Calaca Coffee Table Part I

Hello!!! Hope you had a wonderful week guys :) 

I have a new project to share (It's about time right?!), it's a furniture flip I've been working on. Found this side table at a local garage sale months ago, it's been siting around the house yelling at me to finish it. :/ I've known what I want to do with it but to be honest I just haven't made the time. Bad furniture flipping lady, I know :(. But forget about all that!! My big plan was to paint it of course but also add sugar skull faces as details on the table top. It's been a slow work in progress and honestly I'm still not done! Regardless I wanted to share the progress I've made. I'm pregnant ok, so cut me some slack!!! Yes I'm pulling the pregnancy card, sue me! Anyway... let's start with the before pics, shall we???

Kitschy Mary

During one of my random thrift store visits I came across a pretty Virgin Mary flower pot. It had a few stains and needed a new coat of paint, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to get creative and try something funky and bold. Plus it only cost $5, it was love at first sight... I had found my next project. 

Diamond In The Rough

Attempting to find a contemporary / modern piece of furniture at a thrift store can be a challenge. After my parents renovation I was on a mission to find a glass coffee table with a stainless steel frame for their living room set. Something with a unique design was the goal and after a few visits to several thrift shops I finally found the perfect one. When I spotted this gem at the Salvation Army, the steel had rusted in several spots and it had a swirl design most likely applied with a wire brush or sander. To be completely honest I wasn't a fan of the swirls. But I knew the rust and swirls could be removed and the steel's luster returned with some TLC. Plus it was on sale for $25 and the glass was in perfect condition. SCORE!!!! I had found the diamond in the rough I was looking for. 

Door Chime Restoration Time

We we're gone for a month or so, waaayyy too long (our sincerest apologies). I was hoping to update our blog on a weekly basis but June was a crazy month for us. We both got sick for about two weeks, Leonel's grandfather fell severely ill and has been in the hospital since June began. :( Praying for good health and a speedy recovery! My brother-n-law graduated from UCI, woo hoo!!! My grandmother is visiting from Mexico, I hadn't seen her in over ten years! Couldn't find it in our hearts to say hold on grandma and grandpa, I have to work on my blog so I'll SEE YA LATER!! Ummmm... yeah that would never happen, we enjoy blogging but some life events are more important. (Don't take it personal) So now you know why we had to dessert you guys for a while, we hope you understand. In between all of this madness we squeezed in a few projects and managed to host a beautiful dinner party (along with my mother) for family and friends. Pictures and details will be coming soon :). 

All Decked Out

When you have the ability to see possibilities in disastrous situations amazing things can happen. Take a look at that sad back yard in the before picture. It's faded tile, windows covered in bars, a large slider with no appeal, and a metal sun shade that is falling apart, it all needed major upgrades. My parents purchased this fixer upper about four years ago or so with the intention to transform it into a cozy home to enjoy after retirement. They had outgrown their previous home or I should say all the kids got married and they were left with a big empty house, they wanted to downsize. Plus the profit made from the larger home was going to leave them with a much lower payment, they would be crazy not to move!! 

Marilyn Glamour Table

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!! We were busy finishing our latest project and enjoying the holiday with family but now that it's over it's back to business. We originally found this coffee table at a local swap meet held in a high school parking lot near by our house. We had no plans to visit a swap meet that day but fate had other plans. We were on our way to hike at Peters Canyon when I noticed the tents down the street as we drove towards the freeway. We stopped by really quick to check out what the locals had to offer and I'm so glad we did because it led us to creating this beautiful coffee table...

Wind Chimes and Earrings

Do you have a bunch of earrings thrown around in a dresser??? Maybe you have them stashed away in a zip lock bag (GUILTY!) or collecting dust in a dark corner somewhere. Perhaps your just plain sick of the accessory holder you currently own. Well I have a simple solution for you.  Hang them on a wind chime!!  I for one don't care for their main purpose because they keep me up at night, I'm a light sleeper and hearing chimes and bells at 1 am pisses me off!!  But I must admit they are pretty and come in all different kinds of styles which is nice, I like variety.  

Any who, I found this pretty wind chime while shopping at Ross for $10. I secretly want to be a gypsy and I love sparkly stuff so when I spotted this beauty it was love at first sight. 

Pretty Woman (rocking chair version)

Want to know how we transformed this....

Living Room Mirror Part II

To pick up where we left off the green monster.... I mean carpet had to go, and the majority of our budget went into installing laminate flooring. Removing the mirror would have meant replacing it with dry wall and possibly leaving us with a  huge nasty scared wall. We started looking up ideas and in the process came across some beautiful and crazy expensive options. Viewing wall decor and mirrors on Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, etc was a huge let down at first because of the massive price tags most of the items carry. But we ended up being inspired by a few designs after contemplating throwing rocks at the mirror and calling it a day. Our final choice was a mirror outlined in black (Eagan Multipanel Large Mirror) from Pottery Barn worth $700.

Living Room Mirror Part 1

 A little background to share with you, Leonel and I married a little over a year ago (2 year anniversary as of June, Yay!) and along with planning a small wedding we also purchased our first home. We purchased a townhouse that needed a little TLC because ONE it was in our price range, and TWO a fixer upper seemed like an awesome challenge for DIY fanatics like ourselves.  We have this very large mirror in our living room that the previous owner basically plastered onto the wall.  It's nice but feels a little plain and it takes up the majority of the wall.  We discussed removing the mirror but that would have been too messy, time consuming, and expensive.  So we put our heads together and thought of a simple, inexpensive, yet nice looking decorative design to add to it. We first had to come up with a pattern we thought would compliment the room, you know something that wouldn't make the room feel off balance. Here is the before picture, it's the picture the prior owners used to advertise the home. Glorious 70's green carpet and all, for some odd reason it looks more teal in the picture but lighting will do that. (I hate that carpet so much, I couldn't wait to rip it out!)...