From UGLY to I'm not going to lie STUNNING:

Now that Olivia is getting older and can be easily distracted means I have just a little more time, so I 've begun to make all my ugly things cute.
And I'm not going to lie, I'm quite pleased with how it's going.
(Not saying I am a professional or anything. Cause I definitely have so so much to learn.)
Anyway below are tons of before and after pictures of the things I have redone so far.
There is still SO much. But it's a start.

Project #1:

This ugly as heck black bookshelf needed some serious work as you can tell.
So...

I primed it.
Painted it by hand with white paint.
Which took FOREVER. I'm not even kidding.
Took an electric sander and sanded little parts around the edges
And...

Turned it into this totally shabby chic bookshelf. And I LOVE it!

Oh and let's not forget the decorating part. My stuff looked SO much better on the newly redone shelf than that ugly black one.

Project #2:

When my parents finished the basement they bought these two chairs and a table/counter (I forgot the before picture so you will see the after) from Ikea. I wouldn't necessarily call them ugly but they definitely needed help.
So...


We (meaning my mom and I) primed them.
Hand painted them this adorable blue color.
With a fine piece of sand paper we lightly sanded the corners, a few random places and spots that we thought were the most likely to get knicked anyway.
Then we took a brown antique stain and lightly put in on the chairs. This was a bit more complicated than we thought but thanks to my aunt Annabelle who was sweet enough to come show us how, we were able to make it work. We mostly tried to focus on putting it on the parts we sanded and then of course did it randomly around as well.

Here is the finished table/counter.

Oh my gosh this table and chairs turned out perfectly. The pictures I took really don't do it justice.

Project #3:

This frame was a weird metallic color so we primed it, spray painted it white, and put the antique stain over it.
It looks so much better than before.

The frame in the background we primed, spray painted it white, and then lightly put the antique stain on it. I like it okay but I think it will look so much better if I find a cute paper and do some modge podge. So stay tuned for that goodness.

This frame was a plain black frame. And yes it was hideous. So we primed it, hand painted it with a sponge brush, and then with a fine piece of sand paper randomly sanded places on it.
I love this one so so much. It looks so antique.

This frame was plain black as well. It wasn't too bad but not so much the look I am trying to achieve. So we primed it, spray painted it white, and then sanded around the corners.
This one turned out stunning.

Anyway, get ready for some more projects, I have a lot more things I want to fix up. It will be fun to document my not so cute things becoming exactly what I want.

Way TOO easy key lime pie!

So I am not kidding you when I say this is SUCH an easy recipe.

But more importantly it tastes absolute amazing.

No joke.

So here is the recipe for anyone looking for a way good summer treat!

5 egg whites beaten

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup keylime juice (It takes about 3-4 limes depending on size)

1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust either homemade or store bought

1-2 teaspoons of lime zest (I would probably say 1 1/2, it just depends how limey you want it!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Separate the egg whites and beat them like crazy. They will be quite fluffy by the time you are done. Next add the 1/2 cup of lime juice, the sweetened condensed milk, and the lime zest. Mix until combined and then transfer to the crust. Bake in the oven for 15-25 minutes. You want the fork to come out clean but the consistency should be kind of like a cheesecake.

Let cool. I put mine in the refrigerator. When it is cool or when you are ready to eat it put whipped cream on it and you could top it with some sliced limes just to make it pretty. But what's the point of making it too pretty if it is just going to get eaten in 5 minutes!

The cutest and easiest burp cloths!

So my best friend just had a sweet baby boy.
I decided to make her some cute burp cloths rather than just buy the ugly cloth ones.
I made some for Olivia before she was born that turned out pretty cute but not near as cute as these. For Olivia's I bought the pack of the ugly cloth diapers and then sewed fabric that matched her nightgowns over it. The only problem with this was that the cloth diapers are kind of interesting shaped and stretch really easy. These ones turned out so much better. I love love the chenille.
Anyway, take a look!

All I did was buy some chenille and way cute fabric.
Cut it to the size I wanted.
Sew right sides together leaving about a 2- 2 1/2 inch opening.
Turned it right side out and hand stitched the opening closed.
Seriously easiest thing ever and plus so freaking cute.
Just think of all the stunning vintage fabrics you could use.