Sweet Sixteen name board

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weekend!  My niece Madison is having an all out fancy Sweet Sixteen party this Sunday.  We have been very busy getting ready for this big shindig, shopping for fancy dresses, party gifts for guests, getting manicures and pedicures, it's a lot of work. But, she is worth it all, she is an honors student, her grades are every parent's dream and she is sweet as pie.

We had gotten everything needed for the party, except for a Sweet Sixteen name board, apparently this is something you are supposed display in the hall.  The party was only a few days away, it was too late to have one custom made and it cost a few hundred dollars. We ditched the idea of buying one and decided to not have one at all.  Then I thought, how hard can it be to cut out a name on foam board and glitter it up?

This is what I made…

This is what I used:

1)  Two foam boards

2)  Elmer's spray adhesive

3)  Glitter

4)  Electric knife


First, I figured the font I wanted to use for the letters and I free-handedly drew her name.  I drew very large letters so I was only able to fit three letters on one board and I managed to fit four letters on other board.  I had first started to use an exacto knife to cut out the name, but the knife was too difficult to use.  I then used the electric knife and it cut perfectly.  After I cut out both boards I used my glue gun to attach the two pieces to make the name.  I glued small pieces of foam board to the back of the name to secure the adjoining seam.

I sprayed with Elmer's spray adhesive...

And glittered it up with two layers of glitter!

Instead of a dot over the i, I cut out a crown and added some jewels for our little princess!

Happy Sweet Sixteen Birthday to our Madison!

Days of Summer are finally here!

Yesterday was officially the begining of summer and I am so looking forward to going to the beach, tackling new projects and enjoying the great outdoors!  I am like a bear, I hibernate in the winter, I don't like the cold weather at all.  When it is bright, sunny and warm out,  I get engergized and want to do myraids of projects (I'll be lucky if I finish two!) because I'll get distracted and go to the beach every other day.

Well, let me show you what I am working on now… My friend recently asked me to paint a small cabinet she had bought at Homegoods for her foyer.  Of course I said yes, because she has a very opulent taste which means I can do what I love to do, paint decorative designs on furniture.

The cabinet originally looked like this… it was a right fit for the space, but the color needed to be changed to match the space.

I started with brushing primer on the cabinet, but it was so difficult to get inside of the cabinet, I ran to the hardware store and got some spray paint.  It made the job a lot easier and faster, except I did run into few mishaps.  A couple of areas on the cabinet bubbled and started to peel, I had to wait til it dried and paint again.  Some areas started to crackle, which I couldn't understand.  Usually, if you paint over oil based paint with water base paint, then the paint would crackle.  That wasn't the case, I had the same based paint throughout.  Lastly, when you are spray painting from a can, you must shake the can really, really well.  Otherwise, the color will not be consistant and the texture will be gritty.  If that happens, which it did happen to me, you'll have to slightly sand it to remove the grit.  It took six layers of spray paint to cover the original paint, finally finished with the coverage. 

Now for the fun part, decorative detail!  I used a small brush to paint the detail, I have used metallic paint pen which is easier but didn't have the color I needed.  

This is as far as I've gotten… I am planning to paint the detail on the drawers and add a sealer this weekend.  Hope you come back to see the finished cabinet.

Have a great Weekend!

I picked up a few things when I went to the Country Living Fair this past weekend.  One of the little goodies was a bunch of dried lavender.  I always loved lavender, the way they look in a field, the way they smell, the way they look in a little vignette on a table.

source

source

Here is the bunch I picked up…

I changed the organza ribbon with a raffia and attahed a starfish to give it a little coastal feel.

Added some umbonium shells to a tall glass, made a little vignette with my painting and branch from Homegoods.

Have a beautiful day!

Great day at the Country Living Fair!

I had such a wonderful day at the Country Living Fair yesterday, the weather was perfect and slew of barns filled with vendors from all over selling their unique and beautiful wares.

Best of all, I got to meet with Sarah Gray Miller, Editor- in Cheif of Country Living Magazine and some wonderful bloggers in person.

Sarah and me

Here are the bloggers I had the pleasure of  meeting… You can see the list of these bloggers at Susan's Homeroad blog, (the missing #11 name is me).  

Another hightlight of my day was meeting with Cari Cucksey of HGTV show Cash and Cari.  She was so sweet and so down to earth,  I was thrilled to meet her.  She had an amazing collections of furniture and collectibles.  You can visit her shop here to check out the beautiful objects and collections she has in store.  

Such a fabulous day it was!

Have a great day!

Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY

I can't believe I am going to the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY, today.  Driving 2 hours upstate was not in my agenda for this weekend.  But, I was so thrilled when I found out about the fair, that we decided to make a nice day trip with the family.  I received an email a few days ago about a getting  free pass to have a meetup with the Country Living magazine Editor at the fair.  All NY bloggers were invited, I am so excited!!  

I tell you all about it tomorrow!

Have a great day!

Cabana renovation update

We are down to the wire with our client's cabana renovation at the Breezy Point Silver Gull Beach Club.  I'm so excited, it is really starting to take shape and it is looking beautiful!  You can see where we started from here, its a large cabana with spectacular ocean views and lots of possibilities.  However, the cabana has seen it's better days, it needed to be revamped and upgraded.  The client wanted to make the cabana his home away from home during the summer season.  Which meant to have all the comforts of home and have a fabulous place to entertain guests.  

Here is a recap of the progress…

Before

Completely stripped the cabana, removed old kitchen, bathroom, walls, ceilings, etc.

Starting to take shape… Allocated space for bathroom, changing room, kitchen and livingroom area.

Installed gorgeous driftwood looking porcelain tiles thorought.

Installed white kitchen cabinets and beautiful white glass subway tiles from Home Depot for the backsplash.  We were able to get a remanent piece of "simply white" granite for the countertop from the stone fabricator my husband deals with.  I love this granite because it has a lot of movement like marble except with the durability of granite.  

The client wanted the to have a translucent look for the walls, so we decided to thin out the paint by adding one part water to one part paint to give the walls a beachy vibe.  The grain on the wood panel shows through perfectly.

  

Here is the new bathroom… This is so much nicer than the one I had in my house!

This project is coming to an end.  I will show you the end results very soon, I hope you stay tuned!

Have a great day!

Another great pallet wall idea!

Hi everyone! My friend Kristin had done it again with another pallet project in her basement makeover.   Nowadays, people are not just using their basement for storage, they are using it as an extension of their living space.  Kristin did just that, she has created a beautiful, comfortable family room to relax and watch televsion, play the piano or entertain guest.  One of the nicest projects she has done in this space was the pallet wall behind the television. But, she didn't stop there, to bring the look of the pallets to the opposite side of the room, she wrapped the bar she built with pallets and it looks amazing!

Here is the pallet wall behind the television…

Lets have a little recap of Kristin's fabulous basement makeover, shall we?


Her wall of collected masks and one of few sitting areas.

Her purple accent wall...

Chicken coop turned coffee table…

Didn't this basement makeover turn out beautiful?

Do you have a basement? If so, do you use it as storage or do you use it as a part of your living space?

Have a great day!