Ethan Allen Inspired Teal Painted Buffet- How to Get this glazed aged furniture look

Finally got a project completed. It has been a while.  Making the home look nice and decorating are hobbies of mine... but it was time to put the projects aside and spend some time with the children. They are growing up so fast.  A priority inventory was necessary and the Fall is the best time to play outside.  We celebrated a special occasion and it was the perfect opportunity to get this project off the ground.  It is so easy. I visited our Benjamin Moore paint store... showed them an Ethan Allen catalog and said, "How can I get this look?"

we couldn't be happier with the final product... 

Started off with this buffet... I got it from my neighbor for $25. He was cleaning out his garage. I love the lines of this piece.

carefully took the handles off, cleaned it and then came the paint.

We need some new color in our home, and I love this blue!

The most economical approach was a flat Ben Moore paint...  

took 2 coats... then let dry.

Next step was to paint on the stain and then rub it off...

When I rubbed some of the stain off with a wet wash cloth... it removed some paint, and created the look I was going for... which was this Ethan Allen piece.

Christmas Family Treasures, Make the Most of your Time Together this Holiday Season

I must admit I like having things in their place, but that is difficult when you have 4 young children.  Being stuck in a consumer world, I have been sold on famous catalog pictures, clean furniture, no clutter and wanting my home to mock the photographs selling me a lifestyle.  The thing is, I love my life now. My children make me laugh, they inspire me, they make me who I am and are such a blessing- so, I ask myself... what do I want? When I can have the catalog family room, I will be missing my young ones wishing time hadn't gone by so quickly.  Embrace the mess, clutter and BE with your children.  Make it their home too.  Don't get me wrong... I still like the inspiration a catalog can give me, and still have some to do's because they are a hobby of mine, but I think my focus is changing. My thoughts are evolving.

I am guilty of having too many diy projects, too much cleaning and decorating- nothing ever feels finished.  This Christmas season, I want to make traditions, focus on the reason for the season and not feel so consumed with trying to make my home look like a catalog.  My favorite Christmas Tree in the home is our family tree with all the treasures and ornaments my children have made so I need to let go and take the same philosophy to every season and the rest of the home.

Wreck It Ralph Birthday Party

My son wanted a Wreck it Ralph themed birthday party.  So I headed to Pinterest for some ideas... For our parties, cupcakes and sugar cookies are a given... and nothing fit better for my 5 year old than the hero heart cookies. You know the medal that Vanellope gives Ralph.  They are super easy to make... make our favorite dough, roll out, cut into hearts, cut the fondant into hearts as well (you can ice and flood) but the fondant is easier for me.  I wet the fondant with a paintbrush and water and sprinkled on sprinkles.  Last we iced the word "hero" onto the cookies.

For the treat table, we bought cotton candy I framed a printed clipart, we made cupcake toppers from Wreck it Ralph clipart... and of course the cake is fondant pixilated cybug scene!

We wanted to wreck Turbo because he is the bad guy. So Turbo is the perfect piñata! Happy Wrecking!