"Tea-fanny" Table

Everything that I am about to show, I have been wanting for awhile. When we went to Ohio last winter, my sister-in-law bought this drum table from an antique store, and I absolutely LOVED it. I knew I had to have one. Well, I finally found for $5 dollars at the flea market! Yup $5 dollars. I bought new paint, but the guy that made this paint made it way too dark, so I mixed a little bit more white to get the color that I wanted. I forgot to take a before picture because I was finally excited to just paint it and make it part of our house. So here shes is: In Tiffany blue, and white, and distressed!

 I paired her up with a chair I got from the Salvation army for $3 and the bench was from the same lady I purchased her from for $5.

 I have been wanting, WANTING, a bird cage for so long but they are so expensive even at Hobby Lobby. I went to the Flea Market last week, with my best girl in Minot, along with her family, and saw this as soon as I walked in. FIVE DOLLARS! YEP!

 

I just love the porcelain tea set I got from the flea market too! The set cost me $7.00, and it is perfect for my little "tea" table. 

I hope you all enjoyed seeing the beautiful paint color...I love this color! Don't you?!

If you have not already shared my blog with your friends and family, please do so! My 28th Birthday Constest is still going on, and I encourage everyone to join! Show me some love and support :)

28th Birthday Contest

My 28th Birthday Contest:

Thank you for all your continued support and to celebrate my birthday this year and my new blog, I will be hosting a contest.

Contest Rules:

1) Sign Up for a Blog account! http://www.blogger.com
2) Follow my blog at : http://littleshabbyhistory.blogspot.com/ 
Click JOIN THIS SITE and become a member (it is on the right side! )
3) On my Contest Entry Blog, leave me a comment about your favorite piece of furniture, or recipe that I have posted so far! COMMENT DOWN BELOW!
4) Help me reach 2,800 views by May 25, 2012 Midnight.
5) Must have at least 28 followers by May 25, 2012 Midnight (My birthday)!

That's it! I am excited to see who wins

Prize Options and there will only be ONE WINNER!

Custom Made Bread Box that may be used for whatever your heart desire. It will look similar to this but in aqua color, with glass knob! Will be shipped FREE, or arrange for Local Pickup!

(I will update the picture once it is done!)

or

A $25.00 Gift Certificate from Amazon.Com

or

A $25.00 Gift Certificate from Mac Cosmetics!

To my International Readers, You will only have an option to select either the Amazon e-gift card, or the Mac Cosmetics e-giftcard!

Contest Winner will be selected randomly! Happy Reading and Good luck!!

"Dress up" Station

My daughter was very much into to her "Princess" phase as soon she turned two...and she is just the little Princess! She loves to play dress up, and I had the idea of making her a "Dress up" Station. I started to research online and found one I really love from this website ana-white.com. 

Ms. Ana White, is self taught, and one of my idols. She is a talented carpenter, and a mom. Just like her, her creations make her home unique, and fits the needs of her family.

She is a builder, and I was starting out, so I can not make anything straight from scratch.I decided to repurpose an old bookshelf into my daughter's very own "Dress Up" station. The bookshelf I bought for 5 dollars from a couple selling old furniture on Craigslist. And when I say it is old, its OLD!

What I did? My hubby and I knocked down all the shelves, and bought plywood and a thick rod to create something like this:

 We put a thicker board to create a dividers so she can hang up her purses on one side. Painted it white, and used stencils and acrylic paint for the word "Dress up." I just love the Bird storage boxes, I got three of them for 20 dollars on sale at Joann's. (This was taken at our old condo back in California.) We also closed up the back and front of the bookshelf so she can put little knick knacks at the bottom.

Here is our Princess playing tea party.I love the way the dresses hang and she can just easily see her dresses, and pick out what she wants.

The Play Kitchen Project

My daughter was turning two, and my husband and I both wanted to do something special for her. I know I wanted her to have a play kitchen. I started looking online, there are plastic ones, and the wooden ones, which I love. The prices, I did not. I would find one  that I liked, but then I would always find something I did not like about it, whether it is missing something that I wanted to have with it...and then it always goes back to the price...they are way overpriced. I started to noticed that most of them are built like an entertainment center...so why not make a kitchen out of one? I started my research, and I saw some that are made from end tables, and entertainment centers already. AWESOME. They gave me so much ideas...but I knew I wanted mine to be different. So, I started to go on Craigslist religiously looking for either a FREE entertainment center, or a really cheap one. And I found one, and it was perfect! It's pine wood, so it is light, and only for 20 dollars. 

Almost forgot to take a before Picture!

I had an idea in my head what I wanted it to look like, and it came out like this:

The backspash is painted in pale yellow and pink (Gallon each for 5 dollars, from the mistint section). I used fabric and modge podge for the doors including the fridge.

 My hubby and I came up with the wine rack. I had the idea on how to do it, and he helped me execute it. The wine glasses, of course are plastic, and I found them for really cheap at a discount party store.

 

 The curtains were hand-sewn from the left over fabric. This is before I got my sewing machine.

 The oven, we used a jig saw to cut the rectangle, and I simply placed a picture frame on top, and replaced the glass with plexi glass.

As for the refrigerator, the wooden shelves were replaced with plexi glass!

 Play food that was given to her for her birthday, everyone knew about our project!

 I wanted her to have a window, so I purchased a white picture frame from Goodwill. I used all her birthday cards, christening cards, baby shower etc. to cut out pieces to make the owl, the clouds, the trees, the stars. I had leftover canvas board from my art class that I used for this, I painted the background with blue glitter, and Voila!

 

This was the hardest part of the project. I did not see any idea online that I liked about doing the stove parts. I did not want them painted on, or modge podged. I wanted to create real-like burners. So, at home depot, I searched and searched. I had an idea of taking dowels and cutting them into pieces to make the lines of the burner. We bought tiles to place them in, and we flipped two of those tiles to make the grill (we spray painted it!) The round part of the burners are from carpet movers, I took out the felt to show the tin part of it. The knobs are cut from the wooden doors we took out! They turn too!

 This is all from Ikea. The cooking utensils, the towel holder, and the clips.

  The faucet we got from Habitat for Humanity for $5. And the sink, is an old baking pan I had laying around! The phone was $3 from Goodwill. The curtain below the sink is also hand sewn from three different scrap fabrics.

You see, a little creativity goes a long way. I love, love, love this kitchen. It is build to last, and my daughter enjoys playing with it. It is her very own kitchen made with love by Mommy and Daddy. This piece was definitely the start of it all! Enjoy!

ADOBO Pork Chops

This is what my daughter and I ate for lunch today, I wanted something quick and easy. I usually marinade this over night or even for a couple days for more flavor, but it still came out delicious. Filipino style Adobo is one of the most requested dish, the ingredients and steps to make it are simple, but it packs a lot of flavor. Instead of making ordinary pork chops, I decided to do make adobo flavored ones...try it! I promise you wont regret it.



What you will need!

Pork Chops (any cut, I prefer the one with the bone)
Garlic Salt
Minced Garlic (FRESH)
Pepper
Lemon Pepper
Vinegar
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Oil

Prepare

Coat the pork chop (each side) with garlic salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and sugar.

In a bowl, mix your vinegar and soy sauce, and just a little bit more sugar, maybe about a teaspoon.

Now, soak your pork chops in the marinade.

Let's Cook!

Put a little oil in the pan, and sear each side of the pork chops.

Once both sides are done, add the marinade that is leftover.

Cover it up, this will help your pork chops cook thoroughly, and become more tender.

Once it is starting to caramelize, open the lid, and let it cook some more until it is frying up.

Then, add your minced garlic.

It should look like this when it is starting to caramelize!

Once you see barely any marinade in the pan, you are done. (Please see pic on top of the page to see what the dish looks like when it is completely done.)

JUST A TIP: I usually eat this with rice, or fried rice. To give your rice a bit more flavor, try putting some of that white rice into the same pan you cooked the pork chops in!

Enjoy this recipe! Let me know how you like it. Have a great weekend!

Chicken Wired Dresser

I bought this dresser at the yard sale site, and the lady we purchased it from gave us very little information about the dresser....this dresser belonged to her grandmother. She originally priced this dresser fairly decent, however no one took it...it may have been the mirror. It is antique, solid wood... but the mirror needed some TLC. To hire someone to desilver a mirror, EXPENSIVE...to Do it Yourself....EXPENSIVE. 

At first, I liked the mirror the way it was..ghosted and it displays how old this piece truly is...but it started to freak me out as a I lay in my "girly room" (guest bedroom).

What she looked like before!

 It took me awhile to decide what I wanted to do with, but I decided to just redo the whole dresser. I knew I wanted it to be the same pale pink color I painted the "Coreen" armoire (if you haven't seen it, please check it out!) I wanted it to look old. Should I just replace the mirror, should I not? Should I just remove the elegant harp that holds up the mirror? ABSOLUTELY NOT! But, I did not want to spend anymore money on it. I already replaced the knobs, but obviously it did not convince me enough to keep it the way it is. Well, I have seen old picture frames with chicken wire to turn them in to earring holders, picture holder, notes, etc. DUH, why not have a dresser that have just that...I can always have a mirror somewhere else in the room, right? Well, then here she is...looking pink, old and beautiful, with vintage inspired knobs...and chicken wired...hahaha

Curtains, courtesy of Mommy Dearest!

What you will need for a project like this!

My baby when she just turned 1!

My "Makeup" Storage

I hope everyone is having a great week! I took a break the past weekend from everything, I needed time to catch up with homework, and spend time with my daughter. But I am back! This piece I am about to introduce, is one of my FAVORITEST, FAVORITEST, piece ever. Yeah, I use that word.

This Secretary Hutch was found at 57th St. Antique Mall in Sacramento, CA. It was my first time going to this mall, I was in love. The first time I saw this hutch, I was in love. All the vendors were having a 20-30% sale. This was listed for $120, and it was on sale for 20% off, $96...plus tax. Before I got her, I did not realize the value of secretary hutches, I just adored her beauty. She was perfect the way she was...but I knew I had to vamp her up a little bit. I saw a smaller secretary hutch few weeks ago at the flea market, and the vendor had it for $869...insane right? I am very fortunate to get this piece for the price I did! 

For those of you who did not know this, I am also a make-up artist and I have had the opportunity to work for one of the biggest salon on the east coast, and a company under Estee Lauder, MAC cosmetics. Well the beauty of working at these places, you get gratis. YES, free makeup, skincare, brushes, etc. I MISS THIS! So along with me buying to add to my stash, I accumulated a great collection! And I needed a place where I can store my goodies...

 Anyways, here is my very own makeup storage...

 I slightly just brushed her with paint, and distressed her quite a bit.

 I do not think I will be getting rid of this piece...ever!

 Love the intricate details of this hutch, The brass glass knobs are perfect for her!

 My Sephora inspired brush holders! Just get some glass beads from the flower vase section, pour it in glass container, and Voila....now to fit my huge brush collection in these...that's another story!

I will post my collection, how I organize it once I go through my things...I haven't had a chance since we moved to Minot!

JUST A TIP: please, please do not have makeup sit in your bathroom or store it anywhere close...the moisture from the hot shower makes your makeup collect bacteria faster....and a lot of it!! And perfumes, as much as it looks really cute on top of your vanity, keep it where it get minimal light, and store it in a cool place...it lasts longer!