Archive for May, 2010

It’s that time of the week again!

As you know, I spent the entire day at the American Idol Finale.

(It was freaking awesome!!!!!)

I didn’t have time to get together my weekly features this week

Let’s hook up anyway and I promise to post my favorites from last week soon.

Also, later today I PROMISE to tell you all about my totally amazing most awesome experience of my life going to American Idol.

Seriously, I HUGGED Paula Abdul. I met David Archuleta. Nuf’ said. AND I’ve got pictures to prove it.

Did I mention it was the best day of my life?! ‘Cause it was.

Check back soon for my AI finale post.

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Post about anything you’ve done this week.

* Put a link to my site somewhere on your blog so others can come party with us! For those that link to me, THANK YOU!

* Link directly to your post, not your blog. If you want to link to your BLOG, click HERE and link away! This par-tay is for specific links only. Sorry. (Not really).

* If you post spam junk I will be forced to delete it. Don’t waste my time!

Ready. Set. Post!

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*If for any reason your link wont post, please put your link(s) in my comment section!*

Headed out the door right now to line up for…

American Idol Finale!!!!

I never realized going to a one hour show would require a full day. Wow. I am headed out now (10am PCT) to get in line to pick up the tickets. After that I am headed to the Nokia Theater to wait in line for the show. To get good seats you have to be at the front of the line! At 2pm they will herd us into the theater. Needless to say, today will be a LONG day with lots of waiting in line. Boo.

But it’s all cool because in the end, I’ll be sitting in the live audience while Ryan Seacrest crowns this seasons winner! Can’t wait.

Go Lee!!!

I text voted at least 50 times last night for him. First time in 9 years (or is it 10?) that I’ve ever voted. Ever. But I love Lee and he needs to win!

In the end, no kids under 12 are allowed, so my kids got the boot. But my friend Rianna from Austin flew in for the day to come with hubbs and I. She’s bringing a friend from LA with her. It will be a fun day!

No phones or cameras allowed, so I won’t have access to email until laaaaaaate tonight.

XOXO. You know you love me…

Eleven years ago my hubbs and I were given a cooler for a wedding gift. It is definitely in the “top 5 best wedding gifts” category. It has gone camping, on road trips, to football tailgating parties, kids’ soccer games, and the lake. It has even traveled with us around the entire USA while we made road trips from Texas to new homes in New Jersey and California.

Unfortunately our cooler is now old and faded. A shell of what it once was. It is so sun damaged and scuffed up, but it is such a great cooler that I couldn’t bare to part with it and buy a new one. No use throwing away a perfectly useful item.

Poor thing has seen better days.

So what is a crafty girl to do? I can’t be seen with such an awful looking cooler. I do have a reputation to uphold here.

After almost a week of drama with this cute little thing, here she is now. Brand new and better than ever.

Adorable.

Here’s how she came to be…

I started with this. Pretty faded and gross.

Definitely in need of a good makeover. I can’t be seen on the soccer field with this atrocity.

First thing I did was taped the entire inside of the cooler with paper and tape. I didn’t want any paint getting on the inside. Then I took spray paint primer for plastic and primed the entire cooler really well.

Once the primer was dry I took white spray paint for plastic and gave the top several coats. I wanted the top really bright white.

When that was dry I covered and taped the top really tightly. It’s now time to paint the body of the cooler.

And this is where my trouble begins…

I had visions of a tangerine and white cooler. You know I love orange. And I could just see this beautiful orange cooler at all the soccer games. In my mind, it was beautiful.

I could totally picture it full of bags of oranges like the ones Michael Scott stole from the baseball game.

In reality, it looked like something you’d see at a construction site.

Not exactly what I’d had in mind…

Back to the drawing board.

This go-round I decided on Rust-oleum’s Spa Blue spray paint.

I can live with this.

Stencil time! I was originally going to make a stencil and just spray paint over it.

I used Freezer Paper and cut out a stencil. However, after some thought I realized that with all the texture on the cooler the paint would most likely bleed under the stencil and get ruined.

I still used the stencil, but instead of attaching it and painting, I just attached it and traced my image with a pencil.

And now for the really fun tedious part. Hand painting.

Yup, I’m a lefty. My big claim-to-fame.

After one coat, it looked pretty pathetic.

But after FOUR very tedious time consuming testing-every-last-drop-of-patience-I-have coats, it is done.

And I love it.

But it’s missing *something*.

As if hand-painting four coats of “Hepworth” wasn’t torture enough, I decided it needed some racer stripes.

I taped off my stripes, painted one coat, and peeled the tape off. It bled pretty bad, so I had to hand-paint the remaining three coats and do some touching up.

About five seconds after I started the stripes I made the decision that they would look great on the front only. They were a major PITA to paint!

I think the only thing missing now are the tube socks.

Before & After

Fall soccer season, Bring It!

I’m entering this paint project into The CSI Project competition.

xoxo, Allison

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Sometimes I participate in these parties: The DIY Showoff, Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Blue Cricket Design, Home Stories A to Z, Someday Crafts, House of Hepworths, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, One Project Closer, Under The Table and Dreaming, Positively Splendid

Tags : accessories, before and After, camping, cooler, ice chest, splash of color, spray paint