Mini Christmas House Tour

I was so busy with so many things this holiday season that I haven't done many projects lately. I have gotten a few done that I will be sharing with you soon I hope. I thought for now, I would give you a mini tour of my Christmas decorations in my house.

I use this window shelf as my faux mantle. I hang our stockings on it, but they are hidden a little by the t.v.

I did manage to make myself a ruler Christmas tree. :)

I love this vignette on my kitchen wall. It's hard to tell, but I sprayed the glass in this frame with Krylon's Looking Glass spray for a mirrored effect.

A rag garland I made last year hangs in the kitchen windows.

These next pictures aren't the greatest, but it was the best I could do in my dark hallway.

A little snowman with some lights in a vintage lunch box. Love it!

Here's a really crappy pic so you can see the whole effect. I love using vintage stuff to make cute decorations! I will be trying (probably in vain) to get some better pictures to show off more of my decorations soon (as in before the new year!). The lack of sunlight this winter is making it almost impossible to get good pictures!

I hope you are having a great holiday season!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Pinspiration: Make it already #2

I've been seeing great button art all over Pinterest. Like this super cute cupcake from It's Written on the Wall:




So I decided to make my own button art finally (I know, I know, I just made that pumpkin button art the other day, but this is more...buttony). Here's what I came up with:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

I can't seem to stop myself now that I've begun gluing buttons! Have you ever done any button art?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop

Coral Madness Project # 1

I've been working on several projects for the guest bedroom. One of those projects is recovering a $5 chair I got at the thrift store. Here's a sort of before (I got excited and started painting!):

Obviously, I spray painted the arms and legs grey. Then I dry brushed white paint over all the wood:

I love this look! Then it was time to reupholster the chair. I decided it needed some extra cushioning on the seat:

Then I got out my staple gun and fabric and went to town. Here's the finished result:

The back piece is tacked on with upholstery nails.

Here's what the arms look like up close:

I love the result. You can see in the background of some of this pictures that I am working on the guest room. I have curtains up and book shelves in. I will be sharing more pieces of the room soon. I've barely put a dent in the fabric I ordered for this project. I am considering making a floor poof out of the leftovers.

I can't wait to share the rest of my guest room makeover!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop

Pinspiration: Make it already! #1

I love Pinterest. It's a great place to save those awesome ideas for when you can actually get around to them later. However, my problem is I keep acquiring more and more pins and don't actually carry out any of them. So I decided it's time to actually start making some of the stuff on my boards. This week, I thought I start with this lovely pin on my Fall board:

The original came from I Heart Nap Time and can be found here. 

Here's what mine looks like:

So what do you think? I think it turned out super cute and will be a great addition to the fall/ Halloween decor.

I hope to have some more posts in the Pinspiration series soon!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk; Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Blast from the Past #1

I have too many works in progress that I can't really show right now. Boo! But, that doesn't mean I can't show you some projects I've done in the past, but never shared before. I have a lot of those projects at my office.

For this first edition of Blast from the Past, I want to show off a little piece I did for my office bathroom. I got this cabinet for free. It had already been stripped (bonus!) so I got right to painting.

I painted the piece a nice gray, distressed and antiqued it. I also painted the insets of the doors with Krylon's Looking Glass spray paint:

It gives the doors a nice reflective quality and looks like old mirrors. Love it! The top of this piece was laminate, so a quick scruff with sandpaper and more spray paint was in order.

At first, I was disappointed with how yucky the top got every time water got on it, but actually it's growing on me. It almost looks like a distressed zinc top now.

Overall, it's a nice little storage piece for the bathroom.

I'll be sharing more Blasts from the Past in the future (and hopefully so new projects) very soon!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk; Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Teal Pheasant

I found this pheasant at the thrift store. I thought, "it's no peacock, but it'll do."

A little spray paint later:

Now I have an awesome accessory to put in my guest bedroom. I've got several projects in the works for this. I also ordered new bedding which should be here next week. I am so excited to show off some things for this project!!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

It's begun! (Coral Madness)

I've officially taken steps to begin taming the coral madness I've recently acquired. I ordered these pieces of fabric and trim online:

And I started painting this chair I'm planning on recovering with said fabric:

I've also figured out how to mix fabric dye to get a nice coral color that I am planning on dying white curtains I bought at a garage sale.

I also bought a mirror and a ceramic pheasant I'm planning on spray painting. I'm getting excited for this transformation!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Master Bedroom Wall

My final sprucing up project I have to share is the master bedroom wall. I've been thinking for a year that all the tan walls in the house were getting to be too much and I should paint a wall in the bedroom blue. I finally did it a few weeks before my company came.

Not the best pictures, but it's hard to get the right light in this room. I love my blue wall. It's bright and happy but still relaxing. I bought one quart and used every last drop. It was a perfect spruce up for not very much money.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk; Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Coral Madness

I have a fever. And the only prescription is more....coral! The Outdoor Bar Cart I just did in coral and gray got me thinking. I really like that color. Then I started thinking some more. I like the coral and the gray together. Then I got on Pinterest (I know, dun, dun, dun!!!!). Then I was lost. I saw all this awesome stuff with coral, gray and turquoise. Now I need to have those colors in my house. My guest bedroom has been long neglected and boring. So I decided to make a Pinterest board dedicated to all the cool ideas with those colors. Then I went insane and created a Polyvore set dedicated to the idea.

Coral, Turquoise and Gray Room by erica-hinders-allex on Polyvore

My only hope is that if I start making projects for this room, it will cure the sickness... (must reupholster chair with coral and white chevron!).I do have the right color spray paint to begin...now I just need to find an ugly peacock to paint. :) 

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life! 

Stool for the Bathroom

This is another small project I did in prepping my house for last weekend. I wanted a stool for the bathroom for the smaller kids (including mine) so they could reach the sink to wash their hands. I had a blank wooden stool kit and this is what I did with it:

I spray painted the top lime green and the legs gray. The flowers are reflective vinyl wall clings I found at the dollar store. I'll update this with a picture of the stool in my bathroom with the matching goods.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life! 

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk. 

Outdoor Bar Cart

I'm still cleaning like a mad woman for the company coming tomorrow. This one is the biggest and most exciting I've been working on for the occasion.

I got a cart on wheels at an auction a long, long time ago that was just waiting for some love. The sides are brass. The top, back and bottom shelf are all press board. I thought the brass would look nice with coral paint, and I was right! I didn't take any in progress pics, but here's the finished project:

I ran out of coral spray paint (only bought one can and that press board sure soaked it up!).So I decided to pair it with a gray stripe on the bottom.

I added a brass wine glass rail I found on Amazon to hold my plastic (outdoor) wine glasses.

I thought the brass ice bucket and glass decanters finish the look quite nicely. I'll have to take a picture of it all decked out this weekend for the party.

I'd almost forgotten I had the coral martini shaker until I was digging for bar accessories. It matches so well!
This project took a little longer than some of the other spruce up ones, but all in all, I think the effect was worth it.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk; Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Rocker Chair Cover

This is one of my "spruce up the house for company in a week" projects. This rocker in my living room had ugly, and I do mean ugly green corduroy on the cushions.



Here's the ugly:

And here's the pretty: (or at least the not so ugly anymore.)

I used a curtain I got at the thrift store for a dollar. The sewing was pretty easy, I just measured the cushions and winged it a little. The back is just a rectangle sewed in half. For the bottom, I traced the shape of the cushion and added a bit for seam allowance. I cut two of those and then a strip to go around the side and sewed it all together.

I wish there was time to do my whole couch this way. *sigh* Stay tuned for other projects throughout next week.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Wedding Gift Reprised

Remember this post where I took an old print and made a wedding gift? I have two more weddings coming up, so time for more projects!  I bought this print at a thrift store, complete with Kmart sticker still on the back.

I cut letters with my Cricut out of contact paper. This time before I put them on, I sprayed a light coat of clear sealer over the print. Last time I did this project, the print was glossy. This time it was a light paper and I wanted to be sure I could peel the letters off.

I painted the print, peeled off the letters, painted the frame, and put it all back together. Here's the final result:

I love how it turned out this time! Last time, the colors of the print were more subtle, this time they are bright and fun. Perfect for the couple I am planing on giving this to.

I have lots of projects I will be posting in the next week. We are planning on having a big family get together at my house in less than two weeks. I am sprucing up like a mad women before that happens.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk. 

More Outdoor Decor

I've been focusing on sprucing up the deck area lately. I found these at a garage sale recently:

They were originally gold plastic. Someone had already painted them white, but I decided they needed some brightening up. I painted them the same lime green I painted my solar chandelier. 

Here they are on my wall. I thought they looked nice on either side of this planter. 

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I showed you my plantings here, but I thought I would give an update on what some of them look like now.

My wine barrel:

I rearranged the front steps a little and added a fun old crate:

The flowers have been filling out nicely now that sun has been finally shining!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Outdoor Solar Chandelier

I had a metal chandelier that held candles for a long time. I was always going to do something with it, but I wasn't sure what. One day, I stopped by the Dollar Tree (love that store) and found some bright solar lights. Then it hit me, why not use those for the chandelier and make it an outdoor one?

My supplies:

I sprayed the chandelier with lime green Rust-Oleum paint. (sorry, missed the action of this one.)

Then I popped the ends off the solar lights like so:

The ends didn't quite fit into the candle cups so I used regular plain old fun tack to get them to stay in there. I could've glued them, but I wanted the option to change them out or even used regular candles in it someday.

And here it is hanging up:

Here's the best picture I could get of it all lit up at night:

Not the clearest pic, I know, but that's the best I could do without a flash to distort the whole shebang.
Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk. 

Burlap Planter Liner

I had a problem. I have a planter on my deck rail that has one of those coconut liners. But after a couple of years it looked like this:

Try as I might, I could not find another liner that would fit in the basket. I started thinking about the materials I had around the house that might do the job. That's when I thought of this:

A pile of burlap left over from various furniture projects. Aha! I took lined the basket with several layers of the burlap and filled it up with dirt:

Time for the flowers!

I put in some alyssum, pansies, and blue ageratum. I wasn't too sure about using the burlap, but shortly after I planted this, I saw this post over at Penny's Vintage Home where she lined an entire shopping cart to use it as a planter. I wish I had that shopping cart to use as a planter!

I planted this a few weeks ago, and it has filled out some. I will post an update pic after awhile to show how the flowers are doing.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

What did I do with it? #5

Remember this post, where I asked what I should do with these three aluminum pans? I decided to make a three tiered storage piece to hold craft supplies.

First, I painted each of the pans a fun color. I used spray paint and painted them upside down. I decided I didn't want to spray the insides of the pan to leave some fun contrast.

A side note here; I tried using a different white spray paint on the top initially, but it turned out horrible! I didn't like the color (too white), the paint dripped badly and all around, it looked terrible. This happens for me almost every time I use a-brand-I-shall-not-name. I've since noted to myself, stick to RustOleum Painter's Touch!

Meanwhile, back to the project: I found some candlesticks that I had in the basement and spray painted those as well. (Pretend I actually remembered to take a picture of this step, mmkay?)

Next, I printed out numbers (1,2 & 3) using a font I liked and cut them out. I Mod Podged them on the front of each pan. (I was going to do something clever, like cut a funky stencil or use a transfer technique, but this was fast, easy and looked great.)

Finally,I used E6000 to glue everything together. I decided because of the way the candlesticks were that I would just glue the tops of them to the pan above it. That way I can take one level out and move it elsewhere if I need to.

What do you think? I can wait to start putting bits and bobs in it. This is the first of many projects to help me organize and contain my craft supplies into one area in the basement (a monumental task for sure!).

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday.