Shabby Chic Bookshelf

I know what you are thinking - what happened to my other creative momma?  I am back with some new projects so please feel free to clap out loud and cheer, I know you've missed me! 

This summer we are full of fun activities and projects around the house along with our annual friend and family camp out and a few mini-vacations planned.  Luckily my husband gets two months off every year, he is a teacher.  It is a time for us to catch up on all those forgotten home projects and more.

Kendall, my 17 month old, has the smallest of our three bedrooms.  She currently has a crib in her room, a low and long dresser, a small chair for reading time and a play doll crib.  Her crib also converts to a full side bed when she's ready.  I wanted a space for her books, so I've been looking for almost a year for something that won't take up a ton of room and will be practical at holding her books. I am unable to keep books on her dresser because she can reach the top and sometimes still has a taste for them or is in the mood to hear the pages rip.  I didn't want just another shelf, but I wasn't sure what I was looking for until I came across http://www.theshabbycottagehome.com/.  It's a sweet little shop located in Oregon.  On their website they have a small bookshelf with a drawer.  I kept thinking how perfect it would be for Kendall's room, but I've never seen such a skinny bookshelf.  She could use it for a nightstand and a bookshelf.  That's when it hit me - nightstand.  I think it's an old nightstand with a built bookshelf, perfect!  Thankfully, I know an amazing wood worker/artisan, my Uncle Roger.  I found an old night stand for $6, so with a little convincing to my Uncle and a photo of the project he was on the job.  Here is what it looked like after my Uncle finished with it.

 I put a spray paint coat of primer on it.  Next I put an indoor/outdoor semi-gloss pink on, three coats of it!  After all the paint dried I sanded the edges and corners to make it look old.  Then I painted the handle with cream colored paint and did a little sanding on that also.  Here is what I ended up with.

I also added a little decorative accent wood piece I picked up from the hardware store.  It was glued to the top curved wood piece before painting.

I just loved how this piece turned out.  We will put an anchor in the wall so it won't be able to topple over easily.  I am very excited to load it with her books and treasures.  It's a step closer to her shabby chic style inspired room!

XO

Lauren

Coupons!

For all you moms out there who clip coupons, here is a link to a $5.00 off coupon for Enfagrow formula! I plan on using it this week. You can only print it out once (darn it) but its good until 7-14-11.
You may have to download their program for printing out the coupons, but its worth it.

http://www.coupons.com/

Stephanie

What not to blog.....

So I was web surfing this morning, looking for cute 4th of July projects (even though I don't have time to do any of them) and I came across a blog entry from http://www.madiganmade.blogspot.com/ . She found a project and attempted to try it out, knowing that it just wasn't her thing. I have to admit, I did the same thing! I will now show you why I am not the sewer in this family (that post belongs to my mother and Lauren!).

If you remember, I posted a photo of a cute shirt re-do last week in "Late Night Blog Surfing" from http://www.madebymeech.blogspot.com/. This was such a cute idea and I thought even though I don't own a sewing machine, I could probably do it with the no-sew tape I am so fond of......That didn't turn out very well. Here is what it looked like, not horrible but not great.

It started off looking like this.

It was not a bad attempt but the sewing should be left up to people who can do it! This project just helped me realise that some things are just not for me to try. I can sew on a patch or button if need be but a larger sewing project is not up my ally.

Stephanie



Late Night Blog Surfing....

Okay, its not that late but 9pm for the mother of a six month old is late. But at least I am putting it to good use, my guilty pleasure of having a glass of wine and surfing my favorite blogs to get new ideas. With all the stress of buying our new house (hopefully closing in less than 2 weeks!), all I can think about is what I want to do to the house. My husband just rolls his eyes at me and asks how much more money he is going to have to shell out. Well here are a few things that caught my eye tonight.

 Woven Burlap Message Board from http://www.jonesdesigncompany.com/

Alice in Wonderland Party from http://www.celebrationsathomeblog.com/

Possible next shower......

Smile Monster’s Root Beer Float on a Stick

T-shirt Makeover by http://www.madebymeech.blogspot.com/

Okay- I have to admit that I attempted this project. It did not turn out the way I hoped. Not a total failure but since I don't sew.....lets just say she does a much better job of it.

Stephanie

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

I have to admit that I am not the best baker in the world, but I am trying to get better. I have never really made a great Banana Bread (but I make a mean Pumpkin Bread!), but I thought I would give this recipe a try. It was really yummy, can't wait for the hubby to come home and try it!

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter (melted)

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chocolate chips

2 lg eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (2-3) ripe bananas (mashed)

1/2 vanilla yogurt or sour cream (I used sour cream)

I used a bunt pan for this recipe, but you could use a regular loaf pan or even mini loaf pans.

Mash up the bananas with a fork.

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Whisk together so that the chocolate chips don't clump together once you add to the wet ingredients.

Mix all the wet ingredients together. Then add the mashed bananas. Once your bananas are mixed in, fold the wet ingredients into the dry.

Pour into bunt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Stephanie

<a href="http://tipjunkie.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.tipjunkie.com/images/TipMeTuesdayButton1.png" alt="Tip Junkie handmade projects" border="0"/></a>

<center><a href="http://laughloveandcraft.com/%22%3E%3Cimg border="0" src="http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/LSchwietz/SharetheWealthWednesday-1.jpg%22/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/center>

Thrifty Vase

So during one of my many trips I bought this tin vase at the local Goodwill type store and thought that I could do something with it, it was only a buck! I features it here in our last "Thrifty Finds".

  It was okay but had a few scratches and the paint was peeling off in a few spots. That may have been a reason to send it to Goodwill, but those are the things I love the most. I spray painted the vase a Antique White that I had left over from a previous project.

I then got out the trusted Juke and thought that the handles needed a little something too! They were a light wood but it just didn't look right with the white. The vase also has raised swirls on it that I thought may need a little tinting, but up close you can see them just fine. One less step for me to do! Love it!

I started by spreading some glue on to the handle, make sure that it is glue that will dry clear.

Super easy to to get the Juke around the handle since it moved freely.

I added some flowers that match the colors in our living room. (Micheal's was having a 50% off stem flower sale!) Total cost: $12.00. Love it!

Stephanie