4th of July Mantle 2014

I know I'm behind in posting this, but frankly, I'm just glad I actually remembered to take pictures. 😉

I set my patriotic mantle up just before Memorial Day. I got it finalized the week before July 4th. By finalized, I mean 99% done because I never got anything printed off to put in the frame. Gah!  My life is always a work in progress. Ha. 

Some close ups...

I found this tiered stand at a garage sale!  

I had some leftover red burlap from my new front door wreath that I added to my twig wreath that I use for MANY seasons. 

I tried really hard to use elements that I already had in the house (other than the 3-tiered stand) 

Obviously we don't play much poker, since no one noticed these were gone. 

I did manage to make a new wreath for the front door. It was simple & easy. 

I found the red & blue burlap at Walmart and just couldn't resist. 

Some of the elements are from last years mantle. A few new ideas & some old ones mashed up together. Cheap & easy!  

Now I have to decide if I'm ok leaving up patriotic decor out until fall or do I set something for late summer?  

Beachy White Wax Dresser

 I ordered a bunch of colors of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint and waxes to try out.  I had read about her new white wax and was curious about what it would do. I thought this piece might be perfect to try it out on.  

I found this little treasure at my local Habitat for Humanity Home store.  Other than a moderately gross paint job and broken handle, it was in near perfect condition and a total steal! (Sometimes I watch Netflix while I paint... One of my vices)

I mixed up some MMS milk paint in "Kitchen Scale" which is one of my favorite colors in her line.  It is just the most gorgeous color in person, however, it's hard to accurately photograph because it has so much depth. Every picture seems to be a little different color.

I painted the the insides of the drawers white (so they look nice & clean, since I sell most of my pieces) Then I went to work with the milk paint.

                                    

I let it dry overnight and then lightly took a putty knife to it to get off any flaky paint to achieve that chippy milk paint look.  Then I sanded a few spots with 180 grit sandpaper to give it a worn beach cottage look and then took a 220 grit sandpaper to it to smooth everything out and give it a nice finish.

I did one coat of MMS Furniture Wax (wipe it on, let it sit, buff it off) and let it set up for a couple of hours, then I took a chip brush and sort of painted on the white wax and then rubbed it in with a clean, lint free rag.  I gave me a white wash/ salt wash look.  I love how it turned out!  I've since used the white wax on a few projects. 

                                     

     
The hardware I found on ebay.  I painted and distressed then pulls and then sealed them with polycrylic spray.  I likes that they reminded me of shells... 

I happened to have this drawer liner, which matched perfectly.  Love when that happens!

This piece is available for sale at Twisted Vine Collective.  

Mustard Yellow Dresser

I had more fun playing with Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint!

I actually came across two of these dressers through an online garage sale page.  I brought them both home along with a few other pieces.  It actually had all the drawers, but I got a little excited about painting (as usual) and forgot to snap a before pic.

I didn't do a great job of taking pictures throughout.  But here is the finished product.  I sealed it with clear wax and found these awesome carved wood knobs at Hobby Lobby.

Now available at Twisted Vine in Papillion!

Spring Mantle

Now that spring is about over, I finally finished up my mantle.  Did you catch the sarcasm in my voice?  It's been 95% done for a month or so, but I keep messing with it.  I'm done and ready to share, finally ;) 

Unfortunately, the weather is cloudy and rainy today, so my pictures are not the best.  Sorry.  Hopefully I can take better ones on a brighter day, soon. 

I tried to keep the color story simple and bright.  I love the pops of yellow for spring!

I found the lemons and the wood pedestal at my local goodwill for 99 cents each!  Score!

The boxwood topiaries are from save-on-crafts.com.  The boxwood wreath is from decorsteals.com.

I made the bunting last year.  It is sheet moss from the craft store and I just glued paper letters on to spell "Spring" and glued it to some jute twine. 

 I think I will do a separate post about the window, but I found it at the Habitat Home Store for $10.  It was a pinterest project gone awry. It took many hours of scraping and cleaning, but I will use it for many years, so it was worth it!

Since it is a faux fireplace, I put a hydrangea arrangement in an antique powder crate to fill in the space at the bottom.  I would show you a less cropped picture, but at the moment, it's covered in legos.  It is a rainy day, after all. 

 There you have it...

Do you decorate any part of you house seasonally?

Blue-Gray Milk Paint Dresser

I've been throwing around the idea of becoming a certified Miss Mustard Seed retailer and teaching classes at Twisted Vine.  I ordered a kit that allows you to try all of the products before you dive into such a business venture.  I ordered my kit and and stalked the UPS man until it showed up.  Hehehe.  I was a kid in a candy store opening the box.  My kids seriously thought something was wrong with me. 

My kids were like "oh, just paint?  That's boring."  I do know that I have had some impact however...  My 3 yr old daughter, Rory, asked me the other day (while I was painting) "Is that milk paint or chalk paint Mommy?" I was sooo proud.

So, getting to the dresser...  I got so excited to paint that I neglected to take a before picture of it.  Gah!  It was in great shape, but it was very orange.  It was very large and had a matching bedside table. It had these neat, wooden, architectural pulls on it that it's previous owner thought were awful.   I thought that they could be amazing, if they were painted.  I could seriously just kick myself for not taking a before.

Anyway... I had ordered "French Enamel" Milk Paint and I had some "Trophy" Milk Paint from a desk I had done a few months ago.  I mixed them 3:1 and got this color.

With Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, I would suggest mixing it up, then stir some more, let it sit for 10 minutes and stir again.  I also stir throughout the painting process to keep the pigments suspended in the liquid.  I've found that stirring every few minutes keeps the color more consistent. 

If the piece will allow (meaning if the doors will still function well) I like to paint the insides of the drawers.  I think it makes pieces look more finished.  So I painted the insides white and then got to work on the fronts of the drawers.  It hadn't gotten warm here yet, so I was stuck painting in my entryway.

Once dry, the drawers naturally chipped beautifully!  I LOVE it when that happens!  Waiting for Milk Paint to dry is so hard for me to do because I am one of the most impatient people on the planet.  I usually paint and let things dry overnight so I don't stand there pacing and watching the paint dry. 

I then did the body of the dresser and nightstand and then painted all of the knobs white and distressed them.

I was very excited to use Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Wax.  I had heard wonderful things, but had only ever used Annie Sloan brand.  It was FANTASTIC!!!  Beyond excited how easy it was to use and the finish it provided.  I was literally giddy, just ask my husband.  So, a waxing I went...

Here's how she came out!  Seriously folks, this one had to go to the shop immediately because I almost hauled it up to Eli's bed room.  I would have had to repaint his walls, but ya know, no biggie, right?  This is for sale now at Twisted Vine in Papillion. 

Who out there has had any experience with Milk Paint?  Have you used the Miss Mustard Seed brand and do you have a favorite color? 

Linking up at Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday

The Longest Blogging Hiatus Ever...

Well... I'm pretty sure that I have just taken the longest blog writing hiatus ever.  There's really no excuse other than I've been busy.  Lots of changes happened over the holiday season.  The shop that I was selling furniture at, Unique Boutique, closed and is currently selling at craft shows and online.  If you haven't checked them out yet, take a minute and head over to their facebook page. They make the cutest wood signs.  Such nice, wonderful, and very talented people. 

During their closing process, I got asked to sell at a new collective called Twisted Vine that would be opening up just after Christmas.  It's a vintage shop/wine shop/canvas painting studio.  They've got a little of everything. They have a website (where you can sign up for a class) and a facebook page.  Please check them out.  It's a little different concept on the generic "corky canvas" places that are popping up all over.

Some pics of the shop...

It really is a neat space.  It's an old hardware store in downtown Papillion.  They kept as much of the original architecture as they could. 



Now that the weather is nice (ish), I have also been able to dive into the list of custom orders that had piled up over the winter.  Yay!  More details and pics on what I've been up to.  I promise it won't be another 6 months before I blog.

Decorating for Fall!

I finally caved and pulled out some fall decor.  We've had some crazy high heat indexes this week in Nebraska and finally the heat wave broke, a little.  So... Here's what I've got going on for my mantle.  More pics & details to come once this crazy week is over.

I LOVE FALL!!!