From Sorta Scary to Super Cute

I have a love/hate relationship with craigslist.org.

Sometimes I hate dealing with the sellers and/or buyers,  Craigslist seems to have a reputation that is a little flaky.  And then... I find something that I know I will LOVE...

This is my new favorite table and chair set, courtesy of my hard work searching on Craigslist and buying supplies from Home Depot.

Total cost: $50

Table - Free

Chairs - $30

Sandpaper, paint, varnish - $20

See the chair below?  I bought 4 chairs for $30 which was more that I would normally spend,

but I really wanted something that would specifically go with my super freaking cute table that I got for a whopping price of FREE.

The seats were a little old and dirty,

but fabric covered cushioned seats are SO EASY to fix.

Simply unscrew the cushion, rip off old fabric, and staple on new material!

Without seat, ready for sanding.

See the turquoise table?

I really wish that I would have taken a picture of it before I painted it.

It was completely sanded, ready to paint.  And it came with 2 leaves!

The lady who gave it to me thought it was "trash" and asked more than once if I was sure that I wanted it.

I painted it the color GEM TURQUOISE.  Behr paint from Home Depot.

Oops paints to be exact...$5.00

Then I distressed it around the edges and a little more here and there.

The carved details are like pure happiness...

I followed the instructions for GLAZING FURNITURE from one of my favorite blogs.

It was so easy, and I LOVE the result.

Half glazed below.

Look carefully at each side, see how the glazed finish just tones down the color a bit?

MISTAKES:  The one big mistake I made...

I glazed the table first, and then had to try to duplicate the finish onto the leaves after.  

Next time I will do them all at the same time so they match even better.

And now for the chairs!!!

These turned out even better than I was picturing.  I painted them with Behr "Cottage White" and covered the cushions in something called LAMINATED COTTON, which is a lot like oil cloth but cheaper.  I can wipe it down when something is spilled, and because it was less expensive I can change it out whenever I want to!  This print is called Loulouthi.

See below:

All I did was staple it to the seat base, and screw it back onto the chair.

All 4 chairs cushions were covered in about 30 minutes.

The Finished Product!

I absolutely love it. 

Do you want to come over for a diet coke and chat?  We can sit at my new table!

Cheers,

Quick Fix: Star Patch Pants!

Sorry, no time for a tutorial, but I wanted to share because the fix came out so cute!

I love seeing clothing stretch itself from one daughter to the next.  Makes me feel more frugal, and it is cute to see Little Sister wearing her big sisters' clothes.

Some of the items aren't lucky enough to make it from one daughter to the next in GREAT condition.  These jeans had seen better days {and so had Little Sister...what is up with the scowl!}...

but we fixed 'em right up with a patch over the knee,

and a star shape made it cuter!

Do you have holes that need fixin'?

Just cover them up with a cute shape!

Cheers,

Fancy Flash Cards: By Little Gal

School is in session, and unfortunately homework is underway in our home.

Since Little Gal has all kinds of timed tests this year, we thought we would make some "Fancy" flash cards instead of the boring ones.

It was her idea, and I thought it was great!  I think it would benefit any child to make their own flash cards.  Hopefully the fact that she made them herself will add to her being able to remember them.  I am a very visual person, and I like to think that she takes after her mother. 

What Little Gal Used:

Fancy Edge Scissors

Fancy Paper

Plain Paper

Glue Stick

Markers

First she cut out rectangular shapes with her Fancy Edge Scissors...

Then She cut out a smaller rectangle to fit onto the fancy paper one,

and she used a glue stick to glue it.

Next she wrote all of her math problems on the front,

and answers on the back...

I think she did a spectacular job, don't you?

What subjects are your kids learning?

Don't tell Little Gal, but I secretly timed myself on addition and subtraction...and I need a little practice.

                                                               Cheers,

Pinterest

PINTEREST...so much goodness in one place.  I might like it as much {or more} than Etsy!

Not that Etsy is any lower on my list...

but Pinterest is FULL of IDEAS!

I know I am slow to start pinning.

But it was on purpose...

I just KNEW that I would end up spending hours looking at things like Closet Redo's in lovely shades of melon.  I feel like I want to revamp my entire house, closets and all now!

 I didn't know that I would end up making an entire board of cupcakes,

but that was a very nice surprise. :)

I might have to make a board of every one of my favorite colors now,

which is pretty much any color...

I really do love yellow though.

Have you pinned anything yet?

                                                           Cheers,

Quick Fix...

I was racking my brain trying to think of how to teach my girls the value of hard work.  I wanted something that they could see a true result and be proud of what they did!  So I decided to let them paint the garage.

Okay, really the garage was bugging me because it was so ugly, that I started painting and the girls thought it looked like fun and jumped in.  Either way...they helped and worked and learned and saw a result!  Does it really matter if it was a pre-determined lesson?

Supplies:

1 gallon Behr Outdoor Paint from Home Depot

2 Paint Rollers

2 Children

1 edging paint brush

Garage Before

You have to admit...it was pretty bad.

The garbage cans in the photo don't do much for the house either.

Garage During

Look at those hard working children!

They actually cut my work time it half...it was awesome!

They painted most of the lower half...I went over one more coat to make sure we got it all.

We left a gap around the perimeter for me to paint the edges and the molding.

I also opened the garage once we were done so that it could dry without the sections sticking to each other.

Garage After

Crisp and Clean...what a difference...

It only took us 2 hours start to finish.

I was so proud of us, that I painted the front door too!

Lesson to myself :

Don't be afraid to let my kids help!  It made it so much more fun, and they get to look at our lovely garage door every day knowing that they are part of the reason it looks nice!

What chores are you going to give to your kids? 

                                                                Cheers,