Veronica's Creative Spot

Two New Creations

2011-06-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize to my whopping eleven readers for being absent for three months now. I have been extremely busy working on something. His name is Garrett. Can you believe I made this adorable guy? He became a finished product on April 3rd. Wow, five kids has been a real trip. But it's been a fun trip.

And I finally finished the picnic table I've been wanting to build the kids for months now. Life seemed to prevent it (understandably so) but I finally found the time to do it. And I'm happy to say that my dining room floor has stayed remarkably clean as of late because my kids have insisted on eating all of their meals out on their new table. I need to take a picture of them all sitting around it. One of these days. It fits six children perfectly, from my seven year old down to my twenty month old. I love how it turned out! It is sanded and ready for a finish of some sort. I'm debating between an apple red enamel or a natural looking wood stain. Either one will be weather resistant of course. Decisions decisions! My good friend pointed out that it looks just like something she saw in a Pottery Barn catalog once. And I know the exact one she is thinking of. It too was candy apple red and it cost $350. Yikes!

I've had people ask me about this little table and if they can get one. Of course! I will make one for you at a price of $100. It will only be for local pick up (Salt Lake City area) so if you are interested, let me know. I will also do any finish you want for an extra $25, or you can get it sanded and naked and finish ready at no additional cost. I can also cut a hole in the center of the middle plank for an umbrella. The dimensions are 48" long and 38" wide. Contact me vnandrew555@yahoo.com

Homemade Wall Shelf

2011-03-02T11:20:00.001-08:00

We have an awkward sized wall in our dining area, and for the five and half years we have lived here, I have not been crazy about what's been on it. I've tried out a few different things, but it always seems to look too cluttered or too bare. I've wanted a simple shelf along that wall, hanging high enough so heads don't hit it, but low enough to be able to display things. But as my problem always is, our studs don't ever line up to anything I like, AND everything I find is either too expensive or just not the right size.

So what did I do? I decided to make something of course. All I did was get a 1x8 pine board and two pre-holed brackets in a style that I liked. The best part? The board was only $8 and the brackets were $1.98 a piece. I picked them up at Home Depot and you can find them in the lumber dept. But after looking at it, it looked a little too plain. So picked up a long piece of trim that I liked. I like this leaf pattern because it goes along with a lot of stuff in our house (and it cost about $5 for the whole piece).

I cut the board to the length I wanted, and it's somewhere around 4 feet long. Can't quite remember. I sanded it down very well, and the glued on the trim (making certain it was all cut to size to fit the three sides) and then used finishing nails to nail it in place. Then I spray painted the trimmed and molded board and the brackets in Rustoleum colonial red. Then I added just a hint of glaze to make the detail on the trim pop out.

I was lucky enough to find studs in the wall that were "almost" centered to hang my brackets on. This part was a little tricky, as is getting anything centered and LEVELED on a wall. If it's not level, it looks horrible. So first I hung the brackets, then I put some wood glue on top, placed the board exactly where it needed to be, let it dry, took the whole thing off the wall (being extremely careful because it wasn't quite sturdy and I didn't want the newly dried brackets to snap off). Then I nailed the brackets securely into the board while the whole thing was on the floor. I didn't want to be nailing the pieces together while it was delicately hanging on the wall.

Now that it's all glued and nailed together, it's very sturdy. It is just the right size for that wall and for what I wanted to display on it. Do you like the "LUCKY" blocks? I made those a few years ago and they were super simple. It's just pieces of 2x4s, green paint, and white lettering. I am pleased with how the ensemble turned out!

Basement Plans

2011-02-24T08:16:00.000-08:00

We have lived in our house for 5 1/2 years. We had this house built which was a first for us, and like everything you do for the first time, you learn from your mistakes. One big mistake we made was not having the builder finish the basement for us. We tried to save money and figured "Oh, we can do it for much cheaper than the builder will charge!" Ha. Big mistake. Because we have lived with only a 2/3 finished house now for half a decade and it's been a challenge.

With a new baby on our heels, we have felt intense pressure to get this project underway. I am thrilled to say that we now have a CAD drawing (thanks to my incredibly talented engineer father) so we know exactly what we are looking at. We have spent hundreds of hours down in that basement, dreaming and scheming over the years, of what we would like it to become one day. "Oh, wouldn't it be nice if one day we..." Now that day is here!

We have framing scheduled for about ten days from now and I couldn't be more excited. Who would have thought the idea of having hundreds of pounds of lumber delivered into our driveway would thrill me so? Friday after next can not get here fast enough. After the framing, we are having all of the electrical done. Then the city comes out to inspect it, then we will possibly have it re-insulated. Then the first thing to be fully finished is Ethan's bedroom. Our sleeping situation in our current three bedrooms is interesting, and poor Ethan has been dying for his own room for months now. Or mabye even years now. I have so many fun decorating ideas for his bedroom and I can't wait until we are to that point!

After Ethan's bedroom is completely finished we will do the family room, which will also be fun. We are making a cove in the wall which will house our television with built in shelves below it. But my favorite part about this room will be the large walk-in storage closet and neighboring work station. The work station will consist of a large built in desk with cabinets below, and shelves all the way to the ceiling. It will be a great place for the family computer and for kids to work on projects. Then on the other side of the bathroom door will be a floor to ceiling built in bookcase. We will also be replacing the current sliding exterior doors (upstairs as well) with nice French doors.

The bathroom and the laundry room will be the last things finished, probably within a few months of finishing everything else. Since it is still very livable being unfinsihed, we don't feel the same urgency to get them done. Ethan can hoof it upstairs to use the bathroom and shower when he needs to.

Stay tuned for fun things we are doing to our basement! It's going to be quite the adventure!

Valentine Shelf Sitters

2011-02-22T14:55:00.000-08:00

I know Valentine's Day was a week ago, but I am just now getting a chance to document a couple little things I made for the holiday. I always have 2x4s or scraps of 2x4s sitting in my garage, and I love to find uses for them. I made a couple of shelf sitters and I only used what I had on hand. Scrapbook paper, a little paint, distressing tools, Mod Podge, and ribbon. Notice I did NOT mention vinyl. Do I have a vinyl cutting machine? I wish. It's on my long list of things I'd like to have. Maybe for my birthday I will splurge a little and buy something like that for myself!

Doing faux vinyl on something like this is super easy, and when it's all done, you can't tell the difference. I simply fed my paper into my laser printer and printed off the words. If you have ample ink in your cartridges, it seriously looks just like vinyl letters. When you go to Mod Podge the paper onto the wood, brush all around the lettering and then at the very end give a quick swipe over the entire word surface, just to make sure it has the same sheen as the rest of it. If it gets too wet or you brush it too much, the ink can streak just a tad. But still, it takes quite a bit of glue application to even make it streak in the slightest.
I made a set of these "LOVE" blocks for each sister I visit teach from church. I love that this project didn't cost me anything! Go out and buy yourself a couple of 2x4s because they are very cheap (about $3 for 8 feet) and they are great to have on hand for when you get the crafting bug!

Tea Party Chairs- Complete!

2011-02-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

Another project completed! Still a ton to do before the end of March when I officially need to be off my feet in preparation for this baby's debut. These chairs were extremely easy to do. I made the first one from start to finish before I even began the second one. When building something I have never done before, I always like to make one "prototype" in case I make a mistake or don't like a part of the plans. But there wasn't anything I would change about these plans. You can check them out here.

They are said to be "$4 chairs", but builder beware. I did only spend about $3.85 on lumber. But then I added in three cans of spray paint at about $4 a piece and about $8 in screws. Plus there is the wood glue, but I already had that on hand. For paint I used Rustoleum Sweet Pea satin (about 1 1/2 cans) and Rustoleum French Lilac satin (about half a can for the seat slats). I also used all 1 1/2 inch #6 Philps head screws, about 40 for each chair.

I built the entire chair base and painted it before adding in the seat slats. Since I wanted them in different colors, I painted them seperately. And it worked out great since the slats are the very last thing to go on. I distressed the slats and had every intention of distressing the pink on the chairs, but I am tired and worn out and SICK of sanding. Maybe one of these days I will distress them further, but for now I am happy with them.
The girls were very excited to see them completed last night! Today they wanted to have a Valentine's tea party lunch with their "new" table and chairs. I am very pleased with how the set turned out!

Kid Sized Ballet Barre

2011-02-13T14:21:00.001-08:00

My little ballerinas have been getting ready for their upcoming recital next month. The other day Hailey was practicing in the living room but kept losing her balance during one of the moves. In frustration, she said "Mom, it's not fair that I keep falling! I never fall in ballet class!" I told her it was because they used a barre in class to keep balance.

And then it hit me. My friend Alicia made a simple ballet barre as a gift for her niece. I remembered seeing it once and when I looked at the picture again, my mind imediately started modifying and building it. Thanks, Alicia, for giving me the inspiration!

I had several 2x4s in my garage, along with some scrap pieces of 1x2s and plenty of screws. All I needed was a rod, so after a quick trip to Ace and forking over $5.99, I had everything I needed to make my girls their very own ballet barre. The design is very simple, but I learned a few things as I went and after some tweaking, this is what I came up with. I still need to sand and paint it. I have the perfect color of off white paint that I'm going to use to keep it nice and feminine.
I used 2 1/2 inch #8 Philips screws for everything except drilling the 1x2 braces into the side beams. I started by drilling the bottom 51" piece into the side beams (27" pieces). Then I drilled the rod into the top using a single screw on each end.

Next I drilled the 24" base beams onto the 51" cross beam. I thought I was done, but nope! Upon flipping it back over, I found that it was very wobbly. So I then used two more 12" 2x4s to make the braces on the bottom beam. I thought I was done. Nope! Still wobbly from front to back.

So I grabbed some scrap 1x2s and made four more 12" mitered braces for the front and back. Aaaaahhh, perfect! It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing design because of all the braces, but I didn't want it to get twisted and broken when a kid decides to hang from it, rather than use it for what it should be used for.

When it's painted, it's going to look great. I tried to get a picture of both girls in front of it to show that it's the perfect size for two small children, but alas. Lauren wouldn't stop playing outside to come in for a picture. Hailey has already informed me that she wants a "dark purple" stereo for their room so she can play her own ballet music while practicing (don't know where I'll find a stereo in THAT color...) They are quite the little divas!

Valentine Ice Cream Pie

2011-02-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

We had a yummy and VERY easy treat for family home evening tonight (for FHE the kids made valentines for the classmates). Not a whole lot to it and this is all you'll need for this variety-

1 graham cracker pie crust

3 cups softened vanilla ice cream

2-3 Tbsp strawberry lemonade powder (depending on how strong you like it)

1/3 C cold water

2 cups Cool Whip

sprinkles

Disolve the drink mix and water together. Add in the icre cream and beat with an electric mixer until just blended. Stir in the Cool Whip by hand, then pour it into the pie crust. Put a few sprinkles on top and then freeze for about an hour. This was really yummy and PINK! I should have added a little bit of red food coloring for that extra something. You can do this with anything...I think for St. Patty's day I will use an Oreo pie crust and mint chocolate chip ice cream instead, with a little more green coloring in it. You should try it!

Tea Party Table Complete!

2011-02-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

One more thing marked off my list! I am so happy with how the table turned out. The top was completely beaten up, but it was very salvagable and I couldn't deny what good shape the structure of the table was in. You can see what it used to look like here. Still can't believe this beauty was only $5.

I sanded it a lot, mainly on the top and the apron sides. The aprons were already distressed looking, but that is the look I was going for anyway. I still sanded the apron sides, but left quite a bit of the "cracked" look. Then I primed the whole thing (I used spray on the legs because I didn't want it to drip and look streaky on those ridges.) Then I used "heirloom white" spray paint from Rustoleum. After it dried completely, I distressed it quite a bit, then glazed it with Ralph Lauren's "manchester brown" (which is the same glaze I used on my six foot wall ledges). Obviously I was wanting the table to look antiqued and I think I accomplished that.

I left some of the cracking on the surface as well, and the glaze filled right in those cracks adding to the distressed look. Too bad you can't see the detail very well in these pictures.

The girls were very excited about it! Now if I can just find some time this week to finish their chairs. When I finish them, I will use the same technique with the distressing and the glazing. They are going to be light pink and lavender in parts. Talk about girly!

Entertainment Buffet

2011-02-05T21:12:00.001-08:00

This has been a very difficult couple of weeks at our house because everyone has been sick. Well, I have not been sick, but I've played nurse to everyone and it's been exhausting. Being 30 weeks pregnant while doing it is really hard, so unfortnuately many of my projects have taken a backseat to the sickies around here.

I have been able to get a few things done, like tonight I put the finishing touches on the tea party table. It's completely done, and I must say it looks awesome. Lauren saw it tonight and she squealed with delight! Tomorrow the glaze coat will be dry and the lighting will be good, so I can take pictures. The 40 pieces of lumber are cut for the chairs. I intended to have them constructed by this weekend, but alas. Real life hit. If everyone would get healthy again, maybe I could find a few minutes to finish them!

In other news...

We have been using the same piece of garbage Sauder entertainment center that Cody bought for $99 on clearance when we were dating. I hated it then, and I've hated it even more since it's been in my house ever since we married. Sauder is terrible furniture, but it's cheap and I guess you get what you can afford. Well the thing always held our 32 inch TV, until that thing died and we upgraded to a 42 in flat screen. Obviously that doesn't fit into the same cubbie as the old TV, so we now have the TV tower going. Know what I'm talking about? Not only do I hate our Sauder entertainment center, I hate even more the white trash look of a really nice TV sitting all the way on the top, with a huge gaping 35 inch hole down below where the old TV once resided.

I have been dying to get something different to use as an entertainment center for years. However, we have two significant problems.

#1- Money. Isn't this always the ruling factor? Everything I like is way too expensive.

#2- The wall it sits on. It is a very small area and worse yet, there is a blasted floor vent right below it. I DESPISE floor vents because they dictate everything with furniture placement! Right now, the Eye Sore sits right on top of the vent and we've never had air flow there, unless the whole unit is moved 18 inches away from the wall. Dear Hubs thinks there is nothing wrong with keeping it out from the wall. Yuck. He likes to live in a room as if it's perpetually being painted.

I have been browsing around at the type of piece I'd like as an entertainment center to house our big TV. As I looked around and realized what I liked, it dawned on me that these "entertainment buffets" are nothing more than a glorified dresser! $600 for something like that? I think not!

As much as I like the look of doors in front, the practicality of them with toddlers is non-existent. Doors are way too easy for little ones to open. And glass? I'd prefer to NOT expose that hazard and NOT display my unorganized mess behind them. But depending on the drawer type and hardware, it can be much more tricky for a little one to open and raid a drawer.

So I thought about it and thought about it. One day I was at a thrift store and I came across this dresser. The finish was HORRIBLE. The hardware was even more HORRIBLE. But the overall quality...impecible. The drawers were superb and even dove winged. Everything was super duper solid wood and in very good shape. The best part is the base because the front trim is elevated, as to allow air flow beneath it. All I need is a vent extender and problem solved! The opening at the bottom is about 2 inches, which is perfect. I always carry a tape measure with me just in case I come across a furniture piece that I am considering. So I measured it, and even better, the dimensions were exactly what I'd been looking for in every way.

Oh, and the price? $20. I had gobs of sand paper, primer, and even enamel and glaze in the colors I wanted.

Yes, I had all four kids with me and I still managed (with a lot of rope and help from the workers at the store) to get it home in the van in one perfect piece. You can't really tell, but it is pretty narrow in depth. That's one of my favorite things about it because it's not at all bulky like your typical dresser.

I really love the drawers. They are modern but old looking. Drawers are the absolute best thing to store DVDs in. Ha ha ha, and I am designating one of the drawers for diaper changing supplies because I do most diaper changes in the living room, but everythis is currently stored in plain sight in a basket. Tacky.

You can see the slightly elevated edge here. Can't believe I struck gold like this! I spent three days sanding and sanding this thing. It had a lot of knicks and scratches on the finish but after I was done, it was smooth as a baby's bottom. Then I primed it and painted it Forest Black from Behr.

Why do I not have an after picture? Because it's not complete. I still need to distress the edges all the way around and on the drawer fronts, then I need to glaze it. I did this right before Thanksgiving and well, time has not been my friend in months. The next thing I need to do it find the perfect hardware to go on it. We are still living with the Eye Sore in the family room until this gem is completed. When it's all done and I have the TV and stuff arranged like it needs to be, I'll for sure take "after" pics.

Valentine Candy Cane Suckers

2011-02-03T22:11:00.001-08:00

Do you have any leftover mini cnady canes from Christmas? I was shocked to find some hiding in the back of the pantry, so I had to make these cute suckers (taken from The Idea Room). They were really easy to do and I made them tonight while I was finishing up dinner. The simple steps allowed me to multitask!

Grease a cookie sheet VERY well. Lay down wax paper, and then grease the wax paper VERY VERY well. Unwrap your candy canes and lay them out like this around your sucker sticks. Make sure you leave space between cane tops like I did, because you will be bending them into shape.

Heat the oven to 350 and bake them for 3 minutes. It doesn't take long for the candy to soften, and it doesn't take long for the candy to bubble either! 3 minutes was just about right.

Enlist the help of another person because you have to work really fast in this step before the candy cools and hardens too much. Shape the soften candy to form a heart. No need to make it conform around the stick because the melted chocolate will meld it all together.

(I don't know why I picked the most crooked heart to take a picture of! The other ones looked better.) Do NOT remove them from the pan until they are 100% cool, and do NOT put them in the fridge to let them cool. The sudden cold on the hot candy will cause them to crack. Let them cool at room temp while you do something else, for about half an hour. Then carefully remove them from the wax paper.

Melt your chocolate pieces in a bowl. I used pink and red pieces from Wilton, about 1/4 a bag for each. It doesn't take much chocolate to fill in the candy cane hearts. Heat them in the microwave on 50% power for 90 seconds, stir, then heat again until you have a smooth texture.

Spoon the chocolate into the center of the hearts and smooth it out. Then sprinkle with something fun!

Now you can put them in the fridge to let them set up. In about half an hour you can eat them!

$10 Collage Ledges

2011-01-31T12:14:00.000-08:00

I love marking a project off my list! I finished my ledges and I am so happy with how they turned out. Ever since we moved into our house 5 1/2 years ago, I have hated this long empty wall. It's been hard figuring out how to decorate it with out it looking too cluttered. And it's ONLY taken me this long to settle upon an idea!

You can check out the plans for these ledges here. The lumber only cost about $9 for one. I made mine six feet instead of eight feet because the size suited my needs better. I already had a ton of frames on hand (I tend to collect them) and I had the paint as well. I like the red, black, and white together, although you can't tell some of them are red in this lighting. The other night I uploaded about 50 pictures to put inside them, all in black and white (still need tp pick them up). I think this collection is going to look great.

I painted them with Behr paint that I already had on hand. The color is "off white". After they had two coats of paint, I sanded them again to distress the edges all around. Then I glazed them with Ralph Lauren's faux glaze in "manchester brown" to give them a rustic look. I love how the wood looks really old. Just what I was going for!

A word of caution- when you go to purchase your 1x4s, make absolutely sure that your wood is not bent or warped. I was careless about it and I bought a couple pieces that should have been more straight. If you look closely, you can see that one ledge is slightly warped on one side. But it just adds to the antiquish look...right?? RIGHT??

Also, the plans say to use 2" finishing nails in the front. That is way too long and only makes it more likely that they will split the wood. Since you are only nailing them into a very thin piece which is less than 1" in thickness, chances are you will nail it in slightly off center and 2" nails almost ensures it will not be a good thing. So go with thin nails at about 1" in length.

Have fun building!

New Projects On the Horizon

2011-01-28T22:38:00.000-08:00

As much as I love each individual season, I think I am ready for the weather to warm up again. Utah in January can be brutal. The main reason I need it to be warmer outside is so I can be comfortable in my garage. I have been trying to finish my framed peg boards but I am at a standstill. The next step is to paint them BEFORE I can install the frames {which are cut and ready to be drilled in}. But I can't paint because it needs to be about 20 degrees warmer in the garage for the paint to perform like it should. Ugh!

Good thing our basement is still unfinished {and this is the only good thing about it} because it is my temporary workspace. Who cares if I get sawdust and paint everywhere, right? Today I almost finished my 6 foot ledges that will go along the long wall in our upstairs family room. Tomorrow I will distress them and add the topcoat of glaze, let them dry, and then hopefully be ready to install/hang them on Sunday afternoon while Hubby is here to help me do it. It's for sure a two person job! And yes {GASP} I am going to do it on a Sunday! I can't wait for it to be all done so I can take pictures. Aaaaaah, accomplishment.

I have all the supplies ready to build these chairs. Remember the tea party table? Well I sanded it like crazy this week and it's ready to prime and paint. I am painting it "heirloom white" by Rustoleum with a "manchester brown" glaze from Ralph Lauren. It's going to be adorable! All day long while I was finishing the ledges, my daughter kept coming in to see if I was done with her table yet. Sorry Sweetie! A few more days, I promise.

The chairs are going to look similar to what is shown above, except the seat slats are going to be lavender. It ties in their already lavender bedroom, plus my five year old is overly obsessed with purple and insists on a splash of purple on everything. These chairs will hopefully be done by the end of next weekend!

And next on the list {and this is a biggie} is our new dining table and benches. Our table is going to look very similar to the above one but with a different stain. The benches will be these exact ones but will be distressed/antiqued black. My goal in the next year is to acquire the perfect antiquish captains chairs for the ends of the tables, which I will also refinish to match the benches. Yes, I say a year, because I am realistic and I want to find the perfect chairs. I am in no rush!

And then there is this adorable bench. Do I have a need for it? Not really. But it's so cute and I'm racking my brain trying to think of a good place for it in our house. I might try to modify it a bit so it can go by the front door on the porch. It would be great to put potted plants on {and around} during the spring and summer. I'm thinking a very rustic barn like red...think "Old Glory".

Ever since we bought our house, I have wanted a table and chair set for the backyard. We grill a lot in the summer and there is nothing better than gathering around an outdoor table and eating corn on the cob and watermelon. But like always, bringing myself to spend $400 on a table set is crazy. Plus, most sets only come with six chairs and that usually isn't enough. This is why I am a huge fan of benches for a larger family.

This table and bench set is a for sure thing this summer. I am already excited thinking about it being an awesome shade of aqua, and maybe I'll find the perfect red umbrella to go with it. Oh yeah, I will make a hole in the center of the table to accomodate a large umbrella. Gotta have some shade back there!

And the last thing on my long list are a couple of these guys. There is something about adirondack chairs that shouts tranquility to me. I think of a breeze on the shores of Cape Cod, even though I have never ventured out that way. But I found these plans and although they are tricky, I want to make two of them for the back porch. And I would coordinate them in with my aqua and red table/bench set, and maybe make some perfect throw pillows to rest on the seats. It's going to be a great summer!

Entry Way Bookshelf

2011-01-26T22:52:00.000-08:00

Would you ever have thought to use wainscoating as the backing to a bookshelf?? Me neither!

We have this space next to our front door that is empty. But it shouldn't be empty. It should be a place for a cute shelf or table with a funky lamp and a vase of something and maybe a favorite family photo, and maybe even a cool dish to throw car keys into. I have been wanting to fill that space with something like this, but there are two problems I keep running into.

#1, the space is only about 30 inches wide.

#2, there is a floor vent right there and nothing can cover it up. Dang those floor vents. They seem to rule our house.

I came across this plan for a bookshelf and I fell in love. The dimensions are almost perfect, but that's the great thing about building something yourself- you can modify as you need to. The great thing about this plan is that the shelf sits up on legs! Therefore, it can sit over a floor vent because air can flow out from underneath it.

I know what most of the lumber will cost and a rough estimate will be well under $30. Where else can you find something like this for an amount like that? This project is number four on my "project priority list". Can't wait to get started!

Refinished Piano Chairs

2011-01-25T13:11:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, right in the middle of piano lessons, my bench broke. It's an antique piano and matching bench and the joints in the bench finally gave out beyond repair. Finding an independent bench is nearly impossible, and trust me, I'd looked. I'd gone to several piano stores, antique stores, and thrift stores. My searches always left me benchless.

So I started thinking about the possiblity of NOT using a bench, but rather a chair. Given that it was the correct height, it would probably work! But a chair at a piano? I wasn't sure if it would look right. PLUS, when I start teaching again, I'd need two chairs and I thought I'd be lucky enough just to find one that I liked.

This is the type of chair I envisioned in my mind (not crazy about the wicker seat, but I really loved the shape and style). Pottery Barn, I have a deep love hate relationship with you. Why must your beautiful chairs cost $200 a piece?

One afternoon in late October I was taking a load to DI (our local thrift store) and I had a feeling that I should go inside and just look around. I was not looking for a chair, but I'm always on the lookout for a good piece of wood that I can refinish. I rounded a corner, and I found two matching chairs and my heart stopped. The shape and style was perfect. The horrible bright blue and brown paint on them, hideous. I looked the chairs over with a fine tooth comb and I was flabergasted to find what incredible shape they were in. They were solid wood and the joints were in pristine condition. The rungs were sturdy as well as the cross bars on the legs. My guess is that someone else had redone them and after they looked at the horrible shade of blue and brown, decided they had made a huge mistake but were too lazy to re-do them. Ha ha ha, their mistake was my fortune!

Oh, and here's the fantastic part. The chairs were only $5 a piece. I wanted to scream from sheer excitment!! I grabbed them, paid, stuffed them in the car, made a quick stop at the hardware store for the perfect shade of paint, and headed home.

For two days I did nothing but work on these chairs. The blue paint was chipping off everywhere and I had a ton of sanding to do. I sanded and sanded and primed and primed. Then I gave them each two coats of Rustoleum spray paint in colonial red. I am thrilled with how turned out. Looking at them, even closely, you would never guess they came from anywhere but a place like PB. DEFINITELY not a thrift store! The best thing is that I now have two chairs to use for piano lessons. I keep one at the piano right now, and the other stays hidden down in the basement for safe keeping. I am in love!

Kids Coat Rack

2011-01-25T12:44:00.001-08:00

Are you tired of your kids leaving their stuff all over the floor? Our house is set up in a way (we have a multi level house) that doesn't allow for a really good rack system on the main living floor. So we constantly have dance bags, coats, and backpacks all over the place. I had been looking at racks at places like Home Depot, but they are all so expensive for ones that are big enough. But more than that, I hate that they each have pre-drilled brackets on the back. Meaning, if your studs don't line up just right, you can't hang it into your studs so it negates the whole purpose, right? Our house builder did not frame our studs in the standard way that most stuff is pre-drilled for. It drives me crazy.

So one day I found an old 1x4 that I had lying around. I figured the perfect place for a rack was right by the garage door so the kids can hang stuff up as soon as we walk in. I bought some nice but inexpensive hooks for about $3 a piece, and I already had everything else on hand.

First I cut the wood to the correct size that I wanted. Then I primed and painted it with what I had on hand (I really like black because it's classic, doesn't show finger prints as easily, and it goes with everything.) I found my studs in the wall, marked them, then figured where I wanted to line up my wood on the wall.

Hanging the piece of wood was the tricky part because you really need more than two hands. Enlist the help of another person and it will be pretty easy. Drill the holes and put in your screws directly into the front of the wood (or nails will work just fine too because you are putting them into studs and you can cover up the nail heads or screw heads with more paint). You will need to use a countersink drill bit if you are using screws, to make them flush with the surface of the wood.

After it is hanging and is completely level, you are ready to install your hooks. Again, very simple. Measure twice, drill the holes, and screw them in! Easy as pie. The rack is far more sturdy than anything that has brackets on the back. The fact that the screws go directly in through the front of the wood and into the studs makes all the difference. And the hooks hanging independently AWAY from sheetrock only adds to the stability. Kids can practically hang from the hooks and it won't move a bit!

Layered Enchilada Bake

2011-01-25T11:25:00.001-08:00

I wish I had a picture of this one, but I didn't take any yesterday because I was thinking this would NOT be a good recipe. But oh my word, I just ate a huge portion of leftovers for lunch! This was a good one and very easy. Cody and I decided this was kind of like a Mexican lasagna. And it's great because it mainly uses staples that you probably have one hand all the time.

For a 9x13 pan you will need-

1 lb ground beef
1/2 a medium onion, diced
1 1/2 cups chunky salsa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp Italian salad dressing
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
6-7 flour tortillas
1 C sour cream
1 1/2 C shredded cheese (I use colby jack)
lettuce and tomato for garnish

-Brown meat and onions in a large skillet. Drain off fat.

-To the meat, add salsa, beans, dressing, and taco mix. Simmer 10 minutes.

-In a greased baking pan, put a single layer of tortillas. Layer that with half the meat mixture. Evenly spread half the sour cream over that, and then half the cheese over that. Repeat layers, ending with cheese on top.

-Bake uncovered for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Take out of the oven and garnish the top with chopped lettuce and tomato. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

2011-01-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

I should change the title to "THE BEST CHEWY OATMEAL COOKIES EVER!!" These cookies really are supberb. I made these on Sunday with the intent of taking them to a family in our ward, but we ended up eating the whole batch ourselves. I guess I'll have to take them something else instead!

I absolutely hate rasins and I think they desecrate anything they are put in, especially when baking. Hubby on the other hand loves rasins and said these cookies would be better with rasins. Yuck. Go ahead and add some if you like, but I think they are awesome without.

For about 36 decent sized cookies you will need-

1 C softened butter
1 C white sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 C minute oats
1 C rasins (optional of course!)

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-Cream together butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until nicely blended.

-In a seperate bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon.

-Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture using the dip pour method.

-Once the two mixtures are combined, gradually add in the oats. This will be VERY thick and you will likely have to do the last cup by hand unless your mixer has a "steroid" setting.

-Drop by the tablespoonfull onto a greased cookie sheet. I use a standard size cookie scooper which looks like a small icecream scooper.

-Because you want the cookies to lay somewhat flat, take a glass or a cup and gently press down on the center of each cookie to make it lay down. Don't squish them, just press a little bit.

-Bake appx. 8-10 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Since each oven varies, you may have to experiement with the first batch. I baked mine for exactly 9 1/2 minute and they were PERFECT. Try not to over bake because they won't be as chewy.

Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping

2011-01-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

Meal planning is a chore. Just ask my husband, I avoid it like the plague. And it's not the deciding upon what to have for dinner that is the chore, is calculating it, scheduling it, thinking ahead to what will sound good when, evening the score between beef nights, chicken nights, pork nights, leftover nights, etc. But it goes with having a largish family or even a smallish family for that matter. I never was an avid meal planner until our family started growing and we started running out of money before the end of the month. Then I realized that my grocery habbits needed to change and thus, a religious meal planner was born.

We all know that shopping without a list is foolish and you end up buying things you don't need and might never use. Along the same line, I feel that shopping without a detailed meal plan is just as foolish. Simply stocking your pantry and cupboards with staples is never enough.

Twice a month my husband and I sit down together and go through recipes, food magazines, store ads, and even (and maybe especially) our family calendar. The first thing I do is get out my trusty planner.

I look ahead to the next two weeks and see what is on the calendar. What will be quick meal nights because of activities? When is Dad out of town or working late? When will we be going out or eating in for a special ocassion? Looking over the planner is CRUCIAL.

Then I grab my spiral notebook and write out dates and days for the next two weeks, allowing about two lines per day. Then the real fun begins as Cody and I go through and pick out what sounds good to us. At first we just make an unorganized brainstorm list in no particular order. If it sounds good, we write it down. The first thing I pull out is my recipe box.

Several years ago I signed up to the get the Kraft Food and Family magazine that came out quarterly. At the time it was free, but recently they have started to charge a small fee of about $7 a year. Still, totally worth it.
The magazine if chalked full of family friendly recipes that go with what's in season. It gives you ideas for what to do with leftovers, slow cookers, desserts, different kinds of meats, and they have chefs who write articles and give tutorials about food techniques. I started saving these magazines back in 2006 (I wish I'd thought to save them earlier on, but they always ending up in the recycling bin) and now we have a good collection to choose from. We use these every month to plan menus from. I simply write down the issue and page number next to the food choice in my spiral so I can refer back to it when making the actual menu and list.

Another book I refer to is this beauty, which my best friend Brandi gave to me a while back. I have no clue where she got it, but it has come in handy time and time again.

It is about 50 weeks worth of meal plans from main dishes, to sides, to salads, to desserts. Hopefully she will read this post and comment where she found this lifesaver!! I don't use the actual meal plans, but I refernce it all the time for ideas on individual dishes. It's got some great stuff in it.

I must pause her for a minute and acknowledge people who may read this and chastize me fro NOT couponing and shopping ads. I have done it in the past, and honestly, I don't like it. I find that it's way more of a headache than it's worth, and I have never found a way around feeling bad about myself for buying a bunch of stuff "on sale" that I didn't really need or like. And most of the time a lot of my food purchases are the generic or store brand anyway, and coupons are usually for the name brand. And after I've done the math, I never come out ahead even when the name brand products ARE on sale.

And making meal plans from ads does not work for us. What I do is make a menu and then shop around through ads to see if something in particular is on sale and a great place somewhere. But I will get to that later. I'm sure there is some trick to hard core couponing, but for now my way works great for our family.

Okay, back to what I was saying.

After I have searched the calendar, listed out dates and days, and we've brainstormed what sounds good and will maybe work with our schedule, I pencil in a rough draft of dinner plans. Like I said before, I keep it even between different kinds of meats, as not to have four nights of chicken in a row! The rough draft will look something like this-

Like I said, it's a VERY rough draft. It just gives me an idea of what our dinners could look like over the next two weeks. Oh, and you'll see that I included Family Home Evening treats for Monday nights. Can't forget that!

After I've gone through and finalized the main dishes for each night, the real headache begins. What to make for sides? Salads? What ingredients do we have, what will I need? This is where the real money saving happens. You will be amazed at how much extra money you spend on things like tomato paste or cream of chicken soup each time you are at the store. Staples like these, which we often times forget we already have in abundance, add up like crazy with each grocery trip. So I plan out to a tee what ingredients the recipe calls for and what I already have. You will be surprised to find that often times, you already have a lot of the stuff lurking in your pantry!

Once the plan is finalized, I find out if certain things are on sale somewhere. Pulled pork BBQ sandwiches are on the menu, given that pork shoulder is not ourtageously expensive everywhere. There is a good website called Deals To Meals but as far as I know it is only local to my region. Check it out to see if it's available in your area. For $5 a month you can view the grocery ads for most markets in your city. Plus, she also gives meal plans based on what's on sale. (The reason I don't use this part is because I don't want to be tied down to HER meal plans. I like to use more of what we already have in our freezer and pantry, plus there are many weeks where our family schedule doesn't match up to what she has planned for her menus...so I use her ideas only as light suggestions.)

If you are into price matching, using ads comes in handy. But again, big fat stinking headache and I have never ended up saving that much money doing this because I just shop differently. If it works for your family, more power to you!

I go through my whole pantry and take inventory of what we have and what we need. It is VITAL to inventory staples, as I said earlier.

When my meal plans are finalized, I make a rough grocery list that looks something like this (only showing the front side of the paper here)-
I should mention that obviously not everything can be purchased for a 2 week time frame. There are perishables which will have to be purchased at the beginning of week two like french bread or produce. So I make an additional list and call it "Second Week Perishables". I do hit the store again but as always, I STICK TO THE LIST for that week.

Through out the week, I keep a list on the fridge of what we are running low on and what we are out of. It could be grocery or non-grocery...just anything that we need from the store. I always refer to that when making my shopping list and is avoids all the "Uh oh, I meant to get this so I'll run back to the store and grab it." Then that $5 trip ends up being a $20 trip because you end up buying stuff you didn't really need.

I normally do most of my shopping at the same store, and I am very familiar with it's layout. Knowing the layout of a store is extremely helpful in making categories. For example, I know they they sell tortillas on the bread aisle and not in the ethnic aisle like some stores do. And yogurt is sold on two aisles over from milk. Crazy, I know! So the more finalized list looks something like this on one of the sides-
I also have a category for more household type items since the store I mainly shop at carries a lot of that stuff.

When I am at the store, I STICK TO THE LIST. Planning is the key part of grocery shopping. Once I'm at the store (or stoes in some cases) I race through at lightening speed. It's the preparation that takes the long part and causes the headache. My last bi-monthly grocery trip was on MLK day when Cody had the day off and was able to sit home with the kids. I got a TON of groceries that totalled $253 and I did it all in 57 minutes and I did not forget a single thing. (I have to add though, $250 is NOT our bi-monthly food budget. This trip included quite a few out of the ordinary purchases. My daughter's birthday was a few days later so a lot of this stuff was party related. LOL, I wish we had $500 a month for groceries! Normally is is about $300.)

Now the trick is going home, hauling it into the house from the van, finding a place to put everything, and relaxing for a few minutes. On our fridge is a calendar of what we are having for meals on what day. Each night I have a habbit of looking at it to see what I need to thaw for the next day. So before bed, I check the calendar and open up the freezer. Tomorrow is spaghetti and meatballs and meat is currently thawing in the sink. You'll be surprised what peace of mind feels like when your meals are planned out two weeks in advance. Aaaaaaah, it's a great freeling!

(Edited to add- there are some nights when things come up and we end up switching around meals on certain days, or flat out do not have time for anything more than grilled cheese. So we are flexible, but end up sticking to the plan on most nights.)

Sacrament Book Pictures

2011-01-23T14:53:00.000-08:00

I have had several people request copies of the jpgs for the Sacrament picture books I made for my kids' church bags. Since there are 37 of them and emailing them will take me a while, I will only send out one massive email and then you are SOL (unless maybe you plead and beg!). If you would like to be included in that email, leave me a comment with your address and I will send it your way. The books were very easy to make. The jpgs translate nicely into a 4x6 print. Just upload them to whatever photo service you use (I usually use Costco.com) and that's it! Easy as pie. Have fun making your own child's book!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

2011-01-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love making homemade bread when I have the time. I'm not crazy about the messy hands that result from mixing and kneading flour and water together, but I love to watch it rise, I love how it makes the house smell as it's rising, and I LOVE to eat it straight out of the oven. I found this recipe recently and couldn't wait to have time to make it. I made it yesterday and it did not disappoint at all! In fact, I will be making two more loaves tomorrow morning before church so it can rise while we are gone.

What you will need for one loaf-

1 1/2 C milk, heated to about 110 degrees
4 Tbsp butter (3 of them melted)
3 large egg yolks
4 1/2 to 5 C flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast (1 pkg)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt

Filling-
1/2 C white sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
5 tsp cinnamon

-In a small bowl combine the filling ingredients, reserving 1/4 C. Set the rest aside.

-In a different small bowl, whisk together the warm milk, melted butter, and egg yolks. Then in a large bowl, combine reserved 1/4 C filling mixture, 1 Tbsp sugar, 3 C flour, yeast, and salt.

-With an electric mixer, beat together the dry mixture and the milk mixture. It will be thick. Then stir in by hand as much of the remaining flour as you can. When it is thick enough, turn it out on a floured surface and knead in as much of the remaining flour as you can. The dough should be slightly wet and elastic.

-Form the dough into a ball and coat it in a very small amount of vegetable oil so it doesn't dry out and form a crust while rising. Place it in a plastic bowl and cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap.

-Place the bowl in a cozy place and leave it for at least two hours. This dough may take a while to rise, so don't beat yourself up if it still has NOT doubled in size in two hours. I actually let mine rise for four hours and it was beautiful!!! It is better to let it over rise than under rise in this step.

-Punch the dough down in the bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes to rest. Then roll it out onto a floured surface into a rectangle appx. 20x8 inches. Give the dough a light spritz of water from a spray bottle. Evenly sprinkle all but 2 Tbsp of the filling mixture onto it. Spread it around and spritz it again with the water. Roll up the dough.

-Generously grease a 9x5 bread pan. The bottom needs to be very well greased and floured because the bread will be gooey on the bottom and will want to stick otherwise. Place the rolled up dough into pan and cover loosely with a towel. Let it rise until at least doubled and it nice and high above the rim of the pan (appx 1 1/2 hours).

-Before sticking it in the over, brush the top of the dough with the reamining 1 Tbsp of butter and sprinkle with the remaining filling. Bake in a 350 degree oven for appx 40 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Take the bread out of the pan as soon as you can safely handle it to keep it from cooling and sticking to the bottom. Enjoy a warm slice smeared with butter!

Valentine Mailboxes

2011-01-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Target dollar spot? Each time I am at the store I can't help but browse through all of the fun stuff piled up in those bins. The other day I found these mailboxes and had to buy a few. You can't tell, but they are pink and red. Red for the boys, pink for us girls. And don't worry, I even have an extra red one stashed away for our new baby boy's first Valentine's next year!

Starting February 1st I am going to surprise everyone each morning with a little love note and a special V-Day treat. Something small most days, but maybe a few bigger things other days. And I'm going to encourage everyone (this includes you, Cody) to write little love notes to stick in eachother's mailboxes for those two weeks. I love that the boxes even have flags. Can't wait to see the excitment on the kids' faces when they see the flags raised, signifying that something is waiting for them inside!

Kids Church Bags

2011-01-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

Sundays are crazy. And it's gotten to where all the "stuff" we take to church is no longer fitting in the diaper bag. I decided it was time that the older kids were responsible for their own things to take to church, so I made them their own church bags. I found the perfect size canvas bags at Walmart for $3 a piece. They were very stiff so I first washed and dried them a couple of times. Then I cut out each kids' initial with fabric scraps and sewed them on to each side. I intentionally left a raw edge around the fabric because I like the look. After they were sewn on, I washed them three more times to REALLY fray the fabric.

Each kid also has their own pencil bag full of pencils and crayons. No more fighting over colors! And everyone is responsible for keeping track of their own drawing utensils. Each bag also contains their scriptures, a new coloring/activity book, a spiral notebook, a special picture photo book, a snack, and a spilproof cup of water. At the end of the meeting the kids were excellent about cleaning up their own stuff and taking it with them to Primary. It worked like a charm this week and they were really excited about their new bags; now let's see if they will keep it up! To make things more interesting, I plan on surprising them with something new in their bags each week. Don't know what yet, but I hope to come up with some cute activities to change it up a bit. When church was over, I got a kick out of seeing them walking down the hall with their bags draped over their shoulders. Also, they were able to put their Primary stuff from the day in their bags, rather than bombarding me with everything to hold in my already full hands.

The picture books were the really fun part for me. We have had a serious reverence issue in Sacrament Meeting for a long time, so I wanted to make something that would remind them to be more reverent, especially while they are passing the sacrament. I found these photo albums for $1 a piece. Each holds 38 photos, which was just right. I went to the church's website and found the gospel art kit (you can find it here). I went through and picked out my favorite pictures of Christ, the Book of Mormon, and my favorite Bible stories. I also found pictures of temples, prophets, even the Articles of Faith. I saved each picture as a JPEG to my computer, then with a little Photo Shop, I added titles and descriptions to each picture. Then I uploaded them online and had them printed off as normal prints. Simple! The very first picture in the album is a picture of our own family. Today during Sacrament Meeting they LOVED flipping through their new photo albums, and it really kept the spirit!

On Writing It Down

2011-01-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about the new year picking out a new day planner. Yes, I am of the old school generation that still loves to have things written out ON PAPER. I have a very fancy phone and it has an electronic planner within it, but I hate using it. Not that I don't understand how to, but I hate having my day in an electronic form. I could go on for days about how I feel like I was born 100 years later than I should have been because I don't like most of the technology that surrounds me today.

I write in my planner several times a day. I make lists. I get the kind of planner that has an entire page for each day because I love having lots of room to make these lists. I love making to-do lists because I LOVE marking things off when they are completed. It gives me a rush! Sometimes I write things down that I have already done, just so I can mark them off. I have a few pages in the back that I use for frequently used phone numbers and I do my best to actually dial out a number when I call someone, rather than depending on the programmed numbers within my phone. I would be up a creek if something were to ever happen to my archived numbers if I didn't have them written down somewhere else!

Each night before bed I open my planner and look at the next day. I write out everything that I need to do that day. Phone calls to make, what room to clean, what closet to sort through, what project to work on, kid drop offs/pick ups, things I need to buy at the store, meetings, what to make for dinner, etc. It's all spelled out for me the night before and it makes the next day go much smoother.

I love the way my planner looks and feels after months of use. The corners are worn and the pages are wrinkled. It's like a mini-jounral of my life. It keeps track of everything that my family is up to, and these days it's getting busier and busier. I love when I am making an appointment, that I can whip out my planner and look at dates, right there in front of me. It thrills me to have things to write down. I am NEVER at a loss for something to schedule or record, and it thrills me just the same each time I do it! Yesterday I got the girls' ballet recital season schedule (pictures, rehearsals, performances, etc) and I was very exxited to write it down!! Am I a freak that it makes me so happy? There is nothing better than sitting down every week and look toward the upcoming weeks to see what's in store for us. I schedule EV-ERY-THING. When I was a kid I often times carried around a clipboard with some sort of organizational something-or-ther on it. Probably not normal for a kid to do that, but it was me. It's for sure carried over into adulthood!

WANTED: Bunk Bed Inspiration

2011-01-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

My girls have been in dire need of bunk beds since a while ago. Our bedrooms are small and getting side by side twin beds are out of the question. I decided with the new year, Ethan's bedroom in the basement being finished soon, and a new baby coming in less than three months- it was high time to get serious about re-doing their room.

The set I would REALLY like costs about $700, so that is out of the question. We need new beds now and don't have time to save up. After much shopping around and doing a lot of research, I found these beds at IKEA. Like all things from IKEA, they are inexpensive. But often times you get what you pay for, so I was sceptical.

Today while Ethan was at school, the younger three and I made the thirty minute jaunt out to Draper to the only IKEA store in the state. I wanted to "test them out" and see first hand how they were constructed and how well they were made. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are solid wood, no laminate finishing anywhere. The wood is pine and although it's the cheapest real wood that furniture is made out of, the beds were very solid and every piece felt very safe and secure. I sat there for a long time while the girls climbed all over the floor model, which mind you, has likely been climbed on by hundreds (or even thousands) of other kids. I tested and re-tested to see what would happen if they shook this way or that. Durability is one of my main criteria, and these suckers seemed to pass the test.

My biggest qualm is how they look. They have a very thin natural finish on them and they are easily paintable given the propper sanding, primer, and paint. In my head I imagine this very feminie and pretty antique white all over all the furniture in their room (they currently have a beautiful dresser that I've been putting off refinishing until we had beds to match). But the style is well....boring to say the least. No accent, no character, no dimension; just a bunch of simple 1x3 pieces of lumber bolted and screwed together.

My delima is how to transform them into something special. Right now I am thinking it would be cool to hang the entire bottom of the top bed with a drape that I can tie back at the corners, and let loose when they want to be enclosed into the bottom bed. When I was little, my sister and I used to always hang blankets from the top bunk, over the bottom bunk, as to make a fort. I could do something REALLY pretty with some sort of chiffon fabric. And the underside of the top bunk has the perfect area to attach something like that. I can see it in my mind and I love it.

But what else? I can always fancy them up with lots of fluffy throw pillows and linens. But I want to do something else. Maybe attach some strips of molding somewhere before they are painted? I am really at a loss. My goal is to make them look very different than they currently do.

By the way, if you have ever purchased these exact beds, let me know what you think of them. Two years ago we bought some IKEA silver metal bunk beds for my son's room and they have held up beautifully. Not once has a screw, nut, or bolt ever had to be tightened. They might be standing even after the house is destroyed in an earthquake!

Stackable Saw Horses

2011-01-08T19:34:00.001-08:00

With twelve 2x4s, a box of three inch screws, a drill, and a chop saw, I now have four beautifully sturdy and stackable saw horses. I have been needing a couple of saw horses for quite some time, but the ones that are worth a darn at the hardware store are about $25 a piece. Hard to bring myself to pay that anytime I am there.

My dad has been busy building these babies in the garage today. He drew up the plans in his CAD program, and they are actually very simple to make. The best part is that they stack perfectly which is great since we are limited on space. The lumber they are made of is super light and even a big pregnant lady can stack and unstack the highest one. I will try to get him to send me the plans in a format that will let me post it on here.

Tea Party Table

2011-01-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

We have been cleaning out our basement and crawl space, and today I took TWO WHOLE VAN LOADS of stuff to our local thrift store. After I dropped everything off, I decided to run inside and make a very quick lap to see if anything caught my eye. I am always on the look out for a piece of furniture that I can refinish, and while in the store I found this little table. My heart almost leapt from my chest! We will soon be fixing up our girls' room and I have been thinking that a little table set would look great in there when the room is done. But small tea party table sets are of course expensive, at least the ones I like.

This table is old, but incredibly sturdy and very well made. The best part is...it was only $5. The joints are solid and all it needs is a new finishing job. I nabbed it and when I got home, after detailed inspection my dad (who is visiting) even told me what a great table it is. It's the perfect size for two little girls! I have plans to make it a distressed antique white. Now all I need to do is find the perfect small chairs or stools to go with it. Should I make some? I love this kind of treasure hunt!

New Toy...Are You Jealous?

2011-01-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

Today my dad and I took a leisurely stroll through Home Depot while Hailey and Ethan were at school. He is in town for the week and has been all kinds of help to my on projects I've been working on. He has an extensive knowledge of all things mechanical and construction and his help is invaluable. I know a lot about tools and building small projects, but I lack a lot of knowledge about what tool is best for what and stuff of that nature. So today he gave me a condensed tutorial about construction and especially power tools. I had no idea that there was such a difference between brands, types, sizes, amps, etc.

While at the store he decided that "he" wanted a new miter saw. He has an entire workshop of every tool imaginable at home in Texas. And obviously he can't fit such a thing on the airplane when he goes home on Monday. She he bought "himself" this new toy but will keep it at our house. That is his way of buying me something without imasculating my husband or spoiling me.

So now sitting in my garage, is a 10 inch, 14 amp, Ryobi compound miter saw with laser beam. We have a few things to work on before he heads back to Texas (like building me four saw horses!!) I am so happy that this will be sitting in my garage and that he is gracious enough to let me use "his" saw whenever I want to.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

2011-01-05T16:26:00.001-08:00

Go check out this bread recipe from Amy over at The Idea Room. I am also a huge lover of Great Harvest cinnaburst bread, but it's pricey. This reacipe looks like a good knock off. I am currently out of brown sugar, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be making this as soon as I've gone grocery shopping!

Calendar Blocks

2010-12-31T09:46:00.000-08:00

I am heading to Home Depot today to stock up on pieces of lumber, and I for sure will be making these blocks this week. Perfect little shelf sitters. Check out this project at Brown Paper Packages!

Back Again!! And a New Favorite Site

2010-12-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

I have always been the type who would rather receive a big gift certificate to a place like Home Depot, rather than any other store. I love the sound of a power saw and I love the smell of sawdust. Most of my childhood Saturdays were spent watching my Dad build or repair something. I loved waking up on those mornings to the roar of one of his many power tools coming from the garage.

It's been on my to-do list to clean out our garage and create a work space for building things. I do most of my projects in our unfinished basement, but since we have plans to finish off parts of it in the near future, my current workspace will be no more. I have a million projects running through my brain on a daily basis of things I'd like to build and create. One of my favorite things to do is inventory our house, see what items we are in need of for our growing family (most of them are always furniture of some sort) and hit the second hand stores to see what I can find. I think I have a good eye when I find something that I can make something else out of. It's kind of a passion of mine.

I was elated when I came across this website that has a hundreds of different plans for building toys, furniture, shelves, and many other things from wood. I am a huge fan of the store Pottery Barn, but not a huge fan of the price tag on anything. I am attracted to their stuff because of the clean lines and simple designs, but we'd have to take out another mortgage to afford the furnishings that I drool over. www.ana-white.com is a site that has many "knock-off" design plans from expensive places such as Pottery Barn. She has everything laid out for even the most inexperienced builders. Do yourself a favor and check it out!! Her designs are absolutely amazing. Now my motivation for cleaning out the garage has sky rocketed!

I have been eyeing the retro style play kitchen from PBK for years, ever since Hailey was a toddler. But the entire set costs about $800 and who in their right mind would pay that?? When I was in kindergarten my class had an amazing little wooden kitchen in the class and I always wanted one. I came across these plans for this kitchen on www.ana-white.com and about died. I have it in the works to make this for the girls for NEXT Christmas, but I think I may do more or a retro red, black, and chrome color scheme. We'd likely keep it in the basement family room and I'd like the little boys to be able to use it also as they get older.

We have been in dire need of a new dining table and chair set for a long time. We have for sure outgrown the tiny one we still use, but anything that seats eight people comfortably is super expensive...at least in the rustic style we like. I came across the above table on her site and aside from it being a SUPER easy design, I love how it looks! Just my style. I think we may have found our dining table. And again, it is a complete PB knock off, along with the bench below it. We would likely do the bench and then shop around for the perfect 5 chairs to surround the rest of the table. I love it!

And again, another PB knock off. This looks exactly like the Mason headboard from PB which costs $700-800 dollars. Yikes!! This plan is very very easy and very very awesome. We have been in the market for a headboard for years but it's one of those things that is expensive and not really a "necessity". But I think we may just have to build this baby. And I'd love it to be rustic black to match the rest of our bedroom.

Ethan's 6th Invites

2010-02-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

Ethan has been dying to have his birthday party at the arcade. How totally 80s! I was a little inspired by Prince and we ran with it. The colors are much more neon and bright in real life, but you get the idea. Radical!

Hailey's 4th Invites

2010-01-07T20:33:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been 345 days since I posted last! Not that I haven't been up to anything creative, but finding the time to blog about it is the trick. Hailey's birthday is coming up and a few weeks ago she decided she wanted a rainbow party. A rainbow party? Huh? I was a little worried about coming up with ideas for it, but after I found this scrapbook paper the ideas began to flow! Now I am super excited about it. Does this invite not just scream Rainbow Brite? It is going to be such a cute party! Perfect for a 4 year old girl.

Splish Splash

2009-01-27T15:45:00.000-08:00

You can't see the "splish splash" wording very well here, but you can in real life.

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-01-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

You thought I'd disappeared again, huh? I'm very slowly but surely catching up. I've been good about doing a layout a day and I'll get them uploaded as I can. This one isn't crooked like it looks. It's just how I took the picture.

LUCKY blocks

2009-01-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, right? These are the blocks Lynette and I came up with last FEBRUARY!! I never made them the night of our focus group because I was very busy seeing about money and stuff. So I took the supplies home and swore I would get them done before St. Patty's day that same year. Well 11 months later they are done. It only took me half and hour to do, but sometimes even finding that amount of time is a challenge. Now they can go on my cute accent table by the front door. (That is...when I find the perfect accent table to put by the front door! That has been on my to-do list for three years now.)

Back Again

2009-01-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

I know, you probably don't check this blog anymore. I've been creating stuff a lot this year but never get around to blogging it. It's a resolution this year to be better at it! Here is the card I created for this month's swap. I got some great ones in return and will post those later this week!

Baby Shower Book

2008-07-11T22:57:00.001-07:00

My friend and neighbor just had boy/girl twins and we are throwing her a shower tomoorrow. She is also moving out of state so the shower will serve as a farewell party too. I made this keepsake book for guests to write a message giving some sort of mommy advice, along with their address so she can keep in touch. Simple and cute!

School Picture Project

2008-05-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

I tend to overbook myself. A few weeks ago I was in the shower and that is when I do my best brainstorming. I thought "Hey, I should go take a nice picture of Ethan's class so I can scrapbook it". Then when I suggested that to the teacher I suddenly volunteered to do all three classes. Let's just say this turned out to be an ordeal.

But finally they are done and just in time. I made each one into a nice keepskae for the kids. If they want to do something else with the picture like stick it in an album it won't be too hard tp peel the picture from the mounting. They turned out pretty well. And ignore the different paper choices. That was an ordeal in itself. I mis-calculated how much paper I would need and then Hailey found a glue stick and ruined several sheets. So I improvised.

A New Page

2008-03-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

Actually this isn't a new page. I did this one in January but I am only now uploading and blogging new pages I have done this year. I stole this idea from Staci. I just loved the individual explanation of each kid. This is the first page in our 2008 book (after the title page). It' s a little boring and lacks accent, but it'll do. I decided I am going to do one like this each January of the kids. It will be fun to see how they evolve. Thanks for the idea Staci!

Pimpin' Aint Easy

2008-03-17T22:13:00.001-07:00

Lynette and I are still getting the kinks worked out of the craft night we started a few months ago. I've decided I am the craft night pimp. I made so many calls today trying to collect our money from people who still owed. I just need some gold chains and a cane. Here is part one of last month's project. It's 6x12 inches. Cute idea Lynette! The second craft we did that night will get posted about shortly.

March Card Swap

2008-03-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad about posting on this blog. I actually have a million things to post, but it is a matter of getting pictures uploaded and then sitting down and writing about them! This month the card swap theme was "thank you". I'm not crazy about my cards because I had to do them the afternoon of. Oh well. Tomorrow I will take a picture of the super cute cards I got and make a post about it. I also have about 20 scrapbook layouts that are all done, just waiting to be journaled and photographed. Hopefully all of this will be done by week's end!

Best Meatloaf Ever

2008-02-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

A few people asked me for my meatloaf recipe because I made mention of it on another post (on our family blog). So here it is!

Glaze
1/2 C Ketchup
1/3 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp mustard

Loaf
appx 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3 slices of bread, crumbled through food processor (or blender)
1/4 C chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
1 cube beef bullion, crushed
2 Tbsp lemon juice

- Mix all glaze ingredients together.

- Combine all loaf ingredients, plus 1/3 cup of glaze. Mush all together until evenly mixed.

- Shape into a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

- Pour off fat from pan and spread remaining glaze on top of loaf. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until center of loaf reaches 160 degrees.

Mango Salsa Chicken

2008-02-24T21:52:00.000-08:00

I have a new love. Mango salsa from Costco. Oh my gosh, I can eat it by the spoonful like soup. Cody had a great idea to use it as a marinade for chicken. But I took it a step father and used it as a sauce for chicken in the crock pot. YUMMY!!!!! And this is the simplest recipe on earth and relatively low in fat.

Take 5 chicken breasts and smother then with salsa in the crock pot. Cook it on LOW for 3 hours. Depending on the size of the breasts it may take a little longer, but check it after 3 hours. Once it is done sprinkle grated [cheddar] cheese over the top while it is still in the crock pot (enough to cover the top), then replace the lid. Once the cheese is melted it is ready to go! I served it over rice and let me just say, holy wow. I scooped out LOTS of salsa chunks onto the rice and the chicken was so tender and juicy. It is almost a meal in itself!

January Pages

2008-02-09T15:22:00.001-08:00

I've set a goal for the year to scrapbook at least 4 layouts/pages from the previous month. So the first day of February I printed off all of my January pictures and I have given myself the whole month to get my pages done. I figure this is a great way to keep up on them. These are the ones I have done so far. I am working on 2 other layouts right now. Sorry about the glare on the pictures. I haven't figured out how to make it not do that even when they are not in plastic sleeves.

February Card Swap- Part II

2008-02-09T15:17:00.001-08:00

Here are the cards I got from the swap this week. Everyone had such great ideas! The 3 tier cake card is actually fabric and it is really cool.

February Card Swap

2008-02-07T13:26:00.001-08:00

These are the cards I made for tonight's card swap. The theme is "birthday" (if you couldn't tell). The bows on them were a pain in the neck but I like how they turned out.