Goodwill find!

 When I saw this globe for $7.00 at Goodwill I was super happy! And I had just the place for it too. On top of the piano. The boys are enjoying learning from it, so this isn't just decorative, it's also very useful. We may be homeschoolers, but that doesn't mean our school stuff can't be pretty.

a sort of knock off

Several years ago my mother in law gave me a set of post cards. They were so pretty I didn't want to use them all. I imagined them framed somehow, so I  put them away for a time when I would need them. That time came recently as I started decorating my guest bedroom/craft room. I took a while to figure out how to matte them because they were a slightly odd size. I started out by looking at the picture frames at Walmart one day to see if it would give me any ideas (yeah, I know, Walmart isn't exactly inspirational). I saw that they had a lot of $3.00 frames with mattes. They happened to be the same color as the new handles I just put on the guest room dresser (more on that dresser redo later!). How handy! So I grabbed four. Now what to do with the matte since it's not the right size?  I remembered these $30 pottery barn frames I've seen. That's $30 for one by the way.

Add some strips of paper to the top and bottom of the matte openings and cover the whole thing with fabric, taping the back. I couldn't be more pleased with the results!

The pictures really don't do them justice (these are from my phone). They really look lovely in person! Well, at least I think so. And they only cost me $14.

The little nightstand

This was my first furniture painting project. My little boys were eager to help me first thing in the morning. It took us hardly any time at all.

       I used miss mustard seed's Flow Blue paint. It's a very pretty color.

 This little shelf is perfect for holding the kid's books. And now it matches their room better too! This is before I had waxed or distressed it at all.

 And this is why distressing furniture is so great when you have kids. Even if you don't do it, they will!

What inspired me

Me (note to self-don't do your hair like that!), Miss Mustard Seed, my best friend, Mercy

I know this will sound a bit cheesy but it's true! My childhood best friend had told me about http://missmustardseed.com a while back, but I didn't really "get" it at first. Then I saw that she was coming to Houston for her book signing, Inspired You. I thought we should go, mostly just for fun, not because I really loved the style of her stuff. (No offense Marion! I completely changed my mind!) Once we got there I wondered, are we going to be the only young moms there? Will we be out of place? What if she's a snob in real life? But as soon as I saw her all my fears were put to rest. What a lovely person! So kind and so real! And she even took the time to ask us questions about ourselves and wrote little notes in the book. I totally wasn't expecting that. As I read her book after going home I really fell in love with her style. I had bought a sample of her paint and used it a few days later. Then I liked it even more. I've since painted a few more things and I'm loving it more all the time. 

So, my first real post here is full of admiration for the lady who inspired me! Thanks!