Now That's What I Call a Surprise

My husband came home the other day and told me he had a surprise for me.

Let me tell you how good his surprises can be. When we were dating he told me had a surprise for me. I sat at work the whole day and day dreamed of my surprise. Turns out he and his brother test drove a car that day and got a free baseball cap with a Mazda logo on it.
Are you kidding me??? Yes, he surprised me with a free hat from a car dealership... but looking back I think it was more of a joke (at least that's what I tell myself).


So when he came home and told me he had a surprise I secretly cringed inside. Then he walked through the door with this....

I think this is his best surprise to date!

He was picking up something he bought off of craigslist and the lady gave it to him. It had four stickers on it saying "box is not for sale", which is great because free is so much better. I have no clue what I am going to do with yet but I was thinking of using it next to the fireplace to hold firewood.

Here are some great ideas I have seen....

Carla from Hammers and High Heels used them to hold her shoes! Um, I would love to have her closet & her style.

Source: Hammers and High Heels

I could use it in the bathroom to hold extra towels....

Source: Flowerpatchfarmgirl

Jenn from Pin Cushion Princess used it to hold books. 

Source:pincushionprincess

My daughter's book collection is out of control. She feels books do not belong on bookshelves but rather scattered all over the floor. Right now I have them all stacked on top of her armoire so this might work! I want to make an open faced bookshelf for the wall  (one day)  and maybe I will have a tutorial for that.

What would you do with an old wooden crate? I would  love to hear your ideas!!!

Get Ready for a Whole Bunch of Ugly

I have a client (Hey Shelby!!!) who saw a dresser turned into a TV stand that she fell in love with and she wanted one for herself. After weeks of Craigslist stalking I finally found one that she loved.

This was Shelby's inspiration. Who doesn't love Sausha from Sweet Pickins (formerly Show & Tell)?

source: Sweet Pickins Blog

WARNING!!!!!

Please prepare yourself for some ugly furniture!

This is the dresser I found.

Here's a close up in case you didn't see that amazing fruit motif. Don't be jealous!



 Oh, this poor top. I predict there will be a lot of sanding in my future.

I looking forward to working on this piece and I hope I meet all of Shelby's expectations!!

Side Table: In Progress

I feel like I have been MIA for a while so I wanted to share a project I have been working on.

I'll save all the talk for when I do the actual post on this table. This table isn't completely finished but I didn't want to wait another day to two to share so here are a few pictures!

BEFORE

IN PROGRESS

I'm thinking about putting small casters on the feet! What do you think?

Stay tuned for a compete post about this table. I have a new (and much better) chalk paint recipe to share plus another table I am working on.



I Would Like to Thank.....

First, I would like to thank God and my family. Without them this wouldn't be possible. Oh wait, wrong award acceptance speech.

Scratch that


First, I would like to thank Amber from the Queen of Chairs blog. Without her this wouldn't be possible!

CONFUSED?

I was awarded with the Liebster Award by Amber from the Queen of Chairs. If you haven't run across her blog go check it out. You have to take a look at her Burlap Chair....I love that chair!

So what is the Liebster Award, you ask?

The Leibster Blog award is presented to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Leibster is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant,valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Here are the rules for participating in the Leibster award

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too.

This was a hard list to make... so in no particular order here are my picks!

1. Heidi from, Lily Field Furniture, who is some what mysterious so I am going off of memory on her name (please forgive me if I am wrong). She is slowly but surely making a name for herself in blog land. I love the colors she picks. They are so bold, bright, cheery and gorgeous! I would find a spot in my home for all of her pieces (that's how much I love them) so go take a look and see for yourself!

2. Kelsey from, The Green Dresser, who has been out of commission lately and I am patiently awaiting the reveal of the dresser and chair she recently shared. Kelsey, I am trying to be patient but I don't know how much longer I can wait....hope you feel better soon!

3. Jessica from, The Junk Nest, who did a great job making over her TV stand and end table. I love the color she chose! This is just one of her re-dos that I love. A few others I like are the craigslist lamp and the mint green dresser. Go see for yourself, I promise you won't be disappointed.

4. Vickie from, Ranger 911, seems to be a jack of all trades. She found a piece of furniture that many would turn a blind eye to and made it into a wonderful open-faced storage/cubby/hutch. Confused, well go see for yourself. Did you know she also wrote a book....about sock monkeys? They're kinda her thing.

5. Susan from, Retro Restyling, wowed me with her dresser that she named Suzie. Actually, she names all of her pieces. This might sound funny but I feel some strange connection with Susan. We live in the same area, we both re-do furniture, we are both women...well, wait that last one is kinda obvious. But you get the idea. She has some really stuff and great before and after's. I like Suzie but Thelma and Louis take the cake for me.

Okay ladies, go find your 5 favorite up and coming blogs and share the love. And anyone who read this please take a look the blogs that were awarded. Think of all the new inspiration you will find!