Sunday, March 24, 2013

An Easter Inspired Ferris Wheel

Hello friends!  Today I am sharing my revamped Easter Ferris Wheel.  






I found this pastel colored Ferris Wheel at Joann Fabrics on clearance a couple weeks ago.  Knowing that these certain pastels are not present in my house, I immediately had a plan for this piece.  I decided to spray it with a Copper Finish Rustoleum that I had in my garage.  I then hit it with some black acrylic paint, leaving some of the copper showing through to give it an aged look.  






I filled the egg holders with different colors and sizes of sparkling glittered eggs.  
 


  
You could really do so much with this piece.  Maybe have the copper and then paint it with a grass green or a blue to have a pop of color and display white eggs or something.. I can see myself changing this piece up every year.  It was fast and fun and I'm really enjoying it!  

Are you working on any Easter projects right now?  I'd love to see or hear about them!  Have a great week!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Spring Mantel

 Well, Spring has arrived my friends!  

At least according to my calendar.. The weather may have something different to say about it.  But never the less, I am springing up the decor around my cozy little home and having a blast doing it.




Today, I thought I would show you my mantel scape!  Not sure if I've heard it called that before or if I just made that up, but it works, right?
 



I used a variety of spring greens and one of my favorite flowers to decorate with, Hydrangeas!





I have a few pieces of driftwood layered in as well...
 



Cute little birds in colors of green and blue are nestled on top amongst the branches...




I left my creamy distressed candlesticks up.. Just love the architecture of them..





And there you have it.  My Spring inspired Mantel!  Have a great day!


Thursday, March 7, 2013

DIY Crate Buffet

 Good Morning!  I thought I should share my newest treasure!  I am just so in love with my Crate Buffet!  It could easily be used as a bookshelf, or craft room organizer, but for me, it's my so very needed dining room buffet.

I had seen something similar to this on Pinterest, so I was inspired and started gathering my materials needed to make my own! 



It really is a simple list of items needed to build this piece.  

Materials:

-6 wooden crates {all the same size, mine are 12 Deep / 12 Wide / 21 Long}
-2 pine boards {stained with the barn wood stain.,cut to size, mine were 13 Deep / 44 Wide}
-4 caster wheels {get the ones that turn and pivot around, I picked mine up at Lowes} 
-Nails and Screws  

Tools:

-Nail Gun
-Drill
-Chop Saw or Hand Saw (unless you get the lumber supply store to cut it to size)

And that's it!  Pretty sweet right?  
 

 I had so much fun decorating my new treasure!  I have a smaller home and feel like there is no room to decorate!  And now I have six shelves all in one!  Hooray! :)  I'm a nerd, I know.



 For the most part I had to use what I had around the house for my decor, with the exception of my new plant holder and Hydrangeas. {My Favorite}



I sanded the edges of the wood top for now.. I plan on beating it up a bit more later ;) 




I am seriously ready for Spring!  It's been a mix of wind, rain, sun, and snow here lately.. Umm.. okay, make up your mind and give us SPRING already! 

Here is a shot of my dining room at this point.  You might notice we're missing our trim.. We put in new floors and still need to finish the trim.  I wish I could tell you this was a recent change, but no.  My new floors went in over three years ago!!!  I'm a bit OCD, so I'm surprised I've managed this long with no trim.. I just tell myself.. It's rustic, right? Eh? ;)



So there you have it.. A crate buffet, bookshelf, extra storage.. whatever you need it for.  Simple storage, and beautifully rustique!




Well, I hope this has inspired you to restore something old and rusty, and get out your tools!  Have a great day!

xo Jen

Linking up with:






Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Homemade Stain (Barn Wood Style)

 Okay!  So I decided to finally share my Homemade Stain that works perfect for creating that old grey barn wood look! I first saw this recipe on a fellow bloggers site, however, when I went back to check it out, her blog was gone!  So I had to kind of play it by ear with this.  Here is how I make my stain.

Here is what you will need:

2 pads of extra fine steel wool
2 cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup of water
 2 tea bags of Earl Grey Tea 
1 jar with lid
1 paint brush


Okay, so all you do is tear/shred up the steel wool into little pieces and put it in a jar.  Pour the vinegar into the jar, and let it sit for two days.  It needs this time to rust and make it's color!  When the mixture is rusted and ready, boil a cup of water and make Earl Grey Tea with two bags.  You want this strong!  The stronger the Tea, the better your grey will be.

Now you're ready!  It is that easy!  Now to get my look, I first put on a nice layer of the vinegar mixture.  Let it dry.  Then I did one coat of the Earl Grey Tea.  And there you have it!  Now you can do all sorts of fun things to rough up your furniture to get the right look!  Sand it, hit it with screws, hammers!  Your options are endless!  Keep in mind, you will definitely want to seal this.  I bought a Minwax brand Paste Finishing Wax from Lowes.



I hope you'll have the chance to try this out!  It's so neat and kind of addicting!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Butterflies!

Good Morning!  And happy Friday!

I wanted to give you an update of Isabella's room.  We started with a darker tanish green on the walls.. It was just too dark for a little girls room, and my office as well.  So I went with the same blue {Afternoon Shade}, I'm sorry I don't remember what brand it started as.  Anyway, we LOVE it!  It's fresh, and cheerful, and calming, and just everything we wanted it to be!  

These Pictures really do not do this color justice!

 I first purchased this Pottery Barn Butterfly Duvet and Sham.  That was my starting point for where we wanted to go with this room.  You can see my original design board here.  I really wanted to do a bronze wall sconce with a clear mason jar like the one I saw on Pottery Barn, but I am on a tight budget and I came across this lamp at Marshall's.  It was a beautiful vintage distressed blue and had a cute Burlap shade!  I'll take it! :)


I painted a fresh coat of cream paint called {Vintage} by Valspar, in a semi-gloss.  I love the color!  Its a warm white and really suits the room perfectly.  I'm trying to decide whether I want to distress the bed or leave it clean and creamy.  Any thoughts about this??

For now, I put up a vintage cream mirror I already had lying around.  There are a few more details that need to be added to this room, but it is coming together nicely..  And Isabella is LOVING it!  

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!