An Epic Announcement

Lately I've been wearin' my paintin' pants.

Why?

Well, thanks to my friend, Swing, I've had a few snippets of time here and there to help my main man, Derek, with a project that has been on the list of things to do for oh, about two years now...

We finally FINALLY got motivated to do the darn kitchen table refinish.

This is a huge big deal. The table is mine from childhood, so I suppose it's my parents' table, but they gave it to us because we have boatloads of small, hungry people to feed quite frequently throughout the day. (You know that e-card floating around that says, "WHY DO THEY WANT DINNER EVERY NIGHT?" Yes, this is my life.)

Anyway, it's too hot in summer, too wet in winter and so we waited and waited and waited.

Until.

Derek got a job offer. A FULL TIME JOB. After so much trial and difficulty and opening a a business and praying and graduating, he has a full time job.

Oh exciting.

It's in New Hampshire.

And he leaves in 22 days.

The REST of us are staying here until we can get our housing sorted out. I will move ONCE and ONLY ONCE.

So, I'm going to be a single parent.

TIME FOR FURNITURE REDO.

I can't quite explain why it makes sense that is absolutely must get done now, I don't know. But in my mind moving/single parenthood=no time to redo furniture.

Priorities people. PRIORITIES!

But look how pretty it is now! Bright and white and oh so happy. 

Compared to this:


(Old pic from Oliver's birthday, but a nice one of how brown and beat up that poor old table was!)

I will mention that our eventual goal is to get all of the chairs done too, but come on, folks, let's not talk crazy.

How to Make Your Boot Stand Up Straight

So, I had this pair of knee high black leather boots when I was 18. They were the ONE thing I had wanted for my birthday, and my sweet parents obliged. I got a lot of dates when I wore those bad boys to church...

ANYWAY! I owned those beauties until my darn feet grew a size after three babies, and then they went to Goodwill. Sad day.

Recently, they have been replaced with a new pair, albeit brown, loves of my life.

From May 2011

I am striving to make sure they last a good long time to justify the PRICE of said boots.

And dontcha hate it when your boots bend at the ankle, effectively putting permanent creases in your leather?

Me too.

I read this tip in some magazine like 10 years ago and have been a fan every since.

Ready? You will need: Boots and 2 magazines.

Roll up the magazines.

From May 2011

Stick them inside your boots.

From May 2011

Viola.

From May 2011

Less storage space taken up AND your boots stay pretty for longer.

From May 2011

You're welcome.

Cheap Frame Redo

I bought these GORGEOUS prints and needed something simple and um, basically cheap or free way to frame them. So, I measured 'em up real nice and took my handy tape measure to the DI (Mormon-land's version of "Goodwill" and found some frames that were close in size.

Then I made them MINE! 

From May 2011

(Don't be JEALOUS of the artwork. YES those are ground hogs hugging and YES that is one of those RAD velvet marker posters...)

First: Take the darn thing apart, remove the HIDEOUS artwork and do what you want with it. Keep the cardboard backing. You're going to need it. 

From May 2011

Sand the frame. Use a light grit because really, these are cheap little frames and they can't handle a rough grit. Just enough to keep the paint sticking.

From May 2011

Paint it. I went with black due to the artwork I have and well, I had it. I used regular old craft paint. Again, it's what I had. I used a little foam brush. It was very easy.

From May 2011

Lay the frame to dry. 

Next take fabric of your choice and lay it under the cardboard backing. Cut the fabric to be about an inch or two larger than the cardboard all the way around. 

From May 2011

Tape the fabric tautly once on each side. I used masking tape. It works.

From May 2011

Hot glue the entire piece of fabric all the way around, pull it taut as you go. Make sure it's nice and smooth, and tight as you go. NO wrinkles!

From May 2011

Next, center the art work on the front side and tape it down with masking tape. Don't glue it! What if you change your mind later? This is re-doable for Heaven's sake! 

From May 2011

Wash the glass, and put the frames back together. 

Hang and enjoy.

From May 2011

This entire project cost me $6.00, plus the cost of the art. 

Nice, huh? 

So, before you think you need to spend bazillion of dollars on expensive framing, try the DIY repurpose way. If you hated spending marginal amounts of money for a nice project, then goodness, go and get it professionally done! You have my permission.