Hutch For My Mom

 Dallas and I ran in to a friend one day at the gas station and she told us that she had bought a house and was moving. She said she had all kinds of stuff that she needed to get rid of and told us to stop by and see if there was anything we wanted. We went over and went through her garage, we ended up buying this hutch and two side by side fridges (we thought we could sell them on KSL and make a little extra money.....Wrong!) Anyway, I loved this hutch but I wanted to paint it and give it to my Mom for Christmas. Well, Christmas came and went and it still sat in the same corner of the garage as it did when we first brought it home. So when the weather started to warm up we decided to dig it out and start working on it.  Here are the before - during and after pictures.

 Some of the doors were different paint colors.

 We took all the doors and hinges off and started sanding away. We did so much sanding on this thing my arms were like wet noodles by the time we were done.

 Now for the paint! We borrowed Travis' high tech paint gun and I don't think it was the best idea. We had a hard time adjusting the sprayer and too much paint was coming out so we started getting runs down the sides. I always picture these beautiful projects in my mind but they usually don't go as smoothly as I envision them. After doing lots of Google searches I found out we had to let the paint dry really well and then sand it all over again to get the runs out. So the hutch got pushed back into a spot in the garage and it sat for a couple more months. (We had to make sure the paint was good and dry).

 We finally dug it back out and had to sand it once again! Then we repainted it (this time by just rolling it on and not using the paint gun).

 We let the paint dry again a few more days and then we decided we better get it to my Mom. I think we took it over around Mother's Day. She was not home when we took it so we just moved her old microwave stand out and set the new one up and left before she got home.

 I was worried she would not like it because it is so big but it turned out really nice.  I hope she likes it.

Finally Something BLOG Worthy

I am shocked that my account is even still open. It has been a full year since I have posted anything to my blog. I know (Mom) I am a slacker. It is just that I don't really think about putting anything on my Blog but today that has changed.

I am so excited about my latest project I wanted to share it with everyone.

My parents had an old dresser that they were storing out in the shed and I asked my Mom awhile back if I could have it. So a few weeks ago I tackled their shed to dig out the dresser, of course it was in the very back far corner. It was just easier to take everything out of the shed and get it all sorted out. Luckily Travis and Jamie stopped by about the time I had the dresser dug out so they helped me load it into the truck.
Mom and Dad got home from "yard selling" to find I was having my own little yard sale in their yard with all the stuff from the shed. I think my dad was a little nervous about what I was trying to throw away because he stayed real close to the garbage trailer. Anyway, long story short we got the shed all cleaned out and I think made a little more room for them.
Now, on to my project.
I brought the dresser home and was very excited to start working on it. Of course it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be. (I always have these great ideas in my mind, but it usually doesn't go as smooth in real life). I won't bore you with all the little details, I will just start with the before pictures.

The dresser was a brown color. It has a lot of really pretty details. I wanted to refinish it and put it in my entry way. Behind the drawers it had red velvet that showed through the openings. I don't have a picture of that because we took it out before I took the pictures.  I am sure it was pretty in the 70's but I decided to change the look a bit.
Here are some of the before pictures.

The dresser really has a lot of detail and character.

My Mom said it is a Spanish design. I am not really sure if it is, all I know is I had great plans for it!

Here are some up close pictures. The red velvet was behind the scrolls on the top and bottom drawers and also in the middle piece.

Here is the last before picture......Are you getting excited to see how it turned out????

Ta Da!!! Here is the finished project!

 As you can tell I am pretty excited about how this turned out.

 It is really hard to see in the pictures but I put some fabric (the kind I used for my curtains awhile ago) behind the scrolls where the red velvet was.

 I think the handles are my favorite part. I painted them with a caramel latte color first and then sprayed over them with black. Then I took some sandpaper and scuffed around the edges so the latte color came back through the black. I think it turned out pretty good and it just gives the dresser even more character.

 The dresser is now black instead of brown.

I am so obsessed now with restoring things. I am always searching on KSL for the "perfect" piece.
I have another projects in the works that was supposed to be my Mom's Christmas present but we ran into a few problems, so that one is not quite finished yet. Sorry Mom I know I started yours first but we have to let it dry really good before we can fix it. You will get it soon enough (I hope).

Good Night All, I am off to bed! 

Bowling Fun

I love having the kids take pictures with my camera. Jackson actually took most of these pictures by himself. He is a pretty good little photographer.

Sage Chicken Salad Recipe

Sooooooo yummy!
This is one of Chad's recipes.
The recipe he gave me is for a single serving, I didn't take the time to multiply everything so I just added things to taste.

Sage Chicken
3 1/2 oz. Chicken, Cooked & Diced
1/4 tsp. Parsley
1 3/4 tsp. Celery, Chopped
3/4 tsp. Green Onions, Chopped
3/4 tsp. Lemon Juice
2 Tbs. Mayo
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1/4 tsp. Sage, Ground

I took full boneless skinless chicken breasts and sprinkled salt and pepper over the top and baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Then I chopped them into little chunks.  I mixed all of the other ingredients into a seperate bowl and then poured it over the chicken.  I didn't measure anything I just kind of added things until I thought it was enough. 

Then I warmed the wraps (I used spinach and sun dried tomato wraps).  Add the chicken mixture, cheddar cheese and tomatoes.  Roll them up and then I put them in a pan to toast them a little bit.

I hope all this makes sense. 

Enjoy!

An attempt at my sewing skills.

I wanted to make a valance to go over our family room window. I seen this idea on Sam's blog and it is exactly what I was looking for so I attempted to make my own.  I haven't sewn anything since before we moved, I knew the sewing machine was in my closet so I pulled it out and found the pedal and cord. I got it all set up on the table and sat down to sew only to find that I was missing the bobbin, the bobbin case, the needle and the presser foot (not sure if that is what its called or not it has been a few years since I was in Home Ec Class). Anyway, I have NO way of sewing now and I CANNOT find the box that I have all that stuff in!  My mother in law said I could use her sewing machine so I did.  I am not used to her machine and it was taking too long for me so I took the easy way out!  The only thing on this valance that is actually sewn is the rope that hangs the valance.  The rest of it I used this awesome iron on hem stuff (LOVE IT). I used it to fold the edges to make a hem line and then on the bottom I bought this rope looking stuff and ironed it on. The valance has a few imperfections but all in all it turned out pretty good for my first attempt.  I think I will try and do something similar in my bedroom. The most expensive part of this project was the knobs that the rope is hanging on. I got them at Rodworks in Lehi.

I took a close up of the fabric so you could see the design.  I am not sure what kind of material it is but it gives it a leather look. 

I always have good intentions and sometimes it doesn't come out exactly the way it does in my head, maybe that is because I always look for the easy short cut way out.  I have never been very good at sewing but give me a glue gun or now iron on hem stitch and I am good to go!  I have made many of Halloween costumes with just the use of a glue gun. :-)