Weekend Adventures: Chalk Art at Not Your Average Joes

Life never ceases to amaze me, especially in the last few weeks. Though it seemed like a coincidence, I'm sure it wasn't and I'm grateful. 

 

If you live in Woodbridge, VA or know much about Northern Virginia we are known of course for Potomac Mills Mall, but also a sweet spot called Stonebridge Town Center. It's perfect for walking around or finding a bite to eat with friends, just a really fun place to go anytime of the week. Well one of our favorite spots to indulge in is Not Your Average Joes. From the industrial lighting to the smooth relaxed scene, Mike and I love eating there with and without the boys! 

Well earlier in the week we met the general manager and in our conversation I shared how I teach secondary art. Well it turned out they were looking for someone to redesign their chalkboard menus! So Saturday I spent the morning into the afternoon doing just that! It was an incredible experience - I mean truly it was. 

 

I can't thank Not Your Average Joes for allowing me to share one of my passions! Of course in honor of my new adventure I want to celebrate with you! So check out my Facebook page on how to enter for a $50 gift card courtesy of their wonderful staff! When you go, please be sure to check out the menu boards! 

Our Nest: From Joseph's Colored Coat to Home

Purchasing a home was one of the greatest moments I've experienced in our financial journey. From being denied the first opportunity to purchase, to receiving the keys to your first place is something I hold dear to my heart. When we first stumbled upon our home it was completely unexpected, but Mike and I both knew that this would be where we settled in for sure. However, I wish I had the skills of Chip & Joanna Gaines when we moved in - but I have an eye for seeing the beauty behind most things!

This is long overdue, because if you've been to my home you know what as soon as we moved in within the weekend I had repainted the majority of the house (I don't recommend it). I'm know that pure adrenaline and the help of friends who appease my crazy antics made it all possible in such a timely manner. This is no exaggeration, but our house was about SIX different colors when we moved in. Doors were missing, walls were damaged, and the story goes that the previous renters (it was a rental property prior to our purchase) would rescue dogs and cats...totaling to about 13 animals who inhabited the home with free reign. Take a deep moment and pause...13. My eyes water thinking about it, and my skin itches if I could tell you how much we've cleaned out since then. But I digress, because the best part is how it looks now! So here is what we moved in to 2 years ago:

The main floor was a powder blue leading into the kitchen which was a tiffany blue. The ceiling is still an off white as I realized over time that it too was blue at one point... However, this is what it our living room looks like today!

It's most certainly an improvement! We are looking forward to stripping and re-staining the floors in the future along with this upcoming week we change out the banister! Can't wait to show you all that either. 

Moving into the kitchen...oh man the kitchen. With the original cabinets, faux marble counter tops, and old light fixtures it was quite the sight. I love the openness of the area, as the previous home owner had actually vaulted the ceilings (not common in the other homes in the area) and placed a beautiful skylight. These were huge selling points for us. So take a good look at before:

And this is AFTER! 

The boys were able to find a spot during my photos of course! I took on the task of redoing the cabinets myself with a homemade version of chalk paint. It's the same I used in this tutorial here. I eventually did touch up the cabinets this year with actual cabinet paint to help keep them durable and clean. New hardware on the cabinets pulled in the stainless steel look from the appliances. Also we had someone redo the backsplash and countertop as well as replacing the sink. I plan to get a few more copper items to offset the new and old look that I love. Also I will be redoing our coffee cart in the near future so stay tuned!

As much as I love home makeovers I honestly advise that you TAKE YOUR TIME. Over the last two years Mike and I have gone through a cycle of saving and changing items little by little. We made a list of prioritized areas in the home to fix and have knocked them off our list one by one. Each project takes time to find the right contractor and materials - trust me we've had some challenges with contractors! So set a realistic deadline and count your costs! It's worth it.

The Nest: Finding Your Design Voice

I LOVE HGTV! I truly have a deep spot in my heart for all the things Fixer Upper, Listed Sisters, and The Property Brothers come up with on a weekly basis. If you're anything like me, as inspiring as those shows can be - they can leave you feeling like "well my house is crap!" Sometimes I have to take a break from binge watching so I don't rip open a new wall or take down all my wall sconces for new ones. BUT as much as I love and admire the design skills of each of those and so many others - I'm most challenged to find my own design voice and what speaks to who I am.

Mike said something so profound to me the other day as we watched FixerUpper, "it's not that their style is so unique and out of this world, what we're most inspired by is the freedom they have to express who they are and their brand." And it clicked! That's exactly what I love about all of them! Over the last several years as I've rearranged and rearranged my house I think there are 3 things you can use as guidelines in finding the freedom in your voice as well.

1. Learn your favorite color story: This is vastly different than your favorite color. Look around your house, we often subconsciously purchase certain colors in our furniture, accents, and central pieces. As you begin to pin down those colors, start putting together complimentary and accent colors that go around them. In my house I love neutrals, BUT I realize that teal is a common color in almost all areas of my house. From my living room to my basement you see that color along with other variations of it. So what's yours? Start there and use a color wheel to begin weaving that together!

2. Stay true to YOU, not the trends! See that there? Those are tons of pallets for the pallet wall we insisted we needed. Until we realized it wasn't "us." There are so many trends that look wonderful in other homes, but may make no sense in your home. So be careful! Just because Design Love Fest has gorgeous white couches, doesn't mean that's for you and the toddlers in your home. Trends aren't sensible, their trends. Be selective, home decor and style cost money...which leads to my last guideline.

3. Plan THEN Complete. Splurging can be awesome, being sponsored is phenomenal, but most people do not have those two factors just lying around at their disposal. So PLAN! Which is why knowing your color story is key. You will be so surprised that many of the looks you want to achieve you already have most of the items in your home! Sometimes deconstructing a room allows for you to reconstruct another. I will buy something that I think is awesome for my kitchen, but then ends up in our bedroom. For someone like me who doesn't like planning, I've found this is a guideline I have to stick to if I want to achieve the look I'm aspiring for. Being patient during the completion process also helps my pockets if you know what I mean. 

Be inspired not discouraged. Flip through Pinterest and pin down those items you love! Create your board, look at your current color story, and IMPROVE it! Express your unique style the best way possible and I promise you'll feel like a million bucks. People will walk in your home and LOVE it as much as you do! 

Our Nest: Refinishing Furniture

I still can't believe that it's almost been a year since we bought our FIRST home and have settled into the feeling of permanency... you know the one where if you paint the walls you don't have to dread repainting them back once you decide to move? The other day as Mike and I were working on Kai's room (sharing that soon) we laughed as we drilled, screwed, and hammered til our hearts' content - simply because we don't have to change it unless we don't want to!

As exciting at that can be, it is most certainly overwhelming figuring out how you want your home to look. For some time I've enjoyed finding items either in thrift stores or even on the side of the road to either refurbish, re purpose, or unfortunately toss. Budgets are tricky and since currently I don't have a sponsor for home repairs (Lowe's I'm available) I've learned that purchasing quality is everything... ESPECIALLY when thrifting! As yard sale season is upon us and the thrift bug has hit many of us, I've learned many lessons about picking out quality furniture and comparing cost to quality. Though I won't cover that here I wanted to mention it, because when I stumbled upon this dresser on a "freecyle" Facebook group I'm a part of I knew I had to take a risk!

This dresser was headed to the dumpster very soon due to no space and I knew it had potential. So of course waiting "patiently" in line to see if we could scoop it up I started figuring how was I going to refinish it? I have previously dabbled with chalk paint and found it was great, but can be tough to keep from chipping, scratching, or showing signs of wear relatively fast. So with a bit more research I tested a method of my own. I adapted my chalk paint recipe from I Heart Nap Time Blog. It was a bit of trial and error, however I hope to walk you through my steps!

When refinishing furniture you want to use either a semi-gloss or satin finish. I personally prefer satin. The color I used is called "Afternoon Tea" by Valspar. You also will need to sand any loose pieces of the furniture. This was a bit tricky because I realized the dresser had laminate wood, so using the previous paint I knew would be to my advantage - but I smoothed out the peeled paint.

 

This is where you create your chalk paint mixture.I used this as my priming base for the dresser. This is an option and a great one at that instead of traditionally stripping, priming, and then painting older furniture.

Mix in approximately 3 table spoons of water - make sure that your consistency is still thick, but not runny or chunky. 

Now to add your paint. I added approximately (I eye this, I do not measure) 1-1.5 cups of paint to the mixture just created (Plaster of Paris & water). Make sure that you mix this really well. I coated the entire dresser about 2-3 times to get a true coat over the entire piece. Allow for drying between coats!

Finally after the chalk paint mixture dried, I coated the entire piece 2-3 times with the pure satin mixture of paint. This not only sealed the piece along with the finishing wax I used, it provided the shine finish that chalk paint does not. Traditionally with chalk paint you seal it with finishing wax - but I find that finishing wax is just helpful when you have kids around... I am so pleased with the results!

and of course the finished product!

With simple hardware and a new coat of paint, this piece is exactly what we were looking for! I hope that this helps you in future refinishing adventures with your own great finds! As always I am testing and improving what I do with each piece, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction for you and keep checking back for any new tips!

Weekend Adventures: Harvest Carnival and Child Heroes

Halloween is one of those "hot topics" that each year as Kai gets older I think of what will we do as a family? As a child I trick or treated until I was around seven or eight and there was a huge sweep of concern about candy being tampered with and then as my mom became involved in church it was deemed "Satan's holiday." I'm sure some of you can relate and it was really a damper on my day when I no longer could get candy by the pillow case load...

So now that we're parents and I've had time to really come to my own conclusions about any and all holidays - Mike and I decided the best approach is the same way we do anything. Either we give it a purpose or we explain why we do something else...but we will always see it as an opportunity to serve and learn!

Our church hosts a Harvest Carnival each year and this year we helped out. Since we agreed no costumes I made our shirts! If you've been around long enough you know that Kai is obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba! So He was beyond thrilled to be his favorite heroes in the whole world! Praise God for felt and it's magical wonders ha.

Mike even loved his shirt and joined in on the fun! I had a blast making the shirts and am looking forward to doing something special each year. I hope you had a wonderful time with your families and had tons of candy!!

Bird's Eye D.I.Y.: I AM Jar

Kick off your week with this fun and simple craft you can make with your little ones that not only encourages them, but also allows you to share and shape their identity. Several weeks ago I did a small support group with a co-worker for children we work with and we created "I Can's." Each child designed a can and wrote down all of the things they can do! It was bittersweet to see some children able to fill their cans and watch as others struggle to list a handful of capabilities. So I figured to do a twist on that craft and create an "I AM" Jar (plus my husband threw away my can by "accident"...). This is a great way to help your child share who they believe they are AND to reaffirm the wonderful things about them.

What you need:

• A jar or can
• Scrap paper
• Address label 
• Scrap yarn (optional) I made small yarn balls as a filler
• Sticks (I used lollipop sticks I had leftover from another craft)

I made the flags out of extra scrapbook paper I have and address labels, which I always keep on hand. However, you can simply use scrap pieces of paper and fill your jar without the flag concept. Here is how I created the flags:

Place your address label with a portion of it hanging off of your scrapbook/decorative paper.

Write your I AM statement - notice the lip of the label. Cut out your flag!

Fold your extra piece of the label around the stick

Ta-da! You have your flag!

You can create a ton of statements that when your little one is feeling down they can go to their jar and remind themselves of how amazing and great they are! I have ours now sitting right on our shelf in the living room. Mike even joined in with a few statements of his own. Creating an environment where you celebrate and embrace the positive aspects of who you are will only allow your children to thrive. I'm constantly reminded how important my own self speech is and how that even sets the tone for Kai's development of who he will see himself. Make your own jar, it's a lot more fun than you will even realize!

 

Eggs, Candy, and Surprises

 

This is my fun pinata egg I created (fourth time is a charm...) after checking out this fun tutorial. I couldn't find some of the items the original recipe calls for (liquid starch and water balloons) when I went to the store so I improvised and I'm still pleased with the technique around it. I was able to create several eggs, but this one came out the best! This is a TWO DAY project, so if you're trying to whip one of these up give yourself some time.

Here are some tips: This is basically paper mache at its finest, so don't worry about liquid starch. You can use a simple glue and warm water mixture or even Modge Podge mixture as a substitute. Make sure to have several layers of tissue paper to add to the strength of the egg (coverage is key). I also used regular balloons and found them to still give the "egg" shape. Also when adding your string cut ACROSS the top of the egg where your opening is. I made this mistake on my first three eggs (oy!) and didn't realize you need to cut specifically across so when you go to close the egg it retains its shape.

Don't throw away your misshaped eggs! You can still use them (I am a firm believer in re-purposing all things). You can cut them in half and stuff them so the contents show (see the finished basket). I think they really are going to be a hit! Kai saw the ones I was working on and went crazy! I can't wait to give him his basket tomorrow.

Easter Basket Madness!

As Kai gets older I'm really starting to enjoy the fun of putting things together such as Easter baskets. I love how he enjoys playing pretend now and I've admired so many masks as of lately, but of course waited too long to order one. So in efforts to whip one up, I looked online everywhere for a mask template to really not find many. I found this one online (it's been adjusted for the correct size for a toddler) and pieced it a part with felt. I'm so pleased with out it turned out!

Felt is such a great medium to use for masks since it's flexible and durable. This project cost me about $1.50 with the felt I purchased and I used embroidery floss for the details.

 Here are some tips! Note that when piecing your mask together, I did use glue to tack the different layers prior to sewing it. The back of the mask is one full piece of felt. For the eyes I free-cut those since I wanted to make sure they were large enough to see out of. I would recommend machine sewing the front and back parts of the face together while sandwiching the elastic in between. Also, measure your child's head for the elastic (I almost forgot!).

I really think it's going to be a wonderful addition to Kai's basket. Up next are some fun paper mache eggs that I found on this blog! Super easy and I love that you can customize them. I will be sure to share how those turn out since they are the next project!

What are you favorite gifts for your baskets?

Less is More

This past weekend was full of house projects! I guess when you're home for five days you finally rearrange and clean your home. It was definitely needed. We even changed up Kai's room (pictures to come). 

I used to have a craft room and I loved it, but it was always a disaster. I mean in the creative process I don't have time to clean (it's a terrible lie), but my main excuse for keeping the door shut on a regular basis. So in coming to grips that we could better utilize the space, Mike created this new craft space for me! About 4/5 trash bags later (I'm such a hoarder), a trip to Target and Ikea, and lots of organizing it's here. I am enamored with the space and more so with the fact it looks like it's always belonged. 

The desk I had gotten from a yard sale, the rack is actually a headboard from IKEA, and different things I've picked up over time. But the best part is my chair...

This chair is an actual antique Singer sewing chair (with original tags) that was reupholstered and gifted to me for Christmas from one of my best friends Regina. The top of the seat comes off for extra storage as well. This chair is stunning and I hope to pass it to my daughter one day.

In my case as a secret hoarder, less is more. When Mike and I got married our apartment was completely full of my stuff and he only had a rack full of clothes! But this space probably means so much to me, simply because Mike has been saving pictures from Pinterest to create it...