Stockings for Soldiers

Hey there Lovelies!

Remember when Mr. Superman was deployed last Christmas and I decided I wanted to get together 50 full size Christmas stockings chock full of goodies for his unit to send down range?

With the help of Mr. Superman's family, donations of money, cards, and goodies from all over, and a night full of assembly line genius, I was able to do that.

We ended up being able to send 100 stockings instead for the other 50 guys deployed from our home base here in Georgia. It was so awesome to hear about how excited everyone was when they got there and being able to see the pictures Mr. Superman sent me was so neat.

 (I also sent them a Christmas tree they could have up in the tent of the main camp.)

Well, this year Mr. Superman isn't deployed but I have gone back and forth on whether or not I wanted to do something similar. When it came down to it, we just don't have the money or time this year to organize it.

My friend Danyelle did end up messaging me though, seeing if I had any contacts I could pass along to her, because SHE is putting together a big drive to send stockings over to whomever she can.

This is where you come in.  
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know of anyone you may know who is deployed this year. Even better, if its your own loverfaces unit, tell me and I will be able to pass that all along and there will be stockings galore! She needs email addresses so go ahead and either leave me a comment or shoot me an email with your or your service member's email address and I will get Danyelle in touch with the right people.

I know before Mr. Superman deployed I would give fleeting thoughts to people deployed over the holidays but never did anything to make it a little better and brighter for our military. Now though, it just warms my heart to know there will awesome people making sure that our incredible service men and women will be getting a little bit of Christmas and joy thrown their way.

It would be awesome if you could share this post on your own blogs and Facebook and expand the search. I would appreciate it mucho mucho!

If you have the contact information for FRG Leaders or Key Spouses on bases where units are deployed be sure to send those my way too!

Thanks Lovelies!

I Call A Do Over: Book Pages Tutorial

I have these things called 'creative bones' and with no warning at all, I get struck with intense urges and needs to go thrifting and/or makeover everything in my path. The process usually consists of DVR or Netflix, food sitting somewhere on the floor or couch, my drill, dremel, and paint. Inside my living room.

When Mr. Superman deployed, I got more into DIY decor and refinishing furniture. My good friend Nikki, is a seriously incredible designer and she helped me a ton in teaching me techniques and easier ways to do things.

Now that I have a collection of stuff I've done and on my To Do List I figured why not share it with my  Lovelies? 

Since starting this little meme and sharing my projects, I have gotten a TON of questions on how I do things, what products I use, where I get my ideas.... The most popular have been the two pieces of furniture I made over with vintage book pages.

There was my Goodwill Coffee Table and my Ikea Chest Turned Vintage and I just never sat down to give a tutorial but then I had my beautiful friend Erica send me a message asking for help.

This is Erica's coffee table.



 

Its too modern and 'cold' for her. I agree. Its just not something I'd have in my house. She already knew what she was wanting but was really wanting tips, hints, a kind of rundown of the process I would take to amp up the vintage and cover those... um flowers.

I've never done anything on glass as far as Mod Podge or decoupage but its a pretty straightforward process. On all of my wood furniture I obviously do my treatments on top. If I were applying something to glass, I would do it on top as well because I just LOVE being able to see and feel the texture. Erica does have a handsome little man though so she was curious if it'd work to apply the paper underneath... OF COURSE!

I always use Mod Podge in Matte Finish and its amazing



  BUT for Erica, since she wants to apply the paper underneath so its protected and still seen, I would actually go ahead and use spray adhesive to initially get the paper on there.

There are tons of brands but since I've used Elmer's, that's what I know works.

You spray the surface and then put on whatever you want adhered. In this case that would be the book pages or newspaper your using. You want to make sure all the little bubbles are out and its lying flat.

Next, to get that antiqued look with the little bit of discoloration, I always use Minwax stain in Provincial.



Its my hands down favorite stain and I use it on pretty much every single project. Depending on how much discoloration you want will determine how heavy handed you are with the stain. I use an old rag and I just dunk it in and start applying, rubbing, spreading... If you're just wanting the edges or only slight discoloration, you could use Q-Tips or cotton balls.

Lastly, to seal it all and protect it and make sure its going to stay put, I do another heavy coat of Mod Podge. As it dries it will have bubbles but if you used a scraper or a flat edged anything to smooth it out while still wet, the bubbles will not be there once its completely done. So for Erica, even though we used spray adhesive to get the paper on, I would coat it with Mod Podge.



 Now since hers will have the glass as the protective top, my final step isn't really necessary which is to use Clear Acrylic Spray Paint in Satin Finish to make it water proof, protect from scratches and anything else coming at it. Krylon is my hands down favorite.

As far as the paper application/process goes, that's it! SO easy.

Now addressing the flower issue, I would simply take measurements/trace the shape, take it in to Home Depot, look at their scrap plywood, then have them cut it for you. They cut it for free so its even better! Depending on the coloring you're going for would depend on the paint obviously. For me, I would do another application of paper so it ties it in with the top in which case the process is the same but I'd use Mod Podge to apply it to the wood.

You could leave the frame black, age it, or paint it. I would probably go ahead and either age it or paint it. To get it 'aged' and a little rusty, I use nail polish remover and cotton balls. I just douse the cotton balls and rub away at the metal. It takes away some of the paint and instantly 'rusts' it without the nasty mess of rusty powder or chips. Again, depending on the look and how drastic you want the antique look will determine how much you do. As far as painting, I would pick an accent color in whatever room its going in and paint it. If you're painting, obviously tape off and paint before the paper application.

That's it! It really is so easy and doesn't take longer than a couple hours depending on the size of the furniture and taking in account how long it takes for stuff to dry.

Erica, I hope this helps you spark your creative bones a little bit!

Four Down, Forever To Go!

October 19, 2007 I married Mr. Superman and even though that day was kind of awful, the moments I got to share with him, and what that day meant, is so perfect. Its crazy to think that we've only been married four years. The things we have been through in that short amount of time is more than most people experience in a lifetime. Even though its never been easy, its made us incredibly close and made us love each other in ways we otherwise would not have been able to.

We met at 18 and fell in love FAST.

We were both stubborn and it took him nearly dying before we finally admitted we loved each other.

We got our first taste of long distance before we got married and ever even entered the military world.

After over a year of dating, asking my dad's permission, saving up lots of money, and taking flack and criticism from pretty much every person we knew and loved, Mr. Superman proposed.

The phone picture that got texted out to everyone

We got married at 19 on a hot 97 degree October evening.

We've taken vacations to California.

Mr. Superman enlisted into the US Air Force and graduated from BMT in late August 2009

We have vacationed in Florida.

 

 We prepped for, packed for, took pictures for, and said our, "See you later's" and "I love you's" for Mr. Superman's first deployment in 2010.

Mr. Superman returned home safe and sound in 2011 and we've continued on our crazy ride of a life with work, school, vacations to California and visits to family, and the normal ups and downs of military life.

 

 

 

Hopefully I didn't make you throw up in your mouth with all that mushy gushy love recap but if I did, I hope you swallowed it.

Life is crazy hard. I mean its CRAZY hard. Married life is even more difficult. When you're with the right person though, its not only full of love and happiness and fun, the crazy, hard, difficult times, are SO worth it. Happy Anniversary loverface! Its good to have you home for this one.