DIY: from ugly dresser hutch to fabulous mantel!!

I bought this dresser like forever ago for the girls bedroom.....yes I finished it like 6 months ago....no I haven't posted about it yet :(

Anyhow, it came with this fugly hutch that had a mirror on top.  Reminds me of those cheesy waterbed frames. Sorry, if I offended you about the waterbed.  I think they kind of, well, belong in porns.

It looked like this before:

Mr. TSL made wraparound sleeve thing for it and then it turned into this:

please note in this photo:  I do realize there is a vintage gas can in my fireplace, but that is a chalkboard and not real flames.  Generally, chalk doesn't cause house fires and the can has been empty for a number of years! :)

view of the back of the fireplace:

Okay, one more pic....it's my turtle.  He's my absolute fave!!

-Make your life beautiful!!

  SUNDAY:

The Girl Creative ,
The DIY Showoff,
Sisters of the Wild West,
The Tattered Tag,
Flamingo Toes,
Under the Table and Dreaming,
I Heart Nap Time

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, 
Thrifty Decor Chick, 
C.R.A.F.T., 
Sew Can Do,
Dittle Dattle,
Between Naps On the Porch 
Homemaker on a Dime
Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie,
Type A
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Today's Creative Blog
Funky Polkadot Giraffe 
Strictly Homemade
A Diamond in the Stuff
All Thingz Related
Handmade Tuesday

WEDNESDAY:

Blue Cricket Design
Not Just A Housewife
Someday CraftsHandy Man, Crafty Woman
Sew Much Ado
Organize Your Stuff Now 
Seven Thirty Three
Sugar and Dots 
The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life
Paisley Passions
House of Hepworths
Beyond The Picket Fence
Inspired by Charm
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Somewhat Simple 

FRIDAY:

Whipperberry

Fingerprints on the Fridge
Miss Mustard Seed
Remodelaholic 
Chic on a Shoestring
Shabby Nest
Tidy Mom
Little Lucy Lu
My Simple HomeLife

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors
Be Different Act Normal 
Tatertots and Jello 
Young and Crafty

barn door baby gate

i know, i have been m.i.a for a while....but, i'm back baby!!  i have so much to blog about :)

first, on the block today is our knew barn door baby gate. our stairs are extremely wide, so a baby gate wouldn't fit...it did, however, when placed next to an empty pampers box.  classy, i know.  wish i had pics of that...not.  i know, i just went all 1996 on you with the not.  that's how i roll.

i designed, well more like told mr. tsl what i wanted, and he made it at school.

here were the stairs before:

and after the new barn door baby gate:

total for the barn door baby gate:  $5 for hardware.  the door itself is made of old pallet wood!

 now for a fun little new baby gate story.....

audrey likes to play in the dog food and water.  she use to run to it grab a handful of dog food and immediately throw it into the water before she got in trouble.  for the most part now she leaves it alone, with the exception of when you say wash your hands it's dinner time.  she washes her hands in it and then wipes her wet hands on my pants.  she does this every night.  every night, i say "no...that's so gross," and then wash her hands in the sink.  yes, i could grab her before i say wash your hands, but i am usually finishing up dinner.  plus, it's kind of funny and i have to wash her hands anyway. :)

back to the dog food. harley, our border collie, would jump over the classy pampers box to get to her food when the baby gate/pampers blockade was in place.  mr. tsl put the new gate up which is lower on the baby gate side, but a few inches higher on the pampers part side.

here is a pic to illustrate that:

the first day the barn door baby gate is up, harley decides to eat.  now, i didn't see this happen, but i sure heard it.  harley went to her usual side and attempted to jump over the gate....she did not clear it. not even a little.  which makes me snort laugh even thinking about it!!  anyhow, she then walked back to lay down by the front door very slowly with her head hung in shame, or pain...not sure which.  i opened the baby gate for her and she still didn't feel like going up there.  she just laid in front of the door for a while.

i can only equate her embarrassment/pain to my own.  i have many a time hurt myself and just sat back down.  once, i was attempting to flip off our diving board at my childhood home and took, well for-freakin-ever.  i finally get the balls to flip and smack right onto my back. this was uber embarrassing and extremely painful i just sat in the pool by the ladder for quite a while....this was all caught on tape. awesome.

so harley, i feel your pain, but will continue to laugh when people/pets do stupid things!

-make your life beautiful!!

  SUNDAY:

The Girl Creative ,
The DIY Showoff,
Sisters of the Wild West,
The Tattered Tag,
Flamingo Toes,
Under the Table and Dreaming,
I Heart Nap Time

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, 
Thrifty Decor Chick, 
C.R.A.F.T., 
Sew Can Do,
Dittle Dattle,
Between Naps On the Porch 
Homemaker on a Dime
Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie,
Type A
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Today's Creative Blog
Funky Polkadot Giraffe 
Strictly Homemade
A Diamond in the Stuff
All Thingz Related
Handmade Tuesday

WEDNESDAY:

Blue Cricket Design
Not Just A Housewife
Someday CraftsHandy Man, Crafty Woman
Sew Much Ado
Organize Your Stuff Now 
Seven Thirty Three
Sugar and Dots 
The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life
Paisley Passions
House of Hepworths
Beyond The Picket Fence
Inspired by Charm
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Somewhat Simple 

FRIDAY:

Whipperberry

Fingerprints on the Fridge
Miss Mustard Seed
Remodelaholic 
Chic on a Shoestring
Shabby Nest
Tidy Mom
Little Lucy Lu
My Simple HomeLife

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors
Be Different Act Normal 
Tatertots and Jello 
Young and Crafty

camps signs and scrabble

yesterday i decided to change up the entryway a little :

before before:

first try:

yep that's how organized it always looks :)

and now:

super cute pics of my little girls in glasses as babies!!

made the signs with some pallet wood....gotta love free art!!

poor hayley is home sick today, so we played scrabble...she wanted me to take a pic of our game and put it on the blog :)

-Make your life beautiful!!

10 Gray/Grey Dining Chairs

They are done!  My dining chairs are finally done!

I totally like them!  If they were Tolix chairs, I would love them!!


Two of them were from my mom, they looked like this;

Then I redid them and they looked like this:

Then I picked up 8 of these at Habitat 4 Humanity:

I paid $2 per chair during memorial day weekend....yes, I have had them since the beginning of summer. Don't judge!  Anywho...I was going to make them green. Fail.

One more pic for the after:

Total Cost:
$16-chairs from H4H
$10-wasted green spray paint
$24-8 cans of gray spray paint
$10-drop cloth to cover the seats

Total-$60ish....I don't have the receipts.

I have been a chair finishing fool lately.
The Burberry Drafting Chair
The & Chair Redo




-Make your life beautiful!




SUNDAY: The Girl Creative ,The DIY Showoff ,Sisters of the Wild West ,The Tattered Tag ,Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming , I Heart Nap Time  MONDAY:Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime,  Making the World Cuter TUESDAY: Tip Junkie, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, Handmade Tuesday, Stories from A to Z WEDNESDAY: Primitive and Proper, Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three, Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club  THURSDAY: My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Inspired by Charm FRIDAY: Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Little Lucy Lu, My Simple Home Life, Whipperberry, 
SATURDAY: Funky Junk Interiors, be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty

& Chair Upholstered!

So, I got this chair a while back for super cheap at a flea market.  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it until I did some pinning.  Then I got to work.....

To make do the chair, I took it apart....lots of staples and nails.

Getting all the broken caning out was a beeotch!

I had these divot holes left from the buttons, my dad (who does upholstery) told me to steam the foam and it would fluff back up...I just filled the holes with cotton balls :)

Then I needed some fabric to cover the chair, I was going to go buy some when it hit me....I have black curtains from a, I-was-in-too-much-of-a-hurry-to-decorate-because-we've-only-lived-here-a-month-and-I-am-hosting-Thanksgiving-after-just-having-had-a-baby, decorating forget it moment.  I just grabbed a curtain and started stapling.  Making sure to pull tight as I stapled.  If you have a border collie or other long haired dog, you will need either a lint roller or a sheet to lay your seat on....mine got REALLY hairy!

After, it was covered I decided to add the & which I totally LOVE!

I just filled it in with some white fabric paint that I had!

Then I sprayed the frame and painted it white.

Tiny helper is optional, she often would retreat for some R&R in the castle behind her!

After it was all said and done, I added some rope trim to the chair and put the done stamp on it!

-Make your life beautiful!

SUNDAY: 
The Girl Creative ,The DIY Showoff ,Sisters of the Wild West ,The Tattered Tag ,Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming , I Heart Nap Time 

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime,  Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie, Type A, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, All Thingz Related, Handmade Tuesday,
WEDNESDAY:
Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three, Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Inspired by Charm

FRIDAY:
Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Little Lucy Lu, My Simple Home Life

Whipperberry, 

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors, be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty

Chevron Painted Floor {Subfloor}

I did it!!  I painted the subfloor and it cost me only the price of 1.5 rolls of painters tape!!  I used the leftover paint from my painted stairs and some charcoal and white I already had also!!  I hand painted the whole floor with a brush.  I started just to see what it looked like and didn't stop :)

I FREAKING LOVE IT!!!!

Before we moved in it looked like this:

I ripped all the carpet out and exposed the subfloor.  We lived on that for 3 months before I decided to paint it.

Here are pics of the floor after the carpet was taken out.

This is actually the kitchen floor where the nasty foam carpet was.

So much better :)

During....

Ran out of painters tape twice...the yellow is automotive painters tape :) Use what you've got, right?

The stray yellow piece is from Audrey, she started pulling the tape off.

And all the Afters...........

 I know this floor is just temporary, so I didn't fill in the cracks, sand it, prime it or anything fancy.  I literally swept it and started painting.  I don't care if it wears off in spots or if it's perfect.  The dog walked across it in a spot, I was going to paint over it...but I like it :)  I also messed up a little in one spot where I went over the tape.  Oops!

I also painted the vents because I couldn't have the fabulous floor and nasty old vents.

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 I cleaned them and sprayed them with Krylon's oil rubbed bronze :) Love them!

This whole project took about 3 days.  I was only working in 15 min to hour time spans because that's all I could squeeze in.  I painted 2 coats of the white and it probably needed 3 or 4, but I am into the worn look :)

I just realized that I have a lot of :) in this post....I really love it :)  It makes me smile!

-Make your life beautiful!!





I also entered this in Creating with the Stars!!

SUNDAY: 
The Girl Creative ,
The DIY Showoff ,
Sisters of the Wild West ,
The Tattered Tag ,
Flamingo Toes,
Under the Table and Dreaming ,
I Heart Nap Time

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou,
Thrifty Decor Chick,
C.R.A.F.T.,
Sew Can Do,
Dittle Dattle,
Between Naps On the Porch 
Homemaker on a Dime
Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie,
Type A
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Today's Creative Blog
Funky Polkadot Giraffe
Strictly Homemade
A Diamond in the Stuff
All Thingz Related
Handmade Tuesday

WEDNESDAY:

Blue Cricket Design
Not Just A Housewife
Someday Crafts 
Handy Man, Crafty Woman
Sew Much Ado
Organize Your Stuff Now
Seven Thirty Three
Sugar and Dots 
The Mommy Club 

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life
Paisley Passions
House of Hepworths
Beyond The Picket Fence
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Somewhat Simple

FRIDAY:
Whipperberry

Fingerprints on the Fridge
Miss Mustard Seed
Remodelaholic
Chic on a Shoestring
Shabby Nest
Tidy Mom
Little Lucy Lu
My Simple HomeLife

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors
Be Different Act Normal 
Tatertots and Jello
Young and Crafty