The 5th Brick House On The Right

Why every mother needs MOPS

2013-09-06T08:51:00.001-04:00

Dont skip over this post, its not about housework!

I love MOPS, so much in fact that I run our local group!

MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers, but its sort of a misnomer. Open to any woman, pregnant or adopting, all the way through until her youngest finishes kindergarten!

The mission of MOPS across the country is to encourage, equip, and develop every mother of preschoolers to realize her potential as a woman, mother, and leader in the name of Jesus Christ. We do this by meeting moms “where they are” in their stage of mothering and in their spiritual walk. MOPS exists as a ministry that supports and encourages the moms right in our own church family to help them become who God designed them to be as women, moms, and wives. We also exist as a ministry to reach out to moms who may not have a relationship with Jesus, providing a group they can come to for support and encouragement in an environment that fosters growth and spiritual development.

Sounds pretty fabulous right?? I know!

Each year MOPS International develops a theme to help with building and planning for the MOPS year. This years MOPS theme is A Beautiful Mess, Embrace Your Story. The theme verse is Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Our leadership team gathered together to brainstorm for the year and come up with some awesome table center pieces and I wanted to share with you what we created!

We always strive to have our center pieces be calm and relaxing .. our homes are messy and colorful enough! While browsing Pinterest we stumbled upon these beauties!

Credit

We just knew they would be perfect for our "Embrace Your Store" theme!

Last night the 7 of us gathered to paint, glue, create, chit chat and bond .. for 4 hours!

And these are what we created!

We followed her instructions for the bases but used yard sale picture frames for the tops. Each one is different! We left them empty, sort of a "your story is still being written" sort of thing. Since they looked "antique" ish .. we tried our hands at making quill pens! These are store bought goose feathers, which just so happen to be hollow on the ends. we just stripped the ink and roller ball tip from some pans and shoved them inside the feathers! A dab of glue and they look fabulous!

Another mom on the leadership team just happened to have a collection of vintage hard back Grace Livingston Hill books that look amazing stacked under our empty frames.

We had so many frames left over that we are hanging them around our MOPS room with lace bows.

I will post more pictures after our first meeting next week! And watch for lots of MOPS stuff to come, we have 18 awesome meetings to get through between now and May!

If you are not part of a MOPS group, you should be! Please visit www.mops.org to learn more about MOPS and find a local group in your area, you wont be sorry!

Simply gorgeous kitchen table make-over!

2013-09-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

Shes done .. shes gorgeous ... shes everything I hoped she would be and then some!

Lets refresh our memory of what she looked like when she came to live with me shall we?

Yuck! No wonder she was just $25.00!

I sanded the top.

Then stained it a rich dark walnut.

Painted all the wood a nice bright shiny white.

Then I recovered the chairs in this beautiful outdoor fabric! No pictures .. whoops! I choose outdoor fabric because its sort of shiny and wipe-able, great for a kitchen!

And here she is!

Price breakdown -

$25 for the table, benches and chairs at a yard sale

$18 for fabric

$16 stain and polyurethane

$70 primer, new paint brushes, spray paint

$0 white glossy paint, already owned

= $129

Other then the table and fabric .. I can use all the supplies over again on other projects .. but I figured the cost into this project. The purdy paint brushes were not cheap .. but they are pretty amazing.

I wanted to sell the table ... because really I cant use it, its to small. But since I loved it soooooooo much I planned on pricing it high .. so maybe it would not sell and maybe I could make room for it in my house! I listed it for $300 on Craigs List Buffalo. And my girlfriend called me right away and said .. WAY under priced! She insisted I raise the price to at least $500! People can always offer less, and since I was not desperate for the money I could sit on it a while (no pun intended!). She had some good points. So I edited my listing to say $500. And it sold, that day, for $500 bucks. Maybe I should offer her a finders fee??

$500 selling price

-$129 in supplies

= $371 profit

Are you kidding me?!?! I am super excited to be sticking that money right back into my "house fun money" Dave Ramsey envelope! Maybe I will pick up these gorgeous broken glass looking lamps from Target I have been eyeballing for weeks for our bedroom makeover!

My table was featured at The Dedicated House and Crafts a la mode!

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Rain On A Tin Roof, Home Coming
Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner, Lil' Luna, Madcap Frenzy, A Stroll Thru Life, Yellow Bliss Road
Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado, Craft A La Mode, No Minimalist Here, From My Front Porch to Yours, The Happy Housie
Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage, The Girl creative , Craft Scrappy Happy
Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic, The Jenny Evolution
Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing. Debbiedoos
Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Its So Very Cheri

My new white coat

2013-08-25T08:13:00.000-04:00

I knew from the start that I would paint the table base and benches white. Although this set is not quite "farm house" -ish, its close. I was thinking something like this Pottery Barn table which sells for way over a grand!

I am going to use just basic off the shelf white high gloss paint. The high gloss will give it great wipe-ability and with the darker stain top and bright fabric .. well its going to be gorgeous!

I gathered my supplies and headed outside on a beautiful 75 degree day!

I read lots and lots of tips on painting wooden furniture, I loved this one from Centsational Girl. So I followed it as best as I could!

You can tell here that there used to be a corner piece to this bench.

Since I was going to paint it white I just used wood filler to fill the holes and painted right over.

I use Zinsser primer, because everyone swears by it, and because it meant NO MORE SANDING!

I primed the benches and table legs with a roller and brush.

I used a spray can for the chairs.

I let the paint cure for a while. 2 months actually (hey, life happens!)

Then I painted the bench and table legs glossy white with brush and roller.

And sprayed the chairs again.

The set looks amazing! Bright white .. clean .. shiny .. I love it!

Up next, the big reveal!

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Rain On A Tin Roof
Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner, Lil' Luna, Madcap Frenzy, A Stroll Thru Life, Yellow Bliss Road
Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado, Craft A La Mode, No Minimalist Here, From My Front Porch to Yours, The Happy Housie
Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage, The Girl creative , Craft Scrappy Happy
Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic, The Jenny Evolution
Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing. Debbiedoos
Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Its So Very Cheri

Front Door Eye Candy

2013-08-18T12:36:00.000-04:00

I have needed a new wreath for my front door for a while now, I was still sporting my spring one.

I have seen several of these cute burlap bubble wreaths popping up all over blog land recently and thought maybe they would be perfect for these last few weeks of summer and right into fall.

I followed directions I found here

Except that I am even ~~cheaper~~ a better shopper then Allison and I bought my burlap at Walmart for $3.00 bucks a yard.

Supplies:

1 yard of burlap $2.97 at Walmart

Pins $2.97

Wreath $2.39 on sale

Craft paint $.33 on sale

Wooden Cross $1.00

Flowers $4.19 on sale

Cat Tails $4.19 on sale

Total $18.00 bucks!

I cut a ton of squares that were about 4x4 .. I did not measure. I used all 72 squares that I cut.

Pinch 2 ends together

Then bring in the other two ends

Then pin it to the wreath. You want to make sure you buy pins with a large head or the burlap just slips out!

I bought tiny pins .. I ended up twisting the pin in the burlap to help them stay!

It took about 2 hours to pin them all on.

Then I took the cat tails and pinned 3 sets with grass on. After I liked the placement I just smothered the stems in hot glue.

I ran my finger nails down a new pieces of grass to make them curly.

Then I tore apart the stem of flowers and just glued some here and there and added some of the leaves.

After it was finished I simply glued in this pretty wooden cross I found for just a buck! Its painted robins egg blue. I loved the sweet pop of color .. AND .. I am thinking of painting my front door blue! I live in a ... take a guess .. BRICK house and think a pretty blue/teal/aqua ish door would be awesome!

Then I simply hung it on a nail already on my door! I love that there are strings and seams in the burlap showing too .. sort of rustic .. looks used and not brand new.

I LOVE IT!

My girlfriend and I did our wreaths together .. I wanted to share hers too!

Whats hanging on your front door??

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Rain On A Tin Roof
Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner, Lil' Luna, Madcap Frenzy, A Stroll Thru Life, Yellow Bliss Road
Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado, Craft A La Mode, No Minimalist Here, From My Front Porch to Yours
Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage, The Girl creative , Craft Scrappy Happy
Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic, The Jenny Evolution
Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing. Debbiedoos
Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Its So Very Cheri

Easy Vinyl Sign

2013-08-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

Its wedding season! Yeah!!

I love a good wedding .. but I don't get to go to many, most of my friends are married already!

In just 2 short weeks my sweet friend Jen is getting married! She was a brides maid in my wedding and I can't wait to see her get married and live ~~happily ever after~~ this crazy little thing called love.

I have always loved the verse in Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 " Two are better than one, because they have good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Being that my family and I are all born again believers marriage is very important to us .. and living our faith in marriage is huge! One of the things I love about this verse is the last line "a cord of three strands is not quickly broken" Notice it says 3? I believe marriage takes 3, me, my husband and God.

I wanted Jen and Jay to have this verse to hang on to. Having been married just 6 short years I know what a rough/amazing road marriage is!

I picked up this wooden shape at Hob Lob on sale 40% off for just $1.79 (oh, Jen.. this is the part you stop reading.. no fair knowing how much your priceless gift really cost!)

After a few quick coats of a white spray paint it was ready to go!

I used my eClips to cut out the vinyl wording. Using their eCal software I created this file.

Then I simply cut it out in black vinyl which I already owned. I removed all but the vinyl I wanted and grabbed a sheet of transfer paper. Ok I lied, its not transfer paper, its contact paper from the dollar store! Way cheaper and works just as well!

You lay out your contact paper sticky side down and make sure you rub really well and attach the vinyl.

Once you peel the contact paper back up you should have your vinyl stuck to it, sticky side expose and be ready to stick it to your wood. Stick it down .. give it another good rub .. peel it back and admire your work!!

Your easy vinyl sign is done! I attached 2 command strips to the back for easy hanging. I also wrote out the rest of the verse and signed the back for sentimental reasons.

Since I already owned the vinyl and spray paint this project cost less then $2.00. (Please don't think I am cheap .. there was plenty of budget left to fork over some cash to the love birds .. its what they really wanted anyway!)

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Rain On A Tin Roof

Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner, Lil' Luna, Madcap Frenzy, A Stroll Thru Life, Yellow Bliss Road

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado, Craft A La Mode, No Minimalist Here, From My Front Porch to Yours

Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage, The Girl creative , Craft Scrappy Happy

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic, The Jenny Evolution

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing. Debbiedoos

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Its So Very Cheri

Budget friendly back to school clothes for Middle School

2013-08-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

I mentioned earlier this week that I finished my daughters school clothes shopping! Click here to see how much I actually spent!

One thing I like to think about when shopping is the "cost per wear" or CPW. Meaning, if I pay 100 bucks for an outfit that I wear once, well my CPW is 100 bucks. But if I spend that same 100 bucks on some jeans and a tee that I can wear, say 10 times, my CPW drops to 10.00 bucks! Lets assume my daughters each wear an outfit 10 times (that's every 2 weeks for 6 months, give or take) I will show you the cost of the outfit and the CPW for it, the lower the cost, the better value on my clothing!

So what did I buy for my $161.98?? Here are 12 of my daughters favorite outfits! (Her sister is away at camp this week or she would share her favs too!)

Old Navy Boot Cut Jeans $1.50

Old Navy Tee $1.00

CPW .$.25

Same Old Navy Jeans $1.50

Ralph Lauren (!!) sweater $1.00

CPW .$.25

Same Old Navy Jeans $1.50

B Wear layered shirt $.87 cents

CPW .$.23

Same Old Navy Jeans $1.50

H&M Top (!!) $1.00

CPW: $.25

Justice Jeans $1.00

Circo Top $1.00

CPW: $.10

Target tank $.50

Cherokee Skirt $1.00

CPW: $.15

Lands' End dress $1.50

CPW: $.15

GAP Kids shirt $.87

LL Bean skirt $1.00

CPW: $.18

Shes already called dibs on this as her first day of school outfit!

Justice top and jeans $1.50 each

CPW: $.30

Gap Jeans $1.00

Temped Girl shirt $1.00

CPW: $ .20

Circo top and leggings $.50 each

CPW: $ .10

Forever 21 tank $1.00

Circo shorts $1.00

CPW: $.20

The best part .. she picked out each of these outfits! So I know she will wear them!

Shes happy, I'm happy.

School Clothes on a budget!

2013-08-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

Its that time of year again .. the time when our nation as an average spends $688 bucks PER child PER year on school clothing! Really? That is outrageous in my opinion .. maybe because its way out of our budget as a family .... maybe because honestly its a bit much .. excessive actually. But I guess .. if you have it, spend it.

We have 5 children and this fall I will have 4 in school. 7th grade, 6th grade, Kindergarten and PreK. I will admit Kindergarten and PreK ... not a lot of shopping will happen for those two - they have clothing, it looks nice .. done.

My older girls need cloths ... and cute ones to boot. Typically I am the mom who would say "this is what you have, wear it" but I would rather pay for the clothes they want now then pay for therapy in a few years because I forced them to wear sweaters all winter.

So from now until September I am on a mission to fill their closet with something in style, fashionable, modest, cute and CHEAP.

My goal this year is to spent just $200 bucks, not counting shoes on my two middle school girls .. $200 bucks total. Not each. It works out good that they both wear the same size .. but it will still be a challenge!

School clothes shopping on a budget is a long process. I cant just head to the mall and do it all in one day. But what I can do is hit all the summer sales at my favorite consignment sales, hunt yard sales and visit Goodwill each Monday.

My first stop was Once Upon A Child. They were holding a clearance sale and after 6pm everything marked with a red line was 75% off!

I spent just $36.28 and saved $187.99 off their marked prices!

A few weeks later I stopped at a VIP sale at one of my favorite consignment shops! Shes on Facebook and once a year the first 10 to comment get to come shop her $1.00 sale a day early! This is the 2nd year I have made it to this preview sale! Remember everything I bought was just a buck! I will list her selling price to see how much I saved!
In the end I paid just $27.78 including tax!
Forget retail .. even if I had paid her prices it would have cost me $384.44! A savings of 84%!!

For 4 weeks straight we stopped by Goodwill on Monday Mornings. In NY our Goodwill's have a points program, each dollar spent is 1 point, 100 points is $5.00 your next trip. Monday's are double points!
Each week we stopped at Goodwill I only bought the color tag that was 50% off. My daughters size are normally $3.00 each so I bought them on sale for $1.50 a piece plus tax. I ended up spending $97.84 at Goodwill over the course of 4 weeks. Even if each item retails for $5.00 I would have spent $300.00 at Goodwill (and I am pretty sure $5.00 is a low-ball estimate!)

In the end here is what I ended up with:

12 skirts
8 dresses
13 jeans
10 other pants
7 leggings
9 long sleeved shirts
27 short sleeved shirts
5 hoodies
4 shorts

95 items! (average price of $1.70 each)

I spent $161.90 and saved at least $872.43 that's 82%

I think we are done! Both girls have at least a weeks worth of outfits before I have to do laundry again! Good enough for me! They also still a lot from last year that still fits! In a few weeks I plan on showing you how I change over closets and weed out what needs to be donated!

Click Here to see a few of the outfits we put together!

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Rain On A Tin Roof

Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner, Lil' Luna, Madcap Frenzy, A Stroll Thru Life, Yellow Bliss Road

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado, Craft A La Mode, No Minimalist Here, From My Front Porch to Yours

Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage, The Girl creative , Craft Scrappy Happy

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic, The Jenny Evolution

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing. Debbiedoos

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Its So Very Cheri

PVC Pipe chairs in 3 sizes!

2013-07-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have been hunting yard sales all summer for folding camping chairs for my kids .. so far nothing.

I looked at buying them .. but even at just $10.00 bucks a pop I thought maybe I could do better.

I happened to see a pin recently of a lawn chair made from PVC pipe .. too bad the picture did not go anywhere! (anyone else hate that?!?!)

Thankfully the picture was labeled enough I could make one .. which turned out to be super small. So I adjusted the sizes to make it larger .. and even larger still!

These chairs are super easy to make and pretty cheap too.

Small Chair: Perfect for a 1-2 year old

1 - 10' piece of 3/4 PVC $1.98
8 - 90 degree elbows $.46 each
6 - T joints $.46 each
= $8.42

Cut List:
7 - 10" (A)
4 - 5" (B)
4 - 4" (C)
2 - 6" (D)

Medium Chair: Perfect for a 3-4 year old

2 - 10" piece of 3/4 PVC $3.96 (you will have left over)
8 - 90 degree elbows $.46 each
6 - T joints $.46 each
= $10.40

Cut List:
7 - 13" (A)
4 - 8" (B)
4 - 5" (C)
2 - 7" (D)

Large Chair: Perfect for a 5-6 year old

2 - 10" piece of 3/4 PVC $3.96 (you will have left over) ((If you make the medium chair and large chair you will just need 3 pieces as your extra from each chair are used on the other one)
8 - 90 degree elbows $.46 each
6 - T joints $.46 each
= $10.40

Cut List:
7 - 16" (A)
4 - 10" (B)
4 - 5" (C)
2 - 9" (D)

each chair also used about 1/4 yard of fabric, all from my stash and 1 can of paint, 4 bucks each at Lowe's.

Assembly - well I could not figure out a way to label a pictures in such a way you could understand it .. but really these chairs are not hard!

A is the bottom 2 pieces, 2 arm rests, 2 that form the seat and 1 for the head rest.

B is the 4 pieces leading up to the "seat", these determine how high off the ground the child sits.

C is the 4 pieces from the seat to the top of the arm rest, these determine how high the arm rests are.

D is the 2 pieces that make the head rest, these determine how tall the back of the chair is.

Clear as mud??

After you make the chair .. just measure the width of the "seat" and from the head rest to the seat bottom with some slack. You just need a panel that is sewn on all 4 sides with 2 pockets to slide the pipe through.

If you want to, you can spray paint them! I would do it together as painting them makes them just thick enough they are hard to put together again! And you don't need to paint the two bars covered in fabric.

Stick the fabric on and there ya go!

In case you are wondering about the sizes .. I was able to get all 3 kids sitting all at once .. for about 2 nano seconds .. and no, they are not all smiling.

My daughter on the left is 3

My son in the middle is 5

And my daughter on the right just turned a year.

And as an added bonus .. they stack!

If you were planing on taking these camping .. you could take them all apart and wrap all the pipes in the cover and they would be as small, if not smaller then ugly camping chairs!

My chairs were featured on

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The FloorsTuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's KornerWednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much AdoThursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek CottageFriday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek ChicSaturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its OverflowingSunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, Its So Very Cheri

Improved! Car Wash Sprinkler for kids!

2013-07-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have seen several of these "drive through car wash" style sprinklers this year. The base is always the same .. some PVC some holes some water and FUN!

Mine started pretty much the same way! Never-mind the extra pieces .. there is a 2nd project coming soon! To build mine you will need:

7 10" PVC pipes $1.94 each

4 elbows $.46 each

5 T's $.46 each

4 3-way 90 degree elbows $1.60 each

1 pipe to hose piece thingy .. no name something or other. $.38 each

I found all my stuff at Lowe's and I used 3/4 inch PVC and connectors.

Total cost $24.99 so far

You will also need a pipe cutter .. we already had one but they are about 10 bucks to buy. Or you could use a hand saw .. but it takes foreveh!

Cut 6 pieces that are 5 feet tall

Cut 10 that are 40" long

After that its pretty simple .. the car wash is 5 feet tall by 40" wide. the side panels are 40" on each side with a 5 foot in the middle for support. There is not a 40" across the middle nor is there a 40" along the ground in the front or back.

Pick the spot where you want your hose to connect.

Eyeball it and just cut an inch or 2 out of your 40" piece and save it.

Add in your extra T and then the extra inch piece and then your hose connector thingy ..

Now, at this point make sure all 5 of your children (collect some neighborhood kids if you need extras) are standing behind you .. swim suits on .. waiting for you to finish .. after all you are just "5 minutes away from being done kids .. get ready!"

Now connect your hose!

I said .. CONNECT YOUR HOSE!

Do you spot the problem?? Apparently I failed anatomy in nursing school because I bought a male PVC end thinking it would fit into my male hose.

This is the part where I have to tell all my kids that mommy forgot a part and needed to run to Lowe's and that sprinkler time would have to wait .. causing a pretty major melt down .. oh well.

Here are both pieces back to back .. the left is the female end and the right is the male .. do you get why?? Please don't make me draw you a picture!

There .. that's better! You are now ready for your hose!

I drilled holes every so often to allow water to pour in.

Nothing left but to turn on the water and let her rip! Ok kids .. have fun!

"MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM ... your sprinkler looks like its peeing!"

That's when I thought back to my days living in Phoenix. Growing up we had a mister system in our back yard .. it gently misted water down on us .. lowering the temperature a good 20 degrees! It took some calling around but I found misters at a Lowes about 20 minutes away and headed out!

They come in different spray heads, like 90 degree or 180 degree or full 180 degree, they run 3-10 bucks a pack for 12 of them. I picked up 2 different styles for another 8 bucks.

See the water now? You almost can't! Because its a super fine mist that totally gets the whole inside of the "rectangle" wet .. it may not look like it but the kids ended up soaked once inside!

In the end it took me several hours and 2 trips to Lowe's .. and a total of $33.00 bucks.

Totally worth it for hours of fun in the hot sun!

I am thinking of gluing it together .. maybe adding some "shammy" wipers and sponges .. painting it .. who knows! For now the kids love it just as is :)

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors
Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner
Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado
Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage
Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic
Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing
Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, Its So Very Cheri

1 Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

2013-07-25T11:10:00.000-04:00

My 1 year blogiversary actually came and passed! Last week!

I totally missed it!

Its never to late to party!

To celebrate I am giving away a $25.00 gift card to Target!

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Master Bedroom Makeover - my plans!

2013-07-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

It was said once in our Young Married Ministry at Church "your wife should love your bedroom, it should be beautiful and decorated the way she likes it .. that way she wants to spend lots of time in there!"

Well stated Travis.

Allow me to show you my bedroom.

Yeah NO.

This room is NONE of the above. In fact its like an anti-bedroom .. I avoid it!

My husband and I have slept in each of the bedrooms in our house trying to find an arrangement that worked for our family. In the end we settled in this room. Brief side note: we live in a 3/4 bedroom house with 5 kids. Right now we have this room (2nd largest), our son has the other bedroom on the first floor (2nd smallest). All 4 girls share the "master" bedroom upstairs and the smallest "4th" bedroom is a family dressing room for all the girls and all their clothes.

Years ago this room belonged to our 2 oldest .. which is why the walls are "Pond Water" teal.

But .. we have been sleeping in here for a good 4 years now and have not done a single thing to it!

Todo:

- Paint the walls! I am thinking a soft green/gray color

- Paint the trim white (all the trim in the house is "almond")

- Window treatments

- Um .. Bedding!

- Something on the walls!

- A headboard

- New Dresser

- Small sitting area? 1 chair and small table??

- Accessories!

- New lamp shades

- Paint the night stands

Here is what I am thinking!

source

I LOVE this frame wall! I have already started collecting!

And I might just put it over my dresser like this too!

source

A canopy over our bed? Yes!

source

The purple bed set is Anthropology at almost 300 bucks!

This is an Anthropology knock off that I hope to tackle! In all white even!

A soft green/gray paint, this is Rain Tree by Benjamin Moore

source

I want a dark walnut stained headboard .. maybe from pallets? I have some already!

source

I already have a dresser .. but I want to stand it and paint it two toned like this! White paint and a dark walnut stain to match the headboard! I will paint the night stands white since they are not real wood.

I cant wait to start!

And my budget? Well I had these two HUGE dressers in our room that were given to me years ago before I was even married .. but they were just to big for our room and half empty. So I sold them on Craigs List for $200 bucks!

I am hoping to pull off the WHOLE room make over .. floor to ceiling for just $200 bucks!

How to clean your Crock Pot

2013-07-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

I love my crock pot! It gets used at least weekly in my house! Just this week I made 3 crock pot meals because it was 90+ degrees here and just to hot to run my oven! Our last meal this week, Crock Pot Bacon Ranch Chicken (amazing by the way!) Left burnt sauce in my crock. My sweet 12 year old who is in charge of dishes used a spoon to scrap out the burnt stuff .. leaving silver scratch marks all over. The inside of the crock pot was pretty dirty as well .. I am pretty sure this is burnt pulled pork from last summer ... don't judge. The problem was the stuff inside the crock pot was hard as a rock and the stuff in the crock had already gone through the dish washer and had not come off.

I sprayed some oven cleaner into my crock pot, Easy Off Fume Free (but I still opened a window) and just let it sit.

For the crock I went with my old stand by Bar Keepers Friend! The same stuff used to clean my kitchen sink and even my daughters shoes! See the burnt food and scratch marks?

You need to wet the surface you want to clean and then sprinkle on the BKF.

I also like to sprinkle it on my scrubber .. you want a "paste"

It took no elbow grease and about 5 minutes to scrub it clean! Tada!

Mean while .. the crock pot has been sitting now for 5 minutes with oven cleaner on it.

Again, no elbow grease and about 5 minutes and all the gunk just wiped off!

Gave it a good rinse inside and out and tada!

Here, some side by side action of the before and after!

Please don't panic about my miss-matched crock and pot .. we support interracial relationships :) The truth is I am rather hard on crock pots .. I broke the "crock" on my black one and the "pot" on my white one and thanks to my sweet husbands hording tendencies .. I ended up with a new crock pot :)

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors

Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado

Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, Its So Very Cheri

Easiest Pillows Ever! - Basement progress!

2013-07-15T11:43:00.000-04:00

As you know our basement flooded .. after we completed the demo it was clear we had no idea how to put it back together! I had planned on blogged about how to put in a sump pump .. but we hired someone. Then I was going to blog about how to hang drywall, but we hired someone. Hanging new doors? Yep, hired someone. New carpet .. hired someone.

I will admit that we painted it ourselves though!!

There are times in life when you have to weigh your options .. AND your level of experience and make a choice to DIY or DI-dont!

I am not ready to show you the finished basement .. because its not finished! It is usable .. but there is still a lot to be done!

I did want to show you today how I sew the easiest pillows in the world! Start with pillow "forms" from the craft store .. or find yourself some UGLY thrift store pillows for dirt cheap! Like a buck a piece! The striped fabric is a yard sale shower curtain for just 2 bucks, the rest was clearance fabric from Joanns the other day and I paid a 2 bucks a yard for 3 different ones.

When I buy thrift store pillows (never for my bed, just throw pillows) I make sure to buy ones with a lining in them. You can check by pinching the outer fabric and feeling under it to see if there is a second layer and not just fluff. I also stuck all 5 pillows in my deep freezer for 3 days to kill anything living .. it works, I swear!

Here you can see my 5 stripped pillows and my pile of ugly covers! I was surprised to fine the lining on one orange .. good thing my fabric was thick and you can see the orange!

Ok, easiest pillows ever! I laid the pillow on top of my fabric and eye balled it (yep, no measuring!) about an inch outside the top and bottom my pillow. Then I wrapped the fabric around my pillow tightly and cut it about 5 inches larger on the 2 sides. You end up with a large rectangle that fits the top and bottom and wraps around the pillow with room to spare. You then hem to two short sides of the rectangle.

Then turn it right sides in and over lap the two ends to the size of your pillow, they should cross each other with a few inches of overlap. Then just sew the open sides together! You will only dew 2 sides of the pillow, the other 2 sides are folds! Once you are down turn it right sides out and push out your corners and iron flat! You just made a pocket pillow!

See the pocket? Then you stuff one side in.

Then you reach in and pull the inner pocket out and tuck the pillow into the 2nd half of the cover.

This is the top of my finished pillow!

This is the underside. These cases are washable! Require no zipper! And take about 5 minutes each!

My children styled our new couch first! Notice the 4 remotes, lots of toys and some clean laundry??

Then it was my turn! My new couch with 5 awesome new pillows!! I think the couch needs more pillows! I will have to keep checking goodwill!

It cost me around $10 bucks for these 5 pillows and I have fabric to spare!

I only have glass block windows in the basement so no curtains are needed .. so the couch is one of the only ways to bring in color!

I cant wait to finish the whole basement! Enjoy your sneak peak!!

Update: My pillows were featured on We like to learn as we go AND Live Laugh Rowe Check it out!

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill,, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars, I Should Be Mopping The Floors

Tuesday:A Diamond in the Stuff, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family t, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm,, Not JUST a Housewife, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons, Me and my Boys, Kammy's Korner

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, Sew Much Ado

Thursday: Adorned From Above, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable, Shabby Creek Cottage

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home, Dakota Creek Chic

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, Its So Very Cheri

Thrifty Friday

2013-06-14T12:47:00.003-04:00

I was excited to garage sale today ... if you remember 2 weeks ago our basement flooded .. and for 2 weeks now my house has been a total disaster! So to get out and shop today was awesome .. AND .. our new sump pump is being installed today! And if you dont know .. that means about 3 hours of a jack hammer in your concrete, nice and echo-y, basement. See ya house!

I only went to 2 "sales" today. One was a street sale close to my house and one was a fund raiser at a local Church.

I scored a NEW, never used bread maker for my friend! Its an Oyster, older but never used. I would guess it was close to $40 bucks new ... I paid just $10 bucks! (Hey Jen.. how do you like it?!?!)

My son picked up that guitar .. for 2 bucks from his "spend" jar.

Oh, my 3 year old models for Fisher Price (she goes in, plays with a toy, they take pictures, she ends up on the box!) Recently she modeled some snap on roller blades. She was a natural at skating! And wanted to keep them .. but they are not on the market yet! I found this pink pair for 2 bucks!

My son loves to buy his own things now. Today he picked up a box of legos and offered the lady .25 cents, she happily said yes! He did the same for an iron man puzzle that was still sealed in plastic.

One of my favorite scores today were 2 Melissa and Doug magnet puzzles. I love these! We have several of them. One is a Bride and Groom and one is a King and Queen! These are $30 each on Amazon! I paid just 2 buck each!

The sale also had clothing and shoes, fill a bag for 2 bucks! HOLY HOT DEAL!

I packed 2 bags! One of was full of clothing for my younger girls and a pair of shoes .. the other bag was for my older girls, I will show you that soon (watch for details on back to school shopping on a budget!)

Not pictured are a new bike for my son and a super cute HUGE art easel! Both are getting a make over!

I spent $42 bucks. $10 I will get back when I deliver the bread maker :)

The yard sale at the Church was to raise money for a group called "Let Them LOL" and they are raising money to dig wells in Africa to provide fresh water. What could be better then fresh water?? My total at their sale was just 10 bucks .. but I paid $20. Think of all the sources of fresh water you have in your house, we have 5 (kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, toilet (cleaner then people in Africa!) our hose) There are thousands around the world who walk MILES and carry 40+ pounds of water miles back .. daily!

Did you score any deals today??

Thrifty Friday

2013-06-07T06:28:00.000-04:00

I went to 1 yard sale today ... 1 quick one! June is a very busy month for me .. this might be the only one I stop at all month!

She had BINS of amazing clothing. Gap, Carters, Old Navy and Gymboree, great condition ..

just a buck a piece!

8 pairs of zip-up feetie jammies (all Carters)

3 pairs of pants

2 pairs of shorts

5 shirts

2 skirts

6 dresses

1 pair of cute white snow boots

It was about 1:45 and her sale was sent to end at 2. I offered her 20 bucks for the bag and she said yes!

I ended up paying just $.74 cents an item! WOW!

The apple peeler in the back I picked up last week for 5 bucks and forgot about it! As with the navy blue and white stripped shower curtain for just 2 bucks. Shower curtains are great for fabric because they are large. This fabric will be an accent color in my master bedroom make over!

Row Row Row your boat .. gently through our basement.

2013-06-04T08:57:00.002-04:00

I wish I was joking. Our basement flooded. Our finished family room / play room / husbands office flooded.

Judging by the water mark on the wall I am guessing around 3 inches of water entered our basement at some point Saturday night while we slept .. while a storm raged on outside. Sunday morning when I stepped off the last step into the basement and the water squished between my toes I knew it was all over..

We spent the better part of 8 hours moving everything up stairs. EVERYTHING. 800 sqft of living space worth of stuff .. crammed into my tiny living room!

The best news is that I was a good mama the night of the flood .. and I had picked up the basement! So the loss was minimal!!

The carpet and walls are a total loss, way to much water damage. If this ever happens to you ... relax, dont panic. Pick up anything off the floor that is being damaged! Remember plastic, tubs and things safely on shelves ARE NOT BEING DAMAGED, look for wooden, paper, stray items on the floor, electronics .. that sort of thing!

Once the first wave of panic is over ... call your insurance company! We use Nationwide and they have always been super helpful! (No they did not ask me to say anything nice about them .. my opinions are mine) We were told we could remove everything from the house and huck it in the yard and they would take pictures the following day.

After the adjuster came to measure, snap pictures and talk to us we were given the green light for demo.

Our basement was nothing special .. Berber carpet and paneling on the walls. See the water line? Lucky you this is not a smelling blog .. because trust me, it was bad.

(this is rain water back up that flooded, NOT dukie water. Yes I said dukie.)

When you file an insurance claim you are given x amount for the damage to your house and x amount for damaged stuff. We already know we will receive $5000 for the house damage, that's the carpet and walls. Our insurance guy will cap the house repairs at 5k because over that and our mortgage holder would need to do their own inspection to check the structural integrity of our house .. which is totally not needed. Oh-. and this only works if you have homeowners insurance! And if you carry "storm sewer back up" insurance! And if you actually carry enough insurance!! So check your policy! We were smart .. we are, maybe even slightly over insured.

Lets talk demo. I had never removed carpet before .. and its not that hard! I picked up a carpet knife (basically a box cutter with a special angel to the handle and a blade that is sharp on all sides) a roll of duct tape and some PINK work gloves! Or glubs as my daughter calls them.

Check with your local trash removal company for how they want you to throw away carpet. Ours wants us in no less then 4 feet wide sections, tightly rolled and taped or tied shut. Stacked on the curb for trash day. Easy peasy! The carpet knife made short work of the carpet! I just sliced down the carpet at around the 4 foot mark from wall to wall. I went IN the direction of the grain of the carpet. Once it was cut I peeled back the edge and started to roll.

Once I had a roll I taped it together and my sweet husband threw them outside! They were water logged and heavy .. HEAVY .. and drippy.. and they smelled .. UGH. I removed the carpet pad in the same way. We were soooooooooo lucky .. the guys who installed this carpet before we bought the house .. they were kind enough to use about 20 staples to hold down the carpet pad. That's it, just 20. In the whole 20x15 foot basement .. 20 staples! It took me about 3 hours to move all the carpet and stack it on the curb!

We were also lucky to find this fabulous tile under our carpet! Gorgeous I know! Really though .. its ugly asbestos tile, glued to the concrete sub-floor .. but handles water VERY well .. so this tile was able to dry and we don't have to mess with the sub-floor or any other sort of vapor barrier! Which means we can re-carpet right over the top! See what piece of wood next to the wall? That's a carpet tac strip, it held the carpet in place! I used a crow bar to pry it up and in about 10 minutes the whole room was smooth and clean and ready for new flooring!

Next step - removing the wet paneling!

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Monday: Alderberry Hill, Etcetorize, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Skip to My Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Me and my Boys, Made By You Mondays, Its So Very Cheri, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars,

Tuesday: Back 4 Seconds, A Diamond in the Stuff, Real Housewives of Riverton, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family, Simply Done Wright, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Today's Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Just a Girl, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty

Thrifty Friday

2013-05-31T21:50:00.000-04:00

Today was an EPIC yard sale day ... I left my house at 8 am and returned home at 3:30 having spent $87 dollars .. more then I have ever spent on one day before!

There was a town wide sale! And several block sales! And it was my lucky day to hit sales with items I needed!

I picked up 2 pairs of shorts, 1 skirt, 15 shirts, 4 pair of shoes and 2 bathing suits for my oldest daughters. I paid $18.00 for all of it! That's just $.75 cents each! It will all be put away for the fall!

I also found 9 pairs of jeans that will fit my oldest in 2 years, they are all from Macy's and I paid just $5.00 for all 9 pairs or $.61 cents each .. to good to pass up!!

I found a coffee pot for MOPS, 5 bucks.

Another 4 frames for my mirror and frame wall $2.00 total.

The pink Crocs were .50 cents and fit my daughter now.

The black sandles are to big for her but super cute and in great shape! They are American Eagle and I paid $.75 cents!

I scored a bag of plastic heart bracelets which my 3 year old daughter paid for her self, just .25 cents!

Oh, that big dinosaur made my only son happy! Another .25 cents well spent!

The set of Batman board books were .50 cents for all 4. These will be stocking stuffers this year as we will be learning to read by then.

The box on the right .. its a huge Erector set! My husband and son are going to have hours and hours of fun with it! I spent $5.00 on it, well under retail .. and it was bought at a yard sale raising money for cancer research .. win win!

My next score is my favorite! June and I passed this yard and stopped to look .. she wanted this entertainment center but had no room for it .. the seller was ready to deal and when he said $50 bucks I said YES! I was super excited to bring it home and fill it with kids toys in the basement ... After my husband came to pick it up, packed it up, started to drive away, almost lost it, unloaded it, reloaded it, drove home, drug it inside the house (after lining it up for me to snap this picture, such a good man!) and having the middle not fit through the door, and taking 4 doors off the hinges, and then taking it apart and putting it back together in our basement ... 5 hours later its all set up and looking gorgeous!

And as I mentioned .. it was a whomping 50 bucks. A STEAL!

I spent $87.50 !! But the entertainment center alone was at least $400 bucks new ..

so I am pretty stinking happy!!

Did you shop today?? What did you find?!?!

Thrift Store Shoes - yes or no? And how to clean'm up!

2013-05-30T08:52:00.000-04:00

Wednesdays are half price day at our local Salvation Army. Wednesdays are also my "run around out of the house day" so I try and swing by. I did not have a lot of time today when I stopped so I just peeked at shoes and house wares.

I scored this cute mirror for 6 bucks. I saw this on Pinterest the other day and now I want it in my master bedroom! (Starting that make over soon!!)

I found a pair is darn near new New Balance tennis shoes that will fit my oldest in the fall for school! I am sure these shoes were at least $40 bucks new .. maybe even $60. They were 50% off which made them just $2.50!

My daughter was with me and spotted those pink slippers ... for .99 they came home with us! They still had the tags on them for $19.99

I spotted these super cute "Converse" look a likes from Air Walk, again 50% off which made then $1.50. They were dirty but hardly worn. They fit one of my daughters just right so I decided to see if I could brighten the white a little. I used some BarKeeprsFriend (The same stuff that whitens my kitchen sink!) and spent about 5 seconds rubbing some on the toe of the shoes. Check it out! I went with BarKeepersFriend because I knew it would whiten .. and unlike bleach would not hurt the black part of the shoes.

I was so surprised in fact at how white they got .. I ran to snag another pair or shoes to clean! These were my 3rd daughters white sandles .. and now they are waiting to become my 4th daughters .. but little A did a number on them and they were looking pretty grimy. The shoe on the right, duh, is the clean one! Took about 30 seconds worth of scrubbing .. easy peasy! These are Stride Rite shoes and still in great shape since little A only wore them for Church 1 summer.. I am glad the baby can wear them next!

Have you ever seen one of those "never buy this at a garage sale" lists ... well on a recent list of 21 items I routinely buy 11 of the items! There are no-brainers .. like mattresses! OMG .. no. But cookware? I buy it! Kids toys? I buy it! Kids shoes? I buy it .. sometimes!

There is some evidence to not buy used kids shoes .. like a well worn shoe "forms" to the foot of the wearer - so putting it on my child's foot causes walking problems because their foot is formed differently. I dont buy "worn" shoes .. as in shoes that are so worn its very evident. Soles are worn down, shoes are torn or ripped, they smell, the insides have a "foot" mark from the last wearer, all of those I pass up. Quite often I find NEW or worn just a few time pairs of shoes in thrift stores and garage sales .. those I buy. A quick wash and they are good as new!

These are the parties I link to each week! Check them out.

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty

Stained something other then my Labor Day white tee-shirt

2013-05-20T09:17:00.000-04:00

Back to this table..

When we last left off it looked like this.

I will admit having all that bare wood showing made me smile .. it took a lot of work to get it to this point!

I knew I wanted to stain it a nice dark color, something like Dark Walnut from Minwax to help off set the bright white of the legs and benches.

I picked up this tiny can, the larger can of that color was sold out, for 4 bucks at Lowe's. I already had hundreds of these foam brushes on hand and the cloth is an old burp rag.

I read lots of online help about staining and I read the can .. seamed pretty straight forward. Paint on, wait, wipe off.

I started with just one corner . if I hated it or did something wrong I wanted to have to sand the lease amount of table! The instructions said to let it sit 15 minutes .. but not so long it dried. Well after 3 minutes it was drying!! So I was only able to work in small sections like this, paint on, blink a few times, rub off!

The trick I learned was to watch the seams .. don't stain over something already stained because the overlap will end up darker. I think if you look at the table as a whole you can see my seams .. but its not that noticeable maybe I am the only one who can even see it because I know where it is.

And here she is all stained!

The drying time says 8 hours.

I left the table inside until the following morning and then it sat in the hot sun for another 3 hours so I was pretty sure it was dry!

This is Poly, shes about to become my new best friend. She promises to protest, keep shiny, make it easy to clean and look gorgeous for years to come! I also splurged for a set of Purdy Brushes. I am using a satin finish poly because .. well because I wanted to.

The instructions on the poly are pretty clear, paint on, wait 2 hours, lightly sand, do it again, and again, and again, and again .. between 3 and 5 times. I planned on 5 coats, one per child ... seamed like a good plan.

Each coat took just 10 minutes to apply. Minus the wait time this step took maybe an hour.

And here she is!

Up next?? Paint and fabric!! I will say I am growing more and more in love with this table as I go!

Thrifty Friday

2013-05-17T16:14:00.000-04:00

Another fabulous day to yard sale! This week I went with a sweet friend of mine (and her non english speaking mother in law .. so there was lots of smiling and nodding)

Check out my goodies!

* 5 stainless steal waterbottles! .50 cents each, retail for $5.00 each on Amazon

* 2 cute mini picture frames, .50 each, watch for these in an upcoming craft project for MOPS!

* 4 brooches, I will turn these into hair clips for my girls, .50 each

* Purple Robeez I paid just $1.00, retail for at least $25

* Dolly and Me dress size 3T $2.00, tags still attached say $24.99

* Gap Baby purple blazer, super cute!! .50 cents, retails for around $30.00

* 4 Carters 2T shirts, paid .50 cents each, retails for around $5.00 each on sale

* 2 Carters zip up footie jammies, paid .50 each, retails for around $8.50 each on sale

* 2 packs of 12x12 white craft paper for the kids $1.50 total

* Large 2.5 foot circle lazy susan not pictured .. watch for a make over on it soon! $10.00

And these ... vintage Lincoln Logs! In their original boxes!!

I started to count them, there are at least 600 wooden pieces!

I paid just $5.00 !! Really.. an awesome deal! I am putting them away for my son for Christmas!

One can says it retails for $1.00 the other two said $1.50 (I am guessing they are circa 1970's ish) but today I would guess them to be worth at least $100 bucks! Even these brand new sets only have 80-150 pieces in them for $30 - $100 bucks.

I spent $30 even but I would guess the retail value to be around $250 bucks!

Help me pick a neutral fabric!

2013-05-15T13:44:00.000-04:00

As you know I am refinishing my first ever piece of furniture (although it may very well be my last!)

I am torn on what to do with this table once its done. My plan was to refinish it and sell it on Craigs List "flip it" if you will. But it has been so much work .. and its so stinking cute I want to keep it! I don't really have the space for it though. Our house is tiny, and there are 7 of us. I would love to put it in the basement and use it as a craft table until the day we move and it can live in my eat in kitchen.

But, since I am working to de-clutter my house I know I should sell it.

So, that brings me to which fabric I should use on the seats! I want something "in" and "trendy" so it sells fast. I also want something neutral so it will appeal to more buyers. And I plan on using outdoor fabric so its wipe-able since it will be eaten on.

The top will be dark walnut by Minwax.

And the bottom legs and chairs and benches will be glossy white.

Here are the choices I am in love with .. help me pick!

Because of the white and dark wood stain I think something in blue would be good .. navy/teal/royal. Grey is really in right now. But I love that green one!!

Any thoughts?? Comment and vote 1-9

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Momnivores Dilemma, Stone Gable

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty

Sanding, Stripping and Staining ... Oh My!

2013-05-14T14:38:00.000-04:00

Last week while out visiting garage sales a friend of mine spotted this table. She sent me a text and a picture and asked if I wanted it .. I screamed YES!

The table top is almost 36x48 with 2 benches and 2 chairs not to mention super cute and full of potential!

As it turns out its to small for my dining room .. but I love a good project so I planned on staining the top, painting the rest and recovering the benches and chairs.

My first step was to pull the old fabric off ... you see this table belonged to Smokey the Grandma who kept it in her basement. After throwing away what ended up being 4 layers of fabric and enough staples to match our nations debt, I was ready to sand, paint and stain! Too bad it started snowing, in May.

So I stacked it all up and waited for nicer weather.

Warmer weather came in the form of a 50 degree day, rather then 37 degrees. I lugged my table top outside and grabbed my husbands sander and went to work!

I figured a quick 15 minutes with this thing and my table would be topless and ready for stain! Easy-peasy.

30 minutes later this was as far as I had gotten.

Maybe I should just paint the table white??

There were also 2 coffee rings on the table ... lets sand those off next .. maybe seeing the rings disappear will bring me the instant gratification I need to keep sanding the rest!

Another 20 minutes later ...

That was enough to call it quits for the night!

Maybe I can Pin something that will help! After an hour on Pinterest and countless "refinish a table in one hour with NO sanding" pins I was ready to paint the stupid thing white and walk away!

Actually Pinterest did help, it was there I discovered my problem. 220. I was trying to sand off layers of poly and stain with 220 grit sand paper. That's like trying to dry concrete with my hair dryer, sure its blowing .. but its not doing a dang thing!

A quick hop over to Valu and I came home with this .. my new best friend!

60 grit "paint stripping" sand paper! Surely this would work!

Another 45 minutes later it was clear, Surely should not be giving DIY advice.

It was then I decided I would stop crying over sawdust and do the only right thing in this situation. Hire a stripper.

I quickly sprayed the whole can on my table top and set a timer for 15 minutes to allow her to work her magic.

The left side had been scraped, the right side not .. Although it does not look different I felt something had worked since the once clear stripper was now a nasty brownish orangish color as it piled up on my scraper.

I finished scrapping the whole table top and wiped off the extra and allowed the table to dry .. maybe now it will be easier to sand??

I picked up the sander and started back at it. Easier?? No.

This is after another hour ... Still not done. If I thought I could do it without breaking my toes .. I would drop kick this table to the other side of my yard! What am I doing wrong?!?!?! I guess I should just suck it up and keep sanding ... but there really has to be an easier way! I must have missed a step somewhere!!

Finished ... Lets not ever talk about this experience again!

Up next ... stain, paint, new fabric. Then I have to decide if I am going to keep it or sell it!

Yard sale tips and tricks!

2013-05-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

I talk a lot about garage sales and scoring great deals and some of you asked for more details!

I find my sales through Craigs List . I don't get the weekly newspaper and I find their online version hard to use.

When you log into Craigs List you pick your city and right in the middle is a section listed as "for sale" and within that list you will find "Garage Sale"

I log in Thursday night to gather my addresses. I typically only scan the first 2 or 3 pages.

First thing I look at is where the sale is! No point in reading whats being sold and getting excited for a sale that is an hour away!! CL is great in that each listing has a simple title and in these things ---> ( ) the city is listed.

When I spot one near enough to me I click on it. Hopefully they have some sort of a list of whats for sale .. if not I tend to skip them. I am not looking for sales with antiques, records, tools, clothing for small dogs (no joke) or car parts. I am looking for sales that say things like "toys, children's clothing size xx to xx, household" those sort of things.

I also look for block sales, neighborhood sales, street sales, multi family sales, larger sales with more stuff! Gas is expensive .. today it was $3.79. If I can find a larger sale with more stuff its worth the gas money to get there and back because I stand more of a chance of finding something I need.

Oh, another big tip - WATCH THE SALE DATES!! People post their sales on CL weeks in advance so even though you see the ad today the sale might be next month. I also only yard sale on Fridays so make sure the sale starts Friday rather then Saturday (and lots and lots do)

Once I have my list all set I have 1 more super great tip that helps me save even more money .. its this website. Find The Best Route.com. You enter all the addresses you want to go to, up to 25, enter your address as the start and finish location and click go. Within seconds you have turn by turn directions to each one of your sales following either "fastest time" or "shortest distance" As I said before, gas is expensive! Driving in circles wastes time and money! I love this website because it keeps me from wasting gas.

I often see signs for sales while I am out .. rarely will I stop. Signs are often weeks old and the sale is long over. Without knowing whats for sale I risk ending up at a sale with nothing for me wasting time and gas. If the sale is right there and I can see it out my window I "slow down" and window shop if something catches my eye but this only applies to sales I drive past (not a sign for a sale that I would have to turn to get to)

Friday morning I head out with my map, snacks for the kids, cash and a smile!

I have a few tips to help save a few bucks when shopping .. I would think most of these tips would be common sense but in this day and age it turns out they are not.

- Be NICE. You are walking into someone else's space! Smile as you walk up their driveway. I always spot the seller fast (typically the women standing there with a fanny pack or apron!) and say Good Morning! Being nice right off the bat will most likely cause her to be nice back .. more open to haggle.

- Leave the sale as you found it. If they have clothing for sale don't riffle through checking sizes and leave it all unfolded in a heap. If you pick something up and decide you don't want it, put it back where you found it.

- Be respectful of the homeowners house. Just today saw someone cut through a yard to get to the sale next door and trampled their bulbs, I am hoping he just did not see them. Watch their flower beds, try not to walk through the yard, don't snoop in the garage where things are not for sale. I had this happen today .. knocked my socks off .. DON'T SMOKE IN THEIR DRIVEWAY!!! Seriously people.

So now you have picked a house, smiled and said good morning, picked up a few things you want and its time to check out.

- I listen to the seller and other buyers for a few minutes while I shop before I check out (My sweet friend Kristy taught me this trick) If another buyer tries for a lower price and is told no I know trying for a better deal for me may not work. If another buyer haggles and wins there is a pretty good chance I can offer less and be told sure also!

- If something is an amazing deal already, like these brand new shoes for 25 cents and the others for just 1 dollar I wont haggle! Take the good deal they are offering and be happy, don't be greedy/to cheap.

- Try "grouping" or "bundling" things together and offering just slightly lower. A good example of this would be 2 items both listed at $3.00 bucks, I would offer $5.00 for both. I find this works pretty good.

- If someone is selling an item for say $50 .. don't low ball it and offer $20. Insulting the seller will always result in a NO.

- Always buy the lemonade! We were all children once and tried to sell kool-aid on the side of the road, remember how it felt to be passed by?? Whats .50 cents here and there to make a kid smile. Buy it!

- If you are able to score a lower price, great! Make sure you have smaller bills with you! Asking of they will take $12 rather then $15 and they say yes and you pay with a $20 ... I personally think its rude. To me its like saying "I had the money to pay your price but still offered less" Maybe sellers don't care but I do. I try and pay with the actual amount needed so they don't know I have a pocket full of cash.

- Lastly, whether you buy something or not .. say good bye! I always leave saying "good luck today!" to the seller.

I know this was a lot of reading ... with no awesome picture .. but I hope it was helpful!

Thrift Friday

2013-05-10T11:27:00.000-04:00

Its raining today .. not some sweet drizzle that washes the pollen off our cars rain ... I'm talking rain like the kiss scene from The Notebook.

(For the record .. there was no kissing while yard sale'n today ... but it would have made my deals sweeter!)

I find great deals in the rain for 2 reasons ... less shoppers .. and sellers ready to bargain because they know there are less shoppers! Today was also the date for a block sale that I look for each year (Thanks Kristy for the reminder call last night!!) .. so rain or shine I was heading out!

Check out my deals!

The 4 tank tops on the left are all from target .. new with tags! I paid $1.00 each, retail $8.99

The pink plaid shorts (that match one of the tank tops!) are Land's End! And they are nice and long! I HATE tiny short shorts on my daughters. I paid $1.00, retail $29.00, in fact these same shorts are still for sale on their website!

I picked up a bunch of shoes today!

The sandles in the front are Circo, brand new! I paid $1.00, retail $14.99

I picked up 2 pairs of flip flops for just a quarter each!

The boots in the back and the black shoes in front of them were each $.25 cents, at Payless they would be at least $19.99 each. They are in great shape worn just a few times!

The brown slip-ons in the front are brand new too, I paid $1.00 for those! They are also Circo, retail at least $14.99

Black shiny "church shoes" again .. never walked in brand new! Wanna guess the price? Just a buck! $14.99 at least on those too.

The girls suit set on the right is Gymboree and so stinking cute! Its a jacket and skirt set which I bet would at least have been $40 bucks ... I paid $5.00!!

I always buy "winter" dresses .. its cold here a lot and long sleeve warm dresses are hard to come by! The brown one with pink and purple skirt is Gap Kids and in amazing condition! I check their website and could not find a girls dress for less then $35 bucks, I paid $3

There are some purple jammies in the front, pants and a long sleeve shirt with matching tutu! They are brand new with the tags on them! I paid $2.00, retail at Kohl's for $14

In the back is a puzzle book with lots of trucks, all the pieces were there so I snagged it for $3.00.

In total I spent $22.50. I would guess the retail value to be around $250 bucks!

Want to know something amazing about my deals today?? More then half of what I bought is not even for me! I have several girlfriends who yard sale, sometimes we go together and sometimes we don't. Because we end up at different sales we always say "hey, could you keep your eyes peeled for a such and such?" I knew my girlfriend was looking for shoes size 13 for her daughter, the 3 pairs in the front row are all size 1 so I picked them up for her! The 2 dresses are for her also!!

I am having a yard sale tomorrow and plan on writing a post about how to have your own! I had a request to write up a post on how I pick which sales to go and how I haggle .. so watch for that one coming soon too!

Did you garage sale this weekend?? What did ya find?!?!

When you don't have a leg to stand on

2013-05-09T14:36:00.000-04:00

Try The Salvation Army.

I so very much want a farmhouse table! I have pinned some that honestly make me drool!

I see plans all over blogerland on how to build one .. but they all use 4x4's for the legs. I was really hoping for some nice curvy legs. I looked around on line and found several places you can buy them like Rockler but almost 35 bucks EACH was a total deal breaker! I know $140 (plus shipping!) for legs is not bad, the wood for the top is going to cost me around $60 so I would still have my great table for around $250 after paint and stain. Even so I could not bring myself to order legs...

I have keep my eyes open at my local thrift stores .. and today on a whim I stopped in and spotted this!

The guys at the store were kind enough to put it in my van, and since its heavy I felt that asking them to stop and pose for a blog picture was ~~completely understandable~~ unnecessary. The table was wobbly, the top was pretty beat up and it has a hidden leaf that should open up when the table is pulled apart. Since I just wanted the legs all of that was ok!

And since it was super heavy I could not get it out of my minivan! So I took it apart in the van!!

The legs were each only attached with these 2 bolts. The table wobbled because the bolts were loose so I actually did not even need tools! After I had my 4 legs I backed the van down my driveway and drug the top out and dropped it on the curb for garbage day! Work smarter, not harder.

They are perfect. Just what I wanted! I plan on painting them glossy white and staining the table top a rich deep walnut with lots and lots of satin finish polyurethane. I cant wait until its nice enough outside to sand and paint and leave a project to sit without the fear of rain. Welcome to Buffalo.

Oh .. and the price??? Just $50 bucks. For just slightly more then the cost of 1 leg online I scored all 4. $12.50 a leg. At that price I did not feel bad about throwing away the top either!

And of course I will post when the table is done!