Stuck in NY!

My parents are adventure travelers.  They don't waste their time on uneventful trips and vacations, they come back with a STORY.  Like the time we went on a trip to Missouri in the motor home and our caravan had to stop several times a day in the mountains so we could fix various things.  When we finally got to Missouri, the car we were in with friends would die everytime we went up a hill.  Or the time we went to San Antonio to Sea World and the air conditioner broke in the motorhome.  Dad had to stay behind in the park in the 100+ heat to have it fixed.  Totally missed out on Sea World.

Or the time we were coming back from a cross country trip and the motorhome broke down a mile from home at 1am.  Mom and I walked home to call a wrecker and drove back up in the truck, only to have it not start once the wrecker pulled away with the motorhome.  We were towed twice by the same guy.  I don't think he charged us for the second tow.  I think he just felt sorry for us.

At the Dallas Market the shuttle bus we were in broke down before we could make it back to the hotel.  When I was in Elementary school, Mom and Dad took me and a group of girls to the Galleria to ice skate for my birthday.  On the way home the car broke down a couple of miles from home and we all walked home in the dark.  Those girls still talk about that night!

And there was the super eventful trip that Mom and I took with another mother and daughter to Georgia, pulling their travel trailer.  I lost count of how many wrong turns and brake downs we had on that trip.  We named the surburban we were in "Bag of Bolts".  It had one blue door that wouldn't open so whoever was in that seat had to crawl out the other side.  The trailer was practically welded onto the surburban because someone had forgotten to put any grease on the ball before hooking it up.  Everywhere we went, the trailer had to go to.  And we had to stop every couple hundred miles to add water so it didn't overheat. 

The list could go on and on.

Ahhh....good times, good times.

Their current trip is no exception.  They are currently stuck in NY after a cruise along the East Coast.  Hurricane Irene is set to make her appearance later today sometime and all flights have been canceled.  So they get to ride out a hurricane in some hotel room that they were able to get by the Grace of God.  They'll be lucky if they can get out Monday. Man, you try to avoid hurricane season by not scheduling a cruise in the Carribbean and then one comes to NY??   What are the odds??  But hey, that's just another "normal" trip for Mom and Dad.  What's a vacation without a good story??

Finally!

I've been up to my eyeballs in fabric the last couple of weeks making curtains for our formals.  I don't think I've ever been so glad to see a project finished!  I needed 18 yds of material to complete 6 curtains and fabric is NOT cheap.  So I got resourceful and bought a linen type fabric and added color with small amounts of nicer fabric.  So this is what the room looked like before I started "shaking things up a bit" as my 7 year old would say.

You'll have to keep watching for the big room reveal. (Not sure when that will be but it should be good!)  These are my new curtains along with a lighter yellow on the walls:

Simple tie tops but I think they turned out great!

Next up - hanging shelves and finishing the dining room table!

One thing leads to another...

I was hoping to have a really cool completed project to show off, but it seems that I'm really good at starting projects....and not so great at getting them finished right away.  I'm in the process of redecorating our front room (the formals) and it seems that one thing just leads to another.  I tried to finish painting today but I ran out of paint.  I tried to sew curtains but I ran out of fabric.  I've got a great big armoire in the room that needs to find a new home but I can't seem to get anyone to take it off my hands.  See why I can't get anywhere??  :)

I wanted to post something though so I'm including some pictures of a few things I've been doing the past couple of weeks.

This is a chair from our dining room table.  It used to be a plain oak color but I decided to give it a new look.  I've spray painted the chairs and rubbed a stain over that to give them a worn look.  A while back I saw a set of really cute chairs that had numbers on the head of the chair.  I cut out some vinyl with my cricut and this was the result:

Don't they just look happier???  I haven't gotten around to the table yet but I have fun stuff planned for it too!

I also got busy in the kitchen this week and painted one whole wall with chalkboard paint.  At first glance it just looks like a black wall, but the chalk tends to give it away.  It's really hard to photograph but if you look closely, you'll see "welcome" written on the wall.  Reese has really had fun with this.  I envision schoolwork and to do lists all over that wall! 

So maybe I have finished a few things.  Small things but things none the less.  I've got some really big reveals coming up though, so be sure to check back in!



New life for an old girl

I couldn't wait to share this project with you!  I bought this old cabinet a few years back at a craft show Mom and I were doing.  I had to rearrange the back of the truck several times to make room for it but it was worth it!  It WANTED to come home with me.  See, it's not my fault.  Really. Who am I to turn my back on the homeless?  :)

I'm not sure of her age but someone had replaced a few tiles on the top with whatever was lying around.  At least they tried to match the colors.  They didn't really match my decor unfortunately so it was time for them to go.  This picture is after I started removing the tiles.  Since I didn't know what was original to this piece and it didn't really matter since they didn't all match anyway, I didn't try to get them off in one piece.  Good thing.  Cause it wasn't happening anyway.

Ahhhh.....a blank slate.  I've been inspired by all the cool subway type signs I've been seeing on Pinterest lately so I decided to cut a piece of plywood to fit in the top and find a quote or something to put on it. I cut the plywood and gave it a base coat of a creamy color.  After that dried, I dry brushed a little white on.

I looked and looked and couldn't really decide on a quote so I decided to do the fruits of the spirit.  I arranged my words using PSE and printed them out using the reverse image feature.  The plan was to use a transfer method that I had seen on some other blogs. 

(As always at the Gibson house, animal support is very important to projects....)

All I had to do was trace the reversed images and a small indention would be left on the wood.  Ummm...right.  That doesn't work on plywood.  So, my mind set on making this work somehow, I cut out all the letters using my exacto knife, effectively making templates.  I traced the templates onto the wood and then painted them using a black craft paint.  Later a friend asked why I didn't just use my Cricut.  Ummmm...good question.  I'll get back to you on that.....

After a light sanding and a few strokes of a light stain, my sweet little cabinet has her top back on.  Good thing too cause the neighbors were starting to stare.  

I think she was worth the effort.  What do you think?

No idle hands here

If you know me, you know that I can't sit still. I HAVE to be doing something with my hands at all times. I also get bored very easily so I change projects very frequently. You might say I have a habit of starting too many projects at one time? What can I say? I like to multi-task!

Anyway....I've had so many people suggest that I put my projects out there "somewhere" so everyone can see before and after, how I did it, just what in the world I was thinking, etc.  Thus a new blog that chronicles my decorating, crafting and upcycling adventures (and misadventures).  Not every project I attempt turns out well, but I always learn something in the process.  Why spray painting in the house isn't a good idea, for instance. 

I just happen to have about 6, 7 or maybe 8 projects going on right now so I should have plenty of material to blog for awhile.  I caution you that this will not be an everyday occurrence.  I've tried to hold myself to that and failed miserably so I'm not setting myself up for failure on this one. 

I can't wait to start sharing my projects with you!