This Thrifty House

My $25 Piano

2012-01-10T07:04:00.001-08:00

I’m taking a little brake from curtain week today to tell you about an AMAZING DEAL I got a few months ago! (This one is for you Tracy!!)

Until recently I have never owned a real piano. For the last 12 years I have had this beautiful little electric piano (and just pretend you don’t see my new piano in the background).

Now this little electric piano has been SO WONDERFUL over the past 12 years. It was more than just a keyboard—it really was like a mini piano—but it was light weight and easy to move around when we were moving from place to place and had lots of cool features. I LOVED this thing. I even made this little cover for it so it wouldn’t get dusty.

But as my family is getting older and we aren’t planning on moving houses again, And our piano teacher was telling us that we really needed something with weighted keys—we decided it was time to look for a real piano.

After weeks of searching on craigslist I found this piano listed for $150!!!

After looking on line forever—I knew this was a good deal. So we marched on over and bought it.

After it sat in our home for a few weeks we had it tuned and the tuner guy couldn’t believe how much I bought it for! He told me it would have been a great deal if I had got it for double the price. But at that price, it was a steal!

And then to make me even happier—I put my little electric piano on craigslist and sold it for $125!!!

So—that means that in the end I spent $25 on this little beauty!

And now with my own piano, I feel all grown up.

Sketchy Shower Curtains turned Living Room Curtains.

2012-01-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

Continuing on my theme of “Curtain Week”—today I will tell you about my curtain selection for this room (picture courtesy of the previous owners before we moved in):

Right before we moved into our house I took a wonderful trip to Arizona with my sister, mother and some very dear friends. It was the best girls weekend EVER. We had so much fun. And we did a lot of shopping.

Well, one of the stores that shopped at was Kirklands Home Store. I have never shopped there before but I fell in love with practically everything in the store. And I fell in love with this fun shower curtain.

I was looking for some fun curtains to hang in the living room/kids hang out room. I saw these shower curtains for only $16.99 and new that I could make them into really cute curtains. And that I could get 2 panels out of each one! So I bought 3 panels for my 3 windows for a total of $50.97.

The plan was brilliant—I would just cut each shower curtain in half and hem the raw edge and get some fun hooks and hang them up in my living room. Easy Peasy.

Well, when I got home and opened up the packaging I knew I had a lot more work to do. I have NEVER seen such poor quality of sewing in a ready made product. I could hardly believe it—and HAD to take several pictures to document HOW BAD IT REALLY WAS.

So here are the photos for your viewing pleasure (look really closely at all the details—seam allowances, button holes, hems, etc.):

CRAZY right?

And the crazy thing was that all three panels were all that way!

So I was now back in Washington and couldn’t return them. And I still loved the fabric. So I just started picking out all the seams and cutting off all the seams with button holes—till I was left with just the material. And started from square one.

So I ended up just hemming them all the way around and forgetting the button holes. Instead I hung them with little clips. And I think they turned out MARVELOUSLY! And here is what the room looks like now:

The only bummer about using a shower curtain is that they are shorter than other curtains (especially when you have to cut off an inch and a half of a lousy button hole job off the top!) I would have loved for them to be floor length. But I still love how they turned out!

And the fun print makes a big impact—as it is usually one of the first things people see as they come in our house.

I get asked all the time if I made these curtains. And—because of all the ripping out of seams and cutting and trimming and pain in the neck work I had to do—I say HECK YA! I did!

Master Bedroom Curtains—Adding Grommets

2012-01-04T14:33:00.001-08:00

As always, I have so many projects I want to post about. I thought this week I would focus my posts on some of the window treatments that I bought, made, and did major reconstructive surgery on.

We’ll start today in our Master Bedroom.

Our master bedroom has two enormous windows that let in a TON of sunlight (that is when the sun actually shines here in the northwest!).

This picture is right after we bought the house and were just starting renovations and painting. This room needed a bunch of dry wall repair (after we took off all the shelving and other things that had been left attached to the walls), new window blinds, a new light fixture and a whole lot of paint. I will give you all the before and after details in another post—today we are just going to talk about the curtains.

First of all—I just want to tell you that I bought 12 different sets of curtains that were eventually returned because they were either the wrong color (they didn’t match with our bedding), or they were not room darkening enough (we were waking up when the sun came up at 4 or 5 in the morning!) before we finally settled on these:

Eclipse Samara Blackout Energy-Efficient Curtain from Walmart

My hubby and I are really happy with the quality and the price of these curtains ($9.77/panel!!!) However, I was not in love with the rod pocket look—as I wanted to open and close them on a daily basis, and rod pockets can be awkward to open an close often.

So I tried using curtain clips to hang them from the rod. I obviously hadn’t ironed them yet when these pictures were taken.

I just wasn’t in love with this option either. I had really wanted a curtain with grommets. So I decided to see about adding my own grommets.

I found these DIY grommets at Joanns:

But they were $12.99 for 1 pack for the size that I needed. And I needed 3 packs! That would make double the price of these curtains!!!

I was bummed and had resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to live with them as is—until I saw that in Walmart’s Fabric section—they had these black plasitcy looking grommets for $5.99!

I didn’t want the cheap black plastic looking grommets—but I knew that I could fix them with my favorite spray paint that is made for plastic!

I have used this exact spray paint for more projects than I can count. Here and here are just a couple of examples.

So the grommets come apart into two pieces—the front and the back. Here all the fronts and backs got a makeover.

Next I used the template that comes with the grommets, and carefully measured and traced out where I wanted the grommets to go.

Then I simply just cut around my tracing lines. Then I put the back grommet on the back of my fabric, and the front grommet on the front. And then I pressed the pieces together and they snapped into place. All my cut edges are neatly and securely encased inside of the grommets.

Then I just repeat those steps 24 more times until all of my panels were done!

Then I gave them all a good pressing and hung them up.

Now they open and close easily and they look amazing. And this spray paint is tough as nails. Its not going anywhere. We have been opening and closing them every day for months and I have yet to see any signs of wear.

AND thanks to the miracles and wonders of SPRAY PAINT--this little transformation only cost me and additional $18 for the grommets instead of $40!

And that makes me happy.

CHEAP DIY Photo Canvases

2011-11-22T21:04:00.001-08:00

I know it has been FOREVER since I last posted on my blog. I’m sorry—I have been to buys living my life to blog about it. But I am SO EXCITED about the most recent project that I just finished that I had to run up to my computer and write a post about it.

To start off—let me just explain that my family just got our family pictures taken for the first time. Now—when I say the first time—I really mean that this is the first time that we haven’t gone to SEARS portrait studio with our coupon and been forced to sit in a tiny little room with our whole family and try and smile and act like we were having a grand old time—while really we were all hating it and the pictures showed how much we were hating it. We were then forced to choose one pose according to our coupon—and we had to choose from 2 or 3 pictures—all of which we really disliked to begin with—so that we could get our blessed pictures!

So—as I was saying—this is the first time that our family had our pictures taken by a professional—out in the real world with the gorgeous fall landscape as our beautiful background. We were so at ease—we actually had a great time at the photo shoot—and it shows!! Our pictures turned out amazing!!! And we had SO MANY to choose from!! It was truly a wonderful experience!

So now that our pictures were taken and turned out beautifully—I had a GIANT BARE NAKED wall in our home (our stair wall) that I wanted to turn into our gallery wall.

I really love the look of a ton of pictures on a wall—but knew that framing all of those pictures could be VERY costly. So I didn’t really know what I was going to do.

BUT THEN my awesome sister Michelle, sent me a link to THIS tutorial of how to make your own photo canvases!!! It is PURE GENIUS I tell you!! And the answer to my picture wall dilemma.

So I RAN to the hardware store and got one 8 foot sheet of 1” Styrofoam insulation and then ran to the fabric store and got 2 yards of black fabric.

And this is what I did:

First I got out some paper and cut out a random assortment of sizes and shapes—and I started taping them up on my wall until I was happy with the layout.

Then I went to my computer and chose which pictures would go where and cropped them to size and ordered them on Costco.com. (The sizes ranged from a 16x20 to 5x7s)

Next I traced out the shapes of all of my pictures on the Styrofoam and labeled them (I really did this with a ruler and didn’t actually trace my pictures—so as not to bend them)

Next I TRIED to cut them out myself using a razor blade (which is the way the gal said she cut some of hers with)—but that ended in DISASTERLY rough and gnarly edges that looked HORRIBLE. So I stopped after one attempt and then had my sweet hubby cut the rest of them with his table saw. He did an AMAZING job at getting them PERFECTLY straight!

Next I cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than each square.

And then I wrapped them up like a present and stapled all the ends down with a regular stapler. There is no need to be fancy or to wrap the whole back of it—because no one is going to see the back side.

I would recommend getting a little more fabric than you think you will need. I didn’t and I came CRAZILY close to not having enough to finish this project. Anyhoo—I made sure to use a lot of staples to make it secure—and I was SUPER ANAL and CAREFUL to fold the corners just right as to have them crease perfectly and not look POOCHY.

I found that PRESSING the corners down with steam really helped them to lie flat and almost disappear.

Next I finished off the back with Duct Tape to secure the whole thing.

Then I took all the canvases out the my garage and sprayed the fabric fronts of the canvases with this spray glue that I already had on hand.

Then I carefully placed the pictures on each one and gently rubbed them with a soft towel until they had adhered.

Next for the hanging.

The gal in her tutorial hung her canvases with velcro—and I almost did too—until I pulled off the backing to the velcro and felt how sticky that stuff is. I figured if I ever wanted to change things up—I didn’t want to have to patch holes in my wall from tearing off chunks of my wall where that crazy sticky velcro was. And so we found these little picture hooky things in our stash that were perfect. I placed a little hot glue on the back to make sure that they stayed on securely.

Next I laid out all my pictures again on the floor…

And then tried to get them in as close to the same spots on the wall as I could. I have to say that it is pretty hard to hang stuff when you are standing on stairs. I was able to hang all but 2 of them. Then I brought in the big guns to hang the ones I couldn’t reach. We make a good team that way. (He’s standing on a stool here and still having a hard time reaching. It really was difficult! Apparently we need to get one of those ladders that does stairs!)

Then we stood back and admired our handy work.

I am SO IN LOVE with how this project turned out. I have already had a ton of comments and ooohs and aaaahs on this project. And everyone is SHOCKED when I tell them that I made these guys and at how much I spent.

And how much did I spend?

The foam insulation from Lowes: $8.98

2 Yards of Black Fabric from Joann’s: $5.50 with coupon.

Grand Total: $14.48

And I probably spent around $40 for the pictures to be printed at Costco. I had a ton of other pictures printed and Christmas cards done all at the same time—so I’m not super sure and I am too lazy at this particular moment to figure it out. All I know is that it seemed like a good deal for all that I got.

And just today I went to Walmart and bought a frame for another picture we had enlarged—and I bought a CHEAP PLASTIC FRAME and it was over $15!! Just for this one LOW QUALITY frame!!

So this just goes to show how great and thrifty this project really is. AND in a couple years time—when we get our pictures taken again—I can just peel off the pictures and glue on new ones—or refabric them for a few bucks!

I will definitely be using this idea again.

Canvas + Paint Chips = Awesome Art

2011-10-14T10:08:00.001-07:00

I came across THIS awesome idea for using paint chips to create custom art MONTHS and MONTHS ago:

This is my inspiration piece from Life Crafts and Whatever

—and I have been wanting to give it a try ever since.

one. because it looks like custom, awesome art that you would pay big money for.

and two. because you get all the chips for free and so it hardly costs you anything!!! I’m cheap like that.

So I started by collecting a ton of paint chips every time I went to the paint isle in Walmart and Home Depot and then cut them down into uniform squares (and the way I determined the size of squares was just taking the width of the paint chips and just cutting the other edge so that it was a square—it saved me on the amount of cuts I had to do. However—not all the paint chips I collected were the exact same width—so then I did have to cut some down on both sides).

Here I am with my adorable sister starting to cut and lay them all out.

And just let me tell you—if you are going to do a large one like I did--you need A LOT of paint chips. I think that mine had almost 200 squares that measured over 2 and a half inches each. So I opted to gather all my squares in a few trips rather than stuffing my purse full of 200 paint chips at one shot!

I decided to glue my paint chips onto a canvas instead of a wooden board. Just because I wanted it to be light weight and easy to hang—and it has such a nice finished edge. I wanted a really big one—and they just happened to be on sale at Michaels for 40% off and I had a coupon for an additional 20% off. SO I paid something like $14 for a $40 2 x 4 foot canvas!!!

So I started off by addressing the edge of the canvas first. I wanted them brown—so I used brown craft paint (don’t be fooled by the little can of stain in this picture—I was going to use stain—but it wasn’t getting a rich enough color—so I decided to use paint instead.) and I painted the edges of my canvas.

Here it is all painted on the edges. Next I found the center of the canvas and drew some pencil lines making myself a grid so I would have something to keep me gluing all my squares on straight.

Then I did a practice run and laid out all of my squares before actually gluing. I wanted to make sure that I liked the configuration of colors before I started gluing!

Then I stacked them all into piles according to their row. Then I laid all the piles in order—and starting in the center I started mod podging them all on to the canvas.

Now—this was the hardest part. So I don’t have any pictures of this process because I was so in the thick of all the glue and such that I couldn’t take a picture.

But—what happened here was that as I was gluing the paint chips onto the canvas—they wanted to curl up and not lay flat. So I would have to press them down as best I could and then lay a flat board over them while I moved onto the next section. And finally after finishing gluing all of the pieces down—I turned the whole thing over and let it lay face down on the table with a few boards on the back of it to hold it down so that all the paint chips would be pressed flat!

This worked out all right in the end—but during this whole process I thought it was going to end up a DISASTER! I was just thinking that I had wasted all my time and money on this wild project!!

(As I am writing this post—I just went back and read the post from my inspiration piece—and she used SPRAY ADHESIVE instead of mod podge!!! I wish I would have read more carefully and done that! It would have saved myself a lot of grief!!)

But finally that part was over and I could move on to the next part.

So next I put two coats of mod podge over the paint chips to seal it.

Then I took some dark stain and put a good layer of stain over the whole thing and let it sit for a few minutes—then wiped it off.

I actually ended up wanting it a bit darker—so I did that step twice.

And I have to admit that I am in LOVE with the finished product.

I LOVE how big it is on the wall.

And I LOVE the pop of color that it gives the entry way.

But most of all—I LOVE that I made it, and that it only cost me $14!

Candyland Cake

2011-09-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday, we have 2 summer birthdays. Well, the second one is my daughter Nicole’s B-day.

She turned 9 this year.

She also happens to be in love with anything made of SUGAR. She LOVES candy, licorice, suckers, marshmallows, and anything and everything that is sweet! But her absolute favorite thing is GUM. I really think she is a relative of Violet Beauregarde from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. She LOVES gum and can’t get enough of it.

So this year I thought it would only be fitting to make her birthday cake full of her favorite things—LOTS OF CANDY. So I decided to make a CANDYLAND CAKE.

My friend dropped by and took a picture of me in my kitchen of chaos! (Apparently I am a messy baker!)

But all my messy kitchen was worth it as this is what I came up with:

I think it turned out great--and she LOVED it!

It was a very SWEET birthday for a very SWEET little girl!

Assemble the Minions!

2011-09-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have a so many posts to do to catch up with all the projects and things we have been doing over the summer. It has been a very busy few months!

First off—We had a couple birthdays over the summer! We have 2 birthdays within 2 weeks of each other. Our first summer birthday is for this little guy:

He turned 5 this year.

His birthday was at a super busy time for our family. So this year I needed to go SIMPLE.

We decided to have take him and a few friends to our local Jump Around Fun Zone. So I needed a cake that could transported easily and eaten without a whole lot of hassle.

I had seen THIS idea a while back and new it would be perfect for my little man’s special day.

So I made these little guys using twinkies, black gel frosting, smarties for the eyes, and brown sprinkles for the hair.

And these little guys transported great in a little 9x13.

And they made this birthday boy very happy!

(And next time Mom will remember to turn the cake around before taking a picture!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LANDON!

Granite Counters and Travertine Backsplash

2011-08-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to show you my kitchen!! It is not near finished yet—but the granite counters and the backsplash are finally done! And I LOVE THEM!!!!

So once again—where we ended off at my last post:

Here we are about half way through the mini slabs being installed. (And yes—I know we still haven’t patched the wall so I can paint it from where we took down the old cabinets!! That will happen this weekend—and I can’t wait to stop looking at that horrible piece of wall!)

Anyhoo--the tops are done here—but the edging and grouting are still needing to be done.

And then Viola—the countertops are in—and my good man Steve is working on the backsplash.

We fell in love with the look of tumbled travertine—we liked that it was fairly neutral and timeless (as much as we LOVE all the glass tile and everything that is out there now—we just didn’t want to be replacing the backsplash a few years down the road if glass tiles go out of style).

So we chose to do a mixture of subway tiles on the top and bottom and an accent strip of 4” squares in a diamond pattern. We really loved the pattern we came up with--we just had a hard time choosing what to do with the backsplash on the breakfast bar wall. We debated FOREVER whether we should do the full backsplash all the way around or cut it short on that wall.

In the end we decided it would be WAY too much tile on that wall and would detract from the beautiful granite—so we decided to just do 2 rows of subways with a little pencil tile on top to finish it off. then as you turn the corner of that wall—the full backsplash starts under the cabinet.

In the end I am SO GLAD we decided to do it that way. I love that the main focus of the breakfast bar area is this beautiful granite—and the backsplash is just a nice neutral backdrop and not fighting for center stage.

And on this wall you can see the pretty pattern and texture of the travertine. Of course it will stand out a lot more and be MUCH MORE BEAUTIFUL after we finish painting up the cabinets white! But even now—it is still beautiful.

And here it is with all my lovely kitchen essentials out on the counters.

I debated about whether I should tuck away our toaster and my kitchen tools and such—but the fact is that this is a working kitchen folks. Having my kitchen FUNCTIONAL is very important to me—and if that means that you will see my pampered chef tool turntable on top of my counters—so be it!

This is a horrible picture—but I am having a major crush on my new stainless sink and faucet. I REALLY don’t miss my white porcelain one that would scratch every time you put a dish into it. And stain every time you washed some spaghetti sauce down the drain. Stainless really means what it says—IT DOESN’T STAIN!!!

And my new faucet and soap dispenser ROCKS THE HOUSE!!! I didn’t know how I would like the huge faucet with the LONG and curvy giraffe neck—but I must confess that I really, really love it!

And just another picture from a different angle of my beautiful granite!! Doesn’t it look like a big old slab? The seams really aren’t that noticeable!

I am SO HAPPY with how this kitchen is shaping up!

Now all we need is a lot of this:

A bunch of these:

And these:

And a few of these:

And then our kitchen will be complete.

Kitchen Counter Time Capsule

2011-08-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

I thought I would show you a little FHE project we did while our countertops were in transition.

At this point we had taken off our old counters and our contractor had put on this plywood base that our granite would sit on. We decided to put a little something special from our family into the project. Kind of like a time capsule—one that will probably never be opened or seen again—but one that we know lies underneath our counters.

So here we are at work:

And this is what we came up with:

(And sorry--pencil on plywood doesn’t show up very well for pictures apparently)

Every member of the family was included in this project—even the furry one.

It was just a little project that didn’t take us very long—and was not done with great artistic abilities (as we have none in our family), but we all loved doing it and what it stands for.

And I’m just sure that our countertops will stand a little taller and stronger now.

Never Thought I’d Get Granite!!

2011-08-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

I can’t even believe that I am writing this post right now! I am so excited to show you what we have been up to for the last couple of weeks!

But first, let me start at the beginning (and sorry to say—this may be a long story—as I have a hard time condensing all the details).

When we moved into this house we weren’t in love with the countertops in the kitchen. Here is a picture from the previous owners (because I didn’t take any before pictures).

They aren’t awful—just nothing special. They look like just plain laminate countertops—but in fact they had the texture of Linoleum. They were dimply and very textured and so they were hard to keep clean and not great for things that you need a flat surface for.

So—when we moved in we had priced out new countertops and specifically granite. ONLY to find out that it was WAY more expensive than we thought and was going to be and so consequently was out of our budget for at least a few years.

Then I remembered a kitchen makeover I have been CRUSHING on a since forever. The gal at Starter Home to Dream Home did this amazing kitchen makeover by painting her existing cabinets, getting new hardware, adding some fun chunky molding to her island and topping it all off with some awesome granite countertops. AND the best part is that they did it all themselves—even the granite. They used “mini slabs” (which we will talk about later) instead of slab granite and did all the work themselves and saved a ton of money.

Well when I looked at this—I was SO excited—I wanted to do it too. However, my hubby took one look at it and said NO WAY was he going to make his first tiling project a granite countertop. And I don’t blame him—it looked like it could be kind of tricky. So I sadly tucked away my hopes and dreams for a new countertop.

That is until we met Steve.

On the 4th of July we met this awesome guy who is a tile and granite layer and was interested in trading services with my hubby!!!! And the funny thing is that he does the EXACT same method of using MINI SLABS to make his countertops and gets his product from the EXACT same place (Oregon Stone and Marble) as my kitchen crush!!! (How crazy is that?!) And since most of the expense of Granite countertops is the installation—so by trading out the labor we could actually afford to make this happen!!

So all of a sudden—out of the blue--we were choosing granite for our new countertops!!!

So here is the low down on using mini slabs. These babies come in 18x26” pieces and run around $15/square foot (which makes them a really affordable alternative to slab granite that runs a bajillion a square foot). Most countertops are 25” deep. So each piece can have 1”cut off the back of it and attached to the front underneath to create a finished front edge like this:

We had several options to choose from (not as wide a variety as when you choose a slab—but not a bad selection either). Click HERE to see all our choices—but just know that the real samples are often very different from the pictures you see on the screen!

We narrowed it down to these 2 finalists:

Giallo Santa Cecilia (the one from my kitchen crush)

and Giallo Vincenza

So after much deliberation—we chose the Giallo Vincenza—because we loved the contrast of the darker countertops to our soon to be painted white cabinetry and felt it worked better with our current decorating pallet. And this granite has TONS of fun visual texture and sparkly pieces in it. It is truly beautiful.

So since we were going to be doing the countertops—we couldn’t put our old porcelain sink back in--of course we needed a new under mount sink. I found this 16 gauge stainless steel sink on ebay for $119 including shipping:

Which is a GOOD deal for a sink people. Those suckers are expensive!! (and it is especially a good deal because I just sold the old porcelain one on craigslist for $50! So its really like I got this one for $69!)

And then we needed a new faucet (we honestly did—because ours has been on its death bed long for a long time). I found this one on ebay also for $119 (this same faucet was $200 at Home Depot and Lowes) and also included free shipping):

And funny to note—After I had purchased it—I went back to my crush kitchen and found that she had the EXACT SAME FAUCET!! I swear that I didn’t know she had this one. I just found one I liked at a good price! Again—how funny!

And finally—We are installing our new to us Down Draft Oven.

We bought this oven on craigslist for $600 before we even moved into our house. We knew we would eventually take down the over head cabinets above the range and that would take the fan with it—so we would need an oven that vents down and out. And these ovens cost between $1600-$2000 new. So when we found this for $600—we jumped on it and bought it. It has been sitting in our garage all this time waiting for us to rework the venting and electrical to get it in.

So we have been busy with demolition, and reconstruction for over a week.

No stove and no sink:

Oh yah—and did I mention that we decided to do the counters in the little downstairs bathroom while we were at it? So we had demo and chaos in there too.

And I have missed my sink and my stove/oven like crazy!!! We have been washing all our dishes in our laundry room sink—thank goodness for that or we would have had to haul them all up the stairs to the bathtub!

It has been an inconvenience to have everything torn up. But I feel SO blessed that we will have such a beautiful kitchen! And I think it has been good for our kids to learn to work together to wash dishes the old fashioned way.

And it is now almost over! I should be able to show you the finished product very soon!

Kids Bathroom Makeover—Installing Board and Batten

2011-07-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I gave you this sneak peek at our kids bathroom makeover. And I think a few people were wondering at my interesting choice of color for the walls as it looks a little like pea soup.

But there was a reason I chose this particular shade of green. And that reason would be this FABULOUS shower curtain I found at the CSN store:

Don’t you love it? I looked for a shower curtain high and low and everywhere in between! I was beginning to think that the perfect shower curtain just didn’t exist. And then I found this baby. (And just as a side note—it was $21.99 but it came with a small flaw in the fabric and so I called them and they knocked $10 off the price—so I only paid $11.99 for my PERFECT shower curtain!!—and you can’t even see the flaw—can you?)

Then we decided to add some fun and interest to the walls of the bathroom. I had found these instructions from one of my favorite blogs (320 Sycamore) for an inexpensive way to do board and batten and knew this would be perfect for this room.

So we purchased a bundle of inexpensive Lath pieces from Home Depot. My hubby sanded them down and we installed them about 10” apart.

Even I wielded my little pink hammer for this project. And oh how we wished we had a nail gun. But even still, installing the pieces was quick and easy.

Next we added a 1 x 4 piece of primed MDF for the top.

Then my hubby filled all the holes and sanded them all down.

Next it was up to me to caulk all the edges and paint it up. This was the time consuming part. But I think it turned out awesome!

Next we added some handy little towel hooks and put up my FAVORITE bathroom art: pictures of MY BABIES.

Its not 100% finished yet. We still need to paint the trim around the door (and I would like to paint the vanity cupboards eventually as well) and we are going to be framing up the mirror as well. Oh yah, and I also think I might want to paint those picture frames.

But for now—I think we can call this bathroom improved.

Before:

After:

And now we can check another room off our list!

More Spray Painted Goodness

2011-07-20T11:14:00.001-07:00

I have SO many projects lined up to show everybody—But finding the time to POST them all with 4 kids home for summer vacation has been challenging.

Anyhoo. Here is a little project I completed a while ago on the exterior of our house. See these BEAUTIFUL exterior lights and house numbers before I got my hands on them: (Ok—in this picture I had already started getting my hands on the house numbers and then remembered I needed to snap a before picture—so the “2” has already been disassembled and ready for its makeover. But you get the picture):

My favorite part of this makeover was changing out these lights:

WHAT color are these lights anyways? PINK? Salmon? UGLY?

And here are those ugly brass house numbers chillaxing on a pizza box ready for their spa treatment:

And the pampering begins.

(I chose to treat them to a coat of Rustoleum Black in Gloss).

And the results just speak for themselves. Don’t they look like they FEEL better?

And one final before and after:

I know I didn’t show you a picture of the whole house so you can step back and really bask in all of the spray painted glory of it all. But we have been working a lot on the landscaping and soon will have the exterior of the house painted. So I want to save those changes for the final before/after.

But for now—you and I can sleep easier knowing that I don’t have pink lights anymore.

Yummy on a Stick

2011-07-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

The other day I saw this amazing idea for Smores on a Stick while I stopped in at the Idea Room. I knew immediately that we needed to try it RIGHT NOW. And I am SO glad we did. They were AMAZING! (And I don’t even really like regular smores that much).

So here is our version of which we will call Yummy on a Stick.

Microwave for 30-60 seconds. Insert popsicle stick and top cracker.

Freeze for 30 mins. Then dip in melted chocolate (we used Chocolate Almond Bark). Then we added sprinkles and Skor Bits.

Then we ate them.

Thank you idea room.

We will definitely be making these again very soon.

The Making of a Manly Desk

2011-07-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

As I promised yesterday, here is the redo of our Treasure Chest Desk and chair.

It started off looking very old and very girly.

But this desk was for my 11 year old son. So we needed to modernize it and give it some testosterone.

So before you start any wood working project—you should always prep your surface for painting. Usually that means SANDING. I HATE SANDING. Like with a passion. But I wanted a good paint job . So I tried the cheaters route and used this:

I put a little on a cloth and wiped it all over the surfaces of the chair and the desk. To be honest—I have no idea if it worked well or not. The paint job turned out great so I guess it didn’t hurt it. I really should have tested one drawer front with it and one without to have a side by side comparison. But I didn’t. So for now we will all just pretend that it worked great and I didn’t waste $6 on this stuff.

Next came the paint. First we put on our very attractive spray painting masks which my husband makes me wear because of the massive amounts of spay painting I do. He doesn’t want me losing any more brain cells than I already have. He shouldn’t worry, I don’t have much to lose!

I found the perfect color of spray paint for this boys desk. It is a dark grey and it happened to come in the Rust-oleum ultra 2x the coverage in gloss.

The gloss part was not my favorite. But sometimes you have to sacrifice your finish of choice to get your color of choice. And I do LOVE the color.

And can I also say that I LOVE the double the coverage paint. This is the first time I had used it and I am in LOVE!!! It really means what it says about double the coverage. What normally would have taken a billion coats and 12 cans of spray paint (ok…I exaggerate. But it would have taken a lot) took 2 light coats and only 3 cans of paint for both the chair and the desk—and I still had some left over!)

So here is the chair:

Before: Middle:

After:

And then came the drawers: (Sorry about the shadowy pictures in my garage)

Before:

Middle:

Spraying the hardware with some ORB:

And After:

Then I took some scrap book paper and made some drawer liners for him in fun colorful prints:

And ta-da. A very masculine looking desk for a very deserving 11year old.

Next time I will give you a tour of his new room and a breakdown of how much it all cost.

That should be fun!

The Treasure Chest Desk

2011-07-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

I do most of my furniture shopping—well practically ALL of my furniture shopping on craigslist. And I have made out with some pretty awesome deals in the past. But this one wins over all—not because the piece itself is the best but because it has the best story behind it.

I was looking for a desk for my son’s room in our new house and found this cute desk on craigslist and they were asking only $5!!

A $5 desk IS an amazing deal. But the deal got even better when I arrived to pick up the desk and the lady selling it asked me if I would like to take the matching chair for no extra charge!

I couldn’t believe it. A solid wood desk AND chair for $5. (It was old—but built like a tank and in good condition!)

The gal selling the desk was selling off items from the estate of someone who had died and had cleaned out most of the drawers but had forgotten the top one. When we noticed it was still full of stuff she told us she was just going to throw the stuff in the dumpster and asked us if we wouldn’t mind taking care of it. For a $5 desk and chair?--NO PROBLEM!

Then—just when we thought the deal couldn’t be any better—we went to clean out this drawer and found MANY treasures.

We found:

A couple collectors coins (some valued for around $60 each)
Several pocket knives--some that were antiques like this one:
A very old $2 Bill
An old quill pen
A gold emboss seal kit (you know the kind of thing they used to seal letters with in the olden days)

And lots of other neat office/desk stuff.

It was just like a treasure box. At first I felt bad that we had paid so little for the desk and felt like we should take back all the neat stuff—but as my husband reminded me that the lady was just doing her job by getting rid of the stuff and was going to throw it all in the dumpster without even looking at it.

So after that I don’t feel very bad about it anymore.

I just feel AWESOME about it.

Tomorrow I will show you what I did with the desk to turn it from Old and Girly—to Hip and Manly.

Pirate Chest Birthday Cake

2011-06-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

Did you know that we have a pirate in our family? Well, we do. Our 3 year old thinks he IS a pirate. He wears a pirate hat EVERY DAY! He cries when he has to take it to go to places where pirate hats are unacceptable like bed or church. We read pirate books and sing pirate songs and watch pirate movies. He even speaks in pirate.

And of course we have all kinds of pirate things to wear:

So when this little pirate turned 3, the choice of a birthday cake was easy.

As always I turned to Family Fun for my cake ideas and found THIS.

And I turned around and made this:

I think it turned out really cute. BUT I'll have you know that chocolate gold coins are impossible to find around here! And when I did finally find them in the bulk section at the 4th store I went to--they were THE MOST EXPENSIVE CANDY THEY SOLD!!! $9.99/lb!!! Its a good thing I found some gold rolo candy to make up the bulk of the gold and then interspersed a few gold coins here and there--cause they were not cheap or thrifty people! But I love my pirate--and so I bought them anyways.

I changed up from the instructions for the strapping on the chest--they have you using fruit by the foot which I didn't like the looks of--so I melted a few kraft carmels and rolled them out and cut them to look like leather straps.

Then I used colored sixlets for the studs. If I were to do this again, I think I would use whoppers or something brown so it would look more authentic and less colorful.

But our little pirate LOVED his cake and that is all that matters.

And I just have to take a moment and tease my hubby (because sometimes he sneakily reads my blog) that once again he has cut off my head in every single picture he took of the birthday party. Its a good thing I know he loves me or a girl might get a complex of so many years of being headless in all the pictures he takes. And that is why, my friends, that I am the picture taker in our family. :o)

Happy Birthday to my little pirate!

Kids Bathroom Sneak Peek

2011-06-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

We have been up to a fun project in our kids bathroom. I can't wait till it is all finished and I can show you the finished product. But for now I am going to give you a little sneak peek!

So lets remember where we started.

This is the bathroom before we bought the house:

I loved the size of the bathroom when we bought it--but I HATED the shower doors. My husband, however, liked them. So they stayed for about a month. And I hated every second of them. I hated cleaning the bathroom with them in, I hated bathing the kids with them in. I just plain HATED THEM!!! But my hubby thought they were great. Right up until I asked HIM to bath the boys one Sunday morning before church. Apparently he learned that bathing two boys with annoying shower doors was not all it was cracked up to be! And I am happy to report that those shower doors were dismantled and taken down the very next day! YIPPEE!!

So here we are with the shower doors removed and the painting started. (And darn my camera isn't showing the colors very true. Just know it is a green shade of AWESOME!)

But we have MUCH more to show you. Hopefully in the next couple of days!

Fingers crossed!

And the Obnoxious Kitchen Cabinets come DOWN!!

2011-06-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

So our kitchen was built with these amazing set of cabinets right in the middle of our breakfast bar area.

Awesome right? Wrong!

(oh--this picture was taken right before we started tearing up the floors so the oven had already started to be pulled out.)

I know this was a really popular thing to do back in the day--but really?! While they were installing these babies--didn't someone think "WOW these are really going to block the view of the whole rest of the room, and get in the way of people trying to talk to each other as they sit at the bar, and people will probably bonk their heads on the corners of these GIGANTIC cabinets all the time! Maybe the room would be better without them?"

Well, whether someone thought that or not--our kitchen was still sporting these fab cabs.

The view was especially bad from the other side. It was just a big ol' wall of wood:

We had always planned to take them down but we had planned on building our enormous pantry first and then we would take these suckers out. Well, we haven't even started on our pantry project--but I just couldn't handle looking at the cabinets for ONE MORE DAY.

One morning, without any notice to my husband, I called some friends over to help us rip them out! We normally would have tackled a job like this by ourselves, but these puppies were heavy! So in came our wonderful friends to help.

And here they are supporting everything while my hubby unscrewed the cabinets--and I... um, well someone had to take pictures to document the momentous occasion!

And Viola! They were out and the place looked a thousand times better and BIGGER!!!

The ceiling and wall needs some repair and patching (and since we are installing a Jennaire down draft oven--we won't need an over head hood anymore).

And currently we are shopping for some small pendant lights to hang over the bar for some extra lighting and flare.

But for now--the view is MUCH better.

And the good news is that I was able to find places for all the things in the cabinet even without my new pantry (which by the way will be installed in the corner on the right where the kitchen desk used to be and where the garbage currently is now.) So when I finally do get my pantry I will have SPACE GALORE!!

It makes me giddy just thinking about it!

I Love You Ross!

2011-06-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

No--my husbands name is not Ross. And its OK--cause at this moment even he is in love with Ross! Why do you ask? Because the other day when I was shopping at ROSS for one of the only times in my life (but will certainly not be the last) I found this:

Now let me back up--I had wanted a LARGE clock to hang in our family room--but DARN THOSE THINGS ARE EXPENSIVE!! Even the ones at walmart were about $80! Too rich for my blood. So I had found a medium sized one at Fred Meyer for $30 and I had a $10 off coupon thing--so I could rationalize spending $20 on a new clock.

So this is what I had for a couple weeks.

It was cute--but to be honest--I was still disappointed as it wasn't the big clock I had envisioned on that wall. But I had resigned myself to the fact that I would never be willing to shell out the cash for a bigger one. I was just going to have to learn to live with this one.

So when I happened to find this one at Ross--I about fainted at the price!!!

YES--THAT SAYS $4.99 PEOPLE!!! (And as I walked thru Ross carrying my massive clock everyone stopped and asked me where I got it and how much it was. And then they all died--just like I did--when I told them how much it was! Even the Ross checker did a double take when the price rang up and then told me that I just got a really good deal! Like I didn't already know!!!)

Anyways--about the clock. Even though it was beautiful as it was--it wasn't exactly the colors I wanted--but I knew that I had a can of ORB at home that would do the trick!

The awesome part too was that when I got it home and took it out of the box, I found that the clock part is made to come out easily from the metal surround--much like a piece of glass comes out of a picture frame.

So I didn't even have to tape off anything! I just popped out the clock and gave it a little coat of paint!

BEFORE ORB:

AFTER:

And sitting pretty on my wall:

Before:

Mid Before:

After:

Now THAT is what I had imagined the wall to look like! And I accomplished it for only $4.99! And I get to return the other clock and get back my $30!!

I think it really does a great job balancing out the room.

Thank you Ross! I promise I will be back very soon--and if you could arrange to have the perfect curtains for my bedroom there next time for super cheap--that would be great!

Spray Paint Helps the Family Room Along

2011-06-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

OK, if you have read my blog before or know me at all, you know that I LOVE SPRAY PAINT!

And of course with a new house I have found a plethora of things that are crying out for a spray paint makeover. Today I will show you a couple of the MANY I have already undertaken.

When we moved in the family room had this lovely white and gold ceiling fan:

Well--no--I didn't spray paint THAT ceiling fan. Instead I found another fan at our local Re-Store for super cheap. It was PERFECT except it had light wood fan blades (which I somehow forgot to get a picture of! Darn it when that happens!) They were almost the color of my table--UNTIL they got a shot of brown spray paint.

Much better!

The other thing in this room that was SCREAMING at me from the moment I saw it was this GOLD/BRASS TRIM on the FIREPLACE!

I couldn't wait to spray those babies up!

So that's just what I did.

Those pieces come out super easy (especially when you have your hubby take them out for you).

And after a couple coats of this awesome stuff:

Bye bye brass!

Ahhh. Much better.

(Except we obviously still have some work to do on this bad boy! But still--what an improvement!)

I think those two little transformations really make a big impact on the room. And I guess it also helped that we have changed just about everything else in the room as well!

BEFORE (with Previous Owners Furnishings):

AFTER:

And of course this is not a TRUE after picture yet--as the fireplace is still in a state of demolition and none of the base board trim had been painted white and put back on, and the mantel and windowsills still need a coat of white paint...but at this moment this is where the room stands and I am pretty darn happy with it!

I'm Back AND with Hardwood Floors!

2011-06-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how time has flown by!! I am sorry it has been SO LONG since I last posted. The whole process of buying and closing on our new house was EXTREMELY LONG and PAINFUL--with many unexpected twists and turns. But we did finally close on and move into our new home and have been spending EVERY WAKING MOMENT since--fixing it up and making it ours!

Remember what it looked like?

It has been such an adventure! We have already tackled so many projects in this house and yet still have SO MANY more to tackle. Many of the projects we knew we wanted to do when we bought the house--and then there have been some that were unexpected--like having to replace carpets that we thought were in great condition--but actually were SATURATED in EVERY SINGLE CORNER WITH CAT PEE!!! And having to replace LOTS of sets of window blinds because they weren't functional. And having to paint EVERY SQUARE INCH of the ENTIRE HOUSE because the previous home owners had a love affair with sponge painting and the rooms that weren't sponge painted were painted super poorly with what looked like 1/2 a coat of coverage (AND they were the sloppiest and messiest painters EVER!!! There were drips and dribbles of paint all over all the trim work and everything!!) Oh well.

So I have TONS of projects to show you! Some are finished and some are in the in-between stages. So in no particular order--I am just going to start posting about all the random things we have done and are doing in our new house. YIPPEE!!!

So today we will start in the kitchen, dining and family room.

This is what we started with:

Then came the DEMO.

Out with the Lino.

Out with the carpet.

And can I just ask--has anyone else out there ever ripped out lino before? Are ALL THOSE BILLIONS OF LITTLE STAPLES REALLY NECESSARY?!! It took me HOURS to pound all those suckers down!!

Here is the front room full of our new HARDWOOD FLOORS!!! And minus the carpet that we thought would be staying. But SURPRISE--the previous owners used these two rooms as their cat rooms. Enough said. Out with this carpet too.

Aren't these hardwoods beautiful even when its just sitting there in a pile?

Then our great friend and neighbor laid the flooring for us--and he managed to escape without me taking a picture of this momentous occasion! Darn it!

But don't they look great?

Next we started experimenting with the stain color--behind the fridge so we could cover it up if necessary.

And we got the color we were looking for. A warm brownish red tone. Not too dark but not too light.

Then we started painting before he finished off the floor because once he started finishing them we couldn't be on them for several days and then it was move in time. So here we are painting until the wee hours of night.

This next picture is just to document the AWESOME paint roller that our painter let us borrow. We hired out the job of painting our two story entry way and the painter ended up being the nicest guy in the world and let us borrow his MAMMOTH roller and tray. THIS BABY WAS THE BEST!!! It is twice the size of a regular roller and cut our painting time in half--which was wonderful since we were painting most of our house with the same color--we were able to use it for the whole house! Love that thing.

And then the floors were finished and we moved in. And I didn't take a picture of them in all of their naked glory. But here they are with all our stuff moved in... and toys on the floor (apparently).

And can I just say how much I LOVE HARDWOOD FLOORS!! They were worth all of the hassle! I think they will even look better when we finish off the kitchen and all the trim in WHITE. But one thing at a time!

I will be back with more very soon! Thanks for sticking around!

Master Bedroom Makeover

2011-03-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

A while ago I showed you the new bedding we got for Christmas--but I have yet to show you our master bedroom makeover.

So lets remember where we started:

This is what our room looked like for many years before we added our $1 Headboard:

Then came the headboard and mirror:

Everything in the room was all coordinated around the blue and green color scheme.

Our lamps--(I already showed you their transformation HERE):

My whole sewing area including the chair:

Pictures on the Wall:

Lets just say that the purchase of new bedding ENTIRELY upset the balance and order of my WHOLE ENTIRE ROOM!!! I needed to redo everything!!!

So I started with my little sewing chair. I had left over fabric from my Kitchen curtains. And it matched PERFECTLY!!

So I just stapled over the other fabric (even though I actually started to undo all the staples to take it apart and my hubby walked in and asked me why I didn't just put it on top! I swear that guy is a GENIUS!! Duh! Saved me a lot of work!)

I think it looks very elegant.

Close up so you can see the fabric:

Then above my dresser (Which is on the list to get a new coat of paint) I had collected a fantastic little assortment of Chucke Cheese photos. They are small and Cheesy (get it?) but I love them. However, they didn't look very elegant on my walls as they were:

So I found some dollar store picture frames (2 for $1) that were the same size.

I spray painted those babies up--as well as my lamp shades.

Then I scanned in the originals into my computer (So I could have a digital copy) and then reprinted them and framed them up. I really love how they turned out!

Next the curtains were now all wrong--as was the curtain rod and curtain hangy thingies.

So they got a makeover with spray paint too:

I think that the Oil Rubbed Bronze finish looks so much better and matches the sconces I have on either side of my mirror. AND I totally scored and found these old curtain panels in my closet. They were from another room and I hadn't seen them in years and just stumbled upon them! So serendipitous!

So that is my new master bedroom.

And isn't it nice that I got it all done--just in time to move? Oh well--I'm sure our renters will appreciate the fresh coat of paint on the walls!

OUR NEW HOUSE!!!

2011-02-28T06:53:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before--for the past 8 years our family of 6 has been living in this little (1200 square foot) home:

We have loved our little house--but it is finally time for us to move on to some MORE SPACE!!

So, a few weeks ago we made an offer on this:

This house has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths in 2300 square feet. It is in an AWESOME neighborhood (our house is probably the oldest and smallest in the whole place--all the rest are BIG, BEAUTIFUL homes--Who doesn't love that!?)

And our house is beautiful too. It just needs a little elbow grease to make it really shine! We have BIG PLANS for this house. It may take us several years to afford and accomplish all of them--but when we are done--this place will be spectacular! I just know it!!

So with no further ado let me introduce you to our soon to be NEW HOME and tell you a little bit about our plans.

(Now remember--we have not taken possession of the house yet--so all these pictures are of the existing homeowners furnishings and decor.)

For the outside we will be painting all the red trim and the exposed cedar shingles a nice neutral brownish/tan color to give the exterior an updated look. And we will be ripping out a lot of the overgrown landscaping.

The back yard is pretty much perfect already.

This is our front entry way. BIG plans in here. White trim throughout. Refinish hardwoods. Paint. Custom coat rack. etc. etc.

The kitchen is in store for the biggest overhaul. We plan to rip out the cabinets over the breakfast bar area. Build a custom hood over the stove. Install Hardwoods. Paint cabinets. Install hardware on cabinets. Paint up another awesome back splash. New counter tops down the road.

Then we will take out the desk in kitchen and replace it with a large pantry. And install a door to close off adjoining room (Which will be my sewing/exercise room--who needs a formal dining room? Not me--I NEED a sewing room!).

Again--new hardwoods. New window treatments. New shades and paint on the light fixture.

In the family room right off the kitchen, we will continue the hardwood floors. Replace fan. Paint trim and fireplace white. Trim out the fireplace with new tile. Paint walls. Spray paint the brass trim on the fireplace.

And like I said--this "formal Dining room" will turn into the perfect spot for my sewing room on one side and my elliptical machine on the other---YAY no more exercising in a cold garage!! So of course we will paint and change out the lighting in here.

And I certainly don't need a "formal living room!" Sorry to all of you who love FORMAL spaces. I think they are WASTED SPACES. So our "FORMAL LIVING ROOM" will turn into our KIDS HANG OUT ROOM. It will not be a play room--but rather a room with a comfy couch and a TV and video games and a big coffee table for games and puzzles. A place where my kids can hang out with their friends.

This room will get a set of french doors in the front and new paint and hopefully some awesome craigslist furniture.

The banister railing leading upstairs will get sanded and stained a dark color to match the new hardwoods--the spokes of the banister will remain white (SPOKES--is that what they are called?). And we'll have to invest in a LONG ladder to paint the two story entryway.

Both bathrooms upstairs will get new tile and paint. And we'll figure out something creative to help the light fixtures along. Frame up the mirror. And maybe someday new counters. And we'll see--maybe paint the cabinets too.

And of course all the bedrooms will eventually get a new coat of paint and new decor to match each child's hopes and dreams for their new rooms.

And our new laundry room (Yippee--I will have a LAUNDRY ROOM!!! No more doing laundry in our freezing cold garage!!!) will also get a new tile floor and some paint and hardware on the cabinets. Sorry I don't have a picture yet of that room. But trust me--it is awesome!

So that just about sums it up for now. We are set to close on March 23rd and take possession on the 27th. And then the fun REALLY begins!

Wish us luck!

Kitchen Curtains--Take 3

2011-02-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

WOW!!! It has been a whirlwind month for me! I had a couple of weeks where I was down and out recovering from surgery. We also found, fell in love with, and made an offer on a NEW HOUSE (more to come on that later). Our van died on us and had to be towed to the mechanic for one last revival (it has 200,000 miles on it) so it can last us another month till we close on our house and then--hopefully we can get a new one. We have also had family visiting us from out of town--which has been wonderful--and busy!

So--I am finally sitting down to re-cap on a bunch of projects that have been done FOREVER--I just hadn't gotten the time to get them posted!!

So here is project recap #1--Kitchen Curtains--Take 3.

If you will remember, I made new curtains not long ago--and I loved them--until I painted our kitchen back splash! Then they looked WAY out of place:

I wanted to sew up some curtains to match--but after searching HIGH and LOW--I COULDN'T FIND any fabric that matched!!

But I did find some curtain panels at Target for only $9.99 each. And they were long enough that I could get four curtains out of 3 panels and still have enough fabric left over for another project (I will show you later).

This is a close up of the fabric:

I love it!! It has a nice stripe to it and the fabric has a little sheen to it. Very rich looking! And the color matches the back splash PERFECTLY!!

So I cut the panels up and did some button holes at the top for the rod to go through--cause I like that look better than just a rod pocket.

And for just $30--I had some new curtains for my kitchen!

And the best part of the whole thing? My good friend Tracy wanted the old curtains for her house! So she bought them from me!! SO I didn't have to waste such cute curtains!!

And I think they look WAY better in her house then they did in mine anyways!

And now, my kitchen truly is complete...

Just in time for us to move into our new house!!

Isn't that just how it goes sometimes!?

Painted End Table

2011-02-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

It has taken me much longer than I thought to get this project done and up on my computer--but I am happy to say that I am finished!! My second laminate painting project is complete!

Here is the little end table as it has sat for almost a year. My dear mother bought if for me at a thrift store for my birthday LAST YEAR. She wanted to buy me an expensive nicely finished end table that cost a million dollars. But I wanted this beauty that cost just $9.

I knew I could make it beautiful. But for a year it has looked mismatched and out of place.

And it was really not very functional either as it spent most of the year as a big open space underneath. My hubby just made the little shelf for it right before I took these pictures.

So first I took it all apart.

Then I primed and painted it just like I did HERE--and apparently I didn't take any pictures of me doing any of those things.

Once it was painted I let it cure for a LONG TIME. Since I used latex paint--it stays tacky for a couple weeks even after it has dried. I wanted to make sure that it didn't get scratched so I left it in our closet for a couple of weeks to let it cure.

Meanwhile I wanted to make sure that the basket that I use on the top shelf wouldn't continually scratch it as well. I got this basket at the same time I got the table--at the thrift store for $1.29!!!! And it fits on the shelf so perfectly!!!

But the bottom could definately scratch up my newly painted surface:

So I took some felt that I had on hand and hot glued it to the bottom of the basket. (I didn't have one big sheet so I just pieces several pieces together--no one can tell).

Then I put the whole thing back together and back in its place.

I LOVE IT!!!

And with the new paint and shelf it is not only cute it is also functional!

And I think it fits in the space SO MUCH BETTER!!!

You be the judge.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Sorry it took me a year to do the makeover Mom!

It really is just what I wanted!

Painting my Laminate Furniture

2011-01-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

So while I was stalking some of my favorite bogs--I came across a couple posts about painting cheapy laminate furniture (THIS one is my favorite and is the one that I followed). I was OVER JOYED with the idea and prospect of painting cheapy laminate furniture--because my house is FULL OF THE STUFF!

So for my first attempt I chose this lovely little book shelf from ikea.

(It normally is FULL of all of our DVD's and Videos (I forgot to take a picture of it while it was all full)--and yes, we still own a million videos and probably will for a while cause who wants to replace all of them? And why do we have so many movies? Because we haven't had and TV for the last 8 years.)

Blah, Blah, Boring.

Especially since we got our new couches off craigslist (which you can read about HERE)--everything on that wall is just TAN.

Something had to be done! And since my hubby didn't want me painting the wall--the furniture is getting the makeover!

So we start by spreading out my sheets (they make excellent drop cloths). And yes--I am painting it right in my living room--cause it was a million degrees below zero in my garage.

Then I primed it with this TRULY AWESOME PRIMER (designed specifically to go over shiny surfaces WITHOUT SANDING!!!!):

I only did 1 coat of primer (Notice the little green vase thing in the background. It will get a little makeover too):

Then I started in with the paint (I used Behr Latex Semi Gloss Paint called Bison Brown)--and I started to have a heart attack because the paint out of the can looked SO HORRIBLE. Look at the color:

And yes--now that I look back, I must have been crazy to paint with that DARK BROWN PAINT so close to my new to us couches!!!!

But thankfully not a drop of paint got anywhere it wasn't supposed to. And DOUBLE THANKFULLY the paint dried to the nice rich deep brown that I had wanted.

After 3 coats (2 coats probably would have been fine--but I am anal that way) it was ready to put the shelves back in. And of course while putting them in--THIS HAPPENED (on EVERY SINGLE SHELF I might add):

But really--you want the shelves to fit tightly--so there is no way to get those guys in there without a little scraping. Nothing a little touch up paint couldn't fix.

And now they are all filled and looking AMAZING!!!

I know they would be much prettier decorated beautifully with pictures and greenery and cute baskets and such. But in our 1200 square feet--we only have space for FUNCTIONALITY!

But at least it is now functional AND beautiful!

I love it from EVERY ANGLE!!

Now--see the WHITE END TABLE between the couches?

Now that I know how easy it is to give my furniture a make over--I have selected this piece to be my next victim! So hopefully I will have another great makeover very soon!

Spray Painted Lamp Shades

2011-01-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

So as I mentioned before--we are now in the process of redecorating our Master Bedroom.

I started with these lamps--and if you remember I had just covered the lamp shades (HERE) last year. But to be honest--I wasn't really ever too in love with them. So it didn't break my heart to rip off the fabric and start over.

You may remember how lamp #1 started its life before the wonders and magic of spray paint:

Then after spray paint and with the new fabric shade:

And here is lamp #1 after several thin layers of brown spray paint--and let me just say that I LOVE the shades this way!

However--I got sort of excited about painting and started on lamp #1 before I had taped off any of the inside of the lamp. So then the inside was splattered with over spray. So I had no choice but to spray the inside of the shade as well.

So now it looks like this:

No big deal--it just darkens the light coming through a little more and doesn't look QUITE as professional.

So I learned from my mistake and used a plastic shopping bag and painters tape to tape off the inside of Lamp #2

Like So:

Even though it can be tedious and boring to do the proper prep work before a painting project--the results are worth it.

This one looks much better:

So here's a little before and after for ya (My favorite part of any makeover).

Before:

After:

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE spray paint?

Bunk Bed Tent

2011-01-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

So you might remember that we have 4 children and live in a 1200 square foot house.

Needless to say--we live on top of each other.

Two of my boys literally do--live on top of each other...in bunk beds.

Well, my 4 year old--Landon, who lives on the bottom bunk, decided quite a while ago--that he would like some privacy. (I'd like some too--but in 1200 square feet--none of us get much of that!)

But to give him his PRIVACY we got creative with the blankets and gave him a little shelter for his bottom bunk:

This was supposed to be for just a night or two--but we found that the little guy slept a lot better in his little fort. So it became kind of a permanent fixture in his room.

But it was kind of a pain in the butt as the blankets would fall down or get pulled off and we would have to tuck them all back in perfectly for the little man to go to sleep.

I had often thought of sewing something more permanent--but it was always a project low on my list until me and my hubby saw these while shopping at Jysks in Canada:

Fun tab top curtains PERFECT for a little boys room and the PERFECT price of just $9.99 per curtain (regularly priced at $19.99 and not even on sale--I just had a question about them and the guy quoted me the wrong price on them--and so they honored that price at the till--SWEET!!!).

How PERFECT is that? It was CHEAPER than I could buy the fabric and it was already hemmed and had the tabs at the top. All I did was cut the tab, tuck under the raw edge and sew it in place. Add some Velcro and hang them up.

Now it is the PERFECT little place for PRIVACY, for FUN and HOPEFULLY for LOTS OF SLEEPING.

OK--maybe its more for fun than for sleeping.

That in my books is $20 well spent.

Linking Up HERE

Big Changes

2011-01-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

So for Christmas this year--my Mom and Dad decided to give us what everyone really wants for Christmas--CASH to buy whatever our little hearts desire!

So I recently took this $ and went on a little shopping spree on OVERSTOCK.com. We needed new bedding for our Master Bedroom BADLY. And I really mean BADLY.

This is what we have been using for the last 6 years:

Then you might remember we added ourselves a little headboard for ONLY $1:

As much as I have LOVED the simple clean lines and bright fresh color or this bedding--It was just getting OLD. It was actually my parents before it was ours--So I have no idea how old this thing really was. But just let me tell you that it had STAINS and HOLES GALORE!!!

AND as for our actual DUVET--we bought it about 10 years ago--and unfortunately we bought one that isn't sewn all the way around each square (BIG MISTAKE!!!)--so the down migrates all over the place! So for 10 years we have had a VERY UNEVEN distribution of down throughout the duvet. You have to stand on the bed and SHAKE and FLUFF all the down so that it will migrate back to where it is supposed to be--which most of the time is an impossible task--and so you are left with a whole bunch of stuffing in a few of the squares and the rest of the duvet is just the two pieces of material on top of each other! Needless to say--we have hated it for 10 years.

SO--during my little shopping spree I bought us these:

A No Migrating Down Alternative Duvet (in White):

And a Beautiful New Duvet Set (Including all the cute Pillows!)

So now that I have new bedding--I have a whole new color scheme in our room.

So I get to paint the room--taking it from this green to something more neutral. ANY PAINT COLOR SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!)

I get to redo These Lamps (again):

And This Chair:

And these pictures:

And These Baskets:

And I haven't even started in the adjoining bathroom.

Its going to need a whole new makeover to match.

So wish me luck on this little re-decorating adventure!

I think I have my work cut out for me!

Oh and Thanks Mom!! It's JUST what I wanted for Christmas!

The Perfect Pomegranate

2011-01-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

I told you guys that I have been stock piling a lot of my projects and recipes that I want to share--I just need to get them from off my camera and into the computer!!!

Sometimes that part--and the actual writing of the posts take longer than doing the project themselves!!

Anyhoo.

This is post is one that I have been wanting to share for a while--and since I have a half a second to myself--HERE IT GOES:

Peeling the Perfect Pomegranate.

(My great Sister in Law taught me this little trick this Christmas--Maybe most of you already know this trick--but if you don't--you are going to love me for telling you this!)

So if you are like me--you like the taste of a pomegranate--but can't stand all the work and mess that they require. So I have avoided buying them at the grocery store--desipite the pleas of my children--who don't mind either the work or the mess!

So Here is what you do to avoid both--well mostly the mess part--you still have to get the little seeds out--but this way is much easier!

1. Fill a big bowl full of water and set it in your sink.

2. Put the pomegranate in the water and then cut it with a knife UNDER the water.

3. Now continue to work with the knife and your fingers UNDER the water uncovering all the little seeds.

4. Let all the little white pieces of bitter disgustingness float to the top and the seeds will sink.

5. Skim off the white stuff.

6. Drain off the water and you are left with these beautiful little jewels.

This method is PURE GENIUS as all the splattering and squirting of juices happens UNDER THE WATER and not all over you or your kitchen!!! GENIUS I tell you!

When I have all them all seeded, I like to use them to top off a spinach salad. (The perfect side to a plate of yummy pot stickers)

I love them paired with feta cheese and this dressing:

Yummy!

So sorry that this post is kind or late in coming--I don't know if pomegranates are even in season anymore.

But if you find any--now you know what to do with them!

Not Getting Much Done

2011-01-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

YIPEEE!!!! ITs the NEW YEAR!!! And my list of things I want to do and get done this year is LONG.

Even though I have lots I WANT to get done--I find that NOT MUCH IS GETTING DONE THESE DAYS.

And I'll show you WHY.

This is why:

For those of you who may not have seen my last post--we got this little smooshy musha musha puppy for our family for Christmas.

Her name is DAISY and she is mix of a lot of different breeds. Her mom was a Maltypoo Chihuahua and her dad was a Havanese Poodle. So I guess that makes her a MaltyPooChuHavaPoo. (Say that 10 times fast.) But all those breeds mixed together to make the most perfect little puppy for us. She is not only cute as a button--but the best tempered puppy I have ever seen or heard of in my whole life!!!

And let me tell you--it was LOVE at first sight for ALL my kids:

And also for ME:

OK--ESPECIALLY for ME!

I must admit--I am just not interested in doing much else besides play and cuddle and squish this little puppy.

And with my two oldest kids back at school full time, and the younger boys involved with their new Christmas toys--I have lots of time to have her all to myself!

And I am enjoying EVERY LITTLE LAST BIT of time I spend with her.

With a face like this--who wouldn't want to spend every waking moment loving on her?

And besides being super duper cute--she is also an amazingly well behaved little puppy. She really is. She is calm and loving and just happy to be with you and cuddle on your lap. She is also well on her way to being potty trained and already has learned a couple tricks!

She also plays fetch with her toys (and she already actually brings them back and gives you the toy!!!--I grew up with two dogs that NEVER mastered that concept!! So I think she is pretty amazing just for that!)

She also loves the kid's tunnel and she loves to run through it and take little stolen items in there to chew on. Here she has my little guys glove:

She is super gentle with the kids and has never tried to nip them or growl at them. She just loves to lick them to death.

So I just wanted you to know where I was and why you may not be hearing from me for a little while.

Can you blame me?

I think not.

The Best Christmas Surprise EVER!!!

2010-12-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas--My hubby and I decided to give our kids something SPECIAL:

I have to admit--I wanted this little present just as much or more than my kids. Ok--maybe a lot more. But it really is a present the WHOLE FAMILY will love for many years.

Some of my other favorite highlights of Christmas 2010:

Of course--Christmas Eve's Re-Enactment of the Nativity.

Mary and and Her Smallish Husband Joseph:

A Shepherd and his Sheep:

And a Wise Man:

I was an Angel and thankfully there are no pictures to document it--I was rather stuck in my white pillowcase Angel costume.

Moving on with more favorites:

My little guy was given this awesome gift from his Grandma.

It was an INSTANT HIT with the little Super Hero.

And it gave him the ability to do a lot of Super Hero things:

We did however have a hard time getting him to take it off--AT ALL.

More Favorites:

Kids in their New Christmas Church Clothes:

Cute boys in matching outfits:

More Favorites:

And of course spending time with Grandparents:

And Cousins:

And Lastly--but Not Leastly

My Favorite Christmas Decorations that my AWESOME FRIENDS spoiled me with this year.

This Incredible Advent Calendar that my friend Sherron made for me:

(Isn't she Amazingly Creative? Luv You Sherron!!)

And then this next ADORABLE wreath was made by my good friend April. I can only imagine how many hours it took her to wind all that felt over those hat pins! SO CUTE!!

Thank You April!!!

So that is our 2010 Christmas in a nutshell!

I hope everyone's was as happy and memorable as ours!

My Craigslist Tree AKA Our Grinchy Tree

2010-12-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

I would be sad and remiss if the holiday season passed without me showing and telling the story of Our New Christmas Tree.

So here it goes.

For the past 13 years we have always had a real Christmas tree. We have done pre-cut, but most of the time we have gone to a tree lot and chopped down one ourselves. We live in the Northwest--and the live trees are just beautiful around here.

But for the last few years our live trees have given me nothing but trouble. And lots and lots of this:

And we didn't even get our tree early. Usually we put up our tree around the 10th of December and take it down a day or two after Christmas!!

But still--by the time it is Christmas--the tree is just a dried up twig just barely holding on to its little needles--and if you bump the tree in the slightest or even walk by the tree and create a slight breeze--all the needles come tumbling down!

Now before everybody tells me WHY my trees are dieing--let me just tell you that we have tried EVERYTHING to keep it alive. We chop it down ourselves--and re cut the bottom when we get home to make sure it will soak up water. We water it and make sure that it is well hydrated. We have tried the sprite/sugar water concoction. We have tried it without the sprite/sugar water concoction.

Our trees never used to do this--but lately we just couldn't catch a break! It has been really frustrating! So last year after I single handedly took down Christmas at our house and had to haul the blasted tree into the back yard--and nearly got pine needle poisoning because of all the pine needles that got stuck into me--I decided enough was enough!

I searched on craigslist and found this tree:

(And the picture just doesn't do it justice--I think it is one of the most beautiful fake guys that I have seen)

It was fully decorated with a billion lights and ornaments--and the lady selling it was asking ONLY $30 but I had to take the whole thing--lights, ornaments and all.

So I asked my friend Tiffany to take me in her truck to go pick it up that night.

So there we are in the pitch black of night, literally stuffing the fully decorated tree into the back of her pickup. It was Hilarious!! We felt like the Grinch that stole Christmas--stuffing a fully decorated tree into our getaway sleigh while the rest of Whoville slept!

Then the gal started taking down all her other lights and decorations around her house and handing them to us to take as well. We made out with several more strands of lights, a few more ornaments, and a blow up Santa for my front yard. She just wanted to be done with Christmas for the year and not have to put anything away or store it for another year.

But it seriously felt like we had taken her Last can of Who-Hash as we drove off loaded to the brim with our tailgate scraping the road.

So this year--we put up our new Grinchy Fake Tree--and are LOVING IT!!!

Not only is it beautiful--but it is PINE NEEDLE FREE!!!

No more Pine Needle Poisoning for me!

SO Excited to do Laundry!!

2010-12-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

So--The last couple months have been...well they have been difficult. As I mentioned before, my father in law passed away on Nov 15th. We also got into a 30 or so car pile up in a freaky snow storm coming home from his burial. And also--by coincidence--my washing machine died the same day that he did.

We surveyed the situation and did a little shopping and decided to buy a whole new matching set. But the BUMMER of it all was that it couldn't be delivered until DECEMBER 15th!!!!!

That meant that we were a WHOLE MONTH without a working washing machine!!!!

Have I ever mentioned that we have 4 CHILDREN?!!

But--with the help of NUMEROUS friends and also my Mom doing many loads of laundry for me (THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!)--we got thru the month.

And now we traded in these old babies:

(And yes--you will notice that my laundry room is also my garage--so don't mind all the extra cans of paint and other miscellaneous items in the picture. )

Old Knobs and Controls:

For THESE new Babies:

(They are LG Front Loaders from Home Depot)

They are HUGE capacity, Energy efficient, Sleek, Beautiful and MINE!

New Fancy Knobs, buttons and Digital LCD Screen:

AND a sweet little elf purchased us the Pedastal drawers that go underneath for our early Christmas gift!

The drawers are SO wonderful and ROOMY!!! Since we don't have a linen closet in our little house--I have chosen to use the storage for the kids sheets. And now I have SO MUCH MORE ROOM in the bathroom cupboards!!

AND I still have one whole drawer that I haven't even filled yet!

Even though the timing was AWFUL and I don't look forward to getting my credit card statement next month--I REALLY LOVE THEM!! And doing my laundry has never been so much fun or made me quite so happy!

Merry Christmas to us.

Christmas Oreo Pops

2010-12-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything new. I have been stock piling a whole bunch of projects and pictures and just haven't had the time to blog about any of them.

So with no further ado--I bring you one of the fun projects my family and I did this year for our Friend and Teacher Gifts.

I fell in LOVE with THESE OREO POPS over at HOW DOES SHE... and have made several different kinds of them. And decided that they would be fun to do for some simple Christmas Gifts.

So we stuck a sucker stick in some melted almond bark and opened up the oreos and placed the stick between the two layers and then sandwiched them back together.

After letting the almond bark harden up so the stick is secure--we dipped them in different colors of melted almond bark and then started decorating.

**And just a side note--if you have never used almond bark--it is AWESOME!!! That stuff can be melted and re-melted and re-re-melted and always comes out with a perfect consistency. I have worked a lot with regular chocolate and it is SO TEMPERAMENTAL!!! This stuff isn't as great a quality--but for jobs like this one--it is the PERFECT thing to use. LOVE IT!!**

OK--back to the decorating.

These are just some of the ones we came up with:

Sprinkles:

More Sprinkles:

Some cute faces:

I drew Rudolph's face with an edible pen.

Then we cut up some floral foam and stuck it in the bottom of some cute containers and covered it with some fun paper stuff (what is that stuff called anyways?). And then we arranged the pops in a little arrangement.

These are the ones we gave the kids teachers:

These are the ones we gave our friends and neighbours:

You can see the wrapped ones in the background--since I forgot to take a picture of them all wrapped up!

I just fell in love with making these guys--and again--the possibilities for these are endless. You may just see me making more of these for Valentines or Easter or Birthdays or ANYTIME!!!

A Not So Thrifty Confession

2010-12-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

Ok--This post is to confess--to bare my soul to all of you. I profess to be "thrifty" and for the most part, I really and truly am. It's not too hard for me to be thrifty as I am a gal with pretty simple tastes. I am really not a connoisseur of anything. I like the cheapy knock off brand of root beer just as well as the expensive stuff in the fancy bottles. And this is true for just about any and all things that I own. And I would much rather buy something used and fix it up then get something new--if it meant I got a good deal on it.

So its true--I am thrifty...about 95% of the time. But then there is the other 5%.

There are times when the bargain basement knock-off will just not do. Sometimes it does pay to spend the big buckaroos and get the great quality that often accompanies the GREAT BIG PRICE TAG. (And just as a side note--most of the time my sister Michelle is the one that introduces me to the awesome big ticket items that I simply must have--my husband calls her my dealer. So thanks Michelle!)

So I am going to share with you one of those 5% times that I just splurged BIG TIME--and have never regretted it for a second!

And to be completely honest--I STILL searched high and low--and found the BEST DEAL EVER on this little item. The regular price was $240. And I got it for $125 (which included shipping charges from Florida). So even when I splurge--I still am not content until I get the BEST DEAL POSSIBLE!

What could possibly be so wonderful that made a frugal gal like me splurge so much?

THIS:

Now at this point some of you must think I am off my rocker to spend so much on a hair styling tool. I know--because that is EXACTLY what I thought when my sister told me her friend bought one! What kind of idiot would spend THAT KIND OF MONEY on a hair styling tool you could buy at Walmart for $25?

But then my sister showed me what a professional straightener could DO to my hair--and I ordered one that same week! I'm not kidding--they really are THAT good! It not only straightens--but it curls, waves, and adds body to my hair. And the best part is that it LASTS FOR DAYS!! This is the thing that sold me on it--I have hair that won't hold a curl for 5 seconds let alone a whole day or more. The curls and waves that I get with this baby last FOREVER!!!! (That is if you can not wash your hair that long--I pretty much wash every other day--but the curls would last longer if I didn't wash them out!)

So here is a little demo of just ONE of the many different hair styles I can do with my GHD. This one is my personal favorite.

Here I am with my hair just air dried out of the shower (and no make up on--don't know what I was thinking using this as my before picture):

Add a little of this:

(Another splurge: Thermal Active Setting Spray that makes my hair SUPER SHINY--and helps hold the style extra long)

After a little work my hair is super wavy and has lots of body.

From the back:

And just to prove that it looks just as good the next day:

Day #2--I didn't even brush it or anything.

This is just as it looks when I woke up in the morning.

The back: Still looking good!

And I recently went a little blonder--thanks to the help of my sister Michelle! So I'm adding a couple pictures with the new blonde tresses.

My GHD makes me and my hair very happy and I think it was worth every last penny I spent on it!

So there. End of Confession.

Dollar Store Ornament Wreath

2010-12-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry--It has been FOREVER since I posted!

We have had a rough few weeks as of late. My Father in Law passed away a few weeks ago--so I haven't had the time, nor did I feel like posting. But we are doing better and I did just complete a fun project with a friend the other day that I am IN LOVE WITH! So I thought I would share it.

It is nothing new to blogger land. In fact you have probably seen them EVERYWHERE.

I got my ideas from HERE, HERE and HERE.

So I went to the dollar store and picked up some round plastic ornaments. Then my awesome friend Tiffany and I hot glued all the tops onto the ornaments so they wouldn't pop off during construction.

Here's Tiff wielding her gun:

And of course I didn't remember to take any other pictures of us assembling the wreath--I was just too darn excited about how it was coming together. But the gist of it is that you unwind a wire coat hanger--or find some thicker gauge wire and shape it into a circle. Then you string the ornaments onto the wire.

You just keep adding ornaments and try and cluster them how you like them by rotating them around the wire. It is important to do the positioning of them while you go as they get much harder to move when they are all sandwiched together.

You finish stringing them till you have the desired size you want. Then you twist the ends of the wire together at the top and add a bow and a loop for hanging.

And this is what it will look like:

I hung it on the side of my entry way and then decided I really wanted it on my door. So I went and bought a wreath hanger and so then it looked like this:

But then--our door decided it didn't like the door hanger and wouldn't close properly. So then I went to the store and bought some knifty little suction cup hooks that I could put on my glass window to hang the wreath.

So now it looks like this:

And as a bonus--my door now closes!

And by hanging it on the door--I was able to do a little more decorating.

Do you remember this little tree from HERE?

Well--I think it looks SO CUTE all deocrated with some more dollar store ornaments.

All the ornaments and ribbon and everything cost me about $8 at the dollar store. And it was such a quick and easy project to do. Honestly--the hardest part of the whole project was finding a wire coat hanger! So if anyone has any wire coat hangers hanging around--I may be able to make some more of these babies!

It's a Love/Hate Thing

2010-11-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

We live in the North West. We love it here--most of the time. We also LOVE the lot our house sits on--most of the time.

In our front yard we have a large and beautiful tree that in the spring and summer blesses our yard with wonderful BEAUTY and SHADE.

(I don't have the time to hunt for a great summer picture right now)--But this is the tree:

And this is what the tree blesses us with in the FALL
(and it hasn't really even started to drop its leaves yet!):

This is what my across the street neighbor's yard looks like:

Nary a leave in sight!

And my next door neighbor:

Only one or two.

We have a FEW MORE than that.

We also BACK to a BEAUTIFUL green belt. It is GORGEOUS and PRIVATE and WONDERFUL and we LOVE it--most of the time.

During the spring and summer it is a private, lush and luxurious place to be.

But in the FALL and WINTER--not so much.

This is what we our yard looks like right now. And My hubby just finished cleaning it to perfection just the other day. What a difference a week can make!

And I know--I should have cleaned up all the scattered toys around the yard--but I'm just keeping it real people!

Because of our yard--we HAVE to take down our trampoline every year--otherwise it looks like this (and this picture is just after about a week of it being cleaned off--and at the beginning of the leaves falling!):

And because of all the shade--things tend to grow on places they shouldn't...Like this:

But who can REALLY complain when you have THIS for a back yard?

And this:

And my neighbors are missing out on this:

It really is a LOVE/HATE relationship.

But mostly LOVE...I think.

The Reason for my BRASSINESS

2010-11-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

Since I posted about my AWESOME NEW KITCHEN BACK SPLASH--I have had a few comments about changing up the brass knobs on my cabinets. My mom AND my sister even called me to ask me why I haven't done something about them yet.

So apparently I need to set the record strait.

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO I had the same brilliant idea. I wanted to change those darn brass knobs. But I was nervous about going full boar ahead on 20+ knobs! So I decided to do a small scale test run on my BATHROOM knobs--which are identical but there are only 6 of them!

Same orangey cabinets (as my kitchen):

Same Brassy Knobs:

So I decided to give them a new look with the same spray paint that I used on my door hinge project.

I gave them a good sanding to ruff up the surface so the paint would adhere better.

Then I gave them a few light coats.

Then I installed them.

THEN I HATED THEM!

I just think they are really GREY looking and that truly the brass ones looked better.

What do YOU think?

Now don't get me wrong. I still DON'T love the brass. And I am still not content with just leaving them. I think I need to hunt for a lighter brushed nickel color--and then give it another try.

But for now--THIS IS THE REASON THEY ARE STILL BRASS.

SAMM--Corn Chowder

2010-11-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

Today for my SAMM link up--I am doing one of our LONG TIME FAMILY FAVORITES--Corn Chowder. This chowder has been in our family for generations! And has been our traditional Christmas Eve dinner for as long as I can remember. It is one of those SUPER AWESOME HOME COOKED MEALS that just remind you about everything that is good and homey.

It is really easy to make--but for some reason I don't make it often enough. I think it is because it was always made at special occasions growing up--that I don't think of it as an everyday meal. But it is SOOO good that it should be! And you HAVE to serve it with some warm--just out of the oven--dinner rolls. DIVINE!

So with no further ado--Here it is:

Corn Chowder
6-8 Slices of Bacon
1 can corn
1can cream corn
1 small onion chopped
1/4 flour
2 c chicken broth
1 c water
2 c potatoes cubed
2 c celery
1 dash tobasco sauce
2 c milk
Fry bacon and crumble into pieces. Also fry the onions, celery. Then add the flour and toss with bacon, celery and onions. Put milk in a big pot and add everything else (besides the bacon mixture). Bring to a boil gradually. Stir in bacon mixture and cook until the potatoes are done. Serve with rolls.

Doesn't it look dreamy?

And because I am SO IN LOVE WITH MY NEW BACKSPASH--I just couldn't resist this next picture:

And yes I am cheating and using Rhodes rolls tonight. I know--it is neither thrifty nor domestic. But it is easy--and sometimes that wins over all.

Tile Looking Backsplash--On a Budget

2010-11-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

I am SO EXCITED about how this project turned out!!!

And because I am SO EXCITED--I took about a Bazillion pictures --so be prepared!

Ok--let me start at the beginning. I stumbled upon THIS awesome blog (Sawdust and Embryos) a while ago--and have been CRUSHING on all of the AMAZING PAINTED BACKSPASH'S that this gal and her man do up! And since she lives too far away to do mine--I decided I would just have to do it myself.

And then I remembered that my AWESOME FRIEND Jaime (from I'm a Mom not a Professional)--did the same thing HERE in her house several years ago. So I called her up and asked her to help me with my kitchen. And she said YES!! Isn't she the best?

So here we go:

Here are a few pictures of my kitchen in all its BEFORE glory. For 8 years I have lived with the Orangey cabinets and grey/blue counters (and I'm not even going to mention the retched white and blue flowered vinyl flooring!) and wondered WHY someone would choose this color scheme?

So to do this project I started gathering my needed supplies.

I stocked up on a bunch of sponge brushes and fine brushes for the detail work. (I spent about $5 on sponge brushes--I found I needed quite a few of them for mixing colors and such).

I couldn't find any 1/4 inch Painters tape (for the grout lines) anywhere--so I went to Joann's and got 1/4 inch quilters tape. (The Big roll--which I used ALL of--was $5.99)

The quilters tape worked great--the only downside for me was that it was EXACTLY the same color as my existing wall--so it was harder to apply and to see what I was doing! It was Camouflage!

Then for the paint. I decided on five colors to mix and match to create my tile looking back splash. I tried to get a color that was close to the cabinets and one that was close to the counter top--and then some others that I thought contrasted nicely with those. AND A LITTLE FYI--I spent probably around $10-13 on the paint (two bottles of each color).

These are what I decided on:

Then Jaime and I started choosing our color combinations for our tiles. We used several colors on each tile to add dimension.

These are the combinations we came up with:

Next came the WORST part. Figuring out the lines and doing the taping.

I unfortunately did this part all by my little lonesome. And consequently it took me FOREVER (and a lot of pencil marks were erased and redrawn and a lot of tape was wasted) and by the end my brain was tied in a knot. But I DID IT!!!!

See how the tape lines are invisible? Accept for the ones that I started to paint over--but then decided against it.

And then came the fun part. PAINTING.

Jaime made me promise not to put any pictures of her in this post--I don't think this counts do you?

She did take a few of me though.

And I took a few of what 7 kids did while we were painting:

Anyhoo--Back to the painting.

It doesn't look like much while you are doing it. You have to keep telling yourself it will look awesome when the tape comes off.

See--it looks SO MUCH BETTER with the tape off. Now I just need to do some touch up painting in the grout lines.

Making my way all around the kitchen. ALMOST DONE!!!

It was funny to live with my stove in the middle of the kitchen for a couple days while I finished this project.

And FINALLY--all the hard work (HOURS of measuring and taping--and pulling it all off to measure and tape all over again, TWO COATS of paint on every square, TOUCH UP PAINT over EVERY GROUT LINE, and then some miscellaneous REPAINTING OF SOME OF THE SQUARES that I wanted a different color--do you know how hard it is to do "RANDOM" evenly?) has finally paid off.

IT IS DONE!!!

AND it only cost me around $25!!

And I couldn't be happier! FINALLY the cabinets don't scream ORANGE. I know longer hate the counters. They all just go together in one cohesive color scheme. (Minus the white and blue flower linoleum--but we still aren't talking about that right now). (Oh--And Minus the Black and White curtains that I will now have to change.)

And just because I am a sucker for BEFORE & AFTER shots.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Now life makes sense.

At least in my kitchen.

Linking to THESE parties.

What a Great Idea!

2010-11-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

I just have to share with you one of the BEST IDEAS EVER!!! My little sister is a GENIUS!! You have to go check out what she did with her old couch! This is the ultimate in Re-Purposing projects!!

I never would have thought to do that in a million years. But now I am in LOVE with the idea! And I am in love with the colors and finishing details she did. I'm sure you will agree--She is AMAZING!!!!

CLICK HERE to check it out!

Does anyone have an old couch that they are not using?

I'm Killing Myself

2010-11-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

I'm killing myself. And I'm killing my friend too.

OK--Not literally.

I have been working ENDLESSLY (and I mean GAZILLIONS OF HOURS PEOPLE) on an awesome project--and I have recruited the professional help of my AWESOME FRIEND (Jaime--check out her blog HERE). I have been working my fingers--and her fingers--to the bone!!!

But I think it is going to be well worth it.

I should have it ready to show you in the next couple of days.

(Don'tcha just hate the suspense?)