Lazy Susan + Mugholder = Jewelry Holder

While browsing around Good Will the other day I came across a lazy susan and two mug holders. I stared at them for a while trying to come up with something to do with them - then the light bulb came on! I have an over abundance of jewelry and I hate digging through my jewelry armoire to find the pieces that I wear most often! SO - I decided to make a spinning jewelry holder for my dresser.

Here is a sneak peek of it in action:

Here are the pieces I started off with:

mug holder thingy ( I actually used 2 - one tall and one short $1.00 for tall and $.50 for short)

and this lovely $1.00 Lazy Susan:

All I did was spray paint each piece white and glued the holders down on the Lazy Susan. It would be hard to find an easier project!

Here is one more shot of the finished piece:

I already had the paint and glue so I got a really cool jewelry holder for only $2.50!

Someone asked me why I painted it all white - I did that so the jewelry would stand out more and take center stage!!

New Photography Blogsite!!!!

I know I have never advertised my photography business on this blog before but I am so excited about my new blogsite and all of the new bookings I have. I am coming off of a failed joint venture - which was really disappointing - but I have received so much support and really positive feedback about starting up Hicks Photography again!

I combined my photo blog and my website into one and I can't be more happier with the results! Here are a few pictures from my recent posts and shoots! Hope you enjoy!!

Finally...

I finally finished this piece!!

Here is a sneak peek of it finished: (sorry for the bad pic - I photographed it at night. For some reason it looks so small. It's actually quite a large piece. Also - the mirror is not staying in that exact spot. It takes an act of congress to move it and I just haven't had the chance to tackle that task!)




I inherited this piece of furniture from my great grandmother (Big Mama). After staying in the shop for a few years it was in desperate need of refinishing and using.



Notice all of the peeling and missing original veneer. It took a while to get the rest of it off - I had to peel it by hand.

After sanding and sanding and filling holes this is what she looked like:



After several layers of bright white, semi-gloss paint, and Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint on the drawer pulls I was finally finished!!!!



She now sits in our living room an holds office supplies.

Spring is in the air!!

Several weeks ago I participated in a Spring Fling Gift Swap over at Life with Lori! I had so much stinkin fun doing it...and was able to be paired up with one awesome lady - Jane @ Blondie's Journal!!

This is what I received!




(there were also 2 things of candy but my husband got into them before I could get the photos snapped)

Everything was so very perfect and gave me the spring decorating bug!! Head over to Blondie's Journal to see what she received and stay awhile and check out her blog. I really love all of the tablescape Thursday and I know you will too!!

yucky to yummy!

Karl and I recently added on a room to our home that we made in to our master bedroom. I wanted some new/custom furniture but as usual there was no room in the budget...So I found this dresser at a yard sale for $10.00. (it came with the mirror but I am going to use it for a different project)


It clearly had seen better days. I believe the previous owner used it in their kitchen - so it had lots of dings and scratches on the top and the inside smelled like rotten food.

Jingles has to check everything out...



After what seemed like days of sanding, painting, and some new knobs this is what it became!!:






The color is Behr Premium Plus Ultra (primer built in) in Ozone. This paint is my new favorite. It's a little pricey but it only took one coat and the color was perfect!!

Giveaway Winner!!

WE HAVE A WINNER OF THIS FABULOUS TOTE!!!



Thanks to everyone who enter the CSN giveaway!!!

The lucky winner of the Thomas Paul Tree Tote is Jessica @ Live It. Love It. Craft It.


Congrats Jessica! Send me your info and I'll get it out to you ASAP!!

Thrift Store Mirror to Shabby Chic Jewelry Tray

I found this gold mirror @ a local thrift/junk store (Bowmart to all of you local readers).



I wasn't sure what to do with it but because it was a dollar so I took it home. I needed something for my nightstand to hold jewelry (I'm always taking my earrings off and laying them on the nightstand.)


First I removed the backing and pried the mirror off.




Then I spray painted it a glossy white. Before it dried I took a dry paint brush and rubbed some of the paint off to give it a distressed look.



I glued the mirror to the original cardboard backing. Then I glued fabric on to it. Once it dried I hot glued it back into the frame.



And now I have a jewelry tray for my nightstand!!

Yippee Skippee Part 2!!

As I mentioned in this post Karl and I were also working on a Race car room! Here is the final product - all hand painted by my super talented husband and me!

This is for above the bed:


And this is the super cool CHALKBOARD racetrack and race cars that completely circles the room!!




I'll be uploading this to all of my favorite linky parties!! Go here to check all of them out!!!

My first Giveaway!!!

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!! WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY MARCH 9TH!!

YAY!! It's time for my very first giveaway - courtesy of CSN stores!!! CSN has over 200 really cool websites. They have a website for anything and everything! One for just bar stools, one for just clocks, and even one completely dedicated to Air Hockey Tables (how cool is that?).

They have offered me this super cute Thomas Paul Tree Tote (from All Modern) to giveaway to one of my bloggy buddies!!




Here is how to enter!

For one entry - visit CSN and leave a comment on this post telling me an item that caught your eye.
For a second entry - Leave an additional comment letting me know you are or have become a follower.
For a third entry - Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link to the post in a comment!!

Please leave me your email or a way to get to your blog so I can let you know if you have won the tote!!

Giveaway ends on Monday March 8th @ 10pm!!

Yippee Skipee!

I am so excited about this post!!! Karl and I did this mural over the weekend for my cousin Deanna's new home. It's in her baby's (Reese) room. (Just imagine the crib in front of it!)



Sorry for the bad pictures. The lighting wasn't the best.

Karl free handed the shapes and I helped shade in the colors. Here is a close up of the super cute little birdie:



At the last moment we decided to add the owl at the top...here is Karl contemplating where to put it:



And here I am working on the branches:



We are also working on her son's (Garrett) race car room...pics to come later!!

I'll be uploading this to all of my favorite linky parties! Go to the link at the top to check all of them out!

Awesome Giveaway @ Blue Cricket Design!

Hey everybody!! There is an awesome giveaway going on at Blue Cricket Design!!

Becca @ Blue Cricket has teamed up with Dot and Line - an awesome home accessory company - for an amazing giveaway!

They make really really cool designer lampshades and coffee sleeves that I just adore!! Each shade is handmade, created from scratch (not just fabric glued to a lampshade!!) I am already in love with there stuff and can't wait to order some!! (especially the blue, white, and cream lotus shade!)

Check these out:





They are giving away $50 plus free shipping to the Dot and Line site!!

Head over to Blue Cricket to enter the giveaway!

yummy in my tummy...Garlic Cheese Beer Biscuits

If you like all things bread like I do you will love how easy and delicious this recipe is!



Garlic Cheese Beer Biscuits

3 cups of bisquick
1 can of cold beer
3 T sugar
1 cup cheese ( I use Sharp Cheddar)
1 T garlic powder ( or more if you are like me and love garlic just as much as bread)
1 tsp salt

Just mix all of it together and spoon into a muffin pan.

Bake at 350 for about 20 min

It makes 24 biscuits that will knock your socks off!!!

Blog Swap: Sumo's Sweet Stuff!!

Yay!! I am so excited that today is my first blog swap!! I'm even more excited that it is with Summer @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff!! So...here she is:

Hello Stephie fans!

I'm so excited to be here today!

I'm Summer, or Sumo as my husband lovingly calls me. (And now consequently has all of my family calling me. Doesn't Aunt Sumo have a nice ring to it?)

I'm the blogger from Sumo's Sweet Stuff!

I use my blog to share my projects, tutorials, recipes, host giveaways, and shamelessly promote my etsy shop!

I AM:
- married to my best friend

- mother to the most beautiful little girl (and a baby girl on the way!)
- daughter and sister to the best family ever
- friend to some of the greatest people out there

I LOVE TO:
- play piano
- sing

- read
- craft
- go on walks

- spend time with my family
- drink Diet Coke
- bake/cook
- exercise (well, sometimes)
- crochet

SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS:
- Diet Coke
- popcorn
- chips and salsa
- anything that involves peanut butter and chocolate
- public library
- fall
- craft stores
- black and green
- Christmas
- historical fiction
- cats

Stephie and I decided to share a tutorial with each other's readers today, so here we go!

Reece (my one year old) got two different Leapfrog magnet sets for Christmas. I love these toys, and wanted to make sure she had access to both. But I also absolutely hate having her under my feet while I'm trying to cook and do things in the kitchen! So I decided that I would keep one on the fridge - the smaller of the sets - and make up a magnet board to hang in her room so that she would have easy access. I got this one at Robert's, using a 50% off coupon.

At first, I was thinking about glittering up the edges of the magnet board, but then I realized that a one year old + glitter = messy and not such a great idea (although it would have looked smashing!) I had a bunch of leftover fabric scraps from when I made flowers for my curtains, and from making some other flowers for my etsy shop, as well as some fun ribbon, so I decided that I would modge podge the fabric and ribbon around the edges.

Here we go....

What you need:

- magnet board or any sort of wood frame

- Modge Podge

- fabric scraps

- foam brushes

- hot glue/gun

- paint (optional)

You'll need to take the magnet board part out of the frame while you are working.

I decided to paint the top and bottom of my frame so that I didn't have to worry about trying to get ribbon or fabric over those parts. Your call!

Then I just measured the first ribbon I was going to use, allowing for wrapping it around to the back, cut and glued it down!

You may want to make sure that your various sizes of ribbon and fabric strips will fit so that you aren't left with some funky sized space when you get down to the hole part of the frame.

Just continue doing this all the way down the frame! I used a mix of hot glue and mod podge, depending on what type of material I was working with. This is about halfway down.

And all finished!

Add your magnet board magnets and you are good to go!

I was going to put some ribbon on the back to hang it with, but this is really heavy, so for now, it is just leaning against the wall in Reece's room. Eventually - maybe not even until we get to a different house - I'll probably just have my husband hang it on nails! Might be more secure with little hands grabbing on it all the time!

I love making new blogging friends, so come on over to Sumo's Sweet Stuff! You can find something different each day:

- Market Yourself Monday: I share my latest projects and invite you to link up yours!

- Tutorial Tuesday

- Mouth-Watering Wednesday

- Things to Try Thursday

- Feature Friday

Thanks to Stephie for letting me swap blogs with her! She is such a creative gal, and I'm so happy I get access to her creativity!

Have a good weekend!