Distressed Red Dining Chairs

Several years ago, my now mother-in-law gave my husband this picture that we have notably dubbed Jose, for obvious reasons. We have since then, used Jose as the inspiration for out dining room. Having said that, I think Jose is well deserving of a new frame or maybe matting, but for now he's just gonna have to let my new chairs take the spot light.

Jose

Ive been on a bit of a DIY kick lately. I think it was the success of my cork ball that really got me going, but this has been my biggest, and probably most useful project. I painted and distressed a pair of dining chairs that I found on Craigslist for $20 each which may seem a bit pricey, but they were exactly what I was looking for and in pretty good shape.

One of my chairs BEFORE

First, I enlisted my husbands help for the dirty work, and sanded the chairs down. Then with a little help from Jose, I decided to paint the chairs red. I chose Rustoleum spray paint, cause its easy, in Colonial Red.

I let the chairs sit over night to dry. Then came the distressing part. I wasn't totally sure what I was doing here so I pretty much winged it and lightly sanded the edges of the chairs down. Then I went over the chairs with a Minwax Dark Walnut stain.

One of my chairs AFTER

I'm pretty happy with the way the chairs turned out, however I could have done a little more distressing. I was a little weary about sanding the chairs to much before applying the stain though. Nothing two little boys armed with matchbox cars and super hero figurines can't fix, I'm sure.

I do love the color! Wish I could say it was intentional, but the color came out almost identical to the red on my new talavera pot. Very cool!

Next, I plan on using the same color on my son's dresser. Would love any tips you have for distressing furniture with paint. Should I have used a primer? What about a protective top coat of some sort? Is there a specific size of sand paper that works best for sanding down my newly painted piece before applying the stain?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

My attempt at Origami Accessories

I was feeling crafty the other day and remembered these origami accessories I had seen on the Nate Berkus show a few weeks ago. I thought they looked simple and required nothing more then paper and glue so I figuired I would give them a shot.

My Origami Masterpiece!

Believe it or not, they actually looked pretty cool clustered together on the show. However, I have come to find that unless you have the time (and patience) to make several of these, including large ones, they're pretty much useless. Duh, right?

Picture courtesy of: The Nate Berkus Show

I'm thinking, a couple of these made out of pages from an old phone book, might look cool if placed on a little table next to your home phone. My husband, on the other hand, is thinking I have cabin fever and maybe I should get out of the house (and probably lay off the wine). Whatever.

Homesick

Beautiful southern California my ass! Okay, so maybe that was a little harsh, but lately I have been feeling a little homesick. At least for the last two days since Seattle has been getting all this snow. I definitely love where I live and I am all for winter lows in the 50's and 60's; I just miss the snow. It's the rain and cold I can do without.

Mom's backyard

Though my kids have been to the mountains to play in the snow, they have never actually seen it snow. There is nothing better then sitting in your own house watching the snow fall, and let's face it what kid  doesn't love a snow day?

Idea: I'm starting to think this post could be a drinking game. Every time you read the word snow, take a drink.

Speaking of snow and drinks, how about a duck fart? Yum! Nothing says home like sitting outside in the hot tub as it snows sipping on duck farts. Okay, now I'm really missing home!

Suppose a glass of Yellow Tail will have to do on this beautiful sunny California winter afternoon.

 Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Cheers!

Cork Balls: Another reason to drink more wine!

It's no secret I like my wine. The problem with that though is, or was, the enormous cork collection I have accrued over the years. So, I decided to get creative and did a little research looking for ways to use old wine corks. Most of the ideas I found where a bit cheesy. Who's really gonna wear a pair of cork earrings? (No offense to those of you who do.)

That's when I found it. The Cork Bowling Alley (cause that's not cheesy). It was like a big ray of sunshine! Someone combined to of my favorite things, wine and bowling. Yes, I love bowling. Go ahead and laugh. It gets better; I even have my own ball with my name on it. Oh yeah!

I'm not big on art, but the cork bowling ball was pretty damn cool. I did a search for cork balls and found that they've actually become quit the rage since this Anthropology window display.

How cool are these? I immediately jumped on the crafty DIY bandwagon and was on my way to my very own cork ball.

What I used:

40 wine corks; cut in half (It's not necessary to cut corks in half, but obviously requires the use of less corks).

garden sheers for cutting corks; if you decide to do so.

4" Styrofoam ball

hot glue gun with several glue sticks

moss

glass of wine (optional)

How I used it:

After cutting my corks in half with the garden sheers (you could use a sharp knife, but I found the sheers worked much faster and were a lot easier), I simply started gluing them to the foam ball. I used a dot of glue on the cut end of the cork and pressed firmly to the ball for about 10 seconds. Following no particular pattern, other then keeping the corks as close together as possible, this took about an hour and a half.

At this point, you could totally leave the ball as is. I chose to use the moss to cover the small white crevices that showed between some of the corks by placing a small dot of the glue into the gaps and pushing in small pieces of moss. Be careful though; the glue is HOT! I figured this out the hard way. I used a toothpick in a couple spots to push the moss down into the hot glue. It did get a little messy.

Instead of the moss, you may want to try painting the Styrofoam ball first, like Nicole did here: http://glamorousgranola.blogspot.com/2011/08/pinterest-challenge-cork-balls.html Great idea!

I foresee many cork balls in my future. I think they'll be cute for hanging outside this summer or if anything, serve as a good conversation piece.

That's some burnt spaghetti!

Not only am I grateful for the roof over my head, I am also apparently in need of a refresher course in kitchen fire safety. Or maybe I just need to make dinner my damn self.

Yes, my husband almost burnt the house down last night. The worst part, he was making spaghetti. Spaghetti! He says he was heating up some olive oil in a pan when he went to the bedroom to change out of his work clothes. Note: Do not leave hot oil unattended! When he came back to the kitchen the oil in the pan (my favorite pan) was on fire. Full on flames!

I immediately thought to go for the fire extinguisher which we both realized after the fact that though we know where it is, neither one of us knows how to get the damn thing off the wall.  Luckily, his not so genius idea to move the pan to the sink worked after a good dousing of flour and nearly setting the blinds into flames.

Did I mention he melted the sink? Yeah.

However, this was the first time setting the smoke detector off in our house, and that was rather impressive. Do all smoke detectors talk now? I seriously thought she (the smoke detector) alerted the fire department for us.

I also have to give it up for Le Creuset. If the house had burnt down, that pan would probably be the only thing left in a pile of rubble. If you don't got one, I suggest you get one. Best damn shotgun wedding gift I ever got. Or should I say, the only damn wedding gift I got?

Mac-n-Cheese Panini.... No you didn't?

Oh yes I did.... and it was good!

Though I may not have gotten my KitchenAid Mixer I had added to my wish list this Christmas, I did get a new Panini maker and I must admit, I love it! Who knew sandwiches could be so fun? Lately I have been on a bit of a Panini kick you might say. I even went as far as making a delicious mac-n-cheese and tomato panini. Mmmm!

Okay, so some of you may be thinking disgusting, but I say, 'dont knock it till ya try it.' Word is bond (whatever that means). Ya, it may be a big caloric mess, but my logic is that it's the end of the year and so why not go big? The tomato is healthy, right?

Its pretty self explanatory. I had some left over mac-n-cheese in the fridge that my kids wouldn't eat (god forbid they actually eat mac-n-cheese that consists of real cheese). So, not wanting it to go to waste I decided to slop it between to thick pieces of french bread, added a few slices of tomatoes and vuala! I put it in the panini press for about 3 minutes and lunch was served. There's just one thing that would have taken this over the top.... Bacon! Maybe next year. ;)

Poor Self Image - Its not just young girls we need to worry about.

I think its pretty safe to say, we've all had moments where we didn't exactly care for the reflection we saw when we looked in the mirror. Either we didn't like the shape of our nose, the size of our lips or maybe the color of our eyes. I think its also safe to say that these insecurities are most common among young adolescent girls, but what about young boys? Is it true that over the years things such as TV and magazines have put added emphasis on the appearance of boys?

I was always under the impression that boys, particularly young boys didn't really care if they even looked in the mirror before leaving the house. They'd wake up, throw on whatever t-shirt was closest to where they stood, maybe run their hands through their hair (that is if they even had enough to do so) and hopefully, with a little nudging from mom, brush their teeth. Having two young boys, I'll admit that I was relieved with this idea. Seems so much easier then dealing with the vanity of little girls, right? Wrong. All of it, wrong.

It has never ceased to amaze me the energy my son, at just 5 years old puts into his appearance. He actually does care about what he is wearing and what his hair looks like. Will everyone think he looks cool? Will anyone laugh at him? Yes, at just five years old kids are being judged, or at least feel as if they are being judged by their appearance. It kills me! What happened to being a carefree kid?

What really broke my heart though was when my son was standing in front of the mirror the other morning and he said to me, "I don't like the way my face looks". Caught a little off guard I asked why, whats wrong with your face? That's when he began to sob. I immediately thought maybe he was joking. His eyes where shut tight and I wanted to believe he was pretending to cry. Then I saw it, the tear running down the side of his face, and I knew this was no joke. How could my baby, at only 5 years old, already be having issues with his appearance? These insecurities aren't suppose to arise at such a young age. And for a boy? I was stunned.

Holding back my own tears, I tried to draw out what exactly it was that bothered him about his handsome face. First it was the shape, then it was, as he put it, 'everything in his face' as he motioned his finger around his eyes, nose and mouth. My heart sunk. He was serious. This handsome little boy really did not like what he saw in the mirror.

After a talk about all the wonderful things I love about his face that his dad and I, along with god made for him, he was back to his normal 5 year old distracted self. His brother had caught his attention with some silly antics and they where off smiling and laughing as they wrestled around the bedroom. I on the other hand sat, still in shock and disbelief.

Fotunetly, I have learned that its not just young girls that we have to worry about when it comes to insecureties about their physical appearance, and it is sad but true that no matter what age, we eventually judge our own book, no matter how great the story, by its cover. So, while we continue to work on the content of our little ones stories, whether it be a princess fairytale with unicorns and barbie dolls or a race car driving super hero, dont forget to refer back to the cover and let them know just how perfectly it matches the inside.