Little Ol' Me

About Me

I'm a loving military wife. I have been through deployments and moves and am still passionate about our lifestyle and respect the fact that my husband chose such a hard career. I am obsessed with anything that has to do with house design and beautiful architecture. I love to build, imagine and recreate furniture and décor pieces. That is why originally this blog started as a DIY blog but it has turned into more of a lifestyle blog touching on everything I love and care about. From design to the wonderful world of earth friendly cleaning and personal care to the kitchen and just our general adventures as we move all over with the Army.  So below is a bit more about me and the things I love.

One thing I absolutely love and couldn't live without is our rescue beagle named Mack Dog , yes we actually call him Mack Dog and yes he responds better to it than he does just Mack. He constantly makes us laugh and is always looking for the next thing to get into. I swear he understands us when we talk to him and he is adorably pathetic and will do anything for a crumb of food....even though he gets very nice, expensive and wholesome dog food 2 times a day! Oi Dogs.



I am a bit obsessed with all things British... I hope that someday we can be stationed in Europe so my Hubby can fall in love too.

I hope to someday own my own home and a requirement is it must have a claw foot tub! (update we did buy a house but it does not have  a claw foot tub...but I settled for a two person jet tub.)

I want a cool old car like a little MG Midget! Just to cruise around town in :)

I move often, love always and believe that life is too short to be unhappy and that life is what you make of it.

I LOVE: Furniture, Tea, Housewares, Dishes, Traveling, Nesting, New adventures,  Photography, Pretty or interesting doors, Old hardware, Tartan, Dogs, Animal rescue organizations, Yard sales, Friendly folk, Baking, Making homemade soup, White wine, Champagne, Fruit, Smoothies, Ice cream, Pickles, Books, Pretty gardens, Sitting on the lake, A fall breeze, Scarves, A good hat, BUT... most of all I love my crazy friends and my amazing wonderful family!

I hope you enjoy The Marie Project and find something that inspires you to make your space and life more beautiful.

Creatively Yours,
Christina Marie 

Staining and Finishing

Staining Once I choose my stain I choose my tools. I like a sponge brush and a rag...Mr. Marie prefers a painting brush and my Pop usually uses just a sponge brush. So I will explain to you what I know and you can go from there in order to find what works for you. I dip the tip of my sponge brush into the stain and dab off any extra on the edge of the can or container I'm using. Then I go back and forth on medium sized area of wood. I place my brush down pick up a rag and give it a firm but even swipe over the stained area. (I do not let it sit any longer than it takes to just place my brush down and pick up the rag.) I feel this technique makes the stain light and even. I like to do it this way so that if I want my finished product to be a bit darker I can go back and add another layer after it dries instead of starting out dark and realizing it was too much. Its harder to remove stain than add more. Then you wait (a long time usually 12-24 hours) for your stain to dry completely. Once your stain is dry and your satisfied with the tone of it, you are ready for a sealant layer. If you want your project darker add another layer of stain in the same fashion and wait for it to dry completely before moving on. NOTE: I always wear latex gloves while staining to protect my skin. Stain takes a long time to come off. Also make sure your always wearing clothes you don't care about because it does not come out of fabric.

Day light savings pick me up smoothie

Happy Monday Everyone!
 
If your anything like me then on Mondays, especially after a time change, your not so happy. This morning I was dragging! So I decided to make myself a delicious smoothie to help boost my energy. (I sort of am in love with liquid calories LOL.)
Any way I got to thinking why not share one of my favorite treats with all of you and hopefully make your Monday a little less blue...except it is blue in color cause of the blueberries LOL but you know what I meant :)
 

 
Ingredient:
1/2 Cup frozen blueberries
1/3 of an avocado frozen (I always freeze avocados for my smoothies you cant taste them and they are so darn good for you!)
1/2 Cup of Apple Juice (I personally really like simply apple its more like cider) 
1 Banana

                  

Welcome to The Marie Project!

I want to thank you for stopping by. I thought we should get to know each other first before we start sharing our DIY tips and secrets.  So I’ll start... I’m Christina Marie, I am a passionate DIYer, I am a dog mom to wonderful beagle named Mack and a very happy wife of a very wonderful Man who I will lovingly refer to as Mr. Marie lol. I grew up in a wonderful town in New England. My amazing husband puts up with my constant brain storming and sharing of ideas. My family and close friends are my number one cheering section and are super important to me!  Even this blog title has two special meanings. It's in part to honor my Nanny (whos name was Marie) she sadly passed away when I was 20. Also this blog title is a bit of an inside joke between me and an old dear friend. She claims that everyone’s middle name should be Marie because it’s easier to remember (as her and I both share this middle name) So by following her philosophy I hope to be able to share my projects and a bit of advice with you all in order to make you all DIY Maries LOL!

 

OK so those were the basics.... Now as you may be able to tell from my blog title I love a good DIY project and in my mind life is one big DIY project. Whether it is in life or in the garage building a desk, you have to have a plan to start with... but you have to be willing to tweak and adjust that plan when its not working. Some times in life or in a project you try something and it just clicks! And sometimes you have to try 3 or 4 times (or try many different ways) before it come out being what you want it to be. However just like in a life, the difficult DIY projects that you stick with til the end usually end up being the most rewarding.

Garage Overhaul!

People who discover we are a military family often say to me..."wow it must be so hard moving every few years!" and the answer to that is.. "sh-yeah! moving sucks. BUT!!!" There is this blissful thing about moving... it's called going through your crap lol. You see its true that the military will pay for movers to come into your home, box up your stuff and move all of it to your next duty station (aka where the military sends your family next). So it's great cause you really don't have to do much right?.....not! You want to make sure you know what the packers are moving and you want to take some basic things with you. Sometimes you have to wait a while for your household items to get to you, even if you have been at your new duty station for a while. I've heard some people wait up to two weeks or more.