Reflections on Thanks

Using DIY Chalk Paint

Oh my goodness.....I painted a table! I have been wanting to paint an end table that has been living in my family room for over a year. It was a $10 table from an estate sale, but over the year, I may have ruined the top with cold drink condensation.

To be honest, this was a project that I thought I wouldn't follow through with. I had zero experience painting furniture and didn't want to ruin an almost perfectly good table.

But I put on my big girl pants and decided to take it on. I wanted to use chalk paint, but didn't want the expense of using chalk paint. Thank goodness for Pinterest! I found a DIY chalk paint recipe. I have tons of leftover paint, including some paint samples, which is what I used. I just needed the Plaster of Paris. I paid $5 for a huge container. I could probably paint everything in my house with the amount I now own. It was super easy to mix up too!

So I set out to paint my table. After reading through several posts, I knew this was not going to be a one coat job. The first coat is pretty streaky. The paint dries pretty quickly, but I left it for a while in between coats...mostly because sitting on my garage floor is not comfy.

This also gave me time to make a stop at Hobby Lobby and look for a new drawer pull. I found one I liked and headed back to paint another coat.

By the second coat, the table was looking quite a bit better. I was gaining some confidence in my painting ability!

I ended up doing 3 coats of paint. The last coat seemed to finish it up. Now I should seal the top with wax, but I haven't done that yet. I am super happy with the how it turned out.

This project gave me so much confidence to paint more furniture. I am on the lookout for a coffee table for my family room and am ready to tackle the paint job!

Tell me about your furniture painting adventures!

Reflections on Home

Reflections on Home

Spooktacular Hot Drink Station

 

The weather is getting cooler and some days, down-right cold. Time to break out the hot tea and hot chocolate! I love ending my day with a cozy cup of something warm. Having a spot in my kitchen for all my hot drink goodies makes creating delicious drink really easy. I have admired lots of hot drink stations on Pinterest for a while. I kinda put one together. It was functional, but I really didn't think it was anything special. As I was pulling out my Halloween decorations, the creative juices started flowing with some fun ideas for a Halloween-inspired hot drink station.

Finally, my candy corn candles have a place to shine! I am more of a cutesy Halloween person than a scary Halloween person. So I love my happy little ghost next the big candy corn. My homemade hot chocolate mix looks very spooky in my little glass Halloween jar. By the way, this homemade hot chocolate mix is delish! Get there recipe here.

My little fun spider bowl was a great spot to put my stash of tea. Once it starts getting cold, I start drinking a lot more tea. It is so comforting! Having a variety of teas handy makes everything so easy. And if any guests would like some tea, they can see my selection.

I am so happy with how my little station turned out. It isn't super exciting, but it is a fun little festive addition to my kitchen!

Reflections on Home

Autumn Wreath Revamp

One way to love my home is by creating a happy front door. I made this wreath a few years ago, but I was never completely thrilled with it. I liked it, but didn't love it. It needed something a bit more.

Have you seen these half pumpkins at Michaels? This was the perfect thing to use for my wreath because it wasn't going to stick out from the door,. It was also going to create a focal point, but now I had figure out how to attach it to the wreath.

Thankfully it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I was able to use a knife to make a small hole to push through a wire.

The wire easily wrapped around the wreath to attach it! YEAH!

My wreath has a fresh new look and now I love it! This was an easy and cheap way to use what I already had. This revamp project was less than $5. That is my kind of deal for a girl on a budget. Even though it was a small project, I took something I didn't like and made it into something that I love!