Re-purposed photo coaster

For a long time I have heard about how surrounding yourself with positive affirmations can make a serious impact. I've been skeptical of this idea for a long time. However, I recently discovered that surrounding myself with positive reminders makes a big difference. I think of it as broadening the concept of "vision boards". Today I took some meaningful quotes off my Pinterest board "Words to Move You" and placed them in glass photo coasters I had sitting in my storage bin. Now I can take these small but powerful reminders with me to work. Every time I raise my glass for a drink I can read one of the following and smile:

"You're beautiful, every little piece."

"Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing."

"Choose happiness."

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." - Albert Einstein

Distressingly White

My friend Chelsea inspired me, as she always seems to do, with her love of re-painting/distressing furniture. We've had a set of 3 tiered black lamps from Target that just didn't seem to fit with our living room. Taking some hints from Chelsea, we decided to do a simple makeover using white paint/matte medium, sandpaper, fabric, and spray adhesive. Total cost of the makeover: 3$ for sandpaper, 7$ for fabric.

Before

Choosing sandpaper after painting units with white/matte medium.

The effects of sanding TOO roughly.

Sanding alone can be hard work so......

Enlist the help of a friend or loved one!

I re-covered the lampshade with a new fabric using spray adhesive.

Moving the lamp back to her original spot.

I love the way the light hits the fabric.

Lavender Lavender Lavender

I've always loved the smell of lavender. It is above and beyond one of my favorite smells in the world (the best is toasted peanut butter and fluff sandwiches - I'm nostalgic). We recently started growing cherry tomatoes and basil for homemade bruschetta. While watching these plants grow has been somewhat fun, I miss the smell and color of summer gardens (which just isn't possible to attempt in a small apartment). Yesterday morning we ventured out to a local farm and greenhouse to pickup 2 lavender plants. We are going to put the lavender in a deep window frame above our bed, in the hopes that the scent will fill up our bedroom. I didn't want to simply buy a pretty pot to showcase the lavender, so I decided to make one. I bought 2 terracotta pots and went to work painting them a deep forest green overlaid with vertically sponged gold columns.

Re-Purposing Ugly Plastic

For 5 years Adam and I have carried around 2 of the most hideous plastic shelving units. Luckily, we were able to hide these items in our back pantry when we moved out to Colorado. My friend Chelsea O'Neil had mentioned spray painting household items in teal blue and other fun colors. As I pulled these ugly little monsters out of their hiding place I decided to give Chelsea's idea a try.

First we gave them a good cleaning to make sure the surface was clear for spray paint. Next, we gave them 2 solid coats of spray paint in a deep red. Then we painted on a teal blue acrylic to the columns and front arched portion of the shelves. Unfortunately, when we tore away tape from the front some of the red had come off as well. In the spirit of making mistakes worthwhile we decided to paint the front portion a yellowish gold. I originally envisioned using stencils to embellish these pieces, but decided that keeping it simple on such a large scale would probably be best. This is a great weekend project. I highly recommend it to couples or friends who are looking for something fun, productive, rewarding, and crafty (for big projects like this it is helpful to enlist at least one other person for assistance).

Putting on the first coat of spray paint.

Letting the spray paint dry in the sun.

Putting on some finishing touches.

Wine, good music, and paint always make for a good time.

Ta-Da! The finished product!