Happy birthday son!

Just wanting to wish my not so little guy a happy 7th birthday today!  He is a truely amazing boy!  We are planning a big pirate birthday bash next weekend.  I'm sure I'll share some of that with you.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

French luck

I don't know if I've mentioned this but I love all things french.  I don't know if it is just the idea that everything European has such a sense of history.  I can't really afford the 'real' french antiques.  They seem to be priced for the rich and famous.  So, I do the next best thing and scour for french mass reproduction type pieces.  These are the pieces I have found at reasonable to great deals and blogged about:

 

After seeing all of the pictures, it seems I may have a problem perhaps an obsession that appears to be excessive.  But we will ignore that for now, what do you say?!

So on my never ending quest for french furniture, one day the heavens opened and I heard the trumpets when I found this gorgeous french armoire on Craig's list.  I knew I had to jump on it.  I mean when would something this cute come up again since armoire are almost a thing of the past.  So, I drove an hour to fall in love in person.  I couldn't get the lady to come down in the price but sometimes you have to pay a bit more for something you love.  Here it is:

A closer look.

Gorgeous right?  Here is where you come in.  I am tormenting myself on whether or not to paint it.  Here are just two inspirations.  The first from Miss Mustard Seed blog post here.

The next is from Savvy Southern Style.  She posted about it here.

I think it would look good with a wash or really weathered look. 

To paint or not to paint that is the question I ask you.  Would love your input!  No, no, I need your input.  Looking for your opinions at:

Frugal Friday @  

Fallin' for Fall

Yes, I love fall.  There is no other season that can compete with the colors and weather.  I think I would prefer to live in fall for at least half the year.  I always wait to bring out my fall decorations until Labor Day.  I know some of you think that is a little early.  When Hobby Lobby bombards you with it in July, Labor Day is as long as this fall lovin' gal to can wait!  Sorry it took so long to share it with you. 

I wanted to share my mantel this year.  I took down my metal art and replaced it with this gorgeous empty frame.  In doing this, I had to paint the wall again.  All of my candle lighting provided the wall with the outline of the metal art.  So after hanging the frame, the question of the day was what to put in it.  I found this great wreath at JoAnn's and added some picks.

One day, I hope to go white but I can't seem to part with my sparkling leaf garland that lights.  I have had it for years but just can't seem to let it go.  It is just so cozy and relaxing to light up at night.  Let me know if you can think of any improvements.  I'm sharing over at:

Just give it a try

Just give it a try.  That is what I told myself about using this Annie Sloan wax.  I haven't been able to get the hang of it.  So, what is a girl to do but pick up some small piece to practice on.  I found four of these at Goodwill. 

In there current state, I can't say I really like them but who couldn't use another candle holder, right?! 

So, I painted a light coat of Annie Sloan's Old White, followed up by a wash with some gray latex paint I had around.  I wish I would have taken a picture at this stage because with the gray wash, it looked pretty dull and cold.  So here is when the wax entered.  Every time I've used the wax, I have used the wax brush and can't achieve a smooth finish.  This time I just went with a good old rag.  I applied the clear wax followed directly with the dark wax.  This gave it so much more character, warmth, and depth.  Just look at it.

Get a little closer.

A lot different from what it started out as, uh?  I'm sharing this over at: