Summer Decorating

I've been aching to go to the beach lately. Being a redhead, it's something of a curse to love the beach as much as I do. Wish I had a nickle for every time someone said to me, "you'd have a good tan if all your freckles ran together." Oh, the mockery us redheads endure as children! There is actually some home video footage taken at the beach when I was around 8 years old wherein I was clothed in blue jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Complete with sunglasses and a ten gallon cowboy hat. My mother had obviously had enough sunburn drama to last her a while.

Anyway, in honor of summertime, I thought I'd share some of the summery decor around our house. It's not much, but it's mine. And it's paid for...

I copied this tray idea from a condo where my in-laws stayed when we went to the beach last year. I fell in love with it so much that I searched and searched for the exact tray until I finally found it at Target, of all places. The vase holding the candle came from Michael's. I filled it with genuine Panama City Beach sand, and shells, starfish, and sea glass from Pottery Barn. I actually like this display so much that I kept it out through the winter months, too.

A couple of years ago, my husband stopped at a yard sale to let me look (and I didn't even have to ask!) and I found this little roll-top desk. It was pretty sad and not really anything special. I'd been looking for something to to act as a vanity for this bare spot in the bathroom. I took her home (for $5!!) and gave her a makeover. Although it's relatively non-functional, it pretties up an otherwise useless space. I usually keep bath salts in that decanter, but looks like I'm out.

Not much is going on in the kitchen, summer-wise, except this bowl on our kitchen table that I filled with shells and driftwood.

Here's a side table in our living room. Trying to decide whether or not to paint it. For now, I'm liking the color of the wood. I've always thought that most everything looks better painted white, so who knows? Sorry about the glare.

I found the little fish plate at the local antique mall (or flea mall, as it's called) a few weeks ago, and they hydrangeas came from our yard.

My sister-in-law had this shadow box coffee table in a garage sale a few years ago and when it didn't sell, she let me have it. Being true to my instincts, I painted it white (Heirloom White) and lined it with burlap. I really had bigger plans for this table, but this is as far as I've gotten so far. It's filled with a few shells, driftwood, and a beach photo of my family. On top is one of my favorite summer decorations. I got these little jars from my mother-in-law, and the shells came from past trips to the beach. There are tea lights inside the jars, but they wouldn't stay lit for the picture. Sorry...that would have made for a better photo.

Finally, my little pewter seashell. I found it at the antique mall the day I found the fish plate. I was quite happy with my finds on that particular trip.

Wonder what my son will say when I tell him I need him to go to store for bath salts and tea lights?

I'm linking up with:
Thrifty Treasures@Southern Hospitality
DIY Project Parade@DIY Showoff
Sister Sunday@Sisters of the Wild West
Sunday Show-off@Twigg Studios
Spotlight Saturday@Classy Clutter

Blessings,

Mirror Makeover

My in-laws recently cleaned out their old house and we had a huge yard sale together at my sister-in-law's house. Sadly, in the five hours I helped work the yard sale, I only made $20 (but, hey, that's $20, right?). My sister-in-law raked in over $200, though, so it wasn't a total waste. Plus, I brought home several of her cast-offs, so I can definitely say that it was worth it and you'll see why.

I have several projects in the works, but I recently completed one. Yay!! This mirror was included in the junk that I brought home from the yard sale.

It was originally a gold-ish color (I think), but she decided she wanted it to be a pewter color, so she got hold of it with some spray paint and, lucky for me, didn't like the result.  I, too, had big plans for this mirror.

It was a little rough to the touch, sort of like the paint that was previously used had a texture to it, kind of like sand.  So, I used some 180 grit sand paper and lightly sanded away the rough spots. (Sorry, I didn't think to take close-up before pictures).

I placed newspaper over the mirror and then taped it in place with painter's tape all the way around. Now for the fun part. Two or three good coats of Heirloom White spray paint.

I'm kind of new to this blogging thing and didn't think about how my "during" pictures would look. You can see how sophisticated my work area is.  I didn't have enough newspaper to go all the way around, so I kept sliding it over to get the spots that I needed to paint. The wind was also blowing a little, so that made it a little more frustrating. See the wood pieces on top of the newspaper? Paper weights. Next time, I'll know better.  Hopefully.

I really like the way it looked painted white. So much so that I almost didn't do the final step - glazing.  I decided to go for it because I could always re-paint it white if it turned out horrible.  Because there are so many little crevices in the details, I used a small artist's brush to be sure I got every little nook and cranny. Then, after a couple of minutes, wiped it off with a damp paper towel. I used q-tips and a clean paint brush to wipe out the crevices to my liking.

I really like the way it turned out! I haven't decided where, exactly, I want to hang it, so I leaned it against the wall on my buffet to see if it grows on me. It may end up in my bedroom (another work in progress).

Here's the before again...

and after...

So, I'm ready to start my next project. Here's a peek...

Another freebie from the yard sale.  Stay tuned.

Blessings,

Christa

I'm linking up here: