Spring Moss Letter

A couple year ago I made a moss covered letter for my front door. 

I pulled it out to hang it up and welcome spring, 

but it had gotten really beaten up by being in the sun and rain. 

So I had to freshen it up a bit (basically I had to start all over).

I took off all the old moss and adding new fresh green moss.

 I also swapped out the twine (it was a little ratty too) 

and used this burlap wired ribbon that I found at Hobby Lobby.

Again, for the DIY you can go to my blog post here.

I had originally bought this wood painted lady bug at JoAnn's. 

I cut down the pick so it was easy to just slide it into the moss.

I haven't decided if I like it better with or without the ladybug.

 What do you think?

Easy DIY Art

My daughter pin's lots of things that she wants me to make. This was one of them.

We love this phrase, part of the verse from Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God."

We started out with only few supplies. Canvas, chipboard stickers, 

paint in various ombre shades and a foam paint brush.

With a ruler and pencil in hand I drew some lines so I could space my letters out evenly.

This part was easy because the letters already had sticky backs. 

I just placed them on the lines, justified on the right side on the canvas.

And then the fun part-painting! I started with the darkest color and worked my up the canvas. 

 Sometimes I blended some of the colors together. 

 When I got to the top I added a lot of white to the blue.

There really isn't a wrong way to do this. And the possibilities are endless!

This hangs in my daughter's room. But it really would be a great addition anywhere.

Chalk Paint Kitchen Table

Welcome to my kitchen and the home of my new chalk painted table!

For my latest DIY project I decided it was time for this tired old table to get a face lift!

 I had been reading all about Chalk Paint
(not chalk board paint but chalk paint! Made with real clay and chalk!) 

After doing my research on making your own chalk paint and Annie Sloan's chalk paint... 

I decided to go with Cece Caldwell's Chalk Paint (found only a select retailers).
I chose Dover White and Vermont Slate (black).

 The best part about this paint (and this project in general) is that there is no priming or sanding!

 Just paint it on! I painted the whole table white
(I didn't even come close to using the small quart of white I bought) and then just the top black
(just a small tester did the trick-this paint can be watered down a bit!)
I painted the black right on top of the white,
because I had planned to "distress" some of the black off and I wanted the white to peek through.

 After following the chalk paints instructions (basically paint it on and let it dry. Oh, and it dries fast!) 

I love this product!
In the picture above Left: the chalk paint before the wax and
Right: after a coat of the wax. The wax deepens and intensifies the color. 

And because this is my kitchen table, we definitely needed to protect it from the everyday use.

 Here is another look at the colors, wax on the left. No wax on the right.

 After reading about many kinds of wax (and I'm sure Annie Sloan and Cece Caldwell's wax is the best...) but after shelling out the cash for the paint (were talking $32+ for a small quart of chalk paint!)
and reviewing waxes I decided that the Minwax Paste was going to be the best thing for this project Minwax Paste is thick and durable.

 I simply applied the wax with a clean cloth and let it set for about 10 minutes before buffing it out. Because the wax is so thick, you can see some variations in the color, but I like the look.
And again, durability is what I was going for here!

 Before adding the wax I did a little distressing with some fine grit sand paper. 

I did this on the edges of the legs, table top and each individual table leaf.

I love the look of the table with our black chair and my fairly recent reupholstered parsons chairs.

 It's been about 2 weeks and the table is standing up well to the homework, family dinners and just about everything else a family of five does to their kitchen table!

 I thought a table runner was in order and I had some left over yellow zig-zag fabric!

I'm so happy with the chalk paint I can't wait to go hunting for some other furniture that needs a facelift!

Valentine "Sweets" Bar

In this new house we have a wet bar. 

We don't really need a wet bar.

SO...

For most of the year it serves at the Coffee "Bar" for our guests (we don't even drink coffee!) 

 At Christmastime we had a Hot Chocolate Bar. 

For Valentine's we loaded it with sweets!

 I bought Hershey Kisses with carmel inside and  

add these little sticker embellishments from the Silhouette Store.

 And some yummies for snacking and some for adding to your hot chocolate.

 I made Peanut Butter Cookies with heart shapes Reece's Peanut Butter cups on top. Sooooo good!

 And a cute little sign made on a tree slice (found at your favorite craft store).

 We've got some new mug for the occasion. So fun!

We're not getting any snow or even really cold temperatures. But we're still enjoying hot chocolate!

 And we're having fun with our new mug's!

LOVE is...

I had to create my own Valentines Subway Art. 

Or better yet, a Subway Art that represents HIS Love or what LOVE is.

 In this new house I have two fire places. So that mean double the fun of mantle displays!

 I made this heart with buttons on burlap on canvas, last year. Check out my Valentines Day mantle from last year. And yes this is a picture of Ben and I from 1994! 

The whole thing (picture, frame and wording around the picture) 

was a gift from Ben, way back when!

 I think I may take this new Subway Art and display it permanently in my bedroom.

 Last year I made this burlap bunting. I so easy and so cute!

 I'd love for you to have your own copy of my new "LOVE is" 

Subway Art to display in your home. 

Click here for the FREE download. 

You will need to crop the print first. I designed it for 16 x 20 printing.

The line "always protects" has purposely done in a very faint pink, just to mix it up a bit! 

Thanks for stopping by!