Donna's Nightstands

I wish I could say that I'm superwoman and can do everything and keep up with my job, my kids, my house, my yard, my clients, and that I can blog effortlessly and still always look good doing it. But, reality is that I constantly have laundry to fold on the arm of the couch, my kitchen always has dishes to do, a bathroom probably needs cleaning, if I'm home I'm probably in yoga or pajama pants sans makeup and blogging falls down the list when I'm super busy.

My point is easily made in this post. I did these cabinets in November/December and have had the pictures ready to go for a few months and still haven't done it. So here we go: I present to you the most painted nightstands in history…

The tops stripped pretty easily so I thought it wouldn't be so bad. These tables had the nasty 70's finish on them. Green with the antiquing finish. Underneath the antiquing and green was turquoise. Underneath the turquoise was cream, and underneath the cream was the typical varnish finish. I'm guessing I used a gallon of stripper to do these two little nightstands. Whew!

Stripped down they looked a little scary. Some flaws showed up and I had some details to fix and sanding to do.

But wow! So worth it!!! These turned out just lovely and looked like they were supposed to.

I used a layered stain technique with these pieces to get them to look like the original stain had. I fell in love with layering stains with this project and have done it with a couple more things in my own home now. I had a very pleased client and I was pretty happy with them myself.

The Yummy

I have a Pinterest board called "The Yummy" where I pin lots of recipes that I never make. I think this happens to lots of people, I'm hoping it does and that I'm not just lazy about the Pinterest recipes. That particular board has inspired me to add another little variation to my regular posts. I know I'm usually all about design, furniture, and decorating; but the truth is that I grew up cooking and baking from a very young age and I'm pretty decent at it.

I have already shared how I plan to make this blog more about my journey in life: my children, my home renovation, my design work, and…a little something every now and then that my family adores to eat. This first one is super simple.

Vanilla Bean Rum Rice Krispies Treats

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

14 Homemade vanilla bean marshamallows (mine are 2 inch squares)

2 Teaspoons Dark Rum (I use Bacardi Select)

6 cups Rice Krispies

I pile all the marshmallows into a microwave-safe large bowl and top with the butter cut into tablespoon segments. I heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes and the stir with a cooking spray coated spatula. Then I heat for one minute more. I add the rum and stir it into the butter/marshmallow mix. This does boil up quite a bit, but don't worry - you will love it! Lastly I add the rice krispies and stir until well coated. Then I spray my hands with cooking spray and pour the mixture into a pre-greased 9X13 pan and press them out into place. Once they are set, I cut them into squares and they are usually gone within half a day at home. If I take them places I have to take a minimum of two pans.

If you don't want to use the rum just use rum extract or even plain old vanilla is pretty awesome. So insanely much better than the standard treats.

If you're interested in a great marshmallow recipe I use this one.

I'm betting these won't last more than a day and the kids are still in school this week ;)

I'm Back

This blog has mostly been about my work with furniture and decor. Family moments have been squeezed in here and there because all I have ever done, I have done for my family. I do the furniture and decor because it is a passion yes, but also because it was a way for me to make some money for my family and stay at home where I felt I needed to be with my children. But life is strange sometimes, so this post is going to be more personal.

For the majority of my life I have lived a fairly blessed existence. I grew up the baby of three in a family that adored me. I had loving parents who always put God first and were amazing examples for us kids. I've always had fantastic friends. I fell in love at the age most girls do, was married, and started living my fairytale. I had a wonderful guy, started a family, and then we bought a home and I found my passion for decor, DIY, and furniture.

Last year I hit a pretty major bump in my fairytale, pretty big turbulence, when my mother passed away. It rocked me hard. Some days it still does. Then things were looking up again. We got a new home closer to some amazing friends and closer to my father. We called it 'Our forever home' and I started making the plans to make it ours.

Someway, somehow, the fairytale crashed and burned. This is a journey I never wanted to take and still cannot believe it is happening. 

I've gone back to work now, full-time, outside the home. My passion for furniture and design has had to take a back seat while I have gotten things in order. Things are looking up just a bit more now. I enjoy my job and have met some truly amazing people. 

Even though things haven't worked out the way I thought they would, I have realized how blessed I still am. I have realized how many more friends I have than I thought I did. I have realized how much God has been at work in my life by bringing those people to me and placing me where I needed to be at the right times. It truly amazes me.

Now, even though I am working outside the home for the first time in 11.5 years, and even though my children are at a crazy busy age, I am still too much in love with my passion to give it up completely.

Peacock Door Designs is back up and running. Even though it is only a part time job (for now) I am still going to be posting some amazing client work, keep you updated on this crazy time capsule house, and throw in a bit more of me and my kiddos as well. It may be longer between posts and some of the plans I have will take much more time to complete now, but I love this crazy blogging world of DIY and decor too much to let it go.

So from me and my little ones I want to say thank you for following and reading in the past and we hope you continue to read more in the future.

Thank You - Paula

Better Late Than Never

Life happens sometimes and you get bogged down or things are out of your control and you just need to let yourself breathe. I had been meaning to get pictures of Ashleigh's home for a while, but she was in the midst of a big renovation and decorating. Then I was completely booked, then my family moved, and I was completely booked again for a while. Things have slowed down and finally our schedules meshed! So this morning, I braved the ice and wind and loaded my camera and my Trey up and went to Ashleigh's for a little time with my friend and some quality time with her now finished spaces that just happen to house some of my most favorite pieces ever!

This buffet was fabulous and now it's decorated to perfection for the holidays and sitting in the entry hall of the home:

Sorry about the crazy flash - there were some temporary electrical problems at the time I was there and I had to use a flash. Believe it or not this is diffused. 

Remember Ashleigh's Dining Table? Well, all of the chairs are in place and the table is gloriously set for a Christmas home tour:

And of course, the fish chairs :)

The last piece to update you on was her darling daughter Gentry's armoire. This and the dining table are still some of my most favorite pieces to ever do! The armoire has knobs now and they are just precious!

A big thank you to my sweet friend and client Ashleigh. I love her adventurous, eclectic, and flawless taste. She was so sweet to let me into her home to photograph everything. She is a precious person and I'm so lucky to not only have worked with her, but to call her friend :)

Halloween Decorations

I love Fall. It's seriously my favorite. I know everyone really looks forward to Thanksgiving and even more people look forward to Christmas, but I'm a Halloween girl for sure.

I love the spookiness, and the whimsy. I love how I don't have to dust down the spider webs for a month ;) I love how pretty all the dark decorations can look in a light house, and I LOVE pumpkins!

This year I've kept it very simple, mostly because we are so busy right now. However, here are a few little things I've put out for myself and the kiddos.

Cute little pumpkins

Little spooky things scattered around

I even gave the chalkboard wall a little Halloween fun. I'm not going to pretend that I'm artistic at all, but I do think I did a decent job for free handing those letters.

Soon it's going to be Thanksgiving and the decor will change again - but oh for this month I sure do love my little spooky things :)

Jackie's Hutch

There are certain pieces of furniture that you just can't get over. You fall so fast and hard that you are honestly sad when they go back to the clients house. THIS was one of those pieces.

I will be honest, it was a beast to work on. Size, bleed-through, braded hardware instead of screws, warped wood...but oh my and a great big sigh - I adore this piece.

This is a family piece for my client and is even more meaningful now.

The piece came to me like this:

Already insanely gorgeous - but needed a little pick me up to suit the clients tastes and home. It was such a joy to work for Jackie. She is darling and so very kind. She was sweet enough to offer me comfort and a little mothering while I worked on this piece. Things have been a little rough for me lately and she just seemed to know when I needed the mothering and a hug or a call. I have been so blessed by her in this.

She chose Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen because she adored it on my old striped table and thought it would be perfect for her space.

I just love all the detail on this piece. It's carved to gorgeous perfection!

It turned out just wonderful and I couldn't stop touching it. I love the buttery soft finish of a waxed piece. It just makes me happy.

She loved it and as soon as she got it home and in place she sent me a quick picture. I'm so happy with how it looks and I love that she is thrilled with the piece. It's so amazing how you can be so touched by a client. The relationships you form are just incredible in this business!

Cowgirl Round Up Birthday

My baby is 8. Eight!!! How did that happen?

Way back in August I had asked her what type of party she wanted thinking I was such a good mom for remembering to start early with the planning. She said she wanted a cowgirl party. 

Well, I asked her in advance and had good ideas, then promptly forgot about it until she gets in the car with an invitation to another little girl's birthday...a little girl who's birthday is a week after hers!

"Mama, my birthday is in 10 days! Have you sent out the invitations yet?"

"Ummmm, no. Who do you want to invite? I need to do text invitations because snail mail won't work. I'm so sorry Duchess I forgot!"

"Don't worry mama. Let's just have a few over and make it really fancy and a sleepover!"

"Deal!"

So, I said 'deal' like it was no big, but I panicked. Yes I did. How was I going to pull off intimate and fancy in 10 days with my work load? 

Another issue is (and this is brutal honesty time) I'm a little depressed. I've been in slow mode for the last few months. After my mother passed, I worked around the clock for months. Then we moved, and I worked very hard for a while in the new house. Then I just kind of shut down. I'm finally feeling like that is over and I'm moving forward, but this party was my first to ever do without my mother and I'm not going to lie - it stunk. I think I cried at least twice a day while working on party stuff.

But, I finally pulled it all together and this is what we ended up with.

These hats only come in blue and red with matching badges on them. She wanted burlap, lace, and baby pink as the colors so I got to painting with some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antoinette and a detail brush.

I also hot glued some cuter badges on the hats

This is what I ended up with for the party favor hats

Jade's badge was gold and I used pink ribbon around the base of hers instead of jute.

All sassy and happy before the girls arrived.

I also made her a banner. This will be slightly modified and hang in her bedroom now.

The "R" was her favorite letter.

So the table and photo booth area looked like this:

I made the cake

And the cupcakes

The western lettering (an artist I am NOT)

The s'mores pops - which are awesome!

I even made individual chocolate milks for everyone.

Then came the games:

We had sawhorse roping

then sawhorse riding

Then barrel racing with stick horses

We also had a game of horseshoes and paint can bowling. I was cold so I quit taking pictures and the girls were freezing so we went inside as soon as all of them had done all of the games. It was time for the photo booth.

My daughter is a ham.

Nothing like cowgirl hats, pancakes, and giggles for breakfast the next morning.

And one tired, but happy little girl with her kitten after it's all over.