Time Flies...

Wow! I have been such a bad blogger :( 

It has officially been a whole month since my last post! My day job has kind of taken over my life, in addition to the late summer/early fall activities we have nearly every weekend. Needless to say, I have been BUSY!

One extremely interesting development to report on...

I have a new camera! Or as I like to call it... {Precious}

I bought the Canon Eos 60D with the kit lens (18mm-135mm). I am a DSLR newbie...but I am already in love! I took some pics today and had to post my favorite.

My beautiful little Fraggle-dog, Millie.

I love how her eyes sparkle, and her crimpy ears stand out! Also thanks to lowering the aperture, you can't see how cluttered the kitchen is! 

I adjusted the white balance a bit and increased the exposure a couple of levels. I am also a PS novice, so don't expect anything earth-shattering right away :)

I am so happy with the camera though, and with the pictures I've gotten so far. I will never use a point & shoot again! I have been experimenting with the manual settings...so far I haven't even touched the auto setting!

Even though I have been very busy lately, that doesn't mean I have stopped working on my multitude of DIY projects! Stay tuned for updates and awesome after pics.. courtesy of {Precious}!

Lands' End Canvas Deal of the Day!

O-M-G!!! I adore Lands' End Canvas... I especially adore Lands' End Canvas at 1/2 off!!

Living Social has the amazing deal of spend $30 get $60 of Lands' End Canvas vouchers! I was really excited, and thought I would share this with you too!


Click this link to go directly to the deal: 
Lands' End Deal on Living Social

Only 17 hours left!

Some fine print: the vouchers expire on 10/5/11, and are good for online use only, but that should be plenty of time to find some new lovelies to have delivered to your door!

Check out Lands' End Canvas to see all the cute comfy clothes they have!

P.S. Their summer stuff is discounted pretty well right now, and since everything is so classically styled, you can wear it next season too!

Happy Shopping!

What I'm Lovin' Wednesday

I fell off of the WILW wagon last week amid a crazy-busy personal life, but I'm bringing it back today!

I am LOVIN'...

**My better than PB table!

Thank you to everyone's super nice comments! Nick & I have eaten at the table nearly everyday, and I love being able to have that time together and not feel cramped for space. Now that I am finished with all of the hardwork, I am more interested in taking on my next project...

**Finishing the custom banquet you see in the picture! It needs some trimwork added, outlets relocated, and a sweet paint job. We have some social activities planned over the next few weeks, so I may not get a chance to start until fall, but I am ready to see this breakfast nook completed!


**Decluttering! We are having a garage sale at the end of the month!! My mom is hosting it, as my small hometown festival is that weekend. We are hoping to give some unused things a new home, and make some $$ to put towards my new camera fund! I am really excited to pare down some of our unneeded clutter. It always makes me feel like I have reduced my stress too!

I am LOVIN'...

**Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30!

I started week 2 this past Monday, and I am sore! I love feeling my body become stronger, and seeing my body change even slightly is such encouragement! During the 25 minutes of working out, I kinda want to throw my shoe at Jillian, but the pain is worth it!


I am LOVIN'...

**My sweet hubby :) Just when I think he is full-grown, capital-T  Turd...he goes and reminds me why I fell in love with him and leg shackled myself to him 2 years ago! He makes me laugh. Usually it is the times when he is just being himself and not trying to make me laugh, that he cracks me up the most!

**One of my roommates from college, Matt, is getting married this weekend! His beautiful bride-to-be is such a sweetie, and I am so happy for both of them! Nick & I are real excited to have a mini-getaway this weekend to help them celebrate, and the puppies are excited to have their Nana come spend the night with them!

**One of my fave bloggers, JJ @ The Blah, Blah, Blahger, has had a string of posts called "35 by 35".
She has made a list of 35 things to do before her 35th birthday. I am so inspired by this, so since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery :) ...I'm going to take my spin on her great idea. I will be 27 this October, which is not all that significant, but in 3 years 1 month and 21 days....I will be 30.
Therefore, I will be creating my 30 by 30. I have a few years to accomplish them, but I am hoping to break things down into 10 goals per year. I am mucho-excited-o about this! Stay tuned!
 
**Blast from the past Facebook friends! I am not a huge fan of Facebook, but I LOVE being able to connect with people I haven't seen in years!

What are you lovin' this week?

As always, I'm linked up to Jamie @ This Kind of Love

Blackboard Frame

7/26/11  Challenge Accepted
7/30/11  Awesomeness Created = Challenge Met...

I was really excited about this challenge put on by some of my fave bloggers:

The idea was to actually complete one of the gazillions of DIY projects we collectively have pinned at the amazingness that is Pinterest. I knew exactly what I wanted to take on!


My wonderfully amazing Grandma Pat passed away last spring. She was an incredible woman and one of  best grandmas I could have ever asked for. I am lucky enough to have two awesome grandmas, but Grandma Pat and I were exceptionally close. I miss her everyday.
I have found that it is somewhat therapeutic to take things of hers that I have inherited, and give them new life. It's almost like I can keep myself surrounded by her, but not so much so that I am constantly reminded that she is gone.
Recently I found a broken picture frame of hers that had been sitting in storage. I know nothing about it, just that I liked the look of it :) As soon as I brought it home, I knew what it would be perfect for...

A fancy-frame chalkboard for the kitchen!

Materials:

Frame
1/4 inch plywood
saw
chalkboard paint
rollers
latex primer
spray paint

I used a basic latex primer on the frame and just applied one good coat. I then painted the frame with Rustoleum Black Satin finish spray paint. It took 3 coats to get everything covered well.

I convinced my handsome Hubby to help me cut out the oval for the back of the frame. He cut down the plywood with a table saw, then used our Dremel oscillating tool to cut it out from there.

I sanded the plywood down on the top and edges. Then gave it a coat of the latex primer too.

After the primer had dried I applied Rustoleum's Chalkboard paint, using a foam roller.

 

I really liked this stuff! I can imagine using it on a playroom wall someday!

The frame is made out of some weird type of composite, so I had a really hard time trying to nail the plywood to the frame. 

Naturally, I just broke out my good buddy the glue gun!

Five or six glue sticks later, the plywood is now permanently affixed to the frame.

I rubbed the chalk all over the chalkboard to "season" it. I'm not sure if this is really necessary, but it sounded like a good idea. I think this helps reduce the chances of having images/words that won't erase completely. 

I hung my new lovely in our kitchen near the pantry. Now we can use it for all kinds of lists, appointments, or just to draw funny things!

I have no imagination tonight, so I figure this will at least brighten our morning tomorrow! (We are the exact opposite of morning people :))

 

So, that is my answer to the Pinterest Challenge! 

What did you complete? 

For those of you who don't know what Pinterest is (I'm talking to you, Mom), check it out! 

www.Pinterest.com

If you need an invite, send me a comment and I will hook you up through Facebook :)

Linked up at:

Thrifty Decor Chick

Young House Love

Bower Power

My First Pottery Barn Knockoff...

Well, after what has seemed like the longest weekend + week EVER! I have finally finished my kitchen table project!!

My inspiration was this lovely piece of awesomeness at my favorite furniture store, Pottery Barn:

The Lancaster Dining Table, with a beautiful black stain...sigh. I love everything about it! The fat, chunky legs, the color, the size, EVERYTHING! However, reality came slamming back into focus and I realized that at nearly $1200, it was incredibly outside of my new table budget!!

Imagine my surprise when I walked into my favorite GWB (GoodWill Boutique) and stumbled across this diamond in the rough...It had great bones, and was only $60! All I had to do was sweet talk my step-mom into helping me get it home :)

She's got fat & chunky turned legs, and a butcher-block type top. This baby is solid too! GWB's description was listed as "Heavy Wooden Dining Table".

I began by taking it apart...

Then I used SoyGel paint stripper. You can buy it at Rockler's or at Amazon.com

It worked ok, and was not stinky or overly dangerous like some strippers...

You can take that however you would like, personally my mind is completely in the gutter! 

It does take some time to work, and I used it on one of the hottest days of the summer, so maybe in less extreme conditions it would work faster. Then you scrape the gunk & paint off with a putty knife. The scraping was by far the hardest and messiest thing I have done for quite some time! Maybe the stronger stripper would have worked better in my case, because the paint on the legs was industrial strength!

After stripping it down, I cleaned it well, and began sanding it after it dried. I used a tack cloth after sanding and cleaning. This helps to get all of the dust off of the wood, and worked great for prepping the surface for stain.

I used General Finishes Water-Based Wood Stain in Black. I bought it at Rocklers, but other stores carry it too. I liked it, but I prefer oil-based stains. It cleans up much better and faster than oil-based, so I did appreciate that.

 

I used two coats of stain and 3 coats of oil based polyurethane for extra durability.

Here's another Before:

 

Here's the finished product:

It's not PB perfect, but its pretty darn close! Ignore the unfinished banquet and ugly chairs!

PB Version again just for comparison.

I spent a total of around $100 on this project, and about 20 hours of project time. Compared to PB's $1200+.

I don't have $1200 to spend on a table today, so I'll take my budget friendly table any day of the week! Looking at mine versus PB's, I actually kinda like mine better! Which is a good thing, because this was not an easy one-afternoon project!

What do you think? Have you found any GWB items begging for a makeover?

Linked up at:

Thrifty Decor Chick

Bower Power

Young House Love

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

This is my first What I'm Loving Wednesday post!

I'm linking up to Jamie @ This Kind of Love, a fun blog I just started following! I have to also mention my friend from college, Emily @ BabyBerry. She introduced me to WILW, and she has a super cute blog (and an even cuter baby to go with it!).

Here's what I'm LOVING....

Two of my FAVORITE bloggers, (and two soon-to-be faves) are hosting a challenge to ACTUALLY COMPLETE a favorite DIY Pin from Pinterest!!! This is pretty much exactly what I needed to get my crafty self in gear :)

Source: google.com via Adrienne on Pinterest

I love pretty much everything about this picture! The under counter washer & dryer, the stone wall, and the gorgeous sink! I hope (fingers-crossed) to implement this idea in our basement finishing project! Doesn't everyone's wet bar/kitchenette have a built-in washer & dryer? I actually like the prospect of having a gin & tonic while folding socks & underwear!

Jillian Michael's DVD Ripped in 30! I am officially starting Day 2 of this dvd today. It kicks your butt! I love that it's only 25 ish minutes, and a great workout all in one!

These lovelies are why I am forced to do Jillian's Ripped in 30 DVD!! Nick & I are making them tonight. They are like a Rice Krispy treat with Oreos substituted for the Rice Krispies... I know, sounds A-MAZE-ING! I'll give an update after we try them out :)

Click the photo to check out all the other recipes at SweetPea's Kitchen

My MAJOR Project is drawing to a close, just one more coat of poly to go then I'll be posting some AWESOME before and after pics :) So excited!!

I'm lovin' (and missing) my beautiful mama. This is one of my favorite photos of the two of us, and reminds me how lucky I am to have her in my life! Being an hour apart can be hard, but frequent phone calls keep the distance bearable!

I'm always lovin' my Husband & puppies. The 3 of them make my life complete :)

This cute sign says it all :)

Hope your Wednesday is great too!!

My Big Fat DIY Project...

 

Photo from TLC's show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding 

Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's wrong or ugly... at least that's what my mom always told me! I agree, but my mind can't help but try to envision what COULD be. A tweak here and there, a different color, or a little less tulle & glitter in this case. With just a few changes, things can go 

from fugly... to fabulous!

I found a few hours late Saturday night to check out a mini marathon of TLC's show  

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

Wowza... I know that their culture is so completely different from mine, so I did honestly try not to pass judgement. The clothes were a bit of a train wreak, but the girls are so earnest in their belief that they look gorgeous, that I sorta felt bad that I completely disagreed! I had a really hard time turning the TV off! Check the show out! Like lots of other TLC shows, it's kind of additive!!

On that note...I have been working on several MAJOR (major for me anyway) projects over the last few weekends. I work full time, so most of my project time is relegated to the weekends. I am close to finishing, but am sore and exhausted! I promise to show all very soon, with lots of before and after pictures!

Check back later this week for my first DIY reveal!!