Welcome! We're so glad you stopped by! We're Debbie and Tiffany, a mother/daughter team. We started The Not So Empty Nest back in 2011 as a way to help raise funds to bring my (Tiffany) little girl home from China through the miracle of adoption.
We had a little experience painting furniture for our own homes and decided to turn our hobby into a business. At that time, we were hunting down furniture, sanding it, priming it 1-2 coats, painting it 2-3 coats, sanding again to distress, and then sealing it... quite the process! Not to mention we were working out of a HOT garage in the blazing Alabama summer heat. Needless to say, by the time we were done, each piece was worth (to us) way more than any one would want to pay.
A few months into our sweat shop (literally), we were introduced to chalk paint. It sounded too good to be true - no sanding or priming needed... just start painting and 1-2 coats would get the job done. Then, we could distress by wiping it! What?? We got our first chalk paint and wax the day it became available in our area. We were happy to pay the $35/quart after what we had been doing! We were able to get beautiful results in a fraction of the time. The Lord blessed our nest, and a large portion of our adoption money was raised as a result.
Our precious daughter, Ayla, was placed in our arms in March of 2012. Our lives haven't been the same since! What we weren't expecting was for the Lord to lead us to start the adoption process again for another little girl from China less than a year later.
We had taken a break from The Nest, but now we were back at the beginning stages of fundraising and needed to pick back up. We quickly learned that painting furniture to resell was not going to work very well with a 2-year-old. So, we decided to market to the DIYers... painting what we could, but mostly selling furniture that someone else would want to paint.
Not long into that, a friend told us about Websters Chalk Paint Powder. After some research, we realized it was not only a quality product, but a perfect fit with what we were doing! Now our DIYers can get all natural, affordable chalk paint supplies that give them the flexibility to use any color.
So, we invite you to "Repurpose for a Purpose!" Never used chalk paint or wax before? Sign up for a class and let us show you how! Are you an 'ole chalk paint pro? Try out Websters and our fabulous Fiddes & Sons Wax... you'll love it! Do you chalk paint as a business? Contact us for special vendor pricing! And even better, you'll help bring another little girl home to her forever family - to her not so empty nest!
Halfway around the world, there is a little girl who has no idea that a mom, dad and big sister are pursuing her, loving her, and will sacrifice whatever we must to bring her home. We do this because we have a Heavenly Father who pursued us, loves us, and sacrificed His only Son to bring us into His family. We adopt because we have been adopted...eternally!
***UPDATE!!!
We brought our second daughter home from China in January! She and her big sister are from the same orphanage, and we recently found out they do not have a playground there. Now that our adoption is complete, a portion of the proceeds from the Not So Empty Nest will go to help build a playground. There are many children still waiting on families and even more that will never be adopted. We want to give them a fun place to play and grow!!