Refashioned Friday

Here you have it folks. My favorite before and after shots of the week.

 The first is a room restyle by Nicole Balch.  This woman is out of control talented and I have really been enjoying her site Making it Lovely.  It amazes me how much the feel of the room changes by using a few different elements. The curtains are so cool and the wall color and carpet lighten up the room like crazy. 

I love the look of these chairs. The spindles on the back are just the coolest.  This refashion is by Leslie David of Paint Your Space.  I got ahold of these pics via The Design*Sponge.

This dresser is really adorable with the different shades of pink dots. I also love the scalloped bottom. This is by Jennifer from My Painted Furniture.

Check out this chair restyle by Eddie Ross via Casa Sugar.  The fabric is actually painted. 

And the final piece for the day is a chair by Jessica Jones Design.  

I guess I have chairs on the brain today, but how could I not with chairs as cute as this one.  

If you have before and after shots that you would like to have featured on Refashioned Friday just email pictures to poppyginger@gmail.com.  

Refashioned dining table

It's super hard for me to pass up inexpensive furniture at garage sales. Especially tables. Joe and I went out last Saturday and we actually took two vehicles. He drove the truck and I took the van just incase we found something large. We had hopped around all day until finally I found something worth recovering. It's an old dining table with beautifully stained blue legs. I LOVE the color and figured that it would be fairly easy to just paint the top of the table. Joe was at a different yard sale at the time I was buying it and as he was helping to lift it into the truck he pointed out that the top was warped. The previous owners had kept the table out on their deck.  Details....details...I still wanted it, but it did make add an element of trickiness to the project. We had to take the top off and replace it with something else.  Even getting the old top off was a chore. the screw holes had filled with dirt and so the drill couldn't find the screw. We were thinking of completely making new pieces for the top when I had an idea to use some wood slats that we had gotten from my bro-in-law. Joe pieced 4 of them together and stuck them to the base of the table.  They were a pretty descent fit and he didn't have to cut them down at all.  Yay!! After sanding down the top I decided to paint it white. I brushed it a few times and realized I was wrong. It wasn't going to look good white, so I did a switch-a-roo to brown.  Much better!  I hesitated on whether or not to keep it simple or add a design to the top, but I figured it couldn't hurt.  Joe created a diamond stencil for me and a Bon Appetit sign.  I painted the diamonds blue to match the base of the table but it was a little too bright, so I rubbed off some of the paint before it dried and also rubbed the diamonds and vinyl lettering with stain to calm them down.  Cute eh? I'm really happy with it.  We still need to make the faux drawer fronts and find some neat-o handles. Thanks for all your help honey!! Not too shabby for $9.75!

Decorating with pocket change

Saturday was another great day for garage sales! We rounded up the change from around the house and found some really great deals. I found this old watering can for a buck and also this cute shelf thing.

 Someone used a really cute green stain on it and I love the little lock block at the top.  Throw a couple of wreaths with them up on a shelf and they make a very inexpensive decoration!  

Welcome to Creative Cats Tuesday!  I hope you you want to play today! Thanks to everyone who participated last week and make sure to grab yourself a Creative Cat's button to display on your blog!  If you'd like to share something creative that you have been working on today just leave me a comment and include your blog URL. I will then add it to the blog page. Make sure and leave lots of comment love if you are taking a peak at other people's projects! Happy Tuesday!

• Stacie at the Creative Crate gave me a fun award. Wow!! Thanks Stacie. You have to check out her fun blog. I love her idea for necklaces made from washers and her chicken wire picture boards. Super dee duper cute!

• Hannah!! (YAY) Shares a really cute stitched Father's day card that you are going to love!

• Fawnda from Fireflies and Jellybeans shows us how to dress up gift cards or cash for graduation with a card-in-a-can!

Sleep is overrated

I have been struggling with neck pains for awhile. I guess I should just go see a chiropractor or something instead of living in constant pain. Actually it's not really constant, it's just after I have been stationary for a few hours-aka sleeping.  I woke up at 5 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep because of the pain. It really stinks! Especially on days when the Joe is home and I could have the opportunity to sleep in until 8.  On the flip side it does help me be more productive. I can get some kind of project done while the kids are still sleeping.  This morning I worked on a couple of matching pegboards.  I chopped some wood up downstairs routed the edges and used the drill press to make some holes for the pegs and for the hanging boards. It's been so fun learning how to use the tools in the wood shop. They really used to seem intimidating so it feels like an accomplishment to be able to semi-know what I am doing. The only thing that still scares me is the table saw. There's been a couple of times that I have been pushing a long board thru and I get stuck. I'm afraid it's going to kick back at me. Luckily these boards were already cut to 6'' and I just had to cut the tops with the chop saw.  I painted them a baby blue and then practiced on the vinyl machine to get some accent leaves.

  Now I can have time to spend with the fam. We're going to have a great big family baseball game. I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day! Stay tuned this week for some table makeovers!  

There's hope!!

I've been toying with the idea of opening an Etsy shop with hanging boards and decor. We have a vinyl machine, but it's been so hard for me to get used to Illustrator that's it's been completely frustrating for me to make anything with it. 

I always ask Joe to do it for me.  

His reply is," Do you want me to show you how?" 

To which I always say,"Nope! I just want you to do it!" 

He tries the rebuttal,"It's not that difficult...."

That's met with something like,"Yeah, but it's soooo booorrrrriiinnnngggg!!" (for some reason the computer thinks I spelled that incorrectly).  

I've made lettering before, but the images I tend to stay far away from. Oh yes, very far away... Well today, I figured that if I wanted to try and sell things that I make, I guess I shouldn't make Joe do all the work.  I decided I'd give it a go.  Well, it didn't turn out exactly the size I needed it....and it took me soooo much longer than it would have taken him, but I'm pretty excited that I figured it out!! Yay!! (Joe don't think you're off the hook quite yet, I'm sure I'll be begging for help by sundown tomorrow).  

Before and Afters

There's something exciting to me about before and after pictures. They seriously make me giddy. They are incredibly motivating. I love to see what things can become and I find it very interesting to see what direction people go with their refashions. I found a really great site last week that has a before and after section that I have loved to look over. The site is called Design*Sponge. 

 Here are a couple of my favorites:

These are from a Design*Sponge reader named Bethany.  I Love-lOve-loVe-lovE LOVE how these turned out. I really want to copy this idea and have all mismatched chairs that are painted the same color with coordinating fabrics. Did I say I love this yet??

This is from another Design*Sponge reader from Branson Missouri. Her name is Sarah.  She bought the fabric at Ikea. I love the crispness of the white and red. White and red together always make me happy.

These next couple of items are from Monica at the Craftynest.  These tables are super delicious even before the a restyle, but look how much personality they have with the black and cream print.

And can you believe this transformation! Great job Monica!!The next couple of projects are from people in our own little play group! I love how Cynthia restyled these candlesticks.  Aren't they so very cute?  Check out more of her stuff HERE.Another great refashion from our play group( I like the sound of that better than "followers").  This old dresser looks amazing as an updated entertainment center.  This is by Jen from The Thrifty Home.

I have had so much fun with these before and after shots I think I will start a Friday segment to showcase before and after pictures. I'll be searching for my favorites and if you have any you'd like to have featured shoot me an email at poppyginger@gmail.com with before and after in the subject line.  I'll start that up a week from tomorrow!  Happy restyling!!

What's worth keeping?...

We are in the process of trying to clean out our garage so we can move all of our tools up from the basement.  After we get the garage cleaned out and the tools moved, we need to clean out our basement and that my friend is no small task.  Joe is finishing a couple of rooms down there so we can have a downstairs family room and an office. The other half of the basement we will keep unfinished to give me an area to paint and store projects. I'm really so excited!! I won't have to worry when I drip paint on the floor. To get ready for all this work I have been trying to go thru everything and decide what we should keep and what is alright to get rid of. I came across these wooden slats that were once a shoe rack. It was kind of a cheap one and would never stay together, but I've had the pieces for about 5 years.  I was going to stick them in the garbage when I had an idea that they might look cute as inside shutters.  I painted them white and stuck them up in the front room. What do you think? Should they stay or should they go?  

Creative Cats!

Check out the Porter's newest addition!! 

We are all totally excited to have a candy store in our house!! I mean really, who wouldn't be right?!?  I'm not going to fill it with candy until after Joe and I are done banishing treats on June 13th, but even seeing an empty candy machine in the house makes me laugh quietly to myself. I also like the challenge of the restyle.  I asked Joe if he would make me some old looking 25 cent signs and I love how they turned out!! 

We stuck them on and I said,"doesn't that look so cute??" Joe's reply was," You know they'd be even more cute if they were full of candy and I could EAT IT!"  Ha ha ha!! He's being really supportive of me with this no treat thing even though he has ZERO interest in doing it!! He did a great job on the stickers don't you think?  I painted the base a shabby white and changed the forrest green to a light blue.

  So, make sure to bring your quarters next time you visit...actually that won't be necessary since we have the key....Wahahaha... 

So, anyhoo, back to the business of the day....Welcome to Creative Cats Tuesday!!! I'm always so excited to see what creative things you have been working on, so please feel free to link up or send pictures to poppyginger@gmail.com with Creative Cats in the subject line and I will post them for you. Happy Tuesday!!

• Fawnda~ Shares a wonderfully thoughtful Father's day Gift.
• Becky~Shows us how to make a seriously fun castle cake!
• Coretta~ Shares matching jammies she made for her and her girls. Super cute and versatile!
• Elsa~ makes incredibly cute glass pendants. 
• Elsa~ Shares her talented shadow boxes. Great wedding gifts!