All Retro Laminate Furniture Goes to Heaven

I am retro laminate furniture's dream.  Nuff said.

I would love to buy new furniture every year.  I love furniture and I wish that I had the financial means to switch things in my house out for new stuff whenever the mood strikes me.  Unfortunately, the Langfords live on planet Earth, and I pretty sure the selfish people that lived here before us cut down that blasted money tree and took it with them.   Trust me I have looked everywhere for it, even under the deck.  So for now, Matt and I are stuck with our perfectly fine old furniture.

That brings to me to the point of this tale, which I will sing to you in the tune of Will Smith's "Fresh Prince of Belair"

This is a story all about how

Our furniture got painted and tricked out now

I'd like to take a minute...tell a story to you

About how our old furniture became brand new.

Out in East Sunrise born and raised

was a boy called Matt who played most of his days

Running around, his parents said

We should buy Matt a dresser and a bed.

Twenty years later who would have known

Matt and I would still be giving that furniture a home.

Laminate, Brass, Retro and Gold

The only thing it lacked was a nice coat of mold.

So I...grabbed up a brush and a can full of paint

All that hard work, I felt like a Saint.

Now as it sits so new in the room

I can definitely say it is no longer doomed.

Two decades later you can't even tell

that his laminate furniture was headed to hell.

Good intentions and a sweet little wife

To that old furniture she gave new life.

Okay, so was that rocking rhyme a complete waste of time or pure genius?
Don't answer that!

Before:

Anyway, I finally finished giving Matt's 20+ year old bedroom set a make over so we could continue using it in our guest bedroom.  I think it has come a long way from where it started, and I will feel comfortable giving it a home for at least another 2.5 years, or until I find that blasted money tree.

After:

Much better!

Pinterest Project

Seems like everyone is talking about Pinterest these days.  I finally joined, and I must admit at first I found it a little intimidating...the only way to describe it was information overload.  I figured it out eventually, and it really is a convenient solution to keep all of your ideas in one place and see what all of your friends are interested in as well.

Shortly after I joined I bookmarked or "pinned" the first project I wanted to tackle.  It was a knock-off of this from Ballard Designs.

Beckie over at Infarrantly Creative did a stellar job of creating a similar paper holder and most importantly she provided the instructions that I used as a jumping off point.  I talked Matt into helping me and we set off on a trip to Lowe's and our own paper holder journey.

This is what we ended up with:

Obviously ours looks a little different, but I am pleased with how it turned out.  Unfortunately I didn't measure that well and all the paper rolls I could find were either too big or too small.  Bummer!  But I still think even with the miniature paper roll our project kicks bootay!  I really love how we decided to add the chalkboard at the top.  It will be perfect for recipes, to-do lists, grocery store runs, and one day our little mister can doodle on it while mama cooks! 

Doesn't the bright cheery yellow totally rock?  I am having a yellow moment right now!

Thanks to Matt for his handiwork, pinterest, and Infarrantly Creative!

Now I said my A,B,C's

I spent the weekend working on some projects.  Every year I think about how much fun it would be to do ONLY homemade gifts for Christmas.  The thought is usually fleeting because I love giving gifts, shopping for gifts, and making gifts.  I shouldn't have to rob myself of any of those things.  So my compromise is that I make a few things and shop for a few things.  I had been wanting to tackle this project for a long time, finally this weekend I sat down and got to it.    

I can't wait to give these out at Christmas to some special kiddos.

It was the perfect length for a project, I was able to finish it quickly and didn't get tired of working on it, which happens to me...um...quite often.  I have a whole closet full of good crafting intentions.  I didn't make the entire alphabet just a couple of names.  Aren't these a fun and cute way to help kids learn to spell their names?   I am tempted to have a kid, just so I can make them bean bag letters...okay, maybe not.  

If you are interested in a set of letters for yourself your kid let me know!

This rubs me the right way

Thanks to One Pretty Thing I found a really cute idea for some Christmas happy's for friends.  I have always heard the saying that "friends are the spice of life", and I believe that.  When I saw the really cute spice rub gift idea I new that it would be a simple and usable gift.  

One the website it was in a jar with a twist top, but I decided put my own spin on it.  I found little glass jars that were the perfect size and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to use some of my chalkboard paint.  I started with the glass jars and painted a little square on the front that could be used to label what was inside.

Once the rub has been used the jar can be washed and labeled to match the new contents

I wrapped them up in some festive tissue paper, stamped a little card, and tied them up with a fresh piece of chalk!

Can't wait to give these out to some friends.

Christmas Spice Rub Recipe

1/3 cup coarse salt

1/4 cup paprika

4 tbsp light brown sugar

2 tbsp dried oregano

2 tbsp dried thyme leaves

2 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

*will season approximately 10 lbs of meat or poultry

Project as promised

Well, project #1 is completed.  I know I have mentioned several times about these "projects" I am going to do, and usually I buy all of the stuff to complete them but um...never actually get around to completing them.  But score one for me because I completed it!  I mentioned several weeks ago going exploring at a local antique mall and about all of the little treasures I found there.

One thing I found was a set of tacky little shutters that you would find at someone's house that likes to decorate in a country theme.  

 (No offense if you have something like this at your house.)

(eww)

(close up of said shutters)

So, what do you think I am going to do with them....well prepare to be amazed!

It is now, a stylish, pistachio card/memo holder!  I can't wait until I get back to Georgia and can hang this on my kitchen wall to keep up with all of the cute cards/photos we recieve!

(close up of finished product)

Look back for more things to come, now that I finished something it feels good.  I love the euphoria I feel from taking something from trash to treasure.  Now I will just sit here and wait for HGTV to call me and ask me if I would like my own TV show??  Yes please!

Voila!

Here are the pictures of my Tuesday afternoon tie dye project.  My very own VBS.  If you need to know what VBS stands for or are just curious as to why I am wearing a tie dye shirt, just take a look here.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I went with yellow because:

1. It is a new color that I love
2. The yellow dye happened to be on sale at Hobby Lobby
3. It matched the cute butterfly iron on I had

I liked it so much, I am wearing it to work today and then to class tonight.  The project was so simple and easy, took a total of 10 min.  I was supposed to let it sit for 6-8 hours once the dye was applied, but I was too anxious and couldn't wait that long.  So after about 3.5 hours, this is the result I got.

Total cost for the project?  $2 for the men's shirt, $.49 for the iron on, and $3 for the dye.  You can't even buy a shirt for $3.50.  Score!