The Beauty of Wood

You all know how much I love a good painted furniture makeover, but sometimes it's easy to overlook the original beauty in a piece.

I have been dying to get my hands on a piece of furniture in which I can simply focus on bringing out the furniture's inner beauty.

Until then, here are some of my favorites out there from some talented ladies who scored some great pieces to work on!

Julie @ 551 East never ceases to amaze me!  One of my favorite makeovers she has done is this beautiful Ombre dresser! 

Then there's Mandi @ Vintage Revivals, who created this beautiful desk with just the simple use of stain! 




Last, but most certainly not least is this stunning Indian Inlay Stencil Table from Domestic Imperfection.  The work that Ashley put into this table really paid off.







Wood isn't so boring now, is it?

Ombre Chair

Ombre - Comes from the French word meaning shaded or shading.

I'm sure you've noticed the explosive trend of Ombre hair and fashion filling the streets of Hollywood.

Even if you weren't aware of the term Ombre I'm sure you've spotted the ever popular hairstyle trend, seen by the likes of Drew Barrymore & Klohe Kardashian and all the multitudes in between.

Drew Barrymore

 Klohe Kardashian

As any trend goes, it has spilled over into home decor & furniture and I LOVE it!

I have had this tired old chair sitting in our garage for weeks and I had lost all inspiration for it.  I knew I wanted to do something different from the chairs I've done in the past.  Then yesterday it hit me...Ombre!!

I picked up 3 cans of spray paint and if you've read my paint reviews post then you know spray paint is not my first choice, but for this type of project I knew it would be perfect.

So here she is...

What do you think? Do you love the Ombre style as much as I do?

Linking up here and I will be sharing this project over at Mom's Fun Money.

My New Drug of Choice

Melt it down to liquid form over an open flame and enjoy!

The lists of things this miracle drug can do are never ending:

Inrease metabolism

Reverse signs of Alzheimers

Reduce Wrinkles

Help infections internally and externally

Heal burns and rashes

and the list goes on...

So what is this miracle drug you ask?

Coconut Oil!!

If you read my recent post about trying to get my health back, this is one thing I have added to my routine.

I have been one known to jump in and try something and make my whole family try it as well (apple cider vinegar shots for one example) only to find out it did absolutely nothing for me, except make my husband never trust my suggestions again ;)

So this time I haven't forced anyone into trying it, which I am sure they appreciate, and I have waited 2 months before reporting back my results.

I have been taking 1 Tb of Coconut Oil before breakfast and 1 Tb before dinner and have noticed that it definitely seems to curb my appetite and gives me a full sensation sooner than with my meal alone.  I have had days where I have forgotten to take it and when I look back at my meals I can see I definitely eat more without it.

I also feel less tired throughout the day, which is a definite plus for me!

You can use it in your cooking as well...in place of butter or other oils.  When it is cooked it doesn't taste like coconut hardly at all!  I even used it when making scrambled eggs (don't tell my husband) and they tasted great! 

It has almost no tasted when taking it by the spoonful once you heat it up.  Please beware that your spoon will be extremely hot!

One caution about taking it orally is that I never take it without food.  I take it about 5 minutes before I eat.  If I took it without food, I know I would get an upset stomach.  I also worked my way up to 2 tablespoons a day so that my body was used to it.  You can take as many as 4 tablespoons a day.

I have also been using it on my face as lotion.  It seemed crazy to me at first I mean it is oil after all!!  I first started only using it at night and then I ran out of my regular face lotion so I used it one morning and I was so nervous, especially because I have oily skin to begin with.  To my suprise, my face was only oily for a few minutes.  I now use it every morning!  After my shower I put a small amount in my hand and rub it in my skin.  I follow with my bronzer and my normal makeup.  It gives me a nice glow, without seeming greasy. 

 It has helped reduce those pesky wrinkles on my forehead and those crows feet on my eyes.  I still definitely have my wrinkles, but they used to be way more pronounced!



I promise this is the only time that you will see me without makeup ;)  I wanted to make sure you saw the real thing, this is about 2 minutes after applying the Coconut Oil.

I have been using Nature's Way Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil. 

There are a million different brands to choose from.  The most important thing is to make sure that it is Virgin or Extra Virgin and that it is Cold Pressed.  I also wanted to find organic since I knew I was going to be using it on my skin.  The only reason I chose this brand is that it was at our local Fred Meyer for 50% off!  It was normally around $28.  It is about 1/2 full and I have been using it daily for 2 months.  You definitely get your money's worth.

Anyone else use Coconut in their daily diet? 

Summer Color Decor!

Since it's 100 degrees out and I have no motivation to go in out garage and start painting any of my projects, I thought I would share some inspiration photos...

I am in love with color!  I definitely adore the all white rooms, but color just really makes me happy!

If you have followed my blog for any length of time you would probably realize this pretty quickly from my orange & blue table, side table, hutch, and other paint color choices.

So here are some of my favorite Pinterest inspirations...

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I am absolutely in love with everything about this! Mustard yellow has always been a favorite of mine, and when you mix it with the blue and dark stain, it is just Heaven!!

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I have to admit, if I saw those curtains at the store I would run in the other direction!  That just shows you how much a truly know about decorating ;-) 

But the combination of fabrics and colors in this room just bring a smile to my face.  This is a room that i would love to come home to everyday.

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How could you ever be in a bad mood if this was your entrance!  It is just stunning!   I think I may be able to convince my husband that we have to paint our house in these colors..."a happy wife equals a happy life" right, and I would be forever happy to have that door!

Ta ta for now.  Soon I will be showing you some colorful projects of my own...

I've Got a Goal!

So today is my 8 year anniversary with my sweet and patient husband!  It is hard to believe that it's been 8 years, especially because we started out as friends at 5 years old...

Sorry for the poor quality, but what do you expect from a McDonald's birthday party 25 years ago?

To celebrate our anniversary, his Birthday, my Birthday in January and the next four Christmas' we are going on a spontaneous trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

I am so excited, I can't even begin to tell you!  We are going with a few other couples and this will be our first trip with no kids!

So you are probably wondering what on earth this has to do with me having a goal...I only have 2 months to get in phenomenal shape!  Okay, phenomenal shape may be out of the question...but a healthy weight and healthy lifestyle change would be a great start.

I am so disappointed with myself because I worked out like crazy after having my second child and was in the best shape of my life and then the last two years I have slowly gotten back to where I started from.  One of the main reasons could be that I have a major addition to CANDY!  Anything sour or sweet will be gone at my house in about 5 seconds!

It is no joke, I am seriously drooling over that picture right now!

So I am telling you all today in hopes that you will help hold me accountable to my new path to health.

Here is my current plan:

1.  I am tracking my calories on Slim Kicker.  I am not a good dieter, I do so much better allowing myself to still eat what I want, but control my portions and calories throughout the day.

2.  I got a gym membership to a gym that is about .2 seconds from my work and have started going on my lunch break I am so sorry to all my co-workers who have to be around me when I return.

3.  I started doing my Insanity workout again.  I cannot commit to 6 days a week of insanity, but I am hoping to at least do 3.

My ultimate goal is that when September rolls around that I will be laying by this pool without a care in the world, even if I haven't lost the weight, but I really hope by spilling my plans to you all that I will be laying there with a sense of accomplishment.



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Anyone else on a journey to get healthy?  

3rd Times a Charm!

My dear old gate a two time project fail finally found its place in our home, well actually outside our home...

I first thought that the perfect use for this gate was to plant some herbs in our dining room...

Well, that didn't go so well...they didn't get enough sunlight and stayed too damp in their pots.  They ended up looking pretty much like that lovely bottom bucket ;)

So then I tried to just plant some little shade flowers, but those too, became an ultimate failure!

The main problem to these adorable little pots is that they held way too much moisture in and I knew the only solution would be to drill some holes in the bottom to allow for some drainage which was not about to happen with them hanging in our dining room...

So the perfect solution was to hang this old, tattered, beauty outside when we did our backyard makeover!

I was almost scared to show them at first, thinking that I would of course kill whatever I planted with my black thumb again, but I am happy to report that the little red petunias are loving their new home!

It only took 5 months, but finally my third attempt really is a charm!!

Linking up here.