Project: My Farmhouse Table

 One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well
- Virginia Woof

Everything in our house happens at the dinning room table. In our new house we ditched the idea of a formal and informal dinning area {cause we are not the 'formal' type} and opted to have a special space we eat all our meals at. Together, as a family. So when it came to choosing our family dining room table, I did A TON of homework. Keeping with the theme {well back then, lack there of}I found a table I loved - from none other than Pottery Barn – but didn’t like the price tag. So I set out to make my own. I found a simple {well I thought they looked simple at the time}plans from one of my DIY heroes Anna White. Find my original plans here. 

Here are a few pictures from the build process.

A few more. Please excuse the attire. I was working people! 

You can see here that everyone makes mistakes. But they are easy to fix {insert wedge here}! Note: How cute is my Bug {adorable little girl in picture}. She is now my little helper. 

HUGE project, but it was awesome. I love the final results and it complements the cottage-shabby chic look I was going for! The chairs {in the photo) I refinished with a flat white, distressed, stained and sealed. The table was stained in a Traditional America stain and white washed (very cool trick). Hope you are inspired! 

Note: My blue buffet table in the back was one of my first pieces I refinished. It was an ugly green, but had potential. I painted it Tiffany’s blue {fitting eh?}!

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FREE Fonts that ROCK!

I love making my own wall art, invitations, etc. So you can imagine how excited I was to find a site that offers FREE unique handwriting fonts!

Fonts for Peas offers more than 500 of the cutest and most unique handwriting fonts on the 'net! They even take your submitted handwriting samples and turn them into fonts you can download for FREE! Seriously, this was like Christmas morning to me.

I used a few of their awesome fonts for my newly redecorate hall where I showcased 'handwritten' {yeah rights!} songs. It turned out perfect and so many people think I actually wrote it!

Happy font finding y'all!

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DIY Tip | Art of Negotiation

A dear friend of mine once told me anyone can negotiate, you just need to know how to play the game. They also referenced an hilarious episode of one of my favorite TV show's The Cosby Show {Dr. Huxtable and Theo go to into buy a new car}... if you haven't seen it watch it now.

I used these new-found skills and confidence to not only negotiate my new car but also when it comes to DIYing....well 'thriftying' that is. 

As Dr. {well, Mr. in the clip} Huxtable says in the clip the price you see at thrift store is the 'Suggested Retail Price' - there is always room for negotation. Heck, they expected it.

Here is how I approach a 'thrifting' negotiation:

1. When you find a piece inspect it well. Check and see if there is missing hardware, broken wood, cracked glass. Think how much work am I going to have to put into this before it is 'house ready'?
2. Is it well made? Some pieces look like wood, but they aren't. Found that out the hard way. You cannot refinish fake wood. And hard to paint as well. Knock on it, you will know - weight is also a good indicator. If can't tell ask someone. They will know.
3. If you are buying something that uses electricity. TEST IT! Nothing like buying a cool lamp and the dang thing doesn't work!
4. Negotiation. If you find nothing wrong with the piece and fell like you can clean it up and make it sparkly again, ask for  20% off {start high}. See how they react. If they say no it is firm. Then decide if you really want it. If not, walk away. Many times they will chase you down and make a counter. If they counter, know the price in the back of your head that you will walk from. If they don't hit it WALK AWAY. Unless you LOVE, HAVE TO HAVE, WOULD DIE WITHOUT IT... walk away if you don't get your number.
5. If you are buying multiple pieces at the same store, use that to your advantage. Negotiate as a whole. Think about it, you are moving large product for them. They need to get these things out and make room for new pieces.
6. This is important. If they get hit your number, and you love the piece BUY IT! I promise you, someone else will. I once found a piece I LOVED...they hit my number and I wanted to think about it. FAIL. I called back 15 minutes later after I left the store and it was gone. As you can tell, it still fires me up!

With this is in mind PLEASE remember the following:
Always be honest and don't try to pull a fast one on the people working.

1. They do this everyday.
2. They are good people usually working for a good cause.
3. There is a difference between getting a 'deal' and being cheap. Being cheap is tacky.

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Book Wreath

This is another blast from the past. Probably my first 'accessories' project in the new house. This was before Pinterst, so I am sure I found the idea on some blog....which I knew who to give the credit to {so sorry!!}. 

You will soon find I have an obsession with wreaths. I loved this one because I knew I could use it all year round and it would be an interesting conversation piece. 

So here is how I did it....

Grab some old books with good thick pages. I went to the local Dollar Store to find mine. Get a foam wreath - mind was from Hobby Lobby - and instant coffee grinds.

Next, make your coffee. Seriously. Using a foam brush dip in the coffee and stain the edges of the book. Don't put to much on the brush. The point is to stain the edges, not destroy the book {that comes later}. This will give your pages that antique look.

Next you rip out all the pages from the books {sorry I left this part out}. Then fold each page like a fan. Using a straight pen and a little glue - don't go crazy here - pin each folded page on. Start from the outside and work your way in. 

And the Poof! You have a fabulous book wreath to hang! 

I added my wreath to an old window. Another obsession of mine. The burlap hanger is actually not holding it up. I nailed a nail to the window and hooked from the back of the wreath. The burlap is just for show. But isn't it darling? I hung this over our hall toilet. My husband thinks it fun to read pages of the book while he's in there...boys will be boys! 

Hope you enjoyed!

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