I remember when....

There was this little brown three-legged table that used to sit in our living room when I was growing up. It disappeared...oh, about 25-30 years ago?? I had no idea what happened to it, until my sister happened to mention that she had a little round three-legged table that she wanted painted red to be a nightstand in her guest room. Yep, it's the very same table. Not quite an antique, but getting there!

My sister kindly provided me with a quart of paint. The label said is was some kind of "chili" color.

What do you think?? Have you EVER seen this color of chili EVER IN YOUR LIFE??


OK, so maybe it's hard to see. Let's just say that the color was something like Pepto-Bismol mixed with grape juice. I kept painting...and painting...and painting...hoping it would improve with more coats.

It didn't!

Finally I screwed up my courage to call my sister: "Have you ever actually used this paint on anything?"

"Well...no," she replied. "Is it awful??"

"Yes!! Truly, utterly, unbearably horrible! Please, allow me to choose a new color of red for you!"

She agreed. (Thank heavens.)

I used the same red that I used on this chest of drawers. I will say that I am NOT a fan of Glidden paint...it seriously took at least six coats of paint to cover. Then I applied a little black glaze, and now...


It matches perfectly!

It's fun to see a piece from home get a new life.

Numbered pots to lettered pots

Remember my little fall pots?


Not long after I snapped this picture, the "1" fell off, and who knows where it disappeared to (I'm guessing a certain 2-year-old might have had something to do with it)! I pulled the "2" and "3" off as well, rather than make new numbers right away.

Then last night, inspiration hit me... I would make lettered pots!

With the help of my Cricut and some leftover glitter from my "Magic" garland, I came up with this:


And look...they're reversible!


I haven't had so much fun with glitter since...well, ever!

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Subtle Craftiness

My husband just came upstairs and asked me if I was done with my "subtle craftiness" for the evening...I said yes, but of course I still had to blog about it!

I really threw him for a loop yesterday when I admitted a willingness--after almost 16 years--to do a little Halloween-type decorating! I have been so impressed by what I've seen around the Internet on my favorite blogs, of decorating that was classy rather than cutesy, and understated rather than in-your-FACE!!

He was so excited--there was nothing to do but go shopping!

So what does a woman do, who is trying to decorate in an understated, yet

classy manner? Why, break out the GLITTER, of course!!

I got this idea from someone else's blog--but for the life of me, I have no idea where I saw it. (If you know, leave a comment so I can give appropriate credit!)

I started with chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby.

Next came a little silver spray paint (you'll have to trust me; they're really silver).

Next came ModPodge and lots of glitter...


Finally, some hot glue and black ribbon, and voila!!

It really does look better in person :-) Glitter doesn't seem to translate well to photographs!

My chalkboard got a little makeover as well:

I found a little anonymous poem to write on it:

When witches go riding
And black cats are seen
The moon laughs and whispers
'Tis near Halloween!

I didn't have any black cats, but a raven made its appearance on the upper corner:


My pretty little cloche (that first appeared here) got a pumpkin tower and a glittery black spider (these have made an appearance all over my house with help from my junior decorators).

Oh, and the little black raven has two buddies that are perched elsewhere. They were about $2.50/each at TaiPan.

Then I finally had to give Wordle a try. It was so fun! I printed out my creation on some pretty linen cardstock and added it to a frame I had on hand. I already have one made up with just "Autumn"-type words when Halloween is over. One little hint if you decide to create you own Wordle masterpiece...if you can make a bigger word by entering it in multiple times.


So...Halloween decorating. It didn't turn out to be so painful after all! And my children and my husband are delighted!

It's a keeper!

Several weeks ago DI ("Deseret Industries," the Utah version of Goodwill) was having a 50% off sale on all their big frames. When I saw a massive, intricately detailed frame that turned out to be a mere FOUR DOLLARS, I knew it was love at first sight! (Even if it was a yucky gold color.)

I sprayed it Heirloom White, and this morning I glazed it with burnt umber acrylic paint. I cut a piece of Luaun leftover from another project and gave it a few coats of chalkboard paint.

Here's the result!


Ooh, I think I love it! Right now it's just sitting in front of the mirror that hangs on the wall above my buffet, and it's so large it partially covers my children's pictures!


But it looks like it belongs there nonetheless. I think this chalkboard is home to stay!



I also want to add a huge THANK YOU to Domestically Speaking for featuring my gathering table from last week's Power of Paint party!

Curliques & Bin Pulls

Oh, those gorgeous bin pulls. I just love 'em. They are generally so expensive, but I lucked out when I found these at Cripe Distributing: 25 oil-rubbed-bronze bin pulls for $14. I ordered them before I even knew what I wanted to do with them...but then I saw this desk at The Frosted Gardner:


Isn't it pretty? And wouldn't you know it, I just happened to have a similar desk just waiting for me to do something with it in the garage.

Alas, I didn't remember to take a "before" picture...yet again. It was a run-of-the-mill brown desk.

But now...


I like it much better! I found a quart of "oops" gray paint at Home Depot: $1, baby! Gotta love that.

The desk has this pretty "curlique" embellishment around the top. I flirted with the idea of filling it all in with wood-filler, until I took another look around the garage and saw this chair:


"Hmm..." I thought to myself. "Curlique on the desk. Curlique on the chair. Must be fate!"


So naturally the chair had to be painted the same as the desk. And of course all of the yucky gold pulls were replaced with beautiful bin pulls!


I glazed them both with black to make those curliques pop! Getting glaze in all those indentations is actually a whole lot easier than trying to paint them neatly! (Like I tried to do on this desk...don't look too closely!)


I love that the back of this desk is as pretty as the front. It doesn't have to sit next to a wall. The recessed panels on the sides and back are so pretty. In fact, even the knee space is pretty (not that anyone will be seeing that)!