Old crate or Barn door...now shelf!

Sorry it has been SO long since my last post...a wedding + the holidays will really put you behind!

yay I'M MARRIED!

©Anna Daniels Photography

Before my wedding I was on the search for some old doors, well not only did I find some old doors...I also was able to get this old "half barn door". The interesting thing about this door was the stamp that was on the outside (or the inside?) of the door.

The stamp says "BAGAGE", which is interesting because this old half of a barn door...wasn't always a barn door.

{If you're like my mom..."It might have been on the titanic!"}

{If you're like my husband...you will give me a whole historic view of all the possibilities where it  could have came from}

{If you're like me..."Thats cool..."}

It was cool....

SO cool I wanted to "save" the stamp, so I tried to clean it...

...the stamp disappeared. So now, all I have is a picture and many different opinions where this old wood came from.

Here is the actual "half barn door" I started with:

I (and when I say "I" I mean my hubs, Tanner) ended up taking off the top piece and the bottom piece, then using the bottom piece as the shelf.

My vision...

Of course, I always have my assistant (Armani) helping me by guarding the apartment or watching over what I do carefully...

 I used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint...the color is Linen. Probably my favorite color!

If you are OCD {NOT} like me...the off center latch with completely drive you crazy!

~The beautiful wooden monogram is from a shop in Perry, Georgia called Adoorable Expressions~

-Jennifer xxxo

*Facebook Page*

Trash? What Trash?

I did it again....

I found a piece of furniture on the side of the road that someone had thrown away! HOW CRAZY!

Okay, actually my mom found it...*Kudos* to you mom!

So it is actually a "buffet" which is a fancy word for "I have a huge house so I am going to put a buffet in my foyer" 

Well I have neither, so this buffet is going to be a dresser, because I need one.

...So here is it, and sorry my hands got a little antsy so half the doors are already off!

I decided to paint it in Miss Mustard Seed's Linen to match our bed (since its our fancy dresser) and do Kitchen Scale on the drawers to add some color. I kept the original hardware and left the top wood. It is such a "Oh la la" color I think it will shift well in a foyer one day.

Armani likes to help me paint, he is so precious! 

This is after the first coat of paint! I am falling in love with it at this point. I added the second coat and it started to CHIP. If you know anything about milk paint...it has a natural tendency to chip depending on how well it adheres to the wood. I have never experienced this process...until now.

At this point I am now yelling at my buffet gone dresser. "No No No No No No WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!" I took a deep breath and went with it, I am by far not a perfectionist so if you are I do not recommend this hobby! LOL Especially when you have spent all morning painting to your standards! I sanded away and accepted the chipping. I love the aged look it gave it. I do love that it makes each piece so different as well. 

I white waxed the drawers to give it a washed look, and I aged the linen to give it more of a distressed look. I love the two different waxes mixed together.

-Jen

xxxooox

DIY Wedding Fun

It's been a while since I posted anything due to some heartbreaking family circumstances. 

I have been working on some fun DIY projects for my wedding.....which is like 35 days from now, but who is counting? 

I have been DYING over these old "toolboxes", so I had to have some. They are actually a little hard to find unless you come across some at an antique store, which is where I found mine.

They can be used for many different things, I am not even sure what I will do with mine! I will be sure to share a picture of how they were finally used in my wedding! 

This is after the first coat of paint. I absolutely adore this color green! 

With natural light you can really see this georgous color! They have been distressed & waxed. 

With a few finishing touches...

I adore them. So much I am in search of some more. The chalkboard writing will be different of course, I just wanted to play around. 

& I am not sure how it became spring to fall between those two pictures. That makes me laugh. I took them a day apart ;) 

Happy DIY-ing 

-Jen xoooxxx 

On the road....

Sitting in the car headed to the once again, wonderful town of Brunswick. This time it won't be to indulge in the wonder Willy's Wee Nee Wagon. Although, that's not saying I won't make a trip. I am actually on my way to see my "Papa Love". He was diagnosed with this ugly thing called Leukemia about 3 months ago. It's been a battle, some weeks we win. Some weeks we lose, this week we are losing...

...We haven't lost the battle. Just losing currently. 

I hate cancer. It's something I've heard many, many people say, something I've seen people deal with and cope with. I am just now learning what "I hate cancer" really means. 

• I hate the emotional roller coaster 
• I hate the crying
• I hate goodbyes
• I hate having so much faith in God, but be left with such a pain in my heart
• I hate the sadness
• The emptiness 
• The "what next" feeling 
• The hopeless doctors
• The positive doctors
• The un-promised future
• The thought of preparing. How do you PREPARE
• The unanswered questions
• The "bad news"
• The explanations I never understand 

I stay strong most days, because I do have this strong relationship with God. I know heaven is real. I know it's somewhere that's closer than we all think. I know I will still be able to talk to my papa & I know he will be saying "there's my favorite teacher" every time I walk into a classroom or "I am proud of you baby" every time I get another "A" or graduate with my masters next summer. 

I know everything will be okay. I have faith & I trust in God. I often think of a song we sing in church..

"Sometimes it feels like I'm watching from the outside Sometimes it feels like I'm breathing but am I alive? I won't keep searching for answers that aren't here to find...

All I know is I'm not home yet, this is not where I belong, take this world and give me Jesus, this is not where I belong...

So when the walls come falling down on me and when I'm lost in the current of a raging sea I have this blessed assurance holding me." 

& that really explains how I feel right now. 

This world is not our home....

Sooooooo....

I was really planning on writing about furniture.....but, I've been holding all this in, because my emotions are not my friend. Luckily, I do have a friend who is more like me than she knows. She assures me it's okay to be strong, but it's also okay to lose it in the shower if you need too. And a fiancé who tries to make me realize crying is normal. I love them. 

I love my Papa Love who is STILL HERE. I thank God for everyday I get to spend with him.

I am also thankful for my silly brother who captured these moments at Emory & hash-tagged them on Instagram. 

              #NotebookLove

#HoldingTheMaskLikeARebel

Xox -Jen 

Glam!

GLAMGLOW...

I have been recently obsessing over a product I came across on Pinterest. It is made by a company called GLAMGLOW and they make a full line of products for your face. The one product I have had my eyes on is the SUPERMUD clearing treatment. It is said to literally PULL OUT all the dirt, blackheads and YUCK out of your pores.

I have struggled slightly with skin problems growing up, constant breakouts as a teen to now I have blackheads and whiteheads on my nose and chin, large pores around my nose and cheeks + acne scars. I recently got a Clarisonic for my birthday (thanks babe ;)), which made a huge difference in my skin. BUT my pores were still large and I still had a few blackheads. With the $70 price tag I wasn't going to just go buy it.

I saw you could get a free sample of it at Sephora. So this weekend when I came to Birmingham to see my fiancé, we made a stop by our local Sephora and indeed...got a sample. They also give you enough to do at least 3 full face masks, so that makes them TOP of my favorite list! They really want you to TRY the product!

I really wanted Tanner to try this too because he has large pores on his nose and has literally tried 4 or 5 products to get this pores clean and nothing has worked! This morning before church I put some on his nose and I was TICKLED to death how much it worked! In 5 min. this was his nose!

And then after 20min...

He is such a trooper for letting me publicly post these photos! I did my nose and chin and had almost the same dramatic results! I didn't look as cute as him with a blob of black on my nose haha so I didn't post my photos! 

I am a GLAM believer now! Even Tanner said it was worth the investment!

My skin was also GLOWING afterwards, and so smooth! 

YAY! for great skincare products! 

-Jen and Tanner Xxxo

A weekend getaway, treasured findings...

A weekend get-a-way, with some treasured findings...

I headed to the small town of Brunswick, Georgia a few weekends ago to visit with my family and see my Papa who has been recently diagnosed with Leukemia. There is always a few things that are a MUST when I head to this small town...one is eating at a place called "Willie's Wee-Nee Wagon" it was a tradition started long before I can remember. This little old yellow building has been around for about 38 years now. It was open by a man named Willie and his wife Yvonne. It probably doesn't look to appealing for new people who are first timers, but the Willie Dogs will definitely bring them back. Unfortunately, Willie died of a heart attack in 2009, and Yvonne just passed away a few short weeks ago. Even though I didn't know them personally, it was sad news to hear. I do not suspect there will be any news of Willie's closing down though.

While I was in Brunswick, I couldn't resist my urge to head out to see what people were getting rid of Saturday morning. I came across two pieces I had to bring back with me. 

The first piece is this delicate rocking chair. It is a little smaller than a regular chair. It would be gorgeous set up in a guest room or a children's room.

My absolute favorite...this half moon vintage chair. Probably one of my very favorite finds! 

I will get my hands on these two this upcoming week, so be sure to keep your eye out! 

-Jen Xxo

Queen Victoria

A little delicate desk I like to call Queen Victoria...

This wasn't a dumpster dive find...which, let me tell you sometimes is not the best idea. I found a sweet chair on the side of the road and decided to pick it up. It took me a couple days, but once I started taking it apart to clean it I found it was infested with roaches. YUCK! I quickly put it back in the trash. I can handle spiders, but not roaches! Lesson learned...be more careful with trash diving! Usually people throw out things that have been sitting in the house, this obviously was not nesting inside, or at-least I hope not!

I found this desk on an "online" yard sale. I saw it and instantly fell in love. Of course I thought to myself "WHOOOOO WOULD GET RID OF THIS!" I am glad they did though! Otherwise, I would be deprived of a lot of happiness! It took me about 3 weeks to even decide what color to paint it, and once I started painting it I would stop and just stare at it for about an hour. It just amazes me the detail someone took the time to put on this thing! okay...so the desk. Here it is!

ahhhhh...perfection! (yes, I just stared again) I was going to refinish the top, but I am not skilled in that area yet and it wasn't one solid piece of wood. It had about 3 thin layers of wood on top of it. It also had some pretty bad chucks missing from the top that I had to fill with some "wood plastic"...(one of those 'send a man to get something to fix it' things) it worked! I just sanded it down so it was all smooth and I painted the top. Since it was so "antiqued" already...it made for some great distressing! The color I chose was Miss Mustard Seed's Dried Lavender and I kept the original knobs that were on the desk! It turned out like this..(its okay, you can stare)

The drawers are possible my favorite part. So fancy!

Aged to perfection. 

I was considering selling this piece, but, for now I will keep it with me...I could possibly let it go to a new home one day! (maybe)

-Jennifer