I was a good girl!

So, I don't have a before picture, but I did have a massive mess going on in the basement.  Remember, i couldn't play with my new Silhouette Digital Cutter until I packed up the basement for the remodel.

Well...mamacita came over after Lil' Sis's game on Saturday and helped me out.

She basically took some of my brothers crap stuff to him or actually her house for safe keeping.  Actually, I was just going to store it in the massive unit we have in our back yard, but she happily took it off of my hands.  Thanks momma!

So...we purged and organized a bunch of things.  And now, I have this in my basement.

I'm so proud of us for getting it done.  Before, you couldn't even see the carpet.  Really!  It was a huge catch-all.  Now, it is empty!

So, you know what that means!  Oh yeah!  Time to play with the new toy!

Mamacita and I are excited to try this new bad boy out and it takes forever to download the "updated" software.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm sure that if I lived in Big Town or something were there is a population higher than 100 I probably wouldn't have to wait as long.  But when you live out in the boonies, you have to pay the price for privacy and NO HIGH SPEED INTERNET!

We do have Hughes net, but it is still slow.  Much faster than dial up, though!

Needless to say, it took us so long downloading everything that we didn't get time to play before it was time to take her back to her car.

Oh, well...guess I'll have to try to figure this bad boy out on my own.  Wish me luck!

Thanks for coming by today.  Hope you'll visit again.

P.S.  Sir just texted me that the basement looks great, but we have to have the old garage cleaned out as well.  Hmmm...kind of convenient since he is in Las Vegas right now!

Silent Sundays #3

(All photos taken in New Mexico, November 2009)

Love my little family.

Many happy blessings to you and your families.



Funky Lamp

I've been checking flea markets and the goodwill for some funky lamps for my entryway from the garage into the casa.  Well, I never really found what I wanted.  So, of course, I had to make something out of what I could find.

This is the first part that I found.

I really liked the funkiness of the base but it would definitely need a face lift.

Then I was on the hunt for the shade.  I knew whatever I would find I would have to demolish and start over from scratch.  Well, as I was searching, I came across this bad boy and decided that it might seem odd, but I wouldn't have to put the effort of tearing it apart.  Plus I really liked the lines and the price!  Only $4.

I know...pics aren't so good, but if you look close you can see it.  Look real hard...need to borrow some glasses?!  I promise it's there!

So, here it is on the lamp base before.

So far I have sunk $14 in this bad boy...10 for the lamp and 4 for the shade.

Now, what to do with the shade.  Well, I had this idea and I had a ton of this stuff lying around, so I thought, eh, why not.

So, after watching my dvr'ed ( yeah, its a word!  I just added it to my spell check dictionary!  So there!) shows one night, or was it two, this is what I had.

Now, gotta pick a color for the base.  I was going to do grey (or is it gray?) but decided I wanted something with more color.  So, I opted for Bahama Sea Blue.

It dried very quickly, considering today was almost 60 degrees.  Crazy!

Here she is in all her glory.  Don't know how I feel about her.

What do you think?  Is the shade too big?  Does the base need to be a different color?  Do I need to find either a different shade or base for it?  Please, I need your help!  I'm at a cross roads right now.

Here she is all lit up.  I do like the shade, just don't know if she's got the right partner.

Please leave me comments.  I need some serious inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to hear from you all.

Now I'm thinking red...hmm.  HELP!

I linked to Vintage Revivals "Look What I Found Friday".

Little Work Bench from Hades

Yes.  You read that correctly!

I have been working on the little workbench from Hades!  Sir got it for me for all of my little projects that I do.  He thought it would be nice and you know...it is very thoughtful and nice of him.  But let me tell you something, I was cussing up a storm (in my head-kiddos around) putting this thing together.

Yosemite Sam has nothing on me mumbling under my breath.

Any who...I got this bad boy all put together with the help of my kiddos.  Umm...yeah, they sat in the van playing their DS's while I mumbled and grumbled!  But if you ask them, they helped and don't you judge them!

So, you want to see this contraption?  No!  Well, too bad!  I am gonna have to ask for forgiveness for the things I thought today so you are going to have to see it! 

Here she is!

Isn't she a beaut?

Sorry, I was still frustrated when I took that picture.  This one is much better.

Now when I have a project to do, I have a little bench that I can use my handsaw on!  Woo Hoo!

See you next time!



It's here! It's here!!!

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!

I am so excited!

I have entered almost every contest on the many blogs that I have come across to win this bad boy.  Without much luck I never won.  But don't worry your little hearts! 

My mamacita and I were talking about how cool it would be to have one of these, so we did some searching.  This thing-a-ma-jig retails for like $300.00 give or take and alot of the blogs that I follow that I didn't win from gave discounts if you ordered using their special code.  But it still made my butt tushy pucker.  (That means I'm tight with the moolah.)

Any-who, we found this website that had it on sale for $164.99.  Still quite a bit for me, so I sat and stewed about it for almost 3 weeks.  Then I finally decided, if it was still on sale I would get it.  (My mamacita and I are going to split it!)  Suhweet!

Well, it arrived today and I'm so excited to start playing with it.  Only one catch...I have to pack up my basement for the remodel before I can even think about playing.  Awe....it's like I'm a little kid with a new toy who can't play until I clean my room.  Actually, that is pretty much exactly how it is.  I'm  just a big kid.

So, exactly what is this wondermous new crafty gadget that I am talking about?

This!!!!!

This is soo cool!  Hopefully I will be getting my basement done soon so I can start playing!

Thanks for stopping by.  See you next time!

The old love nest

Well, we decided to put off any more of the renovations to the inside of the house until after the first of the year.  Well, it's that time.

Yesterday we took the carpet and pad out of the old master bedroom.  Why?  All the plumbing for the basement will be running underneath that room and plus that room will also become the new master suite bath.  My, O, my!  My house is going to be a war zone again!  Such is the way when you are remodeling.

I never realized just how big my closet was until I had to move across the hall and purge my closet.  Yeah, I'm rotten and I know it!

It still doesn't look that big now that everything most everything is out.

This wall will soon be torn down to accommodate a new toilet and shower.

And this wall will be broke down as well.  It will soon become a closet for one of us and the other closet will be transformed out of the bathroom.

Yes, it will be an enormous bathroom.  But it will be nice once it is done.

Underneath this window and along this wall will be one of the vanities and in the corner (the one you can't see to the right) will be the tub.

And our trim guy helped us find a slightly used tub, it came out of a house that was being gutted, but had never been used, for a stupid cheap price!  So now it sits in my garage.

Now I have to move all the stuff out of the linen closet into the bathroom that is in here.  Do you remember how big that is?  Let me remind you.

Yeah, that's going to be a very tight squeeze.  Might have to twitch my nose to make it work.

Come back soon to see how we are progressing on the house.  As we do things I will update, and occasionally do a craft or something. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Silent Sundays #2



Taken by Lil' Sis



Thanks for stopping by.  See you again soon.



Anyone know a good stripper?

NO!!!!  I don't mean that kind of stripper!  Geez!  Get your minds out of the gutter!

Just kidding!  Of course that isn't what I was talking about!

I have to tell you that I bought this old wooden shutter at a local flea market and have a great idea for it.  It is actually my "top secret" project that I have been working on for what seems like years.  When the weather doesn't get above freezing, it is hard to do many things with paint and such.

Anyway, here is my shutter.

It isn't in the greatest shape, but I knew when i bought it, I would figure out something to do with it.  Anyway, it had multiple layers of paint on it.  Obviously...check it out!

At first I just thought that is was white and a pine green color.  Man was I wrong!  Started the sanding process and this is what I found.

I was getting nowhere fast with my sander, so I decided to get me some stripper.  Which is a very handy thing to have when you are repurposing things, except that the can says to use in temps between 65 and 85.  Not really the norm in middle America in January, but hey, no one said I was the sharpest tack!

I bought me some handy dandy stripper, a pair of chemical resistant gloves and a scraper!  Then i set to work.  This took forever!  Really, I worked on it constantly for one full day and still had to use my sander once I got the majority of the multiple layers off.  Geez!  What a mess!

Then, I was so tired of messing with it, I thought, what if I just glaze over the shutter as is.  Hmm...you never know until you try.

Yeah, no, that's not exactly the look I was going for.  Plus, I can't really tell a difference.  So, I decided to whip out the trusty spray paint and set to work.  Again, it is not above freezing, just so you didn't forget.

While I had the paint out, I thought I might as well kill two birds with one stone, right?!?!?

Well, it takes the paint a really long time to dry when it is cold.  So here I sit.

Once I have another coat on it and my project finished I'll be back.  Sorry it has taken me so long to post this.  Yesterday was a snow day and you know what that means.  It means my whole day is spent having fun with the kiddos and no "me" time.  I'm not complaining though!  We had fun playing games, watching movies, me watching them make a snow man, and just having a good day all in all.

Thanks for coming by, see you next time!



Silent Sundays

Sometimes I just want to share pics with you but I don't really want to delve into the whole story of things.  So I have decided to start a new thing on Sundays called "Silent Sundays".  As if you couldn't have figured that out from the title.

So....here is the first installment of silent Sundays.

 

 





Hope your Sunday was full of blessings.  See you next time.

Cutie Patootie idea

I have been blog hopping a little and came across the most adorable idea.

I just have to share it with you.  It is this adorable hand stitched love note at flamingotoes.  If you haven't checked this blog out, you need to go over there and check it out.  She has some pretty cute crafty ideas.

This will definitely be popping up in my house somewhere, but I don't think it will just be for Valentine's Day.  I think it would be adorable all year long.  Now my mind is racing and I have ideas on how to make it more meaningful to me.  Ooh, ooh, ooh!  I'm gonna have to go.  I need to sketch out something for another craft.  I'll be back later with it! 

Thanks for stopping by.  And yes, I am still working on my top secret project.  It will be done soon...and I think totally worth the wait.



Please excuse my absence...

My BIL and his family are in town from New Mexico, so my time has been a little busy with family and such.  But I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten you and I will be back for more fun.

I am currently working on a project to post...I'm so excited about it.  But you'll just have to be patient with me.

Today we are planning on taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's.  Wish me luck!  That place is like crack for kids.  Don't get me wrong, I've been to quite a few "family" friendly places and this is one place that I actually feel comfortable letting my kids go to.  Especially since they can't leave the place without an adult with a matching glow in the dark stamp.  Love that!

Well, I am off to grocery shop since we are supposed to be getting a massive amount of snow later today.  That should be fun as well! 

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon.  I promise my project will be here soon!

cheap-o gifts #4

Okay, I know it is after Christmas, but I am always looking for good, inexpensive little gifts to make and have sitting around the house.  You never know when you are going to need an impromptu gift.

So, I have decided to keep with my Cheap-o Gifts.  Whenever I come across something that I think is cool and inexpensive (sorry, don't mean to offend with the word cheap) I will share with you.

So without further adieu, I give to you Cheap-O Gift #4

Check out the "moms ultimate survival kit " over at All Things Thrifty.

It would make an adorable gift for a girlfriend or as a thank you to any of your lady people.  Sorry...lost my train of thought.  Brain Fart!

Anyway, have a wonderful day, thank you for stopping in and I will be posting a craft or tutorial soon...just need to get my home back in order from "The Sickness".  You know exactly what I'm talking about! 



coolest "junk" tree ever!

Alright, I know Christmas is over and it is only a mere 355 days away, but I found the most awesome "junk" tree ever!  Really!

Okay, if you know me at all, you know that I like unusual, lived in things.  And, the uglier something is, the better.  Well, I haven't been on the ole puter in a few weeks and decided to stop by one of my favorite sites for inspiration and look what I found!

Okay, maybe you aren't ready for this?  Maybe you think I'm off my rocker and that I don't really know what the heck I am talking about?  Maybe you just think that I need another hole in my head because there appears to still be some brains in there somewhere and it is causing you great discomfort?  No!  No?  Alright!  Here goes....(fingers crossed you don't go away forever!)

Okay, you still here?!?!  Yep, it is made out of bed springs!  Awesome, no?!?!? 

Okay, I know Mim won't care too much for it, but I think she is getting used to my wackiness, I think!  But I know the mamacita will like it!  She digs my style!

If you like it, you can either go to bed spring Christmas tree project at fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com or visit Cammie Metheny's blog.   She's got some great ideas over there as well.  Check out this other tree she has over there.

I'm diggin' it as well!  Awesome way to use "junk"!  Love it!

Go over and check it out!  You'll be inspired!  Promise!

Thanks for stopping by and for the well wishes of my health.  I am actually almost back to normal, or whatever constitutes as normal for me.  Now my beloved is ill and I am praying that the kiddos don't come down with something.  It's only a matter of time, or maybe I can get them out tomorrow to school and decontaminate before their return.  Wish me luck!