Fab weekend

Life goes on...

Marc is still flying, days and nights, alternately. He's also had M-9 qualification (that's a gun...i had to ask :-P), and has been studying and taking tests to gain knowledge of the plane. He's been busy. Tomorrow is the first check ride in this plane, but I know he'll do fine...he always does! Tuesday begins a new kind of training, but still with the same plane.

School has begun. Friday was the first day back for the kids and was hectic, as expected. It's good to see them though, and it's refreshing getting back to doing what I love. Therapy doesn't begin until Monday after next, so I still have some time to gather my thoughts and materials before I begin collecting data and helping the kids with communication at school.

A new challenge Marc and I have had to face lately is our alternating schedules. I leave the house at 7am, while he sleeps in so that he can stay awake during his night flight. Then he leaves for work around 2pm and I get home at 5pm. He flies while i'm getting ready for bed, and arrives home at 2am. Then it starts over. We went three days this week without seeing each other except when he was crawling into bed or I was getting up. Let me tell you how much fun this routine is...it's not. Fortunately, lunch time is free for both of us. I have the option to work while I eat, but would rather spend time with my phantom husband. :)

We went to Lubbock this weekend to pick up a few "your trash/my treasure" items. I am so excited!! We picked up a few end tables with nicks and bumps, but perfect! We also got a wingback chair...YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been nagging Marc about one for forever. And lastly, we picked up a beautiful (huge) coffee table that's painted the worst cream/yellow and is filthy, but I can remedy those problems! Pictures will come as soon as I make them pretty :)

Hope your weekend was just as wonderful!!

I Found the Perfect Shade

So maybe, if I'd been looking for months and months, it might be a bigger deal, but it's a big deal to me :) I found the perfect lamp shade for my newly painted lamps.
First, I tried one that was hilariously huge.

Second, this one....

...eh, still too big

Third, this one...


Lastly!!!


Perfect!!

Vanity Tables

We will soon be moving into our new home (if all goes well through closing in Sept.), and the Master Bath only has one sink. We currently have two sinks, so I've been looking at ways to get away from the sink as soon as possible after I'm done. I thought it might help if i had a vanity, but I don't want to fork out the cash for a piece of furniture. The internet is a great place to find alternatives such as this DIY idea! So, in my hunt for a vanity, I went to the local antique place, the same place I found the lamps in a recent post. I found two of these end tables...


Ugly!! It was wood grain on top with white paint on the rest of the end tables. There was some sort of paint over the white, that looked like it was meant to make the tables look antique. However, there were drip marks and areas that the cover didn't get to. It just looked like a quick job.

I couldn't decide what color to paint the tables...white...black...wait and paint it to match the decor. I decided on black. I love black furniture. There are many blogs that I follow that love painting furniture white, sometimes with distressing. While that is gorgeous as well, I love the glamour look of black. So, I began with a tinted primer to cover the white...

(That's a new hair color you see there! More pics of the new hair to come)

Once the primer layer dried, I began painting the high-gloss black onto the tables. It took two coats to cover the primer. Marc even helped...reluctantly. Ignore the piles and piles of junk in our garage. We're looking forward to the new and BIGGER house :)


My mother-in-law is visiting (thank you for taking these pictures!) and went with me to pick out the hardware.


And the final product that I'm so proud of...

Bright Renovation

Lately, we've been watching so much HGTV and DIY Network, simply to gain ideas for the home we will soon be moving into. It is a brand new home, so there isn't much reason to renovate...HOWEVER, this is our first home and we just can't wait to make it our own. So, i'm starting small with my first renovation project (one that can be done before we actually move in).

See my before...

Beautiful crystal, ugly gold details. My goal was to accent the crystal with white to make the crystal the focal point of the lamp. This project was inspired by this creative project by Centsational Girl. It looked like a simple project that could be a good first try. I found two of these lamps at a local used and antique furniture store nearby. With the move-in ideas flowing, i'm hoping to create a black and white room in our new house and use these lamps as bedside tables.

Marc was the photographer while I learned the do's and do not's of spray painting. I read all about "light dusting" when spray painting. However, my light dusting of the primer was still dripy. Spent some time sanding it once it dried and cured. I followed it, the next day, with white spray paint, giving it time to dry and cure as well. Whew!



Final product...


I think it turned out great! What do you think?!? Minor problem... the lamp shade i bought at Walmart is too big. Aaaaaaaand this is lamp shade attempt #2. These are just tiny lamps, and this shade is the smallest one Walmart sells. So, i'll have to keep my eyes peeled for nice, tiny lamp shades...unless someone has a better idea :)


My next projects, which may or may not be done before we move into the house...

This is the lamp that we already own, but don't use because it it doesn't "fit" into any room in our duplex. If it were a different color and maybe had a more interesting shade, it could also find a home in our future home. Ooooo, maybe I will put it into the blue and white room we will have....
The bed behind this lamp, a white metal daybed, is in need of some updating. It's a perfectly functional bed, that due to the loss of some hardware during it's 6 or so moves in the last year, is barely holding on. It's also old-fashioned looking and i'd like to keep it and renovate it. I'm thinking a coat of black paint with new hardware. This would be the bed in the black and white room. It's all coming together in my mind!


This funky looking object is a coffee table we found at Goodwill for $12 in Little Rock, AR, while we were PCSing from Corpus Christi to our current location, En Route through Little Rock. (It is standing on it's side so i can park in the garage) We had nearly everything in storage, with no tables, so we used this as our kitchen table and coffee table for 3 months. Before this renovation kick of mine, seeing as it's a piece of junk, I would have just put it in a garage sale or throw it out. Now, I can see it sitting in front of the above daybed, either black or white, to go with the decor of the room..


Ooooo, I can't wait to get started on these projects. And Marc's mother is coming to visit on Tuesday. I wonder if she like to renovate, too?!?