Christmas at My House

Thought I would share a few photos of my Christmas décor.  Here we go...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by...I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Lesa

 

 

Pine Christmas Trees

As I was rummaging through some of my Christmas decorations, I found these wood trees that I cut out of scrap pine many, many years ago. 

I had stained them with Puritan Pine by Minwax.  I thought I was so clever when I made them.  They have been retired for some time now, but I thought I could spruce them up a bit and incorporate them into my holiday decorating this year.

So, I stained them with a dark walnut stain by Minwax ...

and then painted a few of trees with the color sandbar.  Once the paint dried I sanded the edges and the surface to expose the dark stain underneath.  Here they are on my shelves.

Do you have any old decorations that can be reused??  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Lesa

Our Family Room

I am around though my absence may lead you to believe otherwise.  Life has been busy and work just seems to get in the way of fun!  With the move and, as I mentioned, WORK...I just haven't had the energy to do anything creative.  By the end of my day and the end of the work week I am exhausted, therefore, I don't have any projects to share with you.  With Christmas quickly approaching, I hoping that I will change and I will get back at it!

I am loving our new house.  It is small but it has everything we need...three bedrooms, three bathrooms, separate family room and an open concept kitchen, dining and living room.  The basement is unfinished, so we installed shelving to use it as storage and to keep everything organized.  It really is the perfect house for my husband and I and when our kids, family or friends come to visit, we have the space to accommodate them. 

My blog has never been about decorating so my family room pictures are not being posted to "wow" you...just wanted to share one of our favorite rooms with you.  It is small but very cozy and comfortable...perfect for the two of us to watch tv or to snuggle up in a quilt and have a cup of coffee and read a magazine.

 

 

Here is the room before...

 

 

 

After...

 

 

 

 

The color on the wall is by Martha Stewart Living called "Crevecoeur".  Its a grey-green color and I love it.  The armoire actually belongs with our bedroom set but has always been used to house our television.  I removed the doors and decided to stain it a darker color.  I never took a before picture so I found an old picture to give you an idea of what it looked like...

 

 

 

 

I love the darker color and it was so easy to do.  No sanding was involved.  I simply applied a charcoal stain by Minwax.  That was it!!

 

So that's our family room.  Thank you for stopping by! 

 

Lesa

 





 





  

We're Moving!

Just a quick update to share with you...we are moving!  We decided to buy a house and I couldn't be more thrilled to be moving from our tiny apartment into a home. 

Our new home.
FYI...
(Baby crawling was not part of the purchase!)
AND...
If the weather remains warm, I will be painting the stairs to compliment the house colors.)

I shouldn't complain because our apartment has been very comfortable, but I've missed having a large kitchen with countertop space and I've missed having a yard. 

We take possession of our home September 16th but we will keep the apartment until the end of September.  This all happened very quickly so September will be a busy month...both of us work full-time, plus I am heading to Palm Springs with my Mom and two sisters to visit my Aunt for a week.  As well, I am packing, cleaning and organizing for the move.   AND, then we need to find time to travel back to our home in British Columbia (approx. 10 hour drive) to sort and pack the rest of our belongs that we left behind.  What we don't bring back will stay in our BC home until we decide if we are going to rent it or sell it.

So, once we get into our new home I will be sharing more projects with you, as I will finally have space to create again!   

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Lesa

Lantern Makeover

Just a quick project to share with you.  I found another "treasure" at Goodwill.  This wood lantern for $2.00...

I thought I could give it new life by cleaning it up a bit and painting it.

So, I took the entire piece apart and sanded all the pieces, cleaned the glass and the metal parts. 

I then applied two coats of paint using my favorite color "sandbar".  When dry I sanded the pieces to remove some of the paint exposing the wood underneath.  I then applied dark walnut stain to all the painted pieces to give it an aged appearance.
I put it back together and this is the result...

It was a fun little project.

 

Thank you for stopping by...

 

Lesa

Simple Canvas Slipcover

Here is my attempt at sewing a canvas slipcover...

Our little apartment is a bit dark.  The carpet is chocolate brown, as well as our leather sofa and loveseat.  The chair is olive green (which I like), but I thought if I covered it in a cream color it might help brighten the room.  This is what the chair looks like...

I figured that sewing this slipcover would be fairly easy because the chair is somewhat "blocky".  Well,  it wasn't as easy as I thought and the idea I had in my mind does not quite look like my finished project, but I can live with the results.

I basically starting draping the fabric on the chair, cutting, pinning and then sewing.

And, not following any of the "how to sew a slipcover" rules!    I have a few "pinches" and "tucks" of fabric here and there but doesn't that add to the charm??  I wanted the slipcover to have a bit of a tailored look, so I added piping to the seat cushion...just the top though. 

And, a little secret...I didn't cover the entire seat cushion.  I left the bottom open - easy to remove and wash!!  (okay...I was lazy)

I left enough fabric so that the cushion cover will remain "snug".
 

Once finished I noticed that the fabric on the back of the chair just didn't look finished.

So, I made a couple of ties and attached them to the back.  By adding the ties, it helps pulls all the "drapey" fabric together. 

It is certainly not perfect, but it will work for now.

Thank you for stopping by...hope you have a great weekend!

 

Lesa



Ikea Tray Makeover

I found this Ikea tray at our local Goodwill store for $4.00 and thought I could turn into something decorative for our little apartment...

This is what it looks like now...

First, I gave the entire tray, including the metal handles and sides a light sanding using 100-grit sandpaper.  Remember...I live in a little apartment and our shop full of tools are...well...still in our shop at our home in BC!  So, sanding without a sander is not much fun.  Anyway, I sanded it, but probably not as nicely as it would have been with the proper tools, then wiped the surface to remove any loose dust.

I then applied dark walnut stain to the entire tray and wiped the excess off.

 

When it dried, I applied Buttermilk and Tuscan Red by DecoArt and Forest Moss by FolkArt in random stripes by drybrushing onto the surface.  Once the paint dried I, again, lightly sanded the surface to remove some of the paint giving it a more weathered look.

It still needed something...

 so I stenciled the number "2" to the bottom right corner using buttermilk paint.  I let it dry and removed some paint to make it look as though the number weathered as well.

I am happy with the way it turned out and it will add some color to my "revamped" floating shelves...a project I will share later. 

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by...

 

Lesa