Another Quick Before and After - Let there be Light!

If you have read my blog for a while you probably know that I don't get around to actually doing a lot of what I want to do.  I make big plans, but then take a while to carry them through.  Some might call that procrastination - I just call it lazy being thorough.  Making sure before I start anything..

Back here I worked up a wish list for my dining room.  OMG that was literally a YEAR ago. The only thing that has been accomplished in that room (until now) was the hanging of the gold mirror. Period.

I still haven't painted the room, or found/made the perfect tablecloth, or painted the table, but last weekend I did do one thing.... and if you follow me on Instagram you probably saw a peek!  What I really, really have always wanted is a beautiful brass and crystal chandelier - that costs around $2500!  We all know THAT ain't happenin' for some time..  And then it hit me (like, I-coulda-had-a-V8 kinda hit me) why don't I Rub N' Buff the light fixture?!?  DUH.

This thang - in my humble opinion - had an enormous case of the Uglies.  (Don't let Hubby hear that because he picked it out and he really liked it - oops)  I mean the boring metal and those brownish globes!  It just wasn't jiving in here.  Enter Rub N' Buff in Grecian Gold.

I didn't even clean it very well - I took the globes off, dusted it with a rag real quick, and started rubbing and painting. I'm a little impatient when it comes to getting things going.. I just want to jump right in.

 (i spy someone in the mirror hehe - oops!)

 I couldn't BELIEVE how great it was turning out!  I was in love!  I used a small artist paint brush for most of it, but on the long, flat pieces that swoop up I just used my finger.  Just like when I painted my bench, I used a small amount of deglosser in a little bowl.  I would dip the brush in the deglosser then drag it through the Rub N' Buff that was poking out of the tube.  (And alas, as usual, I didn't photograph that part - I was so excited about how this thing was looking!)  Sammy at Renew Redo has great instructions for using Rub N' Buff here...

Can you get over how it is the same gold as the mirror?  Why had I not done this MONTHS ago?  Why?  Once I was finished all I needed to do was run to Lowe's and grab some new globes~

I am seriously in love with the light now.  If I don't get my fancy brass and crystal chandelier for a while it won't matter because I think this baby is perfect!  Once I put the new globes on you could see the white socket thingy that holds the bulb.  Hubby suggested I go ahead and paint the sockets gold too, so I did..

I love how the Rub N' Buff doesn't cover like stray paint; it has depth.

It took me a few hours to do this - I did not take the fixture down, so I kinda got a little crick in my neck, but it was totally worth it.

So yeay!  I have a "new" chandelier for about $17 (the cost of the 5 globes and part of the tube of Rub N' Buff).  I still have almost the entire tube of Rub N' Buff left that I can use on another project.  Next I will be painting the room gray.  Hubby needs to do a little maintenance on the wainscoting in the room first, then we'll be ready to go.

So tell me what you think about my chande!  Do you like it?  Think it's pretty?  As usual I have been dragging people in to look at it~~

Have a great week people!  And shout out to my youngest, Robbie, on his 14th birthday today!! Love you kid!

Linking up with Thrify Decor Chick!

 

Love, Kelli

Happy Valentine's Day

It's a fun day, isn't it?  Full of pretty hearts and lots of love!  Since I didn't do any wonderfully sweet craft/dinner/breakfast/card or anything else like that for my family to show you - I thought it would be nice to share some things that OTHER bloggers did..  Here are some of the blogs I follow and the cool & crafty stuff they are up to.  Yes, I have blog envy :/

{Hi Sugarplum!}

{Angie in the Thick of It}

{For the Love of Cooking}

{Young House Love}

Hope you all have a beautiful Valentine's Day!

Love, Kelli

Crafty! Arm-Knitting

Hello!  It's a beautiful day here in Georgia.. cold, but the sun is shining and that goes a long way toward making it a good day.

Have you ever seen a craft/project on Pinterest that you thought was awesome so you pinned it?  Yes!  I love finding stuff to pin!  I'll sit for hours finding recipes, outfits to wear, fun things to do..  But I realized I haven't been so good about doing the things that I have pinned... Am I the Lone Ranger here?  Exactly..  So recently I found this pin and immediately thought of my BFF, Joanne, who knows how to knit (I don't) and thought, if anyone could figure this out it would be her.  So I sent her the link and thought, okay, one of these days we'll do this.. (haha, yeah Right!)

Source: Simply Maggie

Isn't that the coolest scarf?  So warm and cozy looking!  I wanted one so bad.  The opportunity presented itself a couple weeks ago when I was working on my curtains and my sewing machine started acting up..  I had to finish just one hem, so I called Joanne and asked for her help.  She was wonderful and told me to come right over. 

She not only hemmed my curtain for me, she also says "hey I figured out how to do the arm knitting, do you want to make a scarf?"  (Seriously?  I just sent the link to her three days before!  Dang, she's good)  I wasn't sure there was enough time, because you know, I had to get home, make dinner, be the mom, blah blah blah.. (I mean, really, I can't actually take time to DO something like a CRAFT; two in one day is just outrageous) but she's like, no, seriously, this takes about 30 minutes..  And it did.

Sorry for the crummy pictures - I took them with my crummy phone because I was not prepared! (see my curtains in the background there?)  Joanne is a "DOer"  She doesn't say "oh I can't do that" if something seems complicated..  no, she says "humm, how can I do that?"  She's awesome and has been one of the most influential and inspirational people in my life.  Love her!

So if you are interested in making one of these for yourself you should go to Simply Maggie's blog and watch her awesome tutorial!  I love my scarf!  

The yarn Joanne bought cost about $9.  She got it at Hobby Lobby, but I'm sure you could get it anywhere they sell knitting stuff. So, yeah, you get a super hip scarf, you get to say you made the scarf, and the price is unbeatable.   I made mine a little larger then Maggie's.  I, uh, have to be able to get it off quickly... like super quick if I start getting hot.. hot flash hot.. and so as not to mess up my hair either.  So, am I the Lone Ranger here?  Didn't think so.

What Pinterest projects have you done/attempted/completed?  I would love to hear about them!  I would also love to know that I'm NOT alone in pinning lots and doing little.. 

There are obviously so many awesome pinners out there.. Some of my favorite people to follow on Pinterest:

Sheaffer Sims

Jillee

Sammy - Renew Redo

You can follow me on Pinterest here.  And you can follow Joanne's here, but honestly, she's out there Doing stuff, not sitting here pinning stuff.

Have a great weekend!!

Love, Kelli

Low and Behold - Curtains!

Well I'm so excited! First of all I'm excited that I am actually sitting down at my computer and writing a blog post!  It is something I really enjoy doing, yet I don't do it nearly enough.

Secondly, I have done a couple of things to actually blog about!  You know my sob story - work, work, work; housework, housework, housework; tired, tired, and more tired.  But, hey, I'm getting better.

Okay, back to my thing that I'm so excited about...  I hung curtains.  YEE HAW, right?!  Right!  A plain, simple pair of curtains - oh, but I did some customizing - let's start from the boring beginning.  Here is the window.

No kidding, this is my den.  It's been this way forever and really, I had not even thought about hanging curtains in here.  That was way further down the list of things I wanted to do.  But I was in Kirkland's right after Christmas and they had a ton of great stuff on sale.  I found this set of curtains on sale, and then got another 20% off.  They ended up costing around $30.  I couldn't pass them up!  They were the perfect color and everything.  Well, almost everything.

Since I wanted to hang the rod higher, half way between the top of the window and the 9 foot ceiling, they were going to be way too short.

 (it is so hard to photograph a window when the sun is shining in it!)

I didn't let that deter me.  I found what I needed at JoAnn Fabric.  A solid, somewhat heavy material that matched perfectly, to sew to the bottom of each panel.

I am not the most accomplished seamstress, but I can sew some straight lines.  It wasn't too difficult - I took the hem out of the curtain, cut the new fabric to the right width and sewed the sides so they would be nice and finished..

I sewed the new fabric to the curtain, using the original bottom fold of the curtain as my guide.  Then I hung them back on the rod (forgot to photograph that part) to measure/pin the bottom of the curtain.  I took them down, pinned the hem and hung them back up to make sure the hem was in the right place.  Once that was done there was nothing left to do but sew that hem and they were finished!  See the difference~~ and the weight of the solid fabric makes them hang better.

I am completely smitten with them.  They add so much to the room I can't believe I didn't do this sooner.  And I'm feeling all "accomplished" with myself, asking everyone who walks in the house "did you see the new curtains?" "uhm, yeah, mom, we've seen 'em.  Like 10 times already."

I did have a little problem with my sewing machine while I was working on the second panel.  The darn thing left me high and dry with only the hem to go!  That's when I called my BFF and asked for her HELP!  She just so happened to be working on her quilts and told me to get my butt over there ASAP.  She finished the hem for me so fast and we even had time for another fun craft... 

So here they are, in all their glory..  I love them!  They add so much warmth to the room.   And they tie into the other bits of red I have in the room.  (Now if I could only get new furniture)

Getting back to my BFF, once she finished the hem on my curtain, she showed me a fun Pinterest project she'd worked on.  I'll be sharing about that in a few days..  What's that?  More crafty fun-ness?  Yes!  Low and behold, I'm on a roll!

What has been gettin' you excited lately?

Love, Kelli