Annie Sloan Addict....

With half a can of Annie Sloan "Old White" left over from my fireplace and a chest of drawers kindly donated, I am up-cycling again.
Honestly, it is so easy. No sanding. No prepping. Just painting!

For an impatient up-cycler like myself this is totally ideal. I hate sanding. I'm not that keen on priming either but this was completed in just one afternoon. I waxed it the next day and buffed it the day after and it is being used already.

The obligatory before and after shot

The ceramic knobs are a bit of an eBay bargain. I went for mismatched not with any great design statement in mind but because I liked all of them and couldn’t decide.

I am eyeing up more furniture to paint. I don’t think I own anything that wouldn’t be vastly improved by a coat of Chalk Paint and the addition of ceramic knobs!!

A Mini Makeover...

Not for me unfortunately but for the house.
A few years since moving in and we realised we had stopped noticing the awful bits!
In a bid to break out of this DIY lull, I invested in a big tin of Annie Sloan paint, a small tin of wax and revamped the fireplace:

Before & After

                                           

To be honest, I felt quite brave because - and let's be frank here - nothing I could do to that monstrosity would make it any worse. It turned out much better than I expected though - I am really pleased with it. I just need to get some logs to put in the grate and a mirror and pretty candles of course...

Used: 

• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in "old white". 
•  Zinsser BIN spray - Chalk Paint covers pretty much all woods except Teak and 1930's dark wood which has some kind of seeping stain added to it.
• Rust-oleum All Surface Paint in Matt Black
• Annie Sloan Clear Wax
• Low tack masking tape from my scrapbooking stash 

Merry Christmas

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day with all the family - 16 of us for Christmas Dinner this year!
I opened my last advent gift too:

As you can see it contained gorgeous alphas, veneer butterflies and lots of add ons from the Hello Again range. It is very generous Sandra and I love it - thank you very much.

On Christmas Eve...

My Santa gave to me...

Bazzill cardstock to match my Hello Again papers – perfect - thank you Santa.
I have absolutely loved my advent present and am thrilled with the gorgeous papers, card and embellishments Santa sent. I loved my extra bits too - my candles and chocolate. It has made December a much brighter month to have a lovely gift to open every day,
Tomorrow is the last day of course but just look how pretty my 25th present is:

I am being very good and hardly poking it or shaking it at all!
I don't think I will be able to update tomorrow as there are a lot of people relying on me for their turkey but I will take a photo and upload my last advent pressie very soon
Thank you again Sandra and Merry Christmas xx

On the 23rd Day of Christmas...

My Santa gave to me...

Carta Bella Hello Again papers to complete my collection. I am really thrilled with these and can now plan a mini album or set of pages using our holiday photos from earlier this year. The colours are perfect for outdoor activity and beach photographs and I have a lot of them to scrap! Thank you Sandra xxx

On the 22nd Day of Christmas...

My Santa gave to me...

Little crochet doilies by Kaisercraft in my favourite colours. 

Poor Sandra, I fear I am a bit of a nightmare to buy for: I like bright colours but not acidic-bright or primary-bright. I like classic but not grungey, vintage but not pastels and embellishments but nothing too lumpy! So in, other words, these are perfect!

Thank you Sandra xx

On the 21st Day of Christmas...

My Santa gave to me...

Some gorgeous Hello Again papers. I hadn't seen the one with cute speech bubbles before - they are fantasic and great colours. Thank you Sandra xxx