Lucky #4

Is 4 your lucky number?  Mine is 7.  But Ashley Lucas, your lucky number is now 4!!  And go buy a lottery ticket because you are the winner of the Charles Emerson Designs Mabel necklace!

Congrats!  Email me your address for shipping!! 

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with some new curtains!

Ready. Aim.

Ready.  Aim.  Fire

It's Christmas time and it's time for giving.  I told you in this post I was planning a giveaway and here it is!  I'm teaming up with the talented Erin from Charles Emerson Designs and giving you something shiny! 

I love a big fun statement piece of jewelry when I have the time to focus on getting myself dressed in the morning.  However, I usually find a favorite piece that goes with everything and wear it day in and day out.  I'm giving you that perfect piece:  The Mabel

How cute is that?  Don't fret, if you aren't the winner you can still purchase it for $18!  Stella & Dot has one very similar for $49! 

Some other things you will see at Charles Emerson Designs,  The Lindsay that she can't even keep in stock!  It comes in three colors and is only...$38!!

I had to share The Ivy.  I KNOW you have seen similar ones at J Crew and a few other stores.  Not one of them had it for $28!!  Also available in 3 colors. 

To enter the giveaway leave a comment for each of the following (that's 3 chances per person!!):

• Head over to Charles Emerson Designs come back and tell me which piece (or pieces!!) you hope Santa brings you.  There are rings, bracelets, & earrings as well!
• "Like" Charles Emerson Designs on Facebook
• Be a follower of Refresh & Repurpose (If you already do (thanks!), comment with that too)

One Word Wednesday

Elfie

Escapades

(Over at The Y Journals)

 

silver & GOLD

Sorry, you'll be singing that all day!

A week or so ago I gave you this post.  A sneak peek at something I thought was pretty exciting.  It's taken that long to get her finished.  Mostly due to letting her sit outside and let all the spray paint fumes disappear.  I don't need any of that inside!

Let's look at the before:

When I saw this piece at the Goodwill, I fell in love with those monkeys on the side.  But that blue & white just doesn't fit me or our home, so I knew it just needed a little spray paint.  I was thinking white.  Boring, but classic and I could put it anywhere.

I got some primer, because I knew it was going to take a lot to cover it up.  (Primer cheaper than color!)

That is after coat 3!  I was very happy with my decision to prime white first.  Also, gave me a glimpse as to what it would look like white.

My aunt (who could style a Goodwill to make you think you stepped into a Neimans) suggested gold.  I was immediately smitten and couldn't wait to get her painted.  Gold fits in our house as well as the blue & white, but I knew it would work.  Must be the holidays!

There she is waiting for her Christmas morning coffee.  I didn't bother to style with books or anything fancy.  I could barely get far enough away to take the picture before being photo bombed by an almost 1 year old!

Paint is Pure Gold by Rustoleum (Home Depot).  Lowes did not have a decent metallic gold paint?  Wierd but true.  


This gold post has perfect timing!  I'm working on a give away for you guys.  It's shiny!

Linking up with Happy Hour Projects Funky Junk Interiors, The Thrifty Home, Maybe Matilda, Two Twenty One, Coastal Charm, Savvy Southern Style, A2Z, Newly Woodwards, Decor and the Dog,  & House of Hepworths

Etsy Love

Or I could more appropriately title this I LOVE Etsy.  I do.

You can find anything on Etsy.  I shared my favorite Etsy stores for art and accessories (for your home or someone else's) on Thursday.  But today I wanted to share some of my favorites that are great for wearing (or gift giving, since it is, technically speaking,  gift giving season)

First up: This little clutch by Death & Texas.  Cute, right?!  Honestly, it had me at the ticking. 

A sail bag collection from Reiter 8.  I know they have been all the rage for the past couple of years, but this boat girl has always loved them.  A beach bag would make a great gift!  BTW, I love the contrasting red handles!  A luggage tag would be fun for a recent high school/college grad with a gift card inserted in the address slot!

I recently found Adams Blankie.  OMG, seriously?  Seriously.  I could have ordered one of everything.  All kinds of soft chiffony goodness with a little bit of bling.  Melt.  I'm thinking Little Miss needs one of those crowns/tiaras for her upcoming birthday!

Green Peridot has some beautiful pieces.  I like big fun pieces (when I have time to focus on getting dressed) but it's always nice to have "go to" pieces.

And I can't end this post without one really special one near and dear to my heart.  Ora Dale has unique one of a kind "handmade lovelies".  Check out Little Miss in her custom Ora Dale hat & head band.  We also have some custom (the boys favorite colors were used) dinosaur hats that rock!

There you go.  A quick wrap up of some of my favorite Etsy stores!  Happy shopping!

More holiday shopping

I let you in on a new favorite of mine Mark & Graham by Pottery Barn.  There were some nice price points.  A one stop shopping kind of place.  However, another favorite place (and one stop shopping...kind of) is Etsy.  I wanted to include some of my favorite shops for you and maybe you can get some gifts marked off that list!

I have loved Sarah Jane Studios forever.  I mean forever and ever.  She even has a fabric line!  How fun are those prints?  Here are 3 of my favorites from her Etsy site.

I need these last 2 for the kids bath.  Super cute.  I love the muted colors and whimsical sketches.

 Another favorite for random items is High Street Market.  A fun site to visit.  Lots of older items waiting for a new home to enjoy.

This Lucite double stand would be fun for cupcakes or display!

 But this casserole dish.  With "bamboo" handles...now that's good stuff!

Pics and Paper has some really neat items.  Iron on transfers that you could put on a number of fabrics to make a throw pillow, table runner, dish towel, etc.

 Or artwork to hang!

 Another fave is Artgoodies.  Great stamped items.  I have been in love with this ring towel for ages and keep waiting to buy it for an engaged couple.  I think it's fun.  And if they don't, you only spent $18.

For some fun colorful personalized artwork, I love Adora Art.  This crab is by far my favorite.

And I shared about Libbie & Winston, another go to,  here.

So are you in the mood for shopping?  It's fun from your couch, isn't it?  What are your favorite Etsy stores?

I'll try to be back tomorrow with my favorites that are not house related.

One Word Wednesday

GOT

BIG

PLANS!

The adventures of a crazy elf

Blogging over at The Y Journals today....but since you might have an "Elfie" in your home thought I'd share here too!

Click the link to see what our Elf is up to this year:  The Phillips' Y Journals

BE KIND.  As in be kind to each other!!

Sihouette Reveal

On Oct 24th, I gave you this sneak peek of a project I was going to be working on.  I was so excited and really did get started fast.   I knew it was going to be a big project but I had NO idea I wouldn't be blogging about it's finished phase until a month later?!  Keepinitreal.  I gave you a finished sneak peak here.

This post is photo heavy and wordy.  Honestly, I should have broken it up into pieces.  Which is exactly what I had to do to get through it on this end!

Here is where I started.  Three free frames.  I used to be a manager at a department store & the visual manager was going to throw them away.  Say what?  Three huge frames?!  I don't think so.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.  That was in 2008.

They stayed in a closet at our old house and moved to a storage unit and then onto Richmond.  Where they have sat in a closet until a month ago!  Much to my husbands dismay.  He couldn't believe I brought them home, much less moved them!  (But it wasn't the first piece I'd brought home.  He was also confused when I brought home an office credenza, until I refreshed & re-purposed it into this bar for our dining room.  He should know to trust me!)

I started by taking off the paper on the back of all three.

 My pantless (prettysurehehasonshorts) design assistant.

 There was a ton of glue holding the triple layer of matting in on two of the frames and nails on another...ugh..

 

 I pulled the artwork off the mats and got to measuring some poster board.  I originally thought these were going to go in our playroom and was beyond pumped when I found some lime green chevron wrapping paper in the clearance aisle.  I didn't think I would ever find that, so I had actually bought some lime green chevron fabric to use.  But the paper was SO much cheaper, that I returned the fabric.  In the end I just wasn't sure about the space I had planned.  It was too small.  I decided they were going to go in the living room.  I needed something LARGE and these were unexpected.  I hung up paper the size of the frames to get an idea for their size.

These frames are huge.  Which means I then had to find a chevron pattern, so I could paint it the color I wanted to match the living room.  Thank you google, that was easy.  

This was the tedious part.  Over and over tracing and tracing.  Trying to keep it level from one side to the next.  Ugh...

Then I had to decide how big I wanted the center square.  The focal point of these frames.  Originally I was going to use a 12" canvas, but with the double mat, I thought it was too much.  Especially since it was going to be behind glass.  Once I decided on a 10" (after a 12" looked too big with the mat on top) square I erased the lines inside the box, in case it didn't paint so well.  More tedious work ensued...painting the chevron..with a tiny brush, so I could have nice crisp lines.

 Then I painted the square. 10"x10".  I felt it was nice and centered and still showed plenty of the chevron once in the mat & framed.  I spent a ton of time painting those zig zags, I wanted them to be seen!

Once that was done  I took pictures of the kids (I had taken a few months back, so I would be ready!), I printed them out and blew them up so that the image was 8".  For all three.  I cut them out and traced them onto the poster board.  Again, I filled in the lines with a tiny little bitty paint brush.  (I did use a bigger one to fill in!)

I learned that silhouettes are hard.  There just isn't a lot of detail to them.  Like long eyelashes or chubby baby cheeks.  I also couldn't do the spiky hair that Little Miss is still sporting.  And this chin on Q is way off?  I have no idea how that happened!?  But that was easy to fix!  Yeah for DIY.  

These frames were really beat up and very gold.  

I had some gold craft paint and I thought it would be really easy to patch it.  Then I would be done.  D-O-N-E!  It was not.  The gold didn't want to stick to the frames.  So, I thought I could age the bright gold with black.  

 

Too dark.  I didn't like it.  It kind of looked more dirty than aged.  I felt like this project was dragging on and on.  I didn't see an end in sight.  I had to get my posse of assistants to Lowes to check out the spray paint choices.  I chose antique brass.  Which I find odd since I have gotten rid of all the brass in the last two houses I've lived in!  I thought it was perfect with the dark wood furniture, black frames, and brown rug (and future curtains...another project taking longer than expected!).

 I hung the first frame in the tree so I could paint all the sides and see if I liked the color.  Which of course I did, because otherwise I would have had to get back to Lowes.  I was ready to be DONE.  SO ready. 

Here they are in all their antiqued brass glory.  All the blood (yes there was some..did you see those nails?!) sweat, and tears (maybe some of those too..I was ready to be done!).  I LOVE them!

My big boy.  All 5 years of him.

My spunky 3 year old.

My sweet baby girl

The 3 loves of mine

Yes, in 2008 I knew I wanted to use these frames and put a silhouette in each.  I had one baby and I thought they would go up the stairwell.  My how things change.  And I am so thankful they have!

I'm linking up! Head over to Coastal Charm Savvy Southern Style The Thrifty Home We are that Family Raising Homemakers Trendy Treehouse Uncommon Designs House of Hepworths Thrifty 101 Beyond the Picket Fence Happy Hour Projects Finding Fabulous While He was Napping& A2Z for some other great ideas!