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Free is Always Fun

Recently my Tio’s mother-in-law passed away, may God rest her soul, and he was left to take after her estate. My husband and I have gone to estate sales before and it is always so heartbreaking to see the family of the deceased. I can’t fathom how tough it must be to have to do that and see people taking things from your loved one who is no longer with you. So instead of an estate sale, my Tio decided to offer items to family and neighbors in order to clear out the house to be able to put the house for sale; a daunting task.

My husband, nephew, and mom went to the house a few times to help take things out and stored it in our garage, luckily we have a bigger than average garage. We got several items that we restored and were able to store and keep. It’s a fun time when working on a new project, but the cleaning part is a lot of work. My husband and I were up to the task especially because we got a new bedroom set, well new to us. We have had the same hand-me-down dresser for the past ten years from one of my Tias (seen below). We also had a smaller hand-me-down dresser from one of my mom’s childhood friends, and a mirror that we found on Facebook Marketplace. So that mismatched bedroom set was painted so it was no long appeared to be mismatched. It worked for us, but I was ready for more storage from this new-to-me bedroom set.

Both dressers and mirror were somewhat of a golden oak color that was nice, but I like having a little color in my life. I really hate when I get overly excited about starting a new project that I forget to take a “before” picture, which is what happened with this project, well I did remember to take a picture of the mirror at least. So this is an example of what it looked like before.

As you read in my last post, I really love me some chalk paint and it has ALWAYS been my go-to. . . until now ::dun dun dun:: I have found another love in my life and the name is Rust-Oleum 331050 Finish Milk Paint, Quart, Highland Blue. I cannot tell you how absolutely beautifully it applies and how its finished look is so refreshing and smooth (this sounds like I’m describing my favorite beer). It really brings pieces back to life. Like I said, nothing was wrong with the dressers before, but it just wasn’t me, ya know? A girl’s gotta have some standards. So since I can’t tell you how amazing this color is, I’ll just have to show you.

With this new fresh coat of paint and affordable knobs, it makes it look like brand new furniture! After trying out this new type of paint, I logged into my Amazon account and literally bought every color of milk paint available in quart-size. So know here I am looking on Facebook Marketplace for new possible projects. Remember to follow my Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, and blog to see my newest endeavors!

** This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I also earn from qualifying purchases through other companies, or may receive free products. This does not cost you anything extra! All opinions are my own.

Bringing Life Back In

Greetings all! I have been busy since school has started; it’s been different but still great getting to know my students even in the virtual setting. Working from home has been a blessing because I get to use my lunch period to work on some of my projects which helps keep me sane.

How do I perfect my craft of flipping furniture, you ask? Well, I have picked up things from the roadside, garage sales, hand-me-downs, or, my favorite, Facebook Marketplace. I tend to forget taking the before picture which is upsetting when I want to see the before and after comparison, so remind yourself of that when starting a new project. After picture taking, I will clean up the furniture with Everspring Lavender & Bergamot All Purpose Cleaner because it is the BEST smelling scent I’ve ever used. Then I have my husband repair anything that needs fixing, like making a new shelf for a missing shelf, or doing a patch up job. I highly suggest having a partner help you out to get a quicker turn-around.

We got this for $6! It was missing a drawer and the backing to it. It was painted an ugly dark brown color that was chipping away. My husband added a board to create a shelf and put plywood on the back to create more support. We gave this to my mom for mother’s day and she loved it!

After he is done fixing things, I come in to clean it up once more then the fun part begins. I get figure out what I want to paint it. I will sometimes use Pinterest to give me some ideas or I will go with my gut, but no matter what, I will always use chalk paint because it is water-based and I can use it inside my house without getting light-headed from the smell. I love using Rust-Oleum Chalked Ultra Matte Paint, Coastal Blue, 30-oz. – Quantity 2 because it is a nice dark blue color that has that notorious chalky feel to it. On this specific project, I used DecoArt Americana Crème Wax 8oz Deep Brown to give it that aged look using FolkArt Home Decor Chalk and Wax Brushes which is not something I usually do. The last step is ALWAYS sealing it with Minwax Polycrylic Water-Based Protective Clear Finish. After it is dried and ready to keep or sell, make sure to snap a picture of the finished product. I forgot to take a before picture so I used the one that was on Facebook Marketplace from the person I bought it from, but I did take the after picture, both of which are seen below. I love seeing the transformation! Now it’s your turn to try it out. Let me know how it goes by leaving a comment with a before and after picture. I can’t wait to see what y’all come up with!

Who I Am

Hey there everyone! It has been such a wild 2020 and it still isn’t over. This year started with my husband and I celebrating our 10-year anniversary, coaching my JV light girls basketball team, teaching my high school senior students in Food Science, watching our then 15-year-old nephew, who lives with us, run track, and simply living life. Hindsight is 20/20, which is ironically appropriate for the year 2020.

I have been teaching since 2012 and I absolutely love it! I ended Friday the thirteenth in March saying bye to my students and wishing them a safe spring break thinking I would see them a week later, but that day never came. It broke my heart not being able to return to the classroom to teach my students, but I worked with what I had. Our school district did a great job in getting our student population much needed technology devices for them to continue learning through Google Classroom to help them successfully complete the rest of the school year safely.

As for me, the pressure built up and the second month into the pandemic, I ended up checking myself into a residential treatment center, Magnolia Creek, in Alabama for anxiety, depression, C-PTSD, BPD, and an ED. I was there for three months and learned a lot and worked through a lot of things to stabilize my symptoms. Upon returning home, I knew I needed to do things to keep me busy and distracted from the fact that we were still social distancing and quarantining ourselves since there are still high rates of positive COVID-19 cases as well as deaths, one of which is the mother of one of my students this year. I was heartbroken for him and his family to have to go through something so devastating.

I have had time to work on several projects and as a result have several pieces of furniture in my garage right now which isn’t ideal but it is what it is. I am blessed to have a husband who enjoys helping me with these projects and allows me to look through Facebook Marketplace, in a somewhat addictive fashion, to find furniture that needs some TLC. I have been able to fix an old China cabinet, bookshelf, coffee tables, storage chest, and so much more. Chalk paint has been my saving grace, and although I like trying new color schemes, I have needed more of the neutral chalk paints in larger amounts for the bigger pieces of furniture. So, I have gone to using Rust-Oleum Chalked Ultra Matte Paint, in multiple colors that are available in 30 Fl. Oz. which has been amazingly helpful!

Check out some of the projects I have completed the past six months.