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Adding old world charm to statues DIY

I adore statues. I feel like they lend a certain charm to a room.



I pick them up wherever I find them. Sometimes that's at thrift or antique stores, and other times I find them at Home Goods or even Hobby Lobby. Whenever I find them for a good price, I most likely bring them home.



I must say, I'm growing quite the collection, I think I have about 16 now. And with that growing collection comes many different shades of colors and bad paint jobs. I was so happy to come across Rox Van Del's  @houseofvandel reel on instagram not to long ago.




    She gave a short tutorial on how she painted her store bought bust to look more "aged". It was so easy and her statue turned out beautifully! I decided to try her technique out myself. 

All you need is these three items.

-Behr paint in "Basswood"

-Sherwin Williams paint "Egg White"

-coffee wash ( I used a watered down dark wax in "antique color")

The small statue below really needed a makeover, I found it for five dollars at a Goodwill store, the paint job was really bad, and it also had a strange flower decal all over it. 

The two busts on the ends were Christmas gifts from my Husband and Son. I love them, but they are just too white in my opinion.

 


I started on this lovely bust first. I bought her years ago from Hobby Lobby. First I gave here two coats of  of the Basswood paint. Look how amazing she already looks with the new color going on!




Once that color is dry, I started painting on Sherwin Williams "Egg White". This second color I painted on messily and almost in a dry brush type of way. I left some areas with the first paint color showing through.




In  DIY reel, the last step was to do a coffee wash all over the statue. I didn't have any coffee, but I did water down some dark wax that I brushed over some of the statues but not all. It's really just your personal preference, I think they look just as beautiful with just the paint alone.





Remember my all white Apollo bust from before? Here he is with his old world patina paint job. 




I love his profile.




I decided to group some of my statues on the mantel to really see the results. I did not paint the Apollo bust on one end  of the mantel (I have two Apollos) and the Artemis statue on the other end. I love their natural patina already and I am delighted with how well the others look grouped beside them.






 This little statue of either Artemis or Aphrodite turned out so well!!! I just love her now. I couldn't remove her floral decal, but the paint went on right over it, and you can't even tell it was ever there.




I'm also very happy with the black Hobby Lobby bust's transformation. So much better! I was very nervous to paint her, but I'm so glad that I did.








I think they all look so nice grouped together now that the patinas are so similar. I love to display my bust collection together each year for Halloween. They are always adorned with venetian masks and a flock of black crows. This year I think the group with look even better with the new paint job.




This bust I just purchased from Home Goods. I didn't like the the areas with the terra cotta paint showing through.



She turned out lovely!







This was such a simple and fun project! I really encourage you to go for it if you have a statue or bust with a paint job you don't love. You honestly can't mess this up.


 


Had to snap a photo of one of my newest roses in the garden. This is Eustacia Vye, a beautiful pink sherbet  colored rose from David Austin roses. I had to pick it because I noticed the Japanese beetles have arrived. They already destroyed  quite a few buds on my Olivia rosebush, so I rescued this bloom before it got ruined.





Thank you so much for visiting! I hope your summer is going well! Ours is just flying by!

-Larissa

DIY Vintage Refrigerator Magnets

 Recently as I was scrolling through my instagram, I came across a really fun reel by @homeliving5 showing a fun DIY that involved taking vintage prints and turning them into magnets for your refrigerator! I quickly saved it to my favorites and then to my surprise a few people actually sent me the same video in my instagram dm's thinking that I would love this project, which I did!



I had plenty of old gorgeous vintage prints in delicate frames laying in piles around the house waiting for me to find a home for them. 



I was so exited to finally find a place for these beauties and transform my refrigerator into a work of art...or maybe an art gallery.



I did have a few frames hanging around that were empty and I knew that I wanted to use those too. Years ago I wallpapered a room in my house with bible pages, I still had the old bible and I knew there were lots of beautiful prints inside.





It was fun turning the crinkly pages and finding the perfect prints for each frame.




This little print featuring three children carrying florals was absolutely darling and was a perfect fit for this frame.



This square frame felt more masculine, so I added a depiction of Cain and Abel.




I ordered a roll of Magnet adhesive tape from amazon. You can find the link here.




The process was extremely easy. Just cut the tape to your desired length, peel off the backing, and lay the sticky side down on the back of your frames.




Some examples....very easy.




Now, here are some real life photos. My husband and I have been married 17 years, and in all of those years we have never had a new refrigerator until recently, and I adore it! The stainless steel is black and the best part is the handles! Gold! My favorite color!




When we brought it home, I said that absolutely under no circumstances were we ever going to junk up the front with papers, receipts ect. Lol well I guess life happens and here it is in all its glory. Geez....

Anyways I stripped the fridge of all the unecessary paperwork and ta-da!




 The refrigerator has been transformed into an art gallery!




Well...not quite, but the vintage artwork magnets do make it look even prettier in my opinion.





I will probably be adding a few more frames when I come across them because the refrigerator that I saw on Instagram had even more magnets than mine, and it looked amazing!




 My son's artwork will always have a spot on my art gallery refrigerator. The painting of his that I just took down, I ended up framing and hanging it in the toy room. I'm sure that once school starts he will be bringing some more works of art home! 




In other news life has been so busy! So many projects over here! The kitchen is one of them, I can't wait to show you before and afters, but we are not done. You can see in the first photo that we just installed a beautiful new window but have no molding around it yet. Right now we are working a lot on the outside of our home as it is finally getting painted, so the kitchen has been neglected for right now.




I also finally made myself purchase a new computer because the old one was just not working anymore and I wasn't able to blog. I am not good with technology and honestly it is taking some time to figure everything out again! I haven't picked up my camera in 6 or 7 months so even that was an adjustment.





I will try to be more present on here but I am most active on my instagram especially in my stories, so definitely check me out over there too!

I've missed you all! 

-Larissa


The Gumdrop Tree...A Christmas Tradition

It's a tradition in our family to have a gumdrop tree at Christmas time. I guess it started with my Grandma,  my Dad's mom. She passed away when I was a baby, but I always heard stories of her gumdrop tree.



 
Although I heard the stories of the gumdrop tree, I really didn't know what one even looked like, it was hard for my little girl mind to imagine. When I was about 9 or 10 my Mom bought a gumdrop tree for our family. It was a fun tradition to look forward to. I loved placing the gumdrops on the tree one by one until it looked perfect. I did not eat them though, I'm not a huge fan of the taste and back then I think my Mom bought the spiced flavored gumdrops.


My son loves gumdrops, he will eat them all year round, just not the spiced kind. A few years ago I purchased an old fashioned gumdrop tree for our family, to continue my Grandma's tradition. Today my son and I sat together at the kitchen counter and decorated our gumdrop tree. We listened to Christmas music and sang along as well. He's still in that age where Christmas is magical and he is excited to do stuff  like this. I am cherishing every moment because I see him changing and he will be grown up before I know it. 



Remember my Grandma's gumdrop tree? Well, we recently found it...and here it is.

No it isn't wearing any gumdrops this year, I left it exactly how I found it inside it's box with these tiny mercury glass ornaments decorating its branches. I don't know if I will ever decorate it with gumdrops as it is so delicate. I've noticed that it has been glued together in places and missing some branches as it has seen many Christmas seasons in its lifetime. I would say that her gumdrop tree is probably from the 70's.



I absolutely adore it! I didn't get a chance to know my Grandma but I've always felt a deep connection to her as if I did.  My Dad would always tell me how much alike her and I were and what great friends we would have been. Having this little tree means the world to me as my Dad is also gone as well.  Holidays without my Dad have been hard, but this little gumdrop tree makes me smile and I feel like he and my grandparents are not so far away.




I never thought I would ever see my Grandmas's gumdrop tree, but here it is sitting on my kitchen table next to mine! I am blessed to have it and share it with my son, and someday my own grandchildren.




My Grandma...



Do you have the holiday tradition of a gumdrop tree? What are some holiday traditions that your family has passed down?

Thank you for visiting!

-Larissa 


Marie Antoinette Christmas Mantel

Christmas magic in the library...



If you've been a reader for  a while, you know how much I adore Marie Antoinette style. My library is always decorated with a nod to Marie Antoinette all year long.




I normally prefer a very simple Christmas mantel, just a garland of greenery and simple bows.

This year I went over the top with my Christmas garland. I added eucalyptus, roses, pink poinsettias. pearls, and ostrich feathers.



My inspiration for the garland was of course Marie, but also my beautiful pair of antique church altar candelabras. I love the soft colors of the delicate porcelain roses and I wanted to echo that in my garland and wreath.



Its a bit over the top, and not a look for everyone's taste, but its something different.






The tree in here isn't finished, but it will look much the same as last year.



Except this year, it will be decorated with all pink bulbs and some adorable macaron ornaments.



I have started decorating a bit in the dining room. The theme the last few years has been the Nutcracker Ballet.



Here  is a sneak peak at the tree so far, I am not finished yet.



I have been so busy as of late, and have not had as much time for blogging as I would like. One reason is that I need a new computer. My computer is literally on its last leg! I bought it six years ago and it honestly seems like yesterday! I can't believe its already time for a new one. I'm kind of dragging my feet on getting a new one because its not a fun purchase lol. But at this point its necessary.



Have you started your holiday decorating yet? If so, do you have a special theme or colors that you use? I would love to know!

I wish you all a very blessed Thanksgiving this week! I am so thankful for all of you!

-Larissa