Thursday, March 21, 2013

What's Happening & Find + Follow Friday!

Exciting days ahead for my blog! I am co-hosting Find + Follow Friday with Nicole from Me + The Moon. If you aren't one of the lucky ones to have read her blog, check her out now!


The Happenings Lately...

I assure you, I have got some exciting home projects in the works too! The Mister and I have been working away on these awesome home DIY projects all week! I thought I'd have these pretty before and after pics up here by now, really! We have run into some major hiccups to get everything just right, now we got it all figured out and I'm pretty sure we are pro's in the refinishing business! Anyway, in a couple days, it'll be blog ready! Hence the reason I have been blog M.I.A. but it'll be worth the wait! Luckily for me, hubby-man has been on vacation--he thanks me kindly!

When my supervision hasn't been needed, I've been pouring myself into some major Spring-cleaning! I have cleaned walls, appliances, planted flowers, and made a penny ball for my garden in the planting process! I have hydrangeas see, and rumor has it that copper keeps away slugs and keeps your hydrangeas blue! I'll take that! Here's how I did it--


My Uncle's name is Dale, so I like this ball!
For all my fellow OCD friends, YES--all the pennies are heads up! 
I went to the thrift store here in town and found a super cheap bowling ball, $2.49, came complete with the bag I didn't need or want. Then I round up all my pennies and mixed up some epoxy, huge nasty mess! Hours later and tons of pennies (a few dollars worth probably) and I have a penny ball! Eh, it's ok I think. Not as pretty as the one on Pinterest.

Then I made a ribbon basket, it's lame!


And I'm not done yet with all the organizing and cleaning fun! I still plan to clean my ceiling fans, recover my dining room chairs, and clean out Zane's clothes (again) which no doubt will make me cry (again)!

This Sunday we had Zane's Easter pics taken! I cannot wait to see them and share them with you!

Last Year, right before the meltdown!
Last year, we had a complete meltdown with the live bunnies! This year--a complete 180! There may be some bunny kissing involved! Stay tuned!

The Link-Up...

Thanks for joining us! So let's get to it:
1. Follow your hosts. 
They will be numbers 1 - 4 on the list. **I try to always follow back, so PLEASE leave a comment letting me know you're new here so I don't miss you! ** Sometimes it takes a little while, but I always get through every comment and follow back. :) My co-hosts this week are: Lesley over at Mommy in the Making Melissa over at Forever and A Day + Sarah-Louise over at Life In A Break Down! 2. Link up your blog's main page. **No blog hops, please.**
3. Try to stop by at least 3 blogs and follow ones you love. 
I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment, as well :)
4. Take a button! 
Sharing is caring :) The more awesome blogs = the more awesome bloggy friends you make.
5. Tweet this hop!
Spread the hop love. 
I've decided to make this hop every other Friday for the time being-- e-mail me at nmariephoto@gmail.com if you'd like to co-host! 



Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Utensil Holder Revamp!

I have never been happy with the utensil holders I have had, and I really couldn't ever find something I loved. Once in Hobby Lobby I stumbled upon this urn/planter thing and it was OK! I can't say that I loved it though!
See? Just eh, ok!
I had this sitting on the counter for about a year or so. Then through my blogging and Pinterest world I stumbled upon this super cute idea and I LOVE it!! I never would have thought of it on my own!


After a month or so of searching for one of these silver ice buckets on Etsy, I finally found one that was perfect and the perfect price! All the ones I found were $65 or more!! I found this gem for $28!! That's doable!
It arrived in the mail yesterday. It was super tarnished and I wanted to polish it up just a bit. I still liked a vintage-y lightly tarnished look, so I didn't get too crazy with the polishing, even though it did take some elbow grease!
Before the polishing
I got the polishing cream at Walmart and got to work!


It took me about an hour and an unveiling of an engraving, I don't even know what it says.

Nailed it!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Zane's Time-Out Chair

We are in the "terrible-two's" folks! This momma needed a time-out chair, but not just any time-out chair! I wanted something unique and really cute!

I had been searching for the perfect chair for a while and finally came across the right size chair, and not too girly looking, (no carved hearts or swirly detail). I knew I'd have to revamp it if I wanted it just right. I just did not know what kind of look I wanted.  I knew I love orange for boys and teal and navy and grey, but which direction should I go in was the main question. Since this chair had a cushion, I knew I needed to start with finding the perfect fabric. I went to this fun, quirky fabric shop in Dallas, I swear I looked at fabric for a good while, and Zane made friends with one of the employees in the meantime. I kept looking for the fabric I fell in love with and could envision an adorable look for the chair. Then I saw it! As soon as I settled on the fabric, in the store my vision came to me!! Orange and teal paint, but alternate the colors on the different legs or back of the chair, brilliant!!

The fabric on the top left, of course!
The original cushion was a mess! It was lumpy and honestly, not that cushy! I bought some foam and batting to make a proper cushion. I could not wait to get started! Off to Lowes I went for the perfect paint colors. I had The Hubby remove the cushion and pry off the existing fabric, also give it a good sanding. As he did that, I focused on making a nice cushion, after all, his bobo should be comfy while in time-out right?
This was the cushion--pillow stuffing!
Under the "cushion"
I cut out the foam in the shape of the seat

Time to wrap the seat and foam with the batting
Stapler needed!
Done with that, now for the fabric!
I cut out the fabric and got to covering. The cut-outs in the seat did make things a little tricky, but in the end, it turned out great!!
TADA!!!
Then I had to paint the chair. It took a few coats, but it was no problem! After it dried I got my white paint pin to write the perfect saying for this chair...

I love it!!