Coming Soon :: Curbside Makeovers

These babies are currently getting a makeover in the garage as we speak....

The sweet little hall table on the left (yes, for the entrance room of a house that we still don't have...) was just sitting on her lonesome on the side of the road. The file trays are technically not curbside but from the church fete, if I hadn't bought them they would have gone to the curb.

xx

DIY: Thrift store frame to mini chalkboard

When I was planning a few things for my sister in law’s baby shower this weekend I decided I wanted to have a mini chalkboard for the ‘wear your guess’ table. I have a mini chalkboard but it is currently hanging from Little Man’s play tent and looks super cute there. 

The options were either go to Typo and buy a new one or make one. Since I already had chalkboard paint all I needed was something to make into a chalkboard. Thrift store frames are so perfect for so many DIY jobs and this was a good one!

I scored this frame for just $5 at my local St Vincent de Paul’s shop. The opening is an 8 x 10 inch photo, perfect for this project.

After a quick clean (and removal of the glass) I used my ‘chalk paint’ mix to cover the frame with two coats of Taubmans flat white (special chalk paint mix by me). For more info about chalk paint see my earlier post HERE.

The particle board backing is a perfect smooth surface to make a chalkboard out of. I took it out and gave it two good coats of black chalkboard paint and set it outside to dry.

Whilst it was drying I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration and tutorials of how to do the design bit. I found LOADS of gorgeous fonts but the one I ended up using was Simon Script (available for free at www.dafont.com).

I hand drew what I wanted on a piece of paper and then covered the entire back with chalk from a standard piece of pavement chalk.

I tacked it on to my mini chalkboard using Blu-tack and traced over my design using a pencil. It really worked!

Any imperfections were easily erased using a fine tip paintbrush and water. Perfect!

Here is my finished product. I will add a photo with it styled at the baby shower tomorrow. For now you just get the final product!

Everyone loves a before and after!

xx Tess

DIY: Chalk Paint and Painted Magazine Rack

Have you heard of chalk paint? Not blackboard paint to make a chalk board, but paint with an element of chalk consistency that is a dream to use? Neither had I until I discovered Annie Sloan Chalk paint and loads of bloggers using it like Shawna from Styleberry Blog and Kate from Centsational Girl.

source

source

Baiscally chalk paint is regular paint that you add a medium to and it results in easy painting, no necessity for a primer and consistent colour smoothness.

Remember I wanted to find a basket style magazine rack here? Well, I found this one on the side of the road! Love! Free and cute. Not the most steady and heavy sort of item but it just needs to hold magazines and books and this was clean and a good shape and didn't have any random broken bits so in to the car it jumped.. along with a chair but that is another story all together.

This was the perfect chalk paint project.

I searched on pinterest for a recipe for chalk paint and found this fab one. and halved it becuase I was doing a small job...

There you have it! I wonder what else I can chalk paint....

I am off to Melbourne for the weekend without either of my boys! I am looking forward to seeing some family, sad as we are scattering my Grandmother's ashes, happy that her ashes will be with her beloved husband and looking forward to a sneeky sleep in on Sunday morning!

xx Tess

Spring Pinterest Challenge - Family Height Chart Ruler

I love love love the seasonal Pinterest Challenges that Katie Bower from Bower Power Blog and Sherrie and John from Young House Love host each season along with two special guest hosts.

See Bower Power's Spring Pinterest Post HERE!

This season the special guest hosts are Emily from Sparkle Meets Pop and Renee from Red Bird Blue. These two blogs are absolutely gorgeous and although I've known Sparkle Meets Pop for a while, Red Bird Blue is new to me.

Although I've never taken part in a seasonal Pinterest challenge, I've always loved them so this time I decided to give it a go. It is a spring challenge as the hosts are based in the Northern Hemisphere (whilst we begin to FREEZE down under!) but that doesn't matter for us - our Autumn is so mild it may as well be Spring!

To take part in the Pinterest Challenges you must:

- Pick a project inspired by something you have seen on Pinterest
- Create it, spin it and blog it
- Then linky up with the hosts Link Parties (I will add them later as they haven't been launched yet!).

I have wanted to make a Family Height Chart Ruler for a while. They have been floating around the webisphere for ages and I've always loved the notion of measuring the kids' growth. When I was growing up we had a door frame that was written on at my parents old house. You'd have a line drawn at your head height and your name and date written next to it. At one point I was taller than my older brother, and that did not go down well! He has long surpassed me and is the tallest in our family now!

The disadvantage of this door-frame measuring point was that it couldn't be taken to a new house if we moved (and my parents did! The door frame was painted over sadly). The height chart I am going to make will be able to be relocated if we move house.

Pinspiration #1

Height Chart from Bower Power blog

Links:

Pin

Blog

Pinspiraton #2

Height chart from Knock off Decor

Link:

Pin

Blog

Pinspiration #3

Height chart from Dear Lille

Links:

Pin

Blog

Materials and tools used:

One piece of pine (170 cm x 20 cm x 1.9 cm)
Primer
White paint (I used Taubmans pure white)
Gray paint (I used my favourite gray, Taubmans Storm Cloud)
Black paint (I used an art medium paint)
Brushes
Ruler

I then printed off appropriate sized numbers on to plain white paper. Using a pencil, I traced over the outline of the numbers and then filled them in by hand with black paint. The marker lines were also measured first then painted in by hand.

Please excuse the lighting! Most of this was done during nap time and after Little Man went to bed.

PS That is the amazing wall in my parents foyer/living space. AHHHHHMAZING! House tour coming soon of our 'in-between houses home' (AKA, Living Three Generations Under One Roof).

Tomorrow I promise to take a shot of Little Man being super cute and measured using our fab new family height chart!

xx Tess

Hello little lady!

I found this little lady by the side of the road this morning and picked her up and brought her home. An hour later a garbage truck came past and picked up the rest of the dumped furniture on the side of the road.

A small part of me regrets checking the remaining pieces properly. (yes, I know I am a scavenger)

A big part of me is pleased as punch this little lady came home with us.

She is almost immaculate (but we won't hold a little chip against her).

A simple shelf and beautifully detailed top with sweet little corners and lovely long legs. Made from solid, solid timber. They don't make em like this anymore!

Look at the corners! So beautiful!

Excuse the ikea basket from the baby's room and the minimal bits and pieces... I've packed most of the decor items in this house. Yes, we are a very naked house at the moment. No photos, no paintings, no vases, no ceramic animals...

Side table inspiration...

Should I paint her like this one?

source

I'd like a basket to fill the shelf, or perhaps a wire basket like this one?

source

I like this one from Shanty to Chic

source

I could paint it gold. Then again, maybe not but I quite like this one!

source

Boxes or basket on the floor then books and details on the shelf! Winner!

source

I don't think I can paint her just yet, but perhaps once we move home and have our new furniture she may just get a makeover!

xx T

Courtyard table makeover

How brilliant are four day public holiday weekends? I feel so rested and relaxed after having four luxurious days off with hubby and our little man.

We spent our Easter long weekend catching up with family and friends and also spending some quality time just as 'we three' relishing our little house and local area. In just three weeks we have to be packed and almost moved out! Eeek!

I have had this little project in my mind for a while now and felt inspired to tackle it yesterday afternoon whilst Little Man and Hubby played in our living room...

We have a gorgeous little courtyard (our only outdoor space in this small house) that gets little to no use over summer as it is simply too hot and extremely exposed to the sun and heat of Summer. If we were staying here longer I think we would have to look into covering the pergola beams with some sort of UV and shade material. However, now that we are heading in to Autumn we will get a bit more use out of it during the day and evening so I decided to pull together some table linen and decor for our outdoor arrangement.

Here is before...

I made a no-sew table cloth (using fabric I bought for this project three months ago!) using hemming table and folding the corners neatly and used pinking shears to edge-trim left over fabric from my Jewellery Pin-Board for napkins. The napkin rings are strips of large paint samples simply taped together at the back. For next time, I intend to make paint sample napkin rings using Courtney from A Thoughtful Place's mini-tutorial (ps. how gorgeous are her hanging eggs? Pinned!).

source

Here is my little courtyard table after!

These little bunnies are from Love to Celebrate in the Sydney suburb of Roseville. Gabby is the owner and has the most AMAZING taste and decorating skills. She will gladly help you out with any event you have coming up. Love to Celebrate

Thanks for stopping by!