So, I love to spray paint!  Nothing is better than the almost instant gratification of spray painting!  It can go from ugly to pretty in no time.  So this past Thursday when it was super warm outside I decided to finish up my chair project.  Leigh, scored these beauties for me at Goodwill a few months ago (and by a few I might mean 5 or 6).  She knew I was looking for 2 “end” chairs for our kitchen table & she snagged the pair for $10.  I have no idea where the before pictures have gone but use your imagine…they were boring 1990′s brown wood chairs with no character!

On a side note I have rearranged our morning room, where the kitchen table lives & I don’t really have room for the “end” chairs…ugh! Well I will figure something out because I love the chairs! The color is wildflower blue…amazing!  I think they are better in person & they are a pretty close match to the pillows & roman shades that we have in the family room & morning room.  It is always so hard to find an exact match with spray paint b/c our spray paint options aren’t that vast, but I did the best I could.Here is one of the chairs sitting next to my new desk…that is another post all together!  Also, this is what I look like while I am spray painting!  If this picture shows up anywhere (Leigh) I will never speak to you again!   Actually I hardly ever wear the breathing mask like I should but I thought I would try it one for kicks…I think I might like it!

This year we spent Easter in Williamsburg & while I loved being with our family it was weird not being at home and having our normal Easter.  Granted we had our normal Easter meal on Palm Sunday, but it still seemed weird not to be at home.  We had a great time in Williamsburg, once again courteous of my parent’s time share(love that time share & the 6 hour meetings…haha!)

Campbell got up on Sunday morning & was excited to see what the Easter Bunny had brought her, but we had to wait until everyone else was awake to see what she got.  Lucky for everyone she slept until 8:15, so no one had to get up super early! After her late nap we all headed outside for an Easter Egg Hunt.  Sure must be nice to have your own private Easter Egg Hunt.  Complete with tour guides telling you where the eggs are located(Katie & Brian!)

Don’t mind creepy Brian in the corner waiting to scare a 2 year old!  Noni, Katie & Campbell checking out the ducks & turtles (or Colin’s as Campbell kept calling them!)

Campbell & the Easter Bunny 2012

Campbell & the Easter Bunny 2010

I know, I know there are tons of other amazing stores that should have wish list & they do, but I decided to do this post about the Home Depot.  Campbell loves the Home Depot, we usually end up there once every 2 weeks for so, and with all the projects we have been doing recently it seems like we have been there at least once a week!  Campbell really loves to ride the John Deere tractors.  So, since I have been there a lot I have been doing some looking & they have some really cute things & a lot of reasonable priced items.

Starburst Mirror in Antique Gold…AMAZING!

Even more amazing it is only $35.00.  I have seen them in other magazines for $200-$400!

Gala 3-Lighting Semi-Flush Light

I have always wanted to change out our front hall light & this might be just the beauty to do it!  $100…not to shabby!

We also want to get a new patio set, seeing as how the one that we currently have is from Brian’s parent house & while it has served it purpose after almost 7 years of living here it is time for an upgrade!

Mallorca Collection by Martha Stewart

Not sure what color we would go with…I think the tan has more options for accents colors but I do really like the burnt orange color.

Andrews 7 Piece Patio Set by Hampton Bay

I think I like the idea of cushions on the seats, but then I have to worry about storage & rain & replacement cushions.  So who knows what we will end up with or if I will find something else that will work!  I will be sure to keep you posted!

This is what Campbell decided to dress up as the other night…she said “I get dressed, go to gym!”  I hope that Brian doesn’t take fashion advice from Campbell on what to wear to the gym.

I love Sarah’s House, you know the show on HGTV, well on her Farmhouse season she found these amazing corbels that she used as a room divide between her kitchen & dining  room and ever since I saw that episode I have been telling Brian that we need some corbels in our lives.  We have some wimpy corbels “holding up” our counter top in the kitchen, but I wanted CORBELS!

So a couple of weekends ago we headed out corbel shopping around Richmond,  I had done some research and found 3 different places to check out.  The first place we checked out was the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  I totally recommend checking that place out before you begin any project, they have some amazing things at amazing prices; but no corbels.  Next we headed a few blocks down the road to Paul’s Place, a locally owned store that I follow on Facebook, they seemed to be a pretty safe bet for having some corbels.  But alas when we arrived at the store and spoke with the lady working we found out that most architectural  salvage items that they have are stored at another location, that of course is closed on Saturdays!  So, we left our contact information and told her what we were looking for and what size we needed.  Well we never heard back from them, which was disappointing but we never followed up with them either.

Corbels from Paul’s Place…which I loved but need way to much work for me!  Good thing Brian was there b/c I probably would have purchased them but he used works like sandblasted & I decided that was to much work for this novice DIY girl!

After Paul’s Place we headed to Caravati’s which is an amazing warehouse  stocked with tons of salvage and antique pieces ( like claw foot tubs, refinished for $6,000…a little out of our budget & not even what we were looking for)!  But we had the most luck finding corbels there.  But after doing some digging & discussing we decided that spending $150 on one corbel ($300 for a pair) that were going to need a lot of work just wan’st what we had in mind or in budget.  So we snapped a few pictures of our favorites & set out for the Home Depot to price out making our own corbels.

Caravati’s corbel…out inspiration for making our own!

All I can say is thank goodness I have a handy husband because I got myself some custom corbels that fit perfectly and  only cost $65 for the pair, not bad if I do say so myself!

The building process:

(which involved cutting, sanding, jigsawing, sanding & tracing)

The Painting Process:

(which involved 3 coats of paint to cover the wood, but still look aged)

The Hanging Process:

(involved tall ladders & me almost dropping corbels onto kitchen counter…yikes!)

The Basically Finished Product:

(all we need to do is add the molding)

Also, I promise to post some better pictures once I get a chance to take some during the day with better lighting.

On Saturday afternoon we headed to Pump It Up to celebrate sweet Avery’s 3rd birthday!  Campbell loves herself a bouncey house so she was super excited about Avery’s party!  I have to admit that Brian  and I both like the bouncey house birthday parties as well.  It is fun to climb and bounce all over those enormous blow up houses & obstacles.

Campbell sliding

Group Picture (look at those sweaty kids!)

Avery’s Adorable Cake

We had another very productive weekend here at the Harris household.  We managed to build a swing set, start on the corbels  for the kitchen & survive a snow storm.  Okay, well it wasn’t a snow storm, but it was our first snow of the season.  We got about 4″ but the temp rose so fast today that the snow was basically melted by noon today.  Crazy that on Saturday it was 55 & on Friday it is supposed to be 70!  Yeah you read that right, snowing yesterday & 70 on Friday!

But back to the important stuff, Campbell’s new swing set.  Boy oh boy was she excited about the set.  She talked about it all last week, every time we went out to the garage and she saw the wood & boxes with the swings she would say daddy build my swing set.  She spent the day with Noni & Pops and I called to check on her & while I was talking to her she just kept yelling ” you build my swing set!”  It was so cute!

We owe a big thank you to Brad & Brendan  for helping out with swing set construction; we also owe Chad a thank you for coming over and bring beer & helping with final install of the swings.

The beginning of the projectWork, Work Work!Almost a swing set!Campbell’s First RideOur Family on the Swing Set!Swing Set with Snow(hard to believe this was the next day!)

Who doesn’t paint on Sunday morning in a pull up & an apron!?