Clear coat laquer

Did you know that clear coat laquer can dry in 30 minutes in 40 degree weather? I didn't, but now I do.
And to think, I was going to purchase my usual polyurethane..... =D

It's not recommended for floors, and it's fumes are terrible. Found that out the hard way when I put the first coat on indoors. Blech....

Anyways, I figured I would just throw that out there.
Stay tuned later today for my reupholstered ottoman (which is out drying along with my coffee table)

Cookbook Stand

We're kicking back with an easy post today.

I found this picture display easel a couple weeks ago at Walmart for only $7.97. Not too bad, right?

I figured that it's about time I have a cookbook stand, so that's what my display turned out to be. When it's not in active use, it holds a cookbook that my mother-in-law scrap booked for me years ago (maybe for Christmas?)

Isn't that a nice way to display a family treasure?

I think I may add a glaze to it to bring out some more of the bronze tones. It looks too black to me.

Here's another peek at my big project:

Well, that just looks like a bunch of rags...

Up and Coming: reupholstered ottoman, Magic Bullet recipes, more sneak peeks, and a coffee table redone (yes, I did another project).

Art for the Music Lover

I'm so glad to finally be done with the project.

I had this fun little space where 4 doors meet to make a square on the ceiling.

So I painted it a little darker and tried painting some music notes. Just in case you're wondering, these notes are from a Bryan Adams song, which is also "our song."

Well, as you can tell from the picture, it turned out horribly. Since it was dark, I couldn't tell that I really needed to give the brown one more coat. The notes were too large, and my hand was not steady enough to make it look good. Wow....what a disaster!!

So I had to redo it all. After sanding it down and putting a few more coats of brown paint on, I finally got what I wanted.

Take a look at this heart. Isn't it the cutest thing ever? I think it would make a great tattoo.....

Then I printed out the words "Everything I Do, I Do It For You," cut out around each word, taped them to the walls exactly where I wanted them, and traced around the letters. I had to press down very hard to make indents in the walls. Then I took the paper off and traced over the indents with a pencil. After that, all I had to do was fill it in with paint!

All this was done with a paint marker. You can find them in the craft section of Walmart, or any craft store. I knew that painting it with a brush was just going to make it look just as horrible as the notes came out.

Here's a panned-out shot of the project. If you look hard, you can see all three walls (the fourth wall has a smoke alarm on it, so I wasn't going to bother with that wall).

Want another sneak peak at the big project?






What is that?! Sort of looks like tuxedo stripes.....




Stick around for: a fun find for a family treasure, the reupholstered ottoman, some Magic Bullet recipes, and more sneak peaks!

Vinyl Decal

I'm back!



Did you miss me?

Well, I obviously got my camera charger in. It works wonderfully and I couldn't be more pleased. So I got a bunch of pictures taken today, and I will be sharing with you my endeavors in my absence.



We're going to start off small.


I got this vinyl wall decal from a great seller on Etsy name Freckled Hound.


When I saw it, I knew I had to have it.

My fondest memories are made in the evening around our cozy dining room table.

I had this awkward space from my foyer table being not centered, but yet I didn't want to center the table. I wanted to fill the wall space.

Do you think it looks much better, too?

You're going to notice that in my upcoming projects, I won't have any "before" pictures. Not having a camera was not going to stop me from doing my projects. I will try to describe the "before's" as well as I can for you!

Anyways, remember I showed you that old basement window, and I said that it would be a long time until you saw that again? Well, it may only be a few more weeks. I've been a well-oiled machine lately. Want a sneak peek?

Coming up: Art for the Music Lover, Reupholstered ottoman, some fun Magic Bullet recipes (made more tonight, but we ate it too fast!), and, of course, more sneak peaks of my huge project.

eBay rocks!

I want everyone to know the importance of always checking eBay before you commit to buying anything.

Ya know how I haven't been posting any pictures? Well, not only is my SD card at my ma's, but my camera battery went dead, and I'm almost positive that I left the charger in a hotel 3 hours away. So I went to Walmart to look at a universal charger. $50. Ouch. So I told the associate that I was going to check my manufacturer's website first before committing to buy theirs. The manufacturer's price? $67. Double ouch. I really can't afford that right now.

So I check eBay. Almost instantly I find the one I need. $7.75. Nice! But what's the catch? I read everything thoroughly, and I couldn't find one. It came from a reputable seller, there was a 30 day money back guarantee, AND a 1 year warranty. And it's a two-way charger: a regular plug and a car charger! And here's the kicker: free shipping!! I ended up paying $8.75 because I wanted the shipping insurance, but still!

Did I score a deal or what?

So, the whole reason for this post is to mainly tell you that you're still going to wait for all my projects. It'll give me time to perfect everything, plus maybe start another one. But I promise, as soon as the charger comes in, I'll be posting some awesome things for you!