Snow day!

The best kind of snow days are those that are completely unexpected.  I went to bed last night completely expecting to get up at 5:30 for a 12 hour work day!  So when I woke up to a "NO SCHOOL!" text from a co-worker, I was so surprised and excited that I couldn't go back to sleep! At least I was up early to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

My first go at upholstery

I was feeling extra brave, and extra tired of my old faded ottoman the other day and decided to tear it up and try my hand at a little upholstery.  I took out ten million stubborn staples and tore off yards and yards of faded and dirty stripes! 

I took off the skirt to give it a more modern look.  I am pretty happy with the final product, but am still on the lookout for some little vintage legs to replace the casters that I reattached.  Now I just have to work up the courage to tackle that love seat!  

Hunker Down- a few weeks, uh, months late!

**Somehow, this post never went up.  These friends are too good to not post, so here it is-- a little later!**

One weekend some time ago, some wonderful friends came to Nashville to watch the UGA/ Vandy football game.  It was a great time with friends but a not-so-good time with our Dawgs.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves anyway, eating and drinking ourselves silly!  The only thing that could make it better would be if everyone decided to move here with me (cough, cough, Cate).  Oh yea, and not losing to an un-ranked team.  whomp whomp.

  

 I made some red and black pancakes for everyone before the game.  They were clearly bad luck and I will not be making them again!

 Luckily my friends are corn hole winners and love to give me their prizes when they win!

And of course I had to take them to Monnells before they hopped back in the car to head back to GA!  

It was such a great weekend and a great end to my fall break.  That means I am back at work now and consuming lots of caffeine to make my 5:30 wake up time a little bit easier.  I am not a morning person, but I sure did miss those 15 little ones waiting for me bright and early Monday morning!  

My life via Instagram

Full Moon Pickin' Party

A few weekends ago I attended what I think is the most stereotypical and amazing Nashville event.  The Full Moon Pickin' Party is a once a month fundraiser for the local parks where everyone is invited to bring an instrument and play along with thousands of others.  You even get $5 off your admission if you bring an instrument.  People brought anything from a harmonica to an auto harp.  There is also a main stage with three headlining acts each night.

For those of us that are less than musical prodigies, it is a great time to enjoy all different kinds of music, a few craft beers, and a picnic with friends.

Unfortunately, it poured down rain the entire time.  We did not let the torrential downpour ruin our night though.  We enjoyed the live music with our rain jackets on hiding under an awning.  Hopefully next month the sun will be shining for the last Pickin' Party of the year!

Pumpkin Patchin'

This week when I was visiting family in Georgia, I was on the hunt for some pumpkins for my front porch.  I know I can buy them at the grocery store, but there is something about a pumpkin patch to get you in the Halloween spirit.   

As it turns out, Tuesday is not the best day to visit a pumpkin patch.  As it turns out, pumpkin patches are only open on the weekends.  Womp Womp Womp.  I was worried about a meltdown from this little lady who spotted the inflatable slide from a mile away.  Fortunately, the nice lady let us play a little bit before kicking us out.    

 She loved playing in the corn-box.  

 She made some really wonderful corn angels.  

She didn't enjoy the inflatables at all...

It turns out that showing up to the closed pumpkin patch was a great idea!  We had the whole place almost to ourselves.  

So much time, so little to do!

It really is a great problem to have two weeks off work and no responsibilities to fill your time!  To start off my intersession/Fall Break the right way, I jumped into a little project.  The fact that I have to return my sister's Cricut to her after a few days months, kind of lit a fire under my rear to get some projects started and finished!

A few weekends ago, I made these covers for my dog's beds.  I used a $3 flat sheet from Walmart and sewed it like my millions of pillows, envelope closure style.  It is really the easiest way to sew a pillow case and it allows me to easily take it off and wash it.

So I don't have any pictures (oops), but the covers were pretty boring.  Tan and dull.  So I wanted to personalize them for the pups.

First I cut a stencil with the Cricut onto card stock for each of them and used Frogtape to hold it down.  I put a few magazines inside to keep the paint from bleeding through to the back.

(Charleigh approves)

Then I used this Tulip Fabric Paint.  I wanted a dark grey, so I mixed a little bit of Glacier White into Ebony.  I used the stencil sponge brush (maybe I just made that up) to dab the color on lightly.  I did two light coats.

The bottle says let it dry for four hours and then wash after 72.  I'm way too impatient for that second part so I waited about five and threw them on to try them out!  

Side note:  It is next to impossible to get these two to lay down in their beds.  Also, to get a picture of Sarge before he moves.  He may need medication.    

ALSO, Sarge clearly cannot identify his name in print.  I am a disgrace of a Pre-K teacher.  

A few weeks ago I found this great wrapping paper at HomeGoods. I picked it up knowing I had to use it somewhere in my house.

I immediately thought of this old desk I have been using for my sewing machine in my craft room. It had holes in the top from a now-missing tower and some water damage at the bottom from being stored in a garage at a college house. 

The first thing I did was fill the holes with a little bit of wood filler and give it a little sanding.

Note the water damage...

 Then I used the same paint that I used on my bookshelf makeover to paint two good coats over the top edge.

 Then I covered the whole top in a layer of Mod Podge with a cheap foam brush.  

 Next, I added the paper to the top and covered with another layer of Mod Podge with the same foam brush.  I took a luggage tag (the first flat tool I could grab) and slowly pushed all of the excess Mod Podge out from under the paper to make it nice and smooth.  I went over the whole top about a million times to get all of the bubbles out.

 I continued the whole process with the pull out drawer.

 I finished it up by painting a couple coats of the while paint over the rest, focusing on covering the water damage on the lower sides.  I love the way it turned out.  I may need to add glass to the top to protect the paper from my sewing machine, but now I am loving it without!  I have officially caught the refinishing bug, so keep an eye out for my future projects!