Hard to believe it, but it has been a year since I threw my nephew’s 1st birthday party!  Wow!

Time flies!

Well, last year we went with an “under the sea” theme.

This year, it is all about basketball!  And while I’m not in charge of all of the details this year, I did volunteer to make the cupcakes!

Cupcakes are round… and basketballs are round…  SCORE!  Basketball Cupcakes!

First I made up a batch of cupcakes (and no, I didn’t do anything fancy… just followed the directions on the box)

Then I got frosting and added some orange food coloring to it.

Now for the fun part… Sprinkles!

I found orange sanding sugar, and poured it onto a paper plate.  Then I flipped each cupcake upside down and pressed it (rolling it slightly) into the sugar.

This gives a great texture to the basketballs!

Now all thats left is to pipe the lines with black decorating icing!

Aren’t they cute!?!

Remember the desk chair in my craft room?

well, I’ve decided that it’s a little boring… it needs just a touch of something…  maybe a touch of pink?

So, I took a few minutes and recovered it!

For those of you who have never recovered a chair like this before, it is actually rather simple…

You start by flipping the chair over…

Those 4 screws hold the seat onto the chair… unscrew those, and the seat falls right off!

Now, you CAN  usually just put the new fabric right over the old…  but since my old fabric had a distinctive texture to it… and my new fabric is kinda thin…  I decided it was better to remove the old fabric and start from scratch.

The fabric is attached with staples… to remove them, just push a flathead screwdriver under the staple and pry it up.

Be sure to keep track of those staples!  (stepping on them in bare feet later is BAD!)

Once you have removed the old fabric, you can use it as a pattern to cut out the new!

Just lay it on top of your new fabric, and cut!

Now, lay the seat down (upside down) on the fabric.

And pull out your stapler!

I like putting a staple in the center of each side to start.  Just be sure to pull the fabric tight!

And then start working your way around the edge… leave room near the corners so you will have fabric to loose enough to fold…

And now to take the mystery out of corners…

Start by pulling the center of the corner down and stapling it…

Then pull each side down (one at a time) and staple them…

If you worry about the tail showing, then just pull it back and staple it again…

Once the 4 corners are down, flip it over and see how you did!

Now just attach it to your chair the same way you removed it!

Isn’t it cute!?  I love how my craft room is coming together!

So, where we last left you….   The desk had gone from worn black, to fresh white…

But I was hoping to do something a little more “fun” with it…

Now, I recently got the Young House Love book…  and I have had a blast looking at all the things they’ve done…  but one of the things they did was a desk…  it was navy blue, with a yellow basket weave pattern on the drawers…  LOVED IT!!!

So, out came the frog tape!

I cut the tape into 3-1/2″ strips and placed it in the pattern on the drawers…

And then I cracked open the green paint (again, with the Annie Sloan chalk paint) and started painting!

And then I pulled off the tape…  And voila!

Isn’t it cute!?

I have had this desk for a long time…

It has some sentimental attachments (as do many of my pieces) but it was getting a bit on the worn side…  and with my fresh new look, I decided it was time for this to get a new look as well.

So, I picked up some Annie Sloan chalk paint.

I have never used this before, but I had heard a lot about it…  so I was eager to give it a try.

I had a little bit of trouble with some coverage at first….  the desk had originally been stained… and that stain was bleeding through the fresh paint.

My first instinct was just to do a second and third coat… but I eventually wised up and went to talk with my local Annie Sloan expert.  She informed me that there were 2 different tricks I could use to stop the bleeding…

1.  I could coat the problem areas with a Shellac, let it dry and then paint over that…  or…

2.  I could get some of the Annie Sloan wax, put on a coat of that, let it harden and then paint over it.

Since she offered to let me use her can of shellac… I went with that option.

It worked like a charm!

Such a fresh new look!

But I’m not done yet!  Just wait until my next post when I tell you what I did with that green paint!

I am SUCH a florida girl.

So, when the temperature drops (by drops I mean that the high today is like 68 F)  I go into hibernation mode.

But being that I live in florida… there is no fireplace to light and warm myself by…

so I do the next best thing…  Candles!

I think I have at least a dozen candles currently lit in my little apartment!  hehee!

What little things do you do when it gets cold?

About a year ago I sold my house.

I had about 2 weeks to find a new place to live.   I wanted something close to everything, in my price range, smaller square footage, and nice and updated.  Oh yeah, and it had to be ready for IMMEDIATE move in.

What I found was 20 minutes away from everything, above my price range, larger than my house, and nice and new…  but it was ready for me to move in right then.

It was a nice place… but I hated it.  I hated having to drive 20 minutes to get everywhere.  (I’m a small town girl… i like being 5 minutes from everything!)

So I decided to start looking for a new place… and I found one!  It is EXACTLY in the area where I wanted to be…  it is in my price range…  it is smaller than my previous 2 places… and the kitchen and bathroom have been updated!  (and a bonus, I get a nice size patio with a great view of a park!  definitely an extra bonus in this area!)

I have also been blessed in that my previous rental company is allowing me out of my lease agreement early, without much of a penalty.  (cue excited cheers here!)

So welcome to my new home!

When you come up the stairs, this is your view…

Well, minus the paint can!  :)

As you can see, it is an open floor plan, with the kitchen opening right up to the living room.    The patio is also connected to the living room right thru that french door.  (It brings in a lot of light into the living room!)

This is my kitchen.  LOVE the granite countertops!

Here is bedroom #1.  This will become my bedroom… and yes, there is a exterior door in my bedroom.  This door leads out the back of the apartment and is a much closer walk to my parking place than the front door.

And here is bedroom #2.  This will be called a bedroom no more… it is from here on out, “My Craft Room”.

And finally, the bathroom.

Sorry that the pictures are so dark, but I had already packed my camera and only had my phone to take pictures!  (oops!)

Now it was time for the work to begin!

The walls had all been painted a gold color…  and the trim and doors were all painted kind of a peach color…  it was kinda hideous…  and dark, and dingy…

I was struggling to decide which sofa I was going to keep (I had a tan one and a green one)  I was worried that the tan one might clash with the walls…  but the green one was a little more worn.  Then my landlord said a marvelous thing, “you can paint if you want to…”

Paint?  Yes please!

Bonus, my parents had LOTS of left over paint from when they built their house.

Now I just have to explain to everyone why I’m painting “a rental”.

Here’s my explanation… Because it makes me happy.

Fresh paint makes me happy.  It gives new life to an old place… and it makes it feel like mine.

Luckily for me, my honey and my daddy get me, and came to help!  (sorry Dad!  apparently I dont have a picture of you painting the apartment!)

I decided to go with Sherwin Williams Dover White for the walls in a Satin finish… and Sherwin Williams Ultra White Semigloss for the trim and doors.

Oh, except for one wall…

Yup!  I’m painting one wall of my craft room PINK!

I LOVE it!

Now all we need is all of my stuff to clutter the place up!  hehee!

Have you ever painted an apartment?  Have you ever painted a feature wall?  If so, what color did you go with?

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching.  (if this is the first time you’ve realized this, you may be in trouble!)

So, what do I do for Valentine’s Day?  Well, my tradition for years was to have an “anti-valentine’s day party”… we would wear black and watch Terminator movies!  But I eventually grew up and realized that I need to shower those I love with gifts and affection!

My first step…  Valentine’s Day surprises for their mailboxes!

I found these foam heart stickers in the $1 rack and Target and HAD to have them!

Aren’t they fun!?!?

Now all I had to do was add an address label, some stamps, and throw them in the mail!

I cant wait to get her reaction when she opens her mailbox!

What fun Valentine’s gifts have you thrown in the mail?