Friday, April 29, 2011

1956 Record Player Cabinet

I have a little corner in my family room that houses a couple leather boxes full of toys.  I try to have balls, trucks, coloring books, cars, dolls, and stuff for the nieces and nephews. It was looking pretty sorry and on top of it all the boxes were no longer closing. 
I've had the idea to find a little cabinet to house said random toys.  On Monday morning, I decided to check Craigslist and found kind of what I was looking for.  I really want it to have doors that open, but I figured anything was better than those leather boxes right now.  I waited and waited until yesterday and finally sent the guy a text.  He delivered it the same afternoon. 
 I hated that little patch of fabric, but as I looked around the cabinet, I found a Magnavox sticker and a stamp saying 1956.  The top flips open which I kind of like, but wonder what I will be able to keep up there.  I guess the crusty, smelly fabric had something to do with speakers...I guess.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, I tried taking out a bunch of screws on the inside and no luck.  So I just ripped, tore, bladed it out.  There was some pretty nasty dust flying all over the place.
The top of the cabinet seemed a little dry and had some white paint spots.
I used Howard Restor-a Finish and Howard Feed-n-Wax.  I vacummed it up and used a disinfectant spray to clean the drawers.  On the panel where the fabric was, it darkened it up to an expresso finish.  It's a particle board, so it's a temporary fix. I don't mind the dark color as all our finishes in our family room are pretty dark.
 Here's the top.

 Now to get rid of those wood blocks and style it a bit. 
I'm liking my temporary cabinet. It's already full of toys.  Let's see how it goes when the kids come over.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Sleepless Nights

Design Manifest
I posted this bed yesterday over at Simple Dwellings and it got me thinking...can I make this bed?  I've already made a simple upholsterd headboard, so what if I challenge myself.  I'm off to check Craigslist.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Guest Post over at Simple Dwellings

I'm over at Simple Dwellings today sharing "If my blog was a room."

I'm in love with all the images I found. I wish I could just pop them into my house. Go check it out.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Amazing Candle Giveaway

I've said it over and over again here on this blog, I've 'met' some of the most amazing people through this experience.  A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Jodie who was in the process of making the sunburst mirror and was very excited about it.  We chatted a few times over email.  Last week, I got the kindest email, asking me if I wanted a candle for a giveaway.  I excitedly and graciously said yes.  It came in the mail yesterday and let me tell you it is absolutely delicious and adorable!  It's made by the Swan Creek Candle Company and made with 9oz of American Soybean Wax and measures 6"L x 3"H x 4"W with a 35+ hour burn time in the most delicious Roasted Espresso scent. I opened the box and could not believe how incredible it smelled.  Look how cute these are!
Here's the one we will be giving away.  Isn't it adorable and the smell is amazing.
So here's your chance to enter!

The giveaway winner will be announced Monday, May 2nd.

Required entry = leave a comment letting me know you are a follower. 

For fun = If you want to do any of the extras (you know the drill) Facebook, Tweet, Blog about my giveaway, I'd love you for it and just leave me a comment letting me know what you did.

And for even more fun = I just started my facebook account for JandJHome and a twitter account.  Join in and get extra entries!!! You can see my Twitter and Facebook link on the left side bar. Leave me a comment letting me know you joined.

Thank you so much for entering and for the sweetest reader I have, Jodie...big hug.  If you are interested in ordering one of these adorable candles, email me and I'll send you Jodie's information.

Good Luck!


Monday, April 25, 2011

Sister-in-law Contributions

Ever since I told my sister-in-law about my blog, she's been one of my biggest supporters. She's always been very crafty and creative, but it seems to have been kicked up a notch lately.  After seeing all the Easter decorations I had been working on, she wanted to add some things to our Easter decor.  She made these adorable tissue paper poufs and the banner hanging on my window.  I wanted to feature her adorable projects here and I totally think she should start a blog of her own!
We hung the poufs with fishing wire from my chandelier.  I apologize for the poor lighting.  Look how cute this banner is.  She got the printables free online.  (I'll edit with the information when I have it.)
Now, here's what I did.  I, as host of our Easter dinner, set up the eggs for the hunt.  I gathered, bought, and borrowed eggs to be filled.  I spent last week filling them and sticking them in a bag.  When in the bag, it really didn't feel like a lot of eggs.  So I filled another bunch of them with stickers and candy.  Well, when the Easter Bunny started laying the eggs, we kind of realized what I had done.  The count (done after the fact) of eggs was like 300.  Well, there were 5 kids...a 4 year old, 2 - 2 year olds, and 2 - 1 year olds.  That's a whole LOT of eggs.  I think like 15 per kid would have been good. To my defense, 4 of our friends kids were supposed to come.  We had to get a bag to dump what was in the baskets so they could keep filling. It was pretty funny.  Crazy Aunt! You can see here some of the eggs on the ground, trust me, there's a whole lot more.
It was really a great weekend and the kids loved ALL their eggs.  My husband made some great burgers.  Thanks sis-in-law for all your help yesterday and for your ADORABLE decorations.  How was your weekend?

Friday, April 22, 2011

Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny was busy last night filling eggs.  We have our five nieces and nephews coming over on Sunday.  It should be a fun weekend.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Chevron Tray

Ever since I saw this tray over at Everything LEB, I've been wanting to try something similar.
 I bought this tray a while back at a garage sale for $1.00.
 I spraypainted it a metallic silver.
I placed painters tape in a zigzag pattern. I did not measure AT ALL.  I probably should have, but I was being a tad impulsive.
 I cut out all the extra edges using a blade.
Then I spray painted the tray white.  I love the metallic sheen the zig zags give off.
 Towards the right of the tray below, I smeared a bit of the silver paint, oops and a little measuring mistake. 
I did this just for fun. I actually plan to keep this tray full of papers in my office.  Incoming mail, bills to pay, stuff that I don't feel like filing. You get the idea.  If I was planning on using it for display, I would've definitely measured it out a bit more.  For a $1.00 it's cute.

The DIY Show Off





 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
Beyond The Picket Fence
spray paint party
Visit thecsiproject.com

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Laundry Room Progress

Last month I showed you a preview of my disgusting and embarrassing laundry room. I've been slowly working on it and making small changes. It will never be a beautiful, simple, uncluttered room.  Too much stuff has to fit in here and I have to keep it real.  Just to remind you of what it looked like the day I started. This is not a posed picture, this is for real.
 Here it is after some organization done during my spring break. 
I decided to remove the closet doors and replace them with some cute curtains. The doors just took up too much space when open.  
I decided to use all my available wall space in here.  These purses are not ones I use often so I decided to put some command hooks (which half have fallen) and nails to free up an entire shelf inside the closet. 
Here are my organization bins.  I had used my trusty old label maker to label each box. Looks kind of ugly if you ask me.
So I made new labels (thanks to my sister-in-law for the inspiration) and reorganized the shelves a bit more.
Here's a close up. I just used Microsoft Word and did the outline first and just wrote the words inside. Super simple. I used double sided tape to attach to the boxes.
Here's my cleaning supply, linen closet, throw whatever I can space of my laundry room. Disgusting.
I bought some new bins, got rid of stuff, and actually folded the items in there.  
I got a couple new rugs at Target. I think they are bath rugs, but they go with the bins I bought and are the perfect size.
 Here's a close up of the bins
 and of the labels.
I still have some other ideas that I'm waiting for inspiration to hit me. Let's see if that happens.
If only I could get somebody to do my laundry for me. Ugh. Possibly my least favorite thing to do.

Roomspiration

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Coming Out

It took me along time to tell people I knew about my blog.  I think I told my best friend about it like 4 months into it.  I'm not sure if it was embarrassment or what.  Well, last night, I got together with my group of girls and I told them.  They were so positive and accepting and kind of mad that it took me so long to tell them about it.  So hi girls! Love you all!

We try to get together every few months for dinner. We have a few bottles of wine and dinner and just talk for hours. I love our relationship and even if we don't talk for months, we all just know each other so well.  I don't have any pictures for you today, but I am so excited about the next chapter of this blog. I am so happy to share it with my closest friends.  So thank you all for the support and love. 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Week-End Finds: Sister Files

My sister and I went out Saturday in hopes that we would find some of the pieces she needs for her apartment remodel. I think her stars were aligned on Saturday. We went to the Faith Farm Thrift Store about an hour north of us.  We were watching our other sisters two kids and when we got there, my nephew didn't want to get out of the car. When he finally decided he was ready, it was raining. But somehow, through all that, we had a fantastic outing!

I basically walked around pointing things out and my sister was totally feeling everything we saw.  I think she only needs two more furniture pieces to finish it all off.  I only have phone pictures of some of our finds.  She is renting a truck to pick everything up and I'll get pictures then.  This coffee table is amazing.  One of our favorite pieces.  This is basically determining the color scheme for the whole living room area.
This dining table was $35.00.  We're not sure if it's staying wood or getting painted.
My sister was all excited with everything she had found and then we ran into this.  I literally gasped when I saw this sofa.  We had been online last week for a couple of hours and she fell in love with this style.  It needs some new cushions/stuffing and major reupholstering, but the lines are exactly what she was looking for.  It was $75.00.  We were great babysitters, notice my nephews hand in his mouth while sitting on a nasty old cushion.  My niece's knees are filthy and she was all sweaty! It was hot and muggy.  But we had fun, that's what matters, right?
We also found the two most amazing chairs for her dining table. AMAZING, but I have no picture.  They are a crusty velvet right now.  I will post a picture when she picks them up.  We found a side chair for her sofa area and a beautiful china cabinet.  I also found a marble top that I've been looking for.  However, that one is stuck in my sisters car.  I need man power to lift that one.  I would have to say this was an unbelievably successful thrifting day. Like no other.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Retro Pillows

So I wrote a couple of days ago about searching for pillows for my family room.  Well, I've decided to go in a completely different direction.  After spending HOURS on Etsy and online, I was so drawn to these pillows.  I love all the gorgeous fabrics out there, ikat, suzani, chevron, etc., but are they me?  In working with my sister, I realized that I could get my fix of these amazing textiles through her and I would do what I really wanted for me.  Perfect!  So I found the etsy shop Mia&Stitch, who carries this mid century inspired fabric by John Lewis out of the UK.  I bought two of these and I couldn't be more excited.

Mia & Stitch

Now, the only problem I have is that I'm in love with these last two pillows as well, by Louise35Flower.  They are more fabrics by John Lewis and I love the retro vintage feel they have.  First question, do you think they would all go together well.  Second, is it worth spending more than I wanted to on these (I need a bigger size than what's listed).  They are out of the UK and the pound is high and the shipping is too.  Oh, so sad.  I may have to just do it. 

These fabrics are so off of what my usual comfort level with pattern is, but I think my style is evolving.  What do you think?
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