I thought today I would try to write a post about one of the products  that is relatively new to the store, one that I have not done a stellar job promoting but after using it I think I am in LOVE!

Efex easy apply moldings. I think that they have over 400 styles to chose from and they match a lot of the old moldings on furniture so that if you are in need of replacing a broken one they have it.

I have to admit Renee did the work I gave direction and she said the hardest part was the lay out making sure the corners matched up. We tried to duplicate an old frame that one of the other vendors had brought in to sell.

The frame we chose was an old one that was in the store. It was painted pink and the paint was vary old so she wiped it off with a wet paper towel and the molding we chose was a kind of swag. you can see it in the lower middle of the picture. We wanted something to add a little depth to the entire edge of the frame not just the corners or the top.

This was probably a more complicated molding to put down you wanted to make sure that the corners came together with a similar detail and that you had it running down the same part of the frame. In this case the middle. Renee used a pencil to mark the frames middle and taped parts of the molding frame to help make the corners work.

Efex recommends using Dap brand of glue and they sent a very quick drying glue. You want to make sure that you get all edges of the moldings glued down, and you want to make sure that you are wearing gloves. More that one time Renee was pulling a stuck glove off the frame. She worked in small sections and before you know it, it was all done. We wanted to make sure that the glue was completely dry so we waited and painted it the next day. You can wait 30 minutes and then paint. We ran out of time so we did ours the next day.

Here it is!! One coat of Amy Howard At Home One Step in Black. It was easy to paint did not need any special treatment no priming or sealers. Painted one coat of paint and it we wanted we could be done. I have been looking at it and can not decide it I should add gold or silver leaf, add a metallic gilding wax. I could paint the inner or outer edge with a different color paint. The options are endless as they say. Let me know what you think.

Amy

As some of you may know, we had a baby in the family this summer. My almost niece had a baby girl the beginning of August. We are all very excited to have a baby in the family again.

Michelle, the babies Auntie and future Godmother wanted to redo a changing table she had seen in an on-line auction. She told me that hopefully she would get it cheap and then would I help her redo it. Darn right I'll help you out! I will do just about anything to hangout with the kids in our family they are fun and interesting people. I love to tease them and ask them all kinds of crazy questions.

She came over on a Thursday and we got to it right away. The finish on the changing table was rather shiny in the pictures that she sent me before so I told her to sand all the surfaces. She had her boyfriend use his power sander and when she got to the store I had her wipe it down with a wet paper towel to get as much of the dust as she could off.

I wanted to do some fun colors a warm grey with pink accents and she wanted to do something in a neutral, so that if they have a little boy in the future they would just have to change the fabric she was putting on the pad and the shelves she was going to line.  We ending up on Black and she got to painting. I had her do most of the painting and I had her start painting with the piece tipped upside down. I watched a couple of videos on you tube and they said you have less missed spots and paint running mistakes when you start upside down.  I think the longest part was waiting the 20-30 minutes for the piece to dry in between. We used a brush on the spindles and the edges and the large flat areas we used a foam roller. (foam rollers do not have a nap and do not texture the paint).

I am not good at taking pictures. I was pretty impressed that I had these in my camera. We used Amy Howard At Home One Step in Black. She did 2 coats of paint to ensure that she did not miss any spots, this piece was oak so there is a lot of wood grain and you can miss spots. Amy Howard is so durable that you do not have to wax or varnish. One of the other fantastic reasons you use Amy Howard over other "chalk based paints"

How long did it take? She got here after lunch and we talked a lot but she left before I closed so I would say 3 hours. It took us longer to make the tassel garland we made the following Saturday. It was a fun first project for Michelle and she has come back and helped me paint other things.

Stop in and lets talk paint and why Chalk Paints are the easiest!

Amy

Let me start this off by saying, I am not complaining I am noticing something about myself and I don't like it and do not know how to change it.

I have become a procrastinator! There I said I'm not proud I used to be a jump in and clean it up organize it type. I look at the picture above and see about 6 projects that need finishing and countless things that need to be put away. The old me would have cleaned up before company was coming (the Customers) but not anymore. I think I'm turning into my Grandpa and my Aunt Janet they both like an audience when they worked. I know I clean a lot better when someone is around heck I can work on projects when someone is watching and talking.

What do you think it is that changes us? My husband is a procrastinator do you think that I picked it up from him? I know that I did not pick up the start one project and then another and another. He is the guy that always says "we have to finish one project before we start the next". I told myself that I would get the classroom table cleaned off this weekend and I plan on sticking to it.

Wish me luck.

If you have been in the last few months and follow me on Social Media, you know that I have been talking about moving to a new location.

My husbands business needs more room and we found a lot big enough to build his building with room to grow and 2000 sq ft for REiMAGINE.

After all was said and done and the DNR told us no. We made the changes to the building we planned on building day one into the building that works for Bill and his business. I won't be moving to the south side of EC like we had planned.

So in my sadness over the loss of my bright and shiny new space I went out and bought lots and lots of new and vintage merchandise.

Stop in and check it all out. I have been painting lots of things and am planning a new class schedule that will be project based so stop by and see all the new things that are happening.

Amy

I had my "soft" opening this weekend!! It was a great way to get a feel for the store and find my style.

I was asked why I opened my own store and I guess that it fills a lot of needs, my love to shop, my creative craft side and my love for decorating!! Good reasons I think.

I have always wanted to have my own business. I tried selling jewelry and can see something and copy it to fit my needs and everyone loves my decorating so why not try my hand at it!!

Here we go!