a pinteresting summer, pt 2

i sweat a lot today. heat and humidity - deadly combination. my eyelids are sticking to themselves. it is uncomfortable. so, today's project has been in the works for a couple weeks. i bought the chalky pink spray paint from krylon, and used it on my sconces. so here ya go:

before:

inspiration:

this last one is my favorite because it is that chalky light pink.

so, after too much time in the sun, sweat dripping off my eyeballs, i finished.

the wiring was an absolute buggar! you hold your hands above your head with your neck at a 90 degree angle while standing on your dining table. there were several moments i thought i was going to pass out. the boy was standing up there with me, holding the chandelier up so i could focus on the wiring and rigging. i had to start over from scratch and redo it, but i'm much happier with how it hangs now. no twisted wires. it's going to look sweet once my walls are painted egg blue. technically, liquid blue from sherwin williams.

here's a preview of what is next:

i will be making this light fixture, but i will add ivory jute to each mason jar to filter the light some and keep it from being too much of a glare on the eyes. the main part of renovating the kitchen involves taking down a wall that separates the kitchen from the living area. once that is down, the kitchen will be fully in view. i want the light in the kitchen to be pleasant and not too bright. it will have 8 bulbs. 8!! i plan to do led lights that will last an eternity, so the beauty will be maintenance free (aside from the occasional dusting). i'm so excited!

until next time, happy crafting!

morninglorykitsch

a pinteresting summer pt 1 (take 2)

(i had several paragraphs typed and paused to take pics to add. came back and everything was gone. so this is take 2.)

i can't believe it's been over 2 years since i've posted on this blog. well, i'm back, and it's going to be a pinteresting summer! i've been preparing for an upcoming kitchen reno, and by "preparing" i mean pinteresting to my heart's content. and then kept going. pinterest has become my go to for any and all ideas. my creative juices have never been more excessive than when my husband uttered the words, "no more projects until ------ is done". commence with the trips to lowes and jo-ann, drilling, painting, spray painting, measuring, stud finding, yard saling, wiring, etc. my pinterest-inspired ideas began lass than a year ago with...

pinterest sourcing:

my results at 2 am:

a few weekends ago, i found this gem:

so i made this:

i visited a used bookstore at which i had a $50 credit. (the credit only gets applied to half of your purchase total) edison lights are the best!

another weekend came around, and i needed some cheering. i took inspiration from:

and

and made:

i used a precut length of board from lowes, conduit clamps, and jelly-sized mason jars. my mother taught me long ago how to easily and cheaply stain wood: pick whatever color acrylic craft paint you wish, water it down a bit, use a rag to rub it into raw wood. bing! stained wood. no fumes, nearly no dry time. i used a pretty aqua blue, then aged it with a brown on the edges.

last weekend, i picked these up at a yard sale:

pinterest gave me this:

and this:

which gave birth to these cuties:

i also decided to remove the flourescent light fixture from my laundry closet. it hasn't worked in years because those tubes are a buggar to replace once they burn out. 1 1/2 hours later, and i had completed this:

she may not be much to look at, but she works!

the theme i'm going for in my home is rustic french. i have chosen my color scheme for our living area which is the main cube of our home consisting of the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

my choices:

luxury vinyl planking from shaw

cabinets in antique white from lilyanncabinets.com

a granite-look formica that is really nice. a blogger once said that she didn't live in a "granite counter top type of neighborhood", and i agree. putting a granite counter in our kitchen would blow our budget for the whole remodel out of the water. it would probably cost more than our flooring/cabinets/paint/backsplash combined.

our wall colors i've chosen are liquid blue and dover white from sherwin williams:

the antique white is for freshening up our existing beadboard and trims and perfectly matches the cabinet color.

upcoming projects i'm planning are:

i can not only remove the vanity from my bathroom, but use it to replace the hideola flourescent fixture in my kitchen. then, for the can lights over my tub, i can just add a chandelier halo instead of removing the whole fixture!

here are online credits for projects listed:

rustic chandelier from bathroom vanity light

http://www.remodelaholic.com/2014/12/upcycle-vanity-light-strip-hanging-pendant-light/

book lamp:

http://www.hgtv.com/design/decorating/furniture-and-accessories/stacked-books-table-lamp

can light chandelier: i plan to make mine, but here are the links to purchase

http://www.homeportfolio.com/catalog/Product.jhtml?prodId=233815

http://www.beaux-artes.com/category/recessed-chandeliers/5/

until next time,

morninglorykitsch

lessons learned in the workplace...

back in the workplace for 3 years now. 1 1/2 years spent at dsw. yes, THAT dsw. shooooooz! my take home pay diminished with each new shipment. then, at some point, i became immune to shoes. seriously. it took a really great pair to get me excited.

1 1/2 years + now, at my present place of employment. i will not go over the pros and cons between the two places. however, i have learned some things that you may not immediately know when it comes to workplace etiquette and politics.

1. working with your husband is not always a dream come true.
~no comment.

2. if your baby chick is sick - i mean, about to die - and needs attention, bringing it to work - even if you work in a cave - is apparently frowned upon. you may feel that explaining that this much beloved creature would die if you hadn't nursed it back to health, albeit at work. your boss will still look at you like:

(seriously, though, remove all the funky weirdness, and he's identical.)

3. texting your boss to let him know you'll be late because of a delivery/repair man - also frowned upon.
~maybe you text because this is what you'll hear on the other end:

(i think he's wearing a girdle)

4. when said baby chick dies, don't expect any pity. he will tell you you should have stayed home or he would have given you the $3 to replace it.

~the very notion!

5. getting upset because of an unexpected day off of work getting swapped for your actual day off, when said day off falls on or near your birthday may be premature. don't mention anything. be an adult about it. and when boss says, "you don't really need to come in on friday", be gracious. say "ok", and praise the Lord!

it's time to move.

if anyone is still out there, please join me on my new blog:

www.envoguebonmarche.blogspot.com

do i know you? it must run in the family.

ok, so who besides me would totally go see them in concert???

the final countdown, erm, rundown...

well, hello there. it has been a while. i'm in the midst of so much. here is a rundown:

working at a new job since thanksgiving. it is not full time, but takes up a lot of my thinking time.

i'm now 2 years, and therefore declared cancer-free at this point. (and for the last two years, i had already considered myself cancer-free.)

i'm mom to a middle schooler.

i'm reading divergent by veronica roth. good read. pick it up.

i'm doing the dukan diet. it is day 9, and i've lost 7.5 lbs and 15" overall. yea, me!

i made a fascinator to wear to my cousin's upcoming wedding.

fun, right? 

recently took a trip to las vegas with my hubby for our 13th anniversary.

i will be a blood aunt by halloween. not anything to be freaked about, just that my side of the family will finally receive a baby from one of my sibs.

that's all for now.

cob house. is it for us?

i've been gone a very long time. this is, in part, due to blogspot and my computer having a tiff and not wanting to work together to post the pics i would like to add.

so here we are, 2012. is it the end? maybe. is that going to stop me from raising my chickens, building a cob house on the back of our acreage, maybe getting a couple goats? no way!

the decision is this... do i make it look like a hobbit hole, or do i make it look like my dream house from a post i published 100 years ago?

remember me? yes. this is definitely the one i want.
you are the one i want. oo, oo, oo! honey!