m o m m a h e n    m a d e   m e    b u t t o n s !

Mommahenscoop is one of my favorite blogs, go visit her here. Also, she has a great Facebook fan page, go "like" her on FB!
And while your at it, you can like me on FB too-I mean if you want to?

Ok, now back to Mamma Hen

I really don't know how she does it all. 

She has great DIY tips, look at the PB canvas art knock-off she did.

Her furniture makeovers are amazing.
Anyone who paints furniture and loves it as much as I do, I feel such a kinship to.

She makes slipcovers!

Darn I wish I lived in Alabama so I could hang out with her! She is very very cool.

She made me the most fantastic buttons for my blog. This is something I have been meaning to do and I am so glad I didn't do them myself because she whipped up something way better than I could have made.

{for a linky party, don't you think I should do this?}

{and just for fun!}

Go to her etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrimtiveZen?ref=pr_shop_more and have her make you a button or two { $5 for a button and $10 for a party button!}
Seriously reasonable pricing.

Now I have to figure out how to do the HTML coding thingy to go along with my fab buttons.

I finished painting the antique green picnic table I picked up at the GW last week. This big guy needed a good cleaning. A little Mrs. Meyer's soap and water did the trick. I bought some red paint at the hardware store yesterday. This took me a very long time. Red is a very  hard color for me to pick. It can look too orange, pink, or two juvenile. I wanted a cherry red and I think I finally got close with BM, Candy Cane Red, in eggshell.  It took 4 coats to paint this bench, and after the third coat I had to walk away from the bench for a bit, he was annoying me. Or I was annoyed with myself for not getting the BM paint in Aura {primer added} to save myself time.

{Before}

Since it isn't a dramatic before and after I thought it would be fun to show you 4 ways to use an antique picnic table inside your home.

I love this as a coffee table, and I am almost tempted to keep it in my living room but I would have to repaint everything in my entry and room to keep it, and that isn't going to happen. 

Use a bench at the dining table. It is great for a big family and easy to clean up after every meal, just wipe the bench down.

Such a fun entry way bench {this is how I will use it until someone buys it from me}. Low to the ground for little ones to easily hop up on to tie those little shoes and long enough to hold baskets full of kid stuff.

Lastly, at the foot of a bed. You could fold up extra blankets and store them on the bench. 

Do you want this bench, of course you do! It will go into Shop Modern Cottage in September. Or if you can't wait, email me at themoderncottage@yahoo.com

linked up 

www.thediyshowoff.blogspot.com

www.makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com

www.craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com

www.houseinroses.blogspot.com

www.apronthriftgirl.typepad.com

linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

www.theletteredcottage.net

www.primativeandproper.blogspot.com

www.mommahenscoop.com

restoreinteriors.blogspot.com

http://www.domestically-speaking.com/

http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com

http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/

t h e   d e s k   i s   d o n e

I found a way to get some of my projects done while the kids are home for the summer. I moved the pieces I am working on to the middle of my living room and I am using my studio space for storage of finished pieces and other pieces waiting for some lovin. That way  I can work on pieces a little at a time and keep an eye on what the kids are doing. I have to overlook the fact that for the summer, my living room will  be a mess, but at least I am getting things done!

Remember the desk I thrifted the other day.

I decided to paint it kelly green, really because I had a can of this color sitting in my garage for the past two years and the thought of taking the kids to the paint store yesterday didn't sound fun. Now, I have to say I am sorry I don't know the exact color and brand of this green because the label on the can is too faded. I do remember where I bought it, so next time I am at Ace Hardware I will find the paint chip and let you all know.

I did a heavy duty amount of sanding on this gal and I took a chance and didn't prime before painting. I felt I had sanded so well that the paint would stick just fine without the primer. After painting a gazillion pieces of furniture in my life I can usually tell what will need a good prime and what will be ok without it.

{my new studio space, my living room}

I did three coats of green, and two coats of black on top {Behr , Black Suede, eggshell} and sprayed the original hardware black. After the paint dried, I distressed, did a dark glaze over the whole piece, and finished with a wax.

Since I usually paint in my studio, not in my home, my kids are not used to watching me paint furniture. My son watched this whole process and said to me a couple times, wow, good job Mommy.

Sweet desk, right? I am not posting this for sale on Shop Modern Cottage until September. I am trying to stockpile my summer projects to put in the shop in the fall. I really want to find other artists in the area to open a small shop. 

I will consider selling this now if you email me that you really want it.

f  a  r  m    c  h  i  c  k  s     a  n  t  i  q  u  e     s  h  o  w

I promised I would show you more of my trip to the Farm Chicks Show that I went to in Spokane earlier this month. What I didn't tell you is I was actually tagging along on my husbands shoot for the show Evening Magazine on King 5 in Seattle. Saint's story aired last night, and here it is! We had a great time, and really my favorite part of the trip was not just the show but spending two days with my husband while the kids were home with Grandma.

Shoot, darn this video is not working on my blog....double click on view full article below the video and it will take you to the site to watch the full story. 

No, the toilet seat didn't come home with us...what is with the boys in my family and toilets {see below post}!

n o t   a   p r e t t y   p o s t

{all before photos's and one of a potty}

Oh friends, I haven't been painting and the projects are starting to pile up, especially since I have been buying furniture for projects that are either sitting on my front porch, in my living room or in my garage.

I did some thrifting with the kids today and had some good luck. I know, I know no more shopping until I get some of them painted.

I bought an antique picnic bench.

This is going to be painted a crisp cherry red. I can imagine this in someone's entryway or mudroom. 

{ugly ivy going bye-bye}

I bought two mirrors. They will both be painted fun colors and the large one might be distressed a bit.

{sorry you can see me in the photo with my running clothes, I know this is a no-no for photo taking, but heck it is summer and we are a bit more relaxed around here}

And lastly a waterfall desk. I love painting desks. I know I am going to paint the pulls black and have a black chair to match but I am not sure what color yet. What do you think? Classic white, or maybe Schoolhouse Slate?

My son found something today to. A toy toilet, really. Urgh, just what every six year old needs, and a crazy mom who bought it for him. But it was only $1.50 and he is so proud.

{if you look closely you will see the crazy mommy in the picture}

Now that I have shown you my finds I need to paint them, because I need to have a "pretty post" for you.

linked up

s u m m e r   f e l t e d   w o o l   f l o w e r s

I adore the tutorial that my friend Molly did on her felted flowers for the fall. 

To see the entire tutorial go here:

http://themoderncottagecompany.blogspot.com/2010/10/felted-flowers-tutorial.html

I wanted to make a summer version. Instead of using a floral stem from the craft store I went out to the yard and cut branches off a tree... I am sorry tree.

I hot glued the felted wool balls onto the branches. I love the way they turned out.

n o t   j u s t   p a i n t e d   f u r n i t u r e

It you were to look at pictures from my home over a year ago you would find not a single unpainted piece of furniture. I realized that there was a lack of warmth in my design and I have been slowly adding in some tiger oak pieces. Tiger oak is my wood of choice to balance my painted pieces and I love the way it looks next a white slipcovered sofa.

My newest piece, a child's antique desk I am using as an end table.

This dresser is hands down my favorite piece of furniture I own. I bought the black knobs at Cost Plus. In person the knobs look like giant jewels, they sparkle and really are the jewelry to the piece.

 My antique library table that I stained the top.
{this is in my family room, same as the table below}

I bought this barley leg, drop leaf table at the Funk Junk Antique Show, it is now the kids game table. My kids were growing out of their small play table, which is now in my basement playroom. This room is not finished yet {that is why it is not on my home tour tab}. There is too much brown now, and I am trying to balance it with lighter, breezier accessories. It needs some tweaking. I just need some time and money {and maybe a little inspiration} to finish it.

Oh, and the tv console I adore too, my first piece of unpainted furniture I bought and kept natural. It is an antique buffet that I put fun knobs on and cut a small hole in the back of for tv cords. What is great about using a buffet is the height of it,  it is too high for the kids to be constantly touching it and getting finger prints on it. It would be cute painted a fun color and it would balance out all of the brown in the room but I can't bring myself to paint it. I promised myself when I first bought it that I would never paint it. 

And lastly, my kitchen table. This was a Craigslist find and it only cost me $100, seriously!

I have to admit I haven't painted a piece of furniture in a week and a half and I am itching to get back out to the studio and paint. I am trying to figure out how I am going to find the time to paint this summer with the kids home. Well, I will need to find the time, because it is what I love to do and I love sharing my projects with you all.

 m a r i s s a ' s    t a b l e 

Did you know I will custom paint for you? Prices vary per project and soon I will have a tab on the blog for this service.

Marissa had this darling antique dinning set that was in her family for generations. The structure was in fantastic shape but the finish had really seen better days. But this table set had so much potential.

I started off sanding the set using my palm sander. The finish was a lacquer so the sanding took about two hours. Looking back I probably should have used TSP or something like that to remove the finish before sanding. But the sanding seemed to the trick.

before

I didn't use a bonding primer on this set. Instead I bought Behr Premium paint with primer already added, in Black Suede, and I think the finish was an eggshell. I was a little panicked about the color because it brushed on a dark grey and it took a very long time to dry to a black. This had less to do with the paint and more to do with it being a rainy day and I was painting it in the garage. I was a little worried when it was drying dark grey because this paint is pretty expensive and it was not in my budget to go buy more paint. It eventually dried a beautiful black, thank goodness!

It took four coats of paint. After the second coat I went over the whole set with a fine grit sand paper, then I added two more coats of paint.

The finish was tricky on this piece because of the color black. I first tried a poly and brushed it on but you could see the brush strokes. So I sanded it down, repainted and tri
ed a wax. This didn't look right, finish was too dull with the black. I ended up sanding it again and using a wipe on poly in semi-gloss and this worked perfectly.

I hope Marissa is happy with her new/old dinning set.

 a    b i g   t h a n k   y o u

Happy Wednesday my friends. I am on day one of kids home for summer vacation and so far so good. 

I wanted to say a big thank you to Chris at http://justagirlblog.com she featured The Modern Cottage yesterday in her SAS wrap up. I was like dingdang-that is so exciting!

Today we are having family from out of town come to dinner so I tidied up the house and bought some flowers. Since it actually looks pretty clean around here today I thought I would snap some updated pictures of my living room and kitchen. 

Ha, do you see my "menu" board? This is never updated just so you know, it is kind of a mess.

No dishes in the sink for once, and I swept the floor!

I love that at the end of the year the kids come home with tons of artwork. My old screen door is bursting with color!

Probably too many pillows on the couch.

I am keeping the big buffet for now. He might go in the shop sometime in the fall.

I adore you all, now go out and have a great day!

i   j u s t   d i s c o v e r e d   s p o o n f l o w e r

Ok, so I am sure most of you have heard of www.spoonflower.com but I had not! I found it through http://www.fleamarkettrixie.com/ whose blog I love and she is selling her fabric on Spoonflower!

Oh my, I love fabric, and it is sooo fun to find new exciting fabric~

So go to Spoonflower and check it out~I searched by color and look at just a few coordinating fabrics I found.

The one on the bottom is my favorite. I am thinking I need to have a grey and yellow room now!

f a v o r i t e   h o u s e    f r i d a y

I am taking fhf up a notch this week, we are going to be touring a home in the Madison Park area of Seattle.

Here is the listing http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?GroupID=247969313&ListingID=300940890&CMID=-1&Sort=0

Here is the description: 

                                    $1,685,000

This Custom residence by Patricelli Construction is reminiscent of a Nantucket beach home with its shingled exterior, copper gutters & broad eaves sheltering the verandas from the elements. Once inside, you will find exceptional attention to detail & design; beautiful mill work; high ceilings; tall doors; circular floorplan; ebony stained oak floors; built-in cabinetry; sun filled rooms. Gourmet kitchen opens to family room & yard. Just minutes to beach, parks, cafe's, shops & restaurants. 

I am not going to give commentary on each room this time. I think it is WAY more fun to hear what you think about it.

I will say that this is absolutely my dream home, dream location, and I would not change a thing about the decor.

But darn-it, I don't have 1.685 million, oh well.