A Refinished Frame, and Today I’m Visiting….

Good morning!!  I’m very excited about today!  Today I am guest posting over at Sunshine.life.love!  Ashley at sunshine.life.love has an adorable blog, and she herself seems completely adorable, so head on over there and give her some love!  Plus, I blogged about a few things there that I haven’t mentioned here yet!

If you are visiting from sunshine.life.love, welcome!!  I am so happy to have you here, and I hope you like what you see!

So, just another heads up, I have scheduled my permanent change over to wordpress.org to happen February 28th!  With all sorts of things happening in my blog life, and in my personal life over the next couple weeks, I just want to make sure my calendar is clear around the time of the switch, just in case anything goes awry… and since I have been my own computer geek through this whole process, something is bound to go wrong!  🙂  So please watch my posts carefully around that time, as I am still not sure if it’s possible to automatically switch all of you over there myself, so I may need your help.  Plus, I will be offering a GIVEAWAY in the first week of the switch!

On to something more exciting… I showed off this frame at sunshine.life.love today, and I am going to share with you how I did it.  I am SO pleased with this project, I am in love with it… so here you go!

I picked up this picture and frame at a local thrift store last week for $10.  The lovely lady who rung it through said, “Oh!  What a beautiful picture and frame!!”  and I had to bite my tongue from saying “Not Yet!”

Frame, "before"

The first thing I did when I got home, was take the frame apart… anyone want to keep the picture?  😉

I washed it down, and went straight to work.

I gave it a coat of my Wythe Blue, from Benjamin Moore (the same color used for my Master Bedroom) and gave it some distressing.  I wanted both the brown and the gold from underneath to show through.

I gave it a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax, and then a coat of Annie Sloan dark wax.  This is how it looked just after I applied the wax.  It scares me everytime!!

I gave the wax a good buffing with a clean cloth, and the next morning another buffing.

I took the cardboard that was holding the original picture in, and gave it 2 coats of Chalkboard Paint.  This stuff is super easy to use, love it!…  Attached a wire hanger to the back, and ta-da!  Here is the “after” shots!

I needed something to write down the week’s menus, so I remember to take the meat out the night before… and also when I’m cooking and each individual member of the house takes turns coming into the kitchen asking what’s for dinner, I can now just say “look at the board!”

See how the dark wax gives such depth?  I love the effect it has.  I am in love with this stuff!

And I love the way the frame has finished off this corner of my kitchen… and no, I’m still not showing you the rest of my kitchen!!  It’s still so not blog worthy!

Thanks for reading, and have a fabulous day!

xo, Leanne

It’s a Special Saturday!!

I’m SO excited about today! Today my table Abby is being featured on Remodelaholic!! This is a big deal for a little girl like me, Remodelaholic is amazing, one of the first blogs I found when I first “found” blogland. So please go check it out here, and give both them and me some love!!

And if you are visiting here from Remodelaholic, welcome! I am happy to have you here and I hope you stay awhile! If you like what you see, I’d love for you to become a follower, and/or “like” my Facebook Page!

And a little more exciting news… my transfer over to wordpress.org is almost complete. I am so tired from all my late nights, and so sick of computer codes, but I’m almost there. I expect the complete change over to happen next week. I will keep you very posted and give you a heads up when it happens, as I might need your help tranferring your followship over!

As usual on Saturdays, this is my “catch-you-up” post, just in case you missed anything this week… and don’t forget, tomorrow is another Sleepy Sunday Linky Party, so stay tuned for that!

Sunday: My first Sleepy Sunday Blog Hop Linky Party – with a giveaway!

Monday: Ugly 70’s Brown

Tuesday: A Few Good Finds

With a little gushing, as I was featured on At Home with K!

"Every Child Is An Artist"

Wednesday: Whoohoo Wednesday

With a whole lot more gushing, as I was awarded with the Versatile Bloggers Award!!

Thursday: Valentines Gifts For The Kids

Friday: 5 Foods In A 10 Day YOU Challenge

Thank you so much for reading!!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

xo, Leanne

A Few Good Finds

My computer is very finicky today, so I’m going to make this a quick post… I don’t want to write a long one, then have the computer crash on me!

First I want to mention that I have been featured again!!  Woohooo!  Kindra from At Home with K featured my “Every Child Is An Artist”!

"Every Child Is An Artist"

Go ahead and check it out!  Thank you Kindra!  Kindra has an awesome blog, showing off all her gorgeous projects, and also blogging how they changed their life into a healthy one, after their son was diagnosed with autism.  Very interesting, inspiring, and informative.

 

Tuesdays I usually blog about my new years resolutions from last year and this year…how I managed to make my life a little more organized last year, and hope to make out home a little more functional this year…  which, by the way, I haven’t gotten very far on yet.  Except for about 8 garbage bags worth that I donated to Big Brothers.  That put a tiny dent towards my goal!  Anyways, today I am not feeling organized at all, so I just wanted to share with you something I found online.  Melissa, from The Test Kitchen Of Melissa Fallis, has a great post with a great tutorial, on how to make Freezer Slow Cooker Meals.  I was hoping to pull this off today, but my grocery bill was expensive enough, I figured I should leave it till next time.  But go visit the link, and let me know if you try it!

Source: melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com via Leanne on Pinterest

 

One other thing I found is something soooo cool.  If you are into making wall art like I am currently addicted to, you will loooove these 2 links.  The first is from a very well-known Graphic Designer, at The Graphics Fairy, where she has a great post on 12 Easy Image Transfer Methods.  You know how I already use pencil coloring on the back of my images to transfer, here is where I learned a pastel or chalk works even better.  Great tip!  But here she has a great tutorial on how to make your images huge, before transfering it… on a free website called BlockPosters.com.  

Finding this information was an Aaaahhhh! Moment for me!  So exciting!  A easy, free way to blow up my work to fit on large boards – no more stencils for me baby!  I’m getting a system down pat!  Making my time more functional… maybe I’m onto something functional this year after all!!

I hope you find some of these links useful!  I’d love to know if you had the time to check them out, what you thought, and if you have a chance to try any of it!

xo,  Leanne

Introducing….

Today I am excited to return the favor, and introduce you to my friend Randee, from Randee’s Organized Chaos!!  I have to tell you, this lady is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. at a certain something that I am absolultely NOT…  Adorable snacks!  Most of the time, I can’t even be bothered to make food adorable, it’s enough for me to make it in the first place!  But Randee is inspiring me, and may even get me to take a chance and make something cute one of these days!!   …or I’ll just leave it up to my sister, she’s already amazing at it!  😉

So here she is!  Take it aways Randee!!

HI!!  My name is Randee and I am visiting from

Randee’s Organized Chaos !!

I first want to thank Leanne for asking me to guest post!!  I am SUPER DUPER excited about this opportunity!!  I am a stay at home mom that LOVES my kids and my husband!!  EVERY aspect of my life is chaotic but I would not have it any other way!  I am a mom that LOVES to craft, cook, throw parties and find new EASIER ways to do things!  I think what makes me a little bit different, is the fact that I tell it like it is and have fun with life!!  When you read my posts, just think of a very energetic and SOUTHERN voice and you will have me pegged!!  😉

I want to tell you about a party that I have going on right now called

RANT and RAVE About My Blog!!

It is a party where you can link up your blog and have it critiqued by fellow bloggers!  This is done anonymously and I am the only one that sees the results besides you!!  In return, you will critique two blogs!!  So far, there has been a wealth of information and I am taking it to heart!!  What better way to see what people think about your blog!!  So come on by and link up!!  😉 
THANKS again for having me today!!  I hope to get to know some of you here in BLOGLAND!! 
I am sharing with you today a post about one of the MANY chaotic things that I think up in my head!!  They are always MUCH easier in my head than when I actually execute them!! 😮
ENJOY!!!!

Mary-Catherine’s teacher came to me and asked me if I would be willing to a “cute” snack for the 100th day of school!!  Of course, I said YES!!  I went home and started looking around on the web and even went to Pinterest but I just couldn’t find anything that I LOVED!!  I found that most people brought different items in 10’s such as M&M’s, cheerios, pretzels and then combined them to make a hundred!!  Ok…that was all FINE and DANDY but just not me!!  So my little mind went to working when it dawned on me that I had the PERFECT idea!!

One of MC’s favorite books of all times is

ERIC CARL’S

The Very Hungry Caterpillar! 

 I remembered where I had made a birthday cake once in the shape of a caterpillar so how could I make the HUNGRY CATERPILLAR for the 100th day!!  Well here is how….

YES….there are 100 MINI CUPCAKES!!!!  😉

The kids AND teachers loved it!!  😉

Amazing, right?!?  Thanks again SO much Randee, for visiting here at Because (I think) I Can!  I only wish I could see you in person!  🙂

Thanks for reading everyone!!!

~Leanne

I’ve Been Featured!!

Whoohoo!  I am SO very excited!!  I have been featured for the very first time, at my new friend Randee’s blog!  Check it out at Randee’s Organized Chaos!!

Randee is a fabulous born and raised Texan woman living in Oklahoma.  I love reading her posts about her family, and her 2 kids, MC and Nathaniel.  We began following each others blogs a short time ago, and made a fast connection, so I’m thrilled she’s the first to show me off to her readers!  So please do go see my post there and say hi!  🙂  I haven’t blogged here yet about any of the projects I wrote about for Randee, but I will be doing how-to’s for each of them, so stay tuned!

Plus, Randee is also hosting “Rant and Rave About My Blog” where bloggers can sign up to have their blogs anonymously critiqued – fabulous!  I look forward to hearing what others have to say about my blog!  So if you are a blogger and would like to join in, come check out her rant and rave page!

Thanks for reading!!

~Leanne

If you are just visiting my blog, thanks for visiting!  I love comments, and I love, love new followers… to follow and receive my postings by email, just find the spot at the top right hand corner where it invites you to add your email.

I’d also love for my readers to click on “Like” (below) if you liked today’s post, and of course give me your comments, anytime!  Just click below where it says “Leave a Comment”.  Thanks!!