Chalk Spray Paint Review | Before & After

First of all, I have absolutely loved my week and a half break in between jobs. I feel like I've been super productive, gotten more familiar with the lay of the land, and have just had a lot of fun.

Secondly, I love our house! It's beautiful, feels so much like home, and just inspires me. The fresh, bright light, clean new paint, and the open layout has made it my absolute favorite place to be.

One of my first projects to help bring everything together was painting some furniture for the master bedroom. We moved from having built-ins and three closets, to one amazing walk-in closet, and zero drawers! Luckily, I found some huge three drawer chests for a steal in Statesboro a few weeks ago, and we were able to inherit a large dresser from CJM's childhood.

As much as a I like the idea of projects and painting furniture, I also like instant results. Not the best combination, but when I saw chalk spray paint at Lowe's, I thought that this might be the perfect time to give it a try! My favorite thing about chalk paint is that it requires essentially no prep work. I painted some of my great grandmother's furniture almost four years ago with homemade chalk paint, and they still look amazing today {with the exception of a few chips from the many moves they've been through!}.

Lowe's has Valspar chalk spray paint. I chose the white color because our master bedroom is a pretty gray color, and our bedding has navy, gray, and white in it. I also love how clean and cheery the white pieces look! The Valspar spray paint covered the large chests extremely well. It was a very thick spray, and I never had any issues with any runs. Each chest required about a can and a half of chalk spray paint to cover. The only real downside about this product was that it was almost $10 a can, and when you're buying more than one can per piece, it gets a little pricey!

Before & After 

I started the dresser with the same product, but ended up running out. We don't have a Lowe's in our new town, so I ran to Home Depot {for my daily visit...#newhomeownerprobs} where they had a chalk spray paint of a different brand for about $4 less...score! Unfortunately, this white paint was a slightly different color, didn't cover quite as well, and ran really easily. I had to go over the Valspar spray painted drawers with the new color to make them match, which was fine, but had to re-spray along the sides and bottom multiple times to try and blend the running paint. Annoying!

Before & After

To finish the pieces off, I sprayed the hardware with a metallic silver paint. Easy, and looks great, especially with drawer pulls can get expensive quickly! I used Minwax Finishing Wax on all of the furniture to seal in the paint and prevent any color damage or water rings from cups. I've used this on all of my chalk paint products, and it really makes such a difference in the life and luster of the paint.

Once in the room, you can't tell that the colors are slightly different, and the pieces really bring the whole room together. We need to add one more chest in a corner by the closet because we have too many t-shirts, but then our bedroom will be ready for some real decorating.

CJM Creates

My sweet husband is so talented. He's brilliant in so many ways, but there is a creative streak in him that comes out in the most unique ways. Besides being one of only two bagpipers I know {his precious grandfather being the other}, he's developed quite a knack for woodworking in the last few years.

He started out making coasters out of wood from his family's abandoned saw mill, and has upgraded to making larger pieces like coffee tables. We constantly dream of having our first house with a space for him to make even bigger things. We would love to build a live edge dining room table, extra long, with room for all our family and friends.

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I love the "rustic chic" look inspired in part by everyone's favorite Fixer Upper show. His talents definitely lend to that look. Here's a few pieces I've pinned to the ultimate "honey-do list" Pinterest board, CJM Creates.

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Wedding Wednesday | Put a Ring on it

When Christopher and I began planning our wedding, one of the decisions we had to make was what wedding band he would like. My engagement ring came as a part of a set with a matching wedding band which made everything really easy. After looking at a couple of different styles at jewelry stores, Christopher decided he liked a few different elements: a hammered or distressed outside, the idea of a finger print or engraving on the inside, and a very narrow white gold band.

Like most brides, I spent way too much time and money on Etsy during the planning process, but actually stumbled upon a custom ring company called Brent & Jess. They had a wide variety of designs, sizes, and materials, but the number one thing that sold me was that they custom make each ring using a physical imprint of the fingerprint. It's not just an engraving; you can actually see and feel the textures of the fingerprint!

I was intrigued by the process, and decided that this was the best way to get all the details Christopher was looking for in a ring. So I made my selection, and waited on the kit to arrive. When it did, I was very impressed. The instructions were very straight forward, although I did have to have some MOH help with this process, the branding was very concise, and it all made me very excited to get started!

You can choose if you want the fingerprint included on the outside or inside of the band. Since I chose a hammered outside, my fingerprint went on the inside of his wedding band. I decided to do my left ring fingerprint, since that's where my wedding band will be. The basic gist of the process is you have to heat water to a certain degree, lay the flat molding piece on the hot water before pressing your finger into it to take on the fingerprint. After running the finger with the mold still on it under cold water, the strip is pulled off and the kit is returned to the manufacturers. They sent a couple of strips so you can do the process a few times which will hopefully ensure a clearly detailed mold that can be used to make the ring.

Ring Kit

Sample of the fingerprint

Lots of directions!!

Make sure to mash your print into the mold
cleanly and deeply

Running the impression under cold water
to help it set

The littlest helper!

My ring fingerprint

Six to eight weeks later, the ring arrived! It looked even better in person than I could have imagined. Christopher didn't want to see his ring until our wedding day which made the surprise even more fun for me. I did make him try it on a few times with his eyes closed to make sure that it fit! 

Brent & Jess make all different kinds of jewelry: rings, necklaces, and charm beads. They were a great Etsy company to work with: very quick to respond, ship, and stay in communication throughout the entire process. I appreciated the communication as this is a kind of long process, and it's such an important piece! I'm thrilled that Christopher has a one of a kind wedding band, and that he'll always be able to wear a little piece of me with him each day.  

Such wonderful packaging!

Christopher's unique wedding ring!
I can't wait to see professional pictures of it!

Bachelorette Decoration Details

I wanted to share a few of the little crafty details from my bachelorette last weekend! Months ago, after we decided on a beach destination, Kirstie my Maid of Honor, spotted these white drink sand spikes at a Walker Boutique close-out sale. They were blank, and her sister has a vinyl cutter, so we decided to make  monogrammed sand spikes for all the girls as my thank you gift to them! I glittered little wine bottles with Mod Podge, and included striped paper straws. 

Aren't they just precious in my "M" galvanized bucket? We did three different beachy colors for the monograms: pink, teal, and yellow. I think they turned out so cute! 

The girls got my fabulous bachelorette sash from JG Creations by Jenna Green on Esty. Check her shop out here!

Kirstie also did the vinyl for our tank top cover ups. All the girls got pink tanks with white monograms in the top corner, while I wore a white one with my new monogram in a fabulous gold glitter. I'm obsessed with it! 

Kirstie made koozies for everyone too, using her vinyl cutter. While it takes a little more time, I've been in awe of how cost effective it makes all these items! On one side of the koozie it says "Piper's Bachelorette" and on the other it says "Where my beaches at?"

Niki, my matron of honor and soon to be sister-in-law, found these cute decorations at TJ Maxx! I love getting unique paper products and party supplies from the Teej.  

On Saturday night, everyone picked a "nautical name tag" to wear out! I loved how "punny" they were. This was another cool cutter project! I'm so thankful to have such creative friends that are so willing to work hard to make this the best time of my life. I can't believe that trip is already a week behind us, and I've got three weeks left until the wedding. Time flies when you're having fun!

{Flashback Friday} Top Pins

After switching to my new domain this week {www.piperellice.com | yay!}, I had a lot of updating to do. Instagram profile, Facebook profile, Pinterest profile...oh, wait. All of those pins from the old URL won't forward to the new site. Unacceptable! But I also don't have time right now to update every. single. pin. 

So I pulled up every Pinterest pin from the old startingsouthern.blogspot.com {be sure to update your bookmarks with the new URL, or follow by email/Google+!} and looked for the most popular pins to edit and update with the new links. It was pretty easy to spot the top pins from my blog, but also really interesting! It seems there's definitely a theme of popular Christmas pins, followed by home decor and fashion. 

Here are the top pins from my blog over the last three years: 

 

15 Pins Grinch Cookies. Just peanut butter sandwiched between Ritz crackers, dipped in green candy melts, topped with sprinkles, but oh so delicious! I love the sweet and salty combo of this Christmas treat. I also am addicted to candy melts. If they're in the house, I will eat them. Weird, I know. Obviously, these don't have to be dipped in green, that's just all I had on hand at the time and it seemed fun. This year, I just used white almond bark. 

16 Pins Still one of my most popular posts, these earrings from my Christmas list two years ago were pretty popular. I still want them! The classic pearl circled by delicate diamonds is a truly timeless piece of jewelry. 

54 Pins My shabby chic dining room in my first apartment! I'm no longer using that table in my dining room, but have moved it out to my sun room now that I have more space. I recently purchased a beautiful hand painted dining room table that I'm using with those same chairs. The chest behind the table still serves as my wet bar/china hutch until I get my china cabinet down here from South Carolina. And the wall art: once a ceiling fan medallion, painted and hung, is something I still use! It's now in the living room. 

381 Pins Fabulous work wear inspiration from a post about thrifting for Pinterest inspired outfits. I'm glad that so many others found this picture to be as stylish as I did! This reminds me that I need some tweed...

Do you follow me on Pinterest? Follow me, so I can follow you back! I'm always looking for new inspiration!

Being a Bride: Michelle

Photos by Beacon Photo

Bride Name: Michelle Andrea Hamilton
Groom Name: Amari Alexander Adams
Wedding Date: November 14, 2015
Total number in wedding party: 6 bridesmaids, 8 groomsmen, 2 flower girls, 1 ring bearer = 19 (including B&G)
Total guests: 425
Venue: Ceremony St John Baptist Church; Savannah, GA Reception Hyatt Harborside Center; Savannah, GA

How you met, and the proposal: We met years ago when we were kids...our dads have been good friends for a while! Ran into each other in 2011 one weekend in City Market and exchanged numbers. Communication was slow, with only a couple of text messages maybe once a month...but finally, we went on our first date in 2012 and we've been together ever since!

The proposal was Labor day 2014. We are known for having the biggest, best cookouts for holidays...this one was even bigger and I was a little confused as to why sooooo many people were there. While my friends kept me distracted inside of the house, Amari put on a tux and drove around the block in his vintage 1963 Buick Wildcat while a red carpet was being rolled out on the driveway. I walked outside and saw the red carpet with Amari pulling up at the opposite end! He asked and I said YES, of course!

What was the best bridal shower and/or pre-wedding event you attended, and why? Our engagement party was so much fun! We had it on Halloween in 2014. We didn't want to do anything big, since the proposal was huge and we were expecting to have a huge wedding guest list, so we invited only our friends that we wanted in our wedding party. We had an Addams Family themed party and asked our friends to dress up in coordinating costumes. I was Morticia Addams and he was Gomez Addams...and get this....Amari is a licensed mortician...PERFECT! We had decorations everywhere and halloween themed refreshments!

Hands down, I had the best bachelorette party. A four day cruise from Miami to Key West, to Cozumel, Mexico; and back. Every night, my girls coordinated their clothes with one of the wedding colors and I wore the opposite...they wore red, I wore white...they wore black, I was in gold..etc. We played games, did a bar crawl, snorkeled, electric biked. It was so much fun! All I had to do was pack my bags and they handled the rest; best group of friends ever.

Photos by Beacon Photo

What was the best wedding gift you received? We received many gifts and are thankful for all of them; we are so loved! The best one, since I have to pick one, is an ornament we got for out first Christmas tree. It had dried flowers from our reception in it. So simple, but sentimental, and I can't wait to put it on our Christmas tree again next year.

Photos by Beacon Photo

What inspired your wedding day (theme/look/feel): We knew that our wedding would be in the fall during the evening, so we wanted to keep it simple and timeless. I didn't want to choose a color that was trendy currently and then look at pictures 20 years from now and question myself so we went with white, black, red, and gold accents. I love the look of satin for an evening affair, and after I found out that I could pull off a satin gown, I was all-in for a dreamy, elegant, evening feel for the wedding!

Photos by Beacon Photo

What is something you couldn’t live without for your wedding day (ex.: a certain band, a specific cake, etc.): Couldn't have DARED lived without our cakes! Beautiful, even lines. no lumps, and DELICIOUS! Tammy Acosta at Low Country Confections is awesome. I can't say enough about her to do her work justice. One of my bridesmaids hassled the hotel staff the next day about the little bit of cake that was left after the reception...that's how good it was! They located it and, needless to say, it was devoured at our farewell gathering the next day. 

If you have any wedding décor DIY tips/tutorials, or money saving suggestions, please share: I purchased a lot of things for the wedding on Etsy and Amazon. I made the table numbers: the frames came from the Dollar Store and I spray painted them gold and printed out the table numbers at home. I also saved a whole lot with our Save-The-Date Magnets by ordering from a printing service called UPrinting.com.

Photos by Beacon Photo

What was something your bridesmaids or family members did for you that made your day or pre-planning experience special? They made the experience special because of the support they showed me throughout the whole process. I had two other bridesmaids get married before me in the same year...I was in their weddings as well! It made the process easier because I had two very close friends to plan with.

At the beginning of 2015, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I didn't share this with anyone until a couple months after we found out. Our wedding party was great with keeping us stress free while we dealt with my Mom's diagnosis. I literally have the best friends ever...I cannot thank them enough!

Photos by Beacon Photo

Connect with the Bride
Instagram: @suki_michelle
Facebook: Michelle Adams​

Groundhog Day

It's Groundhog Day! For some reason, years ago, my family decided that Groundhog Day is my favorite holiday. It's not, but now a lot of people seem to have believed them. I woke up this morning to many texts wishing me a happy Groundhog Day, and the Facebook posts have already started to roll in.

Confession: I don't even really like the Groundhog Day movie all that much!

Luckily, this year both Beauregard and Phil did not see their shadows, so spring is coming early!

Here are two things that I remember from Pre-K Groundhog Day celebrations {shout out to Fort Hill Pres in Clemson, SC!}:

via we-made-that.com

Groundhog craft via Preschool Alphabet

Since the groundhogs are looking ahead today, here are two things I'm looking forward to as well:

1. The new spring Lilly Pulitzer collection coming out next Thursday, February 11.

2. Going home to see my family this weekend! 

P.S. Is it Friday yet?

Love Home

I am becoming somewhat of an over-decorator {if there even is such a thing} for Christmas. What can I say? It runs in the family.

But after putting away the Christmas decorations in early January, I always get a little sad. My house just doesn't look as warm and inviting as it does filled with sparkle and lights. In the past, I've usually just hunkered down through dismal January and February, waiting until March arrives to decorate for Easter.

This year, I've taken the time to decorate just a little bit for Valentine's Day! Pink is my favorite color of course, but I really don't have a lot of it in my house as I'm trying to make everything a little more 'gender-neutral' in preparation of living with the future husband.

Luckily, Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse to bring on the pink! 

My bridal shower hostess graciously gifted me with the cutest of the event's decor, which totally inspired me in terms of V-day decorating. I crafted my dining room centerpiece using a pink serving platter and pink pearls from the shower, four crystal candlesticks from around the house in varying heights, and some pink, white and gold candlesticks from Hobby Lobby.

I updated my bar/china hutch for the holiday with a cute pink and gold vase filled with black and white paper straws, and the cutest 'CHEERS' picture frame that was a shower gifts as well. Totally appropriate at the bar!

I've become somewhat proficient in making the trendy tissue paper tassel garland I've seen on Pinterest, so I made two strands of minis from light and dark pink, and gold tissue paper. I strung them across both the TV and the china chests to add a pop of pink to the rooms.

The glittery 'XO,' ampersand, and arrow were all used as a part of the centerpieces for the shower. I love how they look in my living room! There's even a pink 'HAPPY' hanging out in my kitchen.

I actually found the glowing heart light at an after Christmas Target sale two years ago for like $7, and am just now pulling it out. It definitely gives off that warm glow like a Christmas tree! 

Happy February!