Fall Porch - Shabby Paints Review

FINALLY!!!  Fall is HERE!!  Well, the weather doesn't feel too fallish today, but it's Texas so we take what we can get.  It's supposed to feel like fall next week...and it did for a bit last week...so yay!

And FINALLY!!!  I finished my fall porch.  It took me a while.

I got a crate from JoAnn's forEVAH ago!  I spray painted it a beautiful green.  I knew I wanted it for my porch but wasn't sure what I'd do with it.  Then when I was dragging stuff out to decorate, I found Mr. Scarecrow!  He used to get attached to a big tree at the side of our house but we cut the tree down last spring.  He was just begging to be put in the crate on the porch!  It's perfect!

I had been dying to try a new line of chalk paints called Shabby Paint.  The draw for me is actually their product called Vax and ReVax.  It is a varnish that gives the look of wax.  You get the same effect of wax and/or dark wax without all of the elbow work.  You basically paint it on.  So I ordered some paint to do some shelves in my kitchen.  The color I got is Coral Paradise but for some reason online I thought it was more orange "ish" than it turned out but it is still a GORGEOUS color.  And as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be beautiful with the green on the crate.  So I got an "M" and painted the coral paint.  I LOVED this paint.  It is so thick and goes on really smoothly.  I actually did use the ReVax (the Vax with color - in my case hazelnut) on the "M" but you can't really tell in the picture.  I'm going to use it on a chair I'm painting so I'll do an actual review of that product another time.  This is more about the paint.

Here is the crate and the "M"!!

I would like to use this paint again - it was really easy.  Oh, I can't believe I left out the best part.  The prices!  This paint is relatively inexpensive for chalk paint.  And, they have tons of different sizes which is so refreshing from the standard quart and sample size.  But...here's the rub.  Right now they don't have a lot of retailers selling it - the closest to me is in Oklahoma - which is not exactly close.  You have to order it online and by the time I paid the shipping fees, it was the same as the CeCe's I love and that I can run out and pick up with no shipping fees.  Uggghhh - nothing can ever be easy!!  Oh how I wish I had a place to sell paints!!

Okay, back to my porch!  I put the crate, the "M" and Mr. Scarecrow all together...added in some hay and a pumpkin and VOILA!!!  Fall porch!!

I'm working on making a new more fall-ish pallet sign. Oh, and did you see my cute birdcage?  My mom was leaving church one morning and saw it and a perfectly good chair on the side of the road for bulk trash.  She stopped (yes, in her mass clothes) and loaded them up for me!  What a great mom!!  A little green spray paint - I am in LOVE with this green color - and it makes a cute addition to my plant stand.  The green I'm using is Valspar Color Radiance Spray Paint in Pesto from Lowes.

Here's the whole thing with some new big pots of flowers!

And of course no porch is complete without a remote control 4 wheeler!!  LOL!

Hope you're having fun with your fall porch!

Cute Babies for Monday

Happy Monday morning!!  I'll have a fun craft to share this week but it's not ready quite yet.  So, here's some cuteness for your Monday morning.  My kids and I must have watched this 100 times this weekend!!

Burlap and Chevron Pumpkin Tutorial

Fall is my favorite season/time of year!  We don't technically get much typical fall weather in Texas - we have flashes of it though!  But, enjoy the beautiful colors, tastes, decorations and activities of fall!  I always make taco soup on the first football Sunday so I did that this past weekend...even though I had the one bad thing about fall - my first fall cold/allergy crud - boo!!

I'm also busy decorating for fall.  I made a super fun fall craft while lying around sick last weekend.

This cute pumpkin is made from three different burlap - regular, orange and a chevron burlap for the stem.  And then some cute chevron fabric in fall colors.  I got the fabric and burlap from this Etsy store - Dorothy Prudie Fabric. She has the cutest stuff!

I cut all of the fabric into a pumpkin shape.  I just got a clip art pumpkin, printed it and then blew it up with my tracing projector and traced 3 sizes on the wall.

I cut two pieces of the regular burlap which was the biggest size.  I only needed one of the orange middle sized pumpkin and one of the smallest fabric pumpkin.  Then I put Mod Podge all over the burlap pieces.  It made them stiff and I read it should help the edges not to fray.

Once it was all dried, I hot glued fabric onto the orange piece, the orange piece onto the regular burlap and then the two regular burlap pieces together but I left a gap in the middle.  Once the hot glue dried, I stuffed it with plastic grocery bags until it was all full and fluffed up like a pillow.  For the stem I just rolled up a piece of burlap with brown chevron print, hot glued it together and then hot glued it into the opening and sealed it all up!

It's supposed to be a front door decoration but I LOVE IT so much, I don't know if I can bring myself to put it outside and risk anything happening to it.  I think I might make it a mantel decoration!

I need to hang it up on the fence posts but I was just too excited to share to wait until I had time to do that!!  I love it and it was super easy!

SMU Team Spirit Yarn Wreath

My nephew (husband's brother's son), who had the same kindergarten teacher that all 3 of my kids have had, started college at Southern Methodist University this fall!  He was one year old when I met my husband and now he's in college.  I can't believe it!  And what makes it even more exciting is that he is in the marching band there!  We got to see him march by last weekend but didn't have game tickets so we haven't gotten to see him perform yet.  I can't wait to!

This summer I started an SMU yarn wreath.  It took me FOREVER!!  I don't know why.  I'd work on it some and then start something else, and then work on it some more, and then start something else again.  I don't know why I couldn't keep focused on it!  It wasn't difficult in the least.  In fact, it was super easy!

I used Red Heart Team Spirit Yarn in red and blue for their team's colors.  I just wrapped and wrapped and wrapped around a Styrofoam wreath form.  Easy peasy because you don't have to judge if the colors are equal or not - the colors are already measured out so you just wrap with the red and after a while it turns to blue and then back to red...you get the picture.

I picked up some wooden letters and painted them white.  Voila!  Super easy!  We're ready for some Mustang Football...and the half time entertainment!

Labor Day Fun = Painting in My Bedroom

How is it that Labor Day is over?  The end of summer!  I have mixed feelings about it.  It sure was nice sleeping in every day and being super lazy over the summer.  On the other hand, you get to the point where it's nice to be back to routine and structure.  Now that I've gotten a little more used to having ALL of my babies in one place and my newly found freedom and alone time, I'm enjoying school being back in session.

We had a fun weekend.  We didn't do much - everyone seemed to want to stick close to home and be lazy.  Except for my poor hubby - I had him hard at work at several projects!  I even asked the kids if they wanted to go the pool yesterday for the last day and only one wanted to go!  That blew me away.  I think they were just glad to stay home after a long week of getting back to school!

So, while they did this in the front yard

I was making my hands look like this!

And there was actually much more paint on my hand that you couldn't see as well as my legs, arms and clothes!  Haha!  I wouldn't want it any other way!!

I worked on a lot of paint projects over the weekend.  None are done yet but you'll get a little sneak peek!  Take a look at some before's and during's and notice where I was doing all of this painting, glazing and waxing.

I have no idea why there is a pool noodle in my room!!

Yep -  my bedroom - while watching television in the air conditioning (I live in Texas - it's still in the 90's-100's here)!!!

I can't do that with ANY other paint, glaze or wax.  But you can with CeCe's Caldwells!  In fact, I was waxing a piece of furniture and my daughter walked in and said, "Oh my, it smells like oranges in here".  Yep!  The waxing cream smells like oranges!  Nice!!

In the coming weeks I'll be sharing the projects as I finish them.  A jewelry box, chair and mirror.  I can't wait to show them off!!  I'd better go and get to work on them!

A Whole New World

Yesterday was a BIG day for me!  My baby went to Kindergarten.  I've been through the first day of Kindergarten twice before but this one was completely different.  I had a very hard time when my first one went.  I cried and cried and cried!  I just didn't want her to go.  I knew I would miss her.  I knew our lives would never be the same.  I knew she'd start growing at hyper-speed once school started!

I was right!

When my second went, I was still sad about the fact that I would miss her.  I just wasn't as emotional.  I kind of felt guilty about that!

My third, and last, was HARD.  I was emotional like the other two, but way more nervous and uptight than with the girls.  Max has always had a hard time separating from me.  At preschool last year, the teachers would have to take him from me as he would cling to me and cry.  And I worked there!  So I was scared to death that I wouldn't be able to get him in the door!  He did great though.  No tears or fighting it but when I left him, he looked TERRIFIED.  He was pale and frozen still on the floor in front of the puzzle piece he was supposed to be coloring.  I almost grabbed him and ran out the door!!  That was the picture I carried in my head ALL DAY.  Even though I KNEW he would be fine...and he was...I just couldn't get that horrible picture of him sitting there so small and so scared out of my mind.

He, of course, did great.  His teacher said he talked to her...and then added ALL DAY - haha...and seemed to be really comfortable with everything.  Relief!!

Now I am getting used to my new world!  A world with lots of time alone!  It is amazing how different things are now!  Yesterday, when I was ready to leave for work, I just grabbed my purse and left.  I didn't have to give anyone notice or wait for anyone to put on shoes or make sure anyone went to the potty.  When I was done at work, I grabbed my purse again and just...left!  I've worked at my little preschool for 7 years and have always had one, two or three kids with me...and all of their stuff...and had to wait for them to come out of the classroom...and had to make the painfully slow walk down the hall...and stop to go to the potty...or come back in after we got all the way to the car with all of the stuff because someone needed to go potty or forgot their amazing artwork!! 

Today we walked to school and I walked back home...alone!!  It was so quiet and peaceful. I walked at the pace I wanted to walk.  I prayed.  I observed the world around me.

It's a whole new world!  And as nice as that is, it doesn't make me miss the kids being with me ONE BIT.

CeCe Caldwell Chalk and Clay Paint Review - Wall Decor

A few years ago I learned about chalk paint and absolutely loved the idea that I could paint without sanding and prep work. I also love how easy it is to distress as well as the waxing process which makes the pieces look even more aged.

I started out with Annie Sloan of course and enjoyed using it. But recently I started reading about CeCe Caldwell's Chalk and Clay Paint. There were several things that drew me to this line.

You still don't have to sand or prep. But CeCe's paint has NO VOC's - meaning no smell and none of those irritants that can cause people problems. CeCe's wax has none either - you can wax INSIDE your house with no smell and without having to worry about children being exposed or people having asthma etc. Another big seller to me is that you can wet distress with CeCe's paint. Meaning - I can take a wet wipe and distress the paint instead of having to sand and make a big mess. Again - love that I can paint and distress INSIDE my house instead of the garage which is unbearable in the hot Texas heat.

I also LOVE that CeCe's is an American company. All of the paints are named after American cities or states. Oh - and the colors are TO DIE FOR!!!

So, I tried it out and really enjoyed it! Enough that I decided to do my kitchen cabinets in it! Oh, did I mention that besides waxes, they carry a wonderful line of glazes and finishes? I can't wait until I finish the cabinets to show you!!

But in the meantime, my family arranged to give me a workshop for my 40th birthday present! My mother in law took care of the kids and my mom and I headed out to Savannah, TX to hang out with Donna from Doozie's Corner and learn how to use CeCe Caldwell's paints and wax.  We got to make a tray while we were there but I got home and didn't need a tray.  However, I did need a decoration over my newly painted Hoosier cabinet!  I added a painted "M" and hung it up!!

It is painted with Mesa Sunset and then I believe I used the clear glaze mixed with Virginia Chestnut. Then I waxed it with clear waxed until it shone!


I think it turned out so beautiful!!  I love seeing it hanging up over my amazing furniture piece!!

I encourage you to try CeCe Caldwell's paint if you haven't before.  There is a ton more about it that I love - I could go on and on!! Maybe I'll save a little more for another post though!! 

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