Custom Painted Champagne Flutes

Are they flutes?

Or do we just call them toasting glasses?

Whichever...they are now hereby officially dubbed the

dragonfly wedding toasting flutes of Brie and Jeremy.

Brie is the oldest daughter of our dance studio director.

She approached me at her youngest sister's graduation in May

and asked if I would help her out with a problem of sorts.

It seems she and her fiancé found some fabulous flutes at a

thrift store and wanted to use them at the wedding.

As you can see in the picture below,

they had some sort of etching on them...probably some sort of event.

She asked if I could paint over them

with their chosen theme and colors...include the date...

I said SURE!

Their wedding was turquoise, white, and silver.

Very pretty.

And, as you can see...

dragonflies were the main theme.

I used glass paint from Martha Stewart

and another brand, possibly Folk Art.

I can't remember who else usually has it.

I was concerned that you usually have

to bake the glasses to set the paint,

but I discovered that you don't have to anymore.

The bottles say they fully cure on their own in about 3 weeks.

That was a relief since I didn't know how they would hold up.

I also used a black and a white paint pen for the fine lines and writing.

 Since I have trouble drawing symmetrically,

I cut out a template and used it against the

glass so my wings would be even on both sides.

Some turquoise green "reeds" cover up the original etching.

The dragonflies have little silver highlights on their wings.

I've said before I don't consider myself a great painter,

but I am happy with how these turned out.

The bride was thrilled so I was, too.

I was really happy to be able to do this for them...

since her fiancé was involved in an accident about a month before the wedding.

He does HVAC and fell from a ladder, breaking both heels.

Love perseveres...

their wedding venue was able to accommodate the wheelchair

and I believe some absolutely wonderful memories were made that day.

So what do you think of this thrifty endeavor?

For a couple of bucks and some glass paint,

anyone can have custom toasting flutes for their special occasion.

Have a super fun and safe holiday weekend!

Toasting  your happiness here:

Serenity You

Cheerios and Lattes

I Heart Naptime

 Crafts a la Mode

Dimples and Pig Tales

 Home Stories A to Z
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Love Grows Wild
The Dedicated House
Ivy and Elephants
The 36th Avenue
City Farmhouse
Life With The Crust Off
Living Well Spending Less
Embracing Change
Saving 4 Six
Live Laugh Rowe
From My Front Porch To Yours
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Home Coming
The Dedicated House ~ Pink and Blue Friday

NO Cook Chicken Caprese Pitas

Is it just me or is cooking in the summertime just too much to ask?

Maybe it's just me.

But if it's not...here's a simple and yummy no

cook meal with all the food groups!

Rotisserie or baked chicken from the deli, diced or shredded: Meat group, check!

Lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber diced: Veggie group, check!

Diced mozzarella cheese: Dairy group, check!

Pita bread pockets (whole wheat if you can find 'em!):

Bread/Grain group, check, check, check!

Cut up some fresh basil, add it all to your pita pocket...

swirl a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar together and drizzle it on...

and you've got yourself a cool, no cook

chicken caprese pita for your summertime dinner enjoyment.

Okay, so cucumbers may not really go with caprese...

but they were yummy and cool you can leave 'em out if you want. :)

These were so good I'm thinking I need to make them again real soon!

How about you...

do you avoid cooking in the summertime?

Or all the time :)

Have a spectacular weekend!

Making mouths water (hopefully) here:

Crafts a la Mode

Lil' Luna

Made From Pinterest

Cheerios and Lattes

 Serenity You

Will Cook For Smiles

I Should Be Mopping The Floor

 Dimples and Pig Tales

The Dedicated House

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Love Grows Wild

Home Stories A to Z

Anyonita Nibbles

Clean and Scentsible

Dwellings

Ivy and Elephants

The 36th Avenue

From My Front Porch To Yours

 Saving 4 Six

Embracing Change

Live.Laugh.Rowe

A Peek Into My Paradise

Love of Family and Home

Simply Designing

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Carole's Chatter

$200 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Happy Monday peeps!

I am super excited to share this with you!

I am helping Anyonita from Anyonita Nibbles

celebrate 1,000 likes with a giveaway!

I know...that's a lot of exclamation marks!!!

Check out the other fabulous blogs and enter to win

using the Rafflecopter widget below!

Enter by liking any or all of the Facebook

pages and/or following on Twitter!

Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sharing here:

Ivy and Elephants

From My Front Porch To Yours

Living Well Spending Less

Crafts a la Mode

Serenity You

Painting a Tile Floor ~ Tips and Grumbles

Hi! Allow me to introduce myself...

I'm Kelly...and someday maybe I'll start a chapter of

Northern Colorado Procrastinator's Anonymous.

Maybe...someday.

Perhaps.

I thought I should at least remind you of who I am since I, um,

apparently haven't been around for almost 3 weeks.

I know, right?

I couldn't believe it when I looked at the date of my last post.

I just shook my head and sighed.

Anyway...I am finally showing you that project I had to restart

and was dragging my feet on.

Yup!

I painted the ceramic tile in my entry.

I may be little crazy.

At least I'm sure my husband thinks so.

We don't have one of those large entryways where you can

put an awesome dresser and fancy it up with fun décor.

Okay, I'm a little jealous.

Anyway...so I wanted to add some interest to this

area and thought paint would be just the thing!

  

After cleaning it very well and using some Krud Kutter I taped it off.

Yes, I put little pieces on the squares NOT to paint in

case this redhead had a blonde moment or something.

{Sorry, blondes-but no one ever claims to have a brunette moment :) }

Okay, here's where the problem(s) started.

First, I hated it.

Okay, I know that's a biggie.

I love black and white checkerboard floors...

it just didn't belong in this spot.

{My husband said it looked like a circus.}

Second, NOT all chalk paint is created equal.

***I am not here to bash anyone, okay?***

I love chalk paint, but it's not all suitable for all uses.

The charcoal is CeCe Caldwell.

It did NOT adhere to the ceramic and easily wiped off after dry,

even after applying the "durable top coat."

That being said, I've seen in used on lots of furniture with awesome results.

Okay? Just not this ceramic tile.

{The other is Annie Sloan Old White, it seemed to do very well for this application}

So here's my dilemma:

I can't possibly get all the paint off and go back to the "before."

My solution?

I sanded off as much of the gray as I could and washed the dust off.

I chose 2 colors I thought would be less

contrasting and would go better in this spot.

I mixed up some homemade chalk paint and started over.

I knew wax would not be a good choice here,

so I sealed the whole thing with a couple coats of poly-acrylic.

I'll probably do at least one more.

And then there's this little bit of reality:

I almost didn't write this post at all.

A couple of days ago, I noticed a spot

on one corner of one of the tiles.

Some of the paint had chipped off.

{insert some cursing and grumbling here}

Upon inspection, I don't think I got that section sanded

and/or the paint dust wiped off before the next paint went on.

(you can see the chunky shelf in the below pic here)

It's a small enough spot that I can fix it easily,

and I don't see any other signs that it will continue to happen.

So that's good.

Cuz I was totally ready for this to be done.

:)

So here's the down and dirty:

Not everything in the DIY world turns out the way

you like it and you have to go back to square one.

In my case, literally.

But I want you to know...

I am really pleased with the final product.

It add a little visual interest and lightens up the corner.

{Bonus...my husband really likes it, too!}

What would I do differently?

On this non-porous surface I would consider using

primer even though you normally don't have to with chalk paint.

I might have done a sample with sheets of colored paper to

simulate the checkerboard before I got out the paint brushes.

Why am I telling you this?

Because in my experience, if someone else can go

through the headache first and tell me about it,

I might not have to do it the hard way and find out myself. :)

So, what do you think?

And...should I paint the strip of wood

between the door and the floor?

If so, what color?  I can't match the walls...possibly the door.

Okay...I'll try not to stay away so long next time.

As a matter of fact...you'll want to come by in a few days!

I'm helping out a bloggy friend with her first giveaway!

Woot woot!!!

Stay sassy!

 Partying here:

Crafts a la Mode

Lil' Luna

Cheerios and Lattes

Serenity You

Funky Junk Interiors

I Should Be Mopping the Floor

The Dedicated House

Homecoming

Love Grows Wild

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Home Stories A to Z

City Farmhouse

Ivy and Elephants

The 36th Avenue

Living Well Spending Less

Live.Laugh.Rowe

Saving 4 Six

From My Front Porch to Yours

Embracing Change

Redfly Creations

A Peek Into My Paradise

DIY Showoff

Dimples and Pig Tales

Dwellings

Stone Gable

Love of Family and Home

Beneath My Heart

Thrifty Decor Chick

Due to the ridiculous amount of spam this post receives...

I am disabling comments on it.

If you have a valid question, please feel free to send me an email.

Thanks,

Kelly

Alphabet Soup ~ Personalized Letters

Today's post is brought to you by the letter L.

I am almost done with the do-over project

I told you about in my last post.

You should be seeing that next in the lineup. :)

In the meantime a couple other things have come up.

I needed a gift for someone at work who had a baby girl.

I decided to do a personalized letter of

the baby's first initial...in this case, an L.

Basic MDF letter from Hobby Lobby and some

scrapbook paper from my extensive stash.

I say extensive because I seem to have quite a

bit of it considering I don't even scrapbook. :)

I already had the cream trim ribbon...

found in one of Michael's bargain bins.

Also had the distressing ink.

But I picked up some paper flowers just for this project.

It's pretty simple and easy.

I used two designs of paper from the pink bunch.

You can divide it wherever you like,

mine is more or less even...

must have been a subconscious thing.

{The ribbon hides the paper split.}

First trace your letter on your chosen paper and cut it out.

I painted the edges of the letter in a coordinating color...brown.

I then used Mod Podge over the entire letter and

carefully placed the paper and smoothed it out.

Once it was dry I used a foam brush to add some

"Vintage Photo" distress ink to the edges.

The entire letter then got a top coat of Mod Podge before

the ribbon and flowers were attached with hot glue.

You could add a hanger to the back for the wall...

or leave it as I did for displaying on a shelf.

In case you haven't seen it...the letter is

leaning up again my barnwood flower box.

Which I am still enamored with. :)

My husband kept saying how much

he liked what I'd done with this project.

I had to tease him and tell him I could

make him one if he really wanted.

 

Edited to add...the one I made for Sara using

the paper and embellishments of her choosing:

 

 

So, what do you think?

Sound like a good idea for the next baby shower you attend?

Simple and customizable for any color or theme.

Oh, and NOT just for babies.

:)

Have a fabulous week!

Warming up my glue gun here:

Dimples and Pig Tales

The Dedicated House

Cedar Hill Ranch

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Love Grows Wild

Home Stories A to Z

 Dukes and Duchesses

Clean and Scentsible

Lil' Luna

The 36th Avenue

Ivy and Elephants

High Heels and Grills

From My Front Porch To Yours

 Reasons to Skip the Housework

Live.Laugh.Rowe

Saving 4 Six

Embracing Change

A Peek Into My Paradise

Crafts a la Mode
Love of Family and Home
I Heart Naptime
Cheerios and Lattes
Serenity You
Will Cook for Smiles
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Stone Gable

Vanilla Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Wow...is that a long name for an ice cream or what?

I know, I know...

two ice cream recipes in 3 weeks.

Well, it IS National Ice Cream Month.

Sorry.

The truth is, the project I was hoping to share with

you this week is NOT going according to plan.

I've had to undo parts of it and start over.
{this project}

Let's just say that sometimes what I picture in my head

doesn't always look as good as I think it will.

*Insert sad, pouty face here*

So, we're gonna go with ice cream for now.

 Vanilla Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. {or more} grated semi-sweet chocolate

Combine melted butter, vanilla, sugars, and salt.

Add in milk and cream and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Chill for an hour or so and freeze according

to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Add in grated chocolate about half-way through the freezing process.

Eat it right away as soft serve, or store in an airtight
freezer container until frozen like you like it. :)

While I've been drowning my DIY woes in ice cream,

what have you been up to?

Enjoying National Ice Cream Month?

Messing up makeovers...or is that just me? :)

What have you had to start over because

it didn't turn out the way you wanted?

 Here's hoping your week is fabulous and filled with ice-creamy goodness.

In line for seconds here:

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Dimples and Pig Tales

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Cedar Hill Ranch

The Dedicated House

Home Stories A to Z

Anyonita Nibbles

Love Grows Wild

The 36th Avenue

Crafts a la Mode

Serenity You

Cheerios and Lattes

I Heart Naptime

I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Saving 4 Six

A Peek Into My Paradise

Carole's Chatter

Renting Textbooks with Campus Book Rentals



This is sponsored post on behalf of Campus Book Rentals.

I received a credit for textbook rentals.

All opinions are 100% mine and always will be.

 I like to tell it like it is.

  

Howdy folks!

Hey, remember about this time last year when I told you about our

blubbering, tear-filled trip to Oklahoma City when we took Sara to college?

This is her "are you really taking a picture now?" look.

Yeah, well...it's almost that time again.

However, I expect there'll be a lot less blubbering this year.

:)

That is, until it comes time to pay for

books for the fall semester.

Ugh.

Seriously...I know some of you have college aged kids

and you know what I'm talking about.

So when I was approached by Campus Book Rentals

to talk about renting textbooks...I was totally intrigued.

 I mean, if I can save some money when

it comes to college, I'm all for that!

Just search for the book you need, pick

your rental terms and away you go!

We don't have book list quite yet for fall,

so I just looked up some random biology book.

It was $40 to rent it for the entire semester.

It's a $200 book.

I'd say that's a great deal. :)

Shipping is free both ways...even better!

I love me some free shipping.

Campus Book Rentals also has a new section called RentBack

where you can rent out books you already own to other students.

Hey...save money and make money?

Every college student's dream.

I'm looking forward to saving some cash on textbooks.

Cuz, if you knew this girl like I know this girl...

...you'd know how much this girl loves shoes. :)

So, check out Campus Book Rentals let me know what you think.

I'm thinkin' I wish they were around when I was in school.

Stay cool!

Some of you need to stay dry or start building an ark...

we should trade for a while. :)

Have a great weekend!

Sharing here:

Love Grows Wild
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cedar Hill Ranch
Home Stories A to Z
Ivy and Elephants
The 36th Avenue
Crafts a la Mode
Cheerios and Lattes
Serenity You
I Heart Naptime
Will Cook For Smiles
 I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Dimples and Pig Tales
Living Well Spending Less
Lil' Luna