Tomorrow is National Coffee Day!

Do you prefer coffee or tea?  Well, if you are a coffee drinker, you're in luck!  Tomorrow is....

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For those of you on Facebook, click here to find the National Coffee Day page so see the latest posts on celebrations happening tomorrow.  If you are not on facebook, here are some goodies to "pump you up!".

Click here to enter to win a Keurig!  Yup, you heard me right!  Win a Keurig coffee maker.

Links to LOTS of goodies for National Coffee Day from I Heart the Mart

If you don't want to head out to celebrate or you are more of a cappuccino kinda person, make your own.  How?  Here's links to two of my previous posts, each with a great recipe:  Instant Caramel Cappuccino Mix and Chocolate Hazelnut Cappuccino Mix.  Try them, you'll LOVE them!

Happy Java!

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DIY Retro Chrome Kitchen Stool

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to blog swap with the amazing K of Claiming our Space.  K shared with you her amazing end table transformation.  I shared with her followers my DIY retro chrome kitchen stool.  If you missed my post over there, I'd like to share it with all of you today!

 I just love the look of those retro chrome kitchen stools.  However, they are so expensive.  Here's one of the cheaper ones I found at Wayfair.com for $86.99 (marked down from $125.00) with free shipping.  WOW! so if I purchased 4 for to use around my island, it would cost *gulp* $347.96!  Way out of my budget.  But aren't they cool looking?

Well, when I went to Goodwill, I found 4 wooden stools:  2 at $3.00 each and 2 at $4.00 each.  So I've now spent $14.00.  Here's one of the $3.00 stools.

Okay, let's get started on this transformation.  After I sanded down the stool, it was time to paint!

1.  I used Krylon metallic paint.  

2.  I turned the stool upside down and painted the stool following the instructions.  (note:  don't forget to turn your can upside down and "spray" to clean out your nozzle between coats)

3.  I turned the stool right side up to paint the other side of the rungs.

After I was sure the legs and rung were completely painted, it was time to add batting to the seat.

4.  For this step I used quilt batting and spray adhesive.

5.  The batting wasn't quite thick enough so I folded it over for double thickness.  (I secured these layers with spray adhesive)

6.  I sprayed adhesive on the top of the stool seat and placed it on the batting.

7.  Using scissors, I trimmed the batting so that it was about 2-3 inches wider than the stool seat.
8.  Using a staple gun, I began stapling the batting to the under side of the stool.  Be sure to pull your batting tight as you staple so that it is snug.
9.  Once the batting was completely stapled, I trimmed away the excess, especially around the legs.

 Okay, the batting is on, now it's time to cover the seat with vinyl.

10.  I laid the stool seat on top of my large vinyl piece.
11.  I then cut the vinyl so that it was easier to work with.
12.  I trimmed the vinyl into a circular piece.

13.  Using a stable gun, I begin attaching the vinyl to your stool.  Keeping the vinyl snug, I then stapled the opposite side as well.

14.  Next I rotated the stool 90 degrees and repeated step 13.

15.  I continued to staple the vinyl to the under side of the seat.  Once it was firmly attached, I trimmed away the excess vinyl.

Okay, we're in the home stretch.  Are you getting psyched?  I am!

16.   I had accidentally scuffed up some of the paint while I was attaching the vinyl.  I covered the new seat with plastic wrap and then I carefully spray painted the marred areas.
17.  The last step!  I placed some felt circles on the bottom of the legs so that they would not mar my floor.

Are you ready for the big reveal?  Here it is!

Isn't it cool?  Here's the price breakdown for 4 stools:

Stools $14.00

Vinyl (1 yard at 40% off of $16.99) $10.19

4 cans of spray paint $24.00

Batting $4.00

Total cost for 4 stools:  $52.19 or $13.05 each!

Okay, so now what should I purchase with my $295.77 savings?  Decisions, decisions.  

4 You

Day 12 of the Blogiversary Celebration - HUGE Giveaway

Okay, I can't tell you how much fun this party has been.  I've loved all the guests:  guest bloggers and all of you who have stopped by to visit! I've loved the presents: Judy's Colors $60 shop credit, Rit Dye Sampler Pack, Cutting Edge Stencil's $50 Stencil Credit, and $35 Hobby Lobby Gift Card.  So what would be the best way to end this party?

Well, we all know how much I LOVE getting packages in the mail.  So, in honor of this, today's giveaway made up of 11 prizes.  YUP!  I said ELEVEN:  4 free ad space and 7 goodies from Etsy Shops/bloggers.  Let's take a look a who has made this giveaway possible!

      

 

How fun is this?  You will get a chance to get exposure for you blog/website for FREE on 4 different blogs and you'll be receiving 7 amazing items in the mail!

So what are you waiting for?  It's time to enter.  Also, the best way you can help me thank all these wonderful bloggers/small business women is to follow them in every way you can.  You'll be so glad you did because they all very talented with great blogs and shops.

Thanks for not only celebrating with me but for making my first year a BLAST!  Here's to another wondeful year!

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Day 11 of the Blogiversary Celebration - Hobby Lobby Giveway

I hope you've been having as much fun with this blogiversary celebration as I have been!  I'm so pumped.  After having 7 days of amazing guest posts, we've been "opening" presents!  YEA!!  Today is day 4 (of 5 days) of giveaways.  In case you missed the first 3, here are links to them.

For knitters (or the knitters in your life), Day 8 of the Celebration is $60 shop credit at Judy's Colors (she has amazing color work kits/patterns for mittens and Christmas stockings

For those who want to add color to their lives, Day 9 of the celebration is for a sampler pack of Rit Dye

For everyone who loves to add personal touches to their decorating and crafts, Day 10 of the celebration is for $50 of Cutting Edge Stencils

So how about today?  Today's giveaway is a $35 gift card to Hobby Lobby

This giveaway is sponsored by me and it's my way to thank all the wonderful bloggers who helped me celebrate by writing a guest post.  These ladies are sssssssoooooo talented!  In case you missed one of their posts, here are their awesome recipes and tutorials!

Day 1 - Anne of Domesblissity's Carrot Quinoa Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Day 2 - Mel of The Crafty Scientist shared her Interchangeable Wreath

Day 3 - Jill of Two Yellow Birds Decor shared her Family Board

Day 4 - Amy of One Artsy Mama shared her Pumpkin Luminaries

Day 5 - Adrianne of Happy Hour Projects shared her Gift Box

Day 6 - Jen of One Marrs Four Venus share her DIY Menu Board

Day 7 - Lindsay of Artsy Fartsy Mama shared her Apple Slab

Now in honor of these ladies, here is the giveaway.  Everyone loves followers and blogging friends.  Please follow in as many ways as you can. Trust me, you'll be so glad you did.  These bloggers will give you inspiration every day!  Good luck. And don't forget to come back for tomorrow's HUGE giveaway!

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Day 10 of the Blogiversary Celebration - Cutting Edge Stencils Giveaway!

Are you enjoying all these amazing presents?  I sure am!  Along with presents, I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting packages in the mail.  Don't you?  Well, I recently received a package from Cutting Edge Stencils:  Small Vintage Paisley Stencil.  Here's the project I made with it!  (You can see how I made this here.)

Cutting Edge Stencils are Amazing! They are heavy duty and reusable.  On their website, they also have great how-to videos to help ensure your project is totally awesome!

Here are a few of the other great projects other bloggers have done with Cutting Edge Stencils.

Faith Hope Love Canvases

Paisley Stenciled Table

Stenciled Bathtub

Stenciled Lamp Shade

Are you totally inspired? These stencils are amazing!  I am so psyched that Cutting Edge Stencils is giving away $50 in stencils to one lucky reader!  Good luck!

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Paisley Canvas Art With Cutting Edge Stencils!

In blogland and on Pinterest, there are so many different ideas for DIY canvas art.  I decided I wanted to try my hand at making something for my dining room.  My thoughts are to have a canvas with 5 color blocks with a letter in each block so that is says "E-N-J-O-Y".  I also thought I would be great to use my Cutting Edge Small Paisley Stencil for some background interest.  Take a look at what I did!

Canvases were 50% off so I picked up this one (24" x 48).  I also picked up a can of Krylon metallic spray paint in silver.

After removing the plastic wrap, I took the canvas outside.  I placed the canvas on an inverted planter atop a piece of cardboard so I could spray paint the canvas easily:  even the sides.  It took two coats of silver paint to cover the canvas really well.  This stuff dries FAST!  I only waited 15 minutes before spraying on the second coat.  Then I only needed to wait 1 hour before I went onto the next step.  (Sorry for the tree shadow...the canvas really is completely silver now.)

I wanted a band of silver blocking each colored pane.  To accomplish this, I used blue painters tape.  Make sure you press down the edges of the tape well.

 These are the paints I used for each color block.  I applied each with a disposable foam brush. 

So, here you can see the canvas with each block "colored" in.  After only about 5 or 10 minutes, I carefully removed the blue painters tape.  (If you wait until your paint is completely dry, you run the risk of it coming off when you remove the tape).

Here's the canvas with the tape removed.  I think it looks pretty sharp.  I waited about an hour or so until the paint was thoroughly dried.

Now it's time to add the cool paisley with the stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils.  I wanted my paisleys to be a bit more translucent so I decided to use Martha Stewart's Metallic Glaze.  I also have my foam roller to  help with the application process.

 Next,  I poured some of the metallic glaze onto an old ice cream tub lid.  This gave me a nice flat surface so I could load up my sponge roller with glaze.

I positioned the stencil onto the canvas and rolled my "loaded" applicator over the stencil.

Here's my canvas right after I applied all the paisleys...the glaze is still wet.  (It took a LONG time to dry)

 

Here's my canvas the next day!  I think it turned out pretty sweet!  (My hubby thinks so too!)

Now, here's my dilemma.  I'm afraid that if I add the "E-N-J-O-Y" it will be too much.  I think I like it just the way it is!  What do you think?  Would you add anything else or keep it like it is?

Also, if you are interested in winning $50 in Cutting Edge Stencils enter a giveaway here.

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Gotta Love Bakers Twine!

Okay, I'm super pumped.  I got in on the bakers twine special at Pick Your Plum.  I've been wanting to purchase some for a while now.  So, while I wait for my goodies to arrive, I thought I'd look around on Pinterest to find great ways to store twine along with some projects for inspiration.

Let's take a look at some ways to store bakers twine.  (These are great storage ideas but also beautiful so I could actually display my twine!)

From Home Made Simple

From Daily Mixer

From Sew Many Ways

From The Scrap Shoppe Blog

From Scrap Lifters

From Martha Stewart

From Ribbon Carousel

Storage ideas are covered.  Now onto PROJECTS!  

Momtastic makes this super cool tassel

Flavor of the Day Art from Made

Cherished Bliss shares this great spring wreath

Whisker Graphics made these super cute cupcakes!

Bakers twin eggs from Lanee See Landee Do

Crescendoh shows how to crochet this heart bracelet

How about these great flowers from The Bug Bytes

I also found this great tutorial on how to make your own bakers twine.  Gotta remember this when my new stash is depleted!

See how to make your own baker's twine from A Step in the Journey

I can't wait for my package to arrive.  What is your favorite way to use bakers twine?

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