Hot off the presses - Geaux Saints!

I had a large old frame that I hadn't used since I got it. It was actually a wedding present and had some vows on it. It's a HUGE frame, with a tiny opening. We got it 4 years ago and never found a place for it.  So I pulled out some Modge Podge and some momentos and went to town!

And by momentos I mean....  the front page from The Times-Picayune from when the Saints won the Super Bowl!!

I wasn't so sure about Modge Podging over such HISTORY but I thought "Hey.. what the heck!" The newspaper was just sitting in a closet. This way it's preserved forever and I can hang it on the wall!

I also cut out the state of Louisiana from my atlas. Didn't think I'll be driving from Arizona to Louisiana soon. :) Surrounded by some clearance scrap book paper and we're done.

And, yes - that's a picture with me and Drew Brees!! I stalked him at a golf tournament in Birmingham several years ago. Met him for a second and he was nice enough to take a picture with me!

Anyway, hope this inspires you to pull out something from the closet and bring it back to life. And GEAUX SAINTS!

Vintage Vanity

I spent all day working on the vintage vanity I picked up off someone's curb. And when it's finished, no one will want to put it out with the garbage!

Here's the before:

Yikes! But after peeling off the old varnish and giving it a good sand, it looks fabulous!

I had to take off nearly all the veneer which took off a lot of the detail and design.  So to add a little flare back, I picked up a little wood design to glue on the top drawer.

Tobie likes it!

So... I've been going back and forth about what to do with the color -- stain or a nice coat of white?

Well, I'm going with white. Here's a sneak peak of the drawer. It's got a coat of primer on it now and looks great!! But I'm going to save the picture of the rest of the vanity and wait for the big reveal when it's all finished. This has been such a fun project! And, I gotta say, easier than those chairs!

Pull up a chair

The chairs are almost finished!

2 coats of English Chestnut stain and 2 coats of semi-gloss polyurethane and I love it! Just need to fix the seat and we're good to go!

I'm really happy with how it looks with our Goodwill table.

Now, here's where I need YOUR help!! I have 3 of these chairs (one I still haven't touched yet!) and would LOVE 3 more!  I know it's a stretch but in this technologically-connected-social-media-crazed world, I thought what the heck, might as well ask if anyone knows who makes this gorgeous style. Oh, and the first 3 were just $6 a piece!

Taking out the trash...

Confession! So I like a cheap deal from craigslist or Goodwill, but you know what I like even more? Free!

Check out this trashy treasure I found!

It's an antique vanity - sans mirror.

Confession -- someone threw it out for bulk trash! And yes, part of it does need more than a little love, but I see the beauty (and the hard work). It's missing a drawer but I think I'll make it into a shelf.  The top also opens up to a long drawer.

Look at this gorgeous detail!!

I'm thinking of fixing it up painting it white - what do you think?

Simple Splash of Color

I've been looking for something to hang above our king bed in the master.

Nice bed, huh? Craigslist $200. Anway, about that big, blue space...

It was super easy and fun! 12 x 12 canvas, covered with scrapbook paper and modge podge. I painted the edges the same color (yellow) to tie them all together.

Tobie likes them, too!

Sedona

One of my favorite places is Sedona -- ahh, the gorgeous red rocks!  So I tried to capture that beauty on canvas.

Cathedral Rock:

View from the Chapel (I don't have to point out which one is the photo, right?) :

Have a seat!

I actually bought 3 chairs to refinish before I found that gorgeous dining table. Notice I didn't say the chairs were gorgeous - no, they needed some work - a lot of work!

Funny, I actually saw these chairs on clearance at a used furniture store. They were on sale for $15 a piece.  I passed.  Then about a week later, I stopped by a Goodwill right next to that store and there they were, the same (can I say.. ugly) chairs - but just $5.99 a piece. Hmmm, I could see their inner beauty!

So I sanded. And sanded. And sanded some more. Actually there were at least 4 layers of paint on these babies - blue, green, black and white. My color choice - a gorgeous English Chesnut stain. But I was going to have to work for it!

I tried a paint stripper on one of the chairs -- it cut through one layer of paint, then I had to sand through the other three!

Days and days of sanding were rewarded as I put the first stroke of stain on these chairs. Oh, so pretty!!

One coat down, another to go.

Now, I just need to seal them and recover the seats.

But... I only have 3 of them to go around the dining table (oh, and one of those I haven't touched yet!) so I'll be searching for a few more chairs.

So still have some work ahead of me, but for now, I'm happy with how these are turning out.

Steal the deal!

We've been kicking the idea around of getting a new dining table - and when I came across one I liked... ah hem.. one I liked that was a killer deal, I had to pull the trigger!

Here's our old dining set - circa about 1990.

It's been in the Greenwalt family ever since - even making the trip from Louisiana out to Phoenix. It's been a good table, but time for something new.

Enter this sassy little table I found at Goodwill!! Yes, in between all that junk is a gorgeous dining table!

I spotted it on a Tuesday (details, details!). It was marked $79.99. I loved it but I wasn't sold at $80. But that coming Saturday was half-price Saturday and I thought, "If it's still here on Saturday I'd definitely spring $40!" But it's so pretty... would it still be there?

Yep!! I took this bad boy home for $40! It has a few nicks but is otherwise in great shape. Now all we need are some chairs!



Oh, do you like that hutch, too? Well, that was a garage sale deal for $35!!

Here's the before:

And the after:

Number 1

I just entered the blogosphere! Welcome to 2012!

This should be an adventure!