Category: Misc.

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VIDEO – How to Wet Distress Paint

Hi guys!  Happy snowy morning to ya.

The storm that’s rolling through just dumped another foot of snow on West Michigan ~ you know what that means ~ SNOW DAY!!!

No worries though, ‘cuz my cousin Matt of Pro Mow Landscaping is to the rescue!

The kids are still nestled under their heated blankets

Little do they know when they wake up, it’s operation “clean the house ‘cuz it’s another furniture painting workshop weekend” at the Andrade house.

It’s been so cold and we’ve had so much snow this week that I’ve decided to move the workshops that we normally set up in the garage to the luxury of our toasty warm living room.  We only heat this part of the garage for the workshops but the part of my workshop that I keep heated year round is small ~ VERY small.  It works great for a dresser but even something like a buffet is too wide for me to easily work around.

I decided to paint their bedroom furniture in our living room, OK OK, the furniture actually sprawled through our living room AND dining room when you tack on several other projects I’m working on.

Guess what?  I LOVED it!!  Call me crazy, but this may just be the new norm.  I actually got the idea when I started painting a king size bedroom set a few days ago.

Anyway… in the middle of my makeover, I got a wild hair to show you how easy it is to wet distress CeCe Caldwell’s Paint with just a damp rag.  Here goes!  Never mind that it is totally unedited ~ you’re getting Shelly here, up close and personal.  My hair isn’t brushed and apparently I can’t put my pj’s on right side out ~ lol!  Enjoy!!

Learn How Easy it is to Wet Distress with CeCe Caldwell’s Paint

Here’s how it looks after being wet distressed 

I did this right in the comfort of my living room since it doesn’t create any dust like sanding does  and CeCe Caldwell’s line is completely all natural ~ 100% green.  

CeCe Caldwell’s Paints are Latex Free! 

 To Watch the Wet Distressing Video, click here

 

Our paint is latex free which is not only great news for people with latex allergies, but is also what makes our paint so easy to distress.

 You have to wet distress BEFORE you wax it because waxing seals the deal

Check out the finished bed here  

 Now that you know how easy it is, go try it and have a blast making over your first piece!!

 a hui hou, Shelly

 Don’t miss any of our hand painted furniture makeovers…
  • Subscribe to Shizzle Design for tips, tutorials and lots of ideas & images of our furniture painted in CeCe Caldwell’s all natural chalk and clay based mineral paints.
  • Like our Shizzle Design Facebook Page
  • Pin us on Pinterest
  • Come see our painted furniture and CeCe Caldwell’s Paints sold at Not So Shabby Antiques and Fine Furniture in Holland, Michigan.  We also We carry a complete line of CeCe Caldwell’s Paints onine here
  • Or best yet, grab a piece of furniture and join us for a hands on Furniture Painting Workshop featuring CeCe Caldwell’s Paints, Shizzle Style in West Michigan.  Registration, info and schedule here
This post was featured at Redoux Interiors!!
Wahoo!!

Linking up at these great parties:
Restore Interiors – Restored it Wednesday
Primitive & Proper – POWW 95
Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party
The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday
Miss Mustardseed – >Furniture Feature Friday
Redoux –Friday Link Up Party
Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend
Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special
1929 Charmer – Sunday’s Best Party
Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

a hui hou!
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Hang it up! Things that hang things

I concentrate most of my time painting furniture for my booth at Not So Shabby, but I’m also always looking for smaller items to fill in the gaps.  I have a million things on my “I wanna make this” list, it’s just finding the time to do them.

The themed link up Funky Junk Interiors this week is Hang it Up which reminded me of a few of my favorite creations which I don’t think I’ve ever shared on here before.

One of my favorites is to use a reclaimed piece of wood with various hooks and picture frames.  I have a thing for photographs, so I’m always trying to come up with different ways to display them.

Here’s another one that I made out of the twin piece of reclaimed wood I had at the time.

One of my all time favorite “Hang it up” pieces was a Bling Thing that I made out of parts of old furniture.  I like the architectural interest of this one, with function to boot!

Last year, I scored a large, solid wood door which came out of an old hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  I loved the vintage Fire Escape that was on it, we just cleaned it up and added one of my favorite hooks to create a unique architectural piece.

Upholstered bulletin boards are another favorite of mine, especially with decorative thumb tacks.  I made these using heavy duty upholstery tacks and old buttons.  I love the colors in this Tommy Bahama fabric and the beaded trim is the icing on the cake.  These are all my favorite colors in one piece of fabric.

 I also am in love with these types of hooks.  I pick them up whenever I find them.

I wish I had some pictures of the windows I’ve done.  They always sell before I remember to take a picture – ugh!  Next time!!

A hui hou ~ Shelly

button-lime - Copy

Did you know…

  • Shizzle Design is a small family owned business in Jenison, Michigan.  My sister Cathy and I work, paint, ship and teach our chalk and clay paint workshops out of the same space where we paint all our furniture.  We are truly humbled to be known as a leader in the world of chalk and clay paints.
  • Cathy and I empower DIY’ers by sharing our years of experience.  Stop in for paint and we’ll offer you honest and knowledgeable answers for all your chalk and clay paint needs.
  • Did you know we are not paid employees of American Paint Company?  It typically takes me 10 hours to publish one of my blog posts.  Everything from shooting the photographs, writing the content, editing, cropping… is given freely.  The only way we make money is if someone purchases paint, workshops or painted furniture from us.  If you enjoy the information you get in our website, please share and let us know.
  • We are so blessed to have taught people from all over the United States and Canada.  Join us for one of our super fun hands-on chalk and clay paint workshops.  Learn in our casual & relaxed environment.  Click Paint Workshops to see a list of current classes offered.
  • Subscribe to Shizzle Design for tips, tutorials, ideas, pictures, videos for our furniture painted in all natural chalk and clay based mineral paints.
  • Did you know that you can get these sent directly to your inbox and that it’s FREE?  It is ~ what are you waiting for?  Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
  • We have a Shizzle Design Facebook Page.  We share all sorts tips, ideas, photos EVERY DAY and offer special deals (which you’ll only know about if you’ve Liked our Facebook Page).
  • Pin our posts on Pinterest ~ Find all sorts of inspiration here.
  • We sell our painted furniture in our Shizzle Design Paint Studio at 2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, MI 49428 and at Not So Shabby Antiques and Fine Furniture at 2975 West Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan
  • Shizzle Design is an Authorized Retailer for American Paint Company Paints.  We offer a large inventory of chalk and clay paint and supplies at our Shizzle Design Paint Shop /Studio,  2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, MI  49428.  We also stock several other shops in the greater Grand Rapid’s area, to find out where, click LOCATIONS.  Not from Michigan?  No worries, we ship paint and paint supplies worldwide through our Online Shizzle Shop.

For more Chalk & Clay Painted Furniture ideas, tips, tutorials & inspiration, click:

 Shizzle Style Painted Furniture Makeovers

painted-furntire-makeovers3[1]

 Shizzle Tips, How To Tutorials & Video’s

Shizzle-Tips-and-Tutorials3[1]

 Funky Finishes

Funky-Finishes3[1]

I’m so excited that this transformation was Featured at:

Knick of Time

Redoux Interiors

also linking up to these great parties!!

Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party
Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special
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How I Created a Faux Zinc Finish

Does it ever take way longer for anyone else to accomplish things?  It does for me like ALL THE TIME.

image I painted this in one of my favorite colors, Young Kansas Wheat the day I got it but it just didn’t do anything for me.  It was too plane Jane for my liking.  It needed something, a French Label, a stencil, dry brushing, layering ~ something.

I pondered ideas while I waited for a light bulb to go off…

August
September
October
November
December
2013

Finally it hit me ~ I’d try a faux zinc finish to resemble those pieces in Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn.

I’ve seen a lot of different versions for this but two of my favorites were created by Jami at Freckled Laundry and Kelli from Restore Interiors.

This is the zinc finish that Jami from Freckled Laundry created
I know!  It ROCKS!
Stop by Freckled Laundry and Jami’s amazing transformation!
Jami created the neatest finish on her night stand which I like even better than the expensive inspiration piece!

The other super cool vintage faux zinc table that I thought would be appropriate for my table top was inspired by Kelli from Restore Interiors.

L O V E   IT   K E L L I  !
Kelli is amazing both inside and out and her talent ~ wow… stop by Restore Interiors and check it out!
So, with inspiration at my fingertips, I proceeded with my experiment.
I painted the table top with CeCe Caldwell’s Vermont Slate.
Gave it a thin wash with Dover White
Then sealed it with CeCe Caldwell’s Clear Wax (I didn’t have any gilding was) so I mixed the clear with a plop of metallic silver paint, some Dover White, a splash of low odor Mineral Spirits and water.
So far, so good.  I spritzed it with water
Lots and lots of water, until it was completely soaked!
When I came back the next morning, this is what I found
Isn’t this cool?  I loved it but thought I should add one more layer, ya know… for a little more dimension.
UGH ~ WHY CAN’T I LEAVE ANYTHING ALONE!!!
I messed it up!
I had a really cool finish and I messed it up!
I just couldn’t leave well enough alone.
I’m so mad at myself.
I farted around with it some more to make it look more like a weathered / lime wash look, but gave up on the faux zinc for this one.  No worries though ~ I will to zinc again, soon!

Did you know that…

  • We’ve opened up a Shizzle Design Paint Studio at 2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, Michigan 49428?  This is where Cathy and I paint our furniture but we want our customers to know that we’re here for you.  We encourage everyone to stop in any time to buy paint or to get your questions answered.
  • We’ve taught people from all over the United States and Canada how to paint furniture Shizzle Style using chalk and clay paints?  Join us for a fun and relaxing workshop.  Click Paint Workshops to see a list of current classes offered.
  • You can Subscribe to Shizzle Design for tips, tutorials, ideas, pictures, videos for our furniture painted in all natural chalk and clay based mineral paints?
  • Did you know that you can get these sent directly to your inbox and that it’s FREE?  It is ~ so what are you waiting for?  Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
  • We have a Shizzle Design Facebook Page?  We share all sorts of additional tips, ideas, photos EVERY DAY and offer special deals (which you’ll only know about if you’ve Liked our Facebook Page?).
  • We have numerous Pinterest Boards?  Stop in and check out our extensive portfolio ~ Pin us on Pinterest
  • We sell our painted furniture at Not So Shabby Antiques and Fine Furniture at 2975 West Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan 49424?
  • Shizzle Design is an American Paint Company’s Chalk/Clay/Mineral Paints in West Michigan locations and sell both domestically and international online?  Click LOCATIONS or Online Shizzle Shop.

Click here to see Shizzle Design Painted Furniture Makeovers

painted-furntire-makeovers3[1]

Click here to see our Shizzle Tips, How To Tutorials & Video’s

Shizzle-Tips-and-Tutorials3[1]

Click here to see Funky Finishes

Funky-Finishes3[1]

Linking up to these GREAT Parties!

Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday

Redoux – Friday Link Up Party

Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend

Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special

Silver Pennies – Silver Pennies Sundays

Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

a hui hou ~ Shelly

Posted on

Best Painted Furniture 2012

Isn’t it amazing how time seems to go faster and faster every year?  I swear, every time I blink, another year is torn off the calendar.

Hand Painted Faux Clock Table

Learn how to make a hand painted clock table here
2012 was filled with extremely heavy workloads, but we were also blessed beyond our wildest dreams.  With that, I bring you the

Best Painted Furniture Renovations by

Shizzle Design ~ 2012

The Number One Most Popular Post from

Shizzle Design’s Painted Furniture Renovations of 2012 was the…

Antique Oak Buffet

Layered in Seattle Mist & Several Other CeCe Caldwell’s Chalk and Clay Paint Colors
There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears put into this piece which was in pretty sad shape when I found it.  The painting is always the easiest part; I had so much fun layering colors and highlighting the amazing detail.

I also used a router for the first time to carve out a new top to replace the old oak top which had warped beyond repair.

I really wanted to keep it for MY bathroom vanity but knew the tear out and installation would be too much for me to take on alone.

You can check out the entire transformation of this buffet here

The Second Most Popular Post receiving the most interest in my style of painting was the…

Vintage China Cabinet

Layered and Dry Brushed Shizzle Style in CeCe Caldwell’s Cinco Bayou Moss, Spring Hill Green and Destin Gulf Green
This type of painting truly reflects my personality.

 This is one of my favorite paint styles!

You can see much more pictures of the finish I did on this piece here.

Coming in at #3 was the…

French Provencial Lingerie Chest with Hand Painted Hardware

(I am seriously addicted to painting hardware!)

For complete details on this piece, visit Lingerie Chest with Hand Painted Hardware
STUDENT BEWARE ~ If you come to one of my Shizzle Style Paint Your Furniture Workshops, watch out… I have a really hard time leaving people’s hardware alone ~ Just sayin!!

Following are the remaining Best of Shizzle Design 2012, shown in no particular order.  Each of them contain the direct link to the post in directly below their photo.  Enjoy!!

Vintage Stereo Cabinet Claimed by Mom

 details on this Vintage Stereo Cabinet HERE

This Vintage Bed found a new home in Long Island, New York!

More on this bed HERE

Solid Pine Vintage Cedar Chest

Click here for more photos & information on this cedar chest

Antique Hand Painted Buffet / Sideboard in ASCP

Many more pictures of this buffet are available here

Gorgeous Antique Dresser in Destin Gulf Green

Click here to see more photos of this dresser transformation

My Signature Style Paint Technique

Hand painted and waxed in CeCe Caldwell’s Eco-Friendly Paints ~ read more here.

Empire Chest of Drawers in Old White

Click HERE for more pictures and info on this dresser

Antique Buffet Hand Painted in CeCe Caldwell’s Mesa Sunset

more info and availability of this buffet here

Hand Painted Lamps in Alaskan Tundra Green

more information on how to update your lamps with paint here

French Dining Room Table and Chairs in Vintage White

Entire transformation including using tips on using a spray gun are available here

One Sassy Antique Dresser!

read all about this vintage dresser here

Autumn’s Blessings Buffet

check out the entire transformation of this buffet here

Did you know that…

  • We’ve opened up a Shizzle Design Paint Studio at 2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, Michigan 49428?  This is where Cathy and I paint our furniture but we want our customers to know that we’re here for you.  We encourage everyone to stop in any time to buy paint or to get your questions answered.
  • We’ve taught people from all over the United States and Canada how to paint furniture Shizzle Style using chalk and clay paints?  Join us for a fun and relaxing workshop.  Click Paint Workshops to see a list of current classes offered.
  • You can Subscribe to Shizzle Design for tips, tutorials, ideas, pictures, videos for our furniture painted in all natural chalk and clay based mineral paints?
  • Did you know that you can get these sent directly to your inbox and that it’s FREE?  It is ~ so what are you waiting for?  Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
  • We have a Shizzle Design Facebook Page?  We share all sorts of additional tips, ideas, photos EVERY DAY and offer special deals (which you’ll only know about if you’ve Liked our Facebook Page?).
  • We have numerous Pinterest Boards?  Stop in and check out our extensive portfolio ~ Pin us on Pinterest
  • We sell our painted furniture at Not So Shabby Antiques and Fine Furniture at 2975 West Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan 49424?
  • Shizzle Design is an American Paint Company’s Chalk/Clay/Mineral Paints in West Michigan locations and sell both domestically and international online?  Click LOCATIONS or Online Shizzle Shop.

Click here to see Shizzle Design Painted Furniture Makeovers

painted-furntire-makeovers3[1]

Click here to see our Shizzle Tips, How To Tutorials & Video’s

Shizzle-Tips-and-Tutorials3[1]

Click here to see Funky Finishes

Funky-Finishes3[1] 

Linking up to these GREAT Parties!

Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday

Redoux – Friday Link Up Party

Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend

Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special

Silver Pennies – Silver Pennies Sundays

Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

 

a hui hou ~ Shelly

Posted on

Mele Kalikimaka from our Hale to Yours!

Wishing each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous & Joyful New Year!
From our hale to yours, Mele Kalikimaka!
 
and as we count our blessings on this very precious day, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those grieving the loss of their loved ones.  May God shower you with his amazing grace and comfort you with peace.
 
Merry Christmas, 
 
~ The Andrade Ohana ~

For less than the price of a gallon of paint, you too can be on your way to painting furniture like a pro. Click here to download

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Hand Painted Christmas ~ Favorite Picks

Many thanx go out to everyone who joined us for this year’s

Home for the Holidays 2012 Christmas Link Up Party  
It was so much fun being involved with so many amazing bloggers!

linkparty5

Today I’m featuring my favorite picks for the theme I hosted
 Hand Painted Christmas

It was my first time hosting a link up party and let me tell you, I sure don’t envy those of you who do this every week.  It’s hard to narrow the selection down to just a few because there is some serious talent out there, but here goes…

One piece that really caught my attention was this Whimsical Christmas Chair by Deb by Lake Girl Paints.  

After spending several years myself creating garden chairs, I have a true appreciation for the uniqueness of Deb’s style.  Check them out this chair along with another whimsical piece here.

I absolutely love, love, love Believe in the Magic by Colleen Taylor
It is a painting of Colleen’s two year old granddaughter who already at age two is an avid reader and loves to be read to.  Colleen painted a large painting of this and then made prints that she handed out for this year’s Christmas cards. What a treasure!  You can read all about it here.
Another rustic piece that stole my heart was painted my friend Karin at Art is Beauty. 
I love rustic Christmas decor.  The contrast of the rich red pops off the reclaimed wood is way cool.  Karin always makes everything look so easy!  Apparently I’m not the only one who loves it, because this entry received the most likes from all of you too.

I also loved Diaper and Diva’s take on Pottery Barn’s NOEL.

I’ve seen it re-created numerous times but Heather’s laid out a great tutorial that’s easy enough even for a beginner DIYer.

If you were featured today, grab our button and post it on your site!
linkparty5button
Don’t miss any of our hand painted furniture makeovers…
 Our 2013 Workshop Schedule is posted
Details ~ Registration ~ Availability here.
 
Who’s wants to join us?
 
A Hui Hou ~ Shelly
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Simple Evergreen Planters All Winter Long

This is not one of those glamorous fancy-shmancy magazine posts straight out of a department store because to be honest, I am so NOT the department store type.

It does however totally reflect my personal style when it comes to holiday decor, so with that… welcome to our humble home.  

I love spending time in the yard all summer long.

My brain constantly processes how things are growing and seems to store everything that NEEDS to be changed.

Every year I dig up shrubs and small trees then re-arrange them as if they were the living room furniture.  I can’t help it, that’s how I roll.  I moved this Weeping Cherry Tree ONE too many times.  It didn’t make it through this summer.

As much as I like tinkering with the landscape, I have NO desire to take care of indoor house plants, so when Winter rolls into town…

I go around the yard and clip evergreens and dogwood branches then fill various planters with them.  I love the simple mix of whatever we can find.

It also gives me another excuse to go around giving hair cuts to all our pine trees ~ did I mention I LOVE to prune things?

I cemented a 14″ pot into our old tree ten years ago and is still going strong!  Looks fab in the summer all decked out in flowers so I said to myself, “self” why not keep it filled all winter too?  So I did.

The arrangements continue to look as fresh as the day I cut them simply by keeping the soil moist.  That’s one of the cool things about living in Michigan; you just plop them in place and the snow throughout winter keeps the soil moist. Moist soil means fresh evergreens.  How cool is that!

The other neat thing about living here is being able to chill drinks out on the deck.  Ha!  I know, doesn’t take much to humor me but I still get a kick out of chillin’ things in a pile of snow.  These chairs look pretty at night with white lights draped through them.

Speaking of snow, we still don’t have any but before we know it, it will look like this!

Four more days… hoping for snow!!!
Wanna learn more?  
Linking up at these Great Parties:
Restore Interiors – Restored it Wednesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday
Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend
Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special
1929 Charmer – Sunday’s Best Party
Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

a hui hou!
(until we meet again)
Shelly 
Posted on

Lamp Gets a Whole New Look with Unique Layering Technique

Several years ago I picked up a pair of lamps from J.C. Penney’s.  Here’s what they looked like when I bought them, minus the dust.  Oh… and this is Izzy.  She never misses a photo op.

I loved their lines but I didn’t think about how heavy they’d make the room feel.  We live in a 100 year old home surrounded by towering Maple trees so we don’t get a whole lot of sun to begin with so to combine that with dark furniture and walls just makes it all seem that much more dreary.

I’m in the process of brightening the place up.  Or should I say… I have lots of ideas for things I want to do ~ I haven’t had any time to do the things I want, but am hoping in the next couple of weeks, to knock out a few small projects that have patiently been waiting.  

To be totally honest, I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but I wanted them lighter.  I slapped on a watered down coat of CeCe Caldwell’s Dover White applying it in a VERY sloppy manner.  I started this process at a CeCe Caldwell’s 101 Paint Class but quickly got sidetracked helping everyone with what they were painting so it stayed in it’s sloppy coat for a while. 

At our next Paint Your Own Furniture Workshop, I shared the paint layering technique using Alaskan Tundra.  I slopped this on in the same messy, thin coat manner.

Once the paint was completely dry, I did some wet distressing to expose the original finish and Viola!

It’s so weird ~ Dover White can be used in so many different ways.  It’s more typically used to create a whitewash affect because of it’s translucency.  I used Dover White to dry-brush over the base coat of Pittsburgh Gray on this antique buffet.  Click HERE to see this transformation.

I also layered Dover White more heavily and in a random method on the top here.

Even though I used Dover White in an entirely different manner, I love the subtle affect it has and will definitely be doing this on many more pieces.

I’m not finished with it yet; to truly make it mine, it needs to have some kind of shabby, fringe-y, bead-y bling added to it.  Got any ideas?  I’d love to hear them!!

 

Wanna learn more?  
Linking up at these Great Parties:
Restore Interiors – Restored it Wednesday
Primitive & Proper – POWW 95
Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party
The Shabby Creek Cottage – Transformation Thursday
Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday
Homespun Happenings – Rustic Restorations Weekend
Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special
1929 Charmer – Sunday’s Best Party

Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday

a hui hou!
(until we meet again)
Shelly 
Posted on

Home for the Holidays 2012 ~ Christmas Decor Link Up

We’re battling the flu over at the Andrade hale so this is going to be quick.  
This is the last week to link up to:
Home for the Holidays 2012
a Christmas Link Party Series  
 
linkparty5
Link up your 
Christmas Decor 
at
Lindauer Designs
and
 
link up all your 
Kids & Christmas
with 
This, That and Life
 
When I’m feeling better I will post my favorites from the
Hand Painted Christmas Party

Grab our button and share it on your blogs.  Put it on your sidebar, in your posts, or whatever you’d like.

linkparty5button
Don’t miss any of our hand painted furniture makeovers…
for more information, click here
A Hui Hou ~ Shelly
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Grieving for the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School

Words cannot express the heart felt grief I’m feeling for the tragedy in Connecticut this morning.  It is  beyond comprehension.  When things like this happen, I just freeze.  I become entrapped in the moment and cannot pull  myself away from the TV.

This morning my daughter woke up with a temperature of 104.  Needless to say, she stayed home.  I set up camp for her on the couch so I could monitor her while I worked on finishing up some last minute Shizzle projects that must be completed before Christmas.

She woke up to the beeping sound of BREAKING NEWS…  We both watched in disbelief.  I had to turn off the television after a few minutes because it was too upsetting for her to see.  How do you explain what happened to a ten year old, when you don’t understand why yourself?

Tonight I was supposed to post about our Christmas Tree for our Home for the Holiday’s 2012 Christmas Tree Link Up Party but all I can think about are all those children who won’t be with their families on Christmas Day. 

I’ve attached the pictures of our tree tonight because my daughter so carefully hung each ornament, but I don’t have it in my heart to write about it.  Instead I’ll be on my knees to praying for all the families affected by this horrible tragedy.

In loving memory of all those lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School…

God Bless All of You ~ Each and Every One