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Tutorial

What I’ve Learned Finishing Furniture

Hello all! I hope your week is off to a great start! I’ve been busy busy busy with school starting a few weeks back, but now I’m ready to get into the routine of school being in full swing and I’m ready to start thinking fall!

I’ve been out in my garage working away on tons of projects out in the garage, and if you follow along on Instagram, you might have seen the early stages of this dresser I’m about to show y’all on my IG Story. This dresser turned out even cuter than I thought it might, and so I wanted to share with you guys some of the process and tips I use, now that I have more than a project or two under my belt.

Okay, so this is how this little guy turned out. So cute, right? I didn’t take a picture when I first started, because I’m so forgetful when it comes to that kind of stuff, but it was dark green. Like 90’s dark green. Gross.

The first thing I did was strip all the paint off the dresser. Using a good paint stripper is not for the faint of heart, since it smells, and I burnt my arms a couple of times, but it is essential in removing old paint more quickly.

What I couldn’t take off with the paint stripper, I took my sander to. This took a while, but prepping the entire thing helps the end result. Once I finished sanding, I wiped the entire thing down with Mineral Spirits to clean it off.

See those cute little scallops on the bottom? Adorable. Anyway, once it was all clean, I primed the entire thing. Even though chalk paint claims to be prep-free, I have found that it saves paint to prime first, as well as makes it last longer. After I primed, I sanded everything down with a 220 grit sandpaper. This is super fine, and eliminates brush strokes. I do it super lightly and super quickly to make sure I don’t sand off the primer completely.

I painted the frame with Annie Sloan Old White, and the drawers with a local handmade chalk paint (sorry I don’t have the color for it). I lightly sanded everything down again, and on the drawers, I sanded a bit longer to expose some of the primer. That happened kind of accidentally, but I ended up loving it!

Here’s a closeup of how the drawers turned out. I love them! After I finished painting, I gave everything a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax. This sweet little dresser was a super fun project, and it turned out even better than I imagined.

Now, this piece won’t be staying with me. I’ve been working hard gathering materials and working on projects like this one because I am going to be a vendor at the upcoming Vintage Market Days! I love this event so much, and this will be my first time as a vendor! Here’s a link directly to the Facebook event. It’s in Waxahachie, which is just south of Dallas. If you’re going to be in the Dallas – Fort Worth area that weekend, you’ll have to stop by. This event is going to be amazing, and if you’re in the area, I would love to meet you! This dresser and many others will be headed to my booth, and I cannot wait to show y’all more!

That’s all for today friends! Have a fabulous day!

August 29, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects

How I Fake Calligraphy

Hey guys! Hope you’re having a great day! I just got in from mowing the lawn (yuck). It’s hot and sticky outside, and I’m pretty sure my outdoor quotient has been met for the day. Now that Memorial Day has passed, summer is here, and that means BBQ and fireflies and porch sitting and bringing a little red white and blue into the home. Yesterday I took out a few patriotic decor items out of the closet, and I put a few things together. I made a little hand-lettered print, and I realized it’s totally something I should share!

Now, a little background. It seems like everyone is on this hand-lettered kick in decorating, and I’m all about it. I have seen some really beautiful calligraphy around, and I just don’t have that sort of talent. I’ve never taken a class or anything, I really would not consider myself someone who actually knows something about the matter. I do, however, love creating little prints for our house. It’s basically free art, and there’s no way I’m not getting on that train!

So here’s how I, someone who is totally not an expert, create simple hand-lettered pieces from my home. I bought a multi-pack of pens from Hobby Lobby. I don’t see them listed online, but it was a three pack of square tip pens in various sizes. Are they good? They work for me, and that’s good enough.

You may still be able to find this pen in the store, and with their 40% off coupon, it only cost me a few dollars.

This pen has a square tip, which is pretty much the secret to creating pretty writing.

When I’m writing something, I use a normal cursive font, the same that I would write with using a normal pen. The trick to using these calligraphy pens is holding them at about a 45 degree angle. It took me a little while to get used to holding the pens correctly without moving them.

For this little print, I used a page from my old hymnal, the page with My Country Tis of Thee on it. Perfect for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. I printed a line from the song, and this is what I came up with:

Easy. (I think that might be my motto around here: do I do anything that’s not easy.) I have little prints around the house, and I love it because it’s so cheap and quick. And on the hymnal, I love it even more. It adds such a nostalgic touch for me. And the mini clipboard is from Hobby Lobby. I got it recently, and it’s perfect for switching out seasonal prints.

Have you ever tried hand-lettering? I promise, it’s much easier than it seems! Well, that’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

May 31, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

Home Decor

How to Make Grocery Store Flowers Look Expensive

Hi you guys! I’m so glad you stopped by today! I feel like I haven’t been able to consistently post for a while, but I have a ton of ideas for some upcoming posts that I’m super excited about! I was thinking about it the other day, and I realized that it was almost exactly one year ago today that I started this little blog and posted my very first post! Since then I have shared some really fun projects that I’m proud of, as well as a few personal pieces. In the next year, I want to continue to add more things here on the blog that encompass more things that I love, branching out a little bit from my main focus which has been DIY projects. I hope you don’t mind!

So today I wanted to share with you a recent hobby that I’ve taken on (which if you can’t tell by the title, is all about flower!). I’ve always loved florals, and when I grocery shop, I usually pick up an inexpensive bunch of flowers and stick them in a vase. For my wedding, I did my own flowers (which were admittedly pretty simple), and since then, I’ve been a little obsessed with floral design. Now, I am in absolutely no way any type of professional, nor do I even really know what I’m doing. All I know is that when I buy a four dollar bunch of flowers from the grocery store, it doesn’t look the same as the pretty floral arrangements I find on Pinterest.

With a little bit of fun experimentation, I’ve been able to figure out how to make the florals I buy at the grocery store a little bit more expensive looking (without the high florists’ price tag). Here’s what I do:

I purchased a few hydrangeas, a bunch of mini pink roses, and a bunch of greenery. I like the mini roses simply because they are much cheaper than the large ones. Most bunches of individual types of flowers at my grocery store are just a few dollars. I tend to stay away from the pre-made bouquets, because they can get procey pretty quickly.

I like to make a floral arrangement from one basic large flower type, one smaller flower type, and some greenery. This is just my personal opinion, and I’m sure someone who has some actual floral knowledge might cringe reading this, but it’s just what works for me.

So here’s what I came up with:

Like I said before, I have no experience with arranging florals other than just for fun, but boy is it fun! Keeping flowers in the house is a simple way to brighten the room, and I love the way this arrangement looks! For this arrangement, I placed the hydrangeas in the vase first, and then added small bunches of roses, followed by the sprigs of greenery. I usually just mess around with arranging it in different ways until I loke the way it looks. I don’t follow any proportion rules, but I think it looks pretty good (if I do say so myself, 😉 ).

How about you? Have you ever played around with florals? It sure is fun! I’d love to hear all about it! That’s all for today friends, have a fabulous day!

April 2, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

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