I Was Feautured

Kate at  Centsational Girl featured my ottoman  makeover along with a lot of other great bloggers. Thanks Kate, I'm thrilled and honored. Check out  Kate's blog for great decorating and DIY  tips.

Hello Gorgeous

It's all her fault, I was very happy with  my old girl until I saw her, I was smitten and intrigued. How would she look in my house? I was saddened to know that she could never come and live with me. The price was to high. When you see her you will understand the source of my fascination and desire. Here see for yourself why I was smitten:

Photo shabbychic.com

Isn't she a beauty? I became  so enraptured that I started to look at my old girl in a different light. She had been with me for years, but like all girls eventually do, she needed a new look. We talked it over and she agreed a makeover was in order. But how? What could we do to take her from this

To something like this:

shabbychic.com

The Quest  started with a google search. There I found the answer.I learned what tools to use to transform my old girl into a newer version of her self. After much research and with a lot of excitement and anxiety she was transformed into this:

texture detail

She has given me permmssion to share the secrets of her transformation. Here's what we did:

1. Wash  with a mild soap and water.
2. Rub over leather surface with denatured  alcohol
3. The alcohol removes all wax and polish
4. Sand the leather lightly with fine sandpaper to allow the paint to adhere
5. Mix a 50/ 50 mixture of  paint and water, this creates a wash
6. Apply a very thin coat of the wash
7. You should be able to see the original color through this first application
8. Let dry one hour 
9. Apply second thin coat let dry one hour
10. Repeat until you get the desired coverage.

I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I was really worried that it would look painted and not like leather anymore. I'm pleased to say it really does look like white leather and not like leather that has been painted. It's also very soft and supple. I used Pink Sea Salt by Martha Stewart, its a very creamy white with a whisper of pink. It looks very warm and soft, not stark at all. The best part is that the texture of the leather is still visible. The secret is to use very thin coats and and let it dry very well between coats. The photos have a shadow on the right, the color is very even and smooth so what you are seeing in the pic is not on the ottoman.  I used about 8 thin coats to get the desired effect. It's  a time consuming process but worth it. Here is the before and after again:

Before

After

The bottom detail and legs are wood so I had to prime them before painting. I didn't dilute the paint for the wood part. I really love it and even my  husband who was skeptical  raves about it every time  he passes it by. I think he's told me its beautiful 100 times. I hope you  like it too. Stay tuned for the chair later next week. Have a happy and Blessed Easter everyone. I'm  joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.  I'm joining  Centsational Girl's Fair Weather Forum Linky Party. And Layla  at The Lettered Cottage for How To's Day and Funky Junk Interiors SNS and The Newbie Party at Debbie Doos Blogging and Blabbing  and Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party.
and Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage  

Homemaker On A Dime for Creative Bloggers Blog Hop.

Works In Progress

I'm  in the process of redoing my ottoman and  a chair. I'm trying something I have never done before with my ottoman. I'm a little nervous, but if I fail or succeed  I'll let you know how it turns out.  Here are a couple of before shots:

I bought this ottoman at the Bombay Co. years ago. I've been using it as a coffee table. I still really  like it but since I'm lightening everything I decided to give it a new look. I saw an ottoman on the Shabby Chic website that made me swoon, so I'm going to try to get that look.

This chair Is from the Martha Stewart Collection. It's really comfy but the fabric is worn out. I love the tufting and the shape but it needs a makeover to fit in with my new color scheme. After 8 years I think a new look is due, plus it looks a hot mess. Its threadbare on the arms faded  and just plain worn out. Its getting a  whole new look and a little whimsy. So stay tuned ladies. I'll be having the big reveals later in the week. What are you up to? I'm joining  Debbie Doos Blogging and Blabbing Newbie Party.

Easter Softly

I wasn't going to decorate for Easter because my house is in disarray but after seeing so many gorgeous Easter vignettes in blog land  I  decided to create a small tabletop vignette. I love bunnies and chicks but I decided to do something a little different. Easter is a very holy holiday so I went with that aspect.  I used one of my Mary planters and a Cross that I bought from the dollar tree. I added silver leaf to the raised parts of the Cross. I also decorated plastic eggs that I bought from the Dollar Tree with hand stamped tissue paper and silver leaf. I glittered some of the eggs with a mixture of glass glitter and glamour dust. I created an arrangement in an urn that I've had for many years. It used to be a deep burgundy... I spray painted it silver using Krylon spray paint in  Metallic Brilliant Silver.  I added twigs from my back yard and some silk Cherry blossoms that I had on hand. I arranged them in the urn an added moss and tiny birds nest to the branches. I put three of the decorated eggs in the urn  on top of the moss. I painted some crystals turquoise to use on a chandelier for my kitchen. I decided to add them to the branches for a little color and sparkle. Besides my kitchen is a long way from having the chandy hung  might as well put the crystals to good use. Here are some shots of my vignette;

The complete vignette

The urn arrangement

Close up of birds in branches

Decorated eggs in my PB knockoff  hurricane

Close up of center of the urn arrangement

The  glittered and decoupaged eggs

Blessed Mother

Silver leafed dollar store cross

Eggs in urn arrangement

Another look.

This is something  different  than my usual but I really like it. Its very soothing somehow. I hope you like it too. I'm linking up with  Centsationl Girl's Fair Weather Forum  and  Debbie Doos bloggin and Blabbin Newbie Party  and My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and Decor To Adore's Spring Craft Linky Party.

The Slip

Hello all,

                    I've been m.i.a.  for a while, but I'm glad to be back. I've been recuperating and not able to do a lot of big projects. As soon as I felt like  I wasn't going to meet the true death  (True Blood Fans?) I made a few a pillow slips and did a few other small projects.  I wanted grain sack pillows... however the cost of vintage grain sacks are not in my budget, so I made faux grain sacks from drop cloth  fabric and paint. I also made burlap pillows...two plain and two with images transferred onto them. I don't know about you guys but I really like the Union Jack on pillows, so I made a shabby chic version on burlap. So without further ado here are the pillows:

I made pillow slips to cover the down pillows that came with my sofa.  I have more to share later, but I'm off to run errands. I don't know why my pics have this weird blue tone. Oh well..you get the idea. Later peeps.
I'm linking up at  Elements Interiors  for Whassup Wednesday and  Savvy Southern Style  for Wow us Wednesday and  The Shabby Chic Cottage  for Transformation Thursday and  My Romantic Home  for Show and Tell Friday.