B & A Friday

Don't we all just love a story where someone finds an amazing piece of furniture for a ridiculously low price? 

  That was the case with these adorable twin beds that Lesli, from My Old Country House, found at a yard sale.  

Man, I gotta get off Craigslist and out to each and every yard sale I can find.

Before

 After

I'm so in love with the way she styled this room.  All of the colors go together beautifully.

Want to see how much she paid for these?

Head on over to My Old Country House and tell her I sent ya!

Happy Friday, hope you all have a fun weekend.

If you would like to be considered for B&A Friday, just send me some pics of your before after project.
betweenblueandyellow@yahoo.com

Aubusson Dresser

As part of my Haven experience I walked away with a bag full of goodies, including two Annie Sloan paint samples.  I used my first sample of Provence with this dresser and table.  Now it was time to try out Aubusson Blue.  I had just the right dresser for it.

 

The blue is a tad darker in real life.

Love those feet!

Is it wrong to be in love with a dresser?

Oh yeah, and can somebody please help me get "call me maybe" outta my head.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky.

Link Parties~
Primitive and Proper 
Redoux

Miss Mustard Seed

Mt. Get Away

Wonderful, relaxing, quiet, alone.  Just some of the words I can use to describe my past weekend.  We got away.  Left the kids. Did whatever we wanted to do.  It. was. awesome.

 Pristine mountain lake.

 Spent a little time hanging out right here.

 One of my favorite places in the whole world, waterfall swimming hole.

 

Picture me, out here on my float doing absolutely nothing. 

 Monday morning,

 

 back to reality.

B&A Friday

It's been quite a while since I've featured a before and after on Friday, but I came across a great one too good to pass up.  This amazing kitchen hutch transformation comes from Leanne at the The Burlap Cottage.

This kitchen hutch started out as nursery furniture that served them well for two babies.  She decided against trashing it and turned it into more storage for her kitchen.

Before~

After~

I see these things listed on Craigslist all the time, never once did I consider doing something like this!

Way to go Leanne, you did a awesome job!
I feel very inspired.

Head on over to visit Leanne at The Burlap Cottage to see how she did it.

Round Table Make Over

I stumbled upon this great round table at Goodwill and although I've never refinished one of these, I figured why the heck not!  These tables are classic and look good in just about anyone's home.  Why hadn't I tried it before?  Who knows.  

But I'm doing it now and that's what counts.

  I see this table in a grand entry way, I think it would be the perfect piece to greet your guest.

Or of course you could go the traditional route and use it as a dining room table.

 

Check out the beautiful refinished top in dark walnut.  The pattern is so lovely.

I used the same color/technique as this dresser

Link Parties~
Primitive and Proper
Miss Mustard Seed
DIY Showoff 
Redoux 
Classy Clutter

La Mer Ceramics

 

Allow me to introduce to you La Mer Ceramics.  This is my first Etsy shop shout out, but I really love it and I wanted to share it with you fine folks.  

Christine, the owner and operator of the shop, has been a potter for many years and just recently quit her day job and opened her Etsy shop to sell her handmade pottery.  

These pieces are truly stunning and I have been fortunate enough to acquire quite a collection in my home.  Me and my family have used them for years as everyday dishware and they've held up beautifully.

Her current line of ceramics is a variety of cups, bowls, plates, and mugs all of which are 

food and dishwasher safe.  

The pieces are made out of porcelain clay with turquoise glaze.  Each one with a unique touch.

~

Please pop over and visit her shop.  She'd love to have you!

La Mer Ceramics

 

 

Black Bean Sliders with Avacado Mayo

Veggie burgers aren't usually my thing.  BUT, I've been wanting to have some meatless dinners during the week.  Because let's face it, quality meat is expensive.  So I came across this recipe from The Tolerant Vegan, and it was pretty darn tasty.   As I've told you before, I only share recipes that stand out in my home.

Although these burgers are a bit crumbly, it is worth the mess in your lap to eat them.

Salsa Verde Burgers with Avocado Mayo

Salsa Verde Sliders with Avocado Mayo
Recipe found at: http://thetolerantvegan.com/2011/06/salsa-verde-sliders/ 
Makes 12 mini burgers

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1/4 cup corn
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped spinach
• ½ cup cornmeal
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup salsa verde
• 12 slider buns of your choice
• 1 avocado (pitted, meat only)
• 1/2 cup  mayonnaise or veganaise
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• mini heirloom tomatoes for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat for 20 minutes, until caramelized.
2. Combine the caramelized onions, black beans, carrots, corn, bell pepper, spinach, cornmeal, breadcrumbs and sea salt in a large bowl and stir.
3. Add in the salsa verde and use your hands to form patties.
4. Pour two tablespoons of olive oil into a skillet and fry the patties over medium heat. They should cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until they begin to brown. Cook longer for a crispier burger, and add more olive oil each time you add new patties to the skillet.
5. While the burgers are cooking, whip up the mayo by placing the avocado, mayo and garlic in a bowl and stirring with a fork until combined.
6. Place the burgers on the buns, top with mayo (and put mayo on the bottom if you're like me and you love a mess) and tomatoes. 

**Click over here for the printable version

Take two

This is the first time I've ever re-done a piece that has not sold.  Many, many months have passed since I did this dresser .  It has sat in waiting in my dining room as I ate breakfast and looked at it, as I ate lunch and looked, and we all noticed it at dinner.  "What should I do with this?"  I asked myself over and over again.  It is a beautiful piece, that did not need painting.  But after I won some Annie Sloan stuffies, I figured it was high time I try out that silly old chalk paint I've been hearing so much about.  And yes, it is great yadda, yadda, yadda.

 The color is Provence, and then a dark wax rubbed over it
* SOLD*

Would be perfect as an entry table. To collect mail, keys and such as you walk in the door. 

 Click here for the complete before and first take of the dresser.

Link Parties~
Miss Mustard Seed 
Classy Clutter 
Primitive and Proper

Coffee table turned ottoman

If you're a furniture painter like me, then you have some pieces sitting around your home for months even years until you finally feel inspired by them.  That was the case with this coffee table.  It was the one that I grew up with in my parents living room.  It had been through tough times, and when my parents discontinued it down to their basement, I asked if I could have it.  My mom was skeptical of how I could make this 80's style, honey colored, rectangle table look new again, but a year and half later I ultimately did. 

This is my first attempt at an ottoman, mostly I followed this awesome tutorial from Jenny over at

 Little Green Notebook.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July.  Around these parts people seem to think it's a good idea to have fireworks on the 3rd,  which almost got rained out.  I would have been extremely disappointed if we hadn't needed the rain more than a turtle needs his shell.

Then last night, armed with our $30 pack of fireworks from the grocery store.  We set out to the driveway with our neighbors and let them go!