Craigslist...My New BFF

Craigslist & I have been like this. I realize you can't see me crossing my fingers, but that's what I'm doing. I have been on Craigslists every day, sometimes multiple times a day looking for a bargain. My main objective: find an entertainment center that will allow me to do my best to create something like THIS! Of course while I'm on there, I also look to see if I can find any other can't pass up deals. I haven't used it yet to buy anything, so I guess I haven't found any can't pass up deals. That is, my friends, until last night!!

One of my dream projects is to find a china cabinet and remake it to make my dining room. Good news for me, I'm getting ready to paint my dining room so I'm starting with a blank slate really. I came across the ad while waiting for the hubs to get home so we could do our bi-weekly trip to the Mexican restaurant to listen to a local southern rock & blues singer do his thang. It was then that I saw these words:

NICE LARGE WHITE CHINA CABINET W/ GLASS DOORS - $60

As any smart girl would, I clicked on the add. For $60 it was worth at least looking at even though I knew it wouldn't be anything special. It was too good of a price. This is what I saw.

Look at that beauty. The turquoise just makes it! No, I'm kidding. But still, it was perfect for what I wanted to do with it. I called Jean (my craft partner in crime and college roommate and art teacher(so you know she's filled with all kinds of artsy knowledge)) and told her I needed her husband's truck. She's a former Peddler's Mall junky so I knew she's fully understand the steal that was this price. I then remembered my dad gets off much earlier than she does and the shop closed at 6 so I called him and asked if he'd be my delivery boy. I then called the shop and they still had it! YES! I told her I'd be coming tomorrow to pick it up.

Guess what. I did! I met my dad at the shop this afternoon and I bought it. It sits in my garage right now waiting to be turned into something beautiful. I can't tell you how excited I was and still am. The hubs doesn't share my excitement but he'll come around, eventually. He will once he sees how awesome it turns out-yes it will be awesome.

It's a Start-Photo Wall

You saw the picture frames before and after spray paint & glaze. Now it's time to show you where they ended up. We have a massive blank wall in our stairwell. The frames still didn't take up half of the wall, but it's a start. It's just nice after 2.5 years to get something up there. Slowly, it's starting to feel homey and I LOVE that!

Before=BORING



After!I don't know if you can tell that there is a whole lot of wall left going up and a whole lot of wall left going down. There's also a blank wall above the stairs and opposite the frames. I haven't decided on pictures for the frames yet. I'm not sure if I want to do black & white or color or a mixture. So many decisions! I'm still on the hunt for an old entertainment center that has a side cabinet, a tv space and cabinet under the tv space. My goal is to turn it into something like this! I've spent many many MANY hours online looking at furniture redo's and I'm aching to get my hands on something inexpensive to try out the ideas I've compiled.

Painted Picture Frames

I started out with dollar tree frames that were different shapes and colors. I forgot to take a picture before priming. Here they are after being primed.

I painted three Rust-oleum Sun Yellow, three Rust-oleum Aqua and three white. Then I used my Valspar Antiquing Glaze (for the first time) to make them look aged. I love how they turned out.


But my 50cent mirror from the peddlers mall was my favorite transformation. It started out gold. I primed it and then gave it a coat of white. I used the Valspar antiquing glaze and it turned out beautifully! I couldn't be any happier!!

New Blog

I know I'm not great at keeping up my Little Brownies blog, but I have so many ideas swirling around in my head I needed an outlet for them and also a way to keep track of them. I have come across so many awesome DIY projects that are inexpensive and I'm excited to start trying some. I love being creative and making things. I also need to finish decorating my house that we've lived in for 2.5 years. Staying home with the boys, I'm in my house A LOT!! Why not decorate it to feel cozy and inviting? Well, my friends, that's just what I'm starting to do! Journey with me as I lay my plans out and try to bring them to fruition! To give you an idea of what has me so inspired, here's two of my favorite decor blogs.

www.betterafter.blogspot.com
www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!!

I have two projects that I've started in the garage drying so there will be pics up soon :)