EASY DIY: FAUX AGED TERRA COTTA POTS

Over the weekend, I managed to squeeze in a little DIY project for the kitchen.  I love the look of aged terra cotta pots

via

I especially like them in the window of kitchens

via

So of course I gave some that I picked up at Walmart a little makeover.  Starting with a brand new pot

I used some extra wall paint that I had and dabbed a little on the brush

Be careful with how much paint you use on the brush.  This is really dry brushing so all you need is a little.  The amount hat you see on my brush now is a bit much, so I dabbed a little off on the paper towel.

The next step is easy. Just start brushing on the paint.  Because there isn’t a lot on the brush, it will take a few seconds to cover the pot, but it will not look like it was painted intentionally.

Because I wanted to add a little dimension to my pot, I added another color on top of the gray. I used the same technique except this time I used a tad more paint and rubbed it off with a paper towel

Just continue to add and take away paint until you get the look you want. 

 

Now I need to purchase more plants for my aged pots

 

I’m sharing this over at the Nester’s plant linky party!

WHY DO YOU DIY?

Yesterday while I was banging my head against the wall from all the wrong things I was doing staining the butcher block, I asked myself “Why do I DIY?”.  I mean seriously, a lot of us who do, can pretty much pay for the work to be done.  Think about it, how many times have you made a mistake on a DIY project and had to start over?  And then you eventually could have taken the money you paid originally, plus the money you had to pay to start over and just had it done yourself.  So while I was whining on Twitter last night to my good friend Tricia about how terrible my BB was looking,  I started to doubt my title as a DIY’er.

For some reason, I couldn’t figure out why the stain was making the wood look black.

Then I figured that I really should not have skipped the wood conditioner. So I flipped the BB over and started fresh, this time adding the wood conditioner before the stain.

 

Guess what? The same thing happened.

 So while I was contemplating giving up on the entire project, I figured I’d read the label on the can of stain again just to see if I was doing things right. 

Well I’ll be.  Does that say stir the stain thoroughly before use??? Oh I hollered so loud in this house last night!!!

After I FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS, things started to turnaround

before being wiped off

after being wiped off

 

I get frustrated easily when things don’t go as planned.  And when I say frustrated, I mean to the point of tears.  But then I realize that I can’t do anything but laugh at myself because usually the project turned out wrong due to my lack of patience. 

After waking up this morning and applying another coat of stain, I realized why I DIY.  I DIY because when the projects turn out the way I envisioned them, it feels so good to say I did it myself and that I saved so much money in the process!

WHY DO YOU DIY?!

THE WOOD HAS BEEN CUT

When I returned home from church on Sunday, I walked into my kitchen and was excited to see that my husband had done this (minus the peeling of the wall)

I was thinking that I would probably have to get my father in law to come help me with this project because it is very rare that my husband shows interest in DIY. But little did I know.  Once I was settled in, he ran out to Home Depot to grab this

I must admit, I was a little hesitant of him pulling this off.  And when he said “Oh babe, I ‘m going to cut the countertop down here in the family room”, I just about exploded.  But I had to remind myself that he was FINALLY pitching in on a project so if cutting a big chunk of wood in the HOUSE was going to get it done, by all means, just DO IT.

I know you didn’t think I was playing, right? *insert eye roll*

But it went better than I thought it would (minus the noise) and the butcher block fit perfectly now

Because it was getting late in the day, I had to put off moving forward with the project which brings me to today.  I’m going to start patching the wall and then I’m going to condition and stain the wood.

Can you believe I’ve never used stain before? I can’t wait to get to that part!

Sorry for the instagram pics.  My camera need new batteries and I’m too lazy to go buy some.

And before I forget, guess whose going to school in August?!

Yep, he was the 9th name called yesterday.  I was over the moon!!!

And thanks for all of your comments yesterday and the night before.  I really appreciate it.  A LOT.  I think I’m close to a decision.  I’ll definitely keep you posted!

GETTING PERSONAL…YET AGAIN

Tomorrow is the day I’ve been waiting for for the past 7 years.  I’m not sure how schools work in other states, but here in Georgia, there is a lottery set up where children at the age of four can attend pre-k free of charge.  For my oldest, he wasn’t lucky enough to be chosen so I kept him home with me and my at the time 3 and 2 year olds until he started kindergarten the following year.  When he did go to kindergarten, my 4 year olds name was drawn in the lottery so they both went to school together!

Fast forward two years and it is now time for us to place my youngest son’s name in the lottery drawing (tomorrow).

To say that I am beyond excited to possibly have 3 children out of the house for seven hours is an understatement.  It’s been a LONG time coming and I can just imagine how the first day will be.  I will actually be entering a new stage in my life.  For those of you with multiple children, I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from.

Well, here is where things get tricky.  For starters, they may not pull Brendan’s name tomorrow (which I have already prepared myself for).  But what I haven’t prepared myself for is the fact that I may have to homeschool my oldest son which means I could possibly be home with TWO boys AGAIN…

Since school started back from winter break, my son has had behavior and emotional problems.  On top of that, I noticed that he wasn’t retaining things like his target words and some of the subjects being taught to him.  His behavior has stemmed from him being sensitive to classmates teasing/picking on him.  He’s a sensitive kid already (I’m a sensitive woman!), but he’s even more sensitive when he thinks someone is picking on him.  On top of all of that, he stutters.

The last few months have not been easy for me (or him for that matter).  From evaluation after evaluation (speech, occupational, ADHD, behavior), I’ve been trying to figure out what is wrong with my baby.  I have never seen him behave like this before.  He cries all of the time at school and home, I receive phone calls or written reports on his behavior, he has even been suspended for hitting. I know that he’s mostly reacting to the children that pick on him and because this has been going on for the past few months, it seems like it is easier for the teacher to remove him from the class or call him “out” instead of everyone who is involved with the situation.

Let me tell you the things I know about my son:

He stutters… He has been evaluated for speech and therapy will start soon

He does have  a hard time focusing.

He loses his temper easily. <-------------That’s what concerns me the most.

But even with all of that, TJ is really a good kid.  Seriously.  I know every mother say that about their children, but no, he really is.  Trust me, I have one that isn’t!

For some reason, he is able to understand when he has done something wrong, but he can not control himself to not do the wrong thing (like losing his temper, or finishing his schoolwork).  Everyday when I ‘m dropping them off at school he kisses me and say “I’m going to do better today mom, I promise”. And I respond with a hug and a “I know babe, because today is a new day”. But when I pull off, I can’t help but shed a tear because I know that out of 5 days of school, I’m going to get at least 3 days of bad reports. 

To make this long story short, I have considered (and have turned in all paperwork for) homeschooling.  After talking with a friend today, we talked about how my youngest will finally be out of the house and then she asked if I was sure I wanted to homeschool.  Before her question, I was set on doing it.  I felt like it was my only option and possibly the BEST one for him.  Then she asked me WHY I felt like that.  My response after crying was that I felt like I owe it to him.  I feel like maybe this is coming from him not getting enough attention at home being the “oldest”.  I also feel like it will keep him safe from being teased.  And then I feel like if he needs one on one attention, who else could be better than myself…

But that’s how I felt before she asked me that question.  Now, I don’t know how I feel.  I can’t help but think about my youngest son’s name being pulled tomorrow and how I will finally have all three boys in school.  How I will finally have seven hours a day and five days a week to just be Lakeitha.  I can’t help but have a few selfish thoughts going through my mind right now.

I can go back to school. 

I can get a part time job

I can do absolutely nothing for seven hours a day

My friend told me to think about it more before I finalize any decisions.  So here I am, thinking.  Weighing my pros and cons.  I don’t even know what the pros and cons are anymore.  This is definitely one of those times where I feel like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.

Thanks for listening.

 

 

 

 

REVISITING THE STENCILED WALL

Back in January, I did a review for Royal Design Studio “Hollywood Squares” stencil. 

I originally planned to leave it as just a section of the wall and possibly frame it.  Well, after looking at it like that for the past few months, I decided to just go ahead and stencil the entire wall.  After all, Mandi’s wall was the reason I chose this stencil in the first place.

On Saturday I picked up my roller and stencil and got to work.  Wanna see how it turned out?!

 

I’m still working on it.  I was trying to decide if I really want to take the stencil all the way to the top

Not only do I NOT want to pull out my ladder to do this, but I’m also not sure if I would like it being uneven at the top.  Maybe I could do one more row? I’ve been looking at this wall everyday since Saturday trying to figure out what I want to do.

What would you do? Take it to the top? Or, would you leave it even across?

THRIFTY ACCUMULATION

Well all know that thrifting can get a little addictive.  But can you be addicted to buying the the same thing while thrifting?  There once was a time where anytime I found a french provincial piece of furniture, I wanted it. That’s probably why I have two french dressers and two french nightstands sitting in my garage now.

Lately, I’ve been “hunting” for other objects that I’m starting to have a fascination with.  For starters, vintage globes

via

I currently have a love jones for vintage globes.  Though I only have two so far (It’s hard finding them while thrifting), I’ve been very close to spend big bucks on some of the ones listed on Etsy.  I want a black globe and I doubt I’ll come across one at a thrift store.  Oh, and lets not forget the small globes… I DIE.

via

My next obsession is vintage Pyrex bowls

If this were my collection (below), I would definitely be in heaven!

via

Next on the list are bread boards

via

I have a fabulous bread board that I purchased on Etsy, but I want/need more!

Gimme gimme gimme!

Via

What do you find yourself collecting while thrifting? Maybe I need to add it to my list 

BUTCHER BLOCK

First it was bead board, now it’s butcher block.  What direction am I going in exactly with this kitchen of mine?

Well, that’s easy.  I’m headed in this direction

via

First off, let me just admit that I have completely given into my love of cottage design.  To be honest, I’m not even sure if it’s called cottage, or shabby chic, or what.  All I know if that I’m totally digging slipcovered sofas, wood, burlap (gasp!), etc.. I’ll talk about my “new” style later (if I can pull it off)

Back to the butcher block, I went out to IKEA last week to take a look at the two butcher block I had been seeing circling the blogs.

LAGAN (which is the thinner butcher block)

via

and NUMERAR (the thicker oak)

via

Like I said, seeing it in these kitchens made me want to check them out in person so off to IKEA I went! 

LAGAN is definitely a little thinner than NUMERAR…just a smidge thinner

And although I purchased LAGAN, I think NUMERAR may be a better choice.

 

If you haven’t clicked on the links for the countertops, the price differences are significantly different.  For the amount I would need in the LAGAN BB, the total would be $255.26.  If I purchased NUMERAR the total would be $447.86.  Again, the would type is different and LAGAN is a smidge thinner. Which one would you choose??? Oh and those prices are with shipping.

GRACE FOR THE GOOD GIRL

**I’m suppose to be on a social media fast this week.  There goes that, huh?!**

Have you heard of Emily Freeman?  She writes the the popular blog “Chatting at the Sky” and you may also know her sister The Nester. Emily wrote the book ‘Grace for the Good Girl’, and after watching her talk about the book, I went out and purchased several copies for me and my closest girlfriends and started a book club.

Our first meeting was on April 1st and I must say that is was very inspiring or as my sister in law would say “encouraging”. I didn’t get to take any pictures of us because my batteries died, but I did snap a picture of the food (before my iPhone FROZE). 

 

Here is Emily speaking about her book.

I must admit, I’m definitely a recovering “Good Girl”!

I may talk more about this book Sundays (my way of taking notes).  It really is a good read.  If you have a chance, check out Emily’s blog.  And no I was not paid to talk about her book.  I saw the above clip and figured I’d go ahead and purchase it.  I’m so glad a did and my friends are too!

Are you a “Good Girl”?