Annabellea.com

We are gearing up to open the Shabby Coast Cottage next month!

This week I have been working on painting the side room…

first it needed a fresh coat of white paint on the ceiling, walls and floor!

All the wood in the cottage is Heart Pine and is almost 100 years old!

 Then I knew that I wanted to do something fun and different on the floors…

after searching the web for inspiration, I came across a fabulous blog - Jones Design Company and she has a tutorial on painting a design on a wall.  I loved it and thought that it would look great on the floor!

So I enlarged the template that she provides to  16 inches and cut it out of cardboard.

and then i spent the next 2 days on the floor!

I primed the floor lightly so that the grain would still show through and used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Gray for the design…

 I seriously would have lost my mind with painting a smaller design on walls! Kudos to anyone that can do that!

 After I got it painted, I sanded lightly in some spots and then waxed with a floor wax!

I am hoping that it will age naturally and distress beautifully!

and now a little glimpse into the disaster that this room was just a few months ago…

It was like a Horders Episode…. very scarrrryyyyy…….

And now, The room all Painted and Happy!!

We can’t wait to get the other rooms done and all the goodies loaded in!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / French Country Cottage /  Faded Charm  Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

This Project was featured at:

This is one of those projects that you start out with one idea in mind and end up on a totally different path…

I can’t be the only one that does that , right? RIGHT?

So , I’m not going to give away my initial idea, because i still hope to accomplish it, but let’s just say this is what i started with…

a starfish skeleton made from wrapping newspaper around and then tying it with twine .

This is where my mind wandered off from my original plan, call it impatience, I am easily distracted…

anyway, i took my drop cloth scraps and wrapped the starfish using my glue gun to secure it …

then i wrapped it with thread , really sloppy…

i started out sewing on the glass pearls, but again, my impatience got the best of me and i used the glue gun to set the rest …

It looks so cute tucked in the old wooden tray on the table with the Painted Drop Cloth Runner.

I may really be going drop cloth crazy, just saying…

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  /  French Country Cottage /Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

I just finished up 2 large wholesale orders from Galleries, shipped them out , and now it’s time for some DIY!

Yes, I reward myself for working by getting to do a little diy project….

I have seen this project around the internet and knew I had to try it!

I ran over to the studio/storage house and flipped through the blank canvases I have and found 2 16×20 size! Giddy with happiness I quickly grabbed my painters tapes and taped off a square about 2 inches from the edges. Then I taped off each corner. I extended the tape around the edges and onto the back.

I then spray painted it with my new favorite Rust-oleum color GreenEden… I love this color, not too lime, not too dark green, just a fresh and happy green!  

I gave it one good coat and pulled off the tape… Lovin’ it!!

I didn’t do both canvases because I wasn’t for sure how it would work, but now I think that I will do the other one to have a matching pair!

I love the little wooden animals from Guatemala that were given to me by my aunt when our Daughter came home from Guatemala!

On top of the Antique Hutch until I paint the other one… Then who knows where they will go!

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I participate in the following link parties:

A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

I’ve been Neutralizing the Great Room in our House! We have had the yellow walls for several years now, and while they were fun and bright, i am ready for a change! I am in the process of taking out all the knick knacks and color and slip covering and painting the furniture to give me a blank neutral canvas to work with!

It feels so fresh and new, yet i find myself missing the color… I had thought that i would bring in blues and greens only, but after looking around at the accessories and art that we have, i think that i will use the bright colors in accents, vases, art, pillows etc… then i can change them out as the seasons and my moods change!

right now we are in the neutral stage, and it feels good!  The room is also very empty because i am in the process of re-finishing several pieces right now.

here are some before and afters….

And notice the Drop Cloth Curtains, Slipcovers on the Couch, Chair, Table Runner and Dining room Chairs…

yes i have gone Drop Cloth Crazy! I just love it!!

I just finished up the Couch Slipcover! It wasn’t as hard as i thought it would be , and i still have a few seams i need to tighten, but i love it!

I will be writting a post on it soon!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

This was a fun, fast and easy project…. Just like I like them!

 I am deliberating whether or not to paint my dining room table and chairs,

I still can’t decide , but thought that in the meantime

I would make a table runner with some leftover drop cloth that I had.

I cut to size and hemmed the edges under…Then taped off with painters tape and rolled on paint.

I used a satin wall paint in off white. I love the slight contrast to the tan drop cloth.

after the paint dried, i pulled off the tape and laid the runner on the table… love it!

I have a studio/cottage in the back of the property full of old treasures and I dug out this old tool tray that I filled with goodies!

I was inspired by Miss Mustard Seed and her tray here.

The slipcovers on the chairs are a new sewing project and I am just finishing them up and I will put them in a separate post!

So should i paint the Table and Chairs or not????

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

Kiss Pleats with French Welts!

Now, I have been sewing since I was about 10 years old…

My grandmother, Memar, taught me on her old black singer. I used to love to spend the summers with her alone and we would go to the fabric store and pick out our patterns and then sew all afternoon, taking breaks to make pancakes and play the card game “Go Fish”…

Oh, I would love to revisit those days! My Memar is gone now, and I didn’t really express to her what a wonderful influence she had on me in my life, so I hope that she is sewing along with me and listening to me talk to her while I sew!

 Anyway, back to what I was saying, French Welts with kiss Pleats!

I discovered them by running out of piping and searching the web for solutions… I came across this wonderful blog,  Custom Slipcovers by Shelley

She creates fabulous slipcovers without piping using the French Welts and Kiss Pleats at the Corners! YES! And while I am confessing my lack of knowledge, I will also admit that I have never heard of French Welts… they are basically the piping without the welt cord inside… you just fold the fabric in half and sew it in like you would piping, using the Kiss Pleat at the corner! Brilliant!

So , being way too lazy to drive 30 minutes to the closest fabric store, I decided I  had to try it!

We have a leather chair that I love the lines of and the leather isn’t in too bad of condition, I am just sick of the dark brown and I am also on a drop cloth roll, so right now nothing in this house is safe! I don’t bleach my Drop Cloth… we have so much white in the house, I like the light tan color of it. I figure i will be bleaching them as I wash them, so they will lighten someday anyway!

I am pretty happy with how it turned out, I see some places, I need to go back and straighten the seams, but overall it was much easier than I thought!

I also made a pillow out of a Chenille Bedspread that had a hole in it and I piped it in DropCloth! and threw in a Vintage Bark Cloth Round Pillow!  And you can see my New Drop Cloth Curtains in the Background too! Love Me Some Drop Cloth!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

Yes, I have probably officially lost my mind!

While enjoying a Sunday in Home Depot with my BFF I came across a garbage can with this mini pallet sticking out of it….

So I did what any good DIY’er would do…

I stuck in in my cart! In the back of my mind were running all the projects that I had seen with pallets, but I had never seen a mini!

 This morning I was overcome with heat, it is 101 degrees on our screened porch, and in my heated condition new creativity was born! So I grabbed my mini pallet and gave it a good sanding with my palm sander. (it is officially my husband’s , but I like to call it mine)

After that sanding I primed it with 2 coats of primer and then distressed it with the palm sander.

I nailed a couple nails inside for hanging some plates and placed it in foyer and Pimped it up for some photos! I intend to move it to the back porch, but I am really liking it in here right now!

And husband was even surprised at how funky chic it looked, well, those were not his exact words, but I know that is what he was thinking!

 Now, I find out that my BFF has access to as many pallets as I want/need…

So I can promise that there will be more pallet projects coming!!!

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I participate in the following link parties:

 A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

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This project was featured on :

It’s one Hot Summer here in Florida! We’ve been staying inside and working on a Jewelry order for a Gallery in Massachusetts… But we decided to take a break and have a little Sunday Party on the Back Porch today!

How are you celebrating Summer in your neck of the woods?

I participate in these Fabulous Link Parties:

A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / DIY by Design / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry

Yes, Drop Cloths! the kind that you use to put down for painting! As i was searching the internet for Slipcovers to cover my leather furniture i came across 2 fabulous DIY Blogs that have inspired me!

One is Miss Mustard Seed  and the other is Centsational Girl !!! FABULOUS Blogs!

So after reading everything they both had to say i took a look around my house and studio and see that i could really use some freshening up around here! I have some great pieces, they just need re-doing!

I loaded up Hubby and Daughter and headed to Home Depot for the supplies i needed, ( a promise for a stop at chick fil a actually got them into the car) Did i mention that i could spend hours in Home Depot, the smell of the wood and tools is so comforting… I detest Clothing shopping, it gives me anxiety, but the hardware store = Serenity!

$196.00 later, I had enough supplies to last a while, I headed home…I sanded, primed,painted and distressed  this adorable chest i found hidden in the back of the studio. I am so happy with how it turned out! I put it next to my bed and then that made me want to recover the ugly lampshade I had with dropcloth and dropcloth rosettes… I added Big Glass Pearls that I use in my Jewelry Designs to the middle of the flower… I love it… my fingers are burned from the hot glue gun, but i am happy!

I also attempted my first slipcover for a little leather ottoman that needed help! I used the Drop Cloth and piped it in white cotton, it’s a little loose, but I am happy with the Shabby Chic look! I wanted to do it fast and easy with just wrapping it and using the staple gun, but decided with the dogs and baby girl, I need something that I can easily throw in the wash! Perfect!

I am finishing up Drop Cloth Curtains, Slipcovers for Dining Room Chairs and Pillows… I have gone crazy for these Drop Cloths! So Shabby Chic and perfect for our Florida Coast Lifestyle!

More Pics to Come!!

What do you think?

This Link has been added to these DIY Link Parties! Be sure and visit them all and look at all the fabulous projects!

A Beach Cottage / At the Picket Fence / Be Different Act Normal / Between Naps on the Porch /BoogieBoard Cottage /  Bowl Full of Lemons  / Centsational Girl / Cherished Treasures / Debbiedoos /DIY Showoff    / Domestically Speaking /Flamingo Toes  / Funky Junk Interiors  / Faded Charm Cottage /Fingerprints on the Fridge  / Get your Craft On / Home Stories A to Z /   House of Hepworths / I heart Naptimes  / Miss Mustard Seed / My Romantic Home /  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style   /Shabby Chic Cottage  / Sas Interiors / Sugar and Dots  / Sisters of the Wild West / Simply Designing / Shabby Chic Cottage /Somewhat Simple /  Southern Hospitality/ Sugar Bee Crafts / Sugar and Dots / Sumos Sweet Stuff / Thrifty Decor Chic  /Tip Junkie  /  Today’s Creative Blog / The House in the Roses / The Girl Creative  / The Shabby Nest / Tator Tots and Jello / Under the Table and Dreaming / Whipperberry