Pinterest Advent Calendar - Inspirations

So now that I've got an Advent Calendar for EmJ, the one I made last year (found here)
I've decided that I want one of my own. I'm all for the cheesy cheese of holiday prints and festive greens and reds, but I also really love the updated versions. And who says you can't have 2 Advent Calendars in your home!!???!! I'd like to meet that person and give them a piece of my Christmas! (Ok I'll calm down)

So here is some Pinterest inspiration for my next Advent Calendar!

{via} also on my Pinterest Board

I love this one, there are so many possibilities and it still looks so clean and pretty! I might do shells or metallics or all my favorite ornaments I have from my childhood. See!!??!?!? The possibilities ARE endless!

{via} also on my Pinterest Board

Another simple yet stunning advent calendar! And this could use up more of my stash of clothespins!!
 

{via} also on my Pinterest Board

This one is a little more cutsie, more for kids, but I love that it's an updated version. And seems easy enough to tie up the presents and pull them off.

{via} also on my Pinterest Board

I like this one, mostly because I'm obsessed with those little tins from Ikea. Also because it's super easy! And I could just hide the date inside to be posted on the outside. Oh who am I kidding!? I'll hide candy in there too! You wouldn't want the numbers to be lonely would you???!!!

Well this has been fun. We'll see which one I decide to copy be inspired by.

Thanks for stopping in!

Furniture Redo

So I got this nightstand at the Goodwill for $4.99!!!! It looks like someone tried to paint it and didn't do well. So I fixed it!!!! One mans trash is another woman's treasure!

The paint was scratching off supper easily which tells me that it was never primed..... And all the yellow paint came off soooooooo quick!

I just used my little mouse sander and a medium sand paper. I didn't want to dig too far into the fake wood. ;)

{via}

I painted one coat of KILZ primer. I don't always prime, but since this was a fake wood piece and the wood grain was a sticker..... I wanted to make sure my coats of paint didn't scratch off!

Then I added some of this awesome stuff to my latex paint. (I used some left over BEHR paint, swiss coffee color)

{via}

This makes your brush strokes lay flat. I love this stuff. I use it for painting doors, nightstands and all sorts of little projects. (just follow the instructions on the bottle for adding this to your paint)

I painted two coats of paint and added some cute hardware that I got from Home Depot for $7.00. I think it's hilarious that my hardware costed more than the nightstand itself. 

And here are my results!

I couldn't be happier. It was a simple project and it looks so bright and clean now. Thank you Goodwill fairies!!!!!

Here it is again:

That's my fun re-do! I'd love to see yours!

Love ya! 

Bri

Uses for Clothespins

Ok so the dentist wasn't all that bad, I survived!! And I've decided to share some of the projects I've done around the house over the past few months.

Problem: I had TONS of extra clothespins lying around from a Christmas project forgotten. I was going to use them on all my Christmas gift tags last year, sounded awesome, but I never got around to it. So there they were taking up space in my laundry room closet. So I decided to use as many as I could! Here are some of the things I did!

So here is my jar of clothespins... this is the same jar that my husband picks up once a month and says, "Why the heck are you keeping all these?". Well honey... I've made a substantial dent in my collection. Your welcome!

That's some laundry line  rope up on top there

#1: 

I wrapped all of my ribbon scraps around the clothes pins.  I used the end that usually holds the clothes on the line, to pinch the end of the ribbon so that it wouldn't unwind. And now the cute little jar is holding all my ribbon supplies nice and neat!

#2:

I hung the laundry line rope from the hardware that holds up the hammock and started to pin up all of Emily's stuffed animals. And there are tons! She still has more on her bed. Girls are crazy! 

Oh and when Emily saw this, she cried out "Oh, my TOYS???!!!! But I can't get them!" 

 I just wrapped a part of the stuffed animals ear, arm or leg around the rope and pinned it on. Emily is still little enough that she cant reach this to tear it down.... once she grows I'll have to re-evaluate this. But if she grows like me, then I have at least 20 more years!

#3:
When Dave and I were first married I found these great ABC flashcards at Michaels for $2.50!!! And I have finally hung them up in our kids room! This was a craft 8 years in the making! (I did this in January or February when we first moved into our apartment.

I used some felt flowers (not pictured), leftover buttons and hemp twine that I had left over from other crafts.

I hot glued a felt flower onto the clothespin ant the top (where you would pinch it to make it open) and then in the center of the flower I glued a button. Easy Peasy! 

And then some of the clothespins I just painted. Once it was all dry I hung up the twine and pinned on my cards! I used a staple gun to hold the twine on the wall. This way there are only a few small spots to patch when we move!

#4:
I used the rest as magnets! I already had the magnets from another left over craft. I got out my low-heat glue gun (thank you geniuses that created this!!! No more blisters for this girl!) and started to glue magnets onto the center of the clothespin.

Then I stuck it on the fridge with a picture! Super easy!

So I kept myself busy for an evening and organized my life a bit!

Now what to do with the left overs???!!!
I still have about 50 or so! Here's some inspiration from Pinterest
I think I'll need a little more time before I get to this level of craftsmanship.

This light fixture is pretty sweet!

{source}

This is a sweet little mirror/wreath.

{Source}

Alright that's enough from me! Happy Crafting!

Love ya!!!
Bridgette

Killing time with Pinterest

So the servers are down at work... which means that I can not do my work... which means that I have EVEN MORE time to kill on Pinterest!!! I love this site! It is seriously amazing! I get so much inspiration from the pictures I see here! And I get to see the fabulous taste of my friends! Since I live so far from all my closest friends, I don't get to see all the cool things they do in their homes, or the sweet little projects they do with thier families. Thank GOD for the internet! Come and hang out with me on Pinterest, lets be friends, and be inspired!
How can you not be inspired with pics like this:

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Or this:

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Or even this:

{via}

Can't wait to meet you and see all that inspires you!