Spray Painters Anonymous.... A Vintage Vine

Good Morning! I am Lisa from {A Vintage Vine}. I am so happy to be here today posting for Tiffany at her Spray Paint Anonymous Series.......For those of you who do not know me, I am a self proclaimed lover of all things home. Most days you can find me at my blog, knee deep in furniture makeovers, gardening, and  DIY projects!

Like most of you, I am no stranger to spray paint .....Let's just say, spray paint and I are very friendly! When Tiffany asked me to post on my love of spray paint, I was thrilled!....My addiction to the stuff began with the project I am going to show you today.....It was one of my first successful spray paint encounters...

Last Spring,  I bought this vintage modern style lamp with the intention of making it over. 

I bought it at a local thrift store for $5+ and I loved it's shape....It needed a shade so I added a burlap one...However, once I got it home I was reluctant to touch it...

Have you ever had that happen?...You buy something thinking you know exactly what you will do with it but then you can not bring yourself to follow through! The lamp sat in my house for several months.....Just about everyday, I looked at it but just could not figure out what to do with it.  The texture of the lamp was rough and the color was not me but how to change it seemed to be escaping me.

Eventually, I got the guts up to give spray paint a try......I figured, if it was a "BUST", then who would ever know?...After taking the lamp apart......

I used Rust Oleum's Ultra Cover Primer to cover the entire lamp and then followed up with Krylon Satin Ivory for the main body of the lamp....I then spray painted the bottom base of the lamp with Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze.

Here is how the lamp looks now.....I am still happy with it! 

So my advice is......Don't be scared, give it a try you may like the results! Thanks so much to Tiffany for having me over for her Spray Paint Anonymous Series and thank you for visiting!

***

Thank you so much Lisa for sharing your lamp!  Yes I do that all of the time... sometimes the inspiration takes a little while to hit us!  Be sure to head over to Lisa's blog

{A VINTAGE VINE}

INSPIRATION FOR ALL THINGS HOME..

She just finished an amazing bedroom makeover that will make you drool!

***

And now let us all repeat the Spray Painters Mantra:

Friends, help me source all the items I am searching for but can not find.

Give me the vision to think outside of the box and remember the can of spray paint,

and bless me with the patience to let each of the coats dry before I move on to the next step!

Cookies and coffee are in the back! =)

If you need support for your spray painting addiction and would like to "attended" a meeting 

please contact me:

Tiffany@savvydesignwest.com

We always love to know other addicts, and can always use more inspiration for our projects!

Everything But The Tree... Almost!

Almost done... I feel like I can't really start enjoying the holiday season until my holiday decor is done.  So almost done!  We are getting our tree this weekend on our annual trip to Apple Hill.  And of course I have a few DIY's I have planned to add to the holiday! 

I love pulling out my Christmas decor!  Just like the rest of the furnishing in my house it is a mixture of old and new.  When my parents moved to Hawaii, I inherited almost all of there good stuff... and that included all of the Christmas decor that I grew up with!

I love to mix natural elements with shiny and glittery!  

{get ready for picture overload!  I took some during the day and night... 

seriously I love the glitter of twinkle lights!}

Those branches are the same ones I have been using since Halloween!  The vase was part of my amazing thrift store finds... for $3.99!!!  I have been wrapping presents in kraft paper for years!  It used to be my signature until Santa had to have wrapping paper with cartoons on it!

I know you are looking at this and asking why am I hanging our stockings on the staircase?  Well this year we are putting our Christmas tree in the corner of the family room where the fireplace is, so I have lost the mantel.  I kind of like them going up the staircase.  That garland was a from my mom... she purchased it from the dollar store over 5 years ago!!!  I love it up the staircase and since this will be the last year I have stairs I thought why not!

This is the first year I have put ordainments in this lamp! For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get them in, turn the lamp back over with out slamming it on the table and possibly breaking the whole thing.  So I filled the lamp, but a plate on the bottom and flipped the lamp over.  Then I quickly slid the plate out.

Do you have your holiday decor up yet?

I am linking this to:

Elf On The Shelf In My House

Is everyone over turkey?  I am not... but I haven't been eating a whole lot of it since I save almost every piece of the leftovers to make my dad's amazing turkey noodle soup!  I am looking forward to that! 

 I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!  I did... mine was very productive!  I black Friday shopped, pulled down Christmas decor and am almost finished!!  Yay!  Ok... enough recap!  

Have you heard of The Elf on The Self?  I didn't until late last year and by then I couldn't find him for sale anywhere!  The elf on the shelf is a secret helper of santa's that comes to live in your house and then reports back to santa every night on whether your child has been good or bad.  And because he "leaves" every night he "returns" in a different spot in your house to watch!  

The elf comes with a book {I found mine at Target} that tells his story and a website where you can enter the name your child chooses and "register" your elf with Santa.  J named ours Ryder... I think because of Tangled, but he says no.  I am looking forward to finding fun ways to position Ryder for J and M to find him... if I can remember to move him!!  I have a reminder set on my phone every night!!

Here is where Ryder has returned to in our house after his trip to the North Pole:

Yes, my 4 and 2 year old have iPod Touches!!  But it was really fun to see J's face when he found Ryder playing his "phone" with his "ears" too!

Hanging in the glitter branches.

Doing a little homework in the playroom.

Getting a piggy back ride from Frosty.

Swinging high from the chandelier. 

Here are some other cool ideas I am considering:

Source: flickr.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: homestoriesatoz.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Tiffany on Pinterest

Ready Set Shop!

Are you black friday shopping?  

I am!  And though I know this post will go live hours after the first store opens; I couldn't help but post this Black Friday Preparedness Guide:

Source: southernbellaswaystosave.com via Lindley on Pinterest

I know this sounds good in theory, but I am sure I will be none of these things!

Let the games begin!

Thankful For...

Happy Thanksgiving!  

This year I have a whole lot of reasons to be thankful!  The amazing Barbara from Hodge:Podge awarded me with The Versatile Blogger award last week and I thought I would use this to share some things I am thankful for. 

{I will pass the award on to some well deserving bloggers next week!}

I am thankful for....

{get ready for some sappy comments... which I don't usually do!!}

Image via Jamiebrookephotography.com

My family {immediate and extended}.  I am so very lucky to have two healthy, active, and funny boys that constantly challenge me and make me laugh everyday!  I have a very loving husband, always willing to help me with any crazy project!  And a huge thank you to him for being tolerant of my time in front of the computer and my love connection with my iPhone!!

 Being able to be at home with my kids.  At one point I NEVER thought I would be ok with being a stay at home mom... but three years in and I know I am very grateful to be able to have this time.  

Being able to still do part time design for clients... It is the little bit time to myself doing something I love!

Being about to write my blog daily! I have "met" so many wonderful creative inspiring people via my blog!  I am so excited to see what everyone is up to each day and share my ideas!  

A great group of friends that keep me sane via playmates, wine, and laughs!

What are you thankful for this year?

Hope everyone eats there weight in food!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spray Painters Anonymous.... Turquoise Piano

Hello, my name is Kelli and I am a spray paint addict.  Not in the reason-Lowe's-checks-your-ID way, but the I-could-use-it-on-all-my-furniture way.  Seriously.  LOVE the stuff!  You can see my zillions of projects over at The Turquoise Piano. 

Today I'm going to walk you through the process of how I took this grandfather clock from dark and nice (I think it is nice -- but I wanted better than nice) to light and fabulous in just a few easy steps.

  

First of all, the back story of this clock.  It's a little personal so don't feel uncomfortable. :)

Long story short, I have a two year old daughter and I am ready for another baby.  I thought I was pregnant twice just to find out that I wasn't.  The day I got this clock was one of those times.  So I was feeling sorry for myself that day and I thought, "what would make me feel better now?"  Answer: craigslist.  I opened my laptop and started searching.  I typed in "grandfather clock" and  a handful of posts came up.  Most were in the $300+ price range but there was one that was $45 and said it had to be gone STAT.  I asked if the hubs was on board if I got it.  He was.  When I called, I negotiated the price to $30 and we jumped in the car and burned rubber over to her house.  She wasn't there so I paid her mom and loaded it in the car.  Then I started feeling bad because I knew she needed the money more than I did so I took another $5 to her parentals to give to her.

I started the transformation process by removing the hardware and the doors.

Then I took out the pendulum and the drawer.

Next I covered the face of the clock.  Note:  If you do this, make sure whatever you use to cover it isn't porous.  The spray paint will go through.  I'm still banging my head against the wall about another project.

I also put the chains in a grocery bag and taped them out of the way.

Then I started to spray paint.  I used Rustoleum's Heirloom White.  I decided not to sand this for a couple of reasons.  First is that I planned on putting it in a place where it wouldn't get touched often, and second is because I was planning on distressing it so if it got a scratch or two, no biggie.

This is after one can of paint.

Here it is after 2.5 cans.

Next I did the drawer.  I did sand this because it is the biggest flat surface on the front of the clock and I wanted the paint to really stick to it.

I covered the glass for the door.  And yes, I used electrical tape.  We just moved and my painter's tape is in a box somewhere unknown to me.  It's all about improvising, amigos. 

    

The little pear shaped deal-e-o was not attached so I painted it and hot glued it in place.  I also painted the drawer and the doors and reattached them.  

Then I closed my eyes and prayed that everything worked out as I slowly tore off the cover on the face.  (Notice the painted hands.  Wear gloves!  Or at least don't get a mani beforehand).

Phew!  It worked!

Next I took a very fine grit sand paper and distressed along the sides and around the edges.  

It's a little hard to see in the picture but here it is all distressed.  I may do some more but I didn't want to over do it at first (like a short hair cut -- you know what I'm talking about).  

Here it is all at home in it's place in our dining nook.  I love it!  I almost forgot to replace the pendulum but ha!, it needs that to function.  I replaced it and now I feel like I'm in Europe every time it dongs it's low-pitched dong.  

If you're thinking about doing a grandfather clock, I highly recommend it.  It's really easy and the results are phenomenal (my opinion, obviously).  

 

I'm so excited that I got to share this with you!  Thanks, Tiffany for letting me be here.  Come over and visit The Turquoise Piano.  I try to have at least one tutorial per week, along with some home staging tips.  Have a great day!

***

Thank you so much Kelli for sharing your awesome make over!  Be sure to visit Kelli's blog,

Don't you just love the turquoise piano?  She has some amazing projects!  The lucky girl just got back from a vacation cruise... so jealous!

***

And now let us all repeat the Spray Painters Mantra:

Friends, help me source all the items I am searching for but can not find.

Give me the vision to think outside of the box and remember the can of spray paint,

and bless me with the patience to let each of the coats dry before I move on to the next step!

Cookies and coffee are in the back! =)

If you need support for your spray painting addiction and would like to "attended" a meeting 

please contact me:

Tiffany@savvydesignwest.com

We always love to know other addicts, and can always use more inspiration for our projects!