Dresser...in progress

So, I'm getting there with my dresser. This is an all around first for me. I have only spray painted once before and it was a small project. This is huge by comparison. I just thought I'd give you all a heads up as to how I am staying busy.

 

All primed using Zinsser 1-2-3. I've never really used paint in spray form. I've really only used paint on a brush be it painting walls or painting art. I always brushed on never sprayed so this is new to me. Is there somewhere that tells it to you like you're 4 exactly how much primer to use? When I did this I started out spray painting by hand and then later bought a spray paint can helper. (Review to come.) So my inexperience obvious, when you prime, do you do an even coat or is it just enough to block out the underlying color you are trying to cover?

Kind of splotchy.

All the pieces.

 

All put together.

The Man said he liked it this way. He said it looked cool. As it is, you can see kind of a blue tinted dresser that almost looks like it is distressed. Then the Man explained to me why he liked it. He said it looks like snow camouflage.

It is definitely getting fixed. I am not having camouflage in my decor. Snow camouflage....REALLY?

I can't wait to show you the finished project.

Linking up at DebbieDoos 
Making the World Cuter
Made by you Mondays 

                                          Eve

Hardware Reformations

I am in the process of transforming a dresser to my liking and one of the things that has stumped me was the hardware. I spent a great deal of time trying to find a dresser in my price range that had a lot of detail and I finally did.  The next thing to do was pick a paint color. Done. And now I am addressing the hardware. The hardware on this piece was rather specific to the dresser and I think3
I would be hard pressed to even attempt to change them out because they are so specific with the design. But who knows, maybe I'll try that later. So what could I do? Paint it perhaps. I had decided to go neutral for the dresser color doing what I know so many other people have done. It's really because I haven't picked out my wall colors yet so I don't want to make my dresser some funky color only to have to paint my room to match or worse, have it clash with the wall colors. I digress, the hardware should have been easy. Clean it up and paint it...black?...red?...green?...ARGH! I don't know. But I found a way to fix my problem. So I will give you this small sneak peak of my dresser transformation. Here is my before picture of the hardware.

 

Kind of bleh. Here it is after I fixed it.

And a side by side comparison.

Awesome, huh! The picture doesn't really do it justice. If you see it in person, it isn't quite so silver. It looks very distressed. I really wanted to do a pewter kind of patina with gray undertones instead of the brass/bronze undertones but I couldn't work it out this time. I'm going to try it out with my completed dresser and we'll see how it works out. If it doesn't, then I'll try something else.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this transformation. If you've done something similar or what worked for you. We love comments.

Lininking up with 

A Creative Princess

DebbieDoos

                                            Eve

Motts for Tots.

Everyone loves to treat their children once in a while but soda is just to much of a sweet thing.  Mott's has a line of juices for our little ones with 40% less sugar but 100% of the juicy goodness.  Want to sweeten the deal?  How about a coupon. 

Vocalpoint is a great website to become a member of.  They send you great coupons from time to time to try new products.  Now they are offering a coupon for Mott's.  If you are not a member now is a great time to join.  Sign up for your coupons now so you can enjoy the savings.  There is a limited number of these available so hurry, hurry, hurry!

http://www.vocalpoint.com/mottsfortots

Let us know if you were able to grab one of these deals and what you ended us with.

XOXO Mist

Product Review: Rub 'n Buff

By chance I came across a product called Rub 'n Buff. Whenever I find something new or new to me, I like to do research on it and see what people really think. I believe that being honest when it comes to reviews is the only way to have a review and I often skip over the reviews that seem so positive they feel like ads instead of reviews. When they quote a lot of the jargon used on the company's website or commercials I find it hard to believe. So this is my take on Rub 'n Buff.

For those of you who don't know what this stuff is, I refer you to Amaco's website. This is a metallic wax finish that can be used for antiquing or gold and silver leafing. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. I found Amaco's website rather user-unfriendly and basic but Rub 'n Buff is anything but. Like I said, I am really skeptical of reviews that are overly positive but sometimes it is what it is.

The tube is a mere 1/2 fl oz and they tell you a little goes a long way. I hear that a lot but I rarely agree. This time, however, I wholeheartedly agree. I antiqued 11 pieces of hardware for my dresser and if you look at the tube

 

this is what it looked like after I was done antiquing my hardware. It barely looks used if at all and it did all this.

 

When I was using it I barely touched the opening of the tube and I worked in small sections. The smallest amount covered a good portion so if you use this product actually listen to what they say. A little DOES go a LONG way. I was so excited to see the difference I was all smiles the entire time I did this and all the while I was plotting/planning what I was going to antique next. I used the silver leaf because that's all my Hobby Lobby had in the way of gray undertones. I would have really liked to have found a pewter finish. I'll keep looking for that or I may have to break down and order it online. But considering this tube cost me only about $4 and the tube looks like I haven't even used it, I think I will try this out on my finished project and if it doesn't work out, I would gladly try another. I love this stuff!

You can really see the finish in this photo.

So even though the product was for silver leafing, I was able to adjust how aged it looked simply by adding less and wiping it off with a dry rag. So easy. This stuff ROCKS!!!

Disclaimer: I have not been compensated for this review in any form and the opinions expressed are wholly my own.

                                      Eve

* I loved the look of this product.  When I saw it in person it was even better.  Eve even let me touch it and try to rub some off.  It held up very good to the abuse I put it through.  I brought it home to try it out on my light bar redo and it wasn't the same.  My light bar was shiny and brass.  I smudged it on but it looked like it was smeared in silver grease.  I was able to wipe it off with a paper towel for the most part but I had to act very fast and rub hard.  I think it would have held after I painted it but I didn't try.  I assume that it needs some detail or dull surface to hold on to.  In all fairness I only gave it a quick go due to trying to hide my project before the Hubby got home. I can see a million things I want to try this on.  A tiny bit goes a long way.  Look for this product to come up again.

XOXO Mist

Go Bananas!

Summer time is here and so are the kid's million requests for popsicles and ice cream.  As part of our Summer Blast we are trying to make some healthy changes.  If you have stock in ice cream it's time to sell because we are off the wagon.  So here is our solution.  Skip on the creamy calories and give me a frozen banana.  

A simple dip in chocolate and it's a treat the kids can't resist.  Creamy like ice cream with out all the naughty!

I used 3 bunches of bananas and two bags of melted chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Cut the banana in half and poke a stick through it. Dip in the melted chocolate and toss some almonds on the top and it's a treat you can eat.  Freeze them and pull from the freezer just like you would any other frozen treat.  I eat them when I need a quick treat to get me through a sweet tooth urge.

Linked up at DebbieDoos

                                  XOXO  Misty

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of my favorite soups to throw together, probably because my family will eat it.

Toss everything in a crock pot in the afternoon and its done by dinner time.  I cook on high until the chicken is done and then down to warm until we are ready to eat.

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can diced tomatoes (great value brand is what I used)
• a bunch of cilantro
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 small zucchini
• 6-8 cups of water to taste

At the table when I serve it I have cheese, chips and often frozen corn ( we use it to cool off the soup for the kiddos).  I let everyone salt and pepper their own but really with the bouillon its plenty salty.   You can add most any vegi to this and it will blend nicely.  Also if you want to make a freezer meal from this put everything but water in a bag and freeze it.  Add water when you are cooking it up.  Simple!

Nutritional information.
Whole dish- 584 calories.

• 16.7 grams of fat (3 saturated )
• 197.1 mg cholesterol
• 5,567.7 mg sodium
• 36.5 carbs
• 11.3 g fiber
• 24.7 g sugars
• 77 g protein

I break it up into 6 servings- 4 for dinner and 2 for meals later (freezes well)

Serving- 97 calories

• 2.8 g fat (0.5 saturated )
• 32.9 mg cholesterol
• 928 mg sodium
• 6.1 g carbs
• 1.9 g fiber
• 4.1 g sugar
• 12.8 g protein

XOXO Mist



It's the little things

I am sorry for my lack of posts as of late. I have been really busy. A couple of years ago we got rid of some large boulders in our back yard. Our neighbor came and got them. But since it was in late March, the ground was wet and he really tore up our yard. I have always hated the grass as it was not very soft and I like to barefoot it out on grass so we decided to just get rid of it. That was probably two years ago and we have finally  "gotten around to it." We seeded the yard for grass, planted a garden, and put in a fire pit.

Where we live there is really rocky soil...er, dirt. That being the case, we had to truck in topsoil. So 28 yards later, half of which we moved by hand, we have the beginnings of a yard.

I am elated! Really.

It's been awhile since I've been able to have a garden and grow my own vegetables. This year, I have a garden. A late one, but a garden none the less. I also have fruit trees. I know it will be a few years before they produce and I just found out that my peach tree needs a mate, but at least they are there. You may think me weird, but I find myself going outside just to see what has been growing. We seeded our grass over Memorial day weekend and it has just started to sprout. It's funny how the little things make us so happy. I know it's just the bare bones of a yard but I hope you can see the potential that it has and hopefully what I was going for. Here is a glimpse of what I have been doing for the past few weeks.

My sage in the front yard.

My Butterfly bush

Maple tree

I know it doesn't look like much, but I am really excited about my grass. It grows more every time I look at it. It's amazing!

Fruit tree

Nectarine...it smells so good already!

Raspberry bush

 Lettuce

Honestly I don't know what this is. I'm sure I'll find out later.

Linking up at DebbieDoos
Homemaker on a Dime

                                           Eve

Hair flair.

My daughter was born as girly as it gets.  My house is naked Barbie heaven.  She wants to look the part too and so we find a lot of ways to create her girly style rather then buy it all.  Its pricey stuff but so simple and cheap to make. 

These are made from things we have in our house everyday.  Items to gather are alligator style hair clips, hot glue gun, scissors, material and a small piece of felt.  I buy the clips at Sallys Beauty Supply in a box of 500.  Its a ton of clips but we go through a ton here.  I think they are really meant to hold curlers in place but if it works it works. 

Cut the felt in to tiny rectangles.  This will be glued in the top part of the clip.  Its best to put the felt in then try to glue it.  Pop the felt in, open the clip and run a strip of glue.  Let the clip close and the glue cool.  This makes a nice surface to glue the pretty things to. 

Cut the material into circles the size you want to use.  I think random cuts look best.  I fold the material over itself and cut the circles in one cut.  Split the circles in two piles if you are making two flower clips.  I don't have a magic number of circles, it depends on the material used and the desired flower.   For this is used 7 circles for each. 

Glue in the center and add each piece of material on top of another.  Its that simple.  I like to add a button or a different piece of material in the center to pull the look together.  Some people like to add a smaller piece of material.  Its all up to what you have and what you want to use.  I wrinkle them up a bit and they are good to go.  Simple and easy, just my style.  

Linked up at DebbieDoos

XOXO Mist

We've been featured!

We are so honored that we were featured on A Creative Princess. It's our first blog feature and we are so excited that Terri chose to feature us! If you're stopping by because you saw a project that you liked please feel free to poke around. We hope you find something else that strikes your fancy. It'd be great if you'd follow us too or even comment on what you see. We'd love to be friends and hear from you all!

                                     Misty and Eve

Old hack even cheaper (AKA coffee filter wreath)

I know that this has been done all over blogland and since I am late in the game on decorating, I am only recently attempting it. I tell people that I want my home to be inviting, cozy, and look like we're not renting. And since I've started blogging I find myself out on the quest to make new friends (like Tracy H, Susan, and Daniella...Hi!). That leads me to the ever addicting habit of blog stalking. It's like a disease! I just can't stop. I see so many awesome things out there to make or do and it leads me to wonder just how many pages I can bookmark before my computer vomits. I haven't reached it yet but I'm sure that I'm close. I have only recently come across coffee filter wreaths and since I am not a wreath kind of person, I was surprised to find that I really like these. So I decided to put that one on the checklist for later. It has been raining quite a bit at my house so I figured that now would be the time. Luckily I had almost everything I needed. The only thing I didn't have was a wreath form. I saw that most people have used styrofoam wreath forms but I really didn't want to go to the store with all the kids so I had this brilliant idea that I would make my own. I gathered all my supplies and got to work.

I took an empty diaper box(bulk size of course), leftover scraps from my skirt/sheet project, my glue gun, and newspaper. I rummaged through my recycle bag for those. I had everything on hand, even the coffee filters. So I began by drawing a 12 inch circle on my cardboard diaper box. Then I drew a 9 inch circle within the 12 inch circle. I cut that out. That was to give me a shape. Sorry that I don't have a picture of that. Next I tore my newspaper into even pieces and scrunched them into balls. Hot glue those babies on both sides of the circle frame.

 Don't worry if it's not exact it won't matter.

 Next, take your fabric scraps, and tear them into strips. I then wrapped the strips of fabric around the newspaper frame.

At this point you can wrap it loosely or tightly to try to make the frame even all the way around. Glue you ends and Voila!

 A wreath frame out of trash, ahem...all ready on hand supplies. Now all that's left to do is attach the coffee filters. I only had these ones on hand so that is what I used.

Because of that, I cut mine out into circles and stuck the blunt end of a pen in the center. I then pushed the filter down over the pen and put my dot of glue in the center of the filter and then stuck it on pressing with the pen. Easy peasy. And 4 hours and 1 fit (not mine) later, I had this.

Awesome, huh! Notice the sneak peak which is the background. That'll be coming soon. I hope this inspired you to made do with what you have and try a new project...maybe a coffee filter wreath. If you decide to make this we'd love to hear about it. Link back to us and share the blog lovin.


Linked up at A Creative Princess

     

                                         Eve