new life for an old chest of drawers!

The previous homeowners of our house decided to leave a bunch of furniture for us, which was awesome because we barely had any! I was so thankful. One of the things they left was this little yellow set of drawers. Looked to have been painted several times, but was in great shape.
I decided that I liked the charmed, vintage look of it, but after a while, the chipping paint starting wearing on me.
So, a few days ago, I mixed up some paint I had and gave it a little facelift! Here's what it looked like previously:

Not all that bad right? Should have gotten a closeup. It was pretty beat up looking when you looked at it closer.
Anyway, after some sanding and couple of coats of new paint...ta da!

Ok, so you can't really tell that well, but it really is quite an improvement!  Maybe not the best before/after post ever written, but you get the idea. :)

On a more personal note, I'm so very sorry  I have been neglecting my blog! I know I have a couple of faithful readers, so thanks for sticking around. :) I've been super busy with the holidays and now I'm preparing for 2 baby showers that I'm co-hosting! Hopefully I'll remember to take some pictures of some of the gifts I'll be making for these precious ladies. Then I may have something to actually show you on here!
Have a good day, everyone. Much love!

Jenn

New picture wall!

Without the pictures!
So I was surfing on Pinterest sometime during the past 100 bazillion times I've surfed Pinterest, and I found this photo.

How cute is that? Seriously cute. And i looked at it an instantly I knew in my heart...this...was meant to be. In my home. On my wall, forever and ever amen.

This is what my wall previously looked like. Snooze McGee.

So, I got my hands on lots of frames. I already had several, and I bought a few more at the thrift store. My sweet grandma got the kids a little chalkboard for Christmas, and I already had the paint!
I got to work.
Painted, waited, more paint, wait. Measuring, leveling, mapping out, etc.  Finally, I felt like I had enough frames ready.  Got them up on the wall.

Seemed like something was missing. It just wasn't enough awesomeness, am I right? I wasn't satisfied. So I looked around my house for more un-used or waiting-for-a-new-purpose frames and found 2 more plus a cute little hoop. VOILA!

I am so pleased! I love it. And the kids like the chalkboard more than before because now they get to take it off the wall and use it, then put it back to display their masterpiece.  And I just LOVE being able to put my kids school stuff on the wall, instead of the fridge, where it often gets lost in the mix of calanders, pictures, etc.

I've been working on lots of other projects as well, like finishing the kids rooms and my office. It's coming along, but slowly. You may have noticed my extended absence from blogging (again.), oops. I was going NUTS making all the Christmas gifts I had committed myself to! Made one for every family member, except a few of the kids. It was so fun, but sure was time consuming.

For the kids room, I hung up a few pieces of art that I made, and one that I just printed from the Interwebs, and then I made this garland. And then this. (the pic is the one I was inspired by.)

It is so cute.  As soon as I finish the boys duvet covers, I'll post the before/after. I know you are all on the edge of your seats!

Some amazing news happened amidst all the crazy though! I am an aunt for the very first time, on my side of the family! My big sis, Bets, had her first baby, Maggie, on Christmas day! Mommy and baby are doing fine, although a bit sleep deprived, but as soon as that passes, I'm excited to see how much they enjoy life together.  So happy for that cute little family! And I have to say, it's fun to be an aunt. :)

Bless you guys! see ya when I see ya.

Jenn

We have a winner!!

Congrats to the winner of my giveaway!! I used Mr. Random Generator and it came up with number...

 #20!!
       "Hi there!! Thanks for the chance to win such a fabulous bag!! :) Have a fun giveaway!" -Lauranie


Congrats, Lauranie!! You'll be hearing from me soon!
Thanks, all, for participating! 

Blessings! -Me

It's GIVEAWAY DAY!

One of my absolute favorite sewing sites, SewMamaSew, is doing their semi-annual Giveaway day today, and I am SO psyched. I waste entire days scrolling through the giveaways, entering, leaving fun comments, and hopefully winning something! It's a fantastic way to snag a free prize that you can turn around and give as a Christmas present! How sweet is that. Seriously.
Ok, so as you can guess, I am participating!
Here's the cute bag that I'll be giving to one lucky blog visitor...
Ta-da!

So cute, right? I know. I was tempted to keep this one, but I figured I should share. :)
Anyway, on to the rules.
I'm  not gonna make this difficult, as I know how annoyed I get when I have to answer a question on these giveaway days for my comment entry. So here's what ya do.

Madatory entry:  Say hi to me in the comments section!

Second entry option: Follow my blog!

Third entry option: go 'Like' the Make Mine Blue facebook page and come back to let me know you did.

Fourth entry: go to my shop and let me know what you're favorite item is over there.

*If you don't have a blogger account, don't forget to leave your email or some way to contact you in your comment so I can let you know that you won!*

The giveaway entry time will end on Dec 16th at 5 p.m, and I'll announce the winner shortly after that.  Yay!!  And P.S, I dont ship internationally for giveaways, but shop orders do! (hint hint.)

Have fun! Grab your cup of coffee, a comfy pillow to sit on, and surf through the amazing list of talented crafters and bloggers over at SMS.

Enjoy!
-Jenn

**P.S.  All SewMamaSew Giveaway participants are offered a 15% discount on any single item in my shop!! Head on over, enter 'SEWMAMASEW' in the coupon code during checkout! The code is good until the 16th.**

Christmas sale!

This weekend only, you can buy any item from my shop for 40% off!!! Just enter the coupon code 'MERRY' in checkout and voila! A new Christmas gift, or just a treat for yourself.

Come on over and shop around!
Lots of cute bags and gifts to choose from...

See you there! :) Merry Christmas. And look for another sale before Christmas, too! Maybe even a giveaway....

My dining room wall.

I thought it was about time to show you my pretty wall!
I suppose I should preface this with telling you that I'm incapable of hanging pictures straight. No matter what I do, it's just not possible for me.  Not to mention that in our old house, none of the floors or ceilings are straight either. So, on that note, here's what the wall used to look like:

Yeah...I thought it looked good after I hung them all.  Ha!!
So a little while ago, my mother in law, who is amazing at most things, helped me hang shelves up so that I could put my pictures on them and they'd stay straight!

Isn't that better?! I think so.  I let out an audible sigh of gratitude and appreciation when they were finished being hung.  And how do you like my Christmas decoration!?  That's as good as it gets in my house this year....hopefully next year I'll be more motivated to get festive.

Hope you enjoyed this little peek into my home! Have a good rest of the week. Blessings!

Pictures. Because it's been too long!

I have some random, un-thought-out things I can put on here right now because, frankly, I remembered that sometimes people do check this blog! And maybe you're thinking, "man, it's been ages since Jenn has posted ridiculously cute pictures of her kids and random musings on life, and by golly, I miss it."

Today's your lucky day!

from our weekend camping. an attempt at a place for Haven to nap! He loved it too much to sleep in it.

Just too cute.

in the poncho Grammy made her! She's saying 'cheese!'

Asher made this firetruck out of play-do. Do you see the sirens?

Ro in his Thanksgiving play. He refused to wear his costume but he sang and said his lines brilliantly! I was one proud mommy.

And some pictures of my latest inspiration of projects I'd love to do soon. Sorry I can't link to them: I have no idea where they came from. Ha!

Thinking about doing this above my dining room door. Love the scroll-y brackets

So easy and cute, how could I not?

This is going in Havens room. Someday.

How much would your hubby's love this? Heck, I'd love it myself!

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. Who is making gifts for Christmas this year? I'm working on some baby gifts because get this: 2 of my sisters and one sister-in-law are having babies soon!!
I've currently got these projects, some gifts and some not,  cut and sitting on my desk:

4 pairs of leggings
3 shirts
1 flannel jammy pants
2 blankets
a nursing cover
wipes case
changing pad
3 purses for the shop
a pillow cover for my new guest bed

I may be in over my head, but I guess we'll find out! :)
Blessings, all!