Front Porch Table

A bit of paint and a new knob and my front porch now has a splash of color.

I found this little nightstand at a yard sale. I got it for $3. I've had it on the porch for a couple years, but you can see it needed a little love.

I've heard so much about chalk paint over the years. When I saw it in my local craft store, I decided to give it a try.

The claim is that there's no prep work - no sanding, or primer. Sounds good to me! I did wash all the dirt and cobwebs that had collected on it from being outside, but nothing else.

This is my typical set up when painting something that's small enough to bring indoors. Spread out an old vinyl table cloth and go at it.

I went with two coats of paint. Since I knew I would scuff it up a bit with sandpaper, it covered well enough.  If I wasn't distressing it, I would have done a 3rd coat.

I found a finegrain piece of sandpaper and lightly rubbed it over the entire surface of the piece. I then used the wax on the drawer, it totally ruined the look. So I repainted and resanded the drawer and decided not to wax it. I've had it outside on the covered porch since August, and so far so good.

Lastly, I added a knob {another yard sale find}

It was a quick and easy project. What is your latest project?

Paint - Laundry Room Makeover

Paint can bring so much life to a room. Or it can totally ruin it! When I painted my laundry room, it started out a bit rocky. My first idea was to do a peachy/coral color called guava jelly for the walls and have accents of blue in the smaller details.  I started painting and my body filled with dread. I knew I would want to avoid this room at all costs if I painted the whole thing this color. It was absolutely horrid!

I had bought a small can of blue to use for an accent color. I tried it out on the wall and felt instant relief. So clear pond blue it was. Oddly enough, as an accent color the guava jelly was just fine.

A couple tips from a non-expert:
* Take the paint chip into the room you are painting. My laundry room has no windows. Because of the lighting, the color looks vastly different in the laundry room than it did in other places.
* Buy the small sample cans to make sure you like it before dropping $30 on a can of paint.

Here's a picture of the final color, along with a sneak peak at my shelves I built. I'll share how in the next installment. {The bottom half of the photo is the true color - the top looks kind of green}

Read more in my Laundry Room Makeover adventures:

How to Build  a Shelf

Another way to Build a Shelf

Shortening the Laundry Cart

DIY Drying Rack

Clothesline Craft

Before and After Pictures

Easy DIY Painted Canvas Bags

Personalize plain old canvas bags with paint. They are simple to make and the possibilities are endless. They are perfect gifts for siblings, teachers, grandparents or friends.

 As I've mentioned before, we are making more gifts for Christmas this year. I told my kids that they would be making each other gifts this year. They all seemed pretty excited about it. I have a few ideas for them and the first three Saturdays in November, I will be helping them make their gifts. My little one who's still home with me will be working on hers while the kids are at school.  As they finish their gifts I'll share them so you can get some ideas of things your kids can make.


 My 7 year old had a blast making these bags for her siblings. I picked up some large canvas bags from the craft store. Then we looked through my paint stash. I opted to use regular craft paint, but fabric paint would probably be more durable. We plan on using the bags as library bags and I don't plan on washing them often, if at all.

We started with the flower handprint bag. I found the idea from paint cut paste via pinterest. I think this was my daughters favorite to make, since it was "hands on".


Then we made the lego head bag for my son. I drew a simple lego head right onto the bag with a pencil. I helped her paint along the edges and then she filled it in with paint. Using the end of the foam paint brush, she made dots for the eyes. Then she painted on a mouth and the lettering.

The last one we made was the striped heart. Again I drew a simple heart and then we painted the stripes. I helped to outline each stripe with paint and then she filled it in.

Do your kids make gifts for each other? What kind of things do they make?

A few other bags from past posts: 

Ruffle Bags

Turn and old jumper into a bag

Update a bag with markers

Farrah Tote Bag

Small DIY Tote Bag

Christmas Charm Advent Tree

Make your own charm advent calendar. Count down to Christmas by adding an adorable Christmas charm each day to a wood Christmas tree.

How to Distress Paint without Sandpaper

Ever since I made my DIY Menuboard, I was looking for something else to paint in my kitchen. I also wanted to try a technique I'd heard about. You see, whenever I use sandpaper to distress my projects, I seem to sand off more than just the top layer. Sometimes that's ok to see a little bit of wood underneath. But this project the original paint did not match the new paint at all. I definitely did not want to sand through the top layers of paint.

I've had this mail organizer forEVER. Remember when moose were really in? Or was it just me trying to find decor to go with all the taxidermy my husband keeps bringing home?

 It was time for a makeover.

I began by spray painting the whole thing black. This was the color I wanted to show up after distressing. The trick to this method is petroleum jelly. more commonly known as Vaseline. Using your finger, rub a very small amount of vaseline over all the places where you want to distress. I went over the edges. Then I hit a few spots in the middle.

Now spray paint your top color on top and let it dry completely. The paint will bubble up a little where you've added the vaseline. You can kind of see it where the arrow is pointing.

Now I literally grabbed a paper towel and gently rubbed over where I had put the vaseline. The green paint came up like magic leaving it distressed with hardly any work at all. This was so easy and I love the chippy look. I'll definitely be using this method again.

I decided that it needed a something more. So I decided to stencil. You may remember this stencil - I've used it on my game cabinet and my bench/chest.

Here it is back in use.

In the interest of keeping it real I'll give you a look from a distance. This is the junk spot. I try to keep up with it, but with the kids home all day long - there seem to be a lot of messes to clean up.

Much better! Now if only it will stay that way.

Linking up at Lady Behind the Curtain,  Tidy Mom,  Or so she says..., Homemade Ginger, 

Whipperberry ,  Adorned From Above,  Housewife How To's,  Huckleberry Love,  All Things With Purpose,  Home Coming, Clean & Scentsible, and at these parties