Half Table {repurposed furniture}

My Father-in-law does property management.  My hubby gets the fun opportunity of hauling off the "junk" that people leave behind when they move.  Most of the time it really is junk, but sometimes he brings things home to see if I want them.  A few weeks ago, he brought home a drop leaf table just like this...

(I did not take a "before" picture of the actual table because it had a disgusting black banana stuck to it... seriously people leave gross stuff behind).  We had been looking for a small desk to put in our living room for our laptop.  We wanted something in a central location so we could monitor the kids.  I had seen a few "half tables" awhile back on Pinterest and thought it was kind of a cool idea.  As soon as he pulled it out of the truck, I said, cut it in half!  He thought I was crazy... he always does, but he goes with my ideas any way.  We took the drop leaves off, and we cut the table in half.

 The first half we are using as a laptop desk in our living room.  It leans against the wall nicely.  We secured it to the wall with a "L" bracket under the table.

 Here's the side view.

 Here it is with a chair that I redid... an awesome yard sale treasure.

My hubby requested that he got the 2nd half to use in the office... it makes the perfect printer stand.  And I think I'll use it as a charging station as well.

I've moved!

We recently moved!  It was only a few blocks away, but a move nonetheless... lots of work!  I want to post pix of the house, but I feel like I have to post in baby steps... I want to post the rooms after they are decorated... well, partially decorated.  

 I'm starting with the entry.  This is my front door... it's quite pretty.  On the right is a coat closet.  I have a vase there with fake flowers sitting on the floor.  I have plans for that corner... stay tuned.  The left side is a alcove type thing.

 I decided it would be the perfect place to put my seasonal decor... since I have a lot of it.

I have a white mirror hanging in the back.  Then, I strung a banner across the opening.  I have a different sign there for each month.  I put a wreath on the right... it can change seasonally.  I know the wreath looks weird in the pic, but it is a willow wreath layered with a fall berry wreath in front... and a big black spider on it.  The candle sticks on the left can hold candles or other objects.  In the center, I have wood blocks for each month.   Then I can put whatever fillers I have.  I love the balance of the objects and I love changing out a spot seasonally.

Shhhh....

I never made a quiet book for my kids... I thought it would be too hard... huh... Well, I got the bright idea of making a quiet book for my sister-in-law's Dr. Seuss baby shower.  I ended up making most of it myself and it was kind of fun... but it was a LOT of work!

 I got the idea for the cover from Serving Pink Lemonade.    I made it fairly similar.  I used eyelets to make the holes in the book and used rings to hold it together.  I have the flap close with a large button.  I thought it would be fun to have the cover a little different, so I just appliquéd the letters "shhh" on the front rather than having it say "quiet book."

 I didn't do a ton of pages... there are only 3 front and back.  But I figure my sister in law can add more if she wants.    I made the pages out of Pellon as was suggested by Serving Pink Lemonade.  I think it was a wise decision.  I glued everything to the page first with a felt glue, then I sewed everything with clear thread.  I thought that would be easier than changing colors all the time.  It worked out great.

 The first page is the art paint pallet.  I got this pattern from Serving Pink Lemonade as well.  I did make a slight change.  I thought it would be fun to have the colors come off and on with a button.  (It was very difficult for me to figure out how to sew the button hole exactly where I wanted it to go, so I finally got smart and sewed the button hole in the felt first before I cut out the paint swatch.)

 The car page also came from Serving Pink Lemonade.  She had cute signs on hers, but I didn't quite get to that part... I think it's okay without them.

 I also got the tree idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.  I changed it just a bit.  I thought a less detailed tree would be easier.  There are flowers, fall leaves and summer leaves that snap on and off.

My favorite page is the tent page... my family are big campers.  I loved the idea of having a barn with animal finger puppets from Serving Pink Lemonade, but I really liked the tent idea on Laura Thoughts. So I combined the two ideas and created my tent.

When you open the tent zipper, there are forest animal finger puppets inside.  Aren't they cute???

I created a pdf file with the template for the tent and finger puppets.  You can download it here.  (I'm not sure the best way to share files, so let me know if the link does not work)

I got the shoe template from Made by Me... Shared with you.  Her's was a lot more detailed and way cuter, but I think mine looks okay:)

It turned out great and I'm excited for my little nephew to be able to use it... he finally came into this world on Oct. 2nd... but I'm sure it will be awhile until he's old enough to enjoy his quiet book!

Ombré Dresser

I have been seeing Ombré dressers on Pinterest lately, and I'm in love:)  My boys had been needing a new dresser in a really bad way.  They have been using a somewhat girly (okay, maybe way too girly) dresser that I used to have in my craft room.   Well, I ran across this dresser at my grandma's house and thought it would be perfect.  (I am horrible at taking before and after pix).  This dresser was solid wood, but the top drawer was damaged... no problem.  We needed a place for the DVD player anyway.  I had to prime the entire dresser with an oil based Kilz primer to cover the "old wood" smell.  I got this paint chip from Home Depot with black at the bottom and various shades of grey going up. 

 I had them make me a sample of each color.  Then I used whatever white paint I had laying around for the outside of the dresser.  I painted the handles with a metal spray paint and put a coat of polyurethane on the dresser. 

 It was a bigger project than I thought it would be, but I LOVE IT!

Pictures just don't do it justice:)