Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's Birthday. She is 66 years young and hopefully won't be mad that I'm saying that outloud. :) She lives in Virginia and I don't get to see her very often, but I did get to give her the Happy Birthday wake up call this morning. Happy Birthday mom!!!!!!!!!! I love you.

This is a shot from Vegas this summer. She loves the penny slots.

Well Hello Pretty

I saw her on Craigslist and she looked so pitiful. She just wanted someone to take her home and get her out of that dark corner where she rested, alone and neglected. A little TLC and she would be as good as new and I was just the person to give that to her. I love antiques and I really hate it when I see an antique with so much potential, but nobody to give it that care needed to restore them and make them wonderful again. I could not let that happen with this one. She was meant to be mine and I would take good care to bring out her beauty and let her shine. She is in my garage waiting.................................

I realize I sound like a nut and I don't normally talk about furniture this way, but this one is special.

I get goosebumps thinking of all of the possibilities.

Everyone loves a quickie.....................

Get your mind out of the gutter, I am talking about a quickie furniture makeover. :)

I found this little gem the other day and had to buy her. It was all about the wheels that she had on the bottom of her skinny little legs. So here is what she looked like when I picked her up.

And here she is today after about an hour of work.

Shannon

A cup of coffee and some sparkle.

Monday's are so drab and today I decided to post some Monday inspiration sparkle because you know what???????? Anything sparkly and shiny always makes me happy!

I really NEED a disco ball in my bathroom or maybe my office.

Sparkle walls, ummmm yes please.

I'll take 2

Shannon

What was your first project?

I was thinking about my very first paint project and how scared I was when I was painting it. I didn't know the first thing about shabby or chic and had no clue how to distress a piece of furniture. I thought distressing was standing there and yelling loudly at the furniture and making snide comments to it. I called my brother and asked him for help because at this point yelling wasn't working and neither me or my fiance knew what to do. He explained how to paint the hutch step by step and after many days of sanding........ drips....... cursing....... sanding some more........... painting............ more cursing...........here is what she ended up looking like.

I fell in love with her and kind of regret selling her since she was my first. What was your first project? I would love for you guys to send me some photos and tell me your story.

Shannon

You win some..........and you lose some.

I was really excited when I bought this secretary from a really nice lady off craigslist. It was perfect, inexpensive and just needed a bit of a makeover with a few minor repairs. I was sure this one would be a keeper. If you guys recall, here is what it looked like before.

After thinking and thinking and thinking about it, I decided that I would paint it green with a white interior. Something kind of neutral so that it would match the decor in my home. Would I have preferred to do something a bit out of the ordinary? Yes, and now I wish I had. I painted it green, but the green turned out a bit too "minty" for me. It sort of looked like mint chocolate chip icecream without the chocolate chips. Not at all what the color looked like when I got it at Home Depot, but I figured it would look right after it dried. Instead of repainting the whole thing, I tried a little trick that I have done a few times before. I went over the paint with stain. I liked it at first, but when I got it in my house................................um, not so much. So here you go, the after, in all it's glory paintedness, or should I say paintedMESS.

My fiance actually likes this one. Maybe it will grow on me? Maybe I should consider taking the top of it off? I would love some suggestions. Do I sell her and call it a day? Take the top off or repaint the whole thing?

  <a href="http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="The DIY Show Off" src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac195/Roeshel/DIYShowOffbuttonsmall.jpg" /></a><br />

Shannon

$30 Table Reveal

About 2 weeks ago I showed you guys a table that I got at a local flea market. She is finally finished and has made her new home in my office as my new desk. Since I work from home I needed a new larger work space and this beauty is perfect!

Here is what she looked like before....

And here she is now..............

I love the handles on the drawers.

And I am really happy with the stencil on top. It added a little extra something.

She really is wonderful and I can't believe she was only $30.

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Shannon

I just needed to get away

Sometimes I just need to get away from it all and go somewhere with no phones, no tv and no internet. Pretty much no distractions. This past weekend my honey and I decided to go camping. It seemed like a good idea at the time, because after all, we live in Arizona and how cold could it really be?

We went to Northern Arizona to a place called Woods Canyon Lake. It started snowing as soon as we got there.

And it kept snowing and snowing.............

I havent seen snow in about 3 years so I took lots of pictures..........while shivering uncontrollably

A sane person would have immediately gone home, but..................

We decided to stay and tough it out. After a night of no sleep and extreme cold, the next morning turned out beautiful. All the snow was gone and the day relaxing. I stayed right near the fire a lot.

Will I camp again in October? Probably not, but I am glad we went. I got to spend some quality time with my honey best friend and love, with no distractions. that can't be bad under any conditions.

Shannon

Sneak Peak & How To $30 Table Makeover

I found this table at a flea market last weekend and I have been working on it all week. I think I am going to put this little gem in my office as my new desk. I will take a bunch of photos when it is in my office, but first here is the step by step of what I have done.

I sanded down the top so I could stain it. I was kind of looking for a more rustic feel on this one.

I did not sand the legs at all because I wanted to use my homemade chalk paint.

I stained the top 2 times with MinWax Early American, but I didn't feel like it was dark enough so I mixed a bit of MinWax Jacobean in with the early American and stained the top a third time. Perfect!

I then used a stencil from a local craft store and stenciled the top on all four corners. I went over the stencil with my stain mixture 1 time to darken it up a bit. Then I painted the bottom with my chalk paint mixtue in Artesian Blue Behr paint.

And here is your preview of the finished product.

Shannon

The Blog Is Up And Running.

Yesterday was such an irritating day. It seemed as if everything was going wrong and I also couldn't get my blog back to normal. So after a very frustrating day, I decided to go out to my garage and paint something, anything! I have projects in the works that I was waiting on to dry, so I opted to paint this nifty little chair that I have had forever! Painting in my garage seems to calm me down and it is the first place I go when I am stressed. Luckily today is looking much better thanks to Michelle from http://shabbycreations.blogspot.com/

She is the person who designed my blog for me and also the lifesaver who fixed my blog when it went to crap. She was so nice to fix it for me and even offered to put in another design if I wanted. I love the design I had and she fixed it right away. If you need a blog facelift, new design or whatever, I highly recommend her. Now back to that chair...........................

Before

And after...............I know the bow looks like it might be uncomfortable, but really you don't even notice when you sit in the chair. That is a good thing I suppose.

I think this chair is going to go in my office with my new desk.

Shannon