look what I got today!!

the end = )

A True "Piece of Work"!

This dresser fits my favorite link party to a T this week! I originally purchased this dresser at my fave thrift store last week with the intention of using it in my bedroom. I was going to stain the top and paint the bottom. Here is was before

I took it outside yesterday to sand and first off, let me tell you I almost didn't survive. I was so cold and didn't realize until I came inside that my sanding mask was filled with snot! Eww, GA-ROSS! I never felt a single drip while I was out there. Moving on....

I spent the time to strip the top and somehow never noticed the 2 obvious cigarette burns on the top :-( I thought about trying to stain it and just pretend that they were knots in the wood but Scott nixed that.

Moving on...again!

I was wanting a dresser of similar style to use as a tv stand/toy storage in the kids room. I have these cute pillows from Pier 1 that I was using as inspiration for colors in the room

I happened to have a teal on hand so I was super excited to get started. This was also my first chance to use the new Kilz Clean Start zero VOC and I like it! It dried quickly and since my paint was a dark color, I only needed one coat. If I were going light I would definitely recommend 2 coats.

So here is how the dresser turned out after a little distressing and antiquing

And this is why its still a piece of work. I have the hardware (teardrop pulls are from HL and the others are the orignals) but I'm really not sure on a color!

So, if you would be kind enough to leave a color suggestion, you are AWESOME!

Linking to Piece of Work Wednesday at Primitive and Proper

i am one HAPPY girl = )

and it just took these few things. now i can spend hours a day shopping and not accomplish much but tonight i had one hour and here are the things i got:

fabric for my bedroom curtains! this is going to help so much with deciding on wall and furniture colors.

a foam cone for wine & design tomorrow night. any guesses as to what im making?

a tin for my cookies to take to wine and design and the ornament exchange next week. im making oatmeal cookies with cinnamon chips and mint chocolate chip cookies. om nom nom!

and a 17 foot ladder. we are having our attic finished and decided to get one of these instead of installing attic stairs. i did a little research before leaving the house and found that HD had it on sale for 119 but online only and you had to pay shipping. i went to Lowes and their price was 180. i asked them to match it and they did! so tomorrow morning i will venture up there to measure for the flooring. hello storage!!

im so excited i dont know if i can sleep :-(

Can you please pass the mustard?

A few weeks ago (notice this is how all my posts start?), I was at my all time fave thrift store (whose location will never be revealed!), and I saw this great little server. I passed it up as it wasn't what I went there looking for and I knew I was going to good old Walmart right after for some plastic drawer storage and I wouldn't be able to fit it in the car anyhow.

I couldn't stop thinking about it and went back a few days later and it was still there so I knew it was meant to be. I knew right away I was going gray or mustard, but hadn't decided on hardware. A quick trip to Hobby Lobby and I found the most perfect knobs ever and I knew what color it would be! And here is how it turned out......

Wanna buy it? You can do that very thing by clicking here!

Linking up here:

<a href="http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad174/tatahmar/CASSIE%20BUSTAMANTE/btt.jpg?t=1286337961" /></a>

<a border="0" href="http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/tightwadtips/blog%20design/button.png" /></a>

Katelyn's Kitchen Cabinet

A few weeks ago I had a client contact me wanting to buy this dresser

She planned on using it to store pots and pans in her studio apartment in DC. I had to let her know that I didnt think it was going to work as the weight of those items adds up. I had this cabinet on hand and Katelyn decided on having the top refinished in a dark walnut, the inside painted a mustard yellow, and the outside and antique white. I was so excited to get started.

This was my first experience with re-staining a piece. I've stained bare wood before but I have always stayed away from re-staining. I sanded down the top to bare wood (or so I thought), applied a wood conditioner, and my stain. I wish I had a picture to show you cause when i came back after 15 minutes of my stain soaking, it just wasnt pretty. Apparently the top of this cabinet was really, really thin layers of wood and I guess the previous finish was so deep that it was popping through. So many days of drying, sanding, conditioning, staining, sealing, painting, etc, etc-here is what I ended up with

I had my local Benjamin Moore dealer color match Lowes "Antique White" in their Aura paint-I soooo love that stuff! Katelyn was so happy to get her cabinet and guess what? She's a blogger too! You can read her blog here at The Eclectic Traditionalist.

Linking up here:

<a href="http://primitiveandproper.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg src="http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad174/tatahmar/CASSIE%20BUSTAMANTE/btt.jpg?t=1286337961" /></a>

Inspired by Jane of All Crafts

A few weeks ago while reading my blogs, I came across this post by Andi at Jane of All Crafts . What a great quickie, right?! I've had some frames set up on my dining room buffet/dresser/catch all and couldn't wait to do this. My MIL had been over recently and commented on how all my frames were empty so this was the perfect way to "show her". So the day after Thanksgiving (while watching the parade again-thank you DVR), Scott and Aubrae helped me out. I had the scrapbook paper handy from a multi pack I picked up in October (the best $2.50 ever since it had Halloween, Fall, and Christmas) and tons of burlap stashed in my fabric box. I sliced the papers to fit and Scott and Aubrae got to cutting the burlap shapes. And can I tell you, he was quite proud of himself = ) So here they are!

And here they sit. My reindeer candlesticks are a purchase from Primitive & Proper a few years ago. Missing in this is my rosemary tree that's waiting to be planted in its new mercury glass vase. I'll be sure to get a pic of it all together soon = )

Thanks for the inspiration Andi! And I'm glad you can make it Friday!!

FAIL

Total fail on me! Its a good thing I never promised a post everyday! Honestly, I've been a little discouraged as I'm having a hard time learning how to link, etc. I hope to have a few posts coming up in the next week or so to share some of the things I've been working on.

PS-Scott just made fun of me and my blog. I blamed him for my lack of blogging so he has promised to help me set it all up!

Family Rejects

I'm working on so many pieces right now in an effort to get work cleared out of the house for Chase's birthday party coming up this Saturday and I thought I'd take a minute and share one with you all (all 11 of you!). Here's what I started with

This little chest came from my brothers house. It was used in his daughters room (she is now 11 so a little too grown up for butterflies) and he is doing a total purge and cleaning so I took it off his hands. I had just picked up a red mistint from Lowes and was super excited to use it on this. Red is a color I've never used before and I wasn't sure how it would sell so what better piece to use then one that was free!! Aubrae and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and picked out some great chunky zinnia knobs (and tons of other stuff-LOVE that place!). I sanded it down to bare wood as I didnt know if primer had been used and what type of paint was used. Once I opened the can I was totally thrown - it was not the red I was thinking! I got the first coat on and and still wasn't sure so I emailed Cassie. I'm so happy to have someone to bounce ideas off of and she is always so encouraging. I went with it as there was no way I was going to sand it again and I'm so glad I did. After a little distressing and antiquing, here she is

One down, many more to go! Linking up to these parties:

POWW over at Primitive & Proper

<center><a href="http://domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/%22%3E%3Cimg border="0" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg35/cherrycab/blog%20extras/powerofpaintbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

<center><a href="http://www.mybackyardeden.com/%22%3E%3Cimg border="0" alt="Make it Yours @ My Backyard Eden" src="http://i46.tinypic.com/28jck5l.jpg" /></a></center>

P.S. If I've linked to your party and haven't got your button or link back correct, please forgive me and be patient! I'm still trying to figure out how to do it!

I'm Obsessed with......yarn!

So I've come across some yarn projects in blogland and have totally fallen in love! I had some stuff laying around so last night Aubrae and I had a little yarn party....





I had to call my mom and ask her how to get the yarn rolled into those pretty little balls. Sad right? I don't sew, crochet or knit so I'm totally lost when it comes to this stuff. After teaching Aubrae how to roll, I got started with my letter E that I got on clearance from Michael's, some scrapbooking things also on clearance, furniture nails I had on hand, and some white yarn that I have no clue ended up in my house.



A little hi-five action = )



So I'm going pretty good, and then all the sudden

ruh-roh!

this was not supposed to be checkered. Now how am I going to get all these sides to be covered? All my ends were bare and this just was not working out. So I took it all apart, figured out what I needed to do and ........... TA DA! My first finished craft for my bliggity~blog!







I remember when a was a teenager reading an article in YM Magazine saying that seeing your name boosts self esteem....I think I may plaster my house in letter E's if they all turn out this pretty = )

And may I just say, these wonderful pics are courtesy of Chase. It was a family affair!

Later Alligators

~Emily

umm, can you say "woot"?

i did it. feel free to comment. im going back to being sick with aubrae. adiós

My First Project to Share!

So I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out the blog. Sorry if you can't comment-I'll work it out one day. Anywho, here is my first project I'd like to share. I cant even remember why (as if I even need a reason to) but a couple weeks ago I ran out of the house and just had to go to my fave thrift store. I found this cute little desk and was so excited, I ripped the price tag off and made a mad dash to the front to pay. I knew no one else was going to buy it at that moment but you certainly cant take any chances, right? Here is what it looked like

minus all the hardware I had taken off to clean and paint! I was so excited about this desk because this was the first time in a loooong time that I completed a piece in one day, start to finish. After some light sanding, two coats of an oops paint and primer in one, a little spray of hardware, and some distressing -here she is now

I hope to figure out how to link to parties soon! My first will certainly be POWW @ Primitive & Proper = )

a work in progress

so ive finally done did it, i have a blog! what prompted me to start it tonight when i have a bazillion other things to do you may ask? well....1) finding out that my neighbor is a blogger and a crafty lady, 2) being too stinkin tired and famished to do anything else productive and 3) ive hurt my shoulder and cant lift my arm parallel to my shoulder so no more working anyways. and by famished i mean i was painting all day and forgot to eat until the littles reminded me that it was dark and they didnt have any dinner yet so i promptly made myself a bowl or crunch berries = )




anywho, i think the hardest part (aside from making your blog pretty and interesting enough for anyone to want to read it, figuring out how to link stuff, etc, etc) would be naming your blog. so ill share my story = )

when i was little my mom had a problem-moving furniture around. actually, not just furniture but the entire room. every little rabbit figurine, lamp, shelf, picture, EVERYTHING. my dad worked nights and he would leave in the late evening and come home early in the morning or sometimes in the middle of the night. not wanting to wake anyone in the house, he wouldnt turn any lights on and then proceed to bump into furniture that hadnt been in that spot hours earlier! did i mention my dad only has one eye? what a cruel joke to play on a one eyed man. in the morning or the next evening, i remember hearing my parents talk about how the furniture fairy came in the middle of the night. i dont think my mom ever fessed up = )


and guess what? she passed her sickness on to me and im happy to say that i am the newly appointed furniture fairy. i drive my family nuts, hardly complete projects, and nothing ever stays the same in this house. so i hope you follow me on these misadventures and im looking forward to growing my blog family. wont you be my neighbor?!




and until i can figure out how to auto sign ~~~~~ emily <3 <--- my lame attempt at a heart