Chalk board table

I always forget to get the "Before" picture. No exception here. I remembered half-way through painting it! Got this cute little Elmo table at the thrift store so cheap that I couldn't pass it up. Since my little guy is just learning to sit in chairs and wants to do it himself, it's the perfect time to get him his own little set!

I started by painting the chairs green and brown. I painted the edge of the table brown and the legs green. When that was all dry, I covered the top of the table with homemade chalkboard paint. It's got that great little bowl thing in the middle to hold more chalk in, too!

My new entryway

Found this table at a great little antique/thrift store. I knew it had potential, even with all the crap piled on top of it.
This certain store has an inside, which is decorated beautifully and artfully arranged. It also has an outer building, it's actually inside, but it's like a big garage or shop that is detached from the actual store. I L-O-V-E digging my way through that shop! So this table was covered in at least 4 or 5 layers of dust & dirt, plus piled high with other stuff.

Found this mirror at an old church turned thrift store. I was talking with the lady at the front about looking for a cool old mirror and she pointed me to this one. I looked at the price tag and said it didn't fit. She continued to tell me that she had had that mirror for almost a year and no-one would buy it. I usually don't speak my mind for fear of hurting peoples feelings or making them upset. I calmly stated that I wouldn't pay the price that she was asking and saw other items in the store that were similar and much cheaper. She was so shocked! --> at the price!! She asked what I would pay for it, I told her, and that's that!

I painted the table with this new paint that the lady at that antique/thrift store told me about. It's by 'Zinsser' and called "B-I-N". It's like a stain, but tintable, which means you can choose your color!! It's cream based so it will only do pastel colors, but I tinted mine yellow and am super in love with the outcome! It dries really fast, like in less than 45 minutes. I found that with doing the shabby chic sanding, I really had to use elbow grease once it was dry. I did one section while it was still kinda tacky and wish I would have done it all while still a bit wet, I like the look better.

The old crates I lightly spray painted white and added casters to bottom so as not to scratch my floor. I made some brown chalk board paint to use on the ends so I could personalize them for the kids (LOVE LOVE LOVE).
The mirror I spray painted white over then sanded so some yellow comes out. It will be hung, not leaning against the wall, once hubby has time.
I found that cool old painters box to use as my catch all. It's perfect! It's got a spot for keys, cards, misc, and a big spot for mail. It was a great old red, but that didn't go with my theme so I painted over it in yellow then sanded.
If all else fails, I've got a back-up dinner table :)

more wedding accessories

these lovely things i made as table decor for our wedding. wanted something tall to offset the little glassware.
i bought two diffrent bases, both inexpensive terra cotta from home depot. used pots and saucers, covered holes in bottom with scotch tape before filling with quick dry cement (simple to use, never used before but was very easy to work with). i got diffrent kinds of twigs and branches from michaels and the backyard (another good reason to live in the middle of nowhere!) and shoved them into the cement as it was drying. once dry, i spray painted base of twigs, top of cement, and base itself with primer then with a chocolate/woodsy spray paint.
the birds i made out of ivory cardstock. each bird is two pieces (body & wings). before connecting peices, i ran the paper through my cuttlebug and enbossed with french script to give texture. once embossed, used scrapbook tape adhesive to connect wings to body, poked hole in through where the two were connected, and used fishing wire to sting up on the twigs.
once the cement was dry, i used hot glue on top of cement around base of twigs and stuck moss to base for the "natural" feel.

of all the things i made for our wedding, i think these were my favorite!