Birds on a Wire Painting

This weekend I finished up another painting for Ava's room. You remember the big blank wall space above her bed (here)? Well this "Birds on a Wire" mixed media painting is going there.

I used fabric, doilies, telephone book pages, paint, charcoal, and glue to make this. Here are some close ups of some of the birds.

And here it is in the room (right next to my big Pinkalicious painting -- notice how the colors coordinate? I love that you can do crazy bold colors in kid's rooms).

I thought I was done with her room (and I pretty much am) but have decided to fix some shadow boxes she has on the wall to make the more colorful and to add something to the entryway as it is a little dull too. But it is coming along!

Ava's Room

I think awhile back I promised to show what Ava's refinished furniture looked like (all of it). Here it is..I tried to clean up her room a bit before I took the photos b/c it never looks this put together.

Vanity & Dresser

Another shot.

Her bed & the Pinkalicious painting. Notice the empty spot on the wall above her bed? I'm busy trying to take care of that now...will post a photo when that is done. I actually was waiting to post these photos once that area was complete but obviously that is taking too long!

And her closet (where most of the clutter ends up). Darren built a nice shelving system in there that holds most of her toys and I was happy he did b/c all of her puzzles and bigger items had no where to go!

It's Finished!

Here it is! The completed Pinkalicious painting. I think it turned out really cute and I love the fabric flowers, bee & butterfly. I even ended up putting a little glitter on Pinkalicious's shoes and crown just to make it even more bright and girly. And most importantly? Ava said "It's gorgeous!" when she saw it all done. It is now hanging in her room and I'll finally post some photos of her new furniture & room setup really soon. Promise!

More Pinkalicious

Here's an updated photo of the Pinkalicious painting. I have finally filled Pinkalicious in herself. I also did a special texture on both her wings and parts of her skirt...in the book she kind of has lacy wings and lacy tiers on her skirt so I decided to cut up some doilies to get the same kind of effect.

You can't really see it in the photo (at least on the wings) but it turned out really cool and definitely looks more like the book than plain paint would have. Will have to see if I can get some good close ups when it is done.

I still have quite a ways to go since I have to cut all the flowers out of fabric and mod podge them on. Still have major touch up work around Pinkalicious and in the grass & stems but some of that will be the last thing I do.

Best part of this process, is that I work on it an hour here and there and each time I do something, Ava comes in and notices and tells me how much she loves the new part. I actually caught her hugging and kissing the painting the other morning as I was getting ready. So glad she likes it!

Pinkalicious in Progress

Here is what I am currently working on...finishing up Ava's big girl bedroom. It has been too long of a project (maybe because I have procrastinated and also because of all the stuff we have had going on ranging from parties to being sick).

Anyways, you may recall, I was refinishing (with the help of my father-in-law & hubby) some vintage bedroom furniture for her new room. My AMAZING father-in-law, Rudy surprised us by finishing the project himself! I was a bit relieved b/c I did not know when we were going to be able to finish it and it looks AWESOME! I promise to post photos soon, I just need to finish repainting the hardware first so you can get the complete look.

At any rate, getting back to this post. Ava loves the book Pinkalicious (if you have a girl in preschool you know what I am talking about). So I decided to paint a picture from the book for a big empty wall in her room.

Here is the scene from the book:

And here is the painting in progress. This thing measures 4' x 4'. I made some adjustments to the picture...I decided the sky should be a Tiffany/Robin's egg blue. I want this to be bright and colorful. Next step is to paint Pinkalicious herself and then the final step is to make all the flowers out of fabric and mod podge them on. Think it will look really cool and will be a good way to use fabric scraps I have lying around. Plus I have so many cute, pink or girly fabrics I can't wait to incorporate in this painting.

I'll post more pictures as I get further along.

Redoing Vintage Bedroom Furniture - In Progress

Weekend 1 complete on this furniture project. Yeah!! We were able to strip the furniture, sand it and prime it. We accomplished a lot more than I thought we would in those few days and I am thankful to my in-laws & hubby for their help (both with the furniture & babysitting our daughter) so that we can work on this.

We will still have to go down to Conroe to work another weekend (at least) to finish the project but I am already pleased with the results thus far.

Furniture after stripping the varnish off:
Rudy, hard at work with the paint gun:

Me, working...and not looking my best!

After being primed:

Redoing Vintage Bedroom Furniture - Before

Here is the second furniture refinishing project I am working on. Once again, I enlisted help from my father-in-law, Rudy, to help with this project. My mother-in-law, Jeanie, has had this bedroom set since she was a girl and we are redoing it for Ava's big girl room.

Eventually it will be white, but here are the before photos. We had to strip off the varnish, sand them, prime them and then we will paint them.

Chest of drawers:

Headboard & Footboard:

Stool:

Vanity:

Top of vanity (that holds mirror):

I love the way this vintage furniture looks...fairly simple yet will be perfect for a little girl's room. Still trying to decide if I am going to use the vintage hardware or not. Leaning towards yes because I love the little doorknocker style and the floral design on the knobs. Just wondering if I should paint them hot pink to be a little girly/funky or if I should just do them a bronze or black or something more neutral.