Monday, June 29, 2015

My Wine Cabinet Make Over

I was recently browsing at one my favorite antique stores, Deju Vu Antiques, it one of my favorite places to go when I have a moment to myself. I just walk the aisles and take in all the beautiful things and get inspired. And sometimes I even bring home a thing or two! During a recent trip there I picked up a sample size of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in one of her new European shades, Mora. I fell in love with the color right away but I didn't really know what I was going to do with it so I opted for the sample size.

I brought it home and decided to paint an old screen I have hanging over my dresser with it.


The screen was originally a green color.

 I liked it green but I just didn't feel right for the look I was going for in my space. Here it is before I painted it...


Excuse the fact that the dresser is half painted haha! The green worked, especially during Christmas with my wreaths hanging on it but I'm loving this softer shade...





After I painted the screen, I had some leftover paint all mixed up so I looked around for something else to paint...

I spotted this wine cabinet that I purchased a while back at an estate sale. It was the first piece of furniture I bought for our new house. I thought it fit well with the spanish style of our home. I liked the dark wood color of it but against our dark floors it just kind of blended in and it was easy to miss how unique and special this piece is.  Here is what it looked like when I picked it up...


I painted two coats of MMSMP in Mora on the cabinet and I love how it turned out! You can really see all the beautiful carvings now. I decided not to wax this piece.







I decided not to paint the inside of it I like the contrast of the dark stained wood with it's now lighter exterior.




The cabinet sits against a narrow portion of wall in-between our living room and our kitchen. I love how it fits perfectly in this space.



Here you can see a portion of our living room, including toys on the ground ;), and part of our lovely 70s style kitchen, vinyl flooring and all!

I have to admit though our house is starting to feel like a home and I'm excited to share with you some more fun things I've been up to!

Linked up to:http://missmustardseed.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/http://www.stonegableblog.comhttp://cityfarmhouse.com/http://www.thegoldensycamore.com,http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/, http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/,  http://www.craftberrybush.com/

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Adoption Fundraiser!

My younger brother Rob has always had a heart for children. Children have always been drawn to him. He is patient and kind and fun loving not to mention, 6 foot 4 so he is basically a human jungle gym! In high school he took an early childhood development course and was able to teach preschool. Rob met his wife, Michelle, at church were they both taught Sunday school classes together. Their shared passion for children actually brought them together. They married quickly after meeting, Rob was only 20 and many of us (me included) were nervous they were too young that this was just a little “crazy” for them to marry so quickly.  But we loved them and supported them and they married on May 28, 2011 and they danced on that beautiful day to a song called “Love Like Crazy”. Little did we know how God would lead them down a road where they would be called to “Love Like Crazy”.

The happy newlyweds began to pursue their dreams together, a week after marrying Michelle and Rob moved away from their church friends and their family, the tight-knit community that had been such a support for them, in order for Robbie to pursue a degree in pastoral studies from Simpson University. Michelle worked full time as a behavior therapist working with autistic children and went to school online to receive her Master’s degree in human behavior. And then only a few months after being married our dad was tragically taken from us in a car accident. It was the beginning of a road of unexpected events that would take place in such a short period of time in their young marriage. They were being stretched thin but God was using this time to build them up and grow them closer to Him.

After graduating from Simpson, Rob and Michelle decided to make another move.  God had been placing a dream in their hearts to plant a church, so they packed up and moved to St. George, Utah with plans to bring God’s word and love to people.  They felt called to start a bible study in their home and they started to reach out to those in their new community. During all of this time they were longing and praying for their first child. Months and months went by, and Michelle did not get pregnant. And then months turned to years, they were heartbroken but determined that they would become parents; it was a promise they knew God would fulfill.

After several fertility treatments and two miscarriages, Rob and Michelle decided to follow God’s voice once again and they started the process to adopt.  They began the tedious process of completing their home study as well as mounds of paperwork and when it was completed they turned it in to the agency, excited but anticipating a period of waiting, Rob and Michelle were shocked when they got the news that they had been matched with a birth mom within the week of turning in their paperwork and just a month later they were in the hospital welcoming their sweet boy, Jordan, into their family!



They settled in easily to their new role as parents. Like any new parents of a newborn there were plenty of sleepless nights and stressful moments but the love that they shared for Jordan was so natural and beautiful.


To everyone’s surprise only a few months later Michelle discovered she was pregnant! It was a miracle and we all rejoiced! Jordan was going to be a big brother! And they were going to be close in age, almost Irish twins! But if anyone could handle two babies in such a short time period it was Rob and Michelle!

And then they got a phone call that would change everything AGAIN…

The phone rang and it was Jordan’s biological mom and she was pregnant again as well! After praying together for quite some time, Rob and Michelle decided that they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have Jordan’s sister be part of their family! So they started the process to adopt Olivia, she is due in just a few weeks, only two weeks before Michelle is due to deliver Adalyn, their biological daughter! That makes three babies in less than 14 months! But God does crazy things, He calls us to follow Him and say yes to His plans, even though saying “yes” to Him doesn’t always mean things will be easy. In the world’s eyes this is a crazy thing to say yes to. But God calls us to love like crazy! Despite what the world says, He calls us to say yes to love even when it seems impossible. And Rob and Michelle have said “yes” to God’s plans over and over again in their marriage and I believe God will bless their willingness to “love like crazy”.

We all have moments in our lives when God calls us to say yes to love even though it seems impossible but “With God all things are possible”.


Would you consider saying “yes” today to helping this young couple fund Olivia’s adoption?  Two adoptions in just over 1 years’ time will leave them tens of thousands of dollars in debt. But I believe that God will provide for them! Let’s show them we can “love like crazy” as well!



Rob and Michelle are having a t-shirt sale to help fund Olivia's adoption! So not only do you get to contribute to this amazing couple and their sweet growing family, but you also get a super cute t-shirt! Please consider buying a t-shirt (or two) the link is listed below! Thanks!


Just follow this link to their Etsy site to purchase a t-shirt!




Grain Sack Inspired Bench

Hi friends! I'm sharing a fun little project I did on Monday! I love when I have an idea in my head of what I want a project to look like and it goes smoothly and looks even better than I envisioned!

I've been wanting to do a "grain sack" inspired piece for a while now, actually over a year, but I just haven't had the perfect piece for it. But when I got this little bench/storage chest out of storage, it actually belonged to my grandma and when ever we went to her house to play it was always filled with toys and treasures, I knew it would be perfect for this treatment!

It was painted some time ago a white color, and the paint was peeling and looked a little "dingy" but I just went with it and decided not to fix any of its imperfections. I wanted it took look like it was painted decades ago and worn over time.


I took this picture during the middle of the day and the bench sits right in front of our sliding glass door so I was fighting the light with my pictures but you get the idea!

It was a pretty easy and quick project! I used my handy painter's tape, in two different sizes .90 inches and .70 inches. I used two pieces of the .90 inch painters tape side-by-side for my two thick stripes, so they are just under 2 inches wide each.  Then I left a .70" space, by using the thinner painter's tape, between the thick stripe and the thinner stripe which is also .70" thick. Basically I hate measuring so I used the painters tape to help me achieve somewhat straight lines without measuring ;). I painted the stripes and the words in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Aubosson Blue.


Next I painting on the words which I got from http://thegraphicsfairy.com, this site is amazing! So many free graphics and tutorials! This is the specific graphic I used http://thegraphicsfairy.com/transfer-printable-french-grain-sack-with-wheat-wreath/
I decided not to use the wheat wreath since I didn't have a good small paint brush for doing the detail work that would have been involved. But I still love how it turned out!


In order to transfer the image on to my bench I printed it out first on regular printer paper, and then rubbed the back of the paper using a pastel crayon. Next I taped it on the bench with the pastel against the bench and the image facing outwards. Then I pushed firmly around the edges of the letters with a ball point pen and finally I went in with my paint brush and filled in the lines.

Like I mentioned I didn't have a very good quality small paintbrush so my letters are definitely not perfect. But I just went with it! Sometimes you got to just work with what you've got! When I was all finished I gave the stripes and the letters a light sanding with my sanding block, just to rough it up and give it that timeworn look I was going for.


This bench is in the same area in my house the stripped dresser I just posted about it.


You can read about it here if you missed it. I've got a little navy blue theme going on in here, can you tell?! I'm excited to share this whole little corner of our home with you soon!

Linked up to:http://missmustardseed.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/http://www.stonegableblog.comhttp://cityfarmhouse.com/http://www.thegoldensycamore.com,http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/, http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/,  http://www.craftberrybush.com/

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Raining Day Dresser

I'M BACK! It's been FOREVER since I lasted posted on here! I've missed sharing my life with and my projects with you but taking a break from the blog has given me some new perspective and helped me to reprioritize a few things in my life! It has also reinvigorated my passion for decorating my home and painting furniture, and just being creative for the sake of it instead of feeling pressured to!
God has been teaching me so much through this time too! It has not been an easy few months in my world but He has been teaching me truly what it means to trust in Him and to have hope even when your circumstances do not seem very hopeful! He is teaching me that sometimes you have to go through a storm to see the rainbow at the end! Which brings me to a little project I've been working on...




Here's a "before" picture of the dresser. As you can see it was painted brown by its previous owner and some of the brown was chipping off.

I call it my "raining day dresser", I call it that because I started painting in way back in December on a raining day and then I finished it a few days ago on another raining day. That might not seem very significant to you but here on the central coast of California, we haven't been getting very many raining days!


As I was finishing the dresser the other day I began to think about how the rain and storms signify troubling times in our life but it was because of the rain I was able to spend time creating something I find beautiful! God does this too in our lives if we let Him. He will use the storms and hard times to create something beautiful in us!
This is the promise God has for us when we go through suffering, Romans 5:3-4 we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.


Here's a quick overview of how I painted my "raining day dresser". I started by painting the entire dresser Old White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It took several coats to get good coverage, as is usually the case when painting a piece white.



Next I used painter's tape to tape off vertical lines on the front of the dresser and next I carefully painting the stripes a navy blue color (it was some left over latex paint I had from when I painted my laundry room). Next I sanded the stripes, first with my electric hand sander and next by hand, to give it a worn look. I also sanded and distressed around all the edges of the dresser.


I waxed it first with Annie Sloan Clear Wax and then I used Annie Sloan Dark Wax (mixed with some paint thinner to give it a thinner consistency). Finally I buffed the piece with a soft cloth.I'm excited to be sharing with you again here on the blog! Soon I will be showing how I put together this fun wall art that's hanging above my dresser, so stay tuned for more!



Linked up to:http://missmustardseed.com/, http://elizabethandco.blogspot.com/http://www.stonegableblog.com, http://cityfarmhouse.com/, http://www.thegoldensycamore.com,http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/, http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/,  http://www.craftberrybush.com/