Stylish Blogger Award!

Wowee, do I feel lucky! Many thanks and virtual hugs over to Tara Lauren at Lauren Lane Decor

 for bestowing upon lil' ol me the Stylish Blogger Award!  

Now, I am informed that part of the responsibilities of my title (joking) are that I need to share seven things about myself. Ah, my public wishes to know more. 

1. I make more messes than I clean up 

2.Up until a year ago, I had no idea I was crafty. Other than being kickass at the Social Studies Fair  (1st place, 7th grade, woot woot!) 

3. Coincidentally, that may be the last time I've won anything before today! 

4. I am by no means a morning person. Never was, never will be. My college roommates and husband can attest to this. 

    5. I like Harry Potter. I am not ashamed of this. 

    6. My favorite place on earth is the Alameda Flea Market in Oakland, CA. Brats and $5 suitcases. Yes and Please.

     7. I REALLY like blogging and meeting all of you has been SO much fun! Thank you so much for everyone that's come by and I love hearing from all of you. 

Two blogs that I'm really digging right now are: 

Mandi over at Vintage Revivals

She's got some really excellent tutorials and projects that I can only describe as "ballsy". And that's a VERY good thing.

and

J over at J&J Home

Haha it's a yellow and gray day, isn't it?! She's a fellow South Floridian who blends DIY with Mid-Century style, and totally owns it.

xoxox,

"They Had Blood Banks in the Analogue Realm?" ( Book Page Wreath Tutorial)

Evidently so. The titillating excerpt from above is why I had no problem turning my dollar store copy of "The Ninth Talisman" into this: 

Armed with a hot glue gun, wreath form (the flat kind) and a copy of the "The Ninth Talisman, I single-handedly battled hot glue gun burns, interruptions, a husband who thought his wife had gone off the deep end (for reals this time) to take someone else's work of art (and I use the term loosely) and make it my own. Who knew crumpled up bits of paper could look soooo good?

Here's what I did:
I folded the single pages like this:

And this

And this

Because having some different folds adds texture and dimension. And then just glued them in place.

Then it started to look like this:

Ha! Yes! It worked!

There she is again, just for fun. Oh, you might be wondering about the "L-O-V-E", well, I put some white cardstock in tea to age it, then cut it out with a ruffle-edged scissor, and then hot glued it to some thread. I'm totes going to change it out for St. Patty's Day.

Happy Friday!!
xoxo

I'm the Mac Daddy, y'all

"Mac" in this case standing for "Macaroon", of course. For my Valentine's Day Crafternooon Tea I'm going to make different kinds of macaroons, to serve as ladylike bites, as well as my contribution to the  treats that travel for our "goodie bags", which will really be boxes that we decorate filled with cookies that we can bring back to our Valentines. Aren't they so pretty? Like a plate full of jewels.

source

 So far I'm thinking about doing:

• Dark Chocolate and Rasberry
• Strawberry and Vanilla
• Chocolate and Peppermint 

I've never made them before so here's hoping they turn out! Any suggestions for flavor combinations or tips on how not to screw them up???

xo,

Transformation Thursday

Hola spacklers! I'm taking part in Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage and I wanted to share with YOU guys what my pride and joy side table looked like before. Pretty foul. But I loved the lines and the fact that its original home was at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, were my husband and I just got married, so, well... I just had to.

And there she is all redone! So purty! Also, I used my paint sprayer on the other side table (they are a set) and if you want to read about my experience with traditional paint methods vs. my new paint sprayer, you can check that out here!

If you've got any transformations to share, head on over there and link up!

xo,

Lonny Inspiration

In an attempt to broaden and enrich my design spectrum, I turned to Lonny for some lovely design with lots of surprises. Here are some spaces that are giving me a serious case of Wednesday House-Lust.

Totally digging the table, digging the chairs. Wall mural? I could get behind it.  Especially with the drama of the other decor

I've always dreamed of a little cozy nook for casual dining and lazing about with a cup of tea and some cookies

How do I get one of these? Beamy = Dreamy

With a side order of THIS. 

Want to know the coolest thing though? In the most current issue of Lonny, they featured some thrift stores in West Palm Beach on Dixie Highway, of all places- MY stomping ground (well, close enough at least to where I get a little thrill). She's got a super fun house so I feel like I'm just snazzy by association.

I'm a girl who likes a thrift store to  be a thrift store (aka price range $0.25 - $15), but I might just have to go to have a look-see. 

Oh, and one last thing, her space was also featured on YoungHouseLove as the inspiration for their hall bathroom. So chic.
Happy Hump Day!

xo,

Crafternoon Tea

Taking a leaf out of my buddy Jess's book, I've decided to host a Crafternoon Tea on the Sunday before Valentine's Day for some lovely and crafty ladies. If you want to do the same- I'll be sharing some of the crafts we have planned, as well as the menu!

via SimplyJess

The craft lineup: 
Yarn Wreaths with felt rosettes
Home Made Valentines
"Love Notes" Wreath
Goodie Boxes (because what self-respecting party doesn't have a goodie bag, right?) I'm asking the ladies to each bring a pack-able treat so we can mix and match and take some treats to our Valentine's at home in boxes that we decorate!) = Goodie Boxes

And since the name is SUGAR and spackle, I'll be sharing some sweet, ladylike treats (both edible and drinkable!) that I'll be making, too. Plus, a super fun and flirty tablescape. I'll be sharing all this over the next two weeks before V-Day. What do you think? Are you guys doing something similar? I'd LOVE to hear about it if you are!

xo,

Prepping Pieces for Paint: Fold out Buffet

Remember our friend Jimmy Buffet (pronounced like "all you can eat buffet"), from yesterday? Well we got to work on him! 

First things first we removed that heinous brass hardware from the center. 

Then filled the holes left behind with wood filler and gave him a scuff sand with 220 grit sandpaper. I'm not sure if I'll put some more hardware there in the future... thoughts?

I actually had to use my power sander on the top to scuff it up since it was lacquered 'till next Tuesday. 

 And taped off the hinges and areas where primer could get onto the fold-out buffet top that we like so much.

 Then we primed her him up. I think that primer is a really important step that you shouldn't skip, especially if  you're working with latex paint, like I do. It gives your finish something to really hold on to. I like Kilz Oil-based primer. It comes in a can or spray can, and for this project. I had both on hand. I started out applying the primer with brush and roller and man, what a pain. It pulled and left icky brush strokes and made the area I was working on a gloppy mess.
Enough of that, said I. I went straight to the Kilz spray-on primer in the brown can. Perfect. I will NOT be bothering with brush application ANY more.
Do make sure you have a good respirator- this stuff is icky and you don't want to be breathing it in.

 

I had such a stroke of genius for the fold-out buffet top- I REALLY hope it works. *fingers crossed* So in the coming days it will either be a "how-to" or "what NOT to do". Only time will tell.

xo,