They're Lalaloopsy....

Today was pretty much uneventful. It consisted of movies, video games, sick ladies, and Lalaloopsies! 

My poor babies woke up sick, with a bad head cold, and as the day went on they just got worse. We have all pretty much been camping out on the living room floor, drinking tea, eating soup, and downing popsicles like they are going out of style. 

My man has been sick to his stomach all day, so while the three of them were all laying down, I ran out to Target really quick, to pick up more popsicles, an xbox headset, and I told the ladies if they were good I would get them a little prize. Well I found some Lalaloopsy mini dolls! For those of you with little girls you have to know what I am talking about! Other than a Barbie dollhouse, all the ladies wanted for Christmas were Lalaloopsy dolls. Santa, ended up getting them each a big one, and a mini one. Here are their mini's. It was the first thing they noticed when they woke up, and they were so excited!

 Ok, now I have to confess, I am a sucker for these things, I could care less what others may think but I love these little things. My man just shook his head at me and laughed, when I came back from black Friday shopping with his mom, with three Lalaloopsies in hand. Yes, one for me too! I mean come on, if we are having a tea party, I can't be the only one without one! 

They absolutely adore these things. Almost everywhere we go, Pillow Featherbed and Jewel Sparkles come with us! They literally can't go to bed at night if the dolls aren't set up in their beds with them, tucked in, and on their own little pillows. My littlest monster sleeps with mine, so she needs her own pillow and to be tucked in as well. Like I said, they adore them.

So today, when I was looking for little 'prizes' I HAD to get them, and one for myself as well, of course. Miss El got Bea Spells-a-lot, since she is working so hard on her reading.

Miss Avery got Crumbs Sugar Cookie, since she is a little piggy, always sneaking into the pantry for sweets.

And I got Spot Splatter Splash. Why you may ask. Well, because she is a painter, so it was an obvious decision. 

We now officially have all of the 'original' dolls, three of the big ones, and five of the mini's. 

Here are our mini's...

With little miss' third birthday coming up I know just what I am getting her. We were on the Lalaloopsy  website today checking them out, and playing their little computer games, and saw that they recently came out with two new ones. I am kicking myself that I didn't pick it up when I was at Target today. They only had one big doll, and it was the new one, and of course the one she wants. Hopefully, it will still be there tomorrow.

Anyway, for any guys that may read, I apologize for the girliness, but this is what our day consisted of (other than a little black ops). Plus, I think they are adorable. They are cutely designed, and the are built tough, so they can definitely withstand going on all the little ladies adventures! Hopefully, tomorrow my babies will feel much better, and it will be nice outside so I can finally finish my desk. It is currently 10 degrees out. Gross! Plus, I have so much to do around the house. Whenever my babies are sick, nothing else matters, especially cleaning! Please say some prayers that we get back on track, and everyone feels better, or else I guess you will be reading more about Lalaloopsies, or other girly toys! Night!!!

One Month Down...

It has officially been one month since I started this blog. I really want to thank everyone who has been reading. So far I have had 1,287 viewers. Not too bad for my first month! Like I said when I started this, I can't wait to see where I am in a year from now!

Anyway, once again it was gross and rainy out today, and tomorrow is supposed to be too. Unfortunately, that means I can't finish up my desk. My living room is so disorganized, it's driving me crazy. Nothing I can do about it though. 

It has been three days now though since I painted the chalkboard paint, so the little ladies were able to draw on it for the first time. They were sick all day, and pretty lethargic, but they had a blast doing this. It's frustrating though, because I have to wait a week before I can wipe it clean. (They love wearing daddy's shirts, especially when they are sick!)

While they were working, I worked on a small project too. I don't know how the chalkboard paint is going to hold up against water, and whatnot. I figured we needed some coasters. I rummaged through our house to find something that would hold up nicely. Given the fact that I hate to waste, I found the back to the frame that I used for the framed branches project. There wasn't too much to it. I started with the backing, a ruler, and an xacto knife.

I measured them out, and sliced. Including my finger. If you have never been stabbed or sliced with an xacto knife, let me tell you, it's not fun. You bleed like crazy! Once they were all cut, the edges were a little too rough. I busted out my beautiful sander and made them nice and smooth. 

I decided I would use one of the materials that I used for the wall pieces, once again, to tie everything together. I laid it out and Modge Podged all the pieces. Then I placed them on the material, and flattened them out, making sure there were no air bubbles.

Once they were all dry, I used the xacto knife again to slice the material around the edges. I then flipped them over, and did a coat of the Modge Podge to the top.

After it dried, I put on another coat. I didn't get a chance to fix up the sides the way I want, because I had to get the little ladies to bed, then watched a movie with my man. I will figure out what I want to do with them tomorrow. I do like how they have come out so far though. Incredibly cheap, and easy to make, but it's such a nice little accent to the room.

It's been a very long day, especially since my babies are sick and not sleeping well, so I am about done on here. I once again really want to thank everyone who has been following along, I'm really excited about this year, and where it will take my family and I. Sweet dreams....

Oh How I Love Purple....

Today is just one of those days when it's wicked dreary, and you really don't want to do anything. For the first half of the day the little ladies and I just hung out playing and watching movies. When my man woke up, it was time to get things going before he had to steal the van for work. Once again I ran to Home Depot to get more paint. I was worried because it was extremely overcast all day, and it started to rain a bit as I left the house. 

I stocked up on more purple, but I was worried I wouldn't be able to work on anything because of the weather. It would have driven me crazy not to fix up the top half of this desk. I am the type of person that if I start a project I am going to go and go and go until it's done. 

After my man left for work I got started on the second coat, well actually, I had to finish the first coat. You should see me, I am absolutely covered in paint. I think its crazy how splotchy the spray paint looks when it's all wet. I took it in the house to dry, because turns out, when you use spray paint in more than 75% humidity the paint starts to crack. It wasn't too bad and I figured it would just add more texture to the whole thing. Here it is drying, don't worry though, when it dries it doesn't look this horrible.

After it was all dried, I went at it with the glaze. Like I said yesterday I planned on using more glaze on this than I did on the tables because I didn't want it to be bright purple. I really like how much darker it made it. It's almost so dark that it looks black, but not quite, I love how the purple is definitely there, yet it's subtle.

While that was drying I figured I would work on the knobs. The little monsters closed the cabinet and the drawers so many times today, it was driving me crazy. So rather than wait until tomorrow I figured that needed to be done right away so I don't lose a little more of my mind. These were the knobs my mom picked out for one of my little siblings when it was theirs.

Those just wouldn't do. There was no way I could go any longer having little rainbow knobs. They would have to become silver. After those dried I screwed them in, and viola! The top half is officially done.

 Hopefully, tomorrow the weather will be better so I can work on the bottom half. I actually have to run outside in a minute and bring it back in since it's like misting outside. I really love the fact that this desk is about 20 years old, and that it's the first desk I ever had. It's about time that it had a makeover, and so far I'm loving it. I think all the furniture is looking great in the room with the red. With all the purple being dark it makes the couch pop even more. I am off to bed for tonight, I really need some sun tomorrow, so cross some fingers, and say some prayers, I really want to get a good days worth of work in!

Oh the Grossness....

Today for some reason I was wide awake early, and ready to get started on my next project, even though I had wanted to wait a few days, and maybe tackle my closet first. I decided to get some opinions from friends on facebook, as to what color I should paint my desk. Ultimately, it came down to a golden yellow. Holding up some yellow in front of the other colors in the room didn't look too bad so I figured I would go for it.

The little ladies and I took off for Home Depot, which is becoming like a second home now. I was very weary of getting the yellow when I was there. I don't mind small accents of yellow, but I am not the biggest fan of the color, especially as a focal point if mixed in with other colors. I took a leap of faith, and got it anyway.

I got started right away. This desk is so heavy, it's my first project where my man has to move it around for me. The top isn't too bad but the bottom is just solid. I really love this desk, my parents bought it for me when I was about five, and it has gone through most of my little siblings. It even has our names written in the drawer. It has some dents and scrapes on it, that not only adds character but all have stories behind them. One big scrape down it is from my little brother going at it with a screw driver. These pieces obviously stack on top of each other, but here are the before pictures.

Since I wasn't sure if I would like the yellow or not, I decided just to try it out on the top. It took more paint then my two purple tables combined, and still wasn't completely covered nicely. It started to get too dark out so I figured I would let it dry then bring it inside to see how it looked! I was excited, but slightly nervous since I wasn't really feeling it outside. Be prepared, because here it is.

All I can say to that is, GROSS! It reminds me of like a Fisher Price yellow, and even more so with the red couch. Being that bright, it was way too much of a focal point, which is not what I wanted for this room. I want my gorgeous couch the focal point. Immediately, upon seeing its grossness, I grabbed my last can of purple and went crazy. I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. I was able to get most of one coat on but couldn't finish one of the sides. So here it is, keep in mind, the purple isn't finished, let alone any glazing. I am going to do a lot more of the glazing on this than I did on the tables, because I don't want it crazy bright purple. The glaze will dull the color, add some black to it, and I am going to give it a lot more texture.

At least now, the color ties into the room. I literally couldn't work on this anymore, between a headache from inhaling so much paint, and not having any more purple. So I decided to move onto the next project!

The ladies and I finally went out and got our little sticks for the frame. I ended up putting a light coat of the purple on them, just to darken them up, and obviously to go with the room. I love it. It might not be everyone else' cup of tea, but I think it looks great with everything else in the room!

There you have it readers. That's it for today. I wish Home Depot was open 24 hours, but unfortunately it's not. I officially understand why growing up my mom always complained about there not being enough hours in a day for her to accomplish everything she wanted to. I can't wait to wake up, and head off to my 'second home' to get more paint, and keep working. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have all this finished! 

Awesomeness Continued...

Today was day two of really working hard on some of our living room furniture. To be honest, I will definitely be taking a big project break for a couple days. I think it's funny that my right arm is hurting from sanding, painting, and glazing so much. 

I have already explained that I was really excited to work on this table. The design is so beautiful, and elegant, but it wasn't in the best shape. It has some scratches, the door didn't work, the material on the inside was in pretty bad shape, and it was pretty dirty. It didn't matter though, I could still see that she had potential to be gorgeous. Yes, she. My man is making fun of me for it, but the table is definitely a she. This is what she looked like before I started.

The very first thing I did was wipe it all down, making sure nothing was on the wood. Then I got right into taping the glass. There are five sides to the glass, and let me tell you, it wasn't super fun taping, especially the inside. The whole process took me well over an hour. I wanted to make sure it was perfectly lined up, so it definitely took me a little longer.

I got right into spray painting.

I love the detail of her.

While the paint was drying, I painted the knob for the door silver.

Next, I worked on the glazing technique. I love how it made the designs pop.

Once everything was painted, I took off the tape. Now at this point I was all excited to see how it would look, but I realized that I had forgotten to tape the inner glass, on the top. Major fail. I was so nervous that I had ruined it. After trying a few different things I noticed that a magic eraser would soften it, and a spackle scraper would scrape it all off. I love when I create more work for myself, she had to be perfect though.

Once everything was scraped off, it was time to clean off the crazy messy windows. The little ladies really wanted to help me with this part. I love having little helpers.

Since that was sitting and drying, I figured I would work on the wooden piece that fit on the inside. Here is what it looked like originally, covered in a brown, velvet material.

Since I have become a master at stapling material onto to square pieces of wood, it only seemed fitting to have to do that to this too. My man liked the black and white polka dotted material, so that's what I went with. Here she is, all finished. I am completely in love.

I absolutely love the color, and the details.

I love being able to take something that has great meaning, that may not be in the greatest of shape and fix it up. This is definitely something I will be holding onto, and would love to pass down to my babies to someday. Simply gorgeous.

Step by Step Guide to Awesomeness....

Ok, so here we go! I finally went to Home Depot, and even to Lowe's, and got everything I needed for my table. It took a while to figure out what color should go with the red, but we decided on a deep purple. Surprise, surprise. I also bought a beautiful new little Black & Decker sander, which I have a feeling might become my new best friend! I got everything I needed, and we headed home. Oh course since I am very impulsive I had to start working right away! Here is everything I bought, sitting on my canvas.

As you can kind of see in the picture there are a good amount of dings and little chips on the table, and the varnish was really worn down on areas on the top. So, the first step was to bust out my new beautiful sander! This is the first thing I have ever sanded in my life. Regardless of if I did it correct or not, it got the job done. All but this next picture were taken with my Nikon, this one was with my iPhone, you can see that it's starting to get fairly dark outside. For some reason, I guess maybe because I'm an insomniac, I work hardest at night, even if that means very little lighting. I had to put on my little patio light, and open the blinds to the living room for extra light. Here it is almost completely sanded.

The legs on the table were the hardest to do. Since my sander is pointed at the top, I could get into smaller spaces, but I ended up using just a piece of sandpaper, and getting in the smaller grooves by hand.

I then taped off the top because I was only spray painting the bottom and the legs.

Like I said the lighting was horrible, so when I was outside, I thought I had come up with an awesome technique, similar to what you do for the glazing. I would spray the paint on, then wipe it off. It looked awesome in low lighting, because it just added a tint of purple but you could still fully see the gains. Unfortunately, when I brought it in it looked all splotchy, but I figured it could be a light first coat.

I took it back outside, and sprayed an even, light layer all over, and this time I didn't wipe it off. It still looks slightly splotchy, but the glaze will cover that up. It came out much more purpley!

Once it was dry, it was time for the glaze! I have come to love the whole glazing idea, and technique. You can do it to anything, and it just gives it so much more character and texture. I started with the rim of the top. You can see how it is pretty much just a bright, solid purple.

I added the glaze over the whole area, really making sure to focus and get deep in the creases of the wood.

Now before the paint started to dry, I used a strong (Viva) paper towel, and wiped it off. If you are going to try this, make sure you just wipe across quickly so that you keep that paint in the creases. I love it, it makes it so the furniture isn't just that solid, flat color.

I then worked on the sides with the same technique. You can see that some areas aren't as evenly covered with the purple, but still it is just a solid bright purple.

Then I did the same thing everywhere else. It's easiest to work in smaller sections, that way it doesn't dry to fast on you (especially is you have a ceiling fan). Sorry, this one is kind of blurry...

This is how it turned out when most of it was finished with the glaze. Personally, I love the difference that it makes. It's subtle, yet defining.

After this was all dry, it was time to tape off the top again, only this time around the rim, and then bust out the chalkboard paint! They had so many different kinds of paint like this at Home Depot, I was shocked. They have different chalkboard paints that are tintable, magnetic paint, and dry erase paint. I have a feeling, I am going to have to think up a new project just so I can have the excuse to buy and use some of them. The little ladies were so excited for this step. They were both hanging off the foot end of their beds, watching me get this ready.

I was slightly worried when I first started painting it on, it had a midnight blueish hue to it. As I thickened the layers and it dried a bit under our ceiling fan it got darker. Here is the first coat.

Once I got two more coats on there, I took of the painter tape! Here is my new beautiful table drying. The hardest thing for my ladies is going to be the fact that the instructions say not to write on it for three days. Yea, we'll see how that works out. 

I just found a 'before' picture on my phone that I figured I would share for comparison before revealing my finished project!!!

After working hard for nine hours, my beautiful table is now complete, and I think we are probably all slightly high from paint fumes. Drum roll please....

Personally, I am in love. I am so excited. In the pictures the purple really stands out because of the angles and the flash. Just looking at it in person though I think it looks even better. It's dark and subtle, but definitely adds a bit more color to the room. 

I really wanted to do this step by step, to show you how easy it is. I have never done this much work to a piece of furniture before, and to be honest, I was slightly nervous. Now I am ready to conquer so much more, but definitely not today. I think I have tackled enough for today, and I am now going to pass out!