Easter Basket

I saw this Easter Basket on the Blog, A Soft Place to Land, and I knew I had to do it! I loved it! So here is my mossy Easter Basket!

 I started with my spring colored paints, and various papier mache eggs.

 The eggs needed two coats. After I was finished, I used the old trick of watered down brown paint, and 'flicking' the toothbrush.

 I started on the sides first. Long enough to go to the end, but not on the bottom.

 Then, I did the handles. Followed by the rim.

My Finished product!

I used nearly the whole package of cloth moss (4$ after the coupon at Hobby Lobby), and a 75 cent basket from DI, and the eggs from Roberts (6 large for 3.99-used a coupon of course, and 1.00$ for the 12 little eggs from Hobby Lobby).

*This was a SUPER MESSY project. The moss gets every where when you're cutting it. It stuck to my shirt, I had to vacuum my clothes!

Wall paper madness!

 Yesterday was the first of many BIG days on tackling the Condo! Above is the lovely wallpaper that seemed to govern the home! It's quite loud and made the kitchen a little dark (to say the least).

 My hubby and brother getting the wall paper steamer ready, and pulling out the stove and fridge.

 The master bath. It's a purpleish periwinkle!

 My awesome sister hard at work!

 After one coat. We used Behr paint w/ primer.  It's super thick and goopy for sure. But, we only needed two coats (not quite an entire can of paint).

 The boys again hard at work!

 My hard working man!

 Me working the steamer.

 What it looked like at our feet. It was a huge mess! Always think not twice, but at least ten times before putting up wallpaper!!!

 The second bedroom was a dark purple/brown color. It looked small and like a cave.

 My wonderful sister again. We also used paint with primer for this room.

My heroic hard working parents!

So we arrived at 12:15. Got the steamer up and going at almost one. My brother and sister, and parents came to help. My siblings had to leave earlier for work, but my parents stayed until we got one coat up in the second bedroom. They finished the master bath! My hubby and I stayed until 7:15. We finished steaming at about 6:50, because 1) the areas left were not reachable by the steamer (ie under the windowsill) 2) My in laws watched our two little children throughout this whole time! 3) we couldn't do anymore! We were so exhausted! Our arms ached. However waking up this morning, it's not my arms, it's my back!

So, wall paper is awful! We didn't do the dinning room. That'll be for another day! Still left to do:
2nd coat in 2nd bedroom
upstairs pink/mauve bathroom*
master bedroom
touch up base boards and trim
pink and yellow loft*

*will have to wait until after we move in, we have to pack too!

So Many Colors

At the end of next month, we're moving out of our small apartment to a family owned Condo.  Before moving in, we are tearing down 2 wall papered rooms, and repainting almost all of it. Since we are not home owners, this is exciting that we can do a little choosing.

We picked paint yesterday. All of it is going to be the same color with the exception of one bathroom we're not repainting, and the kids bedroom we're painting a very light blue.
 I went to the paint store and spent time narrowing it down. I already knew what I wanted, so it made the process much easier.  I picked the one I liked best, and another top two. Then texted my mom with the one I wanted. She then went to the store. She ended up picked the SAME three that I did! I just think that so cool that we choose the same colors!

The final choice is Behr 740C-2 "Cozy Cottage"

Pictures soon to follow!

Halloween Decor #4

 Here are elements together, with the new addition of the book.

To make the book, I bought the paper mache book at Jo~Ann's. They had my favorite, b/c they were bigger, and had the detail on the side. I painted it all black, and the 'pages' a linen color. After drying I pasted the patterned paper to the to book, then the label. I then painted the side bars. I mixed in gray w/ my linen color to more closely match the color on the patterned paper. The label is from the same sight I originally posted when I made the apothecary bottles. I also used a technique on the label to distress it. Using distressing ink in a 'old paper.'

If you want to get really creative with the side of the book that mimics the pages of the book, paint one layer of your desired color, then get kite string and place on the sides the length of the sides, then paint a couple of heavy layers over it. Then as it starts to dry, but not completely, pull the strings off, and you get bumped lines that looks like old pages.

Decorating ~project #2

We all need an over sized letter showing off our Last inital! This one I found at Joann's. It's 7.99 but using that 40% off coupon is like gold.

I painted it solid black, only took 2 layers. Then I decided to stencil it w/ a Kiwi Green Color using stencil tape and a stipple brush.

Sorry this picture isn't very good. But to add extra detail, I used a yellow and the end of the brush's stick to add a simple dot of marigold yellow.

 Then I added a layer of Liquitex Gloss to give it a finishing coat and a little extra sheen.

(Again sorry about the blur)

And it was as simple as that!