The Dunn Clock

Recently, upon meeting a new friend, she asked me if I had ever heard of this "chalk paint."  Well, you know that was just music to my ears.  "Annie Sloan chalk paint?  Ummmmm....YES!"  :)

The next thing you know I have her 6 foot tall grandfather clock in my house.  This is just a regular, decorative piece she found at a home store.  She never quite fell in love with it, always dreaming of an old, French or Swedish, antique clock.  What I didn't know is that those nice little Swedish, antique clocks will run you about $3000.  If you know me, I wasn't about to let her do that.

 

 

I turned to my old favorite color from Annie Sloan, Duck Egg Blue for help.  Annie, let's cover up these roses, okay?

   

Once I painted, I used the clock's curves and colors underneath to distress lightly.   I used a little antiquing glaze to get into the cracks and create an old world feel to it.  Check it out. 

She loved it.  Freaked out a little and the funny thing is I left with another little piece of furniture to paint.  

The Dunn Cabinet. 

Stay tuned.

Have a great weekend,

Kerrie

Linked to:

Miss Mustard Seed

The Shabby Creek Cottage

The Shabby Nest

Finding Fabulous

Time for Soccer!

Hi BlogWorld!

I wanted to share with you an awesome new toy from Playmobil.  It's called the Playmobil Take Along Soccer Match.  The boys really enjoyed playing with it, and Playmobil is giving one away to one of my blog readers!!!

 

 

The boys started the fall season of soccer and this is perfect for their taste.  It's cool because it folds up neatly to a travel case.

Comment below and tell me if your kiddo, grandkid, or friend plays soccer.  Enter before Friday at noon.  I will draw a winner randomly!  Have a great week!

Kerrie

 

• PLAYMOBIL USA Website http://goo.gl/i3XTA
• PLAYMOBIL USA on Facebook http://goo.gl/8BoHw
• PLAYMOBIL USA on Twitter http://goo.gl/ZEOpF

Yum...

I want to share with you a simple, yet addicting snack that I make often.  Sometimes it's just for the boys for movie night and other times I wrap it up for a neighbor, teacher, or friend gift.  This is a perfect treat to bring to your Labor Day get-togethers.

Like I said, it's simple. Three ingredients.

 White Almond Bark, Popcorn, and Craisins.

 

Melt the almond bark according to directions and pop your popcorn.  I used butter microwave popcorn.  I love the sweet/salty combination.

 

Combine everything together in a large bowl and fold gently.

(There are endless possibilities to the ingredients you can add...nuts, M&Ms, pretzels, chocolate chips, etc.)

 

Place on cookie sheet or wax paper to dry and harden.

You'll want to gently break it apart when it dries.

 

Serve it in a large bowl, bag it up for a friend, or make individual treats.  These were made for the sweet ladies in my Bible study.

Enjoy!

Have a great holiday weekend,

Kerrie

Bless Your Heart

Ahhh...The South.

What a great place to be. Such rich heritage and history.
It's just different here. Sweet tea, front porches, and pecan pie. There are certain things that only Southerners appreciate or understand.
For example...

• Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."

• Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."

• Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.

• Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash.


• A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.

• No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.

• And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say, "Bless her heart" and go your own way.

• To those of you who're still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!

• And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, ya'll need a sign to hang on ya'lls front porch that reads "I aint from the South but I got here as fast as I could."
• Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!

I've had a few Southern prints at my Etsy store, but just recently added some new ones. Check them out!
Even if you're not from the South, you can still enjoy a little piece of it.







Y'all have a blessed day,
Kerrie

Back to School & Giveaway!

Hi blog friends! Thursday was the first day of a new school for my handsome boys. They are attending Bay Area Christian School this year and are so excited! They have met great new friends and really seem to be adjusting well.

I wanted to share with you that Target has specials for the month of August! We all love Target, right?? Great for back-to-school needs.
Check this out. I LOVE the coupon on the back of the cereal!

• Purchase specially marked Nature Valley® Crunchy Granola Bars, Pillsbury® Toaster Strudel® Pastries, and Big G Cereal packages and you could save up to $5 on Crayola products
• Participating Big G cereal boxes will feature a fun Crayola coloring activity on pack
• Save on General Mills products when you purchase specially marked Crayola 64-count.

Wanna win THIS!!????!!!

Leave a comment on what YOU buy at Target for back-to-school and you could win this gift pack! Drawing on Wednesday, August 22nd.

• A box of Cheerios
• $20 Target gift card
• 8-CT Crayola Dry-Erase Crayons

Disclosure: The product, gift pack, information, and additional sample have been provided by Crayola, Target, and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Bedroom set

I recently had the opportunity to redo a family bedroom set for a couple.  She didn't want to spend the time doing it herself or the money to buy brand new furniture.  Here is the before and after. 

 

I used the color Milk Paint from Lowe's.  I think it is the perfect antique white for furniture.  Distressed a bit and sealed it with Minwax Finishing Paste.  To update the hardware, I used oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

Hard Rock Cafe Giveaway!

 Michael and I visited the Hard Rock Cafe in Houston the other night and tried some of their new dishes.  I tried the Cajun Shrimp and Poached Pear Salad and Michael got the BBQ pork sandwich.  

 

I have to say, Michael won.  Yum.  His sandwich was great and the fries were thin and crispy.  

The fun part was walking around looking at all the awesome memorabilia on the walls!

 

If you would like to enter for a chance to win a $50 gift card to Hard Rock Cafe, please leave a comment below and I'll draw a name on Sunday, July 22nd.

“Disclosure:  The promotional cards and information have been provided courtesy of Hard Rock International through MyBlogSpark.”

Please visit these additional sites...

• Hard Rock website http://bit.ly/HardRockweb
• Hard Rock on Facebook http://on.fb.me/HardRockFB
• Hard Rock on Twitter http://bit.ly/HardRockTwitter

Chalkboard DIY

I have wanted to put a chore list somewhere in the kitchen to help the boys remember what needs to be done, but just haven't had time.  The boys were at their Mimi's house so it was the perfect time to get some little things done around the house.  I was inspired to do this by a friends' storage room that has one whole wall done in chalkboard paint.  It's awesome!  Tons of room to write memos and their chore list.  I did mine on a smaller scale by putting it on the back of my pantry door.

 

I taped off the area I wanted to paint and painted it with Americana Chalkboard Paint from Hobby Lobby.  I painted three coats of the paint, letting it dry for an hour between coats.   The directions also say wait 24 hours before writing on it.

 

So why stop at the pantry??

I usually write a little note on the mirror in our bathroom for Michael (yes, with lipstick...I know I'm a dork) 

So I decided a less messy way of leaving him a note is to paint the back of his medicine cabinet.  Now I can encourage him without wasting my lipstick...

 

Next, I headed upstairs to the boys' bathroom.   I just did the front panel of their medicine cabinet.  This is a good reminder for them to brush their teeth.  Yes, they STILL need reminders...

Also, this will be great for their Bible verse memorization for school.  Just a little reminder that I love them.

 

Yes, I did stop there.  

So?  What can you turn into a chalkboard?  An old cabinet door?  A frame?  Your pantry door?  It's a very quick and easy DIY that will be an encouragement to your family.

Have a great 4th!

Kerrie

New Father's Day Designs

Father's Day is coming up on June 17th.  I've just got through designing some new prints for my Etsy store.  Here are just a few of them and check out the rest here... The Salvaged Sparrow.

They look great framed in a black frame or rustic wooden frame.  All prints are 8x10.

New Front Door How-To

So by now you all know that there isn't much that Michael and I don't at least try to do ourselves first before going to the "professionals" and this time it was our front door.  After 20 years of wear and tear, it needed a little sprucing up.  The stain had faded and the wood needed some TLC.

The first thing to do is sand.  Yes, the most fun part of any job...sanding.  All the little cracks, curves, and crevasses.  I want to say, "Awww, but mom do we haaavvve to?"

Yes, you have to.  If you are painting or staining you have to give the new product something to hold on to.  Here is the door sanded.

We decided we wanted to stain the door instead of painting it.  We used a great product from Minwax called Polyshade.  It is a colored stain with a sealer in it.  I used foam brushes to apply and then you have to wait 6 hours to dry.  Here it is with the first coat.  Pretty color, but thin and not black.  Second coat is required.

 

After the six hours of drying you have to take a very soft steel wool and lightly sand the door, then apply second coat. I actually decided to apply a third coat also.  

During the drying time we were deciding whether or not to update our hardware.  It was a little dated and the color had faded.  Well, needless to say, doorhandles aren't cheap! Ugh!  Close to $100!!

No thank you.  So here is our knob sanded with 220 sandpaper ready for paint.

 So....for an $8 can of spray paint (Rust-Oleum Universal Paint & Primer in One Oil Rubbed Bronze) we had ourselves a brand new door handle.  Whew!

So there ya go!  Our new door.  Isn't she a beaut?