Barbie Dream House Chicken Coop

The coop is painted with an exterior paint by Valspar that I found in the mis-tint section for $5/gallon.

I teased you guys about this build several weeks ago on my Facebook page. So let me just say to those of you who sometimes wait forever for my reveals and then I don't get to them for....forever, that's because those reveals are things I'm doing for myself and not for a client and those things ALWAYS come last. It's the downside to doing what I do but it's really the only downside so I'm not complaining.

Several weeks ago we got these A-frame chicken coop plans and quickly realized we wanted to make some changes. The first thing we added was a door. Since our chickens essentially free-range they'd need a way to get out easily each day. The coop plans were originally designed to be a chicken tractor, meaning the chickens would remain in the coop and it would be moved around the yard as needed.

What would a door be without some adorable decorations? And a pink door knob, of course.

I saw this 'KEEP CALM and RAISE CHICKENS' verbiage on Pinterest and I knew I had to have it somewhere on my coop. We cut out and routered the wood. I painted the front white and used my Silhouette machine to cut a painting mask. I went over the mask and the rest of the sign with Very Berry by Valspar then peeled off the mask to reveal the white underneath.

And of course any proper diva must have a grand staircase - also done is Valspar's Very Berry.

I put herbs in with their pine shavings for bedding; Rosemary (pain relief, insecticide, respiratory health), Sage (antioxidant, anti-parasitic) and Mint (any kind - insecticide and rodent repellent). Yes. They are spoiled.

This night light doesn't really serve any purpose other than it's cute. If I had a million dollars I'd invent something that looked like this but had a powerful enough light to scare off a predator. But it sure looks cute, doesn't it!

Three of the four roof panels lift up for easy cleaning and maintenance. I got these brushed silver handles from Lowe's for under $2 each.

Three of the four panels are hinged and we added the roof cap to keep water from dripping down into the nesting box.

FYI. They do not make pink weathervanes. They barely make weathervanes with hens instead of roosters, which I would've gotten, but they're hundreds of dollars! So I broke out my trusty spray paint, see my post on spray paint here and took care of business. Now, I know I'm working with a pink rooster here but I'm hoping no one will notice. Or care.

This is Phyllis, as in Phyllis Diller. I'm betting you can figure that one out without explanation. A Polish Crested Hen. When she was just nine weeks old she became very ill with something called coccidiosis and almost died. Thankfully I was able to save her. She has some kind of personality, that one!

This is Oreo, so named for her chocolate and white feathering. A Wyandotte. We've taken to calling her Double-stuft because she's so fluffy. She was considering a peck at my camera lens in the first picture and was going for it in the second.

And here's my sweet Tanny, a Buff Orpington. She was a bit camera shy today but she's the first one to come running to Momma every time.

So, I know what you're thinking, a southern girl with chickens. Shocker. But the truth is, until just 5 years ago, I had never lived outside of walking distance from the city. Not that you can't have chickens in the city, but I didn't. I have wanted them for years and recently took the plunge into chicken keeping. This flock of 3 was my first. I'll have to tell you about my rescue flock of 10 another time!

Weekend Project ~ A Pallet Garden Wall - Phase I

What's on your Honey-do list this weekend? Is it full? Is there no hope of getting it all done? Ever.

Well far be it for me to add just one more thing to it but this is just so easy and so rewarding not to mention it's a one man....er woman...job.

Maybe you're like me and you have this huge eye sore in your yard that you've always wanted to hide or maybe you just like pallets or vertical gardening. Or maybe you're all like, 'If Jamie's doing in her yard, we're doing it ours'. Hey. It could happen.

Whatever your reason I think you'll enjoy how easy this project is and you'll enjoy the fact that, if you're a gal, you can concentrate on this project while your Honey concentrates on that To-do List.

Here's what you need:

Free pallets are out there and once you find them you'll see them every where the way you do your car. You know, the one you swore no one else had.

You'll also need:

- Post hole Digger (or shovel)
- 8 - 2 1/2" Screws (Galvanized for outdoor use, being best)
- Cinder block (or anything else you can use to rest your pallet on while screwing it to your posts. This will be your second set of hands)
- Drill and 1/8" drill bit (for pre-drilling holes)
- A level

First you'll want to lay your pallets down side by side (the way they will be once they're hung) and measure width ways to determine the spacing between your posts. Dig the holes for your posts. We put approx 2 ft' of our post in the ground. Follow package directions on Quikrete bag for hole size and mixing the concrete. You'll need to wait 24 hours for concrete to set before attaching pallets.

In the meantime, pre-drill 4 holes on each of your pallets two on top, two on bottom. Pre-drilling can seem scary but, trust me, it makes things much easier in the long run. Depending on your pallet, you may have to pre-drill your hole at an angle. Don't let this scare you. There will probably a cross piece in your way preventing you from drilling straight. No big deal! Just decide where you want your hole to go and pre-drill the hole. This is the same way your screw will go in later. I would suggest drilling your hole at a downward angle on the top of your pallet because your pallet will essentially "hang" from these screws and it will provide better support to put the screws in at the top on a downward angle. Other than that, just drill. You can do it.

The next day stand one pallet up against two posts. Raise the pallet to your desired height by using a cinder block or something comparable. Take your level and sit it on top of the pallet. Level out the pallet as best you can then screw down the top with two screws. {In case you need to readjust, don't screw in all four screws until both pallets are in place and level.}

Once you have the first in place then stand, raise and level the second pallet with the top of the first pallet. Then, screw it down. PLEASE NOTE: Pallets are not very "square" - meaning they can easily throw of your attempt at leveling. When you have both pallets relatively level, screw in bottom screws and you're done!

Now, you might be saying, that doesn't really look like much and I even broke a sweat! But that's because we haven't decorated yet.

Join me next week, just in time for the weekend, for Phase II and be sure to join me on Facebook because you're missing out if you haven't!

Click here for Phase II ~ Decorating

Spray Paint.....EVERYTHING!!!

People ask me all the time whether I use spray paint, a brush or a professional sprayer for my furniture redos and the truth is, all three. Sometimes nothing beats the look of a brushed piece, other times, especially for a smooth sleek look, only the sprayer will do. But that doesn't dilute my love of spray paint. And I've tried it all.

For example:

Highchair Post

I used Valspar on this project which I like because you can recoat in just 5 mins. Crazy, right?! The only problem is the finish takes forever to cure. It's at least a couple of weeks until I'm comfortable putting a project that I've used this paint on to use.

Garden Department Light Fixture Post

I used Rustoleum on this project and it's great. It does take longer to dry than Krylon but it's my go-to paint for metallic like this Oil Rubbed Bronze. The drying time can definitely be a problem unless you've got a protected place to spray paint. And let's be honest, how many of us do?? So using this on a windy day isn't the way to go.

Dining Chairs Post

Which brings me to my first love....Krylon.

Our dining chairs was the first big project I did with Krylon. Dries fast. Comes in lots of great colors. Did I mention it dries FAST?

Chandelier Post

Our dining room chandelier was also done using Krylon.

And pretty much EVERYTHING at this party, which can be found right here on my other blog, was done using Krylon.

So. The moral of this story is, I don't always use spray paint but when I do, I use Krylon.




**I wasn't paid, sponsored or compensated in anyway by any of the aforementioned companies. But I totally could be. I'm easy like that. Hear me KRYLON???**

Pottery Barn Style Oar Decor Knock-offs

Sometimes a knock-off isn't about saving money. Sometimes it's about getting exactly what you want. I would've gladly paid $29 for the 35" oar Pottery Barn offered but I wanted red, white and blue. Not blue, blue and yellow. So, I made my own.

I found these two genuinely antique oars on eBay and purchased them for $25 and then paid about $20 bucks to ship. So, divide that in half and they still cost me a little less than purchasing one from Pottery Barn. They measure approx 28 1/2" so they're a tad shorter than the Pottery Barn version but perfect for where I want to put them - which is a secret that I'll share with you another day. {Which hopefully will be sooner than later. But let's face it, this is a project for our home and not for a client. That being said, I'll see you with an update say, Decemberish!}

I used left over blue and red paints from my son's Star Wars Themed Big Boy Room and the white is from our Living Room Makeover. That paired with my favorite project tape, Frog tape, and voila' customized Oar Decor a la' Pottery Barn.

Now I can't wait to show what I have planned for it!

Becoming Beauty ~ A Sewing Cabinet Revival

If this revival were a TV show it would be called Extreme Makeover - Furniture Edition. It may not look like it but this was, by far, the biggest, most extreme revival I've ever done. Meet Beast who became Beauty....this is her story.

I'm going to tell you the truth. Sometimes, when working with the vintage, it would be easier to start from scratch and just build it yourself than to revive it. This was one of those times.

Maxwell's Dept Store written underneath the top
HOWEVER, this particular cabinet came from a clothing store from my hometown of Jesup, Georgia, called Maxwell's, and everyday on the way to school I passed this store. I shopped there and so did generations before me. So when an old friend of mine from high school obtained this cabinet for a mere $10, I was excited to do the hard work necessary to revive it. Because even if I could have built one a lot more quickly, not to mention much more easily, it wouldn't have had a story. And really, in the end, that's what it's all about for me. You know the old saying, if walls could talk? Well for me it's a lot like that only with furniture.

We discovered the cabinet's history when we removed the top
First things first, remove that laminate top. I can't tell you how excited I was the top lifted right off. Not because you can't paint laminate (I'll be meeting this challenge in a future revival - stay tuned) but because it totally threw off the vision of how I saw this cabinet ending up. Plus, underneath the top was real wood and I'll take that over laminate any day.

The next thing to address was the fact that Beast had sliding doors on both sides, which is great for storage, not so great for stability. Also, she had a simple 2 x 4 inset base that she rested on. I'm not sure how that worked when she was new but at this point, between these two issues, she swayed like a tree in a hurricane. So, how to fix her?

We decided the best way to stabilize her and give her the design I'd envisioned was to replace a set of the sliding doors with a solid front, add an MDF panel to her bottom (think of it like plastic surgery for furniture - this would be a butt-lift)and give her some cute, but not too tall, legs. I would love to tell you that fixed our stability problem but we wound up having to add extra stability within the cabinet itself as well.

Since the cabinet would be used as a sewing desk we had to make sure she didn't shake or sway. At all. We also had to keep in mind that someone would be sitting here and would need her feet to reach the sewing pedals so Beast couldn't be too tall. We notched out one of the shelves on the right side to leave room for knees and made it the perfect height for her new owner to place the sewing pedal, and her feet, into the bottom of the cabinet. With the structural issues addressed, it was time to move on to the fun part - paint!

My client had very specific instructions - "I want something no one else has. I want her to be different and unusual and I want her to have zebra stripes!". And I said, "Yes Ma'am!".

I added a zebra panel to the front as well to bring the theme down instead of just having it on top.

To break up the vast expanse of the front of the cabinet, I added picture frame molding as well. Plus, this makes it look more like a piece of furniture.

And there you have it! A Beast to Beauty transformation. It seems like it took an eternity and I couldn't be more thankful to have had such an easy client who has the patience of Job.

Per her request, we added 'Velma' to one of the corner ends on the top in memory of her grandmother who was also a seamstress. It looks as if Velma will be signing off on all future projects from now on.

We added back one set of sliding doors, with zebra knobs, of course and left the right side open. This is where she'll sit to sew.

Since her feet will rest on the bottom of the cabinet instead of the floor, we added a cord holder disguised in one of the black stripes to allow the cords to drop down into the cabinet.

And finally, she was done. A Beast to a Beauty. I will now refer to myself as, 'The Plastic Surgeon of Furniture'. And it was so worth it! What do you think?

**As always, please join me on my Facebook page: Southern Revivals. We're having fun over there and they always know what's going on before anyone else does!**