home decor and garden are very famous in the world

One of my “virtual friends” noted that I have been a little MIA lately…sorry about that! My furniture projects tend to slack off in the winter months; it’s just too cold to paint outside! And then sometimes…life happens. Last weekend I got a nasty bout of strep throat, and then, being the caring, sharing person that I am…I proceeded to pass it along to two of my boys and my husband! Then my daughter tripped going UP the stairs at her school and gave herself a nasty sprained ankle, so she is in a boot and on crutches for the next few weeks. Whew! It’s been quite a week!
But I do have a project to share!

I had a niece who was getting married in December (yes, it already happened), and I made a simple copy of a beautiful wedding sign I had seen on etsy (note: the link to the original sign has been removed at the creator's request).

Using another of my salvaged cupboard doors (you can see other cupboard door projects here, here, and here), I base-coated the door black, then used my Silhouette to cut vinyl out for the words (those are the blue letters you see).

I brushed plain white glue on the board, and let it dry for a few minutes until it was just tacky.

(Note: you can also use a purchased crackle medium for this step, and to be honest—I think it works better. It’s not that expensive—especially if you “borrow” it from a friend! But use what you have on hand. Or what your friends have on hand.)

Then I painted a creamy white paint over the board, sticky glue, vinyl letters, and all! While the paint was still wet, I removed the vinyl.

You can see that the edges are a little rough, but that can be cleaned up with paint later if necessary. However, since the board will also get sanded and glazed, it’s not really a big deal!

The crackle finish takes a while to really show itself, but it’s so cool when it does!

At my niece’s wedding reception, the sign was displayed on a large floor easel right outside the door. It was super cute!

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Domestically Speaking’s Power of Paint	Stylish Once Again
Hookin’ Up with House of Hepworths	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	I Heart Naptime
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Mod Vintage Life	My Repurposed Life
Too Much Time on My Hands	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground	Simply Klassic Sundays

I have very sad news to share today…this is going to be my last coffee table post (for a while, at least). Yes, it is true. After refinishing FIVE coffee tables this spring/summer, I am out! There are no more in my garage. (I think I might cry just a little.)

For the record, there was the French Chocolate table (that one is mine), Café table, the Postcard table (that one my little sister claimed), and the Black Coffee table! Oh, and then there was the French Twist table (not technically a coffee table, but sometimes I put my hot chocolate on it).

For this last one, I did branch out a little…no French ads here! Instead, how about a little….Roman??

Ever since I made this clock table in the spring, I wanted to do it again, but on a smaller scale, and more like the Pottery Barn clock I have admired so much…

. So…I had been on the hunt for a round coffee table!

And what did I find? This beautiful $8 maple table from a garage sale.

You can’t see it, but there was quite a crack in the top, and that’s why I got such a great deal. For my purposes, a little crack wasn’t going to deter me!

I painted the whole table barely off-white, but then I also brushed on at other shades of white and cream to give it some depth.

Not wanting to waste paper or vinyl, I used my Silhouette to cut a single I, V, and X out of paper, and traced them with a pencil onto the table top. (No, I did NOT use an overhead projector! That’s a shocker.) Then I filled in the outlines with black acrylic paint.

I heavily distressed this table (well, it was heavy for me), and then I glazed it in both black and brown.

I really loved the aged feel of this piece.

Hope you enjoyed a coffee table in a different language!

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This project has been featured at Saved by Love Creations, Knock Off Decor, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Copy Cat Crafts, A Little Knick Knack, Bless My Nest, Sisters of the Wild West, and The DIY Show Off.

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It’s no secret that I love typography! Before I started painting on tables, I painted words of all kinds on recycled cupboard doors, old canvas, and scraps of baseboard (you can see these here, here, here, and here). After seeing Miss Mustard Seed’s MARKET sign, I was inspired to cut up a piece of beadboard I had left over from a project last summer.

I didn’t do any measuring…just cut off some pieces that looked good to me. I used my Silhouette to design the wording. Since vinyl is expensive, I cut the lettering out of cardstock and used spray adhesive to temporarily fix the letters to the beadboard.

Note: it helps to lay out the letters on your board before your spray them, and make little pencil marks to remind you where to place them after they are all sticky!

This is what it looks like with the cardstock letters on the beadboard, before I paint over them:

All of the beadboard was base-coated in white before I played with the letters.

The “Market” sign was my first and favorite! I used some leftover paint from a Behr Ultra sample pot to paint over the board. Yes, you get some more bleeding under the letters, but for a sign that will be glazed and distressed anyway, it really doesn’t matter! You also don’t get perfect coverage…but that’s part of the charm.

I used a small brush and black acrylic paint to “shadow” the letters. I love the depth it gives. Then I sand everything down well, and glaze it with brown stain mixed with a glazing medium, concentrating on the grooves.

I did a couple of French signs. “Boulangerie” is “bread shop,” and “Patisserie” is “pastry shop.” Surely two of the best places in the world to be!

The “Groceries” sign is the same color as the “Market” sign. Do you like the antique wooden shoe form sitting in front? I got it from I’m So Vintage’s etsy shop!

I love red. This one would have been great in my kitchen. I grew up on homemade bread, and my family goes through at least 6 loaves every week!

The “Eggs” sign was inspired by Full Circle Creations.

I didn’t distress or glaze the “Lemonande” sign. It was so clean and bright as it was…perfect for summer!

Which sign is your favorite? Or do you have another idea for a sign? Be thinking about it, because JULY 25 is my one-year BLOGIVERSARY! There will be a giveaway beginning that day, and one of the prizes will be a sign of the winner’s choice!

What would you want yours to say??

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Linking up to these great parties and Saved by Suzy.

The weather hasn't changed a bit here today. In fact, we woke up to snow on our cars this morning! (I live in UTAH, not Alaska!) It has been a cold, wet, gray day. But...look what's blooming in my front yard!




The first of my many iris have bloomed. In a week or two, my front yard will be beautiful with all shades of purple, blue, and yellow flowers. Iris make me happy; they remind me of my dad. So no matter what the weather...there is a little sunshine in my soul today!

And I would like to share a little sunshine with YOU! I noticed yesterday that I now have over 300 followers. THANK YOU to all of you who give me support, encouragement, and praise for my little projects. In appreciation, I would like to send one of you a little "You Are My Sunshine" canvas that I finished today.

Do you remember my BIG Sunshine canvas(es)?

...well, I'm sorry; you don't get one of those! But I did make an abbreviated version.



You get to make a choice. Both canvases are 11" x 14", and are soft yellow (probably not quite as bright as they look on your screen) with off-white lettering.




I found this roll of "Clear Cover" at Hobby Lobby a couple of days ago. It's meant to be used for book covers, but it said it was re-positionable and clear, and it was only FOUR DOLLARS for a huge roll! For that price, I decided it was worth trying. Well, I am happy to report it works great! Hope that helps someone else out. :-)

In fact, we haven't had a lot of spring weather here at all so far this year (a few lovely days here and there). I try to make it a point not to complain about rain, or cold, or snow even, because I dislike being HOT most of all! But I will admit that today, at least, I am a little tired of gray.

So I decided to give the antique window in my kitchen a little spring treatment! (You can see what it looked like last here).

Yesterday I bought this amazing pad of double-sided paper at Hobby Lobby. I used my 40%-off coupon, so it only cost $6...and I used less than 3 1/2 sheets for this project.


I used my Silhouette to cut out many different sizes of butterflies. The double-sided paper meant I really had eight different patterns for my butterflies.






Oh, and the title of this post? It comes from one of my very favorite Primary songs:

This post has been featured at

I'm So Vintage

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I am not a squealer. Really. But I almost squealed with delight when I cam across this dresser at Deseret Industries (that's Utah's "Goodwill") a month or so ago.

Isn't it cute? Despite the nasty orange color, I mean...and yes, it was really that color in real life.

The top drawer had a problem. There had obviously been water damage, and one of the layers of the drawer bottom was peeling up.


...but...it was up on legs! And there was another treasure in the top drawer:






It worked like a charm! You may wonder why I didn't just replace the drawer bottom. I had intended to, but it was GLUED in place! There was no way to get it out without some serious damage potential, so I chose to just remove the peeling layer. The drawer bottom is sturdy enough without it.

Finally...on to painting! The dresser was gray...briefly. But I wasn't feeling the love.




...and of course it needed a little something more on the decorative front panel. I painted a bird in antique white, which matches the paint job on the knobs. Everything is glazed with Jacobean stain to bring out the details. I only did a very little distressing...I didn't want the orange showing through!