Soooo, this week, we had to do a quick project swap at the last minute! We gave some old furniture an update with some Chalk Paint and Decorative Wax.

It's almost Christmas and we have family coming into town, they put a Facebook post out there for a place to stay while they were in town.  I watched as others said their rooms were full but had a couch, so I graciously offered up our guest room.  But, guess what?!  We don't have a guest room! LOL! :)  We do have what used to be a tiny babies room that's now a storage room but I've been wanting to turn it into a guest room.... so I talked Garrett into going furniture shopping with me!  Leaving the furniture store realizing it was a bit expensive to buy a new bedroom suit so close to Christmas.  As we were exiting the parking lot we saw a sign for a Bazaar, The Market Bazaar!  Garrett was all in for checking out what this crazy place might have to offer.  While in there, we found this really nice sold old oak bedroom set!  It was perfect, just needed some new life brought into it!  We picked up the set for $400 and added some Rustoleum Chalk Paint in Aged Gray.  We then added some Behr Antique Wax and really brought some new life and sparkle to a really solid, but dated looking bedroom set!  It turned out great!  It really looks beautiful and now still has tons of life left in it! 

Stuff We Used:
Chalked Aged Gray Ultra Matte: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-30-oz-Chalked-Aged-Gray-Ultra-Matte-Interior-Paint-285143/205955828?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-305163554-_-205955828-_-N
Clear Interior Chalk Decorative Wax: https://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-8-oz-Clear-Interior-Chalk-Decorative-Wax-Paint-714016/305936939
Dark Interior Chalk Decorative Wax: https://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-8-oz-Dark-Interior-Chalk-Decorative-Wax-Paint-716016/305936955?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal2_rr-_-305936939-_-305936955-_-N

Choose a good place to paint your piece.  Protect the area with a drop cloth. Turn your can of chalk paint upside down, so that the pigments start to mix.  Use the damp cloth to wipe off any dust or dirt on your furniture. Shake and then stir your paint. Start painting your piece with a good paintbrush.  Chalk paint dries very quickly, and you should be able to tell right away if it is going to need a 2nd coat.  If so, apply 2nd coat as soon as the 1st coat is dry.

After the paint is dry, begin applying the clear wax in small sections, using the drapery lining cloth.  Apply in circular motions, starting at the edge furthest from you.  Wipe off excess wax, using a straight wiping motion.  There is no dry time for wax, so you can begin distressing as soon as you are done waxing.

We used 120 grit sandpaper and sand the places on the furniture where it would naturally get wear and tear...the edges, the legs, any scrollwork, etc.  Stand back and look at your piece to make sure you are happy with the level of distressing.  

Now it is time to apply the dark wax.  Use the same method as the clear wax....work in small areas, using circular motions and finish with straight wipes. I finish the piece by applying one last coat of clear wax on the top if it is a table or some other piece that will get lots of use.

We just LOVE this Stacked Christmas Gift Porch Topiary!  This was a couple of Pinterest DIY ideas that we mashed together.  We found a super cute Christmas Gift Topiary but it didn't look like it would weather well AND it looked like it might be a bear to store.  We also found a table top version of these whimsical wood gifts.  

We thought we'd keep that cute whimsical look and stack them on a fence picket and put them in our planter by the front door.  And, what's nice about this statement front porch piece, it's also easy to store in our already super full attic! :)   

These were SO easy to cut out with our Ryobi jig saw!  From there, we just added some paint using some quick circle & stripe stencils we cut out on our Cricut Maker, added some bows and fun sparkle found in the floral section and voila!... a fun Holiday Topiary!  We hope you guys love this idea as much as we do! 

Stuff We Used:
Cricut Maker: https://home.cricut.com/
Oracal 631 Matte Vinyl: https://amzn.to/2PpW3lM
Transfer Tape: https://amzn.to/2P5ic8M

Ryobi Brad Nailer: https://amzn.to/2qEmp9X 

Acrylic Paint Value Pack by Craft Smart: https://amzn.to/2PpWwoa

We love the look of these new pallet snowman porch signs! If you've searched anything DIY on Pinterest you've probably seen them!  We decided to try our own and ended up with a unique spin on the idea.  We used printable vinyl for our snowman eyes and added a vinyl nose and mouth.  We put several coats of spray polyurethane on it to ensure that it will weather well. We've also recently seen the new Grinch movie. It was great!  We've been inspired to make a few Grinch related Christmas decorations.  And, if you've watched any of our other videos, it's fun for us when we get to play "Who made it better" game! So Garrett pulled out some surprises on his Grinch and I "cheated" making my snowman. What do YOU think?! Who made it better?! 

Stuff We Used:
Cricut Maker: https://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=567915&u=1812082&m=51766
Oracal 631 Matte Vinyl: https://amzn.to/2PpW3lM
Transfer Tape: https://amzn.to/2P5ic8M

Ryobi Brad Nailer: https://amzn.to/2qEmp9X 

Acrylic Paint Value Pack by Craft Smart: https://amzn.to/2PpWwoa

Ostrich Feathers: https://amzn.to/2SshWmo

Grinch Font: https://www.dafont.com/grinched.font
Grinch Stencil: https://www.etsy.com/listing/654648425/the-grinch-svg-eps-jpg-png-dwg-digital?ref=shop_home_active_1&pro=1
Snowman SVG: https://designbundles.net/jencraft-designs/116249-christmas-svg-bundle-snowman-face-svg-christmas-snowman