Well Hello, Gorgeous!

No, you are not seeing things.  I really just haven't blogged in about two years, but being that I only have about 2 followers no one should have really noticed.  Ha!

        After working in the corporate world for seven years and having three small children I never really had time to tap into my creative side.  Once I started I had to do it all!...until I ran out of steam.  I did all of these things pretty much back to back and haven't touched anything DIY in probably a year, at least.  :)
Recently our neighbors gave us their entire guest bedroom furniture for our girls to enjoy.  The woman has had it for more that 30 years and gave me permission to "redo" the finish!  I say I've had enough of a break to take on this new and exciting project.  I will post progress hopefully in the near future.  Here are some pics of what I accomplished during my DIY marathon...

    No Sew Christmas Tree Skirt 

I made and LOVE <3

Tutorial is from HGTV http://www.hgtv.com/handmade/how-to-make-a-no-sew-ruffled-christmas-tree-skirt/index.html.  This project was pretty easy it is just time consuming,  :)

Mason Jar Foam Soap Dispenser

http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/green-crafts-0309#slide-15

                                                             My Daughters' Dresser

  It was completely different before.  I sanded it down, then painted, distressed and finally painted the knobs.  This is probably my favorite piece.  :)

                                                         Kitchen Table Transformation
I really don't have a tutorial for this one.  I did a lot of research and compiled a couple different techniques.  Most important lesson for this DIY was to prime the metal so all the hard work you do doesn't peel off when you kids decide to dig their nails into it.  :)

                                                   
                                   Ew.  This is what happens when you have toddlers, lots of them.  :)

Gettin Creative, Crunk and Crafty! - Part I

  Okay, so since my last post I have been working on various projects.  I have tried my hand at a few things for the first time, like free hand painting, antiquing and other various creative things.  I must say I am more than pleased with my artistic progression, since it had become doormat in the whirlwind of the last 8 years.  That whirlwind had been compiled of working, growing up, having 3 kids, getting married, my husband's father passing away, my father passing away and still trying to remember who your are and what makes your heart beat, so to speak.

Before

  My first project started over the summer by antiquing our living room furniture that we bought at Ashley's 7 years ago.  Initially we were just going to toss it, but after not selling it on craigslist I figured they were the perfect pieces to try antiquing on!  I had asked a family friend that is well "schooled" at this sort of thing and watched a couple of Youtube videos and gave it a go!  I have been a stay at home mom now for a year and this is what I worked on over the summer in between dropping off/picking up my 1st grader and taking care of my 2 and 4 year old.  I am so excited to say I am done, well almost, lol!  I really like how they turned out!  :D

After
(I still have to do the sides that aren't distressed)

  After
(I don't have a before of these two tables, but they were the exact same color as the coffee table)

My First DIY Shabby Chic Project!

                                                                                                     Before

My Father was very humble, but a very proud Italian.  His Mother's was 100% Italian and a single mother of 4 boys.  Even if my Father didn't look like he could be Robert Deniro's brother he would have never given credit to anything other than his Italian roots!  The memories of his Mom and Aunts' growing up was one that always put a smile on his face.  Somewhere we inherited a set of lamps that had belonged to one of his Aunts.  When my Mom gave it to me after my Dad passed I didn't really realize that this is really one of the only pieces of my ancestory that I own; and to be quiet honest I had not treated them with the delicate nature that they deserved.  THANK GOD I never threw them away, because I did think I might use them one day.  So almost three years after my Dad has past here we are having recently moved into our first house and these lamps have finally found a home in our master bedroom.  I was SO EXCITED!  So then I had a vision.  After looking at a few craft stores I finally came across the stencil I was looking for and the rest is history.  Take a look at my before and after and tell me what you think!  I have only done one lampshade, b/c the other I want to put french writing on!!!  Still working on how to do it...

                                                                                                     After

OXXX Gorgeous,

Ange

Getting The Hang of This Blogging Thing...

I decided I wanted to start a blog and it took me a while to get it up and going, but here we are at my first posting.  Hopefully after I become a little more "blog-savvy" I will be able to add more.  So this has been somewhat of a hellacious week.  Everyone has been talking about cabin fever, but on top of cabin fever we have had everything from the flu to strep in our house.  We are on the road to recovery, but another burden is Mallorie, my three year old.  She has THE WORST temper and combined with being three I am praying daily for The Lord to see me through.  I will make this one short, because I have been holding the baby all day from her now feeling well and I need to go do some house work! Tata.