An epic fail followed by success...I think...

It all started two Thursday nights ago while I was lounging on the internet. I was going through some of the Fall Outdoor Spaces Party over at Thrifty Decor Chick. I saw a few things that caught my eye and I ended up spending some time on the Creative Juices for Decor site...

I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the pictures of what Selina had done to her brother's kitchen cabinet pulls!! Go ahead, click here and check it out...I'll wait. Told you it was AWESOME!!!!

Wondering why I nearly fell out of my chair?? I have those same pulls, minus the rose. But I have that porcelain part...plus a little sassy brassy but the same pulls!!!!! Here are mine:

I have a bunch of them!! Re-purposing would same me literally, a couple hundred dollars!!

Notice the missing one? Wait for the fail. :)

I left a comment for Selina, the author of Creative Juices for Decor telling her how much I loved her idea to paint the pulls. Her re-do was ahwile ago so I was wondering how the pulls were holding up. She said brother's reports are good for ware. I thought what the heck! We don't like the sassy brassy so if I can paint them, the project will be free, if I ruin them well...they are on the replace list anyway.

I started with priming...Just grabbed the first primer I saw in my stash...happened to be Kilz. Here's where my epic fail came in. The primer went on thick and nasty and clearly was not going to work.
Look: told you it was bad!

Oops. Good thing they were on the replace list but really? I would rather buy cool rugs or some cool fabric for curtains or pillows.

SECOND TRY! (Is that like radio edit? Just kidding)

Jj suggested a different primer...turned out he was correct! First though, I sanded the metal part with 220 grit sandpaper (that's fairly fine) but it too like 60 (really rough) to get the shiny surface off the porcelain. Anyway, I sanded them down really well, and applied 2 coats of Krylon primer for metal.


To paint them, I knew I didn't want them lying on their sides for paint to drip and pool and such. I did a quick scan around the garage and stopped at the trash can. Enter cabinet pull holder:


It actually worked very, very well! I added 2 coats of primer followed by 2 coats of Oil-Rubbed Bronze (pretty sure it was Rustoleum) spray paint. I followed it up with a clear coat made by Rustoleum too.

I let them dry overnight and installed them!


I love the way they look; now we will see how well they wear!

**As this post publishes, it's been one week and all is well.**

***Edited to include that I liked up to Trifty Decor Chick's November Before & After Party, here.***

****And as of 11/7, I think the pulls have been up for about a month. All is well!! I am about halfway through the rest of the billion, just over 30, pulls in my kitchen.

But think of all the money we have saved!!!!!

It's officially a Home

I got a kitchen rug!



(Actually I had it at our old house but it's still what makes a house a Home right?? Candles, curtains and rugs! A handsome man I know and love, proclaimed such years ago!)

This one I got from Pier 1 many, many moons ago. I love it because it looks like the rag rugs that my Aunt Lou (who lived to be 102...say it out loud. :) ) and many others used to make. It feels to me, like someone put their love, in that rug, to me. And I like it. And kitchen sinks are made to have a rug in front right?

Do you have a rug in front of your sink?

Beautiful Eye Candy

A couple of weekends ago, Jj and I traveled back to our old town Columbia, MO. We were delighted to see our friend, Faydre marry her Prince Charming, Mike. Of course, she was a beautiful bride; that's just a given!


What I really wanted to show you is this Church!!!

I told you! AMAZING!!!!!! It's the "downtown" Methodist Church in Columbia, MO. The proper name is The Missouri United Methodist Church.

Congratulations Mike & Faydre. Thank you for including us on your special day!


(They were going so fast, I couldn't even get focused! :) The picture looks like I was still focusing on that AMAZING alter! Oops. )

Love,
Laura