All That Glitters...Will Go On My Dinning Room Table

Thanksgiving is over, and that means it's officially legal to decorate for Christmas! 

TIS THE FREAK'N SEASON BABY! 

Also, it's been like THREE MONTHS since I've blogged about anything...and well...it's about time. After the completion of our backyard, we've been taking things pretty easy. A lil something fun though...big shout out to Apartment Therapy for featuring us as a Before and After!!!! I'm a HUGE fan of that site, so seeing my own home as I scroll up it's pages feels AWESOME! You can read the whole article here.

But back to decking those halls! This year's theme? Mystical Christmas Mermaid.

Glitter? Pink? Sparkles? Mermaid! 

I've always had a fascination with those oriental looking ginger jars. I love the contrast of blue and white, so every time I spot one at the thrift store or antique mall I scoop it up. While normally my little collection sits on top of the stairs, when that space is needed for the Penguin Tree (we have lots of Christmas themes in this house), they get pushed to the side.

Sad day. 

So imagine my delight when I FINALLY figured out a way to incorporate them into the decorations. It was time to switch things up anyhow. 

Eric's response to my creation? 

"So. How exactly does this say mermaid?" 

Pssh. Men. 

The nontraditional colors of pink, green, and blue are really bringing me some happy vibes. I was given two GIANT tubs of these ornaments a few years back, and decided to bring them out again for funzies. I snagged the gold sequin table cloth from a friend who was selling her wedding decorations. It's huge, sparkly, and 100% worth it. 

And the best part? There's a certain time of day when the sunlight hits the table juuuust right, and BAM! The whole room is covered in beautiful sunny disco ball polka dots.

So the next time someone says "Ummm mermaids aren't really Christmas-y", blow some bubbles in their face and swim away, because nobody needs that negativity in their life. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! 

Nesting Tables Go Glam

So it has officially been a month since my last blog post. 

....

woops. 

Honestly, after plowing through so many projects before our party last month, we just haven't been that concerned with our To-Do List. That and our summer has been INSANELY busy so far. I think every weekend we have had something or another planned, which resulted in us blinking and BOOM it's basically August. 
Our community always has a huge picnic the first weekend in August, and as a kid I remember thinking how summer vacation was pretty much over after that. The Coldwater Community Picnic was the last "hoorah!" before we all had to go back to school. Well CCP is NEXT WEEKEND, and even though I'm not in school, and my schedule wont change at all no matter what season it is, it's still a bit sad. 

But enough dwelling on the end of Summer, here is what we accomplished during our vacation! Eric and I took a trip to visit our great friends in Delaware, then met up with my family in New Jersey. We spent a couple days exploring NYC, and then took a train and ended the week in Boston. 
It was an absolutely fantastic trip. I'm already planning another trip to NYC, and Eric definitely wants to go back to Boston.

My family is a crazy bunch of Segway professionals, don't try this at home. 

Once we got back, and into our normal routine, I was able to finish a project that has been neglected waiting patiently for me up in our guest room. 
Eric has been hauling these little nesting tables with him throughout college, our apartment, and now they have found themselves in our living room. They're a set of three, and actually have worked quite well as end tables. Their light oak color though did NOT match our current vibe, and were just begging for a makeover. 
I didn't snap a "before" picture, but I found this image online, and it's pretty close to what they originally looked like. 

After I lightly sanded them, they each got a coat of KILTZ primer. I found that a combination of using a brush to get into the tight corners, and then rolling over the tops and legs gave me a nice finish. 

Another couple coats of Simply White by Benjamin Moore, the same white we've been using on all of our trim, and these uninspiring wooden tables were looking pretty sharp!

Fast forward a few weeks, and I finally brought them outside for one more light sanding, and to be sealed. I first sprayed the largest and smallest table with Rust-Oleum Clear Gloss, but had other ideas for the middle one. I wanted to mix up the table tops so when they were stacked together you had some visual interest. After trying (and failing) to draw a herringbone pattern with a gold paint pen, I decided to spray the top of the entire table with Rust-Oleum Metallic Gold spray paint. 

I taped the top off with paper so no extra gold could drift onto the legs, then gave it a few even coats of paint. Once it was completely dry, I finished up with a few coats of the clear gloss to seal everything. 

I love love LOVE the pop of gold you see when the tables are all nested together! This has turned into quite the glam corner between the tables and my updated gold and white lamp.  

Now they don't look so out of place compared to the rest of the living room. 

It really does feel great to scratch another project off the To-Do List after our little hiatus. Hopefully it won't be so long before we can do it again!