Nothing looks homier than mismatched chairs around a farmhouse table.  As soon as we started building our farmhouse table we started making trips to thrift stores to find the perfect chairs. We had a goal to find five random style chairs to go around three sides of our table; the forth side will have a bench when it is complete. 

Here is the line up of the chairs we collected: 

     A.      Value Village, $24.99 (the king's chair as Alex likes to call it)
     B.      Goodwill Outlet, $1.99
     C.      Value Village, $9.99 (the boring common chair) 
     D.      Value Village, $14.99
     E.      Goodwill, $24.99 (My favorite! Has a placard on the back for Cook County Court house)

I had planned on painting all the chairs with the gallon of Teal Zeal Behr paint I had bought, but after hand painting on the 2–3 coats of primer I got very impatient. I decided to go to the store and buy spray paint. The problem I have with spray paint was there a limited selection of colors. I ended up painting the chairs Rust-OLEUM’s Satin lagoon. This ended up being very bright. I think the color is growing on me, but it is very overwhelming at first sight.  

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in any means on painting. This is my first paint project. I referenced a couple of great blogs for information to get me started: Someday Crafts & i create.... with love. 

I started by wiping all the chairs clean with a damp rag. I also removed anything that was stuck on the chairs. In particular, I worked on chair C forever because I think the chair got in a fight with a bottle of glue at some point in its life.

Side note: One cool tip I got from good old Martha, was to put nails into the end of each chair leg. This raises the chairs off the ground and makes it easier to get the paint all the way down to the bottom 

After the chairs were clean and dry my sister (who was visiting for spring break) and I, using a paint roller, applied a layer of  Zinsser Bulls Eye 1 2 3 primer. We used a sponge brush to work primer into the nooks and crannies of the chairs. The great thing about this primer is you don’t have to sand the chairs before! This saved me so much time. 

Be careful to catch and smooth out drips when painting on the primer.  I applied 2-3 coats of primer to the chairs depending on the original color (the black on took 3 coats, the white took 2).  

Next came the waiting game for a nice clear day in Seattle to spray paint.  Yes, those do happen!

I spray painted 2 coats of paint onto each chair waiting an hour between each coat. 

 There was also another trip to home depot between coats because I seriously misjudged how much paint it would take.  I would recommend at least one can per chair.  

After the paint was dry I topped the chairs off with 3 coats of a clear coat protector. 

I am playing around with the idea of adding a white glaze to the chairs. I am hoping this will help tone the color down a little bit. I am just concerned with how well it will work because I already put a clear coat over the paint. I really need help deciding. Please add comments and let me know what you think! Should I change the color, try out a dark or light glaze or keep it as is? Keep in mind the real to the eye color is a little darker then the pictures. I think the chairs  have a touch more green in the actual to the eye color. I couldn't capture this color on camera.

When I see jar of Nutella I think of my summer in college that I spent backpacking through Europe. I lived in Paris for a month while taking a class and let’s just say I ate a ton of crepes. My favorite kind was strawberry, Banana and Nutella. 

When I came across a recipe for Nutella swirl cupcakes, my brain automatically thought strawberry, banana and Nutella crepe. Then my brain jumped to could I make a crepe cupcake? The answer is yes! 

I got my inspiration for these cupcakes from here, here, here, and here. 

I started off with a dense vanilla cake.  The cake has to be dense so the Nutella swirl doesn’t just sink to the bottom.

Using a sandwich bag I piped a thin swirl of Nutella onto each cupcake. 

I then swirled the Nutella into the cupcake using a toothpick. 

Then I pitted strawberries and placed one, pitted side up, into the center of each cupcake. I must say, this was the best part of the cupcake. After it was cooked it was the best cupcake filling I have had in a while. 

To top it off I piped on banana cream frosting, made with real bananas. So good. 

Disclaimer: This is not a substitute for going to Paris and eating a crepe but it is a pretty amazing cupcake. 

Strawberry & Nutella Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
  
• 1-1/2 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
  
• 2 teaspoon table salt 
  
• 2 sticks butter or margarine, softened 
  
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt 
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  
• 24 whole strawberries, hulled + more for garnishing *
  
• 1-2 cups Nutella
  

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with 24 standard cupcake liners.
  
• In a mixer, whip together butter, sugar, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla with paddle attachment.  Beat until smooth.
  
• Gradually add in baking powder, salt and flour. Mix well. 
  
• Divide batter evenly among prepared liners (about 2/3 full).
  
• Using a sandwich bag, pipe Nutella through small hole in bag onto cupcakes. Using a toothpick, swirl and fold Nutella into batter. 
  
• Press one strawberry, pointy-side down, into the center of each cupcake.
  
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cupcake tops are pale gold and springy.
  
• Place cupcakes on wire rack to cool.
  

Banana Buttercream Frosting 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup butter, softened 
  
• 1 cup mashed banana, about 2 large bananas
  
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice**
  
• Dash of salt 
  
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar (find right piping consistency)
  

 Instructions:

• In a mixer, whip together butter until fluffy. 
  
• In small bowl, mash bananas. Add lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined. 
  
• Gradually incorporate powdered sugar and banana mixture with the butter in mixer, scraping down sides. Mix until combined. 
  
• Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Add strawberry garnish.

* to help the garnish strawberries last a little longer, melt together 1 tablespoon strawberry jam and 1 tablespoon water, mix well. Brush over berry.
** lemon juice helps the banana not brown as fast.