Fun Chandelier

My good friend Dawn gave me a really cool chandelier !!! She bought it at a yard sale and had it in her home but she is moving so she gave it to us!!!! I love when I get new treasures.Dawn had it in her hallway when you walk into the house and I thought I would put it their too.That is one of the few spots that hasn't been rewired with new electric so it might be a while before we can hang it.This weekend rained here so we didn't paint the house outside and I am feeling anxious about that project now. I did buy paint for kids bunk beds and I am going to start painting it.The boys room is almost complete.I need to paint one more wall and then just find them new bedding.Here are the chandelier photos

Rearranging

Today I had energy to rearrange our kitchen!!!!! I know exciting ,right!!!! For me it was nice to finally see my kitchen all sparkly including the copper sink!!!! I let it get "rustic" looking and when I have time (or company) I shine it up!!!! I always am amazed how shiny it gets but it is a lot of effort. I like the patina it gets after a while so I get the best of both worlds!!!! I moved the armoire that holds most of our dishes and I added some cute hooks at the side to hang some of my aprons.I am really liking it. Also I am LOVING the bistro markers (chalk) for the chalkboard wall.I am trying to convince my hubby to put up my vintage school chalkboard  in the kitchen again.I really loved it in there.Here are a few photos.

New project!!!!

We decided to build new beds for our two youngest boys.They share a room and I really wanted the look of built in bunk beds.My hubby designed a bunk bed loft for them.It is still evolving but most of it is complete.This room is going to get a new paint color too.Here are photos of our project.(I wasn't the best help my tooth that was pulled was still really bothering me ,we had the boys help and our good friend Larry helped out too!!!)

stencil

I posted a dresser that I painted with the buddha stencil. Even though it looked cool it wasn't finished.I had bought a small stencil for the top drawer but "lost" it in our house somewhere. So I bought a different one and I like this one much better. It is the perfect compliment for the buddhas.Now it is complete!!!!! Here are photos...

Wisdom tooth

I had to have a wisdom tooth pulled.It was pulled yesterday and it definitely hurt more than I thought!!!!! Today my jaw is hurting .It feels like someone punched me in my face!!!! Luckily the swelling went down .I have to run to the store to buy a few groceries and thank god I don't look like a chipmunk anymore!!!!! That's how I looked yesterday. I hope I feel better by this weekend.We are buying more paint to finally finish painting the house!!!!! The day before I had the tooth pulled we had to tear apart our old fence and tie it into bundles so our city garbage would take it away.Some of the fence pieces we had replaced years ago but never threw them out.I am happy to say it is all gone!!!!! I have a yard that looks like a yard for the first time in a long time!!!!!

Workout

Yesterday I started my new workout routine.I walked around a small park that is a block from my house.My two younger boys rode their bikes while I did laps around this park.I did 14 laps .My goal was 16 but I was happy I did the 14.You see I was wearing my husbands 20 lb. weight vest and it was TORTURE walking with it on!!!!!!! Today I woke up and decided I would walk by myself .So I put my gym gear on and walked by the lake and looked at all the pretty houses that face Lake Michigan. I walked for an hour and 15 minutes!!!! Yeah!!! My usual workouts have been going to jazzercise about 2/3 times a week but as much as I love it when I am there I hate getting in the car and driving there.It used to be about a 4 minute drive but they closed the location that was by the house and now I have to go to their other location.So I have slacked !!!!!I just notice I feel better when I walk!!!!!! So that is my new routine I am going to walk as much as I can and still go to jazzercise about2/3 times per week.Hopefully I will see results!!!!!!

Handmade Buddha Stencil project

I have had a new project on my mind for a while.This is how my mind works,always thinking up ideas even when we are in the middle of a BIG project(painting the house).I receive Tracy Porter's catalog and there was a gorgeous Tibetan looking furniture piece in it that I fell in love with.It had a price tag in the thousands.Out of our price range but I was determined that I could paint my dresser like the one in the catalog.I had my oldest son cut out a stencil of a buddha (similar to the one in the catalog),I then painted my dresser in a blue color and took gold paint to age and distress it.I bought gold spray paint and sprayed the buddha on the drawers. It came out really cool.We are using the dresser in the living room. It holds all the video games/movies and toys.Here are photos.