Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Weekend is Here!

I live for weekends...literally!  I work all week and keep plugging along until finally, friday night!  I am more excited than my four year old!!!  No work and no school!!!

We have big plans for the weekend!  Maybe a little yard sailing...and then the Lowes kids' clinic.  I wonder if they would let me have my own project and an apron.  I love those projects and Annelise does not like it when I try to help!

Here's A in her Safety Gear...It lasted less than a minute...restricts her talent of pounding my thumb....she is still working on hitting the nail head....which is exactly one more reason that I need my own project...right?

In the end our thumbs were only slightly bruised and A had a jewelry organizer of her own!
(We have great plans to paint it to match her room!)

Little Handy Michael will be coming along this weekend for the first time!  I am so excited to see his reaction.  He loves his tools at home and is always singing along to all Manny's songs!  Hopefuly he and big sister will practice some restaint...I mean safety with the tools ;)

And best of all...we will be making a LowBot!  Don't worry because I don't really know what it is either...but by the name, I would think a Lowe's Robot!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hush Hush...

little fish.
Now it's time to make a wish.
We close our eyes and 
then we start to make a wish
with all our hearts!

This takes me back to when Annelise was a little baby.  She loved watching Sprouts and this is one of the sayings on the Goodnight Show.


That is my childhood doll, Cindy.  She is probably the forth or fifth one but this Cindy lasted over 20 years!  Now my little Annelise loves her!


I can't believe that she went from my little baby to my little girl...

and it seemed like it happened overnight!


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hip Hip Hooray! I Won A Giveaway!

I really did not feel very lucky today so when checked out Pixie Dust, one of the many blogs I love to follow, I did not expect to see my name there!  Yeah!!!!

Despite all the bad today, this really turned my day around and put a smile on my face!

So I am sure you want to know what I won and if you don't, I am dying to tell you anyway!!!

Yes, a Scentsy Starter Kit!  Okay, I don't expect you to know what it is because I had never heard of Scentsy either! So check out this site to learn more.

The best part about these are that you can't burn down your house.  As an ADD OCD'er this can cause some issues.  I am talking from experience but luckily I just messed up the wick of the candle and it still looks pretty...I just don't light it anymore!

Thank you Heather @ Pixie Dust!

Oh and by the way, check out this great knife block makeover that she did!  Yes, I said knife block!  It is beautiful and by the time you finish reading, you too will be redoing your own knife block or finding someone elses! (Anybody want to decorate knife blocks this weekend?)



Monday, February 22, 2010

Pass the TP Roll

As my daughter would say, that is potty talk and potty talk is only for bathrooms.  But what about the roll.  You know the brown cardboard roll that remains after the last piece of tp has been used?

My mom's club/blogging pal, Tammy, put her rolls to the test.  Check it out here!


How can you pass the tp roll foward?
(Or if you are like Annelise and this is too much potty talk for you, what about the paper towel roll?)

Here's some ideas I found when I googled the phrase "How to Reuse Toilet Paper Rolls"

1) Store Extra Power Cords
(The Towel Rolls Would Hold Extra Holiday Lights Nicely!)

2) Plastic Grocery Bag Storage
(Good Idea for when you forget your reuseable & end up with too many Bags...makes if less of an eye sore if you bring your roll!)

3) Homemade Napkins Rings
(Just Thing of All the Ideas!)

4) Junk Drawer Organizers
(Cut them Down & Use to Section Small Items)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

North Carolina Blogger's Project Hits Local Newspaper!

Do you remember this post on Erin Woodward's Entertainment Center turned Play Kitchen?


Well, yesterday when I was reading our local newspaper, The Arizona Republic, I was surprised to see a picture of this very kitchen!

The original article was written by Beth Brechenridge for the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal and you can read the details here!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Love is in the Mail!

What I miss most about leaving Las Vegas is my best friend.   No, I am not referring to that weird movie Leaving Las Vegas or their friend, the booze & drugs for that matter.

In case you were wondering, in my past life I worked at one of the clubs...you know the kind Vegas is famous for.  Just kidding, I worked at a law firm but we had clients in various careers.  Does that count?

Enough with my bad humor.  I miss my pal, Heather because she is that one person that thinks exactly like me.  We are usually thinking about the same things!  For example, about a week ago, she sent me a text with some of the things she bought at our favorite place, Home Goods!

Before I looked at the picture, she describing this great little herb box that she got on clearance and how she was going to use it for her chalk!  As soon as I realized what I thought she was talking about, I took a gander at the photo she texted and sure enough...she bought one of these:


Yep, just like mine!  She couldn't remember what blog she saw it one...it was Layla's because I'm sure she would have remembered it from mine!  We have a psychic connection...what can I say. 

And the waves must have crossed because she must have known that we could use a little love in the mail this week:

Handmade Valentines for myself & the kids, as well as books for the kids!   I will have to read them right now but hopefully they will be reading on their own soon...

Now, I was  a little disappointed when I realized that this one was for Annelise. 

This of course is for the little man!  He already has the women flocking to him!!!

And last but not least!

See reading by himself already!  Who needs Your Baby Can Read...my baby can and he taught himself!  LOL!

Annelise was so excited to get Charlotte's Web that we rented Penelope tonight for our movie theater night...it's a movie about a girl with a pig nose.  She loves pigs so Heather got this read right!

Speaking of pigs, we pigged out on popcorn, reeses pieces and ice cream so no new projects to post tonight.  However, let life begin...I mean the weekend begin! 

Shopping, Projects & Fun, Here We Come!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Drop in the Bucket

After a holiday passes, do you pass on those clearance deals? If so, you may be passing up on a great deal. I shouldn't be telling you this because that means less clearance for me so I just hope there are more people reading this out-of-state...


For literally a drop in the bucket...all of about $.50 you too could have one of these fabulous Easter buckets...but for what you ask?



Well, for organizing of course. Remember, the best organization tools are those that are not intended for organizing.  I love using things for something other than their intended purpose.   I mean how many times a year are you going to use an Easter bucket?
 
I've had this one around since the after Easter clearance sale at Kmart last year.  I actually had forgotten all about it.  But on a side note, it's my New Years' (or whatever  you want to call it) resolution to de-clutter and organize so I figured I'd better keep good on that promise and what better way than with this bucket.
 
 I got out the commercial strength Goo Off and this design was not budging.

So I did what any other crafter would do in this situation, I taped it off and got my supplies together.   Luckily the chalkboard paint was still in the kitchen and we keep the painter's tape in the kitchen drawer.  If you must know, it works good for taping the butcher paper that we wrap our freezer meat in too.

 I did a quick coat of paint last night and I did another tonight after dinner.  Despite this simple post, my projects do take more than a day.  I usually have to work in a step in between the usual dinner, clean up and bath routine during the week.  It's my small way of unwinding and doing something for me.  

After dishes the paint had dried so I removed my tape.  Except there was a slight drip problem as you can see. 
This was nothing that the Goo Off couldn't handle and voila...drip free bucket...



This still wasn't doing it for me because one, my tape job wasn't so good so it didn't look so straight and two, it was still too plain.



I still had some Target twine and I bought a new hot glue gun that I was wanting to try out.

 For less than $2, I picked up a new hot glue gun at a trip to Home Depot over the weekend.  I do already have one but this was a deal and less than $2.  Plus it has a thinner tip for detail work so I had to splurge on this one.


After a couple Disney shows and coloring projects with the kids, I finished my twining.
I have that song stuck in my head...you know the one...

There's a hole in my bucket, my bucket, my bucket....blah...blah...blah....

Okay...enough with the song.  Hopefully I can get it out of my head tonight!

Happy Crafting!!!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Good Things Come in Small (and Pretty) Packages!

I didn't expect to receive the giveaway gift that I won from Home2Three Duncan Boys so quickly...It was actually my husband that had gotten the mail that day and was questioning what I bought now....
And I really started to think about it and then I realized what it was...

Fortunately, I hadn't spent a cent!

I love the packaging almost as much as what was inside!


I mean the box itself is present enough with the compliment....who wouldn't love that?
But what was inside was just as gorgeous!
 


As well as practical and versitle!  They thought of everything!

I love it!  Now what to wear with???

Thank you again, Lakeitha!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!


 
 

Not So Expensive Apothecary Jars

 Do you remember the Shanty2Chic Apothecary Jars that I have been wanting to make?  Well, I finally made them....four months later but who's keeping tracking anyway?

I bought the candle sticks @ Michael's with 50% off Coupons so that they were only about $1.50 a piece and then removed the metal part from the center of each of them.  

The circular base pieces were only $.50 a piece with a 50% coupon.
 
For the jars...I used pickle jars.  If you haven't noticed, I'm a cheap....I'm frugal.  These were free...or at least the jars were...I did have to drop some change for the pickles.

The labels peel off really easily if you soak them in the sink.  As for the left over glue and date stamping, it was necessary to use the commercial strength goo off.

As for the ridges on the lids...

I found these Christmas Ornaments from our local Basha's grocery store for $.10 a piece.   The metal piece around the heart was bent and I figured I could use it to disguise the lids.

Our kitchen scissors cut right through the metal.

Now for a word of caution.  Keep these away from the children...they will try to use them as weapons.

 After I sprayed the lids with Rust-Oleum Flat Black Paint, I got to work and hot glued the metal around the lids.
 When I sprayed the metal, I also sprayed the sticks and the bases.  I removed part of one of the candlesticks to make it lower than the other two.

I got to work distressing the bases and candle sticks with a cheap sanding block from Home Depot.

I dusted them off with one of Mike's old t-shirts.  Don't be fooled and buy one of those packs of rags from the hardware store (like I was before) because I'm sure you too can find one that is beyond it's time limit in your husband's dresser.

Next is the tedious part....hot glue twine (Target One Spot...$1)
around your lids again....and again...and again...and again...you get the point.....

When you finally get finished with this step, get your finials ready for the finale.  (Wait, did I forget to mention these earlier?)  I bough a two pack of large and a two pack of small unfinished finials from Lowes for about $3 a pack.
I used two of the large and one small for this project.  Remove the screws and then Gorilla Glue a finial on the center of each lid. 

Next, glue the sticks in the center of each circular base.  Apply glue to the top of the candlesticks and center a jar on top of each on.  Let dry.

And here they are:  


Now do these look like pickle jars to you?

 
I have them in the dining room and I am thinking I can use another set in my bathroom...

  
Are you thinking about Q-Tips and Cotton Balls Right Now too? 


If you haven't already run out to get your supplies, here's a recap:

1) Three Candlestick Bases $1.50 x 3 = $4.50
2) Finials $6.00 (Two Packs)
3) Spray Paint (Already Had from Another Project)
4) Pickle Jars $0.00
5) Twine (Already Had from Another Project)
6) Gorilla Glue (Yep...Already Had from Another Project)
7) Three Circular Bases $.50 x 3= $1.50

So the grand total for these project is....drum roll please.......

$12
Not so expensive Apothecary Jars!