Beauties and The Beast

Someone is going to the salon tomorrow. A little shampoo, a little trim, we won't mention any names. He'll be like a new man. Hopefully I'll find less of those little fur balls in my corners. That would be nice. I should have made myself an appointment. I could use a little pampering. I'm shedding myself quite a bit.

The Beast

The Beauties
I'd like to thank some ladies for thinking of me and sending some awards my way. Karen from Restyled Vintage and Brandy from Life of Perks for the One Lovely Blog award and also T Bird from Nestled in Rosenberg for the A Blog With Substance award. I hope you will drop by and visit their blogs. They are all very talented ladies with some great ideas.

Here are 7 random things about me for One Lovely Blog award:

1. I flip through magazines from the back to the front.

2. I have a slight addiction to them too.
3. I microwave my ice cream before serving it.
4. I love eating breakfast for dinner.

5. I laugh when I'm nervous.  

6. I love a good action flick  

7. I color my hair every 4 weeks.

Five words to describe my blogging or motivation for A Blog with Substance award:
Take a look at my header :)

I want to pass these on to some fairly new bloggers to me and I hope soon to you too. So, go check them out.

Debbie @ Love of the Sea
Emily @ The Wicker House
Laura @ My Summerhouse
Sarah @ Cozy Cute Cottage
Yanet @ 3 Sunkissed Boys
Debbie @ Lakehouse

Covering Coasters

Hello everyone. Remember when I asked about your shopping mojo and if it was lost? Well, it seems my crafting mojo was misplaced somewhere and the simplest little project gave me such fits. I saw Rene over at Cottage and Vine do a little coaster makeover. They turned out so great. I had these cork backed coasters that needed a little updating so I thought, lets give his a try.

I traced the coaster onto some scrapbook paper and cut it out. My first attempt I used modge podge and a small brush and brushed the MP on the coaster and then laid my cut paper on top. Smoothed it out, tried to smooth it out some more. Ack, bubbles. I used my fingers. Nope bubbles still there. I let it dry. Bubbles still there. Needless to say, there are no pictures of the process since my hand were covered in MP.

I tried letting it dry before the top coat, I tried top coating right away and this is what they looked like. Crapola.

My next attempt. Weeks later. I decided to try spray adhesive on three more coasters. I sprayed the paper and laid it down on top of the coaster. The one up front, perfect. Not a bubble in site. Joy! The other two? Trouble makers. It seems I did not spray them enough so when I tried to top coat with the MP, bubbles appeared like magic. Black magic. So I ripped off the paper. See my mess?  I wonder if my mojo will ever come back. This really shouldn't be this hard.

After I cleaned off the two problem ones I tried again and sprayed them well. This time I sprayed the coaster and not the paper. Beautiful. Smooth as glass. I gave them a couple or three top coats of the evil MP with a foam brush this time and let them dry.

Here they all are. They all got a few coats of some spray on clear coat. The ones on the left, smooth and bubble free. The ones on the right, not so much. It might be hard to see in the picture but trust me. There is a difference. The one in the middle? Well, that was an experiment to see if I could do this without the evil MP. I just used the spray glue and then the sprayed on the top coat. It did work but it doesn't have as much of a coating so it might not last as long. 

Can you believe this is my first time using this stuff? I know, hard to believe. So, here are my tips if any of you have had problems with modge podge. Being that I'm an expert now.

1. Make sure surface is clean

2. Use a foam brush, leaves less brush strokes

3. Use thin coats, thin, don't squirt the MP onto the paper.

4. Try the adhesive glue if you have it. It worked for me.

5. You can get it off if you mess up. Though, I didn't wait too long.
6. Find someone who's good with this stuff for more advice.

Cheers!

I'm linking up with Debbiedoos Before and After Party.

Thrifty Treasures for the Week

Thanks you guys for all of your kinds word for the loss of my Restoration Hardware clearance store. It was a sad day but I am over it now. I moved on. To the thrift stores to be exact. 

I found a few things this week that I thought I'd share. First up is this chair I spotted as soon as I walked into the Lutheran thrift store nearby. Those Lutherans sure know how to price their things right. I picked up this little beauty for $3. I really like the shape of the back and the wide seat.

It even has nice shapely legs. Sort of straight and fluted up front and curved in the back. I will have to get some stripper for this one as the paint is peeling and well, it's not the best idea to put good paint over bad. I don't think it will be too hard to get it off. Knock on wood. Did you knock?

The ironstone platter I picked up for $1 and it will replace the one that I broke when I was hanging up my triangle shaped window frame. It's not as pretty but I have an idea to spruce it up a bit. The stack of white dishes were actually two stacks of 4. When I saw there were eight matching plates I grabbed both stacks. Eight plates for $2, not bad at all. They have this pretty rope detail on the edge. Hope you can see it. I am still having issues photographing white things.

The small milk glass dish was yet again, just $1. I just loved the ruffled edge.

I'm glad that my thrift store luck is coming back. It really comes in waves around here. I guess that's true for a lot of you. Have you all been having any luck or have you lost your mojo?

I'll be linking up with:

Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Southern Hospitality's Today's Thrifty Treasures

One of Those Days

Well, what a craptastic day it has been. I realize, just as I'm going through the toll booth, that I left my phone at home. Crap. I hate that. It's like forgetting to put on underwear. It just feels wrong. So excited am I, to be going to the one store in this area which is great, that I do not care that I don't have underwear on forgot my phone. This is a store that not everyone has. I have no Ikea, no Home Good, not even a Hobby Lobby. But I had a Restoration Hardware CLEARANCE CENTER. Had people, had.  This funny feeling crept in as I pulled up to the outlet mall. I could not see the sign on the building. I was craning my neck at the stop light. It's not there. There is no sign. This is so not good. I pull up and there is paper covering the windows. I had to park and inspect it further. It's been closed since January 31?? No, has it been that long since I've been there? I desperately drive around the mall hoping that they just moved. Nothing. It's gone. I would have taken a picture of myself weeping beneath the closed sign but I forgot my cell phone. 

I stopped in a store called Journeys because, the nice mom that I am, I decide to look for some Vans for my son. He's been looking for a certain color that is nowhere to be found on this earth or online. I ask the young hip girl, wearing way too much make up about Restoration Hardware closing. Do you know what she said to me? "What sorta store is that?" They didn't have the shoes and now she's giving me attitude. Just great.

I decide to stop at an antique mall on the way home. I should have known better. This is Destin. I knew prices would be high because of the area. I was just going to browse. But man, that was the highest priced antique mall I had ever been in. It was a very pretty store with lots of pretty things. I was shocked when I was in the back and saw the area where the sold stuff was being held. There was a lot! Those multi gazillionaires with their boats that look like floating condos don't mind those prices. I however do. 

So, I came home empty handed. Ate a pbj sandwich and called it a day. Oh, one last thing. The pottery barn shade I showed you the other day that so many of you liked. Sold out. Yep. Icing on the cake man. I'm ordering a plain one from Lampsplus.com. It's $30 and I'll probably have to trim it out a bit but I'm tired of looking. Thanks Beckie for the idea of trying Old Time Pottery. They did have great inexpensive shades but not the size and shape I needed. I will keep it in mind for a smaller one.

Hope you all are having a good day!