Just some of the stuff I've made...

What can you do with a hatbox?  Well, if you are me, then you put tons of pretty paper and glue on them!  I can decoupage the stew out of hat boxes and I've given a lot of them away. I'm currently work on a batch for friends who have had birthdays recently (and by recently, I mean this year).  Jane, Lucinda & Leslie you all have one on the way, I swear.

Here is one my kitties helping me with a box.  One of the reasons I get into doing this so much is because I can do it while doing my job!  How cool is that? I'm very grateful that I get to work from home.

Here are a couple in the Pink Room..I'm waiting to get the beadboard & molding up before I show this finished room.  

Also I wanted to show this piece I did for my sister on her birthday last year. It's a piece of wood (one of Brian's breaking boards for tae kwon do).  I drew out a design, then used a wood burner before painting and finally decoupaging.  My sister is the one that came up with the name for my blog from this piece, it says.."endeavors to live the life which she has imagined."

This is another project from one of Brian's breaking boards (I bet he wishes I would leave them alone).  It was for my niece on her birthday.

This was a box I made for my niece's friend that will be her roomy in college.

I wish I had pictures of all of them..you know how that goes.  I'm a little bummed right now because I've been working on that big wardrobe for my mom and I messed up the doors today. It's one of those projects that isn't happening smoothly.  I know how to fix it..it's just going to take a little longer to get the look I want.  Oh well..it can't all be easy, huh?

Everyone have sweet dreams..I'm off to bed.

Latest Finds!

I wanted to share my latest & greatest - this post is going to be short & sweet! 

I picked up a pair of these rockers for $15 each! They need a paint job but both are solid & made very well.  These are going on my back patio and we're finally making plans for the screened porch.  I SO would like to have that finished by next year.

Here is a large wooden candle stick that mom gave to me.  My mom & sister went on a road trip this last week and hit a couple shops in TN that we're all going to go back to (I hope!)  I plan on putting an enamel/iron lid or bowl on it for the garden...after it's painted, of course!

Have a great Monday (if that's even possible)!

It's all in the details...

I haven't been posting much lately because I'm in my busy season at work.  We report quarterly financials for publicly held companies *yawn*.  So while no BIG projects have been finished, I have managed to knock out some little things that I think are really bringing my Pink Room together.

Here is a LP record cabinet that I have had for 20+ years.  I got tired of looking at it the other day and decided to do something with it. I'm going to store my scrapbook paper in this cabinet. 

I don't have a before but it was a dark red...very, very plain.

I know sheet music is played (nyuck, nyuck), but I love the graphics of these covers.  I deco'd the top & sides.

I really like this vintage paper with the red flower.

I love you too!

After all of that work of painting, sanding, decoupaging...it's going to sit in this corner with stuff on the top. So it won't be seen that much but I'll know it's there.

I also decoupaged this light switch..thank you Cassie from Primitive & Proper for the inspiration. And I lined the drawers to the blue dresser with pretty paper that I can't show because the drawers are already full of linens.

One more thing before I go...

This is my son and his buddy enjoying a summer pasttime..the ice cream truck. This ice cream truck is a little different. She comes flying through our neighborhood, taking corners on two wheels playing Christmas songs or Memories from Cats. She must have picked up her music at the flea market.

Have a great weekend!

I'm linking to SNS at Funky Junk Interiors & Metamorphosis Monday at BNOTP..cool projects galore!

Holy Moly!!

I just had to show this...my mom went to a farmer's market yesterday and brought these over for me.

That's a dinosaur egg cantaloupe & 2 gigantic zucchinis.  Since Mom has an awesomeness problem, she also gave me a copy of the new Living magazine.

Ok, well, I have to go..it's Sunday and I'm getting fussed at for being on the computer....

Cats, Birds & Goodwill...these are a few of my favorite things!

I hope everyone is having an awesome weekend so far.  While I have not posted anything since Monday, I've been one busy bee!

Here is a peek into my week:


I made a Yoplait Smoothie for us (they are delicious & low WW points).  Brian had 2 piggies in his face the whole time he was trying to enjoy his...they wanted in on it too...

Bob & Gary cleaning up! 

(They are named after SpongeBob & his pet snail, Gary...a couple of goofy cats that are great entertainment.)

This is a little maple tree we planted last year and it's growing fast.  I love it and so do the mockingbirds. A couple nested in this very young tree and built a pretty shoddy nest.  We have found the baby in the mulch 3 times this week.  It didn't have any feathers and was tiny...totally pitiful.  (Brian picked it up twice and I did once to put it back...it's a myth that birds won't take care of their young if you touch them, btw.)  Apparently, the nest kept tipping over, so we got a wisteria branch, some twine and shored it up.  While we were doing this the mom & dad were going nuts..swooping us & tweeting their heads off.  As soon as we walked away they flew in to check on their baby.  It must've worked.  All is well now..no baby on the ground this morning!

I went by the Goodwill that just opened in town and found some pretty cool stuff.... 

My sweet cousin gave me a set of candles that smell like fresh cut flowers..just gorgeous!  I found this pedestal dish that suits one of them perfectly.  Thank you, Teresa - love you girl!

I don't know where I'm going to put this.  It may end up in someone's stocking this Christmas.  I do know that it's made in Italy, it's lovely and it was only $13, so I wasn't leaving without it.

I collect old tins & an old cast iron lid from Belgium was a shoo in.  You never know at Goodwill...I could go back and find the bottom to this.  The lid is deeper than what is showing in the pictures, so I might make another birdbath with it for the backyard.

Well, I'm still working on the wardrobe for my mom (that went with my dresser that I just finished) and we're picking up the beadboard & crown molding today for the pink room.  Andy comes back this Sunday from his mom's & it's going to be SUPER busy at work over the next few weeks. Life is good and I can't complain.

Now, I'm going to have a late breakfast with Brian and we might watch a movie..it's fun laying around when you get the chance.  Have a restful & fun weekend, ladies!!

I've started the snowball now....

Since finishing the dresser I've started painting the room it's in white. I don't like to move stuff all around, so my painting technique is just one wall at a time.

I've painted the wall and baseboards of one wall and will move onto the next in just a little while.  I don't normally use a drop cloth either...that usually doesn't work in my favor. 

It looks a little plain for now, but when the beadboard & crown molding are up I think it will be more interesting & give this little room a pop.

 My mom framed this for me and gave it to me when I was going through a really rough time in my life.  I repainted the frame for this room.  I love what it says:

Be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, 

dive deep, and swim far, 

so you shall come back with self-respect, 

with new power, 

with an advanced experience, 

that shall explain and overlook the old.

                                                                       Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks for coming by...I have to get to work now (the one that pays the bills).

Dresser for the Pink Room!

I've been working on getting my Pink Room in order...by the time all is said & done it will be a white room, but I think it's still going to be colorful & interesting.. The PR is basically my closet & dressing room, but there is a twin bed in there, too.  My nieces love it, so it's just my girly-girl space.

This dresser along with a wardrobe were picked up for FREE! Here's the post about that. I started to sand it and realized it was mahogany. It turned out to have a very nice top, but just too much paint to remove and the veneer was chippy in some places.  So I decided to take advantage of the fact it was white already. 


Before:

Aack!!!  

I don't know what kind of white paint was used, but it had a weird texture to it that looked great after I went to town on it with Mr. Orbital Sander.

After:

 Hello, beautiful!  

 I used 2 different knobs on the drawers & painted them light blue.

 

The top was sanded down & waxed.  I can't believe what people throw away!

The wood detail is pretty.  Nice curves & engraving.

 Did I mention the casters?

I'm going to start prep work for painting the PR next and I'm still taming my backyard.  On a totally different subject, let me first say that I'm not a big Twihard or anything, but I did see the movie Eclipse this week.  The whole series is like a car wreck and I can't look away.  It was better than New Moon but that's not really saying much.  Cheesy movies like that are one of my guilty pleasures...what's yours?

I'm linking to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday,  Chic on a Shoestring Decorating's Flaunt it Friday , SNS at Funky Junk Interiors and Metamorphosis Monday at BNOTP

Latest Finds & Pink Room Facelift!

We had a fun July 4th and, of course, I didn't get half of what I thought I could get done..done.  Does that make sense?

We drove to my sister's in Alabama and on the way back stopped by this junky little store (usually the best places).  The guy had some cool pieces out front and he was OPEN (big plus!)  We couldn't stay long because we had 2 dogs in the car and they were over it already...but I did pick up this:

Two extremely large planters and an old fan.  I have a vision for my back yard that includes painting the outbuildings, large planters overflowing with flowers, my Ventura Blvd. sign on a tree, an arbor with swing, *deep breath* firepit patio, screened porch, lights in the trees and around the fence, etc., etc.   
BIG PLANS!  

Remember the garden sheds?

The fan works and has the perfect green patina.  

I also started revamping the Pink Room.  I've made some big changes, but still need to repaint it and talk Brian into the beadboard on the ceiling.  He once thought it was a great idea and now he has no memory of the conversation at all.  I think this is a case of selective memory.  I'll have to wear him down because beadboard on the ceiling would look FAB-U-LOUS!

 

Just a peek - I rearranged the room and sanded the dresser.  (The dresser that we got for FREE off the curb is mahogany.)  I had no desire to try & remove all the paint, so I just smoothed it out. I'm going to restore the top and paint the rest white (I think). I'm looking at Anthropologie & HL for knobs.  This is totally mid-process, so ignore everything on the walls...please. 

That's my news for the past week.  I can't wait to see how the dresser top looks stained & to get to work in that yard!  

P.S. We did clean out the garage and it was just as terrible as I thought it would be, but at least it's DONE!

Need a lift?

Thank goodness it's Friday and hopefully it's a 3 day weekend for everyone!  

You know, there are so many blogs with so many awesome & creative ideas and I appreciate all of them.  But I think there is more to all of this than us just making our homes cute.  I personally like feeling like I have a ton of girlfriends out there in blogland cheering me on..I love reading about how other women not only survived but THRIVED through adversity.. like Donna at Funky Junk Interiors.  (If you haven't read her blog yet or lately, then you should..especially if you are hurting or need a little hope & encouragement.)  I also enjoy reading everyone's comments of encouragement on my site and others.  Isn't it awesome?

For me, like most people in the world, I've had some great times and some really, really bad times.  Enough so, that I recognize the good times and I drink them in..they don't go unnoticed with me.  I love my God and I know that He has my name (yours too) inscribed on the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16).

I hope you all have a safe & fun July 4th.  Enjoy your independence, love our country and drink in your good times!