[How-To Tuesday (1 day late): Distressing]

A couple of you had asked me to describe how I distress my projects. I LOVE distressing everything I paint. It's so much fun, and it gives whatever you distress a very used, "antiquey" look. And I thought to myself, "why don't I just write a blog about it!" So here you go. A step-by-step tutorial on distressing. I usually do frames, but this week I am painting a cute little tray I found at Goodwill for $2.

I thought it had lots of potential! Just needed a little TLC. So in order to start this project, I needed to get my supplies together: a thrifty find (the tray), some acrylic paint (I used Apple Barrel white acrylic paint I bought at Walmart), a paint brush (or sponge brush), and sandpaper (or sandpaper block).

First, you might want to sand down any rough edges with sandpaper (especially if what you're painting has been used and abused). This will help you get a cleaner look after you paint it.

Next, start painting! Yea! I love painting. It's so therapeutic! You can paint on as many coats as you wish. In this project, I painted on 2 coats of paint since the wood was so dark.

After you painted on the desired amount of paint, let it dry. You might be thinking "why is she adding 'let it dry' as a step?" Learning from experience, you do NOT want to do any distressing on wet paint. Not pretty.

Once the paint has fully dried, grab some sandpaper (or your sandpaper block) and begin sanding off just the edges. You only want it to "accent" your work of art. You can distress (a.k.a. sand down) as much or as little as you want. The great part about distressing is that if you sand down too much, you can always repaint it, let it fully dry, and sand it again. So simple!

Next step: give yourself I big pat on the back. Congratulations! You have now turned something old and rusty to a beautiful distressed accent to your decor. :0)

I placed this now adorable little tray on a shelf in my craft room. It holds cute little cups and jars that are filled with miscellaneous craft supplies.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this week's How-To Tuesday! (Like the title?? I am trying it out.)

Featured on:

Frugal Friday

I'm back!! Flowers anyone??

I have re-entered back into the blogging world! Hello Everyone! Sorry I have been MIA for the past week. Haven't been in the mood to blog lately. Last Friday night, my cousin died of stomach cancer. He was only 36 years old, been married for 2 years, and had his whole life ahead of them. The funeral was Wednesday, and it was the hardest thing to bear. Watching my aunt and uncle bury their first born son was indescribable. I believe that parents who watch their child enter and then leave this world completely goes against nature. As a mother, I pray I never have to experience that. I think the only thing that kept them going was their faith in God. They had already been through so much over the past year battling the cancer with him, but now they know my cousin is alive and well in heaven.

On a much lighter note, check out the flowers my husband gave me a while back. He also gave me roses, but I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of them. He gave them to me for Easter, and they are still kickin'! He's just the sweetest guy ever! Always randomly surprising me with flowers and little love notes. I love him to pieces!

Copycat Friday: To Be or Not to Be?

For a couple of weeks now, I have been debating on if I should continue Copycat Friday or to go a different route. If you are new here, the objective of Copycat Friday is for me to find something (big or small) that someone else has done and steal their idea while still making it my own. I did it for a little while, but I am now realizing that I just don't have the patience time to do a craft every week. I am constantly inspired by so many of you crafty bloggers out there and still want to give others the same inspiration.

So I am at a standstill. If any of you have any fun theme ideas for Friday (or any other day of the week), please let me know by commenting below. I read every single comment on all of my blogs and would love to hear your thoughts. So let's here 'em!

P.S. Pictured above is my dog Snickers (or sometimes called Snickerdoodle). He's my 2 year old yorkie who always love to pose for the camera. :0)

April Fools!!!

Okay, so I am not really the type to pull pranks or jokes, but I saw a couple of these ideas on Martha's website and thought they might be fun to do.

Green Eggs and Ham! Of course this could also work on doing a special "Dr. Seuss" day. Even though the eggs are green, they still taste just as good!

"Feux Baked Potato" This by far was the neatest (and particularly delicious) prank to pull on anyone. Just take 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream, wrap it in aluminum foil, and shape it like a potato. Then "bake it" or freeze it for a couple of hours or so. When you are ready to serve it, unwrap it from the foil, cover it completely with cocoa powder, and slice it just like you would cut into a baked potato. Top it off with some "sour cream" or whipped topping and sprinkle with "chives" or green sprinkles. Bon appetit! It fooled my husband! But I must warn you, it melts fast so serve it as soon as it's ready. But I am sure it will be eaten just as fast because it's yummy!

Happy April Fool's Day Blog Friends!