Happy Easter | Easter Jar Project

Happy Easter Everyone! I hope that you are all having a great day and get to spend some time with your Family and Friends. While Jonathan heads to work this afternoon I am going to have Easter Dinner at with my family. Since my cousin continues to say there is nothing I can bring - I am taking Easter Jar Treats for everyone that will be there. I wanted to give you a quick tutorial in case you wanted to make some yourself!

Supplies

I was lucky enough to find all of the supplies for the Easter Jar Project at Target! Here is what you need:

Mason Jars | Quart Size

Jelly Beans | Assorted Colors

Easter Grass | Paper Shred

Curling Ribbon | Pastel Colors

Hallow Chocolate Bunnies | Baby Binks

Step by Step Directions

The first step is to wash the Mason Jars as this will ensure that everything is clean and ready to go for putting together your Easter Jars! Next you will fill the jars with Easter Grass, or in my case I used white paper shred from the gift wrap section at Target. After I added the grass, I used a wooden spoon to flatten the grass and make sure it was only taking up a quarter or less of the jar space. Wearing gloves I next opened the chocolate bunnies, and added one to each of the jars. Holding the bunny in place you will add the jelly beans, making sure they surround each bunny. Top the jars, add ribbon around the lids and you are ready to go!

I hope you enjoy you Easter and are able to make these fun treats for your family or friends!

Refinished Dresser - Part 2

For those of you that saw Part 1 of the dresser I have been working on, I am sure you want to see the final product. I decided that I wanted to paint the dresser gray, and choosing a shade of gray seemed to be impossible. I wanted something that was obviously gray, nothing so light it looks white, or so dark it looked black. After looking at a few different stores, and at least 50 shades of gray I decided on one and had it mixed at Home Depot. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the shade of gray that I picked and cannot find the paint chip that I saved, so all that I can tell you is that it is a Behr paint color.

After stripping and priming the dresser, I painted the dresser with 2 coats of paint. The paint took very well and that was all that was needed. On the back of the dresser I tried a couple of different clear coats and waxes, but everything left a glossy finish and it wasn't the look that I was going for. Until I can find a product that I think will leave the matte finish of the dresser, I will leave it as it is!

The next step was to spray paint the drawer pulls. After stripping them with hot water in the crockpot I looked into different white spray paints that I thought would work well for this application. I decided to go with Rustoleum white spray paint and it turned out exactly as I had hoped. [The first attempt with Rustoleum white hammered finish spray paint did not look good at all,]

The finished dresser has been placed in Jillian's room and I will work on adding to that room with additional decorations in the future! I am also looking for a wallpaper that I can use on the sides and inside of the drawers, please let me know if you have any suggestions as to where I can find inexpensive wallpaper!  

Refinished Dresser - Part 1

I have been looking for an older dresser forever, and could not find one for less than $100. I liked the lines of these dressers - but didn't want to pay the high price tag for an already refinished dresser that wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

I searched garage sales, and Craigslist for months until I found the perfect dresser at the perfect price! For $35 I found a bright red dresser, that was a terrible color but had the perfect lines.

I knew that it needed a lot of work, and I was willing to work on it to make it exactly what I wanted. I started with stripping the paint, which was a job that took place over a couple of weeks. I first used Klean Strip Premium Stripper but found that this did not work very well. After researching different paint stripper options I went with Citristrip Stripping Gel and found that this worked very well. It took 1 coat of the Klean Stripper and then 1-2 coats of the Citristrip Stripping Gel and it was starting to look good again!

I also knew that I needed to strip the drawer handles, as the white paint was uneven and chipping. I wasn't sure how to do this but after reading a few things online and many episodes shows on HGTV I chose to follow advice from Nicole Curtis - Rehab Addict. I soaked the handles in a crockpot filled with on high for about 10 hours. After taking them out of the water the paint peeled off without any issue. I didn't know that it would work, but it was free so I thought why not try. I think the handles look great but the brass color does not match the gray I will be painting the dresser so I will repaint them white.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Refinished Dresser to see the final product!

Thanksgiving Decor

For anyone that read my Fall Decorations Post you may have wondered if I put out any Thanksgiving specific decorations. I have just started to put up my Thanksgiving decorations and this is my first project.

I found this photo on Pinterest but was unable to locate the original source - if you know the original source let me know so that I can give this creative genius credit for a beautiful mantle! I am sure many of you have seen this too and maybe even thought about recreating it in your own home. We unfortunately do not have a mantle, but I have decided to use the top of our media case as my makeshift mantle for this project.

I found the two picture frames that I used from Ikea. The larger frame is 16x20 and was originally dark brown in color. I used antique gold spray paint to change the color as I wanted it to have a richer color. I then used a gold paint marker to color the corner hardware on the smaller frame as it started out silver and didn't match the look I was going for. I cut triangle pennants out of burlap and wrote "GIVE" on them with a sharpie marker.

I then purchased the pumpkins from Target, "Thanks" stickers from Michaels and wheat bushel from Pottery Barn. I was lucky enough to find a box shaped like a book for the base of the pitcher, which was left over from a floral arrangement that I received in April. The final piece of my "mantle" is a hurricane glass full of corks (Jonathan and I save corks from the wine and champagne we have shared over the years). Once I had these items collected I put them together hoping to get a similar look to the original photo.

I will be posting about my Thanksgiving table scape and menu in the next couple of weeks. Come back to check it out!

Fall Projects - Part 2

 Below you will find the Burlap Wreath Tutorial. I love this project because it is super simple, and the wreath can be used year round! By changing out the decorative accents throughout the seasons your wreath will have a completely new look!

Burlap Wreath

Supplies:

• Metal Wreath Frame
• Floral Wire
• 2 Rolls of Burlap Ribbon
• Decorative Accents

Step 1: Unwrap your Burlap Ribbon, and weave a 3" piece of floral wire through one end.

Step 2: Tie the floral wire that is attached to the Burlap Ribbon to the Wreath Frame.

Step 3: Weave the burlap through the wires of the Wreath Frame, alternating above and below. Make sure to keep the loops approximately the same size so that you have a consistent look when the wreath is complete.

Step 4: When you reach the end of the Burlap Ribbon, weave a 3" piece of floral wire through the ribbon and attach to the Wreath Frame.

Step 5:Repeat steps 1-4 until the Wreath is complete.
Step 6: Attach your Decorative Accents using Floral Wire.
Step 7: Hang your finished Wreath and Enjoy!

Fall Projects - Part 1

For those of you that read my fall post you may remember the two projects I promised tutorials for. The Fall Print Project and Burlap Wreath require minimal supplies and are very cost effective projects. Below you will find step-by-step tutorials to create your own Fall Print!

Fall Print





Supplies:

• Empty 16x20 wooden frame
• I found mine at Walmart for under $3.00
• Decorative Hand Towel
• I found mine at HomeGoods - Two for $5.00
• Staple Gun
• Iron

Step 1: Iron the hand towel to remove all wrinkles and creases.
Step 2: Stretch the hand towel over the empty frame *Make sure to center the design of the towel*
Step 3: Staple around the edges of one side of the frame (long side).

Step 4: Stretch across the frame and staple along the other side of the frame (long side).

Step 5: Next staple across the other two sides of the frame (short sides).

Step 6: Fold down the corners and staple, one at a time.



Step 7: Hang your finished fall print on the wall and enjoy!

Check back on Wednesday for the Burlap Wreath Tutorial!