Updated Metal Chairs

So I know it's February, but here in Southern California it feels more like June right now. It's been in the high 80s/low 90s for the past few days and I have been taking advantage of it! A few months ago, I showed y'all how I updated an old rusty metal table we had lying around... well, there are actually chairs that go with it :) With all this beautiful sunny weather, why not finish off the set and enjoy the view?

The chairs were in great condition to begin with, but they were painted the same sky blue as the table was originally and they were just chipped and showing some neglect. Here are some before shots:

Originally I was going to paint them all the same color as the table, but then my Hubby gave me the great idea to go all dual-color on them. I decided to do these colors:

I know it seems weird to put black on a metal chair (hot tush anyone?) but for the past few days they haven't actually gotten all that hot...even when sitting in the sun all day. So the first thing I did was spray paint the section of the chairs black first. Here is what they looked like after they were coated a few times:

Next, I covered the areas most prone to getting color mixture with painter's tape (a little time-consuming and tedious, but easier in the long run) and then began covering them with the second color of choice:

I ended up getting a little bit of paint outside the lines, but overall they turned out great! I am really loving the two-toned look of them and might end up do the table they same way down the line (maybe black legs?) What projects have you taken on lately? Thank for stopping by!

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken

Recently my family's budget has gotten a bit out of control, so in an attempt to bring it back to earth, I have started making a dinner schedule. I know most people probably have one of these, but I am just now joining that bandwagon.

I thought about having a meal schedule for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but realized that we don't all leave for work/school at the same time and the same goes for the lunch hour. So everyone pretty much fends for themselves for those two meals and I come up with the dinner ideas. We have been doing it for about a month and a half, and so far it has saved us time, money, and energy.

One of the dinners I did recently came from Pinterest (where else?) and was super delicious and easy. It was this recipe for Crockpot Buffalo Chicken. It was really simple and was a total hit with my family. Here was the picture from the original post:

Yummy right?

While I totally wish that mine turned out looking that amazing, we actually decided to go the semi-unconventional way and put the chicken on top of our nachos! Not exactly swachos (just for my hubby) but still really delicious :) Here's the photos from my process:

Just beginning

A few hours in

In the end, we realized that we didn't have any of those fabulous rolls and since we didn't want to ruin the recipe with regular hot dog buns, we did the next best thing :)

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Nachos:)

They were amazing and definitely something that we are going to repeat in the future. If you try it, tell me what you think in the comments and if you have tried this recipe any other way.

Spray-painted Acorns

Awhile back I was trolling one of my friend's blogs and she put up a post on creative ideas for Autumn decorating and this one caught my eye. It is her Mercury-Glass Acorns and they were so cute and easy to do, that I just had to try them!

Every year my husband's family goes apple picking and when we went this past year (I keep forgetting it's 2016!), I went with a purpose: I was going to get me some authentic acorns right from the source! I sort of stuck to that idea... I actually picked most of them off the ground, but they were in excellent condition and I managed to get a whole paper bag's worth :) When I got home, I had to sort out the good from the bad (cracked, holes, etc.) and then decide how many I was going to want to have. I settled on spray-painting some and leaving the natural color on others; I also used two colors of silver: a shiny one and a regular matte gray color. Here's how they turned out:

Before

Matte Gray

Silver

In the end, I used both in small glass vases with tea lights and placed them around the house for ambiance. Thanks for the idea Justine :)

Adirondack chair for my Little A

So like most of your lives, mine has gotten pretty busy over the past few weeks. I started this project probably about two months ago and actually finished it last month, but it has taken me awhile to get the pictures together so that I can show you everything that I did.

My sister actually found this Adirondack chair set that someone was discarding and totally scooped it up... she knew that it would be a perfect fit for my little A (thanks sis!). Here are some before shots:

For the most part, the wood was in great condition and there weren't any missing pieces or anything like that :) I did have to tighten down some bolts because it was a bit wobbly, but all in all, a great find! Here is what it looked like after using a power sander (and a paint stripper!!!) to remove the faded white paint:

After a few hours of elbow work to get off as much paint as possible and to make the whole set nice and smooth, it was finallly ready for a new coat of... what else?... spray paint!!! You guys probably think I have a whole room full of the stuff, but in reality it is just a small tub :) This time around though, I went out and bought (gasp!) two cans of gray paint because I knew I didn't have enough on hand to get the job done. This was my inspiration for the color:

This piece of granite tile was left over from a project that my parents did in their house and it just so  happen to be the perfect size for the side table that came in the set :) It was a good thing that I bought two cans, because that wood absorbed a lot of it and I was down to fumes in both cans to cover all three pieces of furniture. In the end though, it turned out marvelous! After shots:

Even though I put the tile on top, I did end up spray painting the entire top of the table just in case. I also coated the bottom of all the pieces (that's where the spray paint fumes went) so that from any angle, none of that ugly white would show through. Remember, there is nothing better than free stuff and a little spray paint :)

Rice Krispie Treats

Happy Monday! I don't usually put posts up regarding food but I found this recipe in a magazine and thought I would give it a shot. Here is a picture of the recipe:

Idea

It was actually really simple and considering I am no good with cooking and such, I am definitely in love :) Here are some more pictures to show the process:

All the supplies

Adding the chocolate, butter and mini marshmallows

Almost melted all the way through

 After it was completely melted down, I added the rice krispies in and then really quickly, spooned it all into the pan. I put it in the fridge to make sure it set well and I didn't here any complaints, so I am going to assume it came out well :)

The finished product!!!

Candlestick Holders Revived

Good Morning All! This project is from a couple days ago when I was on a total roll with all my DIY projects. Remember how I said that my amazing husband had rescued several things from his grandmother's trash haul a few weeks back? I got the wooden crate, the metal tub, and these:

Before Scrub

After Scrub

These candlestick holders were in really good shape, but had lots of cobwebs and junk inside of them and were in need of a desperate wash and scrub. Thankfully there wasn't any rust on them (another good thing about no rain in CA) and they just needed a new color to call their own :)

Yay for my trusty spray paint collection! I decided to go with the same silver that I used on the hardware for my sister's jewelry box because I really wanted them to stand out. Even halfway done, they already look amazing! Here is the complete before and after:

Before

After

Always amazing what a coat (or two...or three...) of spray paint will do! Since I wasn't sure where I was going to use them at (not much needed in 90 degree heat) I have placed them in front of the house for a pop of color until they are required. I am seeing them get a lot of use this fall :) For now, they hold a pretty candle that smells like Caribbean Sunset or something summery like that... Bye for now!!!

The Final Reveal

Updated Metal Tub

Hey everyone! This is just a short quick post showing how I updated a metal tub (salvaged from my Nana-in-law's junk pile) and with a few coats of spray paint, transformed it into a semi-new bucket:)

My husband rescued this bucket for me knowing that it was something I would love to re-do... he was totally right! Obviously the pink would have to go and there were some rust issues and dents that would have to be addressed, but nothing I wasn't up for :) My little wanted to use the mallet, so all credit for getting out the dents (or most of them) go to her. After (once again) raiding my supply of spray paint, I decided on a two-toned look for this tub. I took a couple of coats on both the inside and the outside, but in all it turned out really nice!

I didn't bother with taping the edges of anything and even though you can't see it, there is some gray spray paint freckles on the blue, but it is so discreet that it almost looks like a shimmer in the blue color:) Thank goodness for that! Right now, this holds supplies and such in the back of my car, but I might have other uses for it in the future. Bye for now!!!