Out with the old and in with the new

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Hard to believe it is over and back to reality. I am so happy the days are getting longer now if the temp could just get above 0 for a few days would be nice!! Can't wait until I get my money saved for my HEATED work shop- I'm sure the hubby will appreciate it too- the kitchen table in the winter months becomes my work table.

You can see from the before pics of this project it was beautiful green grass and warm sunshine. Well it turned cold and the holidays came so it sat for a couple of months until I could get out to my dad's workshop that has HEAT- yes heat in this part of the country lately is a wonderful thing!!

This project was of course one the hubby wanted to put right in the burn pile but heck no you can't waste something has good bones. Not to mention it was free.  So take it apart and use it for something else!! It was a fun project that I have wanted to try for a while- man was I nervous to cut that bad boy down but it all worked out- thank goodness. Even got the nod of a good job from my hubby.

Here is the before picture. As you can see it was missing a drawer and the veneer was coming off the sides.

 

Here is the after. I cut the top two drawers off. Used some plywood from the garage (don't tell the hubby it was from his stash) and some trim to tie it all together. The trim came from the building I work in that was built in 1887. I added some color with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and Louis Blue. Great little storage chest/bench now. 

 

It's off to Mama's for the January sale- yeah that is next week already.  Hope you all have a wonderful New Year and here is to a great 2014!! I have a feeling it is going to be a great one!! 

Linking up to these sites:

Savvy Southern Style 

Knick Of Time 

Helene's Legacy 

Beyond The Picket Fence 

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday 

Petti Coat Junktion Junk It Up Party 

Here come the Mama's

If you haven't heard the Mamas of Mama's Happy are opening up in the city!! How stinkin' exciting is that. We are all so excited to bring a bit of our creativity to a new stores. The stores will of course be stocked with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and a bit of treasures we have made. We will still be open at the Creamery in Indepence once a month but now if you are ever in the city you can check out our new stores.

We opened the Linden Hills shop this fall. We share a space with Twigg's and have been so welcomed to that little community. What a great place to be!!

I'll let the pictures do the talking...such a cute little place that our Mama Terrie has made. Mama's Happy In The City is open Tues-Sat from 10-6 and Sunday 12-4.

Our second location is on Grand Ave. in St. Paul- Mama's On Grand. It is a great place with a lot of history to that part of town. There are so many neat little shops in that area and what Irish girl wouldn't love going to St. Paul right!! I am headed down to the grand opening tonight- yep I'm headed to the city. It doesn't happen very often but what an exciting event to be going to. I think the last time I was over there a friend of mine and I took our daughters to a Cheetah Girl concert at the Xcel Center- yeah don't judge me at least I wasn't one of the moms wearing the cheetah print- seriously that was really wrong. I still laugh about it. 

Anyways...if you aren't doing anything tonight stop down between 6-8 to join me and some of the other Mamas for a great night and help us celebrate the new store. The store will be open Mon-Sat from 10-5:30 and Sunday from 11-4. 

Here are some pics of the place- great job to Terrie and Amanda for getting it all set up. It looks great!!

I have to thank Amanda and her husband Scott. They own Mama's Happy and have made this all possible for us. They started out in a little store in Mound and in the last few years they have grown the business into what it is today. A great place for us creative types to sell our treasures (and make a bunch of hubby's happy that it isn't in the garage any more) a group of women who have become great friends and our own little Mama's Happy family!!

Stop in and see us at any of our locations:

Independece, Linden Hills or Grand Ave. 

Where did the last month go...

It has been one busy month- ok almost 2 since school started. My little guy is absolutely loving preschool and I can't believe I have a 10th grader. My middle one- "Red" wants to know who invented school and made the law that kids have to go. She loves the social part of it but not the home work.

I can't believe it is time for Mama's October sale. September flew by with the sale and artisian market, the wedding ( don't fall over but I wore a dress, and even heels), junk bonanza and my first girls weekend with all the Mama's. It was a great month!! So I have something I have to admit. The mama's weekend was the first time I had been gone from the kids and left them home with dad- where did the time go this last 15 years??!! It was great to get away and spend some time with some AMAZING friends but good to come home.

So here are a few things I've been working on. 

 A beautiful armoire that is painted in ASCP Country Grey and Old White with Dark wax over it. Turned out great and is headed to a lake home.

 

 This chair and table had a little bit of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. I have to say the combination of the two turned out great. The table legs was MMS Milk Paint- I love the chippiness. The top of the table I added a bit of ASCP so it would adhere. Now the chair - that turned out great. The fabric was like a gold corduroy that I painted in ASCP Aubusson. I watered it down and did a few layers on it. It was a bit stiff but took one of my sanding blocks to it and it softened it right up.

I love this last one. I was taking pictures of furniture at Mama's to start our Pinterest boards for the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint examples. I came back outside and there is Levi taking 5 watching the traffic go by. Gotta love it!! It reminds us all to sit back and watch the world and take it all in. 

Well I better get to bed. I work at Mama's tomorrow and then we are having a BBQ to celebrate the opening of our Minneapolis and St. Paul stores. 

Have a great weekend and remember to sit back and take 5. 

P.S.- if you'd like to take a look at more of our ASCP examples check out Mama's Happy or Unexpected Transformation/Ann Hayes on Pinterest. 

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

My first FULL weekend home with no softball for the girls. What to do with all that time??? It was a busy one out in the garage. My dad (aka handy man) came over to help with a list I had for him. I always learn quite a bit when he comes over. I know he laughs at my skills but I'm still learning. He comes over and fixes a dresser in 15 minutes that would have taken me a few hours. He also brought over the entertainment center he built for us. Wait til you see the pictures of that. It turned out great. 

My favorite project this weekend was a dresser that I repurposed into an armoire. It was a dresser I received from a friend. I thought the top part would be great for doors instead of drawers and what do ya know it worked!! Here is a before- I know not a very good pic but I get so excited to get started and forget to take the before pictures. 

 Here I took some old fence boards I had and made them into door frames. It worked out perfect and fit like a T. A little elbow grease with steel wool and some poly to finish them off.

  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint of course was my color choice. I used Provence and then Duck Egg for the 2nd layer. Topped it off with dark wax. You can see in this picture I took out the shelves in the top section and added a pole to hang cloths from.

 Here it is all finished up. I decided to use fabric for the inserts in the doors. Those were a yellow buttery cream color curtains I got on clearance at Target. Just cut the fabric twice as wide as you need it so you get some nice pleats in there. The hinges...let's just say when I went to the store and asked for butt hinges the guy at the hardware store thought I was a little odd but hey that is what my dad told me to get and they work great. I love the combination of the rustic, painted and fabric.

Now it is time to figure out what to do with another dresser I got. 

Hope you all had a good weekend!!

Sharing this transformation at:
Not Just A Housewife 
Knick Of Time 
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Savvy Southern Style 
Yellow Bliss Road
Funky Junk Interiors 
Miss Mustard Seed 
My Repurposed Life

A Little Bit of Craziness

Yes all of you know what I am talking about. The craziness of this thing we call life.  Juggling what life hands all of us. For some it could be managing the kids schedules, working a full time job and a part time job, taking care of an ill parent or deciding on a big move that could change your life.

We each deal with these things in different ways. Some people exercise, some read, some garden- yeah I have tried all those and while I do feel good after exercising I can't explain what a finished project does for my soul. Kind of a giddy feeling almost. For me it is working in the garage on some project for my little space at Mama's Happy. It could be painting, sawing, hammering or fixing up a table I found on one of my dumpster adventures.

People ask all the time how I have time to do this but to be honest I need to do it. Then as I tell them it is my therapy they kind of chuckle. But ya know I really think it is. I can have one of those days where it is that old saying "Calgon take me away". I'll head out the in the garage after everyone has gone to bed and work for a bit and feel my shoulders relax, start dancing with the paint brush to the music I have on and eventually sleep like a baby. Okay you probably didn't need to know about the dancing part but hey thought you'd get a laugh for the day.

Next month will be my 1 year anniversary at Mama's and it has been one wild ride but I love it. Yeah I'll admit it at times it is a little nuts, stressful (mostly just when I bring another piece of furniture home to put in the garage) but as my grandpa use to say these times will pass.When I see someone so excited to take that table home to set up in their house it makes it all worth it.

So as a I head into another sale at Mama's thanks to all of you for helping me out with my therapy!! Check out what has come from our little therapy sessions.....

See you next month or actually probably tonight in the garage. If you hear the radio and the lights are on stop in and say hi.

Ann