A {To-Do} List a Mile Long

No more Goodwill or Ross for me.
I swear.
Or Hobby Lobby.
Egads.

I have a to-do list a mile long. And I keep adding to it each time I visit one of the aforementioned stores.
Must. Stop.

Here are a few of the things I need to work on pronto:

Sand and Stain my living room table ($12 Goodwill find)
Sand {err? maybe prime?!) and paint the side table ($9 Goodwill find)

Sand and paint the small radio cabinet (another Goodwill find) - which may or may not be staying in its current location.

Refinish these bad boys and find a home for them (Goodwill, a buck a piece). They are candle holders. They are not wood, but metal. I love them!

I found two of these at Goodwill...  I know I am going to paint them an Espresso color, but beyond that I have no idea what to do with them. I do not collect nick-knacks, and would hate to start now. But they were a pair that I couldn't pass up.

I got these super cheap - and just for the frames. I am going to use pretty fabric and do something fun for Isabel's room.

I am sure there are more things to list, then I am remembering...

But before I forget - I wanted to show you something that I am currently working on...
The front of my house!
Alex has been replanting plants, etc. And I have been working on my wreath and front porch.
I bought a canvas drop cloth at Home Depot this past weekend and started playing wit it - I wanted to make some bows. Such a cheap and easy way to make a statement.

 

Oh wait. What's that?!?!

I've been working on that wreath since before Christmas. And truth be told, it's hanging on my door already, but it's missing a very important element... just because I am waiting for said element to dry. Once it's complete - complete, I will get a good picture of it to share.

What I can share... is the beautiful teal (aqua?!) aronda-dock-dock-dock chairs I have on my porch.
I am sorry - I've never been able to pronounce that word.
And look at my lovely new pillows. Kohl's, $9 a piece.

So there you have it. So much to do. So much to finish. A list a mile long.

Turning Green {Repurpose}

I found a new spray paint that I love. *Eden Green*
But before that, I found something cool at Goodwill.

It was on the wayyyyyy bottom of one of the shelves. Forgotten. Alone.
I saved it.

But I didn't take a before picture of it.
SMH

{did you know that means Smack My Head?!? i just learned that from one of the kiddos. can't remember which one. prolly nic}

Let me tell you - it was OLD. DARK. SCARRED.
I didn't know what it was.
The husband said it was a cabinet door. I laughed at him.
Allllll the way home.
Until I got the piece in the light {I am telling you - it was dark, glossy, stained, dark!} - and I found the hardware holes. SMH again. I hate when that man is right.

Who cares what it is. I like it.  I was going to leave it dark. Then I was going to spray it cream. But then I spied Eden Green and I knew it was exactly the color it was meant to be.

The kids love it. They thought (before I sprayed it) that it looked like one side of a saloon door.
What the heck do they know about Saloons?

Here it is, just after spraying it.

I let it dry, then I took sandpaper to it. Here's how it looks now. Love, love, love the green.

 

And finally, here is a comparison shot of the corner. 

Holy Guacamole, that's one fine corner. Now, if I can just get the rest of the house to measure up!
And maybe... one day... I will get the formal living room couch slip covered (hello, Santa Fe) so that I can give you a wider shot. =) That's the plan!

So... with the curtains now reinstalled, I wanted to share with you a few more pictures.
The room is FAR from done. It's going to be a library some day. Which means we need bookcases.

Here's a close-up of the drapes.

As a reminder... the inspiration came from Ashli of Mini Manor (formerly known as Maillardville Manor).  Here is her drapes post... And you will see that they are not really drapes; rather, they are table cloths she (we, really) bought on clearance from Target earlier this year.

Here is my first drapes post.

Well... that was a lot for today... So much to get ready for and here I am sitting on the computer.
I guess I should go bake something.
Or something.

Toodles.

There are bats in my house!!!

Oh what a wonderful weekend I've had. Between Goodwill, Hobby Lobby and my craft closet, I was able to get my Halloween on.

I am in Halloween Heaven.

This year, I decided I was going to get CREATIVE and make most of the decorations. Reuse and Repurpose were two words I got to know real well during the past 48 hours.

On Saturday night, I was up until 1am cutting out bats. Last night, I was up until well after midnight glitter painting anything I could get my hands on!

Our spooky corner... The kids made the little ghosts that are sitting amongst the branches... The stickers on the mirror are glow in the dark...

Let me introduce you to my Halloween Mantel. With no real mantel in the house, I needed to get creative. 

Here's a breakdown of what we have on our mantel:

We have a lamp I took from my office and put an old shade on that was tucked into my craft closet. Added one paper bat. There is a black (purple?!) light in it.

On the left, I have an cast iron candle holder from Goodwill ($1.99) I have a cheap pumpkin that I painted in ivory and then covered with silver glitter paint (all on hand).

There are the potion jars... (you saw them in the previous post).

I have my green class candy dish, that along with the green vase on the right I got from Goodwill about 6 months ago. They were $2.99 each. I LOVE THE GREEN. I think they are from the 70s. I just need to add candy to the candy dish. I am going to put candy corn in there, to give it a little bit of color. (Plus I hate candy corn, so I won't have to worry about eating it.)

I took out my trusty New Moon book to rest the candy dish on.

To the right of the lamp, I took a $1 frame from the dollar store. The glass was broken, so I removed it and added black construction paper. Then I took a wooden bat I painted two years ago and found in the craft closet and glued it on to the frame.

The two gold picture frames came packaged together for $1 at the dollar store. I will share more details (tutorial?) in a few days.

In the green vase, I added black beans (left over from the potion bottles) and added 2 bunches of black rose ($1 each at the Dollar Store).

Finally, added 1 small orange pumpkin.  We love how our mantel turned out!!

In my kitchen, on my newly acquired pie safe, I added a pumpkin, a candle and a ghost! Again, dollar store frame. I took a metallic blue paint and painted right over the glass. Then I glued on a ghost we made a few years back (again, found it in the craft closet).

Finally, Marcos moved all of our downstairs furniture into the kitchen on Friday and rented a Rug Doctor to clean the carpets. I figured since everything was moved, I would change a few things, furniture wise (plus, we got a new coffee table for the family room, but more on that later). I took the Goodwill find sewing machine & table from the hallway and put it into the formal living room. I plan on refinishing it - probably turn it ivory. But for now, I added a picture that I love (my grandpa, grandma and my dad) and an IKEA plant and owl I found at Hobby Lobby a few weeks back.

I know my camera isn't the best... and the lighting sucks, but I hope you get what I was trying to share. The house feels WONDERFUL all decked out. The kids and I had a BLAST!!

Now we just need to tackle the OUTSIDE!!


Linked to Craft-O-Maniac

Me Time

I took some Me Time last week... in the form of a trip to Hobby Lobby.
By myself.
For 2 FULL hours.
Shocking, I know!


Every single time I got to Hobby Lobby, I see this tree. I love it. But I can't bring myself to pay $15 for it. It's not that large. Even at 50% off, I passed on it. I guess I don't love it that much.

I did pick up some numbers; they are about 5" long and HEAVY. But I love them.

I like this clock.

But I already have a rather large clock.

I like clocks.

And mirrors.

I loved this cabinet, too! Isn't she a beauty?

They wanted $80 for it.

I said nope.

Can you believe they already have all of their Christmas stuff out?!

I like these trees.

I may go back for them! ;)

I ended up picking up a few things for some craft projects. Tomorrow being Sunday, I hope to have some time to work on them.

Marcos and I left the house early this morning to run some errands and to check out this place we found - it has EVERYTHING (think PICKERS on the History Channel). A 50s jukebox. Radio Cabinets (I felt weak!) Canning jars. Old tools. Wood. Doors. Windows... I could go on. It was dirty & exciting at the same time.

I bought a PIE CABINET! For $15!! It's in lovely shape... but I've got plans to change the color!! I can't wait to share that project.

After lunch, we headed to Goodwill. Which was fine as we dropped off more than we purchased! That's good, right?!

I purchased only old books, this time around. They are for the craft projects on have on my To Do list.

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I hope everyone on the East Coast is safe - and, if necessary, taking precautions to stay that way. I've been watching Fox News almost all day, trying to keep in the know. My prayers are focused on the people affected by Hurricane Irene.

What is with me and ___________?

As promised... a blog post about me scoring... at Goodwill, of course!

We woke up BRIGHT & EARLY on Saturday morning (aka 50% off at Goodwill day).

We decided a breakfast of champions was in order... Cracker Barrel would do just fine,

And I, of course, needed some Sweet Tea to get my energy up!

Love me some sweet tea!!

Below are some of our Goodwill finds...

I see a lot of refinishing in our future!!

A table/sewing machine thingy. The sewing machine is from Sears and it STILL works!

Look at the peddle thingy!

I have NO idea where this is going to go. We may refinish it and then sell it.

We will see!

A not so old, but definitely functional side table.

We are using it in the main living room for now.

I think it will get refinished a darker brown, chocolate really.

And then kept where it currently resides.

I think.

A cool mirror.

[look at my boys trying to get in the pic. i warned them i was taking it!]

And finally... I love this next thing.

It's huge - so I haven't had a chance to get a really good pic of it.

It's a 6ft long RADIO CABINET!

She's a BEAUTY!

The speakers are still in it - but that's about it.

We have plans to refinish it - using a much darker stain.

And using a darker mesh-stuff (to cover the speakers).

What we haven't decided on is where it will rest it's sweet head.

Either the entry way...

or in my bedroom.

How exciting.... a mystery!

Seriously though...

What is with me and radio cabinets?!?!?

Rise & Shine

I don't usually time stamp these babies... but let me tell you, it's early!
As in 6am.

Why so early you ask? Or maybe you didn't. But I am going to share with you anyway.

Yes, even though today might just be the last day ever - you know, the end of the world?! (not!)...
I decided Isabel and I need new flip flops. Today is Old Navy's $1 sale!

So, I've got my peeps getting ready now... We are headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (Marcos made it clear he wanted biscuits and gravy for breakfast this morning, he just didn't say I had to make them!). After breakfast, we should be first in line at Old Navy. And then we are hitting up a brand new Goodwill!!  I think I will have a Goodwill post for you tomorrow; we went to a HUGE one in Scottsdale last night and walked away with a few treasures! We would have walked away with a ton more, if we hadn't just done a non-food Costco shop; our van was FULL!

So... I hope you have a fabulous Saturday! Regardless...
=)

It's raining...

... worms?

Our next door neighbor's yard is a bit flooded. And our tree is a wreck! The landscaper should have staked it from the get-go, but didn't. I now how an open complaint with the Registrar of Contractors.

So, we missed movie night last night due to the weather and Isa's softball game was cancelled this morning. Instead, we took Alex to the ortho and then made a side trip to Goodwill and Home Depot.

And Wal-Mart.

Today was 50% off at Goodwill, I scored a mirror that will be painted antique white, two vases, some valances for Isabel and some king size pillow cases (unopened) in a pretty creamy yellow.

As soon as I start messing with things tomorrow I will do a post about our recent finds and additions! ;)

Hope you are having a super Saturday - and that it's not raining in your neck of the woods.

Weekend Warrior... Not!

I so badly want to get my 3 dressers refinished... but it's a LOT of work.
I pulled out Isabel's yesterday... sanded the top... some of one side... and I was done.
But I couldn't be done. She needs a dresser.

So, I did the drawers. Thought if I sanded and painted them first, I would have more motivation to finish the actual dresser itself.

It didn't work.
But! I got the drawers done!
The dresser once belonged to my mom, when she was a kid.  It is pine - and currently stained "Island Blue" along with some juice spills - and add it a handful of stickers. Don't ask.  And don't you love the the zip tie drawer pulls?! 

Once I get the stamina, this sweetie-pie will be WHITE with beautiful new hardware. 

We still haven't finished painting Isabel's room. Slacker, I know. But, yet again, we've decided on a new direction.  And when we went Goodwill shopping this weekend, I found some really cool things to hang on her walls...  Now I just need to get some vinyl words ordered so I can make my vision a reality!! Can't wait!

Speaking of my vision, I think I've finally decided on the colors for formal living and dining rooms. All thanks to a trip to Michael's and their faux floral department.  Take a look:

Brown and Cream.

I was originally going to go with white, but I love how the cream looks in the room.

I am sure I will have other colors in there - but I think when it's time to focus on window coverings and table clothes, I really like the above combination.

We ended up finding some cool things at the two Goodwill's we went to... Now we just need some downtime to actually do something with them.

On a final note... we made our FIRST mortgage payment today.

The husband and I went in to the bank together.

It was cute.

Only 359 more to go!

=)