burlap and tulle (about a quarter yard of each) along with some snazzy buttons. Simply fold your fat quarter in half, wrong sides together, down the length (so you have a long rectangle) and cut a strip. For the largest layer the strip only needs to be about 1 inch or so. With a needle and thread sew a running stitch down the length of the two layers of fabric near the bottom. No need to be fussy with stitch length or anything like that. Pull the thread so that you have a tight ruffle and attach the two edges together with a couple of stitches. Repeat with other fabrics, cutting each row smaller than the last. With the really tiny middle layer you won't need the whole length of the fat quarter. Just bunch it up as you go and stop when it is long enough to make a circle. Then cut a circle of burlap to size, depending on which layer you want it to be. Same goes for the tulle. Stack them all up. Put a couple of stitches in the middlish area to hold them together, find a cute button for the middle and sew it on and voila!

Now to decide their final destiny.

The Green Door

So it has been a long long while since I have blogged. Super sorry to all of you who like to hang on my every word, lol. Anyway, I'm super proud of my latest project and thought I would share it with the world. I refinished a reclaimed door. I'm guessing the door must be at least 50 years old judging by the awesome door knob and key hole that it sports. It was in a sad sad state with it's yellowing paint peeling like crazy. So I scraped away at it and painted it green to match the accent color of my bedroom and Jocelyn and I brought out all of the awesome dents and nail holes and other details with black glaze. Then I added a bunch of hooks and it is now my necklace holder. I love taking something old and making it useful again...and hope to be doing more projects like this soon.

Linked up with The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday Linky Party!