Don't you hate it when...

Don't you hate those days when you visit all your favorite blogs just to see the same posts and pictures you saw last week? ME TOO! My craft brain is a sponge and I need a constant flow of new ideas or I'll dry up and DIE!

So, here is a quick post to keep my readers from suffering that horrible feeling. :)

Honey had a day off Friday. This is BIG news because lately he's been working his cute little hiney off. Of course, being the loving wife that I am, I utilized this time to get a few "manly" projects around the house finished up. Don't look at me like that! I didn't bark out orders or have a weekend line-up of things for him to complete (although I totally could have come up with that much stuff) I just hovered close by, goosing his butt while he was helpless on the ladder with his hands full and told him how delicious my lemonade was while he licked his lips and dabbed sweat from his brow with the corner of his shirt. I'm (half way) kidding!

Here is the one and only project I had him do. A new kitchen light! It's not a fancy smancy chandelier or anything, but it is a bit more sleek and modern than the previous one. We replaced it because (get ready for the wrong word to be used here because I only heard Honey say it once and I really didn't care...) the baluster(?) burned out in the old neon fixture a couple of days ago. We needed a replacement asap and not a lot of $$ so off to Lowes we went. Surprisingly I didn't like anything there in our price range. So off to Home Depot we went and I found something I didn't hate. That's how fast-need-it-now-and-need-it-cheap shopping goes for those of you that are Gazillionaires and buy the prettiest light no matter the price. I don't hate you. I don't hate you.

Here's how "we" did it:
First, my honey took the old light fixture down. Do you see that hideous grimy icky color peeking out from under there?


EWW! (be thankful that it's hard to photograph in here without a light!)


Then I scrubbed and painted over all the ick, and yes, I just painted over the part that needed it.


Luckily with the new light, you can't tell where the new paint starts and the old paint ends because you are looking right at a very bright light and your retinas will burn if you look too closely for very long. And like I always say..if you are looking that hard at my ceiling you need your retinas burned. :P

So while we waited for the paint to dry, I took a few pictures around the kitchen. Found a couple of new bundts!

(the kitchen light was out so the color is weird) I'm not really liking the copper. The blank spot it bugging me. I hope I find another one soon.

Ms. Thang made this bag for me awhile back. She sewed it by hand! It holds all the extra Leap Frog magnets. I have multiple sets :S

Didn't she do a great job?

Ok, I'm hungry for lunch already(it was 11:00), "Honey do you want Taco Villa?"
I love Taco Villa and Taco Villa loves me see...


Ok back to the light. Honey put up the new one and I found out it's almost as hard to take a picture of a neon light as it is to take a picture of the ceiling without a light!


I know in the picture you can see the paint outline, but you really can't see it in "real life". I think it looks so much better than the old one and I it cost us right around $60.

Here is a quick sneak peek of things coming soon:

I painted a checker board. Can you guess where?


and I glitzed up this thrift shop owl for Halloween. It turned out better than I expected!


Have a great weekend! xoxox

Opinions please

If you haven't seen the plate/candle-sticks turned into cake and cupcake stands, then you haven't been looking at craft blogs for very long. I am just now jumping on the bandwagon to make my version for Cutecumber's up-coming garden tea party. I need a little help. I found the yellow and green plates at HH for cents, and the candle sticks at a garage sale for a quarter each, but I've seen some just like them at the Dollar Tree. I used that E6000 glue (thanks for catching the error Crystal) and fused those 3 pieces only so far.



As you can see I have temporarily set it up with a cute "dip" bowl on top and I think it matches the Garden Tea party theme perfectly and would look cute with crackers or veggies etc... This is how Honey and Ms. Thang have voted on how I should officially glue it. Here is a closer look at the little frog detail:



I LOVE it! I got this little bowl at Trade n Treasures for about a dollar. (Oh and see that plastic bag on the counter? It is full of potatoes that my grandma used today to make me super delicious jumbo homemade french fries. I love her a little more now than ever before lol)

So what is my dilemma if I have 2 votes for the frog dish and it fits the party theme? Well...I like the look of the plates so much I want to keep it for other future parties and if I set it up with the frog dish, it wouldn't fit other themes as much, although it would still look cool in my kitchen. So here are some other options I came up with.

How about skipping the glue and just setting the dish on top with dip?


Or how about this (my personal favorite) but it would have to wait until I found a similar plate because I am NOT gluing my Fiesta ware on here, no matter how cute.


I also have this other flower bowl which looks a little more plain without the frog, and something about the frog in a non-garden party setting grosses me out. Imagine the frog with queso and chips ..kinda eww right? Not that I couldn't use a skipped chip or two.

I could glue it up higher on the candle stick too, I just didn't bother with that for the picture. I also have to add that I don't like the sides of this bowl as much as the frog one. It looks more like a jaggedy topped white bowl than a flower in profile.

So what's the verdict? Make it more compatible with other party occasions, or keep it perfect for the theme of Cutecumbers 2nd birthday party which was the plan for it all along. Speaking of her, how cute is this?

Silly girl!

Oh, and almost as popular as the candlestick/ plate cake stands, are the candlestick/cheese dome cloches and I made another one yesterday.

I plan to use them at the party also, filled with cute little cookies or finger sandwiches. That pear and peach set inside are made of marble or some type of heavy stone. The Scientist is intrigued by them and I hope curiosity doesn't get the best of him.
Here is a shot of the little dude today, doing what he does..


That's all folks!

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1.03.01

Virtual shopping

I'm shampooing the carpets today. My oldest is having her birthday "party" this weekend even though it's a whole weekend before her actual birthday on the 22nd. My youngest has a birthday in the same month, 28th (much to the dismay of Ms. Thang) so we put the celebrations as far apart as possible with Ms. Thang's being the weekend before her bday and Cutecumbers being the weekend after her bday. Now you know way more about the politics in this family than you ever wanted to. My point, which isn't even really relative (I'm realizing too late) is that I am shampooing the carpets for my daughter's party which actually only consists of a fun day of pedicures, dinner, and slumber party with her BFF so.. here comes the actual important and relevant part... I have free time while it dries to do a little local craigslist virtual shopping. You get to come with me, and if you're local and pounce before me, more power to you!

I really like this iron plant stand for $40.

Cleaned up, under my kitchen window with pink flowers and bright green sweet potato leaves dripping out. Maybe even geraniums which I think stink, but they'd look awesome with my red bench. :)
The only thing holding me back is that I kill EVERYTHING, but then again, half dead plants in this stand would look much prettier than half dead plants in a terracotta pot right? Depending on honey's paycheck tomorrow, it might be mine.

I think this coffee table for $30 would be AMAZING painted.

Those Xs under the glass are reminiscent of the lattice work in an English garden. It would be so pretty in a slightly distressed white. It reminds me of these tables from Pottery Barn:

Unfortunately my sofa only allows for a coffee table half that size.

How cute would these blue jean dishes be for a 4th of July table setting?

It reminds me of THIS. Too bad our 4ths are filled with plate breaking children.

Speaking of the hoodlums, I better get that other room done before schools out.

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1.03.01

Future photographer

Ms. Thang decided to do a mini photo shoot of the Scientist earlier today. She did a pretty decent job considering her subject is never still for long. She even did his hair. :)

This is a little trail the kids love to explore behind a church near our home. There is something beautiful about wild grass in the fall. Something that can probably only be appreciated by a west Texan.




Still reluctant to take off those training wheels even though they rarely touch the ground. All in good time. I'm in no rush for him to grow up just yet.


He obeyed her pose suggestions and came up with a few of his own.








Maybe I'm slightly biased, but I think that is one adorable model and the photographer is top-notch! <3

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1.03.01

I donate for selfish reasons

If I walk in and find this enough times in a row..


then I donate a million little things I never want to pick up again from that area...


to achieve this. Happy sigh! ahhhhh :)


Good riddance! Oh and just fyi, when donating small toys, zip-lock like items together and save them the hassle.

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1.03.01

Few pretties

I just got the most awesomest necklace in the whole wide world. I got it for $2 at a garage sale right down the road. I LOVE IT!


I got a few other things too. Wanna see? I really didn't get much today.

I snagged these flowers at HH for about a $1. (ugh..camera still sucking)

I pulled them straight out of the foam they were in and jabbed them into this urn I had in my craft closet. I wanted to make one of these but I got lazy.

If you want to see how to make them check it out HERE.

I also got this for $1. Etched mirror and really nice wood.


What is it? It's a tic-tac-toe game. :)

I want to make new pieces for it (black Xs and wood grain Os) because these glass ones are breakable sea themed pieces (sand dollars and starfish). The kids are really enjoying it though, and it will be fun to have out around the holidays with cousins and friends near the fireplace. Maybe this will help the Honey layoff asking to put a TV in this room which I am totally against.

I've got it set up like this:


and I was trying to copy this layered look:

Which comes from my favorite living room of all time, HERE. (You must look at that room) but yeah, I'm not even close lol I still have my eyes open for wooden game boards constantly though. I may have to make my own soon. I'm wanting to make one into a small table top/side table.

I also got a velvety stuffed carrot and corduroy ear of corn that didn't photo well.

I don't know what to do with them, but they were too cute and only a few cents each. They will probably end up in Cutecumbers kitchen.

I never know how to end these so from now on my ending will go as follows..

That's all folks! <--so original. :P

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1.03.01

Failing at Fall

I'm not satisfied with my fall decor. What is the deal? It needs layers. Or maybe it's too dark and needs lightening up. Lets take a look at what I've got:

The whole enchilada...


Top:


I do love these two birds I got 75% off last year at Mardel though. Look:


I love an angry fat bird!


I also took a few things down to the lower shelf:


Sorry for the grainy photos. My battery is dying again and my camera is getting mentioned in every conversation that my honey and I have concerning Christmas gift ideas.

So what does it need? Is it too sparse or too cluttered? Are the heights of my small things too similar? Do I need some flowers or a cloth runner maybe? Ideas anyone?

Oh and look what happens when my camera comes out. HAMS!


Little Cutecumber playing chef for the camera. I had to ask a million times for her to move, and this is just one of 5 pictures. I spared you the extreme close-up nose shots. I finally got her to go by actually trying to take a decent shot of her in the hat.

The scientist had to get in on the action as well. Once again a shot of him in his underwear. I'm surprised the pizza guy hasn't turned us in to CPS for failure to provide proper clothing to our children. (and haircuts :S)

Note his new bedroom door decor. STOP, CAUTION! and crossbones. Thanks Honey for bringing those home. They really add to the ambiance in our home. (clearly sarcasm).

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1.03.01

Babbling

I think I've finally accepted that my Honey doesn't have a 9-5 job anymore. It only took me a year lol
There are days that he leaves before I wake up and comes home after I've gone to bed. He does get to sleep in the truck so he isn't driving sleepy. I was really worried about that at first, but he assures me that he does sleep. :)

He is supposed to have off on Sundays but it averages out to every other Sunday. I kept waiting for things to "calm down" and it forced me to put a lot of things on hold for too long. I've finally just accepted that life must go on and things have been a lot better!

I appreciate our time together much more. He is never home before dinner. Ever. I HATED it! But now, we often get the mornings together, after the kids have gone to school and I really enjoy that. He loves to cook breakfast. What a weirdo right? But he does, and I like to watch him cook while I have a cup of coffee and Cutecumber keeps us entertained with her funny toddler faces and quips. These are moments to treasure and I actually can treasure them now that I've stopped using the time to sulk about him leaving soon and not see him until after dark. Nobody loves a Debbie Downer, but luckily my husband pacified me for a whole year until I finally came around lol.

I've also been assessing my role as Mom and all that I do. I was in a funk, feeling like I was always a step behind in chores. I was feeling under appreciated and my job as a stay@home mom was losing value to me. Sometimes I get sick of my job, just like anyone else. I was feeling sorry for myself and missing the things I sacrifice for my kids like nice clothing, salon hair, child free time with friends, a social life, vacations with the hubby, etc...

I wish I had Victoria secret bras and pencil skirts with expensive shoes, but at least I know that my friends love me for the real me, in mom jeans, converse shoes and t-shirts.

I wish I had a girls night out or dates at fancy restaurants with my honey, but instead I see my son excel in reading and writing because I was there to help him everyday after school.

I wish I had more time to focus on me, tan, salon, manicures, but instead I do my nails at home with my daughter and listen to her problems and know how she's doing/feeling in these difficult teen years.

I know I opt to play games on the computer over moping the floors, and I know I could make better choices about how I use my time and find a better balance between the kids and myself, but I do have my priorities straight, and that is something to be proud of. My kids are fine. They are better than fine. :)

So now I've been trying to break out of this shell where I feel like I can't do anything for me because it somehow means less for my children. I know in the long run my kids (especially my daughters) will be better off seeing that a mother doesn't have to sacrifice her "self" completely for her children. It's a ridiculous standard I've set and it's hard to crack! I've let it go on so long that I have sort of forgotten who I am and what I like to do other than mom stuff (which I do enjoy) but I know there is more to me. I'm just having trouble knowing where to water and make those things grow. What ARE my personal goals? I'm not currently working towards anything. I realized how great it feels to have a goal to work towards when I did the yard work the other day. I worked hard, saw results and reaped the benefits. I felt great afterwards. I need something to work towards. I need long term goals. Something other than the everyday stuff like, do the dishes, cook dinner, and keep the kids alive. lol

I don't really know where I intended to go with this. You just have the..umm...pleasure?...of getting a glimpse into my rambling mind today. Any advice?

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1.03.01

Yard work

I went there and decorated for fall today. I'm the first on the block but I'm hoping I started a trend. It was A LOT OF WORK and I was sick Friday and Saturday so I over-did it a little, but the pay off is well worth it. I love the way a shower feels after a day of sweat and dirt.

First I repainted the curb address. This was my first time ever doing that and I played it pretty safe. Next time I'm doing something a little nicer with nicer stencils.

Before, here since we moved in, umm yeah...


and after:



Then we started on the yard, and when I say we, I mean Ms. Thang for 10 minutes in, and then me all the rest of the way. IT WAS SEVERELY NEGLECTED and I am still showing you the befores. I'm keeping it real people.

From grass bed...


(isn't she happy?)


...to flower bed


Why do my "flowers" look dead you ask? Well because I tried to split them and I have black thumbs so I killed them, that's why. They probably need prayers.

Here is the corner before (again don't let the fact that she is in multiple pictures fool you. These are the BEFORE pictures, and she was there for only a few minutes of the before, but every pulled weed helps!)


And after (I think this may be the first picture of my red putt putt bench)


What's that? You'd like a close up of that little princess? Well, since you twisted my arm...

She's living in dresses these days. Such a girly-girl just like her sister. Ms. Thang did her hair to go with the dress-up clothes, and Honey actually did her nails the other night while I got mine done by Ms. Thang (For $5! Total deal, she went all-out!)

*about the bench, I got it on Craigslist for $15 or less..can't remember now, but the guy had an entire garage FULL of them in all kinds of colors. They were mix-and-match, but he helped me find all red pieces with little prompting even though we had to pull a few benches apart to get the right boards. Nice guy! The sides are heavy duty plastic and the boards slide in and out. I plan to spray the sides with plastic paint, and get new boards, but for now, the red is where it's at. :)

One more shot of the front door:


It was hard, but I feel so accomplished. I know it lacks actual flowers/greenery, and although I am able to do a lot of things, agriculture is not on that list. As a matter of fact, I think there is a better word for it than agriculture but I can't even come up with THAT!
Laughing? Think you're so smart do ya? Then what is this fungus on my shrub?


(seriously, what IS that?)

Anyway, I took a shower and we ended up going to the Meteor Crater.

What? You were expecting a giant hole? Us too! lol It's been filled with sediment over the past 20,000 some-odd years. I was surprised at the number of (and variety) of tourists.
We had never been, and went when the museum part was closed, but we were still able to follow the trail around the "big hole" (in the pic you are seeing the outer "lip" of it on the horizon) and read all the signs about what we were supposed to be looking at. I'd like to say it sucked (Honey's idea) but we had a pretty good time! Great exercise, educational, fun silly songs and road trip snacks...it was memorable. :)

So, ya gonna take the plunge and decorated for fall?