Found Shelf

 Way back in October we were working out in the yard and came across this dirty, nasty shelf hanging out in an old storage shed.  It was sitting on it's side collecting a lot more than dust.  We're talking layers and layers of dirt, grime, spiderwebs and even a few spiders hiding in it.  YUK!  I was in love with it.  I could see it's potential. 

So, my husband and brother lugged it out and I tackled it with a power hose and soap.

After a day of scrubbing, then drying we decided on a blue paint of course....Clear Pond by Behr. 

I shared this makeover with my personal FB friends and I'm not sure why I've never shared it on my blog.  Hmmm?  I guess my mind was on Halloween decor at that time. 

 Here it is Before and After.

 Here is the photo I shared with you yesterday when I did a post on my growing owl collection.

 Since it sits right by a window, all my pictures of it tend to turn out really bright.  So, I thought I'd do some close up shots of the finish.  Very chippy, rustic and just plain shabby chic. I love it!

 Here is a close up shot of the very pale blue color.  Again, Clear Pond by Behr.

 I think the top still has a layer of embedded dirt on it that just couldn't be scrubbed away.  Makes it look nice and rustic.

Sorry for how bright it is, but this is the best shot I could get of it!  It's in the back corner of our living room, yet it's the first thing you see if you come in our side entrance.  It's absolutely our style and I can't tell you how many compliments we've had on it.  It's probably one of my favorite things in our home. 

Where Did It Come From?

 Where did the obsession with owls come from?  Anybody know?  I know they are very trendy in the blogging world and few years ago I would have thought you were crazy if you wanted to put an owl in my living room.  However, after discovering thrift stores and being obsessed with trying to make junk into treasure, I just love finding a fun statue to make over. 

There is something about the owl that is so intriguing.  The wonderful, big eyes and the scallop pattern on the chest adds so much texture to a boring space in a room. 

 I know I'm following a trend, but it's one that's fun to follow.  Especially when you find them in thrift stores or in discount home stores.  The fun, blue one above we found at ROSS.  I'm am always so proud of my thrift store finds, but every once in a while buying something from a regular store is fun too. 

 I know what you're thinking....too much!  But, it's actually quite large. About the size of a basketball.

 The rest of my collection actually does come from thrift stores.  This little guy is from a Habitat For Humanity store.  You can see what he used to look like {HERE}

 This one has gone through two transformations.  Gray, then Green then White.  You can see what he used to look like {HERE}

 And this little one is from Goodwill.  It used to be an ugly little planter.  Can you believe it was ever ugly?!  Go {HERE} to check it out.

 This growing collection of mine is all displayed in one of my favorite spots in our home.  I don't think I've ever showed you what this bookshelf looked like when we found it. I'll share it with you soon!

Do you have a growing collection?  Please share with me on my FB page.  Might just make for a fun post!

Footstool

 Can you believe it?  I actually have a new project to share with you.  FINALLY!  Sorry I've been absent lately, but we've been a little busy with life.  I have a feeling it's about to get a lot more busy with our oldest starting soccer in a few weeks. 

Anyways, back to the project.  We had this dingy end table with scratches galore that either needed to be refinished or donated.  We decided to make it into a footstool instead.  Our living room needed a pop of color with fabric and we thought it would be functional as well. 

I didn't take any pictures of it, but my husband cut down the legs by about 2 inches so that it would be a good height to rest your legs on.  You can tell by the blue painters tape on one of the legs how much we cut off.

 We went to the fabric store and bought a piece of foam cut exactly to the size of the top of the table and enough batting to cover the top and around the sides. 

 My husband was so helpful in picking out the right fabric.  I tend to stick to what is safe, and he's open to being a little more bold.  We decided on a bright green floral pattern that was luckily in the clearance section.  I love it.  It's a nice pop of color in our living room that's full of blues and neutrals. 

 First we place the foam on the top of the table....

 and then wrapped and stapled all the batting around the bottom of the table. 

 Here it is stapled and trimmed up so the legs could be reinserted.

 When we stapled the fabric to the table, we found it best to start with the corners first and then the sides.

 Don't be afraid to use a lot of staples!  No one will ever see the underside. 

 We reinserted the legs...

 and now have a brand new footstool.  It doesn't look like a normal footstool because of how the table turns downward, but I think it still turned out pretty good. 

 Much more useful than a scratched up, unused end table. 

It's something we can kick our feet up on or use as an extra seat if we have company.  My boys had to model how to use it. 

I have a few more things to share with you this week and soon I'll have two room makeovers complete.  Hope you'll stick around.

Goodwill Dresser Turned Into A TV Stand

 In the almost 7 years that my husband and I have been married, we've never bought a TV together. We've always had hand-me downs.  This year, we decided to finally get a nice TV.  However, we needed something to hold it.  I refused to pay the hundreds of dollars that most of the nice ones cost.  So, we went searching at thrift stores and on craigslist. 

The day before we bought our TV, I walked into Goodwill and saw this sitting in the furniture section.  Guess how much it was? 

$26

Can you believe it?!  It was perfect.  It just needed some work. 

So, we got to sanding it!  It took a lot of sanding.  Then we picked out a plain white paint at Home Depot for $9. 

Here is how it turned out...

 Ahhhh, I love it!  

 Here is a close-up of the detail right in the middle of the TV stand.  You can tell that we slightly distressed it.

 Here are the knobs we picked up from Hobby Lobby.  They fit perfectly into our color scheme.  Plus, they were all 50% off.  Gotta love a good sale!

 Here are the pretty clear knobs on the two smaller drawers. These came from Home Depot.

 We decided to take out the two smaller drawers on the bottom so that we'd have room to store our DVD player or any other electronics that find their way into our home.  It tends to happen with boys!

I have to give my husband all the credit for this part.  Instead of a piece of plywood on the bottom, he took some old fence boards and cut them to the size of the shelf.  I love how it turned out.  Gives it a little rustic charm. 

 Here is a zoomed out shot of some of the details.  We also decided to take the middle door off and fill in with an old locker basket.  I think I mentioned before that we found this in a parking lot just hanging out ready to come home with us.  I love giving things a new life. 

I filled it with some of my husband's old baseballs from his coaching days.  He loves, loves baseball and good thing I do to!  They fit perfectly in the basket.

One final shot of our completed dresser turned TV stand!  I think I tallied it up, and it cost us around $60 for this whole project.  Not to shabby!
I linked up:
Primitive & Proper
Blue Cricket Design
Uncommon
Someday Crafts

happy love day

My husband and I were able to get out of the house by ourselves on Saturday afternoon.  My very sweet brother offered to watch our boys as they were napping.  We went to JoAnn Fabrics to pick out some fabric to make an ottoman.  (one of my many projects to share with you) 

While we were walking around, there was a lady with a really cool Lotus tattoo on her wrist.  I said to my husband how much I wanted to get a love tattoo on my wrist.  It's something I've been wanting for several years.  He looked at me and said,"lets just do it!"  OKAY! 

So, we found a local tattoo parlor downtown where we live and told them what we wanted.  My sweet husband decided to get the same thing as me.  A reminder of how much we love each other, our boys, life, friends and family.  It's something to look at when we're feeling a little down to remind us of how much love we have in our life. 

I hope everyone has a very special Valentines Day & remember to tell those you are close to how much you love them. 

 (sorry the tattoo looks a little gray, it's still healing)

Happy Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  I don't have a Friday Favorite for you today, but I do have some inspiration.  My friend Michael G. sent this to me on my FB page this morning.  It made me stop and think about why I started blogging in the first place.  This saying is so very true to me.  Thank you Michael. 

Some other inspiration, my husband and I are one month in to our weight loss!  We're both down 17 lbs.  YAAAYYY!  I know it's only been a month, but it feels great.  I think we're off to a good start on a long journey. 

Happy Friday everyone. 

DIY Blue Jars

 I'm sure everyone has seen the DIY tutorials floating around on Pinterest about how to make your own blue tinted jars.  I've looked up so many of them and I'm sure there is a ton a better ways to do this, but I used what I had on hand. 

 Some empty jars, Mod Podge and food coloring.  I think the next time I try this, I will try the glossy finish Mod Podge instead of the matte finish.  You can tell in the picture above that mine came out a little cloudy looking. 

 All I did was added some Mod Podge to an empty tin can, tinted it with a few drops of blue and couple green.

*there is no exact number...tint it to whatever color pleases you.

 I put some tin foil under my jars to protect my table and to catch any extra drips.

 Here is the one I did all painted on and starting to dry.

 My husband even joined me while doing this project.  I guess it caught his interest.  He made his a little bit darker. To be honest, it turned out better than mine.  HMMM, maybe I should have him do these small projects with me more often. 

 Here they are almost done.  It took a few hours for them to dry, so be patient.

 Here they are completely done with a candle inside.  The little one in the back I did later that day because we had and empty jelly jar.  On that one, I tried tinting the inside instead of the outside.  I can't put a candle in it, but I'm sure I can find some other treasures to put in it.

 I really, really want to try the glossy Mod Podge now.  I'm curious to see if it turns out more clear.  I am happy with these ones though.  I think they look really pretty with a candle inside.

 If you've done any of these, please share with me what products work best for you!

I was rearranging things in my kitchen today and decided to put them all in an old coke box along with some clear mason jars and a candle holder.  Grouped together, I think they look pretty cute!