Friday Guest: Sarah from The Thriftress (And a Big Announcement!!!)

Happy Friday!  I have had quite an insane week... sending both kids off to full time school for the first time ever, winning some awesome pillows from Amber Interiors, cutting my leg open and getting it stapled back together, and finding out I am a finalist in the Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger awards!!!!!!   Yes, I received an email about that last one Tuesday night and I did not say a word because I felt like it wasn't real.  I had to know it was true before I told you all!  I am just so excited that someone even nominated me in the first place, and then to become a finalist!  Well, that is exciting stuff!  UPDATE: PAGE IS UP- just use the link provided!  There will be a page up later where you can vote for a reader's choice award, and I will be begging asking you nicely pretty please with a cherry on top to head over and vote for me.  You can vote every day!  And I have to tell you, I really appreciate your vote as a reader's choice, because when I saw that I am up against my friend, Karianne at Thistlewood Farms, I knew I did not stand a chance to actually win in the decorating category.  That girl is amazing!  ( I actually emailed my family to beg for votes and my dad said he checked out Thistlewood, and had to vote for her.  Thanks, Dad).  I still can't believe it's real, just like I can't believe there are a bunch of staples in my leg.  After such an eventful week, I am thinking that a relatively stress free weekend is in order.

Anyhow, to wrap up this crazy week, I have a fabulous guest poster who happens to be a fabulous friend of mine as well as an awesome business partner in our venture, persephone.  Sarah, aka The Thriftress,  is one talented and creative lady and I am so lucky to have her in my life!  It's so fun to do something you love with someone you love who makes it even more fun!  Sarah is going to share with you an awesome makeover today (you are going to L-O-V-E it!).  Before we get to that I am going to show you a couple of my favorite images from Sarah's blog....
How cute is her daughter's room?  The bright green Jenny Lind bed is amazing!




And an all time favorite is her Christmas mantle from last year.... How awesome is that deer?


Sarah has a great style and mixes traditional with edgy vintage.... I think you are going to love her if you don't already!  Here she is...


Hello Primitive and Proper readers!  I'm Sarah from the blog The Thriftress and I am beyond thrilled to be here today.  This week I've been doing a series of furniture before and after projects at my blog.  What better way to end this week-long extravaganza than with a furniture transformation guest post for my pal Cassie?

I found this little guy via Craigslist.  I loved the petite size and campaign style - perfect for the small space where I needed a desk in our family room.

When I picked up the desk I discovered that it was actually handmade and not a manufactured vintage piece as I had believed.  Luckily the desk was solidly built and only $10 bucks.  But the before is pretty brown and blah.  We can do something about that right?

I started the makeover by removing the hardware and drawers.  I gave the body of the desk a good cleaning and quick sanding to smooth out a few scratches and dings.  Then I applied two coats of homemade chalk paint using Glidden paint plus primer in Deepest Aqua.   (I love to make my own chalk paint with paint plus primer.  The coverage is perfect if you want a minimally distressed or sleek, solid finish for your piece.)

At first, I considered painting a herringbone pattern on the drawer fronts.  But after the desk body was dry I put the drawers back in and loved the contrast between the dark wood and aqua paint.  This look totally works in our warm, rustic family room and my brown chevron curtains!
For the finishing touches the hardware was rub n buffed with antique gold and I scored the fabulous barrel back rolling chair at my local Salvation Army for $20. I think they make quite the pair.

I've been blogging from this spot for a few days and find that I am way more productive here than lounging on the couch.  The kids went back to school this week and I've found a way to capture a little bit of that scholarly excitement for myself!

I even perched my business card on the corner of the desk in an antique frog as a little reminder to stay focused.

I love my new desk so much it inspired a mantel project you can check out here. Thanks for joining me for this campaign desk makeover and thanks to Cassie for having me!

Rustic Wine Crates and A Little Trip to the Emergency Room

So yesterday Emmy was home with me as Kindergarten does a staggered start.  She had her first day Monday, then goes back today. My business partner, Sarah aka The Thriftress, was coming over so we could go thrift and then come back so our daughters could play and we could all have lunch together (including a salad I was going to make using figs from my mom's fig tree!)  Well, plans totally changed.

Let me backtrack a little here.  A few days ago, Emmy had accidentally broken a drinking glass.  It was one of Sawyer's Star Wars drinking glasses I had given him for his birthday, so I was consoling him while Chris cleaned up, and tossed the glass into the kitchen trash.

Yesterday when I went to put the trash out, I didn't think about that glass.... I carried it out to the driveway and felt something sharp, so I tried to move the bag to readjust.  When I did, that something sharp (which turned out to be two sharp pieces of the glass poking out) cut me deeply in two places across my left calf.  It was pretty messy and scary and I was bleeding heavily.  I ran into the house where Emmy was in the kitchen, and I grabbed some paper towels and wet them quickly and sat on the floor.  Emmy stayed very calm, thankfully, and as I asked her to get more paper towels and wet them for me, she obliged and was super helpful.  I called Chris in a panic, because I didn't even know what hospital to go to, but I knew I needed to go.  He suggested I call our neighbor, so I did.  It turned out Travis, my amazingly talented neighbor who built my headboard, was still home and about to take his daughter to school.  He came right over and even brought bandages and wrapped up my leg for me.  He then drove me, Emmy, and his daughter to the emergency room.  Once I was checked in, he took Emmy with him to bring his daughter to school.  (She happens to be in Sawyer's class so I made sure to tell her when she got to school to let him know I was OK.  I was afraid she was going to let him know that she and her dad brought me to the hospital and I didn't want him to worry).  He then waited in the lobby with Emmy.  I ended up having staples put in my leg- I didn't count and I didn't really look as it was pretty gross... but I would guess there are somewhere between 10 and 15 staples in my leg at the moment.  It's covered with bandages thankfully, so I don't have to look at it til it's time to change bandages (as I typed this yesterday afternoon!)

I am doing fine, and the doctor said I would be able to even ride my bike with the staples in.  I took yesterday easy and sat on the couch with my leg up, but I think by tomorrow I will be ready to try heading out for a ride.  I learned a couple of things through all of this....
1. If you throw broken glass into your trash, take it out immediately, or wrap it in newspaper before even throwing it away.
2. Good neighbors are priceless, and we have the best.  We will be surprising them with a gift card to Carraba's (one of their favorite places to go) as well as an offer to babysit whatever night they use it.  I don't know what I would have done if Travis had not been home, and I am so thankful.

I am stapled and put back together, and am thankful for general good health.  A few staples never hurt.  I may end up with some scars, but at least I have my legs, right?

Now onto today's project!  Recently I acquired a few empty wine crates.  Don't ask how.  I didn't drink all the wine that came in them...  Ha ha!  Seriously though a friend gave me some stuff to take home and she used them just to box them up, so they were free to me!  I knew I could use them for something, and literally two days after I got them I came across this post from Sand and Sisal.  And I pinned it faster than you can say pinspiration!

Kim took this plain old box....

And gave it a more weathered look and added handles...

Didn't Kim do an awesome job?  I love the washed gray look she gave these boxes.  You can read the full tutorial for hers on her site.

I didn't take a picture of mine before, but they were similar to Kim's- just plain unfinished wood with the brands stamped onto them.  I did have to remove some sticky labels as well and sand those areas lightly.

I wanted mine to have a warm rustic look, so I used Annie Sloan dark wax to both stain and finish them.  I used a rag to just wipe it on.

Then I went through my stash of hardware to find some handles I thought would fit each well.  I drilled holes, added the handles, and voila!

This one had a red stain on the two ends of the box, and I sanded it to weather it before I applied the wax.

Thank you so much, Kim, for the inspiration!


Sharing here:
Nellie Beliie Stinky Linky

Bright Turquoise Dresser and The First Ghosts of the Season

First of all, you can find me over at The DIY Club today sharing how I created these ridiculously easy ghosts for my Halloween porch...

It would be weird if I went ahead and hung them now, wouldn't it?  When do you think it's safe to hang them without being the Halloween-crazed neighbor???
Anyhow, if you want to make some for your porch or house, head on over to The DIY Club for all the details and steps!

Now, about amonth ago, the kids were taking swim lessons at a particular YMCA which had my favorite Salvation Army somewhat close by.  The kids knew this and really wanted to make a visit to the SA one day after swim.  So we packed up their clothes to change into and got ready to head out the door when the phone rang, and the woman on the other end let me know that due to storms, lessons were cancelled.  I told the kids they could just play or relax because swim was cancelled....  "What?  Can we still go to the Salvation Army??? PLEASE!!!"  Well, twist my arm!  Let's go!

So off we went.  We visited the toy section first where the kids each picked a 25 cent toy.  Seriously.  That is why they love to go.  Then we checked out the furniture, and I found this dresser with a $50 price tag.  One of the drawers needed some love, but other than that it was in good shape structurally.  I didn't bring a tape measure, but I was hoping it would fit in my trunk if I tied the hatch down.  As luck would have it, it just fit.  We headed home, with Emmy peering over her shoulder the whole ride, for fear that the dresser was going to drop out the back....

 Here the kids are after we all arrived home safely, dresser still in tact, even if hanging out the back!
And here is what the dresser looked like in its before state.  Totally worth risking losing it out the back, right?

I sanded it lightly, used my Benjamin Moore tinted primer left from my own dresser, followed by Aura Surf Blue, just like my dresser.  I only had to do one coat of each and had great coverage.  I gave it a good distressing over all, and then I went over it with Annie Sloan dark wax.  I have had a lot of trouble with this wax in the past, and I am sure it is a user error and not the wax!  Anyhow, as with the orange dresser I recently did, the wax took beautifully to this non-chalk paint!  It gave it a gorgeous glazed effect.  And now, my friends, I can say that dark wax and I are friends.
Here is the after!

I brought this piece with me to the barn sale a couple weekends back, and am happy to report it found a new home.

So are you friends with dark wax yet?  Did it take you as long as it took me to form a trusting relationship?

Sharing here:
Jennifer Rizzo

POWW 103: A Furniture Link Party

POWW 103, bringing you today's top hits and some of yesterday's favorites.... doesn't "POWW 103" sound like a radio station name?

Before I get to the party today, how about a couple of self indulgent pictures of my kiddos headed to their first day of school?

Dressed and ready!

Heading down the driveway for the bus stop!

Getting on the bus for the first time- She was so excited!

They both came home reporting a great first day and are so excited about the year ahead.  I had a peaceful day.  I am also looking forward to the year ahead!

Anyhow, onto the party.... A friend recently gave me a couple antique beds to work on... this one had such a cool stripped finish, but unfortunately the rails did not match the finish.  Otherwise, I would have waxed it and called it a day because it was so neat!

You can see in the image above that the bed was missing some sort of decorative piece which once went on the footboard.  I had to come up with a solution for that as well....

I painted the bed with 3 coats of General Finishes Milk Paint in Linen, which is a gorgeous natural color.  Recently, Stylish Patina started carrying this line of paint after I raved about it to Kelly. :)  She has both the pints and quarts in stock and can ship, and also carries all of their awesome colors, lamp black being my all time favorite black like ever.  This paint goes on so nicely and smoothly, you do not have to sand or prime, and the finish is just gorgeous!  It lends well to a distressed look, but it could very easily lend to a more modern look as well, which is  not true of most chalk and milk paints.

Anyhow, after painting it, I distressed it... this paint adheres so well, that I actually used my orbital sander to distress. (I normally do it by hand).  Then I followed it up with a clear finishing wax, and finally, I added a number "2" to the footboard to fill in the missing piece.  Here it is now!

I just love how natural the distressing looks with this paint.  And I am loving this linen color- it's a nice warm white.

Now, let's see what you have been up to!  Please please please remember the rules.  I really do not like being a meanie and deleting links.

RULES:
1. Your post must be a completed original project and must be a furniture redo or build.
2. Your post must be new to my parties- do not link something you have shared on this blog before.
3. You must be a follower to party here.

4. No etsy shops or the like!

5. You must place my button or a text link in your post or sidebar.
6. Leave others some comment love!

Blogging Without Borders: Kids Bath Reveal

First of all, it's Monday, the 27th.  Do you know what that means?  That means that my kids go back to school today!  Hallelujah!  Let freedom ring!  Bottoms up! Of course, it also means that my baby is getting on the bus for the first time today, heading to kindergarten.  I may be shedding some tears this morning.... eh, who am I kidding?  Those are tears of JOY mixing with some delirious giggles...  Wish us all luck!

Anyhow, if you have been following along in the past 8 weeks, I have been working with several other bloggers on progressive home improvement projects.  Here is a list of all of us who participated!

I have been working on improving my kids bathroom area, which really is just a vanity area.  Do you remember where we started 8 weeks ago?  This is a dark and horrid picture, but it pretty much looked like this:

And I had some goals for it if you recall....
-replacing the mirror
-painting the walls
-painting the vanity
-replacing hardware
-MAYBE lighting but doubtful since it scares me (though there is that whole without borders thing i guess)
-painting the trim
- creating a hook rack
- paint the ceiling????  This would be me pushing my limits.  I have never painted a ceiling.  This would be a nice small one to start with!


I am happy to report that I achieved all except the lighting.  It's still part of my plan, but with summer ending, school starting up again, and Sawyer's birthday party last weekend, I just didn't have the time to find a fixture I love.  I did look at Home Depot, but I wasn't thrilled by any choices, and I want to make sure that I truly love what I purchase.
So that being said, all else is done!  Let's have a little look-see.
Voila!  The newly painted, mirrored, hook-racked, knobbed space!  Oh, and I got a fun new turquoise bath mat at Ikea.

Do you see the new faucet?  I will tell you more about that in a second....

I ordered this print from Etsy a long time ago and had it in Emmy's room in our old house.  The color is perfect in here, and I love the little motivational message for the kids in the morning.  A "Yes, you can!" if you will.  And yes, we have 2 kids, 4 brushes.... they like to alternate and use the one that floats their boat that day!

And now here is the new faucet!  It is not what I would have selected, honestly, but I found it at a yard sale for $5 and it was new.  Money talks, my friends.  I will make the $5 version work!  And the crystal handles tie in to the new crystal knobs well.

The "new" mirror is a vintage aqua chippy mirror I have had for a few years.  I have never painted it- it's been like this as long as I have had it and I love it that way!  I am so glad I hoarded held onto it when we moved because the color and size and look are perfect in here.

Hey, there's my camera! :)

And of course, there are the "new" hooks I hung on the wall for the kids towels.

And just for fun, let's check out how much I spent....

One can of Zinnser primer- app $10
Trim Paint- had on hand
Wall paint- leftover from downstairs bath
Orange Paint- courtesy of Dutch Boy
Switchplates- app $14 (these were a splurge for me, but I liked the look!)
Number Stencils- $1 clearance from Home Depot
Bath Mat- $13
Faucet- $5
Mirror- had on hand

Total spent: $43!!!!  I am going to splurge on one fancy light fixture when the time comes! ;)

Make sure to visit the other ladies and see their progress reports (see, I am back in school mode, already!)

Amy @ Buffalo Roam, Dana @ Crafted Niche, Jaime @ Crafty Scrappy Happy, Heidi @ Décor & More, Tisha @ Delectable Home, Shannon @ Fox Hollow Cottage, Kirby @ Kirb Appeal, Holly @ Life as a Thrifter, Cassie @ Primitive & Proper, Debbie @ ReFresh ReStyle, Jessica @ Stay At Home-ista, Karah @ the space between, Laura @ Top This Top That and Kelly @ View Along the Way.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have 8 hours to myself to fill up.... 


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