Happy HalloweenChristmasBirthday to ME!

If you know my sister and me you know of the infamous teal file folders we carry in our purses, at all times, that hold our coupons.  So when my sister told me she wanted to take me to a painting class for my birthday, which was in June, it wasn't a surprise that she wanted to wait for a Groupon.  Heck, I would have done the same thing!

So on "Halloween" Weekend we went to a painting class to paint an Andy Warhol Christmas Tree for my Birthday!

 

Because Hoda and Kathy Lee say that if you want to look happy in a picture, open your mouth! It must be true because we look ecstatic!

We had a great time painting, it made for a great evening and a great Birthday present.

"Happy paintings.  We want happy paintings.  If you want sad things watch the news."  - Bob Ross

It's 3:37 and OU Still Sucks!

It's not that I have never been to a football game, for I have been to many, ex-cheerleader and ex-band nerd here!  It's that since I was five years old, probably younger based on my family, I have watched and cheered on my beloved Horns and never once sat in the stands of DKR Stadium to cheer them on.

After climbing our way into the "Football Heavens" (as my mom called it) we made our way to our seats, a mere seven rows from the top.  So God may be visible in some of these pictures as we cheered on the horns in the first victory of the season.

 

Hook 'Em!

My first Palm Reading

I’ve always wanted a palm reading, but not out of some deep desire to know what my future holds.  Mainly my curiosity is intrigue.  The psychics themselves intrigue me; are there really supernatural powers out there that people possess that are able to give them insight into other people lives?  Or are they just really good at reading people and their body language?  Perhaps my fascination is a product of growing up on too many episodes of “Unsolved Mysteries.”

A friend of mine joined me this weekend as I had my first palm reading experience. I timidly admitted that I never had a reading done to the medium.  As a result she offered my friend and myself a palm reading as well as a tarot card reading. 

My reading was about twenty minutes in length, which included both the tarot and the palm reading.  I didn’t flinch at any revelations.  In fact, I found most of everything she said to me to be nothing new to me, there was nothing too insightful, and no goosebumps. 

After my first tarot and palm reading I am reminded to never underestimate what happens when we sit still long enough to realize the answers are already out there and within us. We just have to be quiet and open enough to hear them.

New Jewelry Storage

I finally have finished one aspect of my new glorious closet, my jewelry storage!  I am so excited to finally have it all out and on display...well behind closed doors at least.  With having my jewelry out and on display I see it more, which means I wear it more.

I took one drawer and one shelf of the new closet and turned it into jewelry storage.  Most of the storage items in the shelf part of the storage were from thrift stores.  I found these candle sticks that I turned into bracelet holders for $.50 each.

I found this candle holder that I turned into a bracelet holder and earring storage at Hobby Lobby, and of course used a 40% off coupon for just a few bucks.  This candle holder was originally black, so I had to remove the glass to spray paint it gold.  I soaked the candle holder in hot water to be able to remove the glass from the metal since it was glued to the bottom.

I found a glass tea cup at a Thrift store to use as more earring storage as well as to put rings inside the teacup.  The mirrored jewelry box I found at Home Goods.

I used drawer pulls to hang a piece of chain to be able to have more earring storage.  I've come to the conclusion that I have too many earring, wait, no one can ever have too many earrings.  I also used different crystal drawer pulls to hang necklaces.

For more necklace storage I made a custom fit necklace holder that fit into one of the drawers.

To begin I measured the drawer to find out the width, length, and height to cut the plywood and what size board I would need to prop it with for the angle.  I then nailed the two boards together.

I then stapled black velvet around the wood and trimmed off any excess fabric that hung too low.

After stapling the fabric on I graphed out on a piece of paper where I wanted to place the hooks but putting dots across the top.  I taped the paper on the holder and began to nail into each specific dot where I had graphed.  I did this so the hooks would twist in easier as well as not snag the fabric.

I love jewelry, and I can't wait to acquire more since now I have the space and more room for it. 

Linked to: House of Rose: Inspire Me Please

This will be a day long remembered...

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...I took on the challenge to watch all six Star Wars episodes in marathon form!

In my endeavor to watch all six Star Wars episodes I was presented with a problem...watch them by episode or by release date?  In my final decision I decided to watch them by episode starting with Episode I: The Phantom Menace and ending with Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

*Spoiler Alert* The deciding factor for me to watch them by episode was to move chronologically through the life of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.  Now I will admit that where viewing this way fails is in the plot surprises in the original trilogy.  You come to learn that Darth Vader is Luke's Father, that Leia is Luke's twin sister, and that Yoda is in fact the little green toad living on Dagobah.  This viewing order does ruin those twists if you have never seen the movies before.  Therefore, I would still recommend viewing in a non-marathon order to be IV-VI then I-III.

While enjoying my Star Wars marathon I tabulated some random facts and figures...

Now after sitting on the couch for 13 hours watching Star Wars what would you do?  None other than watch Spaceballs!!!! And my new running time?

Pumping Iron

To update a previous post, my 6th anniversary has come and gone and yet I never posted the Iron I bought the Hubs.

SIXTH ANNIVERSARY - IRON

Cycling Bike and Weights

In our new house we purchased a few months back we were lucky enough to get an exercise room.  The only problem is we have no exercise equipment.  So I thought with this anniversary Trevor could pump a little iron!

I guess now is the time I need to start thinking about our 7th anniversary...Copper!

Painted Kitchen Table

I believe I was thirteen the first time I refinished a piece of furniture.  I stripped and stained my great grandmother vanity and replaced the knobs and pulls to something more my style.  It was then that I fell in love with taking something old and maybe a little beat up and bringing it back to life.  My latest project was to refinish a kitchen table that I bought to replace an old Urban Living (aka IKEA) table.

Oops...I started sanding before taking a "Before" picture

After buying our new house and having a bay window breakfast nook I decided the table I needed to replace the existing one with needed to be round.  I was on the hunt for a round pedestal table and after finding this one on Craigslist for $40 complete with chairs (which I sold for $20) I was sold!

Painting a piece a furniture that is high traffic is much like painting kitchen cabinetry; you will need a stain blocking oil based primer, a durable paint, and a final coat of protectant.

Everybody's favorite refinishing task comes first...sanding!  Make sure to use a medium grit sand paper.

After the table is sanded and smooth to the touch wipe done all the dust and debris to begin priming.    Zinsser offers a great stain blocking oil based primer to get the job done.  I also used the Zinsser BIN shellac based primer to get into the crevices which were unreachable with the sander and the foam roller.

The table should have two coats of primer on it with allowing each coat of primer sufficient drying time.  Most direct 24 hours of drying time.

Now into Day 3 of this project we can finally move onto painting!  For this table I wanted to make sure that I had a durable paint to withstand the traffic of a kitchen table, I went with Benjamin Moore Advance water based enamel alkyd, it will give a hard finish much like oil based paints.  I also used my trusty Corona "Excalibur, I call on your power" paint brush.

Once again two coats for paint is recommended with again 24 hours of drying time in between!  And you thought this was a weekend project! :) 

After the final coat of paint is adhered, a curing time of 3-5 days is recommended before protecting the table.  It has become a personal preference of mine when painting furniture white or a lighter color to use a wax rather than Polyurethane, for in time the wax will not yellow or age your paint color.

The wax I used for this table for SC Johnson Paste Wax, clear in color.  I applied three coats of wax to this table, giving a couple hours of drying time in between each coat.

After two weeks of refinishing this table it finally made its way into the breakfast nook and I am in love! Now all I need are chairs for my new table.

Linked to:

House of Rose: Inspire Me Please