School of Restoration: Color Wash

Wow, is it July already?  These months keep sneaking up on me. Welcome to another session in the School of Restoration, that I did for The Divine Minimalist.  Today I want to touch base on one of my favorite techniques, the color wash.  This is perfect when you want to update something with color, but still want to show the underlying wood grain.  I chose to do this outdoors since it's pretty messy, plus it's been beautiful out lately.  Before we start, check out my before and after:

Materials:

• Furniture
• Sanding sponge
• Fine & Medium Sandpaper
• Water based paint 
• Empty containers for mixing
• Paint Brushes
• Minwax Polycrylic - Satin
• Old shirts or clean rags
• Gloves
• Mask
• All purpose cleaner

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Foodies: Avocado & Tomato Salad

I don't post about food much, but maybe I should, it's delicious after all.  I cannot get this salad out of my head! I saw it on Pinterest, (click the pic for pinability) and my sister and I made it as one of the side dishes for the fathers day BBQ at her place.  I'd never had it before, so it was a risk, but the ingredients sounded delicious, how could it go wrong?

Source

Well it didn't, it went great! It was so simple, just a few fresh ingredients and you're done.  This is an easy make ahead dish, that stays fresh and cold in the fridge.  The lime keeps the avocado from turning that interesting brown. This was also my first time with Jicama, and we are in love.  It's Summer, we all need side dish ideas to bring to the many bbq's and parties, so pin this puppy and try it! It's amazing.  Head over to Kalyn's Kitchen for the full recipe.  Happy Weekend!


Psst... Update.. It's a year after this post as I write this, and I'm STILL making this and bringing it to parties. Total win.

Linkies: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Subscribe & of course, Email me.

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Sneak Peak: Color Wash

(Psst.....see the full tutorial here.)

I was lucky enough to have the day off yesterday, but lady luck decided to throw a wrench in my spokes. As I went out to the car to get the grocery shopping done bright & early, I noticed it was strange that my car didn't unlock when I hit the button.  Either I left it unlocked last night, or this is a very bad sign... sure enough, the door was open, and when I went to start the little guy, silence.  Dead battery!  Adding insult to injury was when I found out AAA's computer systems fouled up for the day, and there was no getting through.  Luckily the towing company was able to bill them, and they came right out (Thanks guys!). I didn't let this get to me, just rearranged my day a bit, which also meant the stores would be packed.  Plus I didn't' expect to go battery shopping yesterday, those things are pricy!  What's done is done, my baby has some new juice, and I was still home in time to keep working on the Armoire.

If you didn't know, I publish these tutorials called "School of Restoration" over at The Divine Minimalist once a month.  I have been meaning to tackle this armoire for a while:

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DIY: Sculptural Paper Orb

One of the most versatile and affordable lighting options has been, and will always be, the rice ball lamp. I have seen so many different projects over the years, all with their own unique look.  Usually involving very affordable and available materials, these spheres always make such an impression when added to a room. The lamp itself can be found for under $10, many sizes, and is honestly a weekend project. It's been a while since I posted about the many wonders of the rice ball lamp, so here's some refresher links: The Paper Scrap light (a favorite!) & the Artichoke lamps from Zipper 8. So now, special thanks to another wonderful Design Sponge tutorial, we have another rice ball project to add to the ranks.  Behold the Sculptural Paper Orb:

 

And what are they made of?

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Spotlight: ZNAK Tears Off Wallpaper

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday, Monday was a real wash in my opinion - so I'm starting the week all over today.  Monday really should be just a lazy day, a warm up to the week ahead.  We can dream!  Anyway, down to business - today I want to show you this awesome wallpaper my sister showed me, it's called "tears off wallpaper" and she spotted over at apartment therapy.  Take a look, it will make sense in a moment:

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