"o" is for oysters (& oh! so much fun)

Each year the Fox has an oyster roast for friends and family. Usually held in January on MLK weekend, this year it was postponed until President's Day weekend. No biggie, except it was one of the WORST weather days of the 2013! The day was crazy! There were threatening reports of snow and then the sun would come out looking like a gorgeous day, then in came the clouds and cold rain. Back out with the sun, then the downpour came again, but this time with sleet! It wasn't until late into the evening that Mother Nature finally cut us a break and settled on just chilly. By the end of the night we were icicles, but we still had fun.

Oysters were steamed, beers were consumed and s'mores were created! Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the overall adventure, as I was mostly busy trying to stay warm and dry, but the morning of, the Fox and I decided to take on a project (go figure). Now I may not have gotten pictures of the evening's activities, but I rarely miss and opportunity to take before/after photos of one of our projects. My addiction of instant gratification might have something to do with that...

Nonetheless, we set off to buy some chalkboard paint (at Walmart, which we finally found by the price scanner - I guess someone didn't want to pay the $9.95/can price tag). With paint and tape in hand, we trekked back home to begin our transformation.

finders keepers:
Let's take it back a few weeks...while I was out on a run one afternoon, I came across this handmade easel on the side of the road. It was sitting there, all lonely and screaming for a home. Sooooo unlike the Fox who would have jogged right past this little gem, I immediately zoned in. It's just hard for me not to look for goodies when I'm on a run. In fact, I once carried two vintage, metal boat trailer fenders just because I like the way they looked! Nothing stops me dead in my running tracks faster than a pile of junk!

Anyway, I wasn't going to be able to carry this darn easel home, so I ran home as quickly as I could and prayed that she would still be there when I grabbed my car. Sure enough! There she stood, waiting for me to grab her up! She had been sitting in the Fox's office for quite some time, so it was time for a makeover.

We threw a quick coat of chalkboard paint on either side, painted the legs red (like the Fox's front door) and voila! A fancy new sign for our oyster roast (or any other party we plan to throw).

I taped the sides because I wanted to create a clear section of it that was only for the chalkboard. I felt like painting it all may be too much. And I was right! It turned out so cute! What fun will this be going forward? It can be used for all kinds of things. Not to mention it's just fun drawing on chalkboards :).

"o's" in the house!
In keeping with the nature of all things "o" related, why not talk about our stump gone table project? This one is super easy and anyone can do it. Again, while driving on the side of the road (it's starting to becoming a problem...), we found some stumps that someone cut down. Of course, anyone who gets sucked into Pinterest, has probably seen tons of inspiration where they use stumps as coffee tables, side tables, etc. Because I was one of those said people, I immediately called for back up (the Fox's SUV) and we had a trunk 'o stumps in no time!

We took them home and created this rustic side table for the porch:

It took absolutely no time at all because thankfully the tree cutter person made it just perfect! We grab a few heavy duty, rust resistant screws from Lowe's to use as legs (to eliminate moisture from getting underneath) 

and we made ourselves a cute little stand! Not bad, huh? We were pretty excited about it. 

I'm not sure how I feel about bringing it inside the house, but I guess as long as it's bug free, it could make a cute bedside table...just a thought. 

That's about it for now! But with spring around the corner, who knows what kind of mischief we'll get into. It's always fun to think of a new project! Happy trash hunting, everyone :)!