Pretty sister and lemon wedges

I took pictures of some of the shower decor to share and I am finally getting to it.  In true Brittany style, I only took pictures of the decorations and not the actual people at the shower so I thought it might be nice to show a picture of my little sister.  After all, she was the reason for the partay.

Her name is Sarah.  This was taken years ago at her wedding, but isn't she lovely?  She is such a pretty girl, especially now with a sweet baby girl growing in her tummy.  I love them both dearly.

I fell in love with these yellow roses at the grocery store, and thus, the color scheme was born.

It was fun to get out my mismatched silver and white dishes.  I have really enjoyed using them on many occasions rather than buying disposable flatware and plates.

On to my favorite part, the sweets.  This chocolate cake was my favorite when I was pregnant and single handedly packed a good 30 pounds onto my body so I thought I would spread the love and get one for my sister.

The shower invitations read "A baby chick is on her way" so I felt compelled to make these adorable little bird nest candies.  They were as delish as they are cute.

I took the pictures before it was all set up but I used canning jars as glasses.  Each of them had a lemon wedge on the rim, and they were filled with berry lemonade.  We also had a spongecake topped with home made whipping cream and crushed pineapple.  Random I know, but it was all very yummy.

I am trying to be quick tonight so I can watch the new Deadliest Catch with my sweets so that is all for now.  Have a delightful week!

Frenchy chair apprehensive upholstery

I want to share my latest booth projects.  I bought this chair from a Craigslist ad a few months ago with aspirations to paint and reupholster it.  I didn't have the confidence to tear into at that time, but I got inspired to try it last week, not knowing how it would turn out.

It wasn't bad to begin with, it just didn't look like it belonged in my house, so I knew it wouldn't look right in my booth.

After a whole lotta tearing and poking and prying, I finally managed to remove the old staples and fabric.  I used my faux grain sack technique for the upholstery, and painted the frame.

I also tried my luck at making a slip cover for a stool that I found.  I am so shocked...it didn't turn out half bad.

I am so thankful that I was able to power through these projects despite being so sick.  It has given me the confidence that I need to tackle a few other chairs that I have stashed out in the garage.

I also took this garden trellis down to my booth.  It would be great out in the lawn or garden, but I came to love it right there in my dining room.

That is all I have for now.  We are working on a set of vintage lockers and a potting stand, so check back soon to see more.  Thanks for reading!  Have a wonderful weekend!

List update

I thought I would share my progress on the gargantuan list that I made a couple weeks back.  I am sure it is keeping you up at night wondering what I have been getting done around my house.  The blue items are things that have been completed, and the green are things that I decided not to do. 

I really love my rooster pot rack, but it is not going to work above my island because of the light fixture placement.  The rack and light would practically be on top of each other, not exactly the look I am going for.  I think I am going to have to part with it, sadly, so it will be making the long trip down to my booth this week. 

Also, my mother talked me out of replacing the blinds that I have on my french doors.  I think I will just leave them for now, due to time constraints, but will definitely be keeping my eyes out for another option.  And as for painting my chalkboard wall, I am going to let it soak up its fresh gray coat of paint for a while.  It sure is fabulous not to look at white spackled seams any longer.  I feel like I almost have a legit house.  I cannot wait to start in on the kitchen remodel!

(Here is my inspiration picture for the chalkboard wall.  I have an identical wall between my LR and DR)

• Paint front door white
• Texture and paint patches in LR
• Putty holes in living room walls
• Paint LR grey
• Finish trim in dining room and hallway (I will put Tim on this one)
• Hem LR curtains
• Bring home new desk from shop (yay!)
• New window treatment on french doors (low on priority list)
• Hang pot rack above island
• Make curtains for kitchen window
• Paint chalkboard wall
• Curtains on my bedroom closets
• Make bedroom curtains
• Organize craft closet
• Paint Marsdon's room
• Paint twin bed
• Swap out dresser?
• Buy twin sheets to match quilt
• Finish painting interior doors white & replace door knobs

Time is ticking, I will see what else I can finish but something tells me that I might just have to live with a few things the way they are : )

Spoiler alert for Robin

Having my own laptop to blog on is absolutely changing.my.blog.life.  It is so nice to be able to sit down and upload pictures and write posts at night while the kiddos are tucked in bed.  Consider this a bonus post.  I just can't wait to share it, so you are getting a lot of me this week : )

Do you remember this sweetie little sideboard from the shop?  Well, no I did not forget about it.  I am finally sharing the final product.  Robin, if you are reading this and you want to be surprised when you pick it up, scroll no further.  If you want a peek, keep scrolling.

Before

After

I just knew it would look great in off white.

I couldn't control myself.  I had to throw some pretties up there before I snapped the pictures.  It is looking pretty cozy in my dining room!

The scalloped detail along the top of the shelf is so gorgeous and really stands out now that it is painted and distressed.

How could you not just love this piece?

I have a few projects coming up that I will be doing for others, so I will do my best to share before and afters of those as well.  Keeping busy is sure making the days pass.  Summer is almost here!

Best garage sale find and lilacs

As promised, I wanted to share my favorite garage sale find to date.  Why on Earth would someone ever sell this beauty? The turquoise is so pretty, and I don't ever see scales in this color.  Oh how can I love someone else's junk so much!  I never thought I would see the day when my favorite places to shop would be tag sales!

I also thought I would share a bit of my lovely lilac bush (well actually I have two of them, please try not to be too jealous!)  I brought this very very antique ironstone set home from the shop and was really at a loss of what to do with it.  It sat on my kitchen counter for days in hopes that I would find a safe (from my children) place to display it.  And BAM!  Just like most of my ideas, suddenly I just knew it had to sit in my entryway filled with lilacs.

The window frame is an item that I stole (I use that term very lightly, more like borrowed!) from my dear sweet friend Pam.  I sure love it, so only time will tell if it is ever returned to her.  Love you Pam...

I have been waiting very patiently for my sweet girl to start climbing out of her crib so that I can put her big bed in her room and use this adorable step stool next to her bed.  That stubborn little girl refuses to climb out of her crib.  She climbs on and terrorizes everything else imaginable but oh no!  Not when decorating depends on it.  For now, it is just sitting propped up in the entryway waiting and waiting.

That's all I have for now, but I still have to share my new living room rug and amazingly amazing trunk turned over sized coffee table.  Oh and one more thing, do you remember that gorgeous buffet that had the rounded shelf on top that I was painting?  It is making the long trek to its new home tomorrow so I will snap a few after pictures.  It looks so pretty, I am sad to see it go.  Oh here I go again sounding like a major hoarder who can't part with anything.

Dry clean only for my mum

I realized that I never shared the pillows I made for my dear sweet mum for Mother's Day.  While showing her some of my favorite blogs one day a couple months ago, we came across this picture on Kimberley's blog Restoration House.

My mom loved her pillow, so I tracked it down online and found that it is a Waverly fabric, and can be purchased online through Joann's Fabrics.  It is very spendy fabric, but I got it when it was half off, so it ended up being about $22 per yard.  Now that I look at her picture again, I wish that I would have centered the floral design, but I was trying to get the most out of the yard that I bought.

After sitting on my chairs for a day or so, it was oh so painful to give them up on Mother's Day.  The fabric is dry clean only so I would have been a fool to keep them.  Although I would have been a happy fool.  Hmmm, just might have to take the plunge into fabrics that I cannot scrub snot and Cheetos stains off of.  Of course that is a project for another day, as my week will be filled with last minute projects in preparation for visiting family and the sweet birdie baby shower for my soon to be niece Addison Lane.  OOOH to hold a new baby!  I can't wait!

Painting dilemma & booth projects

Happy Friday Night!  With only 9 days left before the big baby shower at my casa, I am feeling the pressure to get things checked off of my ginormous list.  Today Tim and I finished the floor trim and textured and painted the seams on the walls.  Now I am faced with the dilemma of where to stop painting.  You know how it goes, one wall leads to another and so on and then you are committed to painting the whole bleeping place.  I have called in reinforcements for tomorrow night to help me get all of that situated.  So you know darn well I will be sharing that progress soon, barring any mental breakdowns.

I have been so excited to share the newest batch of goods that I took down to my space.  This dresser has been around forever it seems like.  My parents had it in their house, it has been passed around a bit, it was in the shop, and now it is mine.  I knew it could be so much cuter, and then a fab idea came to me.  I stenciled the numbers on the drawers and added antique porcelain knobs and presto chango!  I hate to get rid of it but I know that I can always make another one if this one sells.

Here is my "pile".  A few things didn't make it into the picture which saddens me, but if you have a burning desire to see it all, you will just have to take a trip down to the antique mall.

I was searching around for some old wood to make signs on and I found one of my many old wooden crates.  I thought it would be a breeze to take it apart and use the sides for my signs but boy was I wrong.  It took a lot of elbow grease to pry those rusty old nails out, but I am very pleased with the finished product.  I need to get a few more stencils, but for now you are stuck looking at the nest signs.  Sorry to all of you bird haters out there.

I didn't get a good shot of the blue shutters but here you can see them a bit more closely.  Yet another thing that was hard to part with.  I am really trying to prevent my house from becoming one of those horrifying hoarders scenes.  If you happen to see me on a hoarders episode someday, you have my permission to pretend that you have never heard of me.

Last but not least, I made a chalkboard on an old planked cupboard door.  I added a glass knob and a quote.  This picture doesn't do it much justice, it is pretty cute in person.

Thanks for reading, have a wonderful fun filled weekend!

A not so kitchen update

Guess who is back!  Here I am despite my never ending technical/user error issues.  This last week was quite eventful, and I have to say that I am so thankful it is over.  We completely moved out of the shop last week, and finished it up on Mother's Day.  It was an absolute TON of work, but it feels so great to have it behind me.

Since then, I have been a busy little bee getting stuff ready for my booth.  I can finally focus all of my attention there, and I am hoping that will allow me to make my booth look, well, a bit more me.  More on my projects later this week, but for now, a kitchen update.

This is the view from the french doors in my dining room.  I removed the cabinet door on the far left.  It now matches the other two which were missing when we bought our house.  I figured I would make lemonade out of the situation, and play it up as the open shelving I have been seeing everywhere.  Pretty and free, does it get any better?

I saw a link somewhere that showed chalkboard painted on the back of the shelves, so I tried it on the lower shelf.  I love how the white dishes pop against it, but I am not sure when and if I will continue up in the top two shelves.

I love my canisters on the island. The two I had were vintage that I nabbed from my mom.  My only gift request for MD was the third and largest one, and guess which mama got it?  This one!  Pics to follow of course.



And here they are up close.  See what I mean?  Do you not just love clear canisters?  It is just one more opportunity to make something look pretty.  (Ok, so you caught me on a bad day, but those beautes are normally full)  I have been filling them with cereal.  It has been fun to shop for cereals not only based on their flavor, but their texture and color.

Of course I can't resist showing off my nearly free, upcycled, completely installed by me lighting.

Holy cow I guess I was lovin' these guys that day (It was about 2 weeks ago, and now my cabinets and dining room are completely different, imagine that.  I have a disease) 

Here is the spot in my dining room where my buffet was before I moved it into my booth.  I loved the oar that I got for Marsdon's room, so I decided it should make a pit stop right there.  Again, this corner has completely changed by now.

To hang the oar, I just screwed picture hangers to the back and voila!  Funky schtuff to fill up my wall.

There you have it, what my kitchen and dining room looked like a while ago.  I am so excited to share my new favorite that I put in that spot, an awesome garage sale find, and my newest projects for my space.  Thanks for reading, you are a dear.