~old child’s table reborn~

 

This little table and chairs belonged to my daughters as children.

Some of you may remember pine furniture with a clear finish and cut-out hearts was very popular during the 80s.  (uh oh, telling my age.)

Now that I have grandchildren, I decided to recreate this little dining set for them.

 

Since my  kitchen cabinets were recently painted and distressed, I decided on the same finish for this little table and chairs, but with a twist. 

First I sanded the wood finish and then painted everything but the top with SW Kilim Beige (just because I had it handy.)  It happened to be the paint I used on my kitchen ceiling, but any soft ivory color would work for this effect.

As you can see, I painted the top with a primer.  You’ll find out why a few photos down.

On everything else, painted beige, I brushed on a mocha glaze and wiped it off till I got the effect I wanted. 

I also sanded a few areas that would have been worn naturally over the years.

And here’s the surprise! 

I painted the top with chalkboard paint so my grandchildren can draw, erase, and draw again.

  I also made chair covers out of a taupe and brown tiny check cotton fabric and added piping…

 appliquéing their initials on the back.

Their table is now ready for Thanksgiving Day and for many fun times ahead.

Sharing with others at Boring to Better, Transformation Thursday,

and The DIY Project Party and

Funky Junk Interiors’ Sat. Nite Special

Sunday Eve ~ birds of the air

 

Cooler days,

colder nights,

amber leaves are scarce,

branches will soon be bare.

The birds of the air instinctively know this, but they don’t hurry or stress.  Why?

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” ~Matthew 6:26

That’s why. 

Oh, what lessons we could learn from the birds of the air.

Sharing with Spiritual Sunday.

Honoring our Veterans

 

When an American says that he loves his country,

he means not only that he loves the New England hills,

the prairies glistening in the sun,

the wide and rising plains,

the great mountains, and the sea. 

He means that he loves an inner air,

an inner light in which freedom lives

and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect. 

~Adlai Stevenson

~flowers in the fall~

 

Days and nights are getting cooler here in the Mid-South,

but that doesn’t mean you can’t still play in the dirt.

  Don’t be fooled by the dainty look of these tiny little blooms. 

Pansies are very hardy and love the cool weather.

Through the years, we tried planting just about everything around our patio,

but the ground was so hard and shallow, nothing would flourish. 

So, Cigar Man and I decided to build a border around the patio

and fill in with a foot or so of good rich dirt. 

We decided on these rock pavers we picked up at a local “rock” store

(for lack of a better word).  HA!

The temp got down to 29 degrees the other night and these little guys are still standing!

I’m looking forward to holding a cup of warm tea in my cold hands

and gazing out my window at these cheery pansies all the cold winter long.

Sharing with Before and After and Outdoor Wednesday.

~distressed frames & a lil’ chalkboard paint too~

 

We’ve been doing a lot of sprucing up lately;

remodeling, painting the walls and changing decor around.

After doing some major changes to our kitchen,

we painted several rooms including the dining room,

foyer, and great room. 

After painting the foyer walls in Sherwin Williams Latte,

I wanted something different above our bench.

I loved this painting above the bench, but not the frame. 

We’ll fix that later in the post.

But first…

 

I had this mirror stored in the attic. 

(Sorry, I didn’t take an original photo.)

I taped down the frame and sprayed the mirror portion with chalkboard paint. 

(I know!  I’m probably the last one in blogland to explore this project.) 

 

 

 

 

The green paint on the frame didn’t work for me anymore

so I painted over it with one of the samples from painting the walls.

(Sample paints work great for projects like this one.)

Next, I rubbed a dark stain on the painted portion and wipe it off with a soft cloth.

Now I can greet guests to our home with a personal welcome message or dinner menu…

or for everyday just a quote that makes me happy.

~

Now, let’s talk about that painting in the first photo of this post.

Remember that ugly gold striped frame?

Go ahead – scroll up and check it out.

Take a look now.

I sanded it lightly and then painted with a dark brown color.

Next, I dry brushed it lightly here and there with different tones of gold, rust, and beige paints,

wiping the paint off with a soft cloth to get the effect I wanted.

I love this kind of distressing because you can’t make a mistake.

I just played with it till I got the look I loved.

While I was having so much fun, I also painted an old plaque to tie in with my wall theme.

(Sorry again; didn’t take a before photo of this.)

I used the same process as the frame on this plaque,

but also sanded the edges to distress a little more and stenciled it with the letters “HOME”.

 

I began to notice a while back that I have collected quite a few houses through the years.

So I decided to group several of them together.  

All of these represent a personal memory to our family which makes this collage extra special.

Sharing with other changes and redos at

Met Monday,  Before and After, DIY Showoff Project

Transformation Thursday , Make it 4 Monday

& Show Off Your Cottage Monday

Sunday Eve ~ Chile Miners

The message on this video made such an impression on me,

I wanted to share it with you on my weekly Sunday Eve post. 

There is nothing I can say that says more than this video so I’m not.  

It’s a short listen and you will be so glad that you watched it!

Sharing with Spiritual Sunday and Sunday Song.

~a little boy’s party ideas~

 

Our first grandson is TWO YEARS OLD! 

So, of course, we had to make his second birthday an extra special day.

His mom and dad gave him a construction birthday party with lots of

Trucks, Construction, and DEMOLITION too!

So I made him this card to go along with the theme.

(front of card is above and inside below)

His mom asked me to help with his party.  Of course, I was more than happy to assist!

Above is his party invite with a construction, uh, demolition theme. 

For Jack’s party favors,

we bagged little toys with a construction theme in orange netting.

We thought the orange netting resembled the orange border

usually draped around construction areas for security.

I made these little tags to attach to the party favors.

I was lucky enough to find some fabric at JoAnn’s with “construction” things on it,

and then appliquéd the 2 motif on a tee shirt, cutting the truck out of the short’s fabric.

 Jack’s friends were welcomed with construction signs and orange cones galore!

Each child received a hard hat when they arrived.

My daughter set up fun play zones around the yard.

This was the demolition zone. 

We wrapped empty boxes of different sizes with red wrapping paper and then marked them to resemble bricks.  My daughter wrapped a beach ball with black fabric and tied it from a tree for the demolition ball.  The children loved swinging the ball and knocking down the blocks.

My daughter filled balloons with water. 

You can see the children loved throwing the “dynamite” in the wading pool!

What’s for dessert?  Cupcakes…

  and Dirt Cake, of course!

I think he liked it!

Even little brother had a good time. 

And, yes, I had to make him an outfit too!

Linking my party ideas to others great little boy ideas at

“What are little Boys Made of”

and

“Show off your Stuff”.

(P.S.  I love to create party invites and favors for parties of all ages. 

If you don’t want to do your own, email me and we can discuss creating

a custom party for you or your child.)