Headboard and Footboard Revamp!!!

A year ago I found a headboard and footboard that was on the curb to be trashed and I decided to rescue them and do something with them. Trash finds can be some of the best out there and they cost $0.00!

I finally got around to painting them so here are some pics. (For paint I used Rustoleum's Heirloom White spray paint and for wax I used both Annie Sloan Clear and Dark Wax.)

Ever wonder what I look like when I am doing these projects.....???? Well I probably look like some sort of ridiculousness.... kinda like in the next picture....

One project down...many more to go.

I have this set listed for sale for $119.00 so if anyone is interested just let me know. It fits a queen bed.


Blessings,

Lauren

The best things in life are FREE

This past weekend I went home to Greencastle, PA to see my mom and mother-in-law for mothers day. It was a great relaxing weekend. For my mothers day gifts I got both mom's a Bath and Body Works 3-wick Candle. I love those things! They have some great scents right now. Here is one of the candles that I purchased: Summer Boardwalk. It smells so so yummy! I also got one called Lavender Market which also smells equally amazing. Some other scents that look so fun are Ice Cream Shop and Root Beer Float. I am hungry just thinking about those candles.

Okay so on to the free stuff in which I titled my post ; ). My mom got some beautiful sunflowers from Trader Joe's the other day. And while driving around Greencastle I saw some purple wild flowers on the side of the road. So we pulled over and I quickly plucked some stems before anyone noticed and then continued on my way. The flowers smell and look so beautiful...especially with the sunflowers that my mom already had.

After doing a quick search I have determined that they must be Ceanothus or "wild lilac" as pictured below.
So if you see any on the side of the road....GRAB THEM. They are so pretty. And they are FREE!

Dream Home

Two summers ago I was in North Carolina with my family and was walking around downtown when I spotted a beautiful home that was under construction.

The home had already been sold and the construction crew was busy finishing up the final touches but we asked if we could take a quick walk inside and snap a few quick pictures. The home was so beautiful.

It was not a HUGE home, but it was still plenty big and the layout was open and breezy and had a great casual but yet classy feel to it. The details in the home were so beautiful.

Here are just a couple pictures to wet you pallet. Sorry the pics are so small (server running slow) 

Blessings,

Lauren

Lets Be Friends Again

I just wanted to write a quick post to let you all know that I am still alive and well despite being MIA from this blog for a while. I fell of the bandwagon for a couple months but I have every intention to get back on the horse....
I really have no excuse as to why I took a break from blogging except laziness. I have actually completed a couple new projects, have purchased some new items, and am in the process of working on some bigger more involved projects. So I will be sure to post some pictures soon to let y'all know what I have been up to.

Other than that life has been pretty busy lately. In one month Ryan and I will be moving into a new home in Germantown where I will have more space to work on some of my furniture projects which will be nice. Refurbishing a piece of furniture in a tiny apartment can be challenging....well it is more like impossible.  So it will be nice to have some more space. Although I have come to love our current little apartment a lot, the change should be good.

In summary life is going well and I feel blessed every morning when I get to wake up and live a new day.

I want to leave you all with a random cute picture that made me smile today. Yep this is all I got for today ; ) I will do better on my next post!

hehehe

Blessings,

Lauren

+ Prayer Blanket +

For this post I wanted to share something from my heart. My church, Neelsville Presbyterian Church, in Germantown MD has a great ministry in which some of the women in the church knit "prayer blankets." The blankets are of all different colors and are for anyone in the church to claim if they or someone they know is hurting or in need of special prayer. The blanket is supposed to serve as a reminder of the prayers that are wrapped around that individual who is hurting. Below is a picture of one of the blankets.

You see...this ministry had a very special purpose this week.

When Ryan and I attended college at Liberty University we were able to make many special friendships. One of those special friendships was with Joe and Janie. Ryan was Joe's RA at Liberty University and we would often watch Joe play baseball with the Liberty Baseball team. Janie was his girlfriend and biggest fan, so we would always see Janie at the games as well. Often in the evening when Ryan would be walking me to my dorm, we would see Joe and Janie walking as well. They were one of those couples that always radiated joy and they had some of the biggest smiles on campus. We grew to love them so much. Their motto was "love always, no matter what." Joe and Janie were planning to spend the rest of their lives together.

After Ryan and I graduated from Liberty, we found out that Joe was diagnosed with cancer. It was a huge shock to all of us. Joe developed pain in his back and sacroiliac joint which was treated as an orthopedic injury.  Given the amount of baseball games played one would expect a few sports injuries.  But his pain got progressively worse until nothing brought him relief.  After weeks of increasing  pain, several trips to doctors, emergency rooms, and several MRI's it became evident that some form of cancer had invaded Joe's body. Joe had a rare form of bone cancer, Metastatic Ewing's Sarcoma.

For two years Ryan and I prayed that Jesus would heal Joe from his cancer. We knew that if anyone could beat a cancer like this that Joe would be the one. Jesus did finally answer our prayer, but it wasn't the way that we expected. On Monday, February 27, 2012 Joe went home to the Lord to receive his eternal healing.

After learning of Joe's death I went to church and claimed a prayer blanket for Janie and gave it to her on the day of Joe's funeral. Right now Janie, Joe's faithful girlfriend and intended of 6 years, and Joe's family need your prayers more than ever as they continue to grieve and heal at this time. Please join us in faithful prayer for this special family. Joe and his family have touched my life in a very special way. Their strength and faith is like none-other. They have a strength that could only come from Jesus.

When Ryan and I attended Joe's memorial earlier this week it was one of those experiences that I will never forget and will forever affect my life.

I want to share Joe's memorial with all of you as well so that you can take part is his amazing story. I want my funeral to be just like his! Just click on the below link to view.

  http://glasgowchurch.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=134063&programId=117725

Blessings.

Lauren

Flair for Your Derriere!!!

This latest project was a long time coming. A couple years ago my husband and I bought a dining room table and chairs from a thrift store in Pennsylvania. The set was cute and at a good price. The only thing I was not crazy about was the fabric on the chair cushions. So the other day I purchased some home decor fabric from Joann Fabrics for $7.00 a yard. The new fabric totally transformed the set!

BEFORE

AND AFTER!

I am so happy with the fabric. I wanted a fabric that was thicker so that it would be able to withstand all of the sitting. I actually contemplated purchasing an outdoor fabric since it is created to be super durable, but I did not want the chairs to feel like lawn furniture when you went to sit on them in shorts. So the home decor fabric was the answer. It is the perfect blend of durability and comfort. I also wanted a fabric that was on the lighter side to pop against the dark metal of the chairs. The fabric I chose gives off a fresh country french vibe.

HERE IS THE OLD FABRIC UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

 

So to recover the chairs I started out by removing the seats and removing the muslin fabric on the bottom side of the seat. The muslin fabric was in good condition so I decided to reuse it, otherwise you could just purchase some new and cut it to size. After removing the muslin, I laid out my floral fabric and traced around the cushion, leaving 6" of extra fabric on each side. After cutting out the fabric I then started the long process of stapling the fabric to the cushion. This is the method I used.

Step 1. Pull the fabric on one side and hold tight with one staple in the middle. Then do the same for your three remaining sides.

Step 2. Once all of the four sides are security with the one staple you have insured that the fabric will not shift on you. Then pick one of the sides and staple the rest of the way, but stop when you get to the corners. I stapled once every inch. Then staple the rest of your three sides. MAKE SURE THAT THE FABRIC IS TIGHT AS YOU GO AROUND. THE TIGHTER THE BETTER.

Step 3. Now your fabric should be stapled all the way around except for at the corners. To do the corners, gather the fabric tightly and smooth out the fabric as much as you can on the topside of the cushion. you want all of the gathers to be on the bottom of the cushion as possible. Then secure the fabric with more staples.

Step 4. For the last step add on the muslin to the underside of the seat and secure it with more staples. The muslin covers the bottom of the seat and gives it a finished look.

Place your cushion back on your seat and "Wa la"!!!

I am going to love eating at my table now. Hope you all can find something in your home to recover because the finished product is always so rewarding.

Blessings.

Animal Pic. A Day Makes Your Troubles Melt Away

So this post has nothing to do with repurposing/renovating but once in a while when I get excited about something I just have to share about it.

Today I stumbled upon a blog that is my new favorite "feel good blog." The site is http://www.cuteoverload.com/. There are pictures and videos about the worlds cutest/funniest animals. Who doesn't like a good picture of a baby animal from time to time???

Here are some of my favorites....

















Oh I JUST LOVE IT!!!

Date Night with Muah...

When Ryan has graduate school classes in the evening you can very often find me having a date night with myself. At first it was hard to be home alone in the evenings....but now I try to embrace it and make the most of the time. For example, I often use my evenings alone to paint my nails, try out new recipes and watch netflix/tv.

So what am I up to this particular evening.  I will give you a hint...

PLUS

My sister recently told me that she watched North and South and really liked it. So I am giving it a try. I figure if it resembles anything to the Jane Austin movies I will love it.

Some of the other shows I am really diggin' on netflix right now is:

1. The Wonder Years

2. Take Home Chef

3. American Pickers

Well I better get back to my show ; )

Out with the Old...In with the NEW!!!

This week has been filled with birthday celebration fun. So this post title kinda has a dual meaning this time, in that I re-purposed an old calendar for something new and I am aging...slowly. On Friday I turned 24!!! That age still sounds very young to me which I am thankful for. However, in many other ways I feel old. 

Example # 1. A couple weeks ago someone asked me my age and I seriously could not remember.  I know...embarrassing huh?!?  In knew it was in the 23, 24, or 25 range I just could not remember which one exactly. I had to do the math in my head. I also texted my husband to make sure I was right, and after a series of "Are you serious?" and "Yes!!!", I was told 24. Of course... right after I was asked the question I just blurted out an age to avoid looking like a complete idiot. Does anybody else out there forget how old they are from time to time? I knew that this would happen eventually, I just didn't think it would be this soon.

Example # 2. To go to work every morning on the MARC train. I could right an entire blog about my commutes to work... but I will spare a lot of those details now. Just know that the commute into DC is one of the worst aspects about working there.  It usually takes me an hour to get to work and, believe me,  the train is one of the best ways to travel because it avoids the chaotic beltway and you can sleep/read the entire way to work. Of course a "no-commute" is always better than any commute, but I try to make the best of it. Interesting observation: Many of the people that I ride the train with are age 50 and older.  The reason is that as people get older they move further away from DC so that they can afford bigger homes and have their children attend better schools. 

I prefer living outside of the city, even with an hour commute, because I like the slower pace of life. Plus, we live only a couple of minutes from my husbands's place of employment (he is so spoiled) and my sister and her family are right down the road from us. Regardless, commuting with the aged makes one feel aged. You would think it would make me feel young, which it does on occasion, but more often it makes me feel like I am living an older woman's lifestyle. I just look forward to the day when I will no longer be making this commute  ; )

Anyway...I feel blessed to have celebrated another birthday and I look forward to what this year will bring. Hopefully I can become better with remembering my age.  "Oh Lauren.....you have so much to work on"  ; ) .

And this brings me to my most recent "re-purpose." I look a 2011 calendar that I had at work and decided to frame one of the monthly pictures. I loved the pictures in this calendar, especially the one pictured below. So I decided to save it from its impending doom and frame it instead! Awe, how sweet of me! 

So here is the picture that I decided to save.

It came from this calendar in case you want to look for one like it in the future. It was a great calendar.

And here it is after I framed it in a simple IKEA frame.  I think it turned out really cute.

And these are some lovely flowers that my nephew got me for my birthday. I am enjoying their bright colors and sweet fragrance. Oh, how I love flowers!

God Bless.

Perfectionist at Heart

So remember in my former post Chalk Paint Fun when I said I was a little unhappy with the final finish. I liked the table, I just wanted the color to be a little more uniform and to look a little less "distressed." To change the paint color I just combined the blue with a little white and watered it down with a couple tablespoons of water and applied it with a sponge brush.

Here it is before...


And here it is after... Can you tell a slight difference???? It is a subtle change but it makes a big difference to me.

Saturday Snapshot

Last night I arrived home from work and drove to Pennsylvania to stay the weekend at my parents house. And in the morning I woke up to the view below.......SNOW!!!! I was beginning to think I wouldn't see any snow this year. I am emotionally already for Spring but I did want to see a good snow before the seasons change. The snow looks beautiful and I am starting to hear the sound of snowplows outside. This evening Ryan's parents are celebrating my birthday with me a little early and are cooking me my birthday meal. I am so excited!!! This is my kinda weekend ; )

FYI....I already changed the night stand from my last post. It was a little dark for me so I decided to lightened the finish to a misty blue shade. To do that I combined my Old White Paint and the Aubusson Blue and watered it down a little to get the exact shade I wanted. It looks so much better! I will post updated pictures as soon as I can. 

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

 mmmmm....toasty fire