Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy 2015!

I'm looking forward to a new year -- how about you?  Wishing you all the best in 2015!

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Happy Holidays

The halls are decked, the gifts are bought (although not wrapped yet, I confess!), and it's time to wish you all the happiest of holidays!









Monday, October 6, 2014

Bits and Pieces of Fall

It's finally Fall -- my favorite time of the year!



The crisp air.  Cozy sweaters.  Hot apple cider.  What's not to love about this season?  (Other than the thousands of leaves that will need to be cleaned up soon around here, but we won't think about that!)



I have bits and pieces of Fall décor scattered throughout the house.



For the mantle, I started with a base of vintage books...



Added mini pumpkins, a couple of vases, some votives and some faux foliage, and there you have it.



Simple. 



One of the advantages of having a neutral color scheme is you can add any colors you want to reflect the season.



This year I stuck with orange, yellow and white, which are in abundance this time of year.


Today the weather is sunny with just a bit of chill in the air -- the perfect Fall day.


So enough about the inside -- I'm off for a walk with the dogs!





Hope you have a great season!

Sharing at:
Coastal Charm Show and Share

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Table Redo and Making Things Simpler

I'm all about making things easier, and I just found a couple of products that are going to do just that.

I found this little table at a thrift shop, I think.  It's been sitting in my "to do" stash for awhile now.  We won't mention how long, or the fact that half of our garage is still filled with "to do's!" 



I loved its lines and the applique detail, but it obviously needed some love.



One of the reasons I appreciate finding things to make painting easier is I always seem to run into complications.  I've had some bad painting mojo recently. 

On this piece, I wanted to paint it in ASCP Old White. But as you can see, I had some major bleed-through.  So out came the shellac. 



After the shellac I gave it another couple of coats of Old White and that took care of it. After a light distressing it was done. 



Now on to my new finds.

My first new item made clean-up much easier.  It's this Wooster brush cleaner.  No more picking at paint with my fingernails!  This baby gets down deep into the bristles and really cleans the brush.



My second new find is Shabby Paints Vax.  I have never been a fan of waxing so I was excited to try this product.  I've been looking for a good topcoat for awhile now.  Especially one that won't yellow on white.  This stuff is great! 



You dilute it, and put it on with a wet sponge or a rag (I used a craft sponge).  It goes on easily and best of all, no buffing!  I used Sheer, but it also comes in a variety of finishes.  I bought some in Pearl, which I'm looking forward to trying. 



I also bought some Shabby Paints paint in a couple of cool colors.  I haven't decided what to use them on yet, but like I said I've got plenty of options in the garage!

I love the way this sweet little table turned out!  It will be going to Mr. P's soon.



(I'm not affiliated in any way with these products -- just wanted to share a couple things that may make your projects simpler too!)