Hi there!

I was very busy this weekend, playing hand-ball with the boys, crafting, painting cabinetry, painting our mantle, cutting in the paint on the ceiling...  So much painting.  *sigh*  My wrist hurts.  But all the kitchen cabinets are done!!! With the exception of some doors/drawer faces.







Such a relief!  Once the ceiling and the rest of the cabinet doors are done I'll be a seriously happy lady.  I'm putting Daniel right to work when he gets home this weekend. ;)  That'll teach him to leave me for 3 weeks to rear our children and fix up the money pit house.  Ha Ha

Saturday night my pal Tracy came over for some wine crafting and musical watching.  First, we made giant letters, inspired by this Pinterest post:

 Here's my version:


I cut out the letters in cardboard and spray glued glitter to them.  We ran out of glitter. LOL Also I finished them with lacquer to make the glitter stay better and it didn't dry clear. :(  So they look unintentionally "frosted".  I'll pick up some more glitter and touch them up.  I'm gonna try them on a burlap ribbon.  Hopefully they'll look as classy as the Pinspiration when I'm done.

We watched Gypsy (the one with Bette Midler) and made coffee filter wreaths as well.  Once again, Pinspired.  The link I pinned didn't have great directions but I knew she used coffee filters and hot glue so we winged it.  I'm really happy with how ours came out!  Here's mine:


I got really big filters from Staples (of all places) and just folded them into triangles and hot glued the bottom to a cardboard ring that I cut out.  Easy peasy, except for the burns sustained to my fingertips.  That comes with the hot gluing territory though.  Gonna hit the dollar store for some sort of glitzy ornament to adorn this with.  Tracy suggested spray glitter but I think I like the clean look of the white.

I attempted to hang the wall art I made too buuuut I'm gonna have to wait for Daniel on this too.


Turns out that sign is very heavy.  Need his man-muscles to hoist that baby up.  Twas a bit scary up there. LOL I think it'll look great once it is up, can't wait.

This week I'll be in cleaning mode.  The house looks like a bomb dropped on it.  At least it was because I was getting stuff done, so I guess it was worth it.

Have a great week!
♥ Holly ♥

Hello y'all!
     I was a busy little beaver this weekend!  Halloween was easy peasy this year.  We went to our church which had a Trunk-or-Treat festival, complete with free  bouncers, cotton candy, kettle corn and beverages.  Didn't have to pass out candy, yay for me!  The kids had a blast too, they were Wolverine and Spider Man.

Jack (left) and Dylan (right)

At the last minute I was inspired by my holey jeans and went as Garth from Wayne's World.

Scarily close... LOL

Good times!  Love it when I can whip up a free costume.  The boys were only like $15 each at Costco so we got off pretty easy this year.

In other news, I was inspired last week by a sign I saw on Pinterest:

I had just the leftover piece of plywood for the job too!


I slapped some white paint on the board, not too perfect for a more "white washed" or distressed look.  I traced the lettering onto a piece of brown paper which I measured to be the same size as the board, used clamps to attach the paper to the board and cut out the letters with a box cutter.  Then I used paint that my mom had leftover from a bench she fixed up and a toll painting brush to fill in the letters.  Voila!


I changed "WATER" to "LAKE" since we live by the lake.  Now that it's dry I'll be sanding it a bit to distress it further and hanging it in a big bare spot above the stairs.  I'll be sure to post a pic once it's up.  I love the way it came out!  And I love FREE home decor, don't you?

Saturday night I had craft night with my mom and mother in law.  Inspired by another Pin, we made these:
It's not too early for Christmas ornaments, right??  I didn't think so. ;)  Foam balls, a little bit of ribbon to hang them, buttons and pins.  Super easy craft.  The boys each made one too.  As soon as they went to bed Friday night, I was watching cheesy Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel. LOL  Can you tell Christmas is my favorite holiday?? 

Saturday afternoon I also painted more kitchen boxes.  Only two small sections left and a few doors/drawers!  It's really coming along.  Can't wait till the hubby gets home from his work trip to see what I've done.  That's the only thing I like about him being away is the surprises I get to share when he returns.  Hoping to have all the boxes done by the time he gets back.

TaTa for now!
♥ Holly ♥

Hey guys!
   I've been pretty quiet this month, mostly because I haven't gotten much accomplished.  I didn't want to write a bunch of posts about nothing and waste your time. ;)

This past weekend we actually finished a whole section of cabinetry!

Really need to paint that ceiling... Sheesh.

I love the way this picture shows the "before" and "after".  Really quite a dramatic effect, if I do say so myself. ;)  I am so in love with them!!!   Seriously, look at the "before", basically anything is an improvement.

"before" caulking the seams

"after" caulking.

 A little bit of caulk goes a long way to improving the finished look.  So much better after.

Closeup

I like the way you can still see the wood grain.  Got new hardware too.  Just the cheap stuff that comes in 10 packs for contractors at Home Depot.  I forgot to take a pic but the old hinges were nasty.  I cleaned them and they were 10 times better but still ugly old brass.  Yuck. 

Just imagine how much better it'll look when they're all done, plus the backsplash and countertops.  I can see a light at the end of the kitchen makeover tunnel!  Haha  Every time I look at these cabinets it brings a big smile to my face.

Couple of notes:  I had to hand brush a few cabinets to touch up and they came out just dandy.  So don't be afraid to hand brush your cabinets.  Don't put polycrylic or anything on them.  Just leave it at 3 coats of paint.  You can always touch up.  The poly stuff I put on a few of these turned yellow right away.  Hence the touching up.  I also hand brushed the boxes and they came out perfectly.

Yahoo for progress!
Have a great week, y'all!
☺Holly☺