Color Mix: Pantone Color of the Year 2015 - Marsala

This week, I wanted to share with you our color mixing project where we have created Pantone's Color of the Year 2015, Marsala. "Marsala enriches our mind, body and soul, exuding confidence and stability. Marsala is a subtly seductive shade, one that draws us in to its embracing warmth."
-Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute®

"Nurturing and fulfilling, Marsala is a natural fit for the kitchen and dining room - making it ideal for tabletop, small appliances and linens throughout the home."

"Add elegance to any room by incorporating this rich and welcoming hue in accent pieces, accessories and paint. Marsala’s plush characteristics are enhanced when the color is applied to textured surfaces, making it an ideal choice for rugs and upholstered living room furniture."

The Amy Howard at Home Chinese Red One Step color is similar but I wanted to create an exact match so I mixed together the Charm School and Orchid One Step Paint colors to create this beautiful color. 

Color Mix:

2 parts Charm School + 1 part Orchid

Inspiration:

Beautiful use as an accent color

 As a room color

Love this chair pulling out the accent color from the wall paper

 You can restore an old cabinet with the One Step Paint

Beautiful Wall color

Rescue, Restore, Redecorate™

www.AmyHowardatHome.com

The Gift of Time

My friend Amy Howell encouraged me to take one day a week on the blog to share a page from my personal life. My days are so busy with meetings, R&D, traveling, etc., that I literally start a week and turn around and it’s already Friday but I couldn't help to share this story!

Gene and I had the pleasure of being a host family for a precious group last weekend. The name of the organization is Daraja, which means bridge. They are a group of young children ages 9-13 from Kenya and Uganda who came to the US to sing praise and worship music. Our church was hosting them and we were contacted about being a host family.

I really didn’t think much of it at the time. They would come visit, we would take them around the city and spend the weekend with them. I’m tearing up just writing this…

We went to pick them up at our church.  Hearing the rules for the weekend, I was taken aback by being told to "not to give them gifts."  These children are not used to having many "things" like children in the US have.

I thought, "how in the world am I not going to give gifts to these girls." I soon found out, I actually WAS able to give them a gift - I was able to give them the most valuable gift, TIME. I was going to connect with two young girls from Africa in such a profound way that I would never be the same.

We also hosted two amazing young women who are in the middle of a 6 month internship. They travel on a bus with this group from Africa all over the US. The love and commitment they had for these children was amazing.  I loved staying up late conversing with two amazing young women - Carlee and Kendall. These women have such a heart for the Lord and they are truly seeking to find out what His will is for their lives. I was so encouraged to see 24 year olds that were not about their looks, their stuff, or texting all the time. They want to invest in people, have deep conversations, and they want to serve.

Early Saturday morning we thought we would take the two young girls from Africa - AnnSharon and Teddy to Starbucks for hot chocolate. As we pulled up to the drive through window, they were wide eyed and amazed at how we were talking to someone that we could not see. Where is this person? How are you talking to them? It then dawned on me that they had never been to a Starbucks - they had never even been through a drive through. Their life was so simple and so happy. Their smile was endearing and their laugh was frequent and infectious.

Carlee, Annsharon, Teddy, Kendall
First Starbucks

How is it that we live such lives of entitlement and that we are so self-seeking that it is all about stuff and how many things we can get before we leave this earth. Why is it that we miss the greatest gift of relationships and people?

One of the reasons why I love teaching so much is that I get to really connect with people in a deep way. Creativity and learning brings us back transparency and sharing. This holiday season, I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone. Get with someone that is not part of your circle of friends. Invite them to dinner. Ask them about their dreams and their goals. Walk with them. See how you can help them make their dreams and desires come true. Connect with them in such a way that they feel valued.

If you do this, I truly believe you will feel like I do. You will be the one who will be blessed.

AHaH Before & After Projects

Happy Friday! It's that time for sharing new Before and After projects! I hope you are inspired by the beautiful makeovers that our customers are creating.

Dining Room Table Base

Before: 

After:

Savvy Southern Style

This table base was painted with the French Blue One Step Paint 

Desk

Before & After:

Hand-me-Downs by Hanson

This chest was painted in the Black One Step Paint 

Chest

Before:  

After:

Shelley from Wirtz Lumber in Guymon, OK

This chest was restored in the Bauhaus Buff & American Dream
 One Step Paint paint colors

Shelley shared that "it only took 4 hours!"

Small Chest

Before & After:

Lifa Home

This chest was painted in the Lou Lou One Step Paint 

Rescue, Restore, Redecorate™
www.AmyHowardAtHome.com

Build It Yourself : Bench

I am excited to share with you another one of our 

Build It Yourself  (BIY) projects! 

I have provided instructions to create an amazing looking bench

Click here to download the instructions to Build It Yourself: Bench.

Materials Needed:

1 1/2” Poplar Planks 

7/8 Poplar Planks 

1/2” Plywood Sheet 

1 1/4” Stretcher 

Bandsaw/Jig Saw 

Miter Saw

Chop Saw / Table Saw

PlanerRouter

Forstner Bit

3 Flute Bit

Flush bit

Tape Measure 

Wood Glue

Nails and Hammer 

Pin Tacks

Screws and Screw driver

Your beautiful finished bench!

Rescue, Restore, Redecorate™

www.AmyHowardatHome.com

Painting Glass with Amy Howard at Home: Design One

I am excited to share with you today the first post of this Series that we featuring on the blog with Painting on Glass using the Amy Howard at Home products.

Today, we are sharing the Decorative Glass Technique: Design One. The following are images and step by step instructions to complete this project!

Materials Needed:

• Piece of Glass

• Water

• Simple Green cleaning solution

• Paper towels

• Stencil

• Amy Howard at Home Belize Lacquer

• Amy Howard at Home Citron Lacquer

• Amy Howard at Home La Grange Lacquer

Step by Step Instructions:

Step 1: Simple Green both sides of your piece of glass.

Step 2: Using your spray bottle, spray water up in air, over glass.  

Repeat 2 - 3.

This is after the water is sprayed above the glass.

Step 3: Spray on Amy Howard at Home Belize Lacquer.

Fully sprayed piece of glass.

Step 4: Apply paper towel, removing water droplets, and Let Dry.

Step 5: 5.0 Apply Stencil to glass.

Applied stencil.

Step 6: Spray on Amy Howard at Home Citron Lacquer over stencil.

Citron Lacquer sprayed glass.

Step 7: Remove stencil from glass.

Removed stencil.

Step 8: Spray on Amy Howard at Home La Grange Lacquer.

Lacquered glass.

Finished piece of glass!

Find a Retailer near you!

www.AmyHowardatHome.com

One Step Color Mix: Dark Grey

A great way to make your own color is by mixing the One Step Paint®. With the many color choices, there are still ways to mix them together to make your own custom color to fit your need. For this mix, I used one part Atelier plus one part Black. I was looking to create a dark grey.

Color Mix:

Inspiration:

Love this bathroom

Rescue an old chest

Great color for your bookshelves

Laundry Room Wall Color

Art Loft NYC Inspiration 

Rescue, Restore, Redecorate™

www.AmyHowardatHome.com