Encyclopedia Side Table

If you kept up with me via social media while I was off the blog grid then you saw me post this fabo table not too long ago. This was one of those projects that I had all the pieces laying around for ages and I just never did anything. But then I did and I instantly didn't want to sell it. 

Reed and I finished this piece off back in about February but I just never found a spot I wanted to photograph it. Then I did, right in my own living room and I fell even more in love. But alas, I do not need another table, despite how cool this one is so it's up for grabs. 

This awesome side table features some 1950's  world encyclopedias, mid century modern table legs, vintage beveled glass, and hardware. 

That list is sure full of history. Each material has so many story lines etched on its surface and I am IN LOVE with it. I wanted the table to feel like it was made from history and I think that was achieved nicely by the simple design. 

The best part of the table is the negative space between the binding on the books and the glass top. 

Such beautiful lines that allow each material to stand on its own. 

 I hope the home that this little table finds loves it as much as I do.

All this history needs a place to be the center of attention, and those lines need some loving too :)

I am hoping to pump out a new furniture design every month for the remainder of the year. Join me on Instagram to keep up to date on the progress and I will be sharing the final products here!!

Ordering Custom Art & Home Decor (Why it's awesome!)

Last week I shared with y'all how to love a creative person. It was really fun to write because it kinda made me understand myself a little better, and totally made me appreciate Reed so much. As I was writing that post I was about to start three HUGE projects I have had on my plate for  a while and so I was still very much in the excited stage. Now I am in the midst of those projects and I'm still pumped but I'm a little bit nervous too. Every time I start a project for a client I always have to explain myself to the people who help me along the way. I don't want that to sound bad, it's always good explaining but I start off with "Well, my dream is to be a furniture builder, so I am starting this for a lady..." and what I have learned from Reed is I need to give myself more credit. I AM  furniture builder, I AM designing and building this for a CLIENT.

So as a kind of transition from last weeks post on how to love a creative person I thought I would write a post about why supporting a creative person is important, and how you can do that while also getting awesome work for your home :)

I don't want this to be a "buy my product" post, so I am not going to post any thing "for sale" but I am using images of pieces I have built and sold in the past. I want this to be a post that will talk about the benefits from buying from a maker and helping support THEM while getting awesome unique work for YOU.  

So anyway, in this world of IKEA furniture at awesome prices, everyone falling head over heals for chalk paint thrift finds, I have found that often times it is hard to convince people that purchasing custom work is worth it. I get it that custom work can cost more than a thrift shop, and some cases IKEA. But when you are purchasing work made by a small time, small business you are doing so much more than purchasing an item for your home.

You are supporting a dream.

You are helping pay the bills.

You are funding a new business. 

You are telling them they have a talent. 

You let them know they are worth it. 

Now, those are not meant to be cheesy gooey "quick go buy something from ETSY" reasons. Those are legit things that every time I get a purchase of any item, $15- $1,500, will run through my mind. I am always so encouraged when someone thinks my product is WORTH their money. They don't ask for discounts, they don't try and barter or bargain with me. They treat me like they would a real business. THAT means so much! 

Now, I also wanted to share a few reasons on why purchasing custom work benefits YOU!

You are getting a quality piece.

  - Usually. Now I get that some ETSY shops may not produce the "best" work. But for the most part, people that are wanting this to be a career. They are producing QUALITY work for  a crazy good deal. Think about it, when you purchase something from IKEA, 1. it's not real wood and 2. you have to put it together when you get home. If you order a handmade cusotm piece of furniture from a local builder, they will put in HOURS of work, and use the best materials and you don't have to worry about assembling it when you get home! 

You are getting something totally unique. 

- You know how when you see an HGTV home and it always has the coolest stuff, like so many unique pieces that you can never find. Usually, it's because you are right, you can't just find those. They are having pieces made for the space, or reworked specifically for them. Guess what YOU CAN DO THAT TOO! It may sounds crazy, but you don't have to copy an entire room from the Pottery Barn magazine, you can make one that functions and looks the way YOU want when you work with a custom builder/maker. 

You are getting a story.

- This is my favorite part about buying from small businesses. I love to tell people, "Yeah I found this girl in town that does custom work, she has a sweet little studio where she does everything in her yard." Or whatever the story was. There is always a story, how you found them, the process you went through to design the piece, a new friendship, SO MANY STORIES! 

Basically, buying custom art and home decor isn't as scary and expensive as you may think. Do your research find a local maker that can help you build a dining room table to fit YOUR space AND your BUDGET. Find someone that you want to support their dream of painting for a living. ETSY has made this a little easier, but if you want something local to you, usually the good ole google can help you find someone local. Just put in a little bit of time and you could end up with something you never dreamed could be apart of your home. 

Find someone and be apart of their story. 

Master Bedroom Makeover vol. 1 - Dresser Revamp

Y'all, this is the longest Reed and I have lived in a single home. I mean it's only our second house together and it still isn't "ours" but we've been here almost two years so it's like time to make this thing "finished". And by finished I mean all of those "we just moved in half done projects" need to be checked off. And don't judge me, yes we have been here over a year and a half and I still have a couple of those projects laying around...

Our "master" bedroom (just one of the two bedrooms in the house, nothing "master" about it) was never finished. We kinda just threw our furniture and clothes in and said TA DA a bedroom!

I had a big list of things I wanted to do to this room and the first one was make our furniture "match". We still have our hand me downs cheap or free furniture and we love it. I'm not the type of person that wants to go buy a bedroom suit. I would rather find a really cool bed, a rad dresser, and whatever else just slowly collect to make my space perfect. So I didn't really mind the mismatch but at the same time it was just not put together. We had like 5 different wood stains going on and I just couldn't handle it any more! 

So for Vol. 1 of our bedroom makeover was to get our furniture to look like it at least belongs in the same space! That meant I needed to refinish the dresser to match the bed. (Love the bed. It was a gift and so we decided to center the room after its name sake, the bed.)

Luckily the mirror I had matched the finish of our bed so seriously it was just refinishing this super simple dresser. The stain I used was Red Mahogany by Minwax and painted the frame with Ivory Dust by Valspar. Seriously, like the simplest thing ever. I lightly sanded and applied the stain or paint and DONE. But as you can tell in the before and after it made a HUGE difference. No more orangey wood that didn't fit with anything I had, at all. 

Basically I'm pretty happy with it and am excited about how easy and life changing (yes, I know so dramatic but hey it's January) Vol. 1 of our makeover has been. 

I keep saying Vol. 1 so maybe if you are like real interested in my life you may be wondering what the other Volumes will be. Well, in the pictures above you can see part of Vol. 2! One of our biggest struggles with this house is lack of storage and we basically had stuff falling all over the place. So we have built a shelving unit along one of our bedroom walls. It's a slow process because we are kinda making it up as we go. Basically I didn't realize how many shelves Reed was gonna need for t-shirts and hats so it's taking longer than I thought ha. 

I wanted to throw in this picture because I felt like I was lying to you in some of my pictures of my dresser. Our room looked so uncluttered and fresh. Well if I turned to capture the other half of the room this is what it looked like.... all my clothes on the floor cause I didn't put them back in the dresser yet, 2 dog beds, and a boot dryer. Perfect blog material :) What are some of your undone projects you are hoping to check off the list this year?? 

Party Pail Party Supplies - Beautiful Paper Decorations

Have y'all heard of the party supplier Party Pail? I hadn't heard about them until just a month ago when they contacted me and asked if I would be interested in trying out some of their products for my next party. Once I started clicking through their site I was amazed with all they offer! I created a long list of things that I wasn't expecting to receive but thought I should at least try :) 

Party Pail offers everything from party supplies (paper plates, cups, flatware, ect.) to any and every decor item for loads of different party themes! I knew for our 4th of July BBQ we needed something to give it a little oomph. I already had the paper products I found in Targets Dollar Spot so I was just looking for decorations. 

Party Pail hooked me up with 16" white and red paper fans that were super sturdy and took up a great amount of space above our food table. I also got LOADS of balloons, and red and white tissue balls. These types of party decorations make for a quick and easy way to make your party FEEL like a party! I was super pleased that I could set up everything in under an hour and it looks like we spent lots of time and money. Trust me, I loved the products, and already have a plan to work with them again for some of my seasonal decorations!  

I added a couple little things from the house, like this amazing blue table cloth we got as a wedding gift. We also picked up some festive flowers to add to the simple table scape. Plus I got a super awesome vintage Spiffy Insulated Jug with fun red white and blue stripes that held a yummy lemonade spritzer!

Plus, a new pup is always a great addition to any get together ;)

We knew it was gonna be a little roasty toasty out side but wanted to have an all day blow out Independence day celebration. So besides the festive decorations from Party Pail we decided to spice things up with a BRING YOUR OWN POOL PARTY! Yep you right, it was awesome. A couple people picked up some cheap baby pools and brought their beach chairs. For the rest of the day we soaked up the sun and cooled off with our feet in the pools. 

And you can't have a festive party with out wearing the right outfit! Reed and I went all out with American themed apparel. We had a blast with our party and I can't tell you how awesome it was wot work with Party Pail so go check them out and see what you can get for your next get together! 

Easy & Cheap Party Decorations

Summer time is party season! The beautiful weather is just aching to have music and grill fumes fill the air. Whats great about outdoor parties is how naturally beautiful everything is, you hardly have to decorate at all. However, sometimes you just need to add a little extra to set apart your seasons big shindig from the regular warm day cook out. 

The one down side about decorating outside is that outdoor decor can be PRICEY! So here are a few  cheap ways I found to add some extra pizazz to your outdoor space while also saving your wallet.  Sometimes, simply adding a table cloth can do so much but other times we need just a bit more going on. 

One of my all time favorite ways to add that extra oomph is with balloons. But not the traditional way balloons are used for parties. I like to glue on some pretty little glitter, just enough to cover the bottom. Then when you hang them over your table you have a whimsical table scape made from nothing but balloons, glue, and glitter! C-H-E-A-P :) 

Another cheap way to add some whimsy glow is with tea lights. I simply saved up some tin cans, poked holes in them, glued on some glitter and placed my tea lights inside. Easy and cheap way to add a nice glow to any table. Fresh flowers and bright foods are amazing to add pops of color too. Thankfully the summer provides lots of natural elements, these daisies and dandelions I picked from the yard, the plates I got from the Dollar Store and well then there is awesome that fabulously fresh fruit! 

Errbody is happy when you can get a pretty and simple table scape :) This pretty girl came over expecting a easy birthday BBQ but luckily I got a little sneaky and added in some pizzaz to her day with all these decor ideas. 

For the food table it's always a plus to display your tasty goodies on pretty platters. And as often as I try and use my beautiful "real" serving pieces sometimes you need something a bit more durable than ceramics. When you need that less valuable piece but still want the pretty look hit up the dollar store for the plastic pieces. For this brownie tray and cake platter I picked up 2 faux silver platters and a set of plastic faux crystal bowls. Then I simply glued the bowls upside down to the bottom of the platter creating a simple, cheap, and pretty serving piece.

I just love outdoor get togethers, and love, even more, being able to make my parties special with out emptying out my wallet! How do you guys prepare for a summer get together?

Rusty *Gas Can Lamp

When we first moved in to our house Reed had to take a day to explore the woods around the house. We heard that the property was bought from an older man who lived here for a long time. He had more land than we currently live on with lots of buildings that he would move his horses between. Only a few of these buildings are still standing and Reed found the old gas can buried in the leaves near one of the old buildings. After being dug up it has lived on our porch for about a month. 

I decided after lots of debating that I would make it a lamp!! I had been looking for something unique for our living room but lamps are wayyyyyyy to pricey these days, I just couldn't bring myself to buy anything. Thats when I remembered the can. So I went to Lowe's and purchased the Portfolio bottle lamp kit. You can't just get the lamp kit if you are wanting to use a lamp shade, you also have to get the detachable harp as well. And I knew I was wanting the shade to stand up a good bit from the jug so I had to purchase the longer threaded pipe.  I think overall I paid no more than $20, and that is SUPER reasonable for a lamp :) 

So first things first I cleaned off the jug. But not too much because the dirt and rust was what I liked the most about it :) Then I matched the drill bit up with the threaded pipe to make sure it fit just right. What you want to do is get a drill bit that is a tiny bit smaller so you can slowly widen the hole to tightly fit the pipe. 

Then I realized that the cap was so rusted on that I was going to need a hole in the bottom to get everything through. So I grabbed the tin snips and cut away. I figured it didn't have to look pretty... its the bottom right :) I then thread the wire through the pipe and popped it through the hole in the lid. 

Now to keep the rod in place I threaded a washer and nut on the bottom and the again on the top. 

The lid was pretty dented so I used the rod to kind of pop it up straight keeping the lamp up straight instead of jutting out to the side.  

I then threaded a spacer just a little ways down from the top of the rod leaving just enough space for the remainder of the pieces to fit. I then placed the arms from the harp kit and the base of the lamp where everything will be wired up.  

Then you take the two exposed ends of wire and tighten them under the exposed screws of the top of the lamp kit (where the bulb will be screwed in to). Then you fit the two pieces together and WAH LA you have a wired lamp. All thats left is to add the harp, bulb, and shade! 

Here is the finished product!! I'm stealing a lamp shade from one of my old ones until I find the perfect one. I think I really it, so I may just look for a new shade for the other lamp. Also, I'm going to get a new side table that actually works next to the tall arms of our sofa, I just haven't found the deal I'm looking for yet :) 

Annnnd incase you were wondering, no I haven't sold the chair I made a while back, so I decided to give it a little more "gracie" flair :) If its gonna sit in my living room its gonna fit in, so the legs got a makeover with celery green high gloss paint :) LOVE IT! (PS> it is still up for grabs just $75!)

Sooo I'm in love with my new lamp! So glad I stayed stingy and didn't settle for one of the box store lamps, now I have a one of a kind lamp that has been a part of this house longer than we have!!

*My dad corrected me and said this is not a  "jug" but an antique gas can. If it still had the writing on it we would be able to know if it was kerosene or gas by the color of the letters. I've tried to go back through and correct my self, if I missed one  sorry :)
**Stay tuned for a big update about the blog this week. I've got plans for the shop and the blog!

Boondocks Living-room Reveal

And finally the reveal of the living room! It was actually finished before the kitchen, I was just trying to figure out this one little thing before I posted about it. But I still haven't done it and I figured at this point its gonna be a good while before I get to it so, what the heck heres the living room (mostly finished).  I know I've said this before but check out those windows! The light is unreal in this room I can't get over the windows in the house, my favorite feature for sure. The only down side in this room is the window unit, it does work but I can't help but be wayyyyyy to excited for a house with central heat and air. A girl can dream. 

The second thing I love is the sofa. Its the same amazing pull out we've had but I was really tired of how narrow it was. It was hard to get comfortable on, I think a sofa only deserves the title if it is big enough for you to sit on cross legged and cuddled in to the corner. So to fix the problem I took off the back two cushions and added a bunch of $2 pillows I found at one of the local stores. This adds so much more depth and LOTS of color :) 

And directly across is our awesome fireplace! Well not right across because this house is wonky. Nothing in this house is level, scare, even, or centered, nothing. The hardest part of setting up the room was figuring out how to place the furniture because the fireplace is centered on the wall but the opposite wall is the glorious windows. Some how the windows and fire place don't line up. So if you center the sofa on the fire place its to the left of the windows and if you center the sofa on the windows the fireplace is off centered. Its bizarre. But I'm so thankful to have a fireplace, I grew up with one and loved it. And it gives me a great place to put more decorations :) 

Annnnnnd now its that awesome door. This house is full of beautiful antique doors. It even has outdoor doors on the closets, quirky but adds lots of character :) And finally you can see the big ugly unfinished part of the living room... that chair. It is one of the biggest love hate relationships ever. It is the most comfortable chair but that fabric sticks out like a soar thumb from the rest of the room. I've done so much research on ways to cover it, but they all require money and I just don't have it right now. So I've resorted to an old quilt thrown over it. Eventually I want to make a slip cover from a drop cloth and maybe dye it some fun bright color. I was thinking Red but who knows, I'll probably change my mind when I actually get to that point. 

 

Annnd the TV corner, same as ever. We've got that raccoon and duck right where they belong.

annnnnnd Look at the beautiful floors, golden and sunny :) Pretty scratched but thats ok, I've got some stuff to put on it and see if it makes it glow a little more. But look at that rug! Reed spoiled me with this rug, we found it at the Marshalls/ Homegoods  in Greenville. It is a rag rug that has every color ever in it, and it pulls in everything through out the room and found an awesome connection point for my random collections. 

 

So I basically love our living room. It is so bright and looks like a little more "grown up" version of my bright style. And to please Reed I've included more of his stuff and have some how managed to fit 5 of his animals in this one room. I think thats pretty impressive. Now I just have to find homes for the 4 other animals that are currently sitting in boxes in my craft room... He needs a hunting trophy room asap!

And I just wanted to share these stunning photos of the ranch. Reed has helped with food plots on the land and one of them is this beautiful sunflower field. He took me up there the other night to show me how much they have grown with all the rain we have gotten. Sunflower fields are gorgeous, these are the moments that I wish I had a professional photographer follow me around and capture moments of our life. I'm thinking about taking some online photography classes, if y'all have any suggestions let me know.