Will Work for Decor $

what i wore wednesday

2012-02-03T10:18:00.001-08:00

I decided to challenge myself by starting to share “what I wore wednesday” as started by the Pleated Poppy. Don’t worry, I will not bore you with the majority of my outfits which consist of yoga pants and my MollyMoon shirt, but when I do come up with something presentable, I think sharing it here will encourage me to keep it up, try more often for a great outfit and be brave about fashion! So here goes, a couple outfits from last week…

First up is date night, and looking at this, it was actually back when we were “snowed in” almost two weeks ago.

Kinda hard to see, sorry lighting was bad. Manly the Pinspiration was just that I wanted a striped skirt. How delighted was I to find this one at Forever21 for $7.80?! If you need one, it is actually only $5.80 now! I paired it with this sweater, leggings, boots and boot socks, and a belt at the hem of the shirt.

By the way, I am having a little love affair with Forever 21 right now. Really love their mix and match atmosphere and LOVE their low prices. Recently got two sweaters at Gap Outlet - $25/each and that was at 50% off! Taking them back. Got two at Forever 21 for $14 and $17. Also, I love H&M but they are twice as far away, so I don’t get there often. Same atmosphere, probably even a little more in style or edgy fashion.

Next we have another outfit inspired by a pin…

Love the navy stripes with the bright yellow! I have a couple yellow and stripes things pinned, actually.

Lastly, I almost got rid of this dress. I was showing Leah, my professional fashion advisor =), and we were about to dump it, when we had the idea to add the belt and “untuck” the top of the shirt, shortening the dress, which is okay with leggings. It works!

I have worn it twice, since then Leah!

So that’s been my good outfits over like the last… almost two weeks! Or at least the ones I remembered to take pictures of. How many days a week do you all make the fashion happen???

thrift junky chronicles { 16 } & catching up

2012-01-30T13:25:00.001-08:00

Whew! The last couple weeks have been ca-ra-zy! First we got snowed in for a week. Well not literally unable to leave our house, but still. And after that we got the flu for a week! Again! We just had the flu not too long ago. I didn’t get it last time; this time, I was in bed for 24 hours in severe pain everywhere. A friend asked me, “How do you take care of your kids when you are that sick?” I said, “You leave your bedroom door cracked so you can hear if someone is in a life threatening situation.” Yeah, that was all we could do. The kids were sick for like two days, then hubby and I were sick the next two days. We were blessed because our house guests who were already exposed to anything we had were around to keep an eye on the kiddos a lot while Ty and I were dying. And then one of them got it too. Whoa. Glad to be back!

Anyway, had a couple more good finds at the thrift stores the past few days…

cool tree notebook that is unused for $0.99

Le Cruset dish for $2.99

a “Fred” mug ($1.99 and 50% off) – a must have with two Freds under my roof (hubby and son – family name)

those little tiny loaf pans? I think I will make pin cushions out of them… still thinking about it. They were $2.99 for the four which is fine for reselling.

three neat old jars. No lids or anything, and just marked with a “W” on the bottoms with a circle around it. They are really thick and seem old and remind me of expensive “found” ones Pottery Barn had this summer. They were $0.25 each

new vintage threads on wooden spools ($3.99 for big bag

a vintage metal embroidery hoop ($0.99).

set of mini loaf pans ($2.99)! I have no idea what I will do with these loaf pans yet other than to hold on to them until I see the perfect organizing opportunity for them, perhaps a bathroom drawer? And also to make miniature banana bread for the kids to have a tea party. Side note: my friend Leah looked all over Farm Chicks flea market for these and did not find any. When I found this I took a picture in the thrift store and texted it to her and might have said “neener neener” at one point. Is that a sin? I am pretty sure it is. Leah will you forgive me?

Anyway that is plenty of that. Want to see one non-thrifted purchase? Some new fabrics to replenish the zippered pouches in my Etsy shop…

Thrift store fabrics (scrap yardage, sheets, pillow cases, duvet covers) make a lot more profit for resale, but these fabrics just had me at hello. This is why I go thrift store shopping now instead of to fabric stores! Do you see the fattest piece in the top picture? It looks like the grid paper AshleyAnn always crafts with – SO SWEET. Super excited about some combinations with these and some of my current stash, too. I’ll keep you posted.

I think I might make some of this bag to sell…

It is a photo of a page in the Amy Butler book, “amy butler’s style stitches” which has “12 easy ways to 26 wonderful bags” in it with instructions and patterns. This one is the “origami bag set” which stands up on it’s own like a long triangle. So cute. I would like to sell nested sets of two. What do you think?

The shop has been going well; since opening about a week ago I have had 4 orders, selling 6 items. That is decent. Of course I am already swarming with better ideas; better pictures, different designs, new items… hopefully a lot of it will come to fruition!

Been packaging things cute, that is a vintage sewing pattern I am using as tissue paper in the middle picture – you can get millions of patterns at Goodwill every day. A long time ago I bought a vintage kitchen scale, only to get it home and realize it is a postal scale! Now it is coming in handy, so cute and retro too!

Anyway, going out with the kids to join hubby’s family for 24 hours of vacation! Gotta go! More this week!

giveaway winner

2012-01-24T16:33:00.001-08:00

Well, thanks ladies for entering my little blog giveaway! I think I got a couple more entries than last year, plus some Facebook shout-outs and a couple new followers, so that’s fun! =) AND, I sold a few items in my Etsy shop already! Yay! And only one of them was someone I know. By the way, I put a logo and link over there ---> for my shop.

Okay, I know, I know, what you’ve all -– all six of you -- been waiting for… and the winner is --- Sue G.! That’s my mom, hahaha. She wasn’t going to enter but I made her do it. Good thing, huh, mom?! She had me keep out one of the tote bags from my Etsy shop so she could buy it, and now she gets the pin cushion she picked out in the giveaway, for free! Aren’t I nice? Are my mom and I the only ones who are always owing each other money for this or that or buying stuff from each other? We are kinda weird, so it wouldn’t surprise me. =)

Well, that’s all I got for today. I have a pot roast in the oven and I really want to get started painting some cabinets, but I have a chicken coop to clean, and homeschool to do. Such is life!

it’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!!!

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I told you a few posts back that I had gotten four footed milk glass bowls and was making pincushions out of them for my Etsy shop. But then I thought, wait a minute… a while back I found three in one thrift shop in one day, then the next time I found four… this isn’t just going to keep happening to me. Maybe I should keep this nice, neat little set of four vintage milk glass footed dishes for things like…

the WORLD’s BEST fruit salad that’s like nothing you’ve EVER had before.
I pretty much say that about everything my friend Sandy makes, and it’s pretty much always true. This recipe is from Sandy, and it is no exception - have had this three times this week and I still can’t stop thinking about it.

Okay, are you ready to try it yet? There are three super easy parts:

WORLD’S BEST FRUIT SALAD

Fruit: Chop strawberries, apples and banannas.
Sauce: Stir together 1 cup each of plain yogurt and sour cream, plus about 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk and about 1/2 tsp. vanilla (more to taste).
Toppings: Granola of choice, coconut flakes, sprinkles.
This serving size was about a cup, so I layered in 1/3 cup bananas, 1/3 cup apples, and 1/3 cup strawberries. Then I took a large spoon and drizzled on a heaping spoonful of the sauce. Then I sprinkled on some coconut flakes, followed by granola and sprinkles. That’s it!

Easy right? Wait till you try it, it is so darn good. I had it for lunch yesterday. And a little after dinner, too.

Okay, so those little dishes didn’t make it into my Etsy shop, but guess what… a whole bunch of other stuff did! I finally put my leftover items from my sale into my Etsy shop. It fittingly called, WillWorkForDecor on Etsy. Right now it is full of camera strap covers, zippered pouches, teacup pincushions and some art prints. I will have some vintage plastic signboard letters coming up soon. I also hope to keep an eye out for thrifted treasures to sell in the vintage section.

And here’s the kicker (boy, this post just keeps getting better!)… head on over to my Etsy shop and pick out your favorite item… leave a comment here, telling me what your favorite item is and (drum roll please?) … you will be entered to win that item!
You didn’t think I had forgotten about my blogiversary giveaway did you!? Get over there, pick out your favorite item and leave a comment now! AND, Follow my blog or give me a shout out on Facebook and you can enter twice (leave two comments). I will randomly select one winner next Tuesday, and announce it here. If you win but your favorite item has sold, you can pick another or I may custom make you another. Giveaway closes Tuesday morning, January 24th, at 8am PST.
(Note: this giveaway is now closed!)

Have fun, ladies, and thanks for reading this lil’ ol’ blog! =)

productivity at last

2012-01-20T14:20:00.001-08:00

I haven’t really been snowed in since the new van is excellent in the snow and hubby LOVES driving in the snow, working on his rally-car-driver-on-a-snow-course-skills, getting sideways and freaking everyone else out. Whenever we go somewhere I have to inform him constantly, “You know everyone hates you when you drive like this, right?” He loves every minute of it. He is not dangerous – he only does it when there aren’t other cars around us, but when they see us coming, then we straighten out and drive normal, they are always staring at us with worried expressions as we drive past. Sorry people. We pulled out three people who were stuck… does that make up for scaring the other people?

But school and work have been cancelled for the kids and hubby and myself, and we are all staying home a lot – so there is still a feeling of “cabin fever” even though we aren’t truly stuck here. As is typical, at first I was thrilled, and now it has turned into long days getting a little boring and the kids getting a little wild. They had to be pushed to go outside yesterday to get some fresh air – they are apparently over the snow as well.

We got over a foot; I last measured two days ago at 9 inches, and it snowed at least another 4 inches after that. Almost over the tops of my boots! That picture was really hard to take with my 35mm lens, by the way.

Having a borrowed computer (I told you my old one died, right?) without Photoshop on it has shown me I need to be more diligent about getting each shot right, SOOC (straight out of camera). I always seem to end up a little dark on my exposures! Sorry, you’re going to have to put up with it for a bit. =)

The good news about being snowed in? It finally gave me some time to get my Etsy shop up and running! I have about 70% of my items loaded and ready! It is my goal to get the rest done today, and I will get them all active and blog tomorrow and link you to my little shop! I’m a little sad I don’t have Photoshop, so I can come up with a better header than the one I have which I made like a year ago, but, it is what it is.

So, until tomorrow … by the way… I have the world’s most glorious recipe to share tomorrow! It involves fruit, but it is like nothing you’ve ever had before! You might salivate when you see it. Or maybe that is just me.

Peace!

restaurant style guacamole

2012-01-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

There are different types of guacamole.

Growing up we smashed avocados and used one of those spice packets. Now, I consider that really gross.

Later, my Mexican friends taught me their recipe, and I would make it fresh with onion, jalapeño, lime, salt, tomato, and cilantro.

Now, when I get the craving but am lazy (which might be always), I do it Mexican restaurant style…

I forgot to photograph salt in the picture. Make sure you use salt.

Ingredients:

2-3 avocados

1/2 lime

small can jalapenos

sour cream

salt

chips

Slice the avocados in half, then slice each half, in the shell, into chunks and scoop out with a fork (this accomplishes most of the smashing for you). Smash the avocado chunks with a fork till creamy. Add about a teaspoon of the jalapenos (more to taste), a half teaspoon salt, squeeze in a teaspoon lime juice, and a dollop of sour cream, and stir. Devour.

By the way, those Juanita’s chips are THE BEST. We are hooked on them, and I refuse to eat any other chip. Aren’t I horrible? And when I say “we” I mean me and the Mexicans who live with me – they are their favorite too. They are so crunchy and not overly salty. We find them at Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart, and I think Safeway. Sometimes they can be sold out. I throw a fit and stomp in the store when that happens and grumble under my breath that that company must be making big bucks and why don’t they just expand and make more so the stores don’t sell out and I don’t have to be without their blissful chips for a day of my life for crying out loud.

This is when you tell yourself avocados are the healthy kind of fat. =)

snow days

2012-01-17T15:23:00.001-08:00

Greetings from the white and fluffy Pacific Northwest! We have been playing in the snow since Saturday!

These photos were taken yesterday but my computer has quite literally died, so I am back on a borrowed computer until I set aside a few paychecks for a new laptop.

Susie had the sledding system all figured out; just act cute and cold and helpless and like you can’t move cause your mom put so many layers on you, and the girls will feel sorry for you and you will get to ride down the sledding hill every. single. time.

Until…

That was her last pass. I didn’t have the heart to snap her face planting, I switched into mom gear. Let’s just say it was not a graceful dismount, and Carmen and the sled kept going. Susie was highly offended. =)

Anyway, the snow and the kids being off school kinda threw a spoke in the wheels of me being productive on my few days off. It takes a lot to entertain kids when they are “stuck in” and when they do go out, it creates so much work dressing, undressing, and drying mass amounts of clothes and shoes and gloves and… yeah. Regardless, I still love snow days! Good thing, because today/ tonight/ tomorrow, we are supposed to get up to 14 more inches!!!

thrift junky chronicles { 15 }

2012-01-13T16:37:00.001-08:00

I am pretty sure something is wrong with me. I seriously cannot think straight, stay on one task, or finish anything to completion. I am going to be admitted to the looney bin at the age of 40 I think. :(

At least today I managed to take some pictures during good light for the blog; that is important right? Actually I did some important things done, but they don’t sound very important so I’m not telling you.

Anyway, I haven’t shared any thrift store finds in a while so I thought I would share some goodies from my last two trips…

Right before my sale, I found three footed milk glass bowls ($2.99/ea) at one time, and thought that was crazy, and now this time I found four! They will become pincushions for my etsy shop which I still have not gotten up… I have the stuff… hopefully hubby will let me lock myself in the bedroom Saturday and get everything listed.

The old wooden rack with dividers ($5) in the back is super shadowed – sorry – but it is going to hold all of my ribbon spools, whenever I locate them in my attic. Here is a closer shot…

I have my vintage ric rac find holding the ribbon’s place for now. =)

I got that little blue juice glass ($0.69) to use as a tea light holder in my room.

I am discovering that I am moving away from country and more toward vintage with my tastes, so I thought it would be a nice touch in my room, which is stuck in a year long makeover… it is officially on the to-do-list, though! Progress!

Next we have some books and a sweet blue loaf pan ($1.99)…

The loaf pan holds hubby’s fancy new shaving supplies he got for christmas.

That book with the diamonds is titled “Harlequin House”… Harlequin rung bells, and it was copyright 1939 and totally cute, so I bought it ($3) without knowing much about it. Looking up the harlequin novels, I think they are the quite racy and inappropriate ones… looking this particular one up online didn’t show much – only one identical copy for sale for $9.99 with no description. I read a few pages and it seemed like all the other historical romance… might have to tentatively try it.

The Hebrew book is crazy (also $3)! We briefly studied the very basics of the Hebrew language in bible school at my church, and this book caught my attention…

--that is the FRONT cover of the book! Hebrew reads from right to left so the whole book situated that way… strange! Looks pretty on the shelf.

Last but certainly not least we have some material that I couldn’t pass up, since it was a manager’s special -- all linens were 30% off!…

The top one is very drapy and soft, I might try to make a shirt out of it, but it is a square scarf ($2.99), so I’m going to look at Wendy’s video and see if there is a cool way I can wear it. Let’s face it, it’d be like a year before I did anything with it … is that just me?

The middle is a set of sweet vintage pillowcases (set $2.99) that will make great “go but not matchey” pillows for my bed [cough] if I ever get my quilt done!!!

And the bottom is actually a set of fitted and flat queen sheets (set $6.99) which are making their way into my bathroom makeover…

It makes an excellent shower curtain! The one I wanted at Tarjay was $20 and I needed two because I have another project in this room, so getting this set instead at the thrift store saved me $37!!! Awesome.

What is not awesome is losing Susie’s last pacifier and starting potty training the same day…

For some reason she seems to have stage fright and keeps pointing her finger and saying “Hey, get that camera out of here!”… I don’t know why.

But things are looking up, I just found out I am off today through next Tuesday! WOOT! WOOT! Maybe I can get some things done around here and share them with you!

Until then, remember, always wash your hands…

Peace!

my christmas surprise story

2012-01-12T08:26:00.001-08:00

Update: sweet Nicole sent me pics! See below!

I am finally sitting down to write the story of my surprise on Christmas Eve.
First you need a little background story. This is how my husband handles surprises. It is the story of our engagement in a nut shell…

Hubby wants to go on a little hike.
We drive to it.
Road is snowed in, so little hike now = very long hike.
I don’t want to go for womanly reasons, if you know what I mean.
He pushes me to go.
I say no.
He says, “Fine, I’ll give you your ring some other time.”

Horrible, right? I know he just cannot keep surprises like that. So I never expect them from him. Well now he has proven me wrong, in a big way…

Christmas Eve morning we packed up and rushed out of the house to head to my folks’ in the mountains. We had to stop for diapers and my hubby said we could go to Fred Meyer and go to Starbucks, which he calls “Fivebucks” and only justifies going there if it is a road trip, date or special occasion. =)

First, I asked him to swing by my work so I could give them their Christmas card which also had a gift in it. He asks, “Do we have to?” “Yes,” I said, “it’s Christmas Eve; I don’t want to give it to them late when we get back.” So he drove me there and said, “We’re just going to put it in the mailbox.” I was like, “No, that is rude, plus they will see us on the surveillance cameras and be sad that we didn’t say ‘Hi’.” That is when he stopped at the mailbox, very politely took the card envelopes from my hand, deposited them in the mailbox continued down the road. Well, that was kind of rude, I thought. I very consciously decided not to pick a fight about it. We went on our way.

As we get close to Fred Meyer and Starbucks, he pulls out the Flip camera and asks me to clean it off because the lens is dirty. I clean off the lens and give it back to him. He tries to turn it on and sadly complains that the batteries are dead, “Oh man, I wanted to film you getting your Christmas present at your parents’ house.” I’m thinking, then we will get new batteries there, why are you stressing out?

Then we round the corner to Starbucks. I notice a van with excessive Christmas decorations on it, and before I am done processing that, Ty exclaims, “Who is that!?” and I see it is one of Ty’s friends, odd seeing him here Christmas eve, I think. Until I realize what is even more odd: he is running across the street to a whole ‘gang’ which happens to be quite a few of our close friends and family, and as it dawns on me that I might be the target of some horrible –gasp- surprise that everyone but me knew about and will involve people staring at me for a prolonged period of time, which is my worst nightmare… I look back at that van and read the sign in the front window (I saved it and took a picture of it later so I could remember)…

…and start balling. And proclaim over and over while crying that Ty is “so mean”. And hide my face in my coat. And tell Ty that I hate him. And finally get out of the van and stand there crying while everyone stares at me. They must have wondered if I didn’t like the van.

When I was done making a fool of myself, self-consciously wiping my face and trying to check out the van while knowing everyone was staring at me, we all went into Starbucks and spent five bucks on a drink and visited for a while. It was lovely, and I did kiss my husband and tell him I loved him and I loved the van and I did not, in fact, hate him, but never to surprise me again. ;)

After it was done, hubby couldn’t believe I hated surprises, and said, “Would you really rather not had our friends there?” I told him honestly, “If it was all about me, yes. But you worked so hard for this surprise and wanted to share it, so I am glad they were there to share it with us.” Plus many of them helped clean the van, hide it, make excuses for him while he detailed it and one of them brought it there for the surprise, so it was nice of him to include everyone.

And now I am cruisin’ the mom van in style…

It is 4 years newer than our Jetta and 7 years newer than my old van. Everything was broken, and I do mean EVERYTHING, on the old van, so this one seems like a space ship compared to a wagon, seriously. It is lovely and I feel super blessed and spoiled and still cannot believe that my hubby pulled off this huge surprise, saving all year, doing side jobs and lying telling me that he only made $100 in a whole weekend, and stashing the rest away for months and months! I am blessed to have him taking care of me!

Thanks Nicole, for sending the pics, they're great! =)

The End.

photo for grandma

2012-01-06T07:04:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share the product of a seriously last minute photo shoot we did of all my mom’s grand kiddos…

My sister-in-law and I rounded up the kids on Friday before christmas and did the photo shoot in about 5 minutes in my pasture. On christmas, after we opened presents, I showed mom on the computer – super ceremonious, huh? But, we got the job done and brought a smile to grandma’s face! I gave her a few different edited versions of my favorite shot, with and without the text.

gift ideas { hop scotch mat }

2012-01-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of the gifts I made for some little friends for christmas…

It’s a handmade hopscotch mat to provide hours of healthy, energy-burning play indoors…

It was super cheap and easy to make (I roughly used a tutorial I pinned on Pinterest). For the mat, I bought a 4’ x 15’ canvas painters drop cloth from the hardware store for less than $10. I drew out the hopscotch pattern using a sharpie and a ruler and a 1’ square template. Then I cut off the excess length of mat and hemmed that edge. Then I used fabric paint and a 5-cent sponge paint brush to paint on the numbers. I made three little beanbags (there are three girls) for them to toss. Done!

It was easy, is very healthy and great for moms when we can’t say “go outside!” It has been used a few times already. I imagine it would be a great gift for kids who live in apartments… or in the Pacific Northwest where even if you live on a couple acres, sometimes the rain makes it seem like you might as well live in an apartment since you never get to go outside! Sorry… Can you tell what the weather’s bee doing here??? Anyway, I had to share this sweet gift for any time of year, for less than ten bucks!

gift card wrapping

2012-01-04T10:02:00.001-08:00

Hey – I didn’t share this in time for Christmas, but people give gift cards for birthdays, anniversaries and thank-yous all year, right? It still applies. It’s an easy way to wrap a gift card…

Take a decorative paper – could be scrap book paper, maps, music, book pages, etc. – and (if needed) cut to about 1.5 times as wide and 3 times as tall as your gift card (my hymnal pages were just the right size). Fold the bottom edge up, leaving enough of the top showing to fold down as an envelope flap…

With this one fold completed, sew around the perimeter of the paper, leaving 1/4 inch seam allowance, using thread color of your choice…

Then wrap your gift card in a little tissue (I used vintage sewing patterns which are printed on tissue, which I got at the thrift store), stick it in the envelope, fold the flap closed and secure with some twine or ribbon!

Ta-da! I think this adds a personal touch to giving “impersonal” gift cards!

I ended up slipping this little envelope inside a zippered pouch I made for a gift, and then slipping that inside of an old sewing pattern envelope…

See the sewing pattern envelope? I just love that look. Any of these could simply be done with different colored ribbon and would be fitting for any time of year. This little package…

With a brightly colored twine like turquoise or orange, and no holly berries, or another floral sprig, this would make a sweet package for any time of year.

late for chirstmas

2011-12-31T16:41:00.001-08:00

we have had 4 out of 9 people in our household experiencing the flu this week. yuck. I might be a little depressed that our new year’s party had to be called off. so sad. but no one has puked since 1 am, so things are looking up.

I have been off work this week, which has been so nice! I feel like a housewife again! I have been cleaning, getting rid of the christmas tree (none too soon! it was so dry and poky!), getting a couple projects done… the usual. We have had friends visiting from out of state which has been awesome.

I finally made my wreath snowman now that winter is in full force…

My house color is nasty and makes my door color look nastier, but hey, at least my hubby’s boots now look cute sitting in front of Mr. Frosty. He was supposed to have a hat, so I got one from the thrift store but couldn’t figure out how to get it to stay on, then when I looked at my Pinterest inspiration, I realized they made something out of felt (I think), and I was way too lazy. He’s good enough for me. =)

I also finally got my coffee table and arranged a display the way I wanted it for the holidays, in time for the new years party, which is now cancelled anyway – all so sad…

I got the Aidan Coffee Table from World Market. I watched for it to go on sale for a long time and finally used a coupon and my christmas bonus. Now it is on sale. Sad but true. I hate paying (almost) full price. I have been without forever though and it was troublesome. Now I have the games out and handy, and also a nice place to arrange things and hubby has his footrest!

I made a couple winter scenes and layered them in with candles and greenery for the display…

In project news, I finally started painting the chairs from state surplus. I’m using Annie Sloan’s chalk paint, of course. Look how it wears off in a fine powder when you sand it…

They are painted with 1.5 coats, sanded/distressed, have one coat of clear wax, and are awaiting me to work up the courage to tackle the dark wax for the first time! I know it will be great but it looks sooo dark in the can it makes me nervous!

Okay, gonna go running even though it is getting dark! Gotta put on my neon yellow shirt and get moving!

forever and a day

2011-12-28T12:21:00.001-08:00

did you all have a merry christmas? I sure did! I have an amazing story to share, when I feel like writing… if any of you witnessed my amazing surprise and have pictures, would you email them to me, please?

for now, …my friend found me this mug at a thrift store…

she gave it to me because she is visiting from out of state and couldn’t take it home. it says “forever and a day”. “forever and a day” ______? we are not really sure, but it is impossible to not smile when drinking my tea out of this cup.

that my friends is thrift store shopping for you. keep going back, because sometimes you find nothing, but sometimes you find a “forever and a day” mug with bunting on it. =)

I’ll be back with some kid projects, house projects and odds and ends this week. I’m on Christmas vacation from my job! Yay! Gotta go get some paint under my nails!

Oh yeah, and my blogiversary is coming up, so stay tuned! Early next month I will be having a giveaway! =D

a tip, DIY ornaments & more wrapping

2011-12-20T16:32:00.001-08:00

I found this while getting out the ornaments ~~to decorate~~ to let the kids go hog wild adorning our already strange-looking redwood tree with every single ornament I own and no strategy whatsoever…

I had forgotten completely about my idea to get Susie an ornament every christmas till she was 18 and give her a little head start to decorating her first tree when she’s 30 and we let her move out (well, that is more “I” than “we”… =)

When I found it I decided to be nostalgic and take a picture of her with it, knowing that she would adore the teeny little “bi-di”…

And actually, I have two tips to share with you…

Tip #1. This will be TMI for those of you not interested in photography… One of my top photography tips for you is to avoid multiple types or colors of light. Fluorescent, incandescent (most household light bulbs), direct sun, shade, overcast… all these situations of light are different temperatures and different colors. In the above picture, my white balance was set for “incandescent” light – thus the background looks pretty normal for inside a house. Susie, on the other hand, is neon blue because she is standing in front of the sliding glass door – light is coming in but it is actually “shade” outside that door, which is very blue. Moral of the story: avoid mixed lighting because the camera can’t adjust for more than one type at a time. Solution: I should have turned off the house lights and just used the natural light with my WB set for “shade”, or taken her away from the sliding glass door into the house (bumping up my ISO because it is darker) to avoid the blue light at the window. “Auto WB” will do a good job usually, but still can’t handle two different colors of light in one image.

Tip #2. Please don’t be naïve like me and try to photograph your almost two year old with a tiny, extremely fragile and sentimental ornament. She broke it. I then gave up getting a good picture, and hung it and her 2 year old ornament safely at the tip top of the tree. From now on, I will put them away for her until later. =/

I made some ornaments, inspired by these vintage-looking DIY ones I caught on Pinterest.

They were easy and I think they turned out lovely!

I wrapped some more packages…

There is another look at the balls. I love them. They look so smooth and soft. I spray-painted the tops antique bronze. It is a little better than the shiny silver. I probably won’t get around to it this year, but I would like to add in even more vintage colors, like in the link above.

I love seeing the gifts pile up. Not only is it plain fun to give gifts (and for me, to wrap them because I’m crazy!), but just think… Jesus Christ Himself has the most special gift, His salvation, wrapped up especially for every single person in the world. It has their name on it. If you are a believer, it is your job to tell others there is a gift under the tree they didn’t know about, it has their name on it. If you aren’t a believer, I’m telling you right now! There is a heaven, but you can’t get in unless you are blameless. Are you? Me neither, but Jesus paid for every one of our sins. Just go under the tree and pick up your gift. It says, “To: [your name here], From: God the Father & Jesus Christ”.

gift ideas { memory game }

2011-12-19T23:58:00.001-08:00

I am back to share a gift idea from Purl bee. I originally found and re-pinned it on Pinterest. Can I stop saying “on Pinterest” now? Do you all know what “pinning” is yet? If not, please go sign up and find out. It will help you remember all those neat projects you need to waste time on, or all the fashions those stylish girls are wearing or… you get the picture.

The gift idea is a sweet little felt and fabric memory game. Here is how mine turned out…

I am super happy with it. And I can share it here because it is for a sweet little friend who doesn’t yet frequent my blog! =) It took about 1-2 hours, but it was really simple. The pattern/instructions make a game with 40 pieces, I opted for only 20 (10 matching pairs).

Often my favorite part of giving gifts is wrapping them. Every year I have visions of all-matching wrapped presents under the tree, with matching ribbons and creative tags. It might be all wrapped in newspaper with red and green bows, or brown paper with bright ribbon or large embellishments, or white with stenciling or anything with baker’s twine… Every year the experimentation never stops and it ends up a smorgasbord, but a cute smorgasbord! With this one I knew just what I wanted to do. I gathered some supplies…

And came up with this!

I wish every gift I had this year were small enough to fit into these little berry crates! I got them at Farm Chicks this year ($3 for 6 of them!) and knew they would come in handy for gift-giving. So fun!

What is your preferred wrapping style?

deer decor, jar decor, and cd gift idea

2011-12-15T09:43:00.001-08:00

I have been decorating…

I want to make some of the jar scenes people have been pinning on pinterest, but those were my only trees and deer! I can’t find more good ones of either! BUT, someone did tell me some good news yesterday, that a Hobby Lobby just opened nearby!!! All the Midwest blogging ladies always say to go there for things, I am ecstatic to go and check it out today!

A week or two ago I made a cute jar, inspired by Ashley Ann’s…

Cute and fun and I don’t know yet what I’m doing with it.

Lastly, before I rush to work, my gift idea is a CD with either photo images or a custom music compilation…

Several years ago a sister in law gave me a compilation Christmas music CD, because that was all they could manage… I LOVE IT - to this day it is the first Christmas CD I pop in. Whether family photos for grandma, or music for your sister, I recommend wrapping the CD cute. Here is the Pin I followed to create this little package. This was a wedding photo package, thus the business cards, but you could customize with whatever embellishment you wanted.

Off to work! One last full day without my kiddos - my mother took them off my hands this week! Must work, get coffee table, go to Hobby Lobby, come home and CRAFT like mad to finish some Christmas gifts!! Peace!

my wishlist

2011-12-12T09:08:00.001-08:00

okay, first my friend Leah send out a plea for others to blog their wishlists, and I thought it was a fun idea.

then my mom was bugging me about which place I wanted a giftcard to to make family photo books (which I didn’t know because I hadn’t even looked it up yet!).

then a friend told me my hubby had some strange ideas for christmas gifts for me, and I thought, I should put together a wishlist - quick!!!

so here it is on Pinterest, and I’ll show you here on the blog too.

1. Those little Athro farmer’s market crates? Any color! So sweet! $14.

2. Adelyn Earrings from Elizabeth Williams Jewelry on Etsy, so stinkin sweet, $22.

3. A sweet vintage inspired watch I pinned that is, of course, sold out. I am on the hunt for a vintage inspired, double wrap watch, I need to keep track of the time at work! $???

4. Madden Girl boots. Leah blogged about the knock offs she found at Franchescas, by the time I got to them – sold out. I just checked the Madden Girls – sold out. Story of my life. Need to find some others like this. $???

5. Third Choice: Toms Classic Glitter Slip-On in Black, 8.5, $54

6. First Choice: Toms Classic University Slip-On in Ash, 8.5, $54

7. Second Choice: Toms Classic Canvas Slip-On in Grey, 8.5, $44

8. I have officially given up on scrapbooking and need giftcards to order some family photo books from My Publisher!!! AshleyAnn uses them and they are affordable with great quality and a wide range of options. $-Giftcard

9. Clinique high impact mascara, hands-down the best mascara I have ever tried and I’m almost out! Sold at Macy’s, $14.

So that’s my list. Now I have to show the hubby! What’s on your wishlist! Leave me a comment! =)

calling all christmas cards

2011-12-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

Excuse me but what is up with no one sending Christmas cards this year??? Usually my card wall is full and this year I have one single card. What the heck?

I am here to inspire you today to get your cards out.

I tried to order my Christmas cards online. I picked out these two card designs that I liked and was trying to decide which one to order…

The $1.49 each price tag stopped me in mid-click. I need 50-75 cards! Are you kidding me? It is only a 5x7 photo basically! No thanks. I decided to make my own.

First I need the photo. Over thanksgiving, I always do a family picture while at my moms, since we dress half decent for dinner that night and it is usually snowy and pretty there. This year I got an image with several snowflakes over our faces and Ty blinking, but after some editing in Photoshop, I created a workable image…

Then I tried out the image with my versions of both card designs which I made from scratch in Photoshop, using the expensive designs as my inspiration…

The retro one is my favorite, though I like the striped one because I love the verse! I think I am going to send out some of each!

Kinda makes me want to design cards for other people next year. Or, I could even go year round and do photo invitations, announcements and Thank-You’s! Anybody want to be a guinea pig???

But, please, people – SEND OUT YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS!

more play, less doh

2011-12-09T14:45:00.001-08:00

Have you ever made play doh? A while back I called my mom for a recipe to make some for the kids. It is really basic…

I forgot to put the secret ingredient in that picture! Kool-Aid!!! It makes it smell delicious, and makes it so colorful!

After I bought the Kool-Aid, I decided to make a couple more batches so I had to use the food coloring. It is the yellow and green; not as bright and just smells like flour. :( Trust me the Kool-Aid rocks.

They did not love waiting for me to take pictures of it for the blog before they were allowed to play with it. =)

They had stuffed all our store bought play doh into one of the play doh toys and it dried hard as a rock and we couldn’t even open the toy, let alone get the play doh out. The whole thing went in the trash. But after a while I needed something to occupy their little hands again so I decided to make some more. Though I had been dreading making it, I finally did it and was pleasantly surprised! It was so easy!

Recipe for Homemade PlayDoh

    1 cup flour

    1/2 cup salt

    1 teaspoon cream of tartar

    2 tablespoons vegetable oil

    1 packet Kool-Aid (for color and scent!)

    1 cup water

1. Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.

2. Initial texture will be like pancake batter. When texture suddenly changes to that of sticky mashed potatoes, remove from heat.

3. Dump out onto breadboard, cool, and knead a little. Store in airtight containers.

I gave each kid one container with their name on it and we drew names for colors. They decided to keep the colors nice and not mix them (after my own heart!). They have loved it and they say they like it better than the store bought kind. It smells delicious! I feel like it doesn’t dry up as fast as store bought. I love how the house smells all fruity when they play with it. Each one of those containers is one recipe.

For toys, I am not buying any more plastic PlayDoh toys that clog, break, and bend. I purchased these a while back at Ikea for the kids’ kitchen and right now we are keeping them with the play doh instead =) …

The DUKTIG 7-piece baking set is $9.99 and the DUKTIG 5-piece kitchen utensil set is $3.99. They’re going to last longer than the PlayDoh stuff ad they’re about the same price.

Am I the last one to jump on the homeade play doh band wagon?!

recovering

2011-12-06T07:26:00.001-08:00

Well, I have been dreading this blog post. You see, ~~everyone~~ the four people who read this blog are waiting for me to come back and say how great my sale went and how I sold out of everything in an hour... Do you hear the crickets? You’re gonna be waiting a long time because I’m not gonna say that. It turned out to be the wrong venue I guess. And I say “I guess” because I truly don’t understand it. Maybe my stuff is really ugly and I’m the only one that likes it – it is possible. Lots of other goods were super ‘crafty’ like, sorry, I have to say it – ‘old lady style’ crafty. My booth and one other booth were the only booths remotely vintage / modern / up cycled stuff. It didn’t look like she did too hot either, but she was more positive than I was. Bottom line: I sold about 15 items. I covered my registration cost and made about $30 over that and my mom felt bad for me and gave me the $22 she had made – I sold her flower pins and headbands at my booth. Aren’t moms the best? Thanks mom. My friend Sarah made several crocheted cuff bracelets and a few slouchy hats and one scarf and put them at my booth and they sold well.

So now, I have a ‘client’ =D buying a bunch of my items, and once her order is finalized, I will get the rest of the junk on Etsy and let y’all know.

Moving on.

Every time I see these or this picture it makes me happy!…

AshleyAnn Campbell at Under the Sycamore always has vintage Rick Rack and I have never seen any at thrift stores. Then this past trip there it was, a whole bundle!!! I don't even want to open them or use them, they are so full of punchy vintage charm! Swoon. People this goes to prove that you have to go, go, go to the thrift stores. Sometimes you find nothing. Sometimes you find treasures.

This little treasure is making me swoon lately as well…

She is such a dramatic little stinker but I love her. That is her new hi-tech high chair. She was climbing the old tall one so I kicked it to the curb but she is still too height challenged for the big girl chair. I bought a $4 Tupperware bin at Target for her to sit on in the chair. Works great.

Well gotta get ready for work. Hope to share a couple projects with you this week! Peace!

one last infomercial

2011-12-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

I feel like all I blog about lately is my sale. I know, it’s true, but that’s all I do lately and all I ~~stress~~ think about. It is one of those things that you look forward to but it is a lot of work and once you get close, you just want it to be over!

So, here is a little preview of the stuff I have done over the past several months, that I will have in the sale…

I started packing things up yesterday, and there are a bunch of things packed that I realize now, I never photographed! So you have to come to the sale and see the rest. If you missed the info…

The 25th Annual Dickens Fair

Over 90 craft vendors and children caroling!

coordinated by Lake Stevens School District

Saturday December 3, 2011

10am to 4pm

Held at Cavelero Mid High

8820 24th ST SE

Everett WA 98205

Admission Fee: One canned food item or monetary donation for the Lake Stevens Food Bank.

I will be at booth 39 along the East wall in the main room with the stage.

It should be a great place to do your shopping… has everyone else started theirs already? I have planned a lot but not bought a single thing!! Maybe the sale will provide the opportunity to get started! Looking forward to seeing some friends and meeting some new ones at the sale.

Also looking forward to taking my profits and buying a much needed ~~foot rest~~ stylish coffee table so hubby will stop whining that I got rid of his “favorite one” (???), and returning to my regular life, instead of this craft and deadline crazed version!

Have a good weekend y’all! =)

vintage film holders as photo frames

2011-12-02T13:02:00.001-08:00

Lookey, Lookey! This has to be one of my favorite vintage up-cycled items!

It is just a vintage 4x5 film holder, which was used in old cameras like this…

I found it buried in the back room at work and was carrying it around doing a happy dance and shrieking. He probably saw me on the surveillance cameras and never would have guessed I was bouncing around because I found his 50 year old camera. He let me buy it and gave me a great deal. =) I can’t wait to find some kind of neat way to display it behind glass. I did find something neat to do with the film holders I got with it though…

Using these film holders as frames is easy, you simply slide one of the holders out, slide the photo in, then push them in together and straighten out your photo…

Totally cute! There is a holder on each side so these can be double-sided too.

I have three extra film holders, but I don’t know if I can sell them at the Dickens Fair because I don’t know if using them as frames is considered ‘modified’, so I might have to put them in the Etsy shop when I’m done with the fair. If you don’t find one from me, you can usually find them on Etsy or Ebay for $10 or less/each in lots, just search “4x5 film holder”.

Happy Friday!

it’s beginning to look a lot like…

2011-11-30T15:36:00.001-08:00

… a working mother lives here!

Ha! But I did finally bust out the Christmas décor this weekend, as you can tell from the blog header.

I didn't make any new and amazing DIY creations, just put up the old stuff and called it good. I changed things around a bit though and I like it…

Hmmm, I’ll give you one guess what colors I am digging again this year. Red and green. I HATED red and green for the longest time. Last year I decided it was old fashioned and I love it still this year.

We got to spend last weekend relaxing at my mom’s. They have about a foot of snow so far, so we braved the cold and took the kids out like once…

I might have forgotten Susie didn’t have snow clothes yet.

Mark said his snowmobile ride was too slow and maybe grandma needed to take him on a ride.

Susie on the other hand…

No such complaint.

I am busting buns on my days off this week to finish up loose ends for the Dickens Fair. I finished my bunting for my booth’s name today, “sew vintage”, with some help from little hands…

I went the cheap and easy route of pinning paper letters cut out from music books onto the gingham so that I wouldn’t be stuck with a “sew vintage” banner for ever. I think I might repurpose it already for Christmas this year… that is if I can find another spot to cram in one last bunting!

I’ve got to go get a couple last supplies! Later!

seriously random tidbit

2011-11-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Did you know this was possible?

I didn’t really either. In my filing cabinet drawers-turned desk, instead of putting labels in the slots, I stuck little map papers in there. It looks super cute. Someday when I go to IKEA and they actually have my wood desk top, and I bring it home and set it up, I will show you. =)

Anyhoo… Susie loves to get the papers out and have her way with them, which leaves them looking ~~a little sad~~ looking depressing. I knew it was possible to flatten paper, as some friends once stole a crinkled family picture of ours and had it fixed and framed for us. Now, I am guessing the iron would be a bad idea on a photograph (or maybe use a towel in between), but for this I thought I’d give it a try. It worked!

I will now end this public service announcement that you will probably never need.

more crafting and Dickens Fair info!

2011-11-25T05:15:00.000-08:00

I have crafted up a few more items for my sale. Remember when I made a pin cushion in a milkglass pedestal and said I would hunt for more to make pincushions for my sale? Guess what I found, all at one thrift store…

And now they look like this.

Two linen ones and one vintage/modern. Love them.

Oh, yeah, I finally received my vendor information for the Dickens Fair. There were some flyers in the packet for me to hand out so I am giving y’all the info virtually. By the way, y’all is such a convenient contraction, everyone should use it.

The 25th Annual Dickens Fair

Over 90 craft vendors and children caroling!

coordinated by Lake Stevens School District

Saturday December 3, 2011

10am to 4pm

Held at Cavelero Mid High

8820 24th ST SE

Everett WA 98205

Admission Fee: One canned food item or monetary donation for the Lake Stevens Food Bank.

Vendors and staff are supposed to dress in Dickens era clothing, which I haven’t figured out yet what I am doing! Ahh! I will be at booth 39 along the East wall in the main room with the stage.

I am so excited! This week I have Wednesday and Friday off and will be crafting like a mad woman to get some more things ready. My booth will be called “sew vintage” since many of my items are vintage finds combined somehow with fabric creations. I will be selling DSLR camera strap covers, zippered pouches, teacup and other pin cushions, vintage pillowcase totes, burlap and vintage linen pillow covers and various vintage items that I have upcycled.

I have some vintage items that I have not modified at all which I don’t think are allowed in the sale and those will end up in my Etsy shop afterward, along with any items that don’t sell at the Dickens Fair, so I’ll keep you posted on that.

It should be a fun way to jumpstart your Christmas shopping, so stop by Starbucks with a couple girlfriends and come check it out!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint { THE AFTERS! }

2011-11-23T06:36:00.001-08:00

So I did finally get a chance to paint my sideboard with my Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint a couple weeks ago. Then I couldn’t bring myself to blog it cause I needed to distress and wax a little more.

The process went like this...

I did not sand or prime anything.

I painted one coat of Old Ochre chalk paint with a cheapo natural brush. It was near midnight so I let it dry overnight.

I rubbed on one coat of clear wax the next day using an old onesie.

More than a week later I finally got a chance to do a little more distressing and touched up those spots with a little more wax.

DONE.

So happy with the results...

Now I admit, if this had been a nice, old piece of furniture with some detail and real quality craftsmanship, I would have gone the extra mile and done two coats of paint and a coat of clear, then a coat of dark wax to bring out the details. That said, this is an Ikea piece. No major details here, so I am just happy that it is no longer orange-pine and it does look like it has some age to it - it looks like I painted it like ten years ago! Some people don’t like that look, but I do. The first coat of paint was pretty good, and the minute I touched it with the wax, I was ooohing and ahhhing. The wax really does give it the patina of age and depth. And I only used clear! I can't wait to get my hands on another project (I have three more to do) and give the dark wax a try. By the way, if you wax a piece and decide it needs more paint: apply right over the wax! So easy. Also, I put my stuff back on it the same night - no tackiness for days like you get with latex or polyurethanes.

Cost? I realize this stuff is a little spendy. Okay, quite spendy. But the paint goes far, so let's break it down. This was a big buffet that I painted. I did one coat, but let's consider I had done two... I only used about 1/4 of the quart of paint, so let's double it to half, which breaks down to about $20. And I only used about 1/6 of the can of wax, which breaks down to about $4. So I got the look I wanted on a whole buffet for $24. I'm okay with that. Also, these paints can be mixed to create other colors (I have seen formulas online), thickened by leaving the lid off, thinned into a wash by adding water, or changed by the use of clear or dark waxes, so you aren't stuck with one specific shade when you have paint left over.

I am totally happy with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and with the stockist where I purchased it, Bella Bungalow of Arlington WA. Annie Sloan’s site will help you find a stockist, or person allowed to sell the paint, in your area. And of course, as you know I am a teeny tiny blogger and was certainly not paid to give this opinion.

This leaves two little projects yet to do in my entry and I will have to share when the whole room is done. Right now, it’s nose to the grindstone to get stuff done for my upcoming Dickens Fair! By the way, I finally got my info and I will share that with you tomorrow! Peace!

gift ideas { wrap bracelet }

2011-11-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

Since I would like to make most of my gifts this year, I will be hunting high and low for good gift ideas so I think I will share them here when I come across them.

A while back I made a wrap bracelet but I was rushing and using materials I had on hand and it wasn’t going to hold up. So I remade it the right way this time…

I tried to take a picture of it on, which is tricky to do by yourself…

The proper materials are: beads of your choice, leather for the outer strands and an actual beading thread. The strands kind of overlap and criss-cross when I wear it but of course they aren’t in the picture. I thought it was a little long at first but I kind of like the way it slides up and down. The next one I make I want it to wrap around 4 or 5 times.

This would make a great gift for anyone who is into fashion, as it is a knock off of an expensive Chen Lou version. If you missed my first post, this is the tutorial I used.

scarf LOVE

2011-11-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

I have loved scarves for a few years now, but never knew what to “do” with them and always felt a little too fluffy when I tried to wear them. That didn’t stop me from buying more and more. I kept thinking I needed a different color, pattern, fluffiness or length.

Does anyone else have the same problem(s) as me? Hello? Anyone?

Well, last week, somehow I found this video…

Wendy’s 25 ways to tie a scarf on YouTube

For some reason, seeing Wendy do the different styles step by step makes me feel confident that I did it right or something? I might have been alone in my room watching this at 2 am while hubby was out of town, pausing, playing, pausing, playing and following the steps in front of my mirror. Maybe.

Now that I know what to do with scarves, I have done about three different knots, and worn scarves a total of 6 times this past week! Yay scarves!

another wedding

2011-11-18T10:02:00.001-08:00

Part of the reason I have been MIA the past few weeks was because I was frantically working to finish editing up some wedding pictures!

We have been friends with the Waltz family since I was in first grade! Karmin let me take the photos for her wedding, even though it was my first time ever shooting a wedding! And at the end of this past summer, it was Hannah’s turn.

Without a bunch of fluff, here are my favorites…

It was a lovely wedding, and I was happy with the pictures, even though we were super cramped on time. Thanks, Hannah and Chad for letting me be a part of your big day! I am honored that you entrusted an amateur like me with your special memories! God bless you!

friday miscellany

2011-11-11T07:40:00.001-08:00

I am so ready for the weekend. I am still nagged by things I didn’t get done last weekend. Wedding photos to finish up, curtains to make, house to clean, book shelves to line with paper, furniture painting to finish. Yeah. Among other things. Oh, yeah, and working like a mad woman to finish a bunch of stuff for the Dickens Fair coming up the first Saturday in December. That’s the kicker right there.

Anyway, I thought I would share some randomness.

Mark played soccer this year and loved it! But the poor little guy (not) was riding dirt bikes with dad on picture day. What a rough life. No problem – I happen to be a photographer for a company that does sports photography. I took his picture another day at practice and had some prints made. I also had these made…

Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen? Mark saw them and started giggling like a little school girl. And he doesn’t even know what baseball cards are. I need to show him Ty’s old collection. Still he was giddy to see himself on something like this. Such a cool little idea, he can’t wait to pass them out to his grandmas and friends. =)

Meanwhile the little lady has been up to all kinds of mischief…

See the pink all over her face? She has seen me put powder on my face with a big brush and sometimes I put it on her to tickle her and be silly. Well she must have decided to do it herself with some pink chalk. It looked so funny in person. Like a clown or mime or something. I love that it was pink chalk too, so fitting.

One of our hens must have found some Wheaties out in the pasture, because man…

All I can say is “OW!” Poor girl. That wasn’t the only time, either. We got ten new baby chicks, by the way. Did I already tell you that? Don’t worry, I didn’t take pictures of them. Sharing my big-egg pictures is bad enough. =)

We made some fall –L-eaves in homeschool for letter L the other day…

They were a pain. After we adults basically made our own, we just let the kids cut out some plain ones and hung them together in the window. The kiddos aren’t good enough with their scissors yet to do the inside part, or really make the wax paper exact enough. They are pretty though, especially when the setting sun is coming in that window. Thanks, Mom, for the crayon shavings! You can have the rest back now, I never want to see them again. ;)

So for the update on my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint? Not done yet. I think I just decided about an hour ago that I do need to distress it more. So I will have to do that this weekend. For now, here is what ONE coat of Old Ochre looks like with one coat of clear wax:

It truly does have a patina. As soon as I put the wax on it took on an aged look. I want to sand some of the places that would have been word if it was actually old and distress on the edges of the drawers more. The nice thing about this paint and wax is that when you get done, if you don’t like your look you can put more paint and/or wax right over the top. Crazy awesome. So I’ll share when I get it all done. =)

Have a wonderful Friday! Godbless!

Regatta

2011-11-10T08:09:00.001-08:00

Last weekend the hubby went out of town with the kids to do some tree work at my mom’s. I couldn’t go because I had to work on Saturday. But on Sunday, I had the kid-less opportunity to go to my friend’s rowing race. I think it is called a ‘regatta’.

Anyway, it was one of those days I was not feeling so creative and I wondered if I should just leave the camera in the car. I had told Sara I would take pictures though, and their usual photographer was not there, so I toughed it out. And I’m glad I did. I got home and was actually happy with some of the pictures…

Those are canoes, not the kind of boats my friend was racing, but I thought they were neat all lined up in the morning sun. UW apparently rents them out.

Anyway, it wasn’t long after sunrise when the first teams started making their way down the lake, warming up on their way toward the starting line, and with the fog still lingering it was very dreamy…

The views were lovely. We even got to see the Montlake bridge draw up…

The bridge drew up for two boats that didn’t even look that tall, and caused a big delay in the race starts… after some waiting, Sara and Rebecca finally raced past!…

We were along a narrow channel and that was the only part of the race we could really see. Then we went and met them where they docked after the finish…

They ended up taking second, and would have placed first if not for a boat that was not following the rules of passing/getting passed. Good job ladies!

It was a fun, relaxing day for me, hanging out with friends on the beautiful UW campus and it was nice to break out of my normal routine. Again, nice job Sara and Rebecca!

halloween

2011-11-01T09:49:00.001-07:00

halloween kinda bugged me this year. whenever I heard “trick or treat” I imagined little chucky standing on someone's door step, threatening a “trick”. I also didn’t like “happy halloween” like we are all celebrating evil together. I also don’t like that spell checker is trying to get me to capitalize “halloween”. I also didn’t like the creepy houses with fog and tombstones and mummies with glowing eyes making death noises coming up out of the lawn. yeah. oh, and Ty told me I was going to hell because I skipped bible school to take the kids trick or treating with him on Satan’s holy day. =)

I am a lame mother and didn’t take photos of the kids. Mark was store-bought Ironman, and Susie just wore a tutu and some mardi gras necklaces for fun. I figured she wouldn’t leave on any hats, hoods, headbands, etc., and I never came up with anything to do for her which didn’t involve that. or involve buying a bunch of stuff and driving all over town. next year.

I did get this picture of Ty and I on Saturday night before an adult halloween party, though…

He went as me/soccer player, and I went as him/logger. I even smelled like a logger by the way. At the party, my friend Kristel was like “what’s that smell?” yeah, it was me. Chainsaw gas. I look like a man in that picture so apparently it was a good costume.

Anyway, that is about it. I have an awesome old vintage camera to clean up and show you and I have some painting to do, hopefully one of those things can get done tomorrow on my day off!

oh. my. gosh.

2011-10-31T08:04:00.001-07:00

yesterday I walked into my room. I heard a strange noise.

my cat was in my closet. standing on his hind legs. pulling my shoes off my shoe shelves. he had several pairs on the floor and was digging for more. what the--

hopefully he didn’t snag any of them, I thought.

I shoed him out (haha) and started putting them back.

oh no. he didn’t. because I wouldn’t call it snag. I would call it ate.

What the heck!!?? The stinking cat ate my shoes, are you joking me?

And it totally shows when I wear them too.

I just got these shoes like two weeks ago. I have no words.

I had just brought home these little cans of amazingness which helped keep the smile on my face despite the shoe incident…

Oh baby, I have waited a long time to try miss Annie Sloan’s CHALK PAINT!

The paint is expensive but DIYers are raving about it to no end and I haven’t heard a bad review yet – everyone is blown away.

These are the claims, which I have heard confirmed:

use on walls, furniture, floors, whatever
one coat coverage most times
water clean up, even after it dries on brushes for weeks
colors can be mixed, and different shades can be achieved with the same color using the different waxes
you can thicken it by leaving the lid off, or thin it with water to show wood grain through
use it on any surface including wood, plastic, stone, brick, concrete and metal
no sanding or priming – ever
distresses easily
extremely low VOCs so it is great for the environment

Here are some examples from my favorite furniture refinisher, Miss Mustard Seed…

Pick up your jaw off the floor now. =) Pretty neat, huh? Those images are from her gallery.

There aren’t a ton of stockists for this stuff. The shop I went to is The Bella Bungalow in Arlington, and although I was in my usual flaky fashion and showed up a week early for her grand opening, she was so friendly and helpful and spent time to help me even though her store was closed.

The paint is spendy. I had an unexpected commission at work, so I splurged. And with the clear and/or dark waxes I can actually create 4 or 5 shades with just these two colors. I am also considering painting my kitchen table, my stools and two dining chairs. The last review I read said a gal painted a big nightstand and did two coats of wax during her toddler’s nap and she only used a half inch of paint. That convinced me. I will definitely keep you posted on my progress.

I know this is a teaser post of sorts, but I just couldn’t wait. Anyone else tried the Chalk Paint yet?

madre de futebol

2011-10-27T08:37:00.001-07:00

Actually, I don’t think that is a correct translation: I was going for Soccer Mom. Yes, this fall I officially became a soccer mom. Reminds me of when Ty and I were dating and I said that when I became a soccer mom I wanted to drive a black SUV with tinted windows like the FBI ones. Weird.

Our little guy had a hard time with the failures that come along in a game of soccer at first, but after a couple games and after us encouraging him that the game kept going and he got to keep trying, he was loving it. I took the camera to his last game and took a portrait (he was riding dirt bikes on picture day), and some action shots…

May the force be with them? Not sure.

He kicks just like I do. I have a few pictures of me in that exact pose making that same face. Scary.

You will notice a common trend in the most of the pictures…

A ball way out front with a mob of kids chasing after it. Yep. The whole game. Not a whole lot of strategy involved at this age.

I love the sillyness of that second to last one and the concentration in that last one… just seconds apart.

This one cracks me up…

They look like they are pausing for a hug, but in reality, he just knocked down Morgan from his own team and the girl in blue that he appears to be hugging just happened to be smiling already and doesn’t yet realize that he gets soccer confused with football and he is actually tackling her. Nice job Mark.

The whole game I must have heard this question a dozen times…

I think it is their favorite part. It was so dark by then, I am surprised I got any photo at all. Mark just saw this and confirmed that the tunnel is his favorite part. He told me, “It is like you were running and you went into a tunnel.” Enlightening.

I’ll be back with more this week. Trying to get a set schedule at work and get back to blogging on a regular basis!

california version 2.0 ~ part 2

2011-10-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry part two took me a while. I am a little over scheduled right now!

Get ready for serious photo overload – I am determined to cram the rest of the trip into this post! So picking up where we left off- here is the beach at Carmel…

Those three dots were surfers.

The sand was the texture of sea salt and stuck to every. thing.

Neither child was a fan of the crashing waves…

“TNT” is for “Ty –N- Tasha” …also coincidentally an explosive. ;)

This is when the sun started to go down…

Seriously gorgeous. If you need a get away I highly recommend Carmel. Same as the last post, here is a link to Leah’s post on Carmel, and the Carmel by the Sea website.

The next day Leah introduced me to someone very important…

I had never been to H&M. I am now a fan. Might have spent a good chunk of my paycheck there. For those of you who don’t know, H&M is on-trend fashion, but much lower prices than your main-stream places like Nordstrom. Pretty cool.

That afternoon, we went to the Stanford campus which was so pretty…

Okay, I wanted to be an architect for a phase of my teenage years, mainly so I could design horse barns, I think. Anyway, I have never seen any architecture as amazing as this church – it truly was awe inspiring to be inside that huge, detailed, beautiful place. Makes me want to travel the world. Oh, wait, would I have to go on an airplane again? Is there more amazing architecture within driving distance from WA?

Our last great adventure was going to the theatre inside Netflix to watch a movie (Eric works there – nice company perk, huh?). I was totally lazy and didn’t take pictures. The kids were beat and we forgot the movie and had to go rent another, but we did it anyway. The kids and I ended up falling asleep, but still it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We wanted to get a picture outside in front of their cool neon sign, but we were all groggy and we settled for this one.

Hahaha, we all look so great. I think it was like eleven.

And the next day, we had to pack up and say goodbye to Eric and Leah and their sweet little California home. :’(

Thanks so much for having us, E&L! It was pretty much the best vacation I ever had! And definitely so far for the kiddos!

california… version 2.0

2011-10-13T10:17:00.001-07:00

Last February we drove to California [see posts one & two] to go to my Great-Grandmother’s 100th birthday. While there, we had wanted to scope out the area our friends Eric and Leah were moving to, but we couldn’t cram in the couple extra hours of driving and they hadn’t even found a house yet. But a couple weeks ago (I am a slow blogger these days) they were brave enough to have us all for a visit.

The kids were great at the airport at 5 AM, much to my surprise. They had to get up at 3:45 AM!!! Mark was fascinated with the airport happenings, and Ty told Susie to go to sleep and she tried really hard…

If trying really hard is taking off your shoes, laying down with all necessary sleeping equipment and then repeatedly poking yourself in the eye to show how miserable you are that you have to hold still.

The kids and I got to see some views for the first time…

Had never seen an airport from the inside or the landscape viewed across one of those huge wings. Uh, yeah, you might have guessed the kids had never flown before but can you believe I had never flown before? Not on a jet, that is. I had been scared because small aircrafts give me excruciating headaches for several hours afterwards, but the jet was really okay! I did think we were going to die on the way back when there was some turbulence, though. Might have something to do with our recent LOST marathon. During the turbulence, I kept thinking if someone tells me we’re going to be okay like Jack told Rose, I am going to lose it. Bad timing for a LOST marathon.

We had only gotten 1 hour of sleep the night before (long story) so we were all zombies the first day. Ty and the kids took naps and Leah and I laid around in the sunshine a while and ~~gossiped~~ caught up.

That night we went out to a Ramen restaurant. Ty and I didn’t even know there was more to ramen than Top Ramen.

Okay the ramen looks a little weird… and it wasn’t just my picture – I was like “Hmmm…” when it showed up, but it was really fresh and super flavorful – I ate it all. And the french fry appetizer – WHOA. First of all, realllly good – that ketchupy, barbecuey, mustardy mystery sauce was super tasty. And second, those thin pieces that look like paper were moving. Yes, I said MOVING. Leah, we never did get an answer as to what that was, did we? Maybe cheese. Maybe fish skin. Whatever it was, we figured it was the heat that made it wiggle. Crazy stuff. But good.

The second day we did this…

There were approximately one bazillion sea lions out on that rock.

Continuing on the 17 mile drive there are other scenic viewpoints…

We finally reached Carmel By The Sea…

I was too awestruck to get good drive-by pictures of the huge homes, but I think you get the jist… Tons of million dollar mansions and million dollar little cottages lining this ocean-cliff road shaded by beautiful trees. Stunning.

Here are some views from the little town itself…

A shop called Jane Austen at Home? I was too darn giddy about the town, I didn’t even go in!!!

Such a beautiful town. Kind of reminds me of Leavenworth, where you feel like you stepped into another country. It feels European and every. single. nook and cranny is finished and beautiful. It is no wonder celebrities frequent this town.

More to come tomorrow; most importantly, the beach. Oh, baby, the beach. I wanted to cram everything in one post but it is not going to happen. Four days of loveliness does not fit in one post.

Links:

Carmel By the Sea page with various videos.

Leah’s post on Carmel.

ramblings of my heart

2011-10-11T14:32:00.001-07:00

Have you heard the common Bible verse, “Let not your heart be troubled…”? I have wondered before how one could “let” their heart not be troubled… like flipping the ‘worry’ switch to ‘off’. Impossible, right? The verse is found in John 14, and goes on to say, “You believe in God, believe also in Me.” Jesus was speaking to the disciples, telling them he was leaving and they could not go with him. The disciples were confused and distressed and Jesus’ words were calling them, and are calling us still today, to have confidence in Him and in God’s plan.

Recently, some dear friends were getting toward the end of their apartment lease, and needed to relocate closer to church and better schools, but they were not going to be ready to do that yet when their lease ran out. We gave them a ride to church for a couple months and would cook a meal (I use the word “we” very loosely here – Sandy is a far superior cook than me =) and fellowship with them every Sunday. After dropping them off every Sunday, I would pray that God would prepare us to help them however we could and to use us for His work; even though we didn’t really have extra money, and I wondered how we would be any help at all.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” A while back, Mark started sleep walking and I was afraid he would fall down the steep stairs, so I moved him downstairs into Susie’s room. Hmmm. Sandy and the girls needed a place to stay and we have an empty bedroom. We forged on without hesitation and five people crammed into our extra bedroom. God had answered my prayer and prepared our hearts; even though people around us were warning us that this was crazy, we couldn’t afford it, or it might ruin our relationship with our friends.

But since God prepared this work for us to do, He worked it out. Our hearts were not troubled. They moved in. The girls started school. We cook together, eat together – live together. Sandy probably just thinks we are helping her, but she is the strongest, most hardworking and faithful woman I know and I am sure that she is helping me grow as well. I hope a lot of her qualities will rub off on me. =) And with Sandy closer to our church family, she has been surrounded by help and support as God’s love flows through His people.

Even though your mind may worry and fear and tell you to shy away from something, pray for His will, and pray for him to prepare your heart to do what it is that He has prepared for you to do.

lately… on a Thursday

2011-09-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

Haha, just kidding, I am not doing a Thursday Latelies video like Leah does. I HATE being on that side of still OR video cameras alike. But, I do have a great find to share with you. Actually, I just thought of another one, so TWO great finds to share with you. Sorry, I am YELLING a lot today. I’ll try to tone it down some. =)

I used to use a mainstream mascara which I will allow to remain anonymous, which always stung when it got in my eye, when washing it off or rubbing my eyes. Well last year my MIL got me Clinique high impact mascara for Christmas…

Not only does it not sting my eyes, but it has somehow allowed my lashes to grow longer! No, I did not use Latisse… does anyone besides Brooke use that stuff? No, my hypothesis is that it doesn’t stick so bad to my lashes and doesn’t break them off or make them pull out as often. Seriously though, my lashes are longer now. True story.

Secondly, I picked up my usual cheap old shampoo last week. I’ve used Pantene Pro-V for like a million years. I’m not picky about hair products. I use their Frizzy to Smooth formula, which I kinda figured probly didn’t work but at least it would try to tame my beast. Last week when I picked it up I noticed they added “90% humidity control” to the label. Yeah, right. I thought. I wish. But, low and behold it worked! I straighten my hair, but I run around at work and it was hot last week, so I ~~get sweaty~~ start to glisten and my hair wigs out. Every day. With this shampoo: straight as a board. I thought it was a fluke. I didn’t wash my hair and touched up my bangs with the flat iron the next day. Hot again. Still straight as a board. Three more washes now, and now we have switched from hot/muggy to damp/raining and even though I run through the rain between buildings all day at work: straight as a board. What a lovely surprise. This is what it looks like…

It is still new; Target didn’t have the conditioner version yet, and I can’t find either one online to buy or link you to.

There you have it. My non-Thursday Latelies post about products I love today… which just so happens to be Thursday. =)

fragments from this week

2011-09-28T10:51:00.001-07:00

so far this week I have repaired and finished what I broke last week; the sweetest little pin cushion you ever saw in your life…

I told you so. ;)

These little footed milkglass bowls (and a larger size as well) are at thrift stores pretty frequently… I am on them like a blood hound so I can make some of these for my sale. This one is all mine. That globe in the background; I got it at a yard sale for $1… a score for my sale? Not so much, I made the mistake of putting it in my bedroom. I think it has to stay.

In rare homeschool news, =) I came up with a daily schedule! This is miraculous for me. I got a curriculum and didn’t really love it, especially since we’re only in preschool. Here is my format…

The letter craft looks like this today because I was lazy…

The idea is to familiarize the child with the shape of the letter. I usually do something like glue scraps of paper to fill in the letter, or something like using macaroni noodles to fill in the letter “M” for macaroni, or build a letter out of straight and curved lines. When lazy = coloring it in works just fine.

The word for the day was “good” so we sounded that out and he copied it down and drew a “good” thing; him sharing his helicopter toy with a friend. =)

I also added in building. Every day we are going to build with blocks, play dough, toothpicks and gumdrops, etc., focusing on all the letters for review. Mark made some great letters…

O, A, M, T, P.

Then of course reading.

I even put the books on the wall in the homeschool area, and still forgot to do reading every day, so now I have it written down. I need lists. For vocabulary, I plan on just pointing out the meanings of words in the reading, as needed.

So that’s my new homeschool schedule.

In other random news… I got bright yellow rubber boots and I love them…

I even wore them to a wedding last weekend…

I happened to be shooting at the wedding and it happened to rain most of the day, otherwise that would have been super weird, instead of just weird. =) That photo of me is courtesy of my pastor, Ron Sallee. Thanks, Ron! I can’t wait to share the photos with you all; I am still sorting through about 700 images and editing. Fun stuff!

Last but not least, my Shadow came back. Almost a year ago, I leased out my horse, Shadow, because I wasn’t giving her the time she deserved. But a couple weeks ago, the girl leasing her broke her knee and will not be able to ride again, so I am finding Shadow a new home again. I had to share this shot from the other morning…

Peace!

new creations, a print, and a treat

2011-09-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here are the new creations I mentioned in yesterday’s post…

Firstly, Leah showed me these beaded bracelets last time she visited, and I have wanted to make one ever since. I had one pinned on Pinterest, and it linked to this tutorial. I got ‘er done during an hour of streaming LOST...

I love it. I never want to take it off and I want to make many more. Leah, if you were going to have one which color/colors would you want the beads? Hypothetically speaking, of course. ;)

Secondly, how sweet is that little milk glass coffee cup pin cushion!? I love it. I love mixing vintage finds with modern fabrics. I have another milk glass one in the works, but I had a little accident…

It needs a little super glue love, and then it will be the cutest stinking pin cushion you have ever seen in your life. And that one, my friends, will NOT make it to the sale pile, let me just go ahead and admit that right now. Well, of course it won’t because it is broken/repaired, but even before I broke it, I knew it would need to be mine. In fact, I already moved my own personal pin cushion to the sale pile to make room for the sweet thing. Must buy superglue. And I am fiercely hunting for more of the footed milk glass bowls at thrift stores everywhere!

Oh, and I have had a little love affair with the quote “keep calm and carry on” for some time now. I finally created a file I am happy with, and will offer it as a print at my sale and possibly in my {currently empty} Etsy shop soon…

Isn’t it fun?! The crown was from an old English book. LOVE IT.

Lastly, you need to make this. Now. Like Ryan says, they don’t look like much at first…

Oh, but they are much… so much!!!

I recommend making a double batch of sauce, and adding half of it with the bread when you bake it, and save half for drizzling on top when you serve them. We called them Monkey Brains growing up, in youth group. They take me back. This is Pastor Ryan’s recipe {via PW} which is pretty close the recipe we used in youth group. Make sure you have some people to help you eat them or it could be dangerous. Very dangerous.

Peace!

thrift junky chronicles no. 13

2011-09-19T10:34:00.001-07:00

Haha, can you tell I have been working a lot? Now that the kids are back in school, I don’t shoot senior pictures in the mornings or midday anymore, so I hope I can get back into a most-days blogging groove again! Today is attempt numero uno.

Some recent Goodwill finds…

I love collecting random juice glasses at goodwill. They’re like $0.49, and I think it’s fun to have a variety.

Also, I buy any silverware with the dot borders, that way mine all look like they match but I can spend $0.25 each, and not have to drop $30 on a set all at once. Since I started doing this I don’t run out of silverware anymore!

Also, I’ve had a few decent finds at the jewelry counter lately. This time I got three bangle bracelets for $1.99, a yellow necklace for $3.99 and two wooden-bead blue and green necklaces for $4.99. Not as cheap as I hoped it would be, but still cheaper than retail. Oh, and the wooden ones – a best friend had them. I put them in a cute dish when we organized her bathroom once. She had them at our co-garage sale. I didn’t see them. She donated them to G-will. I bought them. She said, “Hey I like your necklaces, did I give you those??” I said, “I got them at Goodwill, but I thought they looked like yours!” There were originally three, but she kept one of them, so they must be hers! True story. Crazy!!!

Back to the finds… I like to look for bread pans and small baking trays; they’re good for food prep and organizing!

The weird test tube thingy was a shot in the dark at making a cute vase with my mattress spring from Farm Chicks…

It was a fail. It was a good try though, right? So close and yet… not close enough. Maybe I will label it as a “wonky vase” and try to sell it. ;)

I found a cute yellow vintage Pyrex dish (it was just sweet), and a stack of sweet little plates, straight from 1989. Remember the pin cushion I made out of a bowl just like them here? Yeah, had a project idea, went back for more, and these plates were the last of them, sadly. I got them all. And also one last candle stick I needed for the same project…

I made a couple sweet mini cake stands for my sale. What do you think? I am having trouble physically moving them to the sale pile, but I must. Right now they are displaying two recent creations… this post is getting too long and I should actually get out of my pjs sometime today, so I will share my creations with you tomorrow!

word up

2011-09-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago a friend dropped these off for me…

I had seen some at Farm Chicks and also at a local shop, and was thrilled to have some! I am pretty sure I got tendonitis washing them and drying them all (it took like like two hours). Now I am playing with them around the house…

So many options. The eat one is funny because if you are too close to the cabinets, you can’t see the bottom line on the “E” and it turns into “FAT” which sort of also applies. I think the wedding date will be the permanent fixture. And the rest will go to my sale this winter.

What would you spell???

iBaby

2011-09-08T07:27:00.001-07:00

A few days ago, my friend Blanca decided it would be fun to share an iPod ear bud with Susie. She loved it. Yesterday she had to listen to the radio on my phone in the van; apparently the van radio wasn’t as cool as my phone. And yesterday, us girls were in the kitchen, when Susie rushed in, repeatedly yelling, “MINE! MINE! MINE!” because she noticed in a split second that Blanca had the iPod. In fact, I’m pretty sure she heard it from the garage. ;)

She is probably going to have a fashion blog by the age of 6. Maybe it’ll help me out.

a coop, a rooster and a recipe

2011-09-07T08:41:00.001-07:00

A while back I blogged about my husband making me do a little research on chicken coops before he let me go all out with my chicken farm idea. Well that first coop that I toured was pretty much what I had in mind for my own, and the owner Dee Dee, was happy with it, so hubby let me go ahead and proceed with my plan.
I had it easy because my barn was recently vacated by my horse. I had her for 18 years, but with the kids being the age they are, I really wasn’t getting to spend as much time riding as she deserved, so I leased her out to a girl who gives her plenty of love and attention. So, that left my feed/tack room ready to be made into a chicken home.
Yesterday I cleaned the coop so it was a good time to share. Here it is…

In case you are wondering why it says “ROW” behind that hen, it is because our barn is built out of repurposed lumber and those planks were actually stadium seats at a race track. Now you know.
Anyway, here is the rundown on the chicken coop…
Bedding: I chose to use wood shavings, which are pretty affordable at about $8 a bag (one bag fills my coop) and last several months. The hens are kept in for part of the day, so they will scratch around and mix their droppings in with the shavings, otherwise, the droppings would just sit on top and be stinky and messy. An alternative is to manually turn and ‘stir’ the bedding every day. The bedding makes great garden compost when it is time to change it out!
Feed: I have to admit I have not bitten the bullet and gone for organic feed yet – it is nearly twice as costly, and my hens have two acres to roam and eat, so I really feel like the layer feed is almost a supplement. Still, I think I will research and try to find the organic feed more affordably. I chose to go with a hanging feeder, which prevents the bedding and droppings from getting into the food. I keep the extra feed in a garbage can with a lid to deter rodents. I also have a large rubber dish to put fruit and veggie scraps in, so that whatever the ladies don’t eat doesn’t get mixed with the bedding, that way I can toss it out; also to keep rodents from coming around for free snacks.
Water: As in Dee Dee’s coop that I toured, I chose to be a rebel and go with a water bucket. The chicken waterers get full of bedding so quickly and you have to unscrew them to clean and refill them. There are nice hanging versions like my feeder, but I am too cheap.
Eggs: Dee Dee gave me two extra milk crates that she had and I found one at a yard sale, so I used those for the laying boxes. I secured two to the wall, to keep the eggs out of the reach of curious beaks, but left one on the ground in case the ladies didn’t like the high-rise nest boxes. But the big Rhode Island Red climbed right in while I was taking pictures! The egg in the pic is a fake egg to encourage laying in the nest box; she laid a nice brown egg after I left, with Mark watching.
Perch: I have access to the woods, so I like using natural branches for perches. That is more comfortable for the hens than a square board, and doesn’t require sanding the corners down.
That is my coop. I hope you weren’t all excited, expecting something like this. I’m a little too redneck for that. She sells those plans though, and if my hubby liked projects like that I might have had to go for it.
Okay, look what I discovered at the crack of dawn one morning last week… Do you notice a difference in these two hens?

Yeah, that’s because the she on the right is actually a he. As in a rooster. As in he crows at the crack of dawn. Actually he makes strange dying animal noises at the crack of dawn; he’s still growing into his role.

It is comical that this one turned out to be a male. Chicks at the co-ops are all supposed to be hens, unless marked as “not sexed” meaning they didn’t separate the males from females and you have a 50/50 chance of getting a rooster. I loathe interrupted sleep and so I was careful to only pick the from the selection of females. Well this breed is called “Black Sex-Link” because, apparently, they are especially able to tell males from females at hatching? Hmmm.
Okay, on to the recipe. I have had compliments on my Caesar salad, so I thought I would share my tips and a few special ingredients.

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce
Parmesan Cheese (I like Frigo brand)
Lemon
Olives
Avacado
Fresh ground pepper
Dressing (LiteHouse is my favorite)
Croutons (these from Costco are the only good ones I have found!)

Directions:

I chop my lettuce pretty small. I usually use about two hearts of romaine.
Then I grate my parmesan using a big grater, like you would for cheddar. I think you taste it more that way, and other people have agreed.
I squeeze on the juice of about a quarter to half of the lemon, depending on how big it is. This time was about a quarter.
Then I chop the olives in half. Yes, I know they come in a can already sliced but to me those ones are mushy. Yes, I know I am crazy.
Then I chop up an avocado, unless my husband is eating with us, in which case I don’t because his throat will swell shut.
I add about a quarter to half a teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper.
A dollop of dressing, toss it up, top with some croutons, and there you have it!

And hey, if you end up with a rooster in your flock, you could always add some fresh grilled chicken!!

fair is fair is fair

2011-09-04T23:43:00.001-07:00

$18.50

Parking. One corn dog – doughy. One Baked potato with the works.

Really? I even had a free pass for my entry and the kids were free. I knew going in that it would be overpriced, it is fair after all, but I still had to do it. It was just me and the kiddos, and we splurged because Ty was out dirt biking all day and we needed to get out of the house for my sanity and their safety. ;)

Some imagery…

That was a unique walking, interactive coupon dispenser and billboard for the Reptile Man.

Critters…

Did you see what Mark was checking out? Yeah, not the critters. More on that later.

I am a mean mother – I walked the kiddos through the rides and took pictures but wouldn’t pay to let them go on any.

This one may be my favorite…

Children near meltdown.

The draft breed horses fill up a stall pretty good, with no room to move around, so the owners let them loose in the arena for some exercise. They are gentle giants, such mooches for any loves they can get…

That woman is ducking because he was totally trying to get in her bag… wonder what kind of fair food she had stashed in there for later. ;)

Tried to take a picture myself of Susie petting the giant…

Didn’t work with my fixed focal length lens. But it does show the size of that horse’s nose compared to Susie’s pacifier and hand! I tried to ask a person who did not speak my language to take a picture… focused on the background; me and Susie were totally blurry. Then I decided to let Mark try. He took a practice shot…

And said he could do it. He got these for me…

Don’t worry, I wasn’t hanging out with that man with his shirt open – we were just petting the horse at the same time.

I took a second to show Mark the pictures he had just taken and had basically decided he was hired, and then I saw this…

Whoa, Mark, step AWAY from the camera! I thought this wasn’t supposed to happen for like ten more years. Lord help me.

Camera safely confiscated… one last shot of the Belgians, look how tall they are…

Those ladies cracked me up, checking out his pearly whites. Actually I’ve seen many a horse’s teeth – not so pearly. Or white. Mostly green. And stinky.

Anyway, that was fair. Glad we went. Have y’all been to any good fairs this year?

feeling lighter

2011-08-31T07:53:00.001-07:00

My hair was a little too long and flat. I been feeling like a hippie.

I had these styles on my Pinterest fashion board…

My goals were shorter bangs, more layer, and maybe a wavy style that I could achieve at home? And my hair lady did a great job!

It is shorter, with more layer and I think the wavy look came out really well! The photo was at the salon and it was still a little tight in the picture – it broke up a bit more (as she said it would) and ended up exactly like in the Pinterest pictures! Sweet – I have a new style option. That only happens once a decade for me. It looks great when I just straighten it, too.

To achieve the look, she blow dryed my hair, then wrapped chunks around a large curling iron, and added a lot of hair spray. By the way, if you hate hair spray because it gets crunchy, you haven’t found the right one yet. I used to hate it and now I have Aussie and it is nice and soft but still holds. Anyway, I am glad I know how to do this look now. But a large curling iron is now on my shopping list. =)

My hair lady (is there a better name for her?) Jaime, does a really great job, she is the owner at Salon on 4th in Marysville. I highly recommend her.

Aintcha glad I shared that bit of breaking news with you? Peace!

redneck fun

2011-08-29T07:56:00.001-07:00

Remember when I shared these jungle-garden pictures a while back?

The weeds had actually grown, multiplied and amassed even more since then – the whole blasted garden was thick and waist high with weeds. Well, I am thrilled to report that our dear friends ~~had a momentary lapse of judgment and~~ decided to help us weed it this weekend! All 9 of us (even Suzie helped =) worked for the a good part of an hour through the heat and look at it now…

You can see the dirt! I don’t have many actual vegetable plants to speak of (terrible weather after planting = lost enthusiasm), but the weeds are gone and the veggies I do have can now take full advantage of the sun and soil! Yay! Thanks friends! By the way, do you see the biggest tallest plant in the center? It is a tomato plant! It is tall as me! It is bigger than the pole beans! I am hoping it is the roma variety for pico de gallo, baby!

After working in the sun we were all hot and ended up having some good ‘ole redneck fun. First hubby got out the hose and handed it over to the kiddos. The girls didn’t have swimsuits or even a change of clothes and their dresses couldn’t go in the dryer, but no worries, we’re redneck, we plow ahead anyway…

I would like to point out the contrasting personalities of my two children:

He screams because he doesn’t want to be sprayed. She screams because she does!

Who would have thought showering in the yard could be so much fun? I still can’t believe Susie loved being sprayed.

Now, this is where the redneck comes in. Hubby decided making a swimming pool out of the inflatable raft would be fun. Of course the kids agreed…

Bathing in the yard fully clothed in an inflatable raft?! Pretty sure it doesn’t get much more redneck than that.

Oops, it just did. How did that one slip in there??? ;)

Mexican Cooking - Chicken a la Crema

2011-08-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, so as promised yesterday, I am back with that recipe for Pollo (chicken) a la Crema. Everyone has to ask what pollo is so I just cheat and call it Chicken a la Crema.

Ingredients:

1 lb. uncooked white rice

2 lb. chicken breast, chopped into small chunks

3 bell peppers (we used red), sliced

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced

3 Tbsp. cooking oil

14 oz. can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 1/2 cups water

1 tsp. Lowry’s or Johnny’s seasoned salt

4 Tablespoons butter

2 lbs. sour cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

package small tortillas

Instructions:

Soak the rice in hot water while chopping the vegetables and chicken.

When ready to start cooking, put 2-3 tablespoons oil in a deep frying pan on M/H. Drain rice and add to skillet (careful, it will spatter), stirring occasionally until browned. Add the half can tomatoes, 1/2 cup of the diced onions and 1 1/2 cups water. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes or until rice is soft and water has evaporated. If water evaporates and rice is not yet done, add a little hot water and continue cooking until done.

Meanwhile, brown the chicken in 2 Tbsp. butter with 1 tsp. Lowry’s seasoned salt.

In a separate pan, sauté onions and peppers in 2 Tbsp. butter until onions turn translucent. Add mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes.

Once chicken has browned, add 1 to 1.5 pounds of the sour cream and 1 cup heavy cream to the cooked chicken, and heat. Then combine chicken and sauce with sautéed veggies and remove from heat, so sauce will thicken slightly.

Fry tortillias in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat, flipping after about 45 seconds, until heated.

Serve all items onto your plate and eat with a fork, or make little ‘tacos’ with the ingredients! I do a little too much of both. So delicious!

Now you have my very favorite Mexican Cooking recipe yet! Oh, yeah, and it feeds like eleven people. Really. Enjoy!

a much needed vacation + a recipe

2011-08-23T16:20:00.001-07:00

Last week was crazy at work for me, and Ty had been cooped up all week with a sprained ankle (I know, poor Ty, right? Ha!), and we badly needed to get out of the house. So we grabbed some friends and headed to the Teanaway.

The first day we started with a hike. One of Ty’s famous hikes.

7/8 of the way up, the kiddos were done. We took in the views and then Ty and Blanca and I climbed the rest of the way to the very top…

There are two equally breathtaking top peaks…

See in the second picture how the huge boulder appears to be balancing on it’s tip? I was sitting on that boulder taking the first picture and yelling at them to get back from the edge, then they notified me that my boulder was even more dangerous than their boulder, so we traded places and took the second picture. The walk from peak to peak is short but looks like this…

See that sweet little patch of grass? Don’t go over there…

Yeah. It is a sandy, slippery, straight-down cliff. Gave me the heebies.

Anyway, this place is called “Hole in the Wall” because of this feature near the top…

Pretty strange. Kinda like my sprained ankle Cliffhanger wannabe husband. I have no idea how this rock came to be this way and also why there are no others like it that we have ever seen in the area.

After that we needed some nourishment. Pollo (chicken) a la crema. Oh baby. Recipe to come tomorrow…

My all time favorite Mexican food. Easy and delicious! Somewhat similar to my all time favorite Italian food – Fettuccini Alfredo. Hmmm. I am seeing a pattern here, and it is called heavy cream.

On day two we set off on a little jaunt off a logging road and back into the woods.

Destination: natural waterslides.

He is timid just like me… we watched together from the shallows…

They look all sweet and misty because I used a slow shutter speed, but the water actually moves pretty quickly through the chutes… hence why I kept my feet in the shallows. I sink.

We played until we were all tuckered out and ready to get a snack and sit in traffic for hours. This was only the beginning of the traffic…

I love that sweaty, fluffy little man.

work wardrobe

2011-08-15T11:39:00.001-07:00

So one of the fun things about going back to work was getting to get ‘dressed’ every day. Yes I am one of those stay at home moms who sometimes leaves her pajamas or yoga pants on all day and then gets dressed and flat-irons her hair right before the hubby gets home. But now it’s fun getting up in the morning and going to the closet because I have somewhere to go! One problem. There is nothin’ good in that closet. Solution? I would like to introduce you to, Plato’s Closet.

Have you ever been there? For me, I don’t like paying full price but the idea of looking through the chaos of thrift store clothing paralyzes me. I finally tried and found that anything I found was usually 60% to 80% of retail (even Target brands) and was usually worn, pilly or mis-shapen. Some people have the time/patience and do an awesome job at it, but for me it was not worth the frustration. But Plato's has become my compromise. They sell used clothing but they only accept on-trend items! You don’t have to dig through all the outdated stuff! And their prices are great. I have become a regular now and I really, really like it.

Hubby did a side job and let me spend it on clothes for work! And he told me to come back with some Sevens! Woo-hoo! Here are my finds from my last trip:

Left to right: Seven Jeans (retail at $150), William Rast Jeans, and three tops by Eyeshadow, WetSeal, and LoveRocks. Hot denim with some “dark” left in them runs $50, more worn jeans are $40, and less hot denim brands range from $15 to $30. It always amuses me to see what brands I go for. I end up with some Hollister, lots of WetSeal and twenty-one, and often Mossimo. But this one surprised me…

On the left, Mossimo. On the right, JUICY COUTURE!!! Yes, I am now the proud owner of a piece of Juicy clothing. I had no idea they made ‘normal’ stuff. I love that shirt – it fits nice on top, and it is slouchy but comes in at the waistband and still looks feminine. Work is casual, so this will be nice for lazy days.

So give Plato’s a try if you like on-trend and good service but can’t cram Nordstrom into your budget as much as you want to. Oh yeah, the managers and girls at Plato’s help you too. They will take your armloads of items and get a room started for you and give you fashion advice (phew!) and hunt down items for you. I have a couple favorites, but they are all very helpful.

Lastly, I have one little random to share with you. Do you ever run out of the hangers with the little groove in them that catches strappy tank tops and wide neck shirts? I run out all the time, or sometimes it mis-shapes the shirt and makes me crabby. I have found a solution…

I wrap a rubber band around the end of the hanger a couple times and it grips the shirt perfectly, so that it stays wherever I put it. It actually works better for the wide neck tops than the hangers with the grooves do! Easy.

Peace! I will try to keep the posts coming but it is a busy week at work; I should be tackling my first Senior session solo at the end of the week! Pray for me! =)

crafting again

2011-08-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am telling you, my list of goals for the week is doing it for me. I am getting caught up and many of the things making the list are actually fun things now! I had six thrifted containers waiting to be made into pin cushions for my sale, and I got ‘er done…

This one is my new favorite…

And I also got my curtains made from that vintage sheet I thrifted this week! I was so excited about them I got them done before they even got on the goals list!…

You only get a preview because they are literally hanging on a string right now. I haven’t gotten a curtain rod yet, but I had to see them up!

Peace!

thrifting. does a budget good.

2011-08-10T23:03:00.001-07:00

When I first started thrift store shopping I was horrible at it. I bought too much – stuff I didn’t need at the moment, wasn’t in LOVE with or stuff I had no idea what I would do with. I liked the ‘idea’ of thrift store shopping, but inside I knew I wasn’t really helping our bottom line; more like hurting it.

Today, as I drank from my favorite little thrifted glass…

I could honestly say that has changed. Now I see things on retail shelves and I think, “I’m not paying that price, I can thrift that!” Case in point…

I have been looking for something old to repurpose as kitchen curtains for some time now, and was thrilled to find this little twin sheet for $4.99 this week! I realized… before I started thrift store shopping, the minute I decided I needed new curtains, the old me would have rushed out to Tarjay or LNT and gotten something for $20-40 that I would have been tired of in 6 mos. The new me hunted my hiney off and found it for $4.99, even though it took a few months! But it wasn’t a pain, I really love the hunt now.

I thought some of you might need a little help loving the hunt, too, so I am going to share what I have learned the past year or so.

Focus. Wait until you are in the mood. If your kiddos or hubby distract you, wait until you can go without them – at least until you get the hang of it.

Practice. It really did take a many a trip of aimlessly wandering and bad purchases to know what to buy and what not to buy. It used to take over an hour in one store. Now I know what zones I want to hit, certain items to keep my eye out for in each zone, and I am in and out in about 20 minutes, even with the kiddos in tow.

Inspect. I have bought several items in the excitement of the moment, only to get them home and realize the condition is bad or it is even broken or damaged. Look over all your items objectively before you buy.

Ask. I once got an old wood tripod for $9.99 instead of $14.99 – because it was missing a screw and I asked. I once got a quilt for $14.99 instead of $19.99 because it had a hole I knew I could fix, but I asked. I once got a picture frame marked down to the same price as another one that was larger but priced cheaper because I asked. I could go on…

Think. Sometimes I find something splendidly neat and I have to really stand there for a couple minutes turning it over in my hands, really trying to think of where to put it or what to do with it… and sometimes I have to leave it there.

Budget. Go in with a limit. This is new for me. My personal spending budget is now $20 per week, so that is what I have to thrift with. This includes vintage finds for my upcoming sale. Having a limit helps me prioritize my items before checking out.

Still not sure if it is for you? I would say if you like seeing what everyone in blogland has thrifted, give it a try – a few times! See if you get the hang of it. If you love it or hate it.

Check out the kids today. Susie was climbing onto my bed with the crayons and color book and I was about to tell her “no”, when I remembered what my friend Nicole blogged about the other day. She let the kids take the books outside and it was a whole new experience! So I let them go for it. Sure enough, it kept them busy for some time…

Did you see her copying her brother in those pics? Pretty sure her motto is “anything you can do, I can do better!”

I am loving this 35mm 1.8 lens I am borrowing. I’ve borrowed it before. When I had to give it back it was like handing over a bodily organ. I need to save up and buy one.

Oh, yeah. I almost forgot! Big news: I got a job! Crazy, huh? It was unexpected and happened really fast. I asked for some information on the photography industry on Friday, was asked to come in for an interview Tuesday, and start tomorrow! There is a training period, so we will see how that goes, but they are willing to train me and I am uber excited to learn! Wouldn’t you know it, I had just prayed regarding whether I should look for work? I am glad Jesus knows how obvious I need things to be. =)

I have to get my sleep tonight! More tomorrow!

new life via spray paint

2011-08-09T14:31:00.001-07:00

Made over a couple items today with the old rattle-can…

I picked it up at a yard sale, and had already decided to paint it before I even got it home. It filled in a blank spot in my pitcher collection, which was waiting for one from Ikea. I gave mine to a client (there’s that fancy word again, I am such a wannabe). I think I’m good with this one instead of the Ikea version – just saved $5.

And I forgot to take before pics, but have you seen those very country, rusty old corn-cob shaped cornbread pans? There seem to be real old ones and reproductions – both of which always end up rusty.

But have you seen one like this?…

I thought it would be cute painted and used for organizing. I think it turned out really cute! My MIL gave it to me – MIL, are you horrified that I painted it? I am adding it to my growing stash for the fair I am selling at this winter. But I might have to go into business on Etsy before then – I feel like my room is going to reach hoarder status before the sale if I keep saving things up like this!

Have a good day!

I made me some jewelry & other stuff

2011-08-09T02:07:00.001-07:00

I just got Southern all of a sudden. That was fun.

So last time I was at Joanne’s Crafts I came across some jewelry kits by Laliberi...

I likey.

The instructions start on the back of the package and show you what simple tools you need to assemble them. They were $6.99, which is a good price for store-bought earrings, and these were cuter than anything I have seen at Tarjay when I was looking this spring.

I also decided to buy some parts and pieces and assemble another pair of earrings and a pair of pins…

I likey very much. The pieces were cheap and I just clipped the plastic loops off the backs of the little buttons and then glued them onto earring posts and the pins, with Aleene’s Instant Jewelry glue. That was my friend modeling the bobby pin for me. I wasn’t about to try to do that in the mirror. Anyone else have trouble with mirror photos or is that just me? Okay, just me.

A couple randoms…

Are you ready for a once in a lifetime opportunity? There was someone around while I was making food, and I let her have the camera and (gasp!) take pictures of me while I made PW’s iced coffee…

I look like a spaz but what else is new? While I am smiling, I am saying through clenched teeth, “do I have a double chin?” yes, a little bit. The coffee turned out pretty ah-mazing. As you can see by the drizzle shot, we did the condensed milk version. MMMMM. There now you saw me on the other end of the camera for once. Don’t get used to it. It gives me the willies.

Speaking of beverages, have you guys tried any of the throwback pops? This is an awful blue picture and I am way to lazy to fix it, but they look retro, see?…

We have tried Pepsi and Mountain Dew in the throwback versions. They are made with real sugar – no high fructose corn syrup. We think they taste way super better than the fructose versions! There is no after-burn on your tongue after you drink it. Muy Bueno.

I spent half the day organizing my craft supplies and gathering paperwork from all sorts of half-a** locations around the house and going through everything and consolidating. Susie was so helpful…

She took everything out of my files and started coloring things.

~~Thanks to~~ Despite Susie’s help, today I got 6 of 13 things crossed of my list of goals for the week! Cruising right along. =) Goals and I didn’t used to get along, but now I think we do. As long as they are little goals – for now. Certain friend who is reading this, don’t tell me you told me so, okay?

Later gators!

saturday miscellany

2011-08-06T18:46:00.001-07:00

Today’s post was supposed to be yesterday’s post but I spent a lovely day with the husb and the fam, so now it is today. The house is still a mess. I still haven’t gone grocery shopping. But it’s okay, we’re all having a good time. =)

So when I blogged about the chairs I got on my latest trip to surplus, I couldn’t find the Pottery Barn version online to show you, but the other day I found the page I had clipped from their catalog, and just look at the comparison…

Um, yeah, I’ll go with the $20 ones, even if I have to rattle can them myself. That means I paid 8% of retail for mine! By the way, has anyone tried Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint yet? Miss Mustard Seed has been raving about it for some time now, and I really need to make it to my local dealer and get some to try out. It is expensive. :’( It is gorgeous, but I’m not sure I can be convinced to paint those chairs by hand rather than spray them but we’ll see.

Speaking of spraying, can you tell I’ve been hard at work?…

I love the toe outlines caused by the white overspray. I took a couple filing cabinets from dingy “greige” to something a big step cuter…

I will have to show you the outcome later… I am making a modular desk for my crafting area in my room, but it is still in total disarray. I need time and finances for a little trip to Ikea to finish it up! Having a tabletop on your desk is kind of important.

My mother in law gave me some fresh Chelan peaches so I asked Leah what peach pie recipe she uses and she obliged me…

She wisely told me to use the Joy of Cooking Fresh Peach Pie recipe (I couldn’t find it on the official JOC website, but this one lists JOC as the source and it has the same ingredients Leah mentioned to me). And I used PW’s crust recipe. Took some to soccer and some to Bible study and got many compliments! Thanks MIL for the peaches and thanks Leah for pointing me to a great recipe!

Susie was kissing Stormy while I was baking…

People keep telling me his cheeks are so puffy… I guess can see it in this shot…

Can I just be crazy and post one more cat picture? It has a story to go with it, I assure you… OK? OK. I got about one tenth of the way done weeding the jungle-garden. After I headed in to start dinner I heard mark screaming at Susie to stop and something about eyes and can’t see. She wears glasses because she is extremely far sighted and goes cross-eyed, so I figured maybe she was about to do something dangerous and couldn’t see it…??? I rush out there and she had done this…

So Mark was yelling because Susie was dumping shovelfuls (what is left of the shovelful by the time she gets it to his head) of dirt onto Storm’s head and storm was sitting there the whole time, closing his eyes because dirt was getting in them, but just sitting there. I told Susie “NO” then ran back into my house for the camera and he was still sitting there with his eyes closed when I got back! What a fruitcake!

Meanwhile Susie had moved on and was running around being Susie…

She is done with yelling “Cheese!” and sticking her nose in the lens; now the camera = a game of cat and mouse. Sometimes I think there might be no difference between living at my house and living in an insane asylum.

Last but not least on my list of random things to share with you… my goals list is totally working!

I used to use this whiteboard on the fridge for my weekly meal plan but I have not been into cooking lately. I still do it, just in a rut right now. So last week, I put a list of chores / projects / etc on the whiteboard instead. By Friday I had completed 9 of the 12! Plus one of them I partially finished and one has to wait for a trip to Ikea. I think it helped me when I ran into a dead end on some project, or was getting bored or tired, I would look at my list and see what I could get done. I love seeing all the things crossed off as the week goes on!

That’s all I got. What is keeping you going right now?

my morning bliss & keeping house

2011-08-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

That title is like an oxymoron. Housekeeping and bliss in the same sentence is just wrong. Two separate thoughts, don’t worry.

My morning bliss… does anyone else keep a bowl or shaker filled with a cinnamon + sugar mixture for sprinkling on heavily buttered toast? C’mon, I can’t be the only sugar feign out there. Well I having been using it for something else lately…

I leave out about a teaspoon of sugar from what I usually add to my coffee, then add that skipped teaspoon in using the cinnamon sugar mixture! It leaves some little floaters in the coffee, but it is oh, so good!

Maybe it will be enough to get me out of bed early. HAHAHAHA I’m so funny.

Okay, so keeping house… I posted way back when [in March] about committing to the 30 Day Shred, for a whole month, and shared my “before” weight and body fat % numbers with you. Then I left you out there in la-la land wondering how it went. Well I have a mixed review...

After doing the 30 Day Shred workout video 4 days a week [and indoor soccer 2 days a week]…

weight before: 153.8;

weight after: 153.4

body fat percentage before: 32.8

body fat percentage after: 34.2

Even though the numbers don’t show it, I was super happy with the workout…

Pros:

Toning. The workout focuses on strengthening and cardio and I definitely noticed some muscle definition where there hadn’t been any in some time. For me that was the arms and shoulders and my collar bones have reappeared! Sometimes when running or working out a lot my quads get too big – I didn’t have that problem with this workout; it is the “long and lean” type of strengthening.

Cardio. There is no way the average person could go through the workout and not feel like they just threw down a couple hundred calories. At the same time, she keeps the pace so that it is doable.

Levels 1, 2, &3. It is nice to be able to move through the levels as you get more fit, or to choose up or down from your usual level on an off day or when you are feeling particularly motivated. I started on level one for about a week and was up to level 3 for the last week.

Cons:

My weight didn’t go down much. Probably because I gained muscle and lost fat (and fat weighs more than muscle), so that is okay with me. I saw results so I won’t stress about the numbers.

My body fat % [supposedly] went up. I measured it using a bathroom scale which my collegiate athlete sister-in-law tells me is pretty much bogus anyway.

My final synopsis is that this is a really great workout to shed calories and get toned. My downfall was in that I didn’t limit my food intake enough. After completing the challenge, I took a couple weeks off from working out at all, and concentrating on limiting my eating, and I lost about 4 pounds. If you are looking for a good workout to do at home, I highly recommend any of these in conjunction with a healthy diet, listed easy to difficult, 30 Day Shred (3 levels), No More Trouble Zones (more strengthening focused), Banish Fat and Boost Your Metabolism (more cardio focused). I am in no way compensated for this review.

That’s all I got for today. I have so many odds and ends to finish around here, so I can share projects with you! I have been trying to be more organized, and made myself a list of my weekly goals! So far I have only completed 3 of 12! Back to work!

Pin-spired productivity continues

2011-08-03T17:23:00.001-07:00

I hope the Pinterest Challenge helped you all realize that endless pinning profits us nothing. It certainly did me. Since making over my Pinterest-inspired waste-basket, I saw something else on Pinterest I decided to actually DO. What a novel idea, right?

I pinned a few chalkboard doodling ideas…

that caused me to realize mine needed something a little cuter than a printed alphabet. So I DID IT…

It is not as doodly and whimsical as I would like but it is a start.

I asked my photographer pastor if I could borrow his 32 mm lens for a wedding I am shooting in September, and he and his wife dropped it off yesterday! What a lovely surprise. He said I should get it early and practice, but I thought that meant like a week early. When I have camera/equipment that I love, I find that it helps me take wayyy more pictures. Especially the every day stuff…

I must go outside to the ~~garden~~ jungle now, and I’d better not take the camera with me – last time I did that no weeds got murdered. And there are a plethora of weeds that need to be murdered. No, seriously…

A couple of those plants are actually supposed to be there. Too bad the weeds aren’t edible and that energy can’t be bottled.

pinterest challenge

2011-08-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am setting this post to automatically post in a few hours and I am not telling you what time it is that I am actually writing this. The important part is that I completed my Pinterest Challenge!!!

I recently found a metal schoolroom trash can on my trip to the surplus, and decided to take part in the Pinterest Challenge, using this inspiration pin…

to make over my trash can…

I did a slightly different scale. But, what do you think?

The taper of the trash can killed me. My evening was filled with about 2 or 3 hours of trying to do it the wrong way (I may have been distracted by some Netflix streaming), followed by one hour of measuring and taping the right way. People, don’t try to ‘eyeball’ chevrons. Trust me.

I ended up measuring and marking the points of each angle, using the ribs on the can as my guide to keep everything lined up, trimming the tape even with the ribs as I went along.

So I think it turned out pretty cute and will make a great addition to my vintage collection for my upcoming sale. I just got word that they are sending out the registration info, so I will pass on the dates and info soon!

Go on over to the Pinterest Challenge to see what everyone else came up with!

two new surpluses!

2011-08-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

You know a good surplus store can bring a smile to my face!

Mark didn’t get to go this time - he was smiling because he got to hang out with his sweet babysitter!

Okay, so you remember when I blogged about the “mother lode” State Surplus in Auburn? Well it liquidated and consolidated into the State Surplus location in Tumwater. Leah was here visiting so she and I took off on a little road trip to try out that location.

Verdict: not impressed

The Auburn location had been open to the public for the most part, with a small back area that was roped off. This Tumwater location was probably only about 25% open to the public. It was mostly electronics, smalls and desks. It was not a total bust, though; I managed to find two maps; one of the US and the World…

These are the pull-down maps used in schools. They attach right to the rails at the top of heavy duty chalkboards.

As I was digging and checking all the maps to find my US one, I came across one with this inscription…

It was old and tattered, and turned out to be a really neat old map of the Seattle area, from Lake Forest Park to South Center, with all the little neighborhoods labeled. It is after 1940 because it has the Lake Washington floating bridge, and after 1963 because it has the Everett Point bridge, but I don’t think it is much newer than the 60’s or maybe 70’s because of the way it is made. I can’t photograph the whole thing because it needs to be reconditioned and won’t stay down by itself. After a tune up, this might be going into the loot for my upcoming sale.

Since we were disappointed with the volume of goods available at the Tumwater location, we got real wild and decided to stop off at another Surplus on our way home. Leah had recently found the UW Surplus in Seattle.

Verdict: interesting items with moderate volume of goods available

Some views…

It being a college, they had athletic gear, weird scientific devices and other unique items. Also the usual chairs, file cabinets, office supplies and furniture.

See those chairs at the bottom of that last picture?

A couple might have come home with me. Along with a metal wastebasket.

And two little filing cabinets which I will show you after I paint them.

I am uber excited about those chairs! Pottery Barn had an identical chair painted black for $249, and I got mine for $20/each! I <3 Surplus. I can’t wait to thrift together my table and four more chairs and get some paint on those babies.

Anyway, I think that’s all I got, until tomorrow.

Peace!