Framed Jewelry Holder with Seashells!

I saw this yucky, outdated frame at the Salvation Army one day, months ago. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, so I paid the $6 and carted it home.

I started by removing everything from the frame. Let me tell you, this was HARD!! The back of the print had been covered with  thick piece of cardboard, glued down within an inch of it's life. It took razor blades and my hubby's help to get it off. But we succeeded!

I loved the shape of the frame and the dips and valleys of the wood. It looked very elegant without being fussy. I decided to use the same Krylon Oxford Blue that I used for one of the crates also in the bathroom.

Next I planned to add a type of chicken wire to the frame. It had all square openings, which I thought was perfect for jewelry hanging. However, it took quit a bit of doing. I stapled it in crooked 3 times and finally enlisted the hubby's help again. He accomplished it, but not without a war wound. One of the wires sliced his finger open. Sorry honey!

It looks gorgeous doesn't it?But a little see through for my taste. So I grabbed a yard of fabulous burlap and stapled that to the back.

Perfect!! Looks great, and the burlap adds another beachy type texture. I'm loving it.....so far. It needs a little more, don't ya think? Yeah, just a little something more....

Seashells! I LOVE seashells, reminds me of home. That's why the master bath is done in a beachy shell theme. This should fit in perfectly!

And here we are....in the bathroom. Hanging above the jewelry box that is jammed full.

I absolutely love it! I know it's been around the blogosphere for quite a while. I just finally got around to doing my version. The color, the wire, the burlap, I love everything about it! Now I jut need to finish filling it up! LOL!

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Hope you all enjoyed,

Game Table Transformation

I've had this old oak table for years now. Got it on Craigslist for $40, maybe 6 years ago. It sat in my living room in all it's dark ugliness all that time, while we used it to play games and do puzzles. I loved/love it's functionality, just not it's look. It has flaps that go down on both sides, making it really useful in a lot of ways. I use it at Xmas for my village. Despite all that usefulness, I really didn't think much of the piece or particularly like it. I'd always say "someday I'll make it prettier".

Well, someday has come! This year is my year to take charge of my home and the things in it. I really want to make a home atmosphere instead of just a cluttered mess.

Here are my supplies;

Waterfall & Blue Bonnet paint from Ben Moore and all the painting "stuff" you need.

Here it is in it's "before" state;

I started out by sanding everything down. There were lots of "sticky" spots where old varnish seemed to be wearing down. Those spots required more sanding.Then I moved to the legs. Let me tell you what....between the coffee tables I did a couple weeks ago, and now this table I have to say I SERIOUSLY DISLIKE sanding legs. Can't say I hate it cuz that word is not allowed in my house anymore. Gotta be a good example for the kiddos. Anyway, sanding legs is a serious pain.

A quick wipe with a tacky cloth to remove all the dust from sanding;

Next I took everything apart. I figured it would be easier, and more thorough to paint everything separately.

Here's the first coat of Waterfall for the top of the table. Isn't it gorgeous??? Picture isn't the best lighting (of course, cuz I kinda suck at photography) but the color just pops right at you!

And here's the first coat of Blue Bonnet for the legs. It's such a light turquoise/blue that it looks white, but it's not at all.

After two coats of each color, I did some light sanding to distress. I did more on the legs because over the years they would have been kicked a lot, and distressed a lot. I used Minwax Paste Wax for dark colors to "dirty" it up some more and to seal and protect.

Here's the top(minus the flaps) after 2 coats of Waterfall, sanding, distressing, and waxing. The color makes me drool!!!

Okay, so you know how EASY it is to take things apart? Especially when you're an eager amateur who just wants to get to the fun part? Yeah, so that was me. Meaning I had no idea how to put it back together. Most of it was really self explanatory, honest! I'm not a complete dingbat, really. But the mechanisms for the flaps on the table were a little less simple. My hubby helped me, and we put them on backwards. We figured it out AFTER we put everything back together and tried to put the flaps down. Silly us lol! So we fixed the mechanisms and all was right with my world.

Look at this beauty all completed....

So beautiful. And so done by me!! I was/am ridiculously proud of myself for doing this. And it has definitely given me a taste for more, more, more! I want to refinish everything! LOL! Up next is my dining room hutch, but that will be a while to come. It is large, heavy and a very very dark stained pine. I have other things to do first, like lots of de-cluttering/cleaning/organizing. And I hate all of those.
For now I'm basking in the afterglow of my lovely table.

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Hope you all enjoyed!!

Savings Nation Seminar with Crystal Collins of The Thrifty Mama!!!

Last Thursday I went to the first ever SavingsNation.com Seminars. Savings Nations has paired with The Thrifty Mama (Crystal Collins), $5 Dinners (Erin Chase), The Happy Housewife (Toni) and Savings Lifestyle (Andrea Deckard) to help us save money on groceries. I was so excited to go to this seminar, looking forward to it for weeks. And it TOTALLY lived up to my expectations! Every bit! I'm not going to discuss most of the seminar details with you, you'll need to find a seminar and go yourself, it's so worth it (go to EventBrite.com to see where the next seminars are). The ladies touched on topics like;

• Printable coupons
• Coupon organization
• Shopping smarter
• Saving on organics
• Stockpiling
• Menu planning
• and much more!

As much as I loved all of the information, I loved meeting Crystal Collins jut as much!! I was like a little girl at an NKOTB concert (if you don't know who they are, please find out, you'll be happy you did. Although it makes me feel old that you don't know lol). I've read Crystal's blog, The Thrifty Mama for quite some time now and love everything about it and her. She was fabulously real in person, warm and friendly, and was more than happy to take a picture with me.
Here we are at the end of the seminar (Crystal on the left, me on the right);

She even friended me on Facebook!! Squeeeeee!

While meeting one of my blogging idols (Yes, Crystal, it's true! LOL) was fantastic, the seminar itself was truly excellent. Well developed, well planned, well delivered. Pertinent, timely information that really will help me in my day to day life. Who could ask for more for $10???

I've Recieved the Liebster Award!!

I am SO honored to have received the Liebster Award from Micki @ ADD Housewife! Her comments about my blog were heartwarming and gave me so much encouragement.  So, as I understand it, here are the "rules" for receiving this award.

The Liebster Blog Award is for smaller blogs with fewer than 300 followers. Together, we can help each other network for greater visibility. So here are the 'rules' of accepting the Liebster Blog Award:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award.
2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
3. Copy and paste the Liebster Blog Award on your blog.
4. Reveal your top five blog picks for the award.
5. Let them know you selected them by leaving a comment on their blog.

Micki at ADD Housewife is an absolute doll! She supports my blog, leaves comments, and always encourages me. Her blog is a wonderful resource as well! I love seeing what she comes up with next! I hope to develop a closer friendship with her as time goes on.

My top five picks to pass on this award was very hard to do, I went through close to 60 blogs trying to find one that I thought was just right.

1. Kileen at Creative Warcraft - Kileen is very adventurous, which I love. She tries many different kinds of crafts and admits to being a master of none (just like me!)Her website has a lot of cute things to look through and I especially love her talent at making cards with her Cricut machine. She hasn't posted in a bit but I'm hoping this award will coax her out of hiding.
2. Adrian at Fried Okra - Adrian sews. Adrian sews beautifully. I do NOT sew (although I have a fabulous machine and really want to learn). I love looking at all the new things she has come up with for her shop and the blog. And she has a sense of humor to her writing that appeals to me. Hope the boot comes off real soon Adrian!
3. Amanda from Amanda Carol at Home - I love her sense of elegance and style. Something I will never achieve (I'm more a grandma's pie safe and slip covered denim furniture kinda gal). But it never hurts to dream. And her site makes me dream. Check out her latest post about her boy's room makeover. Excellent!!
4. Amanda at Kind Over Matter - I have no idea how many followers she has, I can't find it on her blog. But oh how I admire her. I have printed out her freebies for several projects and shes inspired me in several others that became gifts for family at Xmas. She is working on being all that I aspire to become and I love her for that. Her site makes me feel kinder, nicer, and encourages me to be those things with others.

I apologize for not coming up with number 5. I really need to get out there on the net more and find some more small blogs to appreciate. Again, thank you SO much to Micki for giving me this award. It truly means so much to me.

Giveaway Winner!

And the giveaway winner is - duh duh da duh - Micki from ADD Housewife!!! One of my loyal followers who leaves lots of very appreciated comments. I hope you LOVE your new Easter wreath. Email me your address info at scrapityanne@gmail.com and I'll get it right out to you. Thanks so much for being you!

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on it's Way!...& a GIVEAWAY!

While lurking err...browsing blogland, I found the cutest Easter wreath at Debbie Does Creations.
It had lovely colors, tulle, ribbon, and GLITTER! What's not to love? So after talking to Debbie, I decided to make my own. BUT - not only my own, but one for you guys!!! That's right, a giveaway!!! I'm going to take you through the steps to make one. Then we'll get down to the giveaway details.


I started with two styrofoam wreaths, one smaller than the other by about an inch and a half.I also had a pack of 6 styrofoam eggs that I later split in half, glitter (I just love glitter, don't you? So sparkly and shiny), tulle in 4 colors (blue, green, yellow, purple) and a pink plaid ribbon.

First I started by cutting all of the tulle into 12in lengths, then cut the ribbon in about 6-8in I believe.

Next I tied the lengths of tulle in a color pattern - blue, yellow, green, purple, pink ribbon.

I did all this while watching tv. Great activity for some downtime LOL!

Here is the completed large wreath;

Then I started on the smaller one;

That's my cream quilt and sheets as a background. I was too lazy to figure something else out!

I asked my husband to split the foam eggs, because they just wouldn't cooperate with me. Then I enlisted my special helper to glitter the eggs.

Bear had a BLAST! And hardly any glitter made it off the foil liner I put on the counter! So Mom had a blast too LOL!

Here are the finished eggs;

Then I used my glue gun to glue them on. Sorry, no pics of that. I was all alone. Bear abandoned me for Pokemon with his friends.

Here is the finished product;

This is the one for the giveaway. SO CUTE, right?? So now let's get to the giveaway.....

Rules;
Leave a comment telling me what you like most about this prize.
Follow me on Linky Followers or GFC. Leave a comment telling me you did so. Very simple!
Winner will be announced Monday the 19th by 8PM

Extra entries;
Follow me on Facebook = 1 extra entry (leave a comment telling me you did so)
Follow me on Twitter = 1 extra entry (leave a comment telling me you do so)
Leave a comment telling me what you would like to see on my blog = 2 extra entries
Have a blast!


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