Just Breathe

Today is the day.  

Balls to the wall.

Leave nothing on the table.

I think I might throw up.

Here are a few thoughts that might get me through this weekend.

 Oh, I'm scared.

Send some prayers my way... it's a big week for me!

DIY Bubbles

It has been SOOOOO nice out lately... other then the crazy winds once in a while, it feels like summer around here. I even got a little sun burn the other day! With all of this nice weather I have been spending a lot of time outside with the little one. It has been really fun but sometimes playing with the same toys over and over again gets old.

 Well, Luci LOVES playing in the water. If there is even a drop left in the dog bowl she is splashing in it (I won't even mention the toilets).  I really wanted to play with bubbles the other day but didn't have any.  I wasn't in the mood for a trip to the store so I just decided to improvise.  All I did was get out a bucket and combine a cup of dish soap (I assume liquid laundry detergent or hand soap would work the same) and three cups of water.  I actually think even more soap might have been better, but this amount worked.

Now that I had the bubble solution I needed a bubble gun.  I just looked around the house!  I found some left over PVC pipe from another project that worked perfectly.  I also had a small embroidery hoop that worked well for swishing through the air.  I figured you could use paper towel rolls (scotch tape over the ends to water proof), rolled up paper, or pretty much anything that is round.  The one that worked best was an old water bottle.  Just cut the bottom off and blow through the mouth piece.

The moral of this story... don't run to the store if you don't have too.  It was really fun using what we had, and Luci got to play in the water.  A win win for both of us:)

Sorry I didn't take pictures, it seemed like a bad idea to combine a camera and water!  Here are a few of how happy she is outside though.  Cheers!

Have a Seat, Stay Awhile!

I am on this use-everything-up-because-my-house-is-bursting-at-the-seems kick lately.  With all of the leftover black paint I had sitting around I figured there was no need to go to the store and buy more random colors.  I have even banned myself from going to the Goodwill until I have redone all of the furniture I have in the garage.  I think that has been the hardest part!!  So, my hoard is thinning and this makes me very happy.  As I have mentioned in the past, I seem to collect A LOT of crappy chairs.  I don't know why I do this, it is a problem I am working on:)  Well, I had these 4 chairs around my table at one point, and then one broke.  After it broke I tossed it in the trash and moved the other 3 into the garage so they could be with their friends.  ( I hate to see my chairs lonely.)

I was just about to say forget it and trash them all when I decided that would be silly... chairs don't just grow on trees ya know!  I thought, I have a crap ton of chairs, and a crap ton of black paint.  Put them together and this is what you get!

So glad I didn't just throw them away:)  They just look so darn cute at The Dented Lampshade!

P.S. how freakin funny is this picture!!??

HOLY STATIC ELECTRICITY BATMAN!!!  hahahahaha.  Love that girl:)

It Don't Matter if You're Black or White

I was jammin to a little Michael the entire time worked on this bad boy:) You know you are all singing along in your heads!  The thing about this baby, is that I started out planning on painting it white... and then at the last second switched it to black.

As you have probably noticed I have been doing A LOT of white lately.  I am trying to have my store a little more uniform, a little less random. So, in this effort I have been aiming for mostly black and white furniture and that way I can throw in some fun color and change that color seasonally.  Right now most of the store is black, white, and aqua.  It makes me so happy.  Of course I have some neutrals and glass, etc in there but I am trying to create some uniformity in the furniture.  ANY WHO, with all of the white I have been doing lately I figured it was time to start introducing more black.  So, if you see a theme in the next few posts, at least you know why.

Back when I painted this bench, I had never ever painted any furniture black.  I just tend to lean towards light and airy, not dark and heavy.  But when I saw how fabulous the bench turned out I figured I would try a few more.  So, without further ado, let me show you the before:

I got this little beauty from my friend Danne (she seems to be a recurring theme in these posts lately:).  She had a new coffee table that a friend of hers had given her so she gave me this one... THANKS DANNE!!!

It was actually cute just the way it was but there were a lot of scratches and scuffs.  My plan was to do a distressed white but then I got to thinking.  There are quite a few white coffee tables at The Barn right now but there are no black ones.  As you all know, I love to be different so I got all CRAZY pants on you and changed my mind!  Once I was done spraying and distressing it I realized that it needed something more.  I had absolutely LOVED how the burlap looked on the bench so I figured, why not do it again!

I got out my handy dandy staple gun and this is what I came up with:

Wow, I got really talkative on you all... sorry for the long post:)  But I do LOVE how this guy turned out don't you!!??

Ruffle Some Feathers

Hello! A while back I did a guest post over at Keeping it Simple. I shared a very simple... in keeping with the theme of her blog... tutorial on how to sew a ruffle and table runner. I realized that I never actually posted about it over here on my own blog.  So, here it is... in case you didn't see it over there.

For Christmas (yes I am aware it is March) this year I decided I would do all handmade gifts. Ok, maybe not ALL handmade but at least the majority. I wanted to make table runners for all the ladies in my life. When I looked up tutorials on how to make a ruffle I was surprised at how complicated most people made it. I knew there had to be an easier way. I called up my good friend Rachelle and she explained it so well, and so simply, I knew I had to pass it on to the rest of the bloggy world. So here it is:

I started by sewing my table runner. All I did was cut out my fabric using an old table runner to measure. Then I just hemmed the edges so it wouldn't fray when washed. Next came the ruffle. Cut your fabric for the ruffle about 4 inches wide and twice the length of the end of your runner. You can do it with less but the ruffle won't be as full.

Next, you can hem all 4 edges of the ruffle if you want a finished look, or you can fray the edges for a shabby look.  If you are planning on washing this in a machine I would recommend hemming the edges.  Now you are ready to make your ruffle.

Set your sewing machine at the longest stitch you have.  The higher the number the longer the stitch.  Mine is a 4.

Sew a straight line about 1 inch down from the top of your fabric all the way across.  Do not back stitch, just sew straight across and leave plenty of thread on either side.  

Start on one side and pull the top thread.  Scrunch your fabric down on the thread and it will start to ruffle.  Don't pull too hard though, it will break your thread and you will have to start all over... and then you will be sad.  I speak from experience.

(Excuse the dark pictures, I tend to do my crafts after the little one goes to bed.  A 1 year old doesn't understand why she can't play with mommies scissors)

When you have scrunched all of your fabric, line it up on your runner and spread out the ruffle to your liking.  Pin the ruffle in place and sew straight over the line you just sewed, only this time using back stitching.

Repeat this process with your second ruffle on the other side of your runner and you are done.  It is so simple and looks so pretty!

So there you have it peeps.

Chalk it up to AWESOMENESS!!

I seem to be obsessed with chalk paint lately.  I have made a few smaller chalkboards and then after getting really comfortable with the stuff, I moved on to a bigger project.  I got this little shelving unit from the lady who owns the store next to mine at The Barn.  She was having a 50% off sale and this baby was marked at $49.  So I walked away with this fantastic piece of furniture for a whopping $25!

I actually liked it grey but wasn't convinced I was going to leave it that way.  (there are shelves when you open the doors... I have no idea why I didn't take a picture of it with the doors open. These brain farts seem to be happening a lot more often lately:)  That's when it happened... my friend/Luci's daycare Danne suggested I use chalk paint... and then she made my day by handing me a can!!!  It's the little things in life that make me so happy haha.  

I decided that I had been doing a lot of white lately and I needed to brighten up my life.  SO... I used Krylon's aqua!!

Mmmmmm, perdy.

White Wash it Yo

I know I have been doing a lot of white projects lately.  In my defense I am trying to do my store in mostly black and white and then adding splashes of color.  Lately that color has been aqua... I think I might start adding some coral in as well:)

Instead of just spraying this guy solid white I decided to do a white wash.  It's actually a really easy process.  Just add a little bit of water to your white paint and start painting.  Just make sure you do long strokes so it doesn't get all splotchy.  Have a towel ready so you can wipe it off when you get a little too much.

Then get the sander out and have at it!

It's kind of a fun twist on the white furniture.  Hope you have a happy day!

P.S.  My child is a complete dare devil.