Paint Storage Solution

It seems that everywhere I look, there are great ideas for paint storage.  My favorite storage idea was from Infarrantly Creative.  She used spice racks!  What a great idea, I wish I had thought of it.  As you know, I love to hit the garage sales, so with this new idea in mind, I started my search.  I didn't quite find spice racks, but I did find this...

 And this...

 The first unit was unfinished wood, so it only took a quick sand before it was ready for painting.  The second one, on the other hand, had quite a bit of clear coat on it, so it took longer.  Plus it has a very narrow groove on each of the shelves and an ugly gold nameplate on it.  All it took was a bit of elbow grease and a good coat of paint to make them beautiful! 

After my primer dried, I painted each of the pieces using a brush and some paint I had left over from another project.  They turned out VERY bland and boring, so I decided to paint a cute little flourish on each.  I used some "oops paint" I picked up a while ago.  I love the way they turned out.  I even love the fact that the designs are a bit rough and aren't perfect.

 The ugly gold plate on this rack was perfect for my little flourish!

Now to figure out a color to paint the wall so they really pop!

Garage Sale Score

I love trolling garage sales, looking for some sad little thing, and transforming it into something beautiful.  On a recent garage sale expedition, I found this sad little shelving unit for $2.  It had stains and water marks on all the shelves, crayon and pencil marks on the sides, scratches and dents all over it, and it was BEAUTIFUL!  Well, at least in my mind's eye, it was beautiful...

 Here is a closeup of some of the stains on one of the shelves.  I tried to get some of the crayon marks, but they just wouldn't show up.  (I need to work on my picture taking skills some more)

 I got to work sanding this little baby.  As I was sanding, I was overcome with the strong scent of powder or perfume.  The previous owner must have stored it in the bathroom or closet where she applied powder or heavy perfume.  It was bad!  After the sanding was complete, I quickly primed it to cover up the horrible smell!  The primer did not cover the smell, so I said a little prayer and started painting.  Thankfully, the paint killed the scent.  I let the paint fully cure for a week, and went shopping for some yummy scrapbook paper. 

Once the paint was cured, I set to work with my paper cutter and Mod Podge.  And this little lovely emerged on the other side of my crafting storm!

It is perfect for my toiletries stockpile.  This is what is looks like loaded up.  Yes, I know I have a ton of shampoo, I am the crazy coupon lady and got it all almost free!

Every time I walk into my closet, I get to look at something pretty :)  What a great way to start each day.

This project was entered into The CSI Project's Mod Podge Challenge

Front Door Sign

I have a cute summery sign hanging on my front door.  It gives me joy every time I look at it.  Unfortunately, my cute summer decor has taken a beating in the harsh Texas sun. 

As you can see, the black words are still dark as ever, but the yellow background and cute ladybugs had faded.  Not wanting to spend the money for a new sign, I decided it was time to do a little face lift on my existing one. 

I taped off all the metal parts and sprayed primer all over it.  While the primer was drying, I rummaged through my cans of spray paint.  I didn't have any yellow, but I did have some dark blue.  It would have to do because I was determined not to spend a penny on this project.  This is a summer sign, so I lightly sprayed the blue and let some of the white primer show through.  While the paint was drying, I broke out my Cricut and cut new words and some ladybugs onto white vinyl.  Once the blue was dry, I painted the ladybugs red and gave them black spots.  Because this hangs on my front door and is exposed to all the elements (including the rain), I used a spray sealer.  Something went wrong here because there are some foggy spots left behind.  I decided that it just adds to the charm and home made look.  Here is my new sign hanging happily on my front door.

The world is good again :)

This project is being entered in the CSI Challenge:  Outdoor Decor

Spongy Clock

I am always amazed at what a little bit of paint and some paper towels can do.  My mom recently repainted her kitchen a pretty blue.  The problem was, she had this ugly green plastic clock hanging on the wall.  She didn't want to buy a new clock, and the only way to fix it was paint.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take the before picture before I sanded the clock, so you don't get the full effect of what it looked like, but you can get a general idea, it was plain and boring (and looked horrible against her new blue wall).

After taking everything apart, I fully sanded the frame of the clock (then took the before picture above...oops).   Because it was plastic, I gave it a quick coat of primer.  I let the primer completely dry, then came 2 coats of dark blue.  Being cheap frugal, I didn't want buy anything for this project so I used paper towels to sponge the wall color and white all over the clock frame.  And voila...beautiful cheap frugal clock.

I hope you enjoy your new clock mom :)

New Family Room

We have been very slowly repainting our boring builder's white walls throughout the house.  I have finished the master and kids bedrooms and now am moving to the other rooms in the house.  Our adventure for Memorial Day weekend was repainting the Family Room.  Here is the before picture. 

See how the pictures and curtains just blend right into the walls? Yuck! I have been living with this for two years before I finally pulled the trigger and selected a color. Of course, I agonized about which color to use because we spend the most time in this room, and I wanted to make sure I loved the color. Plus, it had to be fairly neutral since we will eventually get rid of our horrible couches (they are so old and stained, I wouldn't dare even picture them in public!). Anyway, I digress.  I looked at several swatches and finally chose Adobe Straw from Behr (my favorite brand). 

First thing on Saturday morning, we took the kiddos over to Grandma and Grandpa and started taping.  It is such a tedious process, but makes the painting so much easier since we don't have to worry about being perfect.  I don't know what it is, but I just love a room framed in blue tape, don't you?

After the taping was complete, we primed all the walls.  This isn't something I usually do, but I have found that these walls just suck up the paint since they were only sprayed by the builder.  Primer helps the color cover walls while using less of the more expensive high quality paint.  Since I was using a fairly light color, I did not tint the primer.  Here it what the wall looks like all primed and ready for color.

And 24 hours later.....voila....

My brand new family room.  I just love how the pictures and the curtains pop off the walls now.  It looks like the tile around the fireplace blends in, but it really doesn't.  The room is still a work in progress. I need something more on the main wall, all I have right now is a TV and speakers (you can see one of them in the top left of the picture).  I am waiting for inspiration to strike me with the perfect thing to hang on the wall.  In the meantime, here are the before and after pictures side-by-side.

Ahhhh, so much warmer and more welcoming now.