For the love of...ladders

About six months ago I went to a DIYer's heaven! It was the Junk Salvation put on by the Funky Junk Sisters. There was so much inspiration, ideas, and "junk" to buy and refurbish! What caught my eye was an old ladder in the back of this one booth. I just had to have it!

See I have been in love with the leaning bookcases and shelves I've seen at places like Crate&Barrel seen below, BUT I could not bring myself to spend $149!

So here is my leaning ladder shelf!

First, I had to separate the two sides. Depending on how the ladder is made, this may be done in various ways. Mine was a really old ladder, so it took some elbow grease and trial and error but we got it apart! I put a fresh coat of paint on and sanded the edges to give it a shabby chic look. I added some cute framed pictures and nic nacs. It is seriously a center piece in my home now! People ask and comment on it all the time. Below I have put together some other recycled ladder ideas. Happy hunting!

Easter at Deception Pass

As a Christian, Easter is the most important holiday to me! More than Valentine's Day, my Birthday, and even Christmas! This is the day that I remember the ultimate sacrifice of God, His Son Jesus. We started out the day by attending Canyon Creek Church and heard an amazing message from our Pastor Brandon Beals who answered the question, "Is the Resurrection Real?" If you have ever asked this question (I think we all have) you need to go listen to this sermon. You can do that here!

Damian and I then decided to go celebrate by enjoying what God has created at Deception Pass. If you are into history you will be interested to know that  Deception Pass was founded by a group of sailors led by Joseph Whidbe, part of the Vancouver Expedition, on June 7th 1972. They named it Deception Pass because it had misled them into thinking Whidbey Island was an island. It is absolutely gorgeous and I wanted to share with you some moments I was able to capture. I am so thankful for the life I have been given and the freedom to experience the beauty of what God has created. God loves each one of you and wants to experience a relationship with you. Easter is not about bunnies, eggs, or even food and gatherings. It is about True Love that laid down his life to reconcile the sin that lives within each one of us.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... 1 Peter 1:3

Vintage to Modern Side Table

So begins one of my summer loves....Garage Sales!  Some of the greatest treasures are found here! Here is my first feature of a lovely garage sale find. I picked this table up for 5 bucks! I saw so much potential...do you? Well you should!

My first order of business was redoing the edging (there was a part broken off in the back). So I went to Lowes and picked up a piece of decorative molding for $8. I only needed one for the whole table. I took a hand saw and cut it down to size on a slant to fit the edges. I then nailed them in place. Because I am no carpenter, I had a few areas that had spaces on the edges so I used a product called Plastic Wood. Worked great and unless you are super anal you wouldn't notice my mistakes! 

After this I simply spray painted the entire thing with matte black spray paint. It took a couple coats to get it completely even. To add some dimension I took some metallic acrylic paint and watered it down and painted it on to the top and edge of the top part of the table just to add some dimension. Lastly, I did 3-4 coats of polyurethane clear gloss on the top to make it durable and give it a nice finish. It almost looks like glass on top! Here is my finished product! Next on my list is to refinish my chairs to the side of the table to match and recover them in a similar modern fabric. This is how you  can take an ugly vintage gold table  and turn it into chic and modern, for about $15!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!!