Heirloom Party

Marie , at Emma Calls Me Mama, is hosting a Heirloom

Party - you should stop by her blog for a visit:)

http://emmacallsmemama.com/

By nature, I am a "keeper". So, my children will probably have a lot of heirlooms:)
One thing that I would love to pass down to my kids is this leather settee. It didn't have any sentimental value to me until we took our family pictures on it last Christmas. Now, I would like to keep it forever:) Who knows, maybe this settee will be a reoccurring backdrop for many pictures to come....our next baby, bridal pictures, grandchildren.....
The other thing that I want to give to my children are these red and white dishes. My collection isn't very extensive, but because these dishes are timeless, I think my children will easily be able to add to the collection for years to come.
I love these dishes from my mom's mom. I am not sure how old these dishes are, but I love the vintage look of these dishes. My mom came from a family of 13 kids. These dishes were their "everyday dishes". Can you imagine the many meals these dishes held? I truly cherish these dishes.
Another item that I hold dear to my heart is this gold mirror. This mirror belonged to my Grandma Elsie. My Grandma loved this mirror and so do I.

I feel so blessed to have heirlooms from my family in my home.

Rustic Bookcase

Ok, so this was today's project...painting a bookcase.

But, this isn't my bookcase, it belongs to my friend Kelsi. I agreed to help her paint it (since I pretty much talked her into buying it off Craigslist, and her husband had to drive 40 miles to get it) and when asked about painting it, she said "surprise me."

So Kelsi,...SURPRISE!!!
The good news is that I really like the way it turned out, and it would look awesome in my bedroom...so if it gets the thumbs down from the Webber Family, I'll gladly keep it:)
I will wait to get a shot of the full piece when it is in Kelsi's house, or my bedroom:) The garage doesn't do it justice.
This is the base coat. I painted it all white. I actually loved the white, but I wanted to give it a more rustic feel. The plain white was a little to "cottage/shabby chic" if she decides to use it in her son's room.

After I painted it white, I sanded it. I really got after this piece with the sander. You know, I will spend hours painting a piece just because I love to sand it. I thought this piece was going to distress well, and it did.

After I distressed it, I put stain all over it. This wasn't too fun because I DON'T LIKE PAINTING SHELVES!!! I really like painting furniture, but the less shelves the better. Drawers...good. Shelves....bad,bad,bad:(

Then, I painted on small touches of blue to match either Kelsi's living room, her son's bedroom, or my bedroom:)
This is how the old beauty started out. A little too orange, but I knew it had potential. I know many think I am crazy, but I loved today - getting to be outside and paint.

I also feel accomplished, I finished one of my projects! yay!

Oh Craigslist...you do keep me busy:)

Bathroom Bling

Ok, so after being in our house for almost 2 years, we finally got vanity mirrors! I am super excited. Now, I am trying to find some cute accessories. Take a look at some of this bathroom bling from the awesome mother and daughter team - Kay and Stephanie:)

This is on the back of Kay's toilet. You know I am lovin' the leopard ribbon!
Thinking I may copy this idea....Calgon, take me away!!!
It seems like I have a ton of little soaps from hotels...this would be cute too.
I also really like these canisters.
This is my favorite! I keep forgetting to ask Stephanie where she got it.

When you are decorating, don't forget your bathrooms! Even your toilet deserves a little bling:)