Does this look cozy enough to harbor a guest comfortably? I hope so; it's our finished guest bedroom! (If you believe that, you're lost your fruit loops. A true artist's work is never finished. I actually want to MAKE a headboard next.) Don't mind the caged doorway, that's just to keep the dogs out. The dresser beside the bed is an old mixed matched hand-me-down from Patrick's parents that I painted black and changed the hardware on.
I'm so dumb for not taking a before picture of this window. It was beyond hideous. Short ruffled old dingy dust-ruffle-like curtains that must have belonged to the extremely old couple that owned the house about 2 owners and 3 renters ago, dressed the window in a recent previous life. The problem with this window, although very cool, and when I say "cool" I mean "unique" (Unique New York. Say it five times fast.) is the odd height. My easy fix was to sew together strips of my remaining burlap from this post, gather and fold the fabric and tie it in place with a burlap bow! Interesting tid-bit: The really cool part, is Lucifer's food and water bowl are disguised directly behind the curtain. My mom sewed that gold tasseled cloth for Patrick and I's first apartment together, and we bought the candelabra in Santa Monica, Ca in Z Gallery at the 3rd St. Promenade. Sigh; the memories.
I've been eye-balling the creative chalk boards popping up all over the place, like at fun crafty stores I enjoy browsing and Pinterest, and have been wanting to take on a similar project of my own for a while. I've also really been loving the old victorian style picture frames and mirrors that have come back in style, but they are too expensive for my mortal blood. . . . . . So when I found this victorian style picture frame at Ikea, I bought it immediately thinking it would allow me to incorporate both ideas into one!
After a trip to Home Depot, then Sherwan Williams, then back to Home Depot, I finally asked someone for direction to the chalk board paint, and found it. Don't be a dummy like me and forget to grab a wooden stir stick for your paint!!! The supplies needed for this craft are: chalk board paint, a wooden stir stick, a small dense foam roller (for smoothest results), your cleaned painting surface, and paper or plastic to lay under you crafting spot to prevent property damage!
In my case, I was painting glass, so I removed the glass from my frame, laid it on the covered surface, applied a smooth solid layer of paint, and let dry for 4 hours. Then I repeated this 2-3 times. Note: Let completely dry for 2 days before conditioning and using your new chalk board!
While I had the paint out, I removed the top drawer from the dresser I re-furbished a few years ago, had Patrick cut a circular wire portal in back, and painted the newly exposed area black. Ta-da: a pretty and super useful. . . . . and free. . . . . entertainment center!
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If I find out you made fun of me for still having a VCR, I will hire someone to come and tickle you until you pee you pants. At your work place. In front of your boss. I need that contraption to watch my annual "Muppet Christmas Carol". Because I'm gansta like that, fool.
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Note: I spent the day doing this while listening to the husband in the adjacent room yell at the football games on television. Which, during the Baylor vs Oklahoma game, could have been easily mistaken for what I imagine the sounds a clan of ex-convicts, the psychological insane, and untreated tourette patients would make while escaping from the nearest asylum. "This is the biggest, most important Baylor game of my entire life dear. You don't understand how serious this is!" he said to me. Oh ya, he pulled that classic line on me. Other challenges: keeping Lucifer out of the wet paint!
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I'm using the space above our kitchen cabinets as a portrait gallery. It's a win, win. I get to show off and constantly enjoy our engagement, bridal, and wedding portraits, and we don't have to worry about hanging too many things on the walls! The rose candles in the glass container to the left are the floating roses we used in the centerpieces at our wedding, and the old bird feeder to the right we got for free the same day we bought these antique posts! I actually tried to use it as a bird feeder once, in the Belton house, and the squirrels and deer got together as a strange team, stole all the seeds from the birds and poisoned my window-boxes beneath it with weeds. Another Interesting tid-bit: We took that wedding portrait outside our reception hall while waiting for my LATE brother to show up, becuase he thought hanging out with friends and stopping by the liquor store, instead of arriving to our reception, was a fair trade for having to be in our wedding!
Lastly, here is the late finished product picture of my home-made earring hanger.
What do you think about the whole chalk board craze? Do you have one? Do you still have a VCR hidden somewhere in your residence?
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