Merry Christmas to All!

First and foremost....if you are a member of my family....LOOK AWAY! NOW!

Now that that is out of the way...Merry Christmas to All!

I hope each and everyone of you have a peaceful and joyous holiday.

Yesterday I finished up some Christmas gifts for some of my family.

Three blankets all made from fleece. I swear Amanda you had better not be reading this!

Its hard to see in the picture but the big one that is folded is aqua, green and brown. (Its my camera....Santa if you can hear me I would like on of those Nikon big mama jammers with the 15x optical zooms....I have been good)

I appliqued on an "AJ" for my little sis Amanda and her boyfriend James. Its big for snuggling!

The M is for my other little sister (I have 3!) Marissa and its very bright..just like her.

And last but not least....a little one for the Con-man. It says "That's how I roll" on it.

Close up of the A and J. To get the letters I just went on the computer and printed out the font in 450 or 400 size...I can't remember. Then I ironed on the sticky stuff the the fabric, cut out the shape and ironed on the applique to the fleece. Easy peasy.

I don't like the messiness of the ties on the fleece so sewed it like a big pillow case, flipped it right side out and sewed again around the edges to finish them off.

And of course as soon as I put the blankets up here to take a picture my cat had to jump up and get in on the action! He is such a ham.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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Ornaments I love...

I know, two posts in one day! Wow. But I wanted to share with you some of the ornaments I love. Two of my favorites are these two "light bulbs" given to me by my little sister, Amanda.

One is clear and has a "M 2008" etched on it and the other is the pink one with the "M 2009" and the breast cancer ribbon on it. She gave them to me on those years. They are light bulbs turned into ornaments from her College. She has since graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and is now in the graduate program getting her masters. (Chemical Engineering) The light bulbs are from the big "M" that lights up the side of a mountain above the school. When the school switched from standard bulbs to more energy efficient bulbs they sold the old as ornaments. I am very proud of my little sister (she is MUCH younger that I) and each year my tree will be decorated with these two ornaments.

Preview of the buffet

Here is the before picture of the buffet I found at a thrift store. It also came with two mirrors (more on them later!) At one time I am sure it was a dresser but its a new to me buffet now. It weights about 100 pounds and was a monster to drag in.

I sanded and sanded and sanded some more to get her prepared for paint. Took off all of her hardware and gave them a coat of brushed nickle.

Picture of the top. The lamp was not pretty at all before but I gave her a coat of Rustoleum's Painters Touch sky blue (I think!) and recovered the shade. A collection of milk glass sits next to the lamp. The small vase with feet is my favorite. I believe its called "Fire and Ice" milk glass. When the sun shines its opalescent.

Here is a close up of her hardware. It painted with brushed nickle spray paint. Not sure if I like it just yet. I think it may need to go darker.

Here she is with the middle door open. Inside were these three pull drawers that I painted Rustoleum Painters Touch Apple Green. I love a pop of color! There is no pull on this door yet, when I picked up the buffet she was missing a pull off of the top drawer so I stole the hardware from this door. Sorry about the pictures...its cold and dreary here but still no snow!

Here she is in all her glory. I love the storage. I am thinking she may need some glaze to rub into all the nooks and crannies. Told you it was just a preview. Stay tuned to see the final results!
Happy Holidays to all!
PS....She is painted with Heirloom White.

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Christmas 2010

Finally! All the Christmas decor is up and the computer is working again! This year I really paired down with the Christmas decor, only about one third is up. I don't know what it is but I just can't take all the clutter.

This little tree holds some of the older ornaments and sentimental ones. Its up off of the floor and away from my dogs very dangerous tail!

You can see the "kids" tree that is next to the U.G.L.Y. tv. I let the kids put whatever they want on this tree and don't rearrange it after they decorate it. I will be honest, I do rearrange what they put on the big tree. I know, shame on me! I can't help it.

Here is the simple mantle. Last year that baby was loaded! This year I put up a few glittered village houses and some owls (I love owls!) I think it still needs some "snow". Even thou we have no snow outside in Colorado we will have some inside!
Yes, that is a coffee filter wreath on the mirror. All the "cool kids" were making them so I jumped on that wagon and made one. I love it!

Here is the whole fireplace and mantle. The trio of trees at the base are some of my favorites. I have a thing for trees. Colorful, sparkly trees. I have more I didn't even put up this year. It a sickness, I know. Some people have cats. I am the crazy Christmas tree lady! The stockings were all picked up last year at Old Navy for $.99 each. Love the bright colors. The tiny one in the middle is just a temporary one until we find one for the new addition, the Con-man. And yes, the tv remote lives on the arm of the chair.

Here is the new white tree. It sits next to the couch. Its decorated in reds and aqua. I love it. The Hubs just about had a heart attack when he saw the box. "A white tree, really?" Yes honey, that is what I want this year. Now he loves it! The tree itself was only $38 at Walmart. Its not your conventional Christmas tree but I am not very conventional either so its perfect! Hope your holidays are filled with color and joy! Happy Holidays!

Just a shout out to my four followers....thank you for all your warm thoughts! You make my day! I still can't believe I have followers, and that you live so far away. Merry Christmas!

A little humor in the nightstand

This is a little nightstand I redid a few weeks ago. I am sorry I did forget to take a before picture. It was kind of southwesterny (this is my word!), pine like and rather unfinished. I drug out a can of Glidden Creamy Buttermilk that my sister gave me and gave her two coats. (All my furniture pieces are "her")

Don't you love her new handles! The old ones where a pull rusty like handle and I just didn't like them on her. Now her door says "pull".

And her drawer says "open"....just in case someone needed direction!

Here she is in all her glory! After painting I just took alittle sand paper and gave her character. She did get a final rub of Minwax Finishing Paste Wax. I love that stuff!

Oh and much to the Hubs dismay....I put our Christmas tree up yesterday. I just can't wait people! Its my favorite holiday! I finally got a white tree this year and decorated it with red and aqua....be still my heart....its the prettiest tree I have ever seen! I have a bit more crap, I mean stuff, to drag out then I will be taking pics!

I also finished a busy weekend of a 2 day Holiday Craft Show. Sold a ton and now I have 2 weeks before the next one and need to find some more furniture to refurb. Oh busy me!

Tale of the ugly 5 drawer dresser....Before/After

Here she is in all her glory. U.G.L.Y. But she had great bones! (A friend actually gave her to me for free!) Shortly after she came to me I knew what color she needed to be....blue of course! I had to sand and sand and sand some more to get the layer of "poo" (my technical term) off of her. Then I broke out the trusty stash of oops paint from Behr. With a few coats on she looked to formal so again I broke out the sander and wore her down some.

I love her. Wanted to keep her. Hubs said "NO, we have no room for this in our house." So off to Market Days at Osborn farms she went. I priced her high...so she wouldn't sell....so I could take her back home....she sold!

Loved the distressed paint job I gave her. Like she had been blue all her life!

I thought the handles were sweet so I painted them...Rustolium Heirloom White of course!


Sneak peak at my next project.
Not the greatest before picture (Note to self...wait until sun is up over garage BEFORE taking pictures!). This at one time was a dresser but now it will become a buffet, for me!

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Cottage Mentality

'Cottage Mentality'....Living simply, loving imperfections and making do or without.

Simply put and simply said.

And because every post should have a picture...

Pot holders, sewn by me, hanging on a white Christmas tree for a craft show. The towels underneath are the gifts!

Osborn Farm Market Days Oct 2010

Each year Osborn Farm hosts Market Days in late Sept. or early Oct. For the last four years I have attended it selling mums for the greenhouse. Each year I tell myself that I should get a booth and sell my things. Well, this year I made the leap! It was a beautiful two day event and I am really glad I did it. The setting was surreal with a big red barn (which I could live in!), a pond and all surrounded by huge trees. Enough talk...onto the pictures!

Sorry its sideways...still learning! This was a dresser that I painted. More on that later. A friend just gave it to me! You can also see some of my chalk boards.

This is one "half" of my space. The creamy white desk is topped with chalk board paint. The large dry erase board matches the chair. Look....more chalk boards!

This is the other "half" of my booth space. Sorry for the sun glare! You can see the chalk boards that I have painted. Hubs cuts them out and I do the rest. I sold both of the dressers, the chair, several chalk boards and several dry erase boards that day.

It was a great weekend and I look forward to doing it again next year!

Starting this little blog...

Well I did it! I made my own blog...we will see how well this goes! I will be posting pictures of furniture that I have re-purposed for my business, Cottage Nest Designs, and so many other crafty projects that I have picked up in blogland. Wish me luck!