Harold and Maude - Shabby Chair Pair

I asked for help naming this pair on our facebook page.   If you haven't joined us there, you need to get on in!  The conversation and the ideas that are shared are awesome!  I will for sure be using some of the other names that were suggested, but you all voted and Shannon's suggestion won out!

I thought it was interesting that nearly all of the suggestions were a man and woman pair.  I would not have thought of that.  As you might have noticed that most of the pieces I name are women's names.

The original reason I asked for help in naming these chairs was because they made me so agitated that I had a hard time wanting to call them anything other than &*@&# and #*%&@!

I decided to try something I'd read about a few places, a petroleum jelly resist.  The idea here is that you paint one (or two in my case) coats of paint on, apply some petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to the places that you want left alone, let that dry and then apply your next color.  The petroleum jelly is supposed to protect the first coat of paint in the areas that it is applied, so that when you rub it away you are left with places that were untouched by the last coat of paint.

Well, I guess when you live in a place where the humidity is around 90% all winter long, petroleum jelly never does dry out.  So after waiting over night for it to dry I decided to paint over it anyway (what else was I going to do?)

Then I waited for that coat of paint to dry and started rubbing off the jelly with a paper towel.  WHAT. A. MESS!  It smeared the last coat of paint (the black in case you're wondering) all over the place, sort of mixing with it and it was coming off where I didn't want it to come off and no matter how much I rubbed it with a a paper towel I couldn't seem to get all of the jelly off of the chairs!

After several rounds and far more paper towels than I'd like to admit, I finally got most of the jelly off, but ended up not waxing them because there is a still a very fine film over them that feels a lot like wax.  I didn't want to push my luck with this cranky pair!

I am happy with how they eventually came out, even if it isn't at all what I had in mind!  I did learn an important lesson though.  Petroleum Jelly has officially been banned from my workshop!

Maude and Harold are certainly one of a kind.  You won't be seeing a finish like this from me EVER again.

_____________________

Maude and Harold are for sale.  See my Portfolio and Available page for details.

____________________

I will be sharing at: 
Primp

Birthday Preparations

My soon to be 4 year old has requested an 'Egg' theme for his birthday party, next month.  The thought of smashing eggs has been on his 'to do' list for a couple of months now.  Planning an 'Egg' party that does not look like an 'Easter' party is not an easy task.  Today, preparations are taking the form of confetti eggs, or cascarones, as some might call them.  Yes, I see that this is some very large confetti.  It was an Amazon fail, but I'm making it work.

And Then There Were Two....

I’m Phoebe, Megan’s little sister.

We’re just shy of 55 weeks apart. We’ve spent our lives on opposite ends of nearly every spectrum. In our youth, we fought, as all healthy siblings should and as adults, we bond, as all healthy siblings should.  Our favorite pastimes are giving each others’ creative bubbles direction, sharing hopes and dreams of spiritual matters, and lending an ear for the drudgery that is life’s mundane.   Our relationship is not one of walking on eggshells or treading lightly. We keep things real, tell it like it is, and there is no room for taking offense or flinging insults. We also find each other hilarious!

I have 3 children, ages 5, almost 4, and 18 months. I am shamelessly proud of each of them. I was giggling with joy, as I typed that. I was married young (20) to my high school sweetheart, but I made sure that I sowed my wild oats before having kids (not in the promiscuous sense). I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Admin. I worked as a Pharmacy Technician. I spent most of my career in pharmacy retail, but a small stint in corporate finance. I owned a retail floral/gift boutique for just under 2 years. I love to create. I love art. Most of my creativity is displayed in over-the-top birthday parties for my kids, gifted baby sweaters (no endorsements into this family, until you learn to knit), and my childrens’ wardrobes.

I consider myself your ‘run of the mill’, annoying little sister. Sometimes, siblings have been known to limit accepted phone calls per day.

I am the clothes horse of the two of us. Style, for me, comes in a shoebox. Megan and I share a passion for color and vintage items. What I see walking down the street, she sees painted on a thrifted dresser. I’ve always had what some might consider ‘expensive taste’ in textiles, clothing to ribbon. What most people don’t know is that the majority of my children’s clothes are straight out of the thrift store. I enjoy the hunt, almost as much as I enjoy pairing to create the perfect look.

Meg, asked me to share my creativity with Apple House Revival. I accepted; there you have it.
My posts will be sporadic and possibly nonsensical. Like I said, I have three small children, no explanation needed.

First up, Meg suggested a vintage apparel round-up. She actually said dresses, but doing ‘exactly’ what she suggested would break my ‘little sister code of conduct’. In my selections, I kept ‘every day wearable’ at the top of my priority list. Enjoy.

I had to include this one. I would absolutely wear this. But, the crowning touch is that it’s reserved for someone else. Story of my life.

I dream of fashion of this sort. However, the frugalista in me, would never allow it at that price.

Call me crazy. I want!

Dang! Not my size….

I’m a sucker for anything I owned, as a child. Baby girl needs some.

I LOVE patent leather. Shoes, belts. I wear patent, no matter the changing styles.

Best baby gift ever!

Must-have for my boys!

I HEART Swiss dot…who doesn’t?

Vintage, not just for women…great mens' gift.

Do you love vintage fashion too?  Tell us what your favorite vintage find is!

G'morning Sunshine - A Nightstand and a Lamp

I'm not sure this darling should be called a night stand.  I think she is more of a morning stand!  She MIGHT even make you happy to reach over and turn off your alarm clock in the morning.

Certainly you'll go to be smiling as you see her pretty yellow happiness last thing before you switch off your lamp at night.

She is a solid maple reproduction, but a very good one.  She had lost most of her original finish and was happy to get a fun update to bring her back into service.

I rarely paint hardware, but I loved how these fit so nicely on the drawers with the backplate, they just needed to be a different color.  Spray paint isn't an option where I live right now, so I decided to try it.  I think it gives her a nice vintage country look.

I let her borrow my alarm clock (for Ikea if you can believe it!) and my lamp for her photo shoot.  She looked so cute I almost took her back inside and kept her as my own, but my great grandmother's nightstand that matches my tall boy dresser won out.  Sorry, Sunshine.   I'm sure it won't be long before someone snaps you up for their own!

Speaking of my alarm clock and lamp, I haven't shown you my lamp.  I love it.  It's an upcycled old lamp that had some strange plant something in it.  I took it apart, gave it a coat of green paint on the base and center pole, and then filled it about half way with vintage clothes pins.  It makes me happy every night when I turn of the light.

__________________________________

I will be sharing at:
{Primp} Primp Your Stuff Wed
Elizabeth & Co.'s Be Inspired
_________________________________

Miss Sunshine is for sale.  For pricing information see the Portfolio and Available page.

Welcome, Phoebe

So, if you happened to read #18 and #19 of my 100 Things About Me post, you know that I think my sister is pretty awesome.  Together we are a creative whirlwind.  We often work together on projects, despite the fact that we live 800 some miles apart.

It took me years to drag her into the blogging world.  Then we both had kids.  And blogs are like pets.  They get neglected when kids show up. . .

Now that our kids are getting a bit older, and we aren't so sleep deprived, we thought it was about time that the two of us combined our creative forces to make this blog super awesome!

I'm so excited to announce that Phoebe will be joining me on Apple House Revival as a regular blogger.  You may remember that I showed you a little of here amazing house here. 

There's a lot more where that came from.

This is her kitchen.  Just a snap shot, totally un-staged.  Don't you love that tile and the light fixture!

In addition to her beautiful house, she and her husband own a turn of the century home that they rent out as a vacation rental.  So that's TWO beautiful houses full of Phoebe's clean, vintage style!

For those of you in Utah, she is the Queen of KSL classifieds (like craigslist.)   I am always amazed and the treasures she finds (like a cast iron claw foot tub!)

I'm very excited to welcome her to Apple House Revival.  I can't wait to join forces and knock your collective socks off!

Rubber Ducky Party - Leo turns Three

My 'baby' turned three last weekend.  He is OBSESSED with duckies.  So much so that I last summer I drove 12 hours across two states to take him to  the Duck Races in Idaho Falls.  I knew he would love it. 

 

So when it came to choosing a theme for his birthday party, the choice was obvious. 


Sorry about the less than stellar pictures.  It was a very late in the afternoon before everything came together.  

A few weeks ago Leo had picked out that ceramic Ducky at Goodwill for his prize.  He was so excited he insisted on carrying it out of the store.  I was sure he was going to drop it and break it.  He was very careful with his special big ducky, though.  I put it up high in the kitchen and everyday he asked me to get it down so he could pat it and give it a kiss.  What a sweet, silly, boy.

The smaller duckies are ball themed, which is another favorite of Leo's.  He could not have happier.  The duckies hanging from the light fixture are bubbles.  They came from the dollar store and made great take home gifts for his cousins.  (We just had famiy over.)  The paper goods came from Target.

 

I love that three year old's are so easy to please.  This is all I did for decorations.  He loved that there were balloons hanging in the door. 

The craziest thing I did was make a pinata for him.  I wouldn't recommend it.  It is well worth the $25 a store bought one costs, but the boys saw Curious George make a pinata and asked is we could make one.  It did turn out cute.  I'll share pictures of the process in a few days.

I was going to make a flat cake in the shape of a ducky, but a few days before his birthday I was in a nursery picking up some seeds and saw this darling ducky watering can.  It was only $6.  I knew Leo would love it and  it would make the cake amazing without much work.

I made a chocolate cake and frosted it in swirls with peanut butter-cream frosting.   I also tried out marshmallow fondant for the first time and used it to add "bubbles"  to the water.  I love how easy it was to make and to work with.  It actually tastes good too.  I used this recipe except I left out the corn syrup and added vegetable glycerine instead.  From what I've heard that glycerine makes all the difference.

The kids always love cupcakes, so I also make a batch of vanilla cupcakes.  

It was a simple and fun celebration.  Leo was delighted.  I can't believe it has been three years since we brought him home.  He is such a sweet and crazy little boy.