Round 3 Entry, S.R.'s New Room

Well, we didn't make it to Round 4..and I am slightly okay with that. This has been a tough competition, and my babies haven't been feeling well for a few days. A big thank you to Beckie from Infarrantly Creative who was my coach/mentor/friend throughout this competition. She made this experience so fun. I definitely would not have made as far as I did without her assistance....THANK YOU BECKIE!!!!

Congratulations to the winners of this round. I can't wait to see what they have up their sleeves for round 4;o)

 This was my entry for Round 3 of Crafting with the Stars. I just want you all to know how much I LOVE THIS ROOM! It turned out exactly how I envisioned it. S.R. is so happy with her new room and has decided that she would much rather sleep on her new "couch" than her actual bed:o) (Makes for a proud daddy)

We are definitely past the "Baby" stage, so when I found out that the challenge for round 3 was "baby," my immediate thought was toddler daybed. S.R. has been in her big girl bed for about a year and a half, but I thought that a day bed could very well serve as a couch for her room. Plus, if we have guests to stay the night, there would be an extra spot for the kids to sleep.

I headed straight to Hobby Lobby for fabric. Shocker, huh? I was beyond ecstatic when I ran across my FAVE fabric that I had originally wanted to use in her room for $4 a yard(previously $13/$14? a yard).

Thus began the snowball effect:o) After purchasing the fabric, I ran to Lowes and found two coordinating paint colors and got home as fast as I could and started painting. This process can take one day, but I didn't start until Wednesday afternoon. There was church that night, and preschool the next morning, so I got finished with the painting by Thursday afternoon. 

 This is the mountain of tape that was removed from the walls once I was finished...all 2 and 1/2 rolls!

 I had a simple design in my head of how I wanted the daybed/couch to look, and the hubs came through for me. He started working on this Friday night and had it ready for me by Saturday afternoon. He refers to himself as the "hired-help" around here:o) He does such a good job and I really couldn't have finished the room the way I wanted it without his help!

 The carousel horse prints are pictures that I pulled from the internet and used a projector to transfer them onto the boards. If you remember the flower pictures that were hanging in her room before, I "up-cycled" them and spray painted them:o) It's always a good idea to have extra spray paint lying around...you never know what last minute project will pop up:o) And I am really pleased with how this table skirt turned out.

 I actually found the table and the bird cage from our local thrift store. They were $2 each.

 I wanted to do some sort of pennant window treatment, and this is what I came up with. 

 Here is a picture of her closet and bathroom doors. I painted some flowers above just to fru-fru it up a bit.

 A closer shot. I am by no means a muralist, but I do like to attempt things that are outside of my comfort zone every once in a while.

 This is directly across from her bed. The frame was a clearance section find at, you guessed it, Hobby Lobby. I am the sole reason why Hobby Lobby stays in business:o)

 And the day bed. The cover on the crib mattress is actually made to come off. I made it in the same way that a sheet is made. That way, if it needs to be cleaned, I can pull it off and throw it into the wash. I added some piping just to dress it up a bit, so that it didn't LOOK like a sheet.

 The front view. 

This room was completely exhausting, but I am so glad that we did it. Now both of my kids have really cool rooms:o)

To see E's room, click HERE
Thank you all who went to the polls over the past few weeks. Even though this competition has been grueling at times, I have learned a lot, and in return, ended up with some great finished projects. Make sure to stay tuned to see who the winner of the final round will be!!

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Damask Drawer Set

Ok, can I just say..WOW! I honestly am surprised that I made it thru to the 3rd round of this competition! Once again, I slid in by the skin of my teeth:o) 6th place. I'm still in it, and hoping to bring my A game this next round...a.k.a. Baby Round, cuz apparently my B game has been kickin'.:o)

So here is what this drawer set looked like when I bought it. $2 from a yard sale. Yes, $2 and the cob webs, greasy hand print, and mouse poop were free:o)

Believe it or not, my original intention for this was to be some sort of a game table. That was until I decided to go with my Ballard Inspired Nesting Tables.

 I applied 2 quick coats of Krylon Ocean Breeze spray paint, and when I say quick I mean quick...there was cold precip just outside my garage door:o)

My sweet hubby added the trim on the sides and on the fronts of the drawers. I don't know what I would do without him:o)

 Next in line was to cover the drawer fronts with scrapbook paper

( Just so you know, I stink at decoupage. )

I cut the paper to size and applied Mod Podge.  

 After I got the glue down, I used a credit card to smooth out all of the bubbles.

 Once all the paper was in place and had dried, I added the top coat of Mod Podge. While that was drying, I decided to dirty it up a bit with my antiquing glaze from Valspar. 

( The wooden appliqué was purchased from Hobby Lobby. The flower was separate from the scrolly pieces) 

 And here is the end result. It now resides in my craft room. It is perfect for holding my patterns and it makes my craft room a little prettier:o)

Come back tomorrow and I will share the shirt I made for S.R. 

Happy Wednesday!

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Fabulous Weekend

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend...we sure did. Our anniversary is tomorrow, so we spent the weekend in Pigeon Forge and made our way up to The Biltmore in Asheville, N.C. The weather was perfect! And the company wasn't all that bad either;o) We were definitely inspired by all of the beautiful gardens, even though most of the plants and trees were dormant. 

The hubs is ready for spring to get here b/c we have a massive back yard that needs some attention.

We stayed at the Inn at Christmas Place. It was reeeeally nice:o)

We definitely want to take the kids there. They have milk and cookies with Santa every night, and on Saturday nights Santa performs:o) So cute!

On our way back home, we stopped by the knife shop. The hubs has to stop by there every time we go up there. While he was perusing the knife cases, I headed to a small little corner where they were selling dulcimers.

Just so you know...I am going to be purchasing one of these in the VERY near future. The little man who was behind the counter was so sweet and he played for me:o) I love the sound that a dulcimer makes. He said that they harmonize beautifully with a guitar. It just so happens that my handsome hubby plays the guitar:o)

Ebay, here I come!!

So anyway, today will be a day of recovery from the long weekend. Doing a little laundry using my NEW washer and dryer..WUURD! And then just sitting in front of the tv with my babies. I'm so glad that E has pre-school on Tuesdays:o)

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Make sure to head over to SEW DANG CUTE for round 2 of Crafting with the Stars. This round's challenge is Decoupage.  Vote for your FAVORITE 3!

Happy Monday!!! 

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Gray Hutch Makeover

I made it through to the next round! Woo-hoo!!! 

even though it was by the skin of my teeth:o)

A Big Thank you to those of you who showed your support and voted. There were some GREAT entries out there!

My favorite was the Pottery Barn Inspired Mirror. I have that on my to do list. 

The next round is Decoupage, and I have already started on that project.

I am beginning to learn that I don't know as much as I thought I knew when it comes to crafting. This has definitely been a humbling experience.

So anywho, here is the before picture of the hutch that I transformed. It's seen better days don't ya think?

 I purchased some "oops" paint for $3 at Lowes. This was the most frustrating paint. It took 3 full days to dry. I have had problems with this brand before, but at the time of purchase, I was only paying attention to the price tag and the color. 

 Here is the contrast between the old color and the new.

 The doors are my favorite part of this piece. The tree branch silhouette is just some swirly brush strokes. Very easy. The bird took a little more concentration. I was terrified that this poor little bird would be disproportionate and that I would have to repaint the door with the base color that wouldn't dry. THANKFULLY, I got it right the first time:o)

 I purchased this stencil from Hobby Lobby for around $1. I closed the store down that night. I had just finished a client's hair(7:30 p.m.) and raced out my driveway to get to H.L. before they closed which is at 8 p.m. 

Stenciling is time consuming, but I think adds a little something.

 I really like how it turned out. Thankfully there were enough of you voters out there who felt the same way, lol.

Now, to finish my next 2 projects. One will be for the competition and one is a "just because" project. I think you'll like it;o)

Have a great Wednesday!!

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Time to Vote!!

It's time to vote! I have had the jitters all weekend waiting for today to get here. Now that it's here, I am a nervous wreck! I have already seen everyone's entries, and there are some AWESOME  projects! Please head over to Sew Dang Cute and vote for your THREE favorite projects. I'm hoping that mine fits into your three faves;o) But I can't tell you which one is mine until the voting has closed:o)

I couldn't have been paired with a better "Star" for this competition. Beckie from Infarrantly Creative is my star. She has been GREAT to work with. If you haven't visited her site, you need to do so. She has so many great ideas. VERY inspiring.

Today, I get a special delivery. A new washer and dryer!! Yeah baby!!  I am off to do some cleaning before the guys from Lowes show up:o) Happy (Voting) Monday!!

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I'M A CONTESTANT ON CRAFTING WITH THE STARS!!

Yes, you read the title correctly....I am one of 12 contestants participating in Crafting With the Stars over at Sew Dang Cute.

I entered the Nesting Tables (that were inspired by a set from Ballard Designs) and thought I had absolutely no chance of winning a spot as one of the contestants. I mean, did you see the other entries?? There were so many great projects that were entered.

 There are some awesome crafters I am going up against, but it's going to be so much fun!!

I'm a little overwhelmed right now...well A LOT overwhelmed, can you tell I'm a little scatterbrained?
The star that I am paired up with is Beckie over at Infarrantly Creative. You really need to check out her site. There are some B-Awesome crafts on her site.
(A little "Bolt" Humor for you Disney fans out there)

January 24th(that's Monday...ahhh!) is when the competition will start, and you can vote for your fave project. 

Thank You to the judges for picking me! I feel so honored! 

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On a much more serious note, I want to solicit your prayers for some dear friends of mine. Just mention "Crystal's friends" to Him, and He'll know who you are speaking of. They need the kind of comfort that only He can give. Thank you so much!

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