Make-It: Framed Silhouettes

So I'm not taking credit for this idea.  I got it from Design Sponge -- a neat little blog.  Visit it sometime.

So some of my walls desperately need something on them.  And fast.  School is rapidly approaching (have I mentioned I'm a high school math teacher?), and I know that once it starts, I won't have time for these crafty little adventures.

So here's my attempt at filling some space in our dining room.  For the project, I contacted about six or so paint/hardware stores in and around town for some free wallpaper samples.  The most common reply was, "Well Ma'am, we haven't sold any wall paper since the '90's".  Shoot.  

I improvised with a trip to the craft store for some scrapbook paper instead.  It turned out just as nice, but perhaps with a little less texture than planned.  

If you don't know, I love birds.  It started with an owl obsession.  And has transformed into cute little finches and sparrows.  I chose some paper that reflected other colors throughout the room.  The frames were bought from Bekah (with The Yellow Pepper) at our yard sale for 25 cents a piece.  I spray painted them (as I did to others in this post).  

I think they turned out quite nice.  They aren't up on the wall yet, mainly because I have another idea in mind that might find its way to the blog later...

Re-Do: New End Table Update

For some reason, these last few weeks I have been flat out l-a-z-y.  Or at least it feels that way.  So when I had a busy four days of math teacher workshops, my husband made it his mission to finish our end table.  He slaved one afternoon/evening painting layer upon layer of yellow and brown paint and "scuffing" it up with some steel wool in between.  Tell you what -- painting those spindles wasn't easy (likely because sanding them wasn't an easy job to begin with).  

Before:

After:

We are both super happy with it!  Now, I'm going to keep my eye out for a sweet lamp to add some height to it.  Anyone have any lamp ideas?  Pinterest folks?

I'm sincerely thankful for his "make it happen" attitude... especially when mine seems to have checked out for the rest of the summer... <3

one wall down...

So I also picked up a sweet mirror from Jess at the yard sale.  Oh I sold some stuff, too, even though it appears I just collected more things... Jason and I collected some picture frames when we first got married in hopes to make a "picture wall" in our then apartment.  That never happened.  So here's the start of one.  

Two of the frames were gold in color -- we picked them up from Sleepy Poet and Value Village.  A little spray paint makes them new again.

Two photos are of my hubby and I on our wedding day.  The gold photo on the top row is of J's mother and father on their wedding day, and the one on the bottom row is of my parents.

And the yellow pillow on the couch is my first finished sewing project.  Ever.  This fabric is what inspired the paint selection for the end table in the previous post.

Re-Do: New End Table (+ Yard Sale)

So I've been up to quite a bit of "crafting" this summer despite the lack of blogging this month (sorry).  I'm still working on a few projects, but here's one I started this past week.

J and I bought this neat little (big) end table from a dear friend, Jess, when we had our multi-family yard sale several weekends ago.  That was my first ever yard sale, and I must say, we did pretty well.  I invited all of our friends who wanted to pitch in, and we ended up having six total families (including Kristina, Lauren, Bekah, and Lorean).  And if that wasn't enough -- my husband and TJ, with Charlotte Photography, set up their instruments and played some jazz tunes on our screened in porch throughout the morning.  #Coolest.Yard.Sale.Ever.

(all yard sale photos courtesy of Jess)

So here's the end table.  I remembered to take a picture just as I started to paint it.  

Note:  Thankful for my hubby who sanded it for me.

I've been itching to get our little place "homey" ever since summer began.  My free time is dwindling as the start of school will come sooner than I think.  Obviously, the table needed a makeover.  I decided to paint it and "rough it up" a little bit to give it a worn/weathered look.

I chose a mustardy yellow as the base.  Next up, I'm going to scuff it up around the edges using some steel wool, and then wipe some brown paint into the scuff marks.

The yellow and brown will actually match the same yellow and brown that appear in some of our sofa's throw pillows -- pillow covers that I actually made with my new sewing machine my mother in-law gave me.  More of that to come... Be looking for the finished product soon.  :)