Salt,Pepper and some Glaze (No, this is not a recipe.)

I have been looking for something to put on the walls at our guest house, and I think I have found it. I saw these salt and pepper wooden signs at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago, and I fell in love with them. But I didn’t get them because I wasn’t sure if they would look good in the guest house , and they weren’t on sale.

However, I went back to HL this past week and the pictures were still there, and they were calling my name. Plus, they were on sale! 50% off! What’s a girl supposed to do?

So, they made their way home with me and on my wall, and I think I like them. What do you think?

Yes, my husband still has one more drawer to make in the kitchen. And I am still looking for white dishes to fill my shelves.

BUT, I have made progress on our guest house bedroom furniture. I actually used glaze for the first time. I am going to show the whole process on a later post, but I’ll give you a glimpse…

This was a bedroom suite I bought over 15 years ago (when I was single), that we used when we first got married. It’s been in storage for a while now, and I knew if I used it again that I would definitely be painting it. It was natural wood color, and I thought I would paint it black. But I decided to paint it white for the guest house, and then I decided to try my hand at glazing. The complete project coming soon…:)

Thanks for stopping by,

Traci

A Hutch Re-do

I have been looking for a black hutch or cabinet to hold my white dishes in for some time.

I was so excited when I got this hutch at a yard sale for $70.00.

I loved the dental molding and glass doors. And even though it was a little “dressier” than I was looking for, I KNEW it would look great painted black.

So I took all the doors off (except the middles ones…they do not open).

See the red bowls on top of each piece? I made sure to put the right hinges in the correct bowl to make sure they ended up where they started!

Then I used a liquid sander all over each piece before I painted.

Then I painted each piece black.

Notice it’s getting dark outside. I worked all evening on this and into the night! I was just so excited to get a new piece of furniture!

I had a hard time getting a good picture of it finished, because the lights from my windows and chandelier kept showing up in the glass windows of the hutch.

But I am very pleased with how it turned out.

All the dishes in the cabinet are from Goodwill except the Target birds, Southern Living cake stand, and green pitcher from Marshalls.

It also has a light that we can turn on that looks especially nice at night.

I haven’t decided what type of handles to put on the hutch yet, I am still waiting for some inspiration!

I hope you enjoyed this Hutch Re-do!

If you want to see other great transformations, head over to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Just click on the picture below.

Blessings,

Traci

Not a Coincidence!

“Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above.”

James 1:17

I have to share a story of PRAISE with you.

I have been wanting a laptop (in particular, an Hp) for over a year now. And I have wanted it even more since I have been blogging the past few months.

I have a computer in my upstairs office that is extremely slow and so old that I cannot even use my new camera software on it or charge an ipod on it. We do most of our “living” downstairs, but I don’t really have a good place to put my computer. It’s hard to watch the kids (downstairs) and be on the computer (upstairs) at the same time. I also don’t like the boys doing homework or playing on the computer if I am not upstairs to supervise. Thus, the dilema…I NEED, I mean, I WANT a laptop!

So I have been asking my hubby for one for quite some time, but we have never had the extra funds for it. It was a want, not a necessity.

Well, on Sunday, my hubby told me we had some extra money from a bonus he got at work, and said that we had $350.00 that we could use for a laptop, IF I could find one for that amount. Yippee! Of course I can find one, I thought…

So I skipped off to Best Buy with a smile on my face, looked at laptops for a bit, stood in shock at the prices of these small little machines, and then sadly went back home with the realization that $350.00 wasn’t that much after all.

I searched the internet that night for deals on laptops, and even looked on ebay…but the prices were way too high. Then I looked on Craigslist in our area, and the first post read “Hp laptop for $350.00”! I couldn’t believe it!

The info and the picture looked great, so I emailed him. He said it was still for sale. I had him contact my husband since dealing with people on Craigslist makes me a little nervous. And they met at Starbucks the next day, Monday.

I was still thinking this was too good to be true, and we were going to get scammed somehow. But that wasn’t the case at all.

Here’s the cool part…

The guy was selling it for his girlfriend and they were both students at a small bible college. I think he is going into music ministry. The computer was only 3 months old and they had paid $600.00 for it. He had driven the day before to meet someone to sell it and they didn’t show up. (Thank heavens! Literally!) When he opened up the laptop to show my husband, this was his screensaver…

The password was “live4him”, and the media player was filled with contemporary Christian music!

When my husband told me all of this, I knew that God was telling me that this laptop was a gift from Him. Honestly, I hadn’t even prayed for a laptop, because I knew that we couldn’t really afford one.

But I know that my God is a God that knows the desires of our hearts without us saying a word! And he takes pleasure in giving us unexpected blessings!

Now I’m not saying that if you believe in God that he will bless you with material things. On the contrary, most of the time our lives as Christians are marked by trials and suffering. But through those times, God still blesses us with spiritual gifts, PEACE, JOY, PATIENCE, STRENGTH, WISDOM, HOPE, and many more.

God shows me his blessings every day…

*the faces of my four sweet little boys singing his praises in the back of the car

*a loving husband who provides for our family

*warm sunshine on my face

*cokes in the McDonald’s drive-thru :)

*soft pillows to lay my head on at night

*popcorn and movies

*baseball season

*FORGIVENESS OF MY SINS!

I know you all could make your own list of the blessings you have received. I could go on forever!

But I especially thank God today for my laptop. Would I still love Him if I was still looking for a laptop? Absolutely. Would I still love Him if I never found one at all…you better believe it!

This was just the cherry on top of the beautiful life he has already given me.

Some people would say this was just a coincidence, but I know better.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen!” Ephesians 3:20

In Awe of His Goodness,

Traci

Cottage-style Cabinets

I participated in Metamorphosis Monday for the first time last week. I had so much fun reading all the comments that were left on my post, that I decided to do it again! Last week, I shared my Goodwill chairs that I painted and covered for a completely different look for our guest house. Click here if you would like to see them.

This week, I want to share with you the old cabinets from our kitchen makeover that we re-used for our guest house.

Here they are…

They used to have ugly doors on them like this…

I wanted to have a cottage feel to our guest house, so I asked my husband to make me some new doors. And this is what he made…

He used bead board for the middle and poplar wood for the trim. I wish I could show you pictures of the steps he took to make them, but he made them before I could get out to the garage to take pictures.

He used hidden hinges to attach them to the old cabinets and then painted them white.

Then he hand-made some drawers out of 1/2 inch birch plywood and bought the drawer kit (you know, the metal bar that the drawer rolls on) at Lowe’s for about $7.00 each.

Then we added the black hardware and wha-la!

Now, you may notice the beautiful tile countertop my husband installed, and you can see more pictures of it here.

If you would like to see other amazing transformations, click on the picture below.

Hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Have a great Monday,

Traci

Countertops, Cabinets, and a Door

We have made some more progress on our Guest house.

First, let me tell you about the countertop. I am so excited about how it turned out. I actually like the “look” of tile better than the granite countertops in my kitchen. I think the tile goes perfectly with the “cottage” look.

Here’s the picture of before.

Here’s the after! I just love it!

We had bought some 6x6 tiles at first, but decided to go with the larger 12x12 tile. Plus, it was less expensive. The backsplash is tumbled travertine that my husband found at the Habitat Store. They were in 12x12 sheets and were only .60 cents each! They still have these exact 12x12 sheets at Lowes for $9.98 each! We were thrilled. So Cy cut them into 2x12 sheets and used them for our backsplash.

I also love the look of the braided trim piece we picked out to go under the tile edge. It gives it a beautiful finished look.

We have also added handles to the cabinets and drawers. This is the first time Cy has hand made drawers and cabinet doors, and I think he did an amazing job. And you can see on the right, we got a stove put in. It’s not stainless steel because we definitely cannot afford to put that in our guest house. I don’t even have that in my own kitchen! I think the black stove looks nice with the rest of the kitchen.

Here’s another look at the tile.

Here’s a picture of the sink surrounded with tile. Remember the sink? We got it at the Habitat Store for $7.00, and I think it looks perfect with the tile!

Cy has hung the door to the bedroom. In order to save money, and be green :), we re-used a door that was leftover from a remodel at his sister’s house. I forgot to take a “before” picture of the door, but here is a picture of a folding door we also salvaged from my sis-in-law that is the same color. We will be repainting this door too and using it for our bathroom.

At first, I didn’t think I would like the look of the louvered doors. However, we had to use them because there is only one return vent in the guest house, and we needed to allow circulation through the doors. But now that it is painted white and hanging up, I think it looks great. It has a cottage “vibe”, don’t ya think?

I took these pictures today, and Cy is on his way home from Lowe’s right now with a knob to put on the door. It will be an oil-rubbed bronze knob. I’ll get pictures of that when we get the bathroom door up as well.

Do you see something in the right of the picture that wasn’t there before?

It’s my next (or hopefully very soon) project…

It’s my super, great Goodwill bargain I got for only $30.00! It’s a Broyhill love seat and it is in excellent condition. It just needs a new look, like my chairs did!

I’m going to re-cover it with an off-white canvas-type material. You know, Pottery Barn style….

Okay, I probably won’t be able to make it look THIS good, but you get the idea! It will be super comfy, perfect for an afternoon nap on a rainy day. (Or the perfect hiding spot from my 4 boys! …just kidding…)

Here’s the side view.

These pictures make it look huge, but it really isn’t. I’m going to put some extra stuffing in the pillows and add some more cute throw pillows too. I also want to add a skirt to the bottom to make it look more cottage-like. It will take me a while, but I will definitely post the results when I am finished.

Then I will have to decide where to place it in the room and decide how it will look best with my two “new” chairs. Maybe you can help me decide…

That’s all for now…Gotta go rock my sweet “Birthday Boy” to sleep.

Blessings,

Traci

Happy Birthday, sweet Eli!

View Full Album

We Prayed for this child and the Lord

has granted us what we asked of Him.

1 Samuel 1:27

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Jonathan, Luke, and Adam

A Budding Artist

We have discovered that our youngest son, Eli, (who turns two on Wednesday) is quite the artist! He has displayed his talent all over our house.

Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy his masterpieces.

He has mastered making circles…

What do you think? Michelangelo, move over?

Funny part is…that’s only half of it!

But how do I get mad at this face?!!!

Oh, Mommy’s sweet boy!

P.S. I am hoping to win a pillow from HudsonGoods.com at The Lettered Cottage. There are three I love and can’t decide which one I would want.

The reason is…they would go perfectly in my son, Adam’s room. Check this out!

You can’t really see it in this picture, but the duvet cover and sheets have old trucks on them. It’s from Pottery Barn. Here’s a better picture.

You can check out other items at HudsonGoods.com, or sign up to win a pillow too at The Lettered Cottage.

Wish me luck!

Goodwill chairs makeover

*****This is an older post that I am linking to Furniture Feature Friday at Mustard Seed Creations. Go check out the party!

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I have finally completed my Goodwill chairs! I am so very excited about this makeover! It is exactly what I envisioned.

For some background information…

My husband and I are creating a guest house above our garage. (To see our progess so far, click here and here.) We are almost finished, but it needs furniture. We are on a very tight budget, so I have been frequently visiting Goodwill hoping to find something I could re-do or restore.

I came upon two chairs a while back that I instantly fell in love with. I didn’t like the color, but they had great “bones”. I loved the design on the back, I loved the wood they were made of, and they were extremely sturdy and comfortable. Best of all, I got them both for $30.00!

Here’s the before.

At first, I was going to paint the material. Yes, I said paint! I learned about it from a post at One Woman’s Cottage Life. But then I realized you wouldn’t see the cool design on the back of the chair if I left it covered with the material. So I decided to remove the material on the back.

I also removed the seat by simply unscrewing it on the bottom. I wanted to cover the seat with new material.

Then I had the fun task of removing one thousand staples! I’m serious, it seemed like a thousand! So I enlisted some help…

That’s my oldest son, Jonathan. He’s almost 10, and he is a work horse. He loves helping me and his dad with all of our projects. Luke and Adam also helped, but I forgot to snap a pic.

The next day, I had blisters on the palms of my hands from all the staples we removed. No pain, no gain, right?

Then I spray painted the chairs black, and they started looking much better.

That’s Jonathan’s feet in the background. He was helping me spray paint the wicker plant stand. (Don’t know where I’m going to use that yet!)

Then I bought some off white material to cover the seats.

I love using a staple gun. Covering a seat is so easy. Just be sure to pull the material real taunt before you staple. And if you mess up, you can easily pull the staple out and start over. (I know that from lots of experience!)

I just folded the corners over like so, nothing fancy.

Then I just re-attached the seats with a screwdriver, and I was finished!

What-a-ya think? I pulled the pillow off my bed to show you what it would look like with a pillow on it. I haven’t found the pillows I want just yet. I may buy them, or find some material I like and make them. I also thought a monogrammed pillow would look good.

Here’s a picture of the backs of the chairs.

I paid $30.00 for the chairs, $2.00 for a can of spray paint, and $6.00 for the material. Not bad for $38.00!

And they fit perfectly into my cottage style guest house.

Well, I hope you like my transformation! (By the way, I got the rug they are sitting on at Goodwill too…only $25.00!)

I am participating in Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. If you want to see other amazing transformations you can click on the picture below.

Blessings,

Traci