Quickie

Remember how I wanted to do these stripes?

Well, I did it this weekend!

(Ignore my undecorated table..fall is coming and I don't want to decorate it now just to change it in a a week or less because I seriously have the itch to bust out all my leaves and pumpkins that I've been collecting through the year.)


What do you think? I used the red from the robot on the scientists wall, and the green from the stripes on my kitchen wall. Once I got it up, it was so bright in contrast to the rest of the room. It looked very "primary". I decided to go over the whole section with a brown/black wash mix of acrylic and water. I just painted it on and dabbed/rubbed it with a dry cloth. It gave it a more rustic and dimensional quality that looks sooo much better with the rest of the room:


Btw, I hate the outlet/cable covers on the bottom shelf. I thought the pots would cover them more but they don't. :(



And just and FYI, I got that chrome/silver lamp (w/shade) at HH for $1. I want to get a new lampshade or spruce up the one it has. Any ideas? I need to pull some turquoise over there too. I was thinking of flanking the table with something on either side to give it more presence. Wish I could buy this listed on my local Craigslist but it's $245.




Isn't it pretty though? It has some Spanish style flare don't ya think? Especially with my splashes of turquoise.

Oh! and before I forget, a tip on taping off stripes. My walls are textured and anytime I do stripes I almost always get some bleeding under my tape. Well I was watching Color Splash (love David) and Danielle said that you can prevent that by using your original wall color (in my case the tan "wheat grass" and just brush on a light coat to seal the tape and prevent any leaks when applying your color on top. I didn't have much faith but it REALLY worked. I will do that forever and always now. I had zero touching up. ZERO!

Toy caddy and turquoise punches.

Here is one thing I have in my craft closet waiting for attention. Last weekend I got this toy caddy from the Salvation Army.

It was $1.50 and it originally had a partial name glued to it with wooden letters. I popped those off and plan to paint it. I am inspired by things like THIS:


or maybe THIS:


or THIS:


I am thinking of doing it in black chalkboard paint, distressing it a bit, writing Autumn on the front and filling it with a fall arrangement. If I do it in chalkboard paint, I can also change out looks fairly easily, spring w/ flowers, Christmas w/ poinsettia etc..

Recently in my living area I added a punch of turquoise. It all happened because of this cross pillow I found and had planned on giving it as a gift, but after I got it home, I really loved it and it looked better than I would have thought in my living room. I think it will get even better when I wash it and the fringe frays. I need to do that already.


I got out the craft paint and grabbed a few things out of my craft closet and around my living room, and my daughter and I spread the color around the room. (click to enlarge)



These plaques were from Goodwill for 99 cents each. I failed to get a before shot, but they were white with gold accents. I just painted right over them in a turquoise acrylic and then washed over them with a watered down black/brown mix, dabbing as needed. I absolutely LOVE it and think they look great with the quote above my hall tree (made by my honey with left over house siding btw). You can not mess up this paint technique. My daughter did it without supervision. Can you tell wish 2 she did vs the two I did? Didn't think so!


I also repainted this thing.

I loved it, but Ms. Thang always teased me that it was ugly. I decided to paint it as well and if it looked bad, acrylic would come right off of the glaze finish, but I did like it so I went over it with mod podge to give it more sheen and lasting power. It will still peel off if I try so I was braver than usual with color on a piece that I really liked already. You can see the original in this old shot of the mantel:


and here is an after shot of the mantle for the heck of it:

You can see that I found a wicker ball (10 cents at a garage sale) and another silver candle stick (50 cents at Helping hands), and I added some flowers to the pitcher above. The place to find flowers is thrift shops. It's hard to picture them in a pretty setting sometimes with poinsettias mixed in with victorian roses or fluorescent daisies, but you can get floral bushes, greenery, holiday picks etc.. for cents. Sometimes I will pay a dollar for a hideous flower arrangement in an ugly container just to pick out a few great high-quality flowers. Pull them out and turn around to put the rest of it right back in the donate pile lol

I also did the "artichoke" piece below from this shopping trip.


and the after:

I used the same turquoise acrylic with a black/brown watered down wash. It was fun to watch the wash flood in all the little grooves of this piece. I really like the results.

I also did this decorative ball. I always thought it looked like a giant golf ball anyway.


You can also see an oversized acorn in there. It actually has 3 other siblings, but my kids play with them all the time. I'm happy cause they leave the breakable balls alone now. I got the pack of 4 at a church sale for 50 cents. I want to paint them white and distress them. I'm just waiting to find the others. Probably under my couch.

I recently got this bird for $1 and I am still reeling from that find. It was at Helping Hands up on a high shelf behind the counter. The price on the bottom was originally $14.99. It reminds me of my weather-vane bunny Bernard. I think I might name her Rose. (Lost fans should get that!)


I've got more to share, but it will have to wait until later...life is calling!

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1.03.01

lamp temptation (and it's not even shaped like a leg in fishnets!)

The lamp in THIS post is down to $15 today. I don't even need it, but it's so tempting. The main reason I am super tempted is because they have a similar one at the Salvation Army with a pink gingham shade and it is listed so high (I think its $29, but it might even be more) and I thought..that is a nice lamp but not THAT nice. Then I looked it up online (I know our S. Army gets Target merchandise) and it was $60! Now this lamp looks the same and it doesn't have the pink shade which is only suitable for a little girls room and is now priced @ only $15.

I have NO WHERE TO PUT THE LAMP! argh! I will be so happy when it is sold so I can stop wanting it lol

Something has clicked.

Lately I've been trying to work on myself and somethings that should have clicked long ago finally came into light for me. As usual my revelations are simplistic and obvious answers that God has been trying to give me since the beginning. Knocking at my door for ages, asking to share what he knows while I am talking too much and asking a million "less reputable" sources for the answer and fail to hear his gentle rapping on the door of my soul while I scream dramatically, "Help me God, why are you ignoring me?" It happens to me so often it's pathetic but thank you for your patience and gracious persistence lord! :)

I've been reading Dare to Discipline recently and within the first few chapters I realized that this is exactly how I want to parent. It has a lot of concepts that my mother used on me (thanks for the book mom lol) and the goals and concepts fit my intentions and way of thinking. I'll let you know how it all turns out when I finish it, but I suspect I'll be posting a few nuggets of wisdom from the book in the near future.

Anyway I was thinking back on my different stages of parenting. I actually have a neat age spacing in my children where I gave birth in my teens, 20s and then 30s. I can say that they all had their challenges and as strange as this may seem, in the early infant years my first child was the easiest to parent. I knew what to do. I had zero stress when it came to choosing what was best or right for her and I was confident in my style. I breast fed because it was natural and I stuck with it because I knew it was best. I didn't sweat over co-sleeping, or that she was equal to other children her age. I didn't push her to potty train soon because I didn't know when kids were supposed to be trained. I just listened to her, watches the signs and went with it. Everything with her from the moment I was pregnant felt natural.. I guess you could say I had a mothering instinct from the second she was conceived. So what happened? Why do I doubt some of my parenting skills and intuitions now? Because back then I didn't have magazines, cable, or a computer. I was actually states away from any of my family at all and had a husband that was gone 90% of the time. I had to go on instinct and references from my own mother. I had a total of 2 friends that were in exactly the same predicament I was in (including being young wives and mothers) and we all had the mentality of helping each other because we were all we had. No competition at all. Just help and support.

Now, I still have those same instincts and I still have supportive friends, but I have cluttered up their advice with so much CRAP! I am constantly filling my worries with words from tv, magazines, or looking up how to solve my problems on the internet. I am not saying that those mediums are not helpful at times but I think I have tricked myself into believing that someone always knows better than I do. I have forgotten how to trust my intuition and listen to my conscience, and when I speak of my conscience I believe this to be the holy spirit.

basically this is a long winded way to say that I am going to try and cut out all the "extra noise". I'm going to listen to my instincts and my heart more. I'm going to fine tune my ears to listen to only those that I trust. I mistakenly thought I had to listen to what everyone has to say to be open minded, but really if I only listen to those that I trust, I still get a variety of approaches and advice but from more reputable sources.

Duh right? I totally need God to show me the way, and sometimes he has to use neon lights and arrows to point out each baby step in front of me. I still have so much to learn.

Can't sleep

Even when I'm "fantasy" shopping, I still look for a deal lol

Tonight I can't sleep. Honey is out on a late job and the kids are all snug in their beds while visions of school supplies dance in there heads, and I'm "shopping" for things I will never really buy on craigs list

Here are my local picks:

I want this mirror for $25

I would so buy it for that price right now (says it's really heavy so I'm guessing it's pretty nice) but I really don't have anywhere to put it except for over my bed and I know if it's heavy, my Honey (aka Mr. Safety) won't put it up unless it's perfectly centered on a stud with a bazillion wall anchors and even then he won't like it or the thought of it falling on us in our sleep. So no...


$5 for the 2 oval pieces below

The frames would be perfect painted black for silhouette shots of Honey and I to compliment the ones I did of the kids here. But do I really want a couple of frames to sit in my already project-filled-closet for months? Not really...

I want this lamp. It's listed as "like new" for $25 obo.

I'd probably offer $15 and go for $18-$20 (it's been listed for awhile) and then do a black distress on it, or maybe go vibrant w/chartreuse or red with a new drum shade. But, I don't need a lamp, so never mind.

There is also cricut machine which is SOOO cool, but even on craigslist it's out of my price range and I know I'd probably use it less than I think I would.

I would LOVE to make over this becon bench, but at $150 it's too much for my blood.

But is sure would be a perfect place for the kids to sit and put their shoes on in the mornings.

or would I rather have this double seated cedar rocker for $150 instead?

I'd even let go of my fun red Putt Putt bench to make room for this guy.

I'm thinking of getting this beautiful hand painted set for my mom for Christmas so don't tell!

at $40 it's a steal don't ya think? :P

A couple of recent funnies about myself before I get off of here and try to sleep.

1. Yesterday it was about 9pm and I was standing in line @ Walmart with a belt and tube(?) of mascara running a slight mystery fever I've been fighting off and on for a couple of days now. The line was a mile long (you know how it gets when it's late and there are a total of 4 lines open) when the lady in front of me told me I could go ahead of her because I only had 2 items. That happens to me sometimes but NEVER has that happened to me @ Walmart. But it gets even freakier, the next 3 people ahead of me slowly, one-by-one did the same! I skipped 4 spots! I felt so blessed and thankful. It was a VERY long day and if ever I deserved to skip it was then. I was climbing in the van when I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I looked like a complete MONSTER! I was pale and sweating, matted wild hair, dark circles... I realize now that I was skipped ahead because people were probably scared of me!

2. Today I am feeling much better actually, but I noticed as I was getting dinner (taco villa cause I spent all day deep cleaning the kitchen and didn't want to mess it up of course) I realized that it was sort of awkward and hard for me to reach the drive thru window. Why? Because my shirt was on backwards all day that's why! I should really get to bed, apparently I am in need of a good nights sleep lol

Back to school

Last year, as I dropped my son off for his first day of Kindergarten, I felt that pulling in my heart, swelling in my throat, and wetness in my eyes. This year he was so "nonchalant" as he hopped out of the van and headed alone to the front doors of the school. I didn't even walk him to his class, I just let him go alone because he can do it and he wanted to. I was proud he wasn't clinging to me. I'm glad he's independent. I think he is the most interesting and charming boy on the planet and his teacher best recognize! lol



But this year as my daughter glowed from the inside out with excitement and fear of the unexpected, I had a hard time keeping it together. Jr. High is a big deal. She has such high expectations and I'm scared for her. Jr high was a difficult "coming of age" time for me and hope she has a smoother ride. She's so much more outgoing than I ever was. She's signed up for band and drama which is so front and center as apposed to my constant "low key" profile and the need to "blend in" at her age.



I feel a new era coming on in her life and our relationship. A level of trust and freedom that I don't want to give, but that she has earned. I find myself setting up safety nets for her in preparation to let her go. Talking with her about her expectations in boyfriends because I know letting her date may be around the corner. Reminding her about how to handle herself when drugs are around because this may be the year she gets approached. Discussing how hormones will affect our relationship because puberty is here.
She doesn't need the talks. She's smart. It's all for my peace of mind of course.

I'm blessed to have such a wonderful, smart, and good hearted children. It makes watching them grow up a lot easier. I hope they both have a fantastic year!

*cricket chirp*

I don't know why I always seem to abandon my blog when things get really busy. It's one of the things that actually relaxes me and gives me a moment to myself which is much needed during times like BACK TO SCHOOL MADNESS! lol

The kids officially start on Monday and I hope to post a lot more often then, because I know boredom will eventually set in although it seems impossible right this minute.

I've got plenty to show you, and lots of crafts waiting in the closet, but until I have more time they will just have to wait. For now, some randoms:

Lamps are so easy to find and get a great deal on, but lamp SHADES are a completely different story. I hate to think I paid 3x the amount I paid for a lamp on the stupid shade, but I just might go there.

I read the entire Twilight series while my little scientist did a stint in the hospital with an abscess in his cheek. He's doing great and I'm not ashamed to say that I will be first in line when Breaking Dawn makes it to the big screen.

School supply shopping at the last minute SUCKS, but something that doesnt suck is the Kidvantage program at Sears. I got all of the scientists pants there due to a hole-in-the-knees disease he spreads to every pair he's ever owned. Replaced for FREE people!

Ms. Thang wants colored contacts for her birthday (nonprescription) and I really don't like the idea but she's pressing the issue. I can't think of a reason to say no other than I don't like the idea of her touching her eye lol

The scientist's mohawk is gone. I can't say I was sad to see it go. I really missed my clean cut boy!

I'm am so ready for fall. I want it to be cool enough to give my front yard a little sprucing and I want to decorate for fall already. I got a red bench to put outside for $18 on craigslist and it was originally used at Putt putt which I think makes a neat story. How cool is that going to look with some fall decor? I don't know either but I'm ready to check it out.

I'm probably going to post a sappy Back to School picture post on Monday, and after that..projects galore. :)