Lampapalooza...

The Nester is having her Lampapalooza, and since I LOVE a good lamp, I thought I would join in.

I think I will just share a few of my favorite lamps. First, this is a lamp in my formal living room. I got it in a set of 2 from Kirkland's a few years ago on sale. I just tied a tassel around it.

This is my little lamp on the kitchen counter. She is my favorite lamp. I got her from Ross for $14.99 and I move her from place to place.

This is a lamp in Walker's room. His room is western, and I fell in love with the cowboy silhouette. I got it from Target.

Here is the lamp I just put in Connor's room. I got it for $10 this past weekend at Hobby Lobby. I have been watching for it to go down and it finally did.

This is the lamp on the armoire in the formal living room. I have a set of 2 lamps, and the other is in my bedroom on the armoire there.

This is the lamp on Lonnie's nightstand. I had a different shade on it originally, but could not pass this shade up at a sale. The tassel was an afterthought, but I like it there.

This is a lamp I am gonna put in the office/craft room, but that room is a disaster area right now, so I'll spare you the trauma and just show you the lamp.

And this lamp is in my garage, waiting to be given a new outlook on life. Walker loves this lamp for some odd reason. I hope to get it painted and recovered next week. I will probably paint the base lime green and put a loud print on the shade. It is for a corner in the office too.

Now head over to Nester's party and enjoy some more lamps.

Cry for HELP...

It has been another rainy day here in SC. You won't hear me complaining though. I have so much to do with the upcoming garage sale this weekend, and the rain forces me to stay home and get it done. I have been busy all day trying to sort, price, and arrange stuff but I have barely scratched the surface. I have decided to ask all of you garage sale pros in the blogosphere a few questions.

1. Do you actually price EVERY.SINGLE. THING? Or do you just put signs up and group like priced things together? (This picture is about half of the stuff.)2. Next, I have a ton of really nice clothes. Name brand stuff that is still in style, but not the right size, etc. What do clothes go for? I was thinking $1 each piece. Is that accurate? What about kids clothes?

3. And finally, how much change do I need to start the day off with?

I have advertised in the paper, on Craigslist, and put it on the local "Swap Shop" radio program, so I feel like getting the word out is done. Am I missing anything? Help a sister out!

My 2 little men don't really know what to think about all of this. They just keep pulling out all their old toys I am gonna sell, and trying to sneak them back in the house. The only real distraction came when Connor napped, Walker wanted to play in the rain. It was so darn cute, and he had so much fun.
As you can see from the standing water, it rained hard and fast. Perfect for puddle jumping!

Okay, I will be anxiously awaiting all the garage sale wisdom you are gonna bestow upon me. Now it's your turn. Go on, answer my questions in the comment section.

Weight Watchers Wednesday Week 17

It is Weight Watchers Wednesday, Week 17 and I had a gain this week of 1 lb. for a running total loss of 27.7 lbs. I just can't quite seem to reach 30 lbs., but if you saw how I ate over Memorial Day weekend it would be very clear why I gained! I'm not gonna feel too bad about it. I had a fantastic time and will try to do better this week. It is SO MUCH EASIER to eat good at home.

For the recipe this week, I am gonna share a Chicken Pot Pie. This is not the chicken pot pie my Mom makes, but it is really delicious!

Chicken Pot Pie
1 cup reduced fat Bisquick

1/2 cup skim milk

1/4 cup egg substitute ( I use eggbeater's)

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (any style)

2 cups cooked, chopped white chicken meat

2 cans Campbell's fat free (Healthy Request) Cream of Chicken Soup

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with Pam.Mix together vegetables, chicken, and soup. Pour into prepared pan. In another bowl, mix Bisquick, milk and egg. Pour over the top of chicken mixture. Bake for about 30 minutes or until crust is golden.

6 servings = 4.5 WW points per serving

4 servings = 6.5 WW points per serving

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and I hope all my WW buddies had a great week! I look forward to hearing your progress!

Just a Girl...

I have been out of town since Wednesday. We are still in TN visiting family, but will be heading back to SC tonight. I am not the best blogger while I am travelling, but wanted to catch up on a few blogs this morning before we got the day started. Imagine my surprise when I went to Just a Girl to see what Chris has been up to, and saw that she featured me on her Friday Features post!!! I literally had to refresh the page because I thought somehow I had closed the page and was on my own blog again when I saw my family room. Thanks so much Chris for the shout out and to all of the new peeps that have come by and visited since then!! I doubt there are any of you who have not visted Just a Girl before, but if you haven't, I strongly suggest you head over there. Chris is HILARIOUS and such a talented woman. I will warn you though, you will be jealous of her mad decorating skills and droolworthy home.

Okay, I'm gonna get back to my Memorial Day. I have a slip-n-slide and bbq in my plans for the day. ( No need to worry, I will not post pics of me on the slip-n-slide!) I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day and I will be back tomorrow with some updates on the other ongoing projects at home.

Weight Watchers Wednesday Week 16

It's Weight Watchers Wednesday (actually Thursday) Week 16, and I had a loss of .2 lbs. which makes a running total of 28.7 lbs. Not a noteworthy loss this week, but any loss is good. This is not gonna be my regular WWW post because I am travelling and don't have access to my recipes, etc. But I did want to atleast keep you posted on my progress. Yet another week of not making my food choices a priority, but I hope to do better when we get back home. We are visiting family in TN for the Memorial Day weekend.

It is always a little harder to eat right when I travel, but I figure as long as I eat a low point breakfast and lunch, then I can splurge a little on dinner. That is the methodology I will be following this week.

I hope all my other WW buddies did great this week and had HUGE losses. I look forward to hearing from you.

Refinished Ottoman...

I have been meaning to join in on the Trash to Treasure Tuesdays over at Reinvented for a while now, so today I am gonna share a weekend project. I have this ottoman/storage cube that I got from Target months ago. It is pleather (fake leather) and was on clearance for $12. Within a day of having it my little men had popped the buttons off the top, but I kept it because it functioned well.

I finally decided I was tired of looking at the eyesore and decided to try my hand at upholstering it. Here are the steps and mis-steps that I took.

First off, I didn't plan ahead so I had to use fabric from other projects. The bottom fabric was from my window mistreatments, the top was from some pillows I made and some other old khaki fabric I had in the bin.

I started on the bottom and stapled all the way around. I wanted it to have ruffles, so I just folded and stapled, folded and stapled.

Next I cut the khaki fabric to size and my hubby stapled while I pulled it as tight as I could.

I felt like it was a little to plain, so I added decorative nails around the outside. I still felt it needed something, and this is where things start to go bad for my little ottoman. I decided to do a freezer paper stencil of a fleur de lis.

Sounded like a good idea, until I realized the only paint I had was spray paint. Um, not my smartest move. How about those edges? Not in the plan.

Now what? I made it even worse by trying to attach some ribbon to hide the paint. My hubby is so insightful. He looks at it and says, "I think it's getting a little over done." Connor must have thought so too since he pulled the ribbon off as soon as I looked away.
Alas, I added the fabric I originally wanted to use in a patch over the whole hot mess of a fleur de lis. I used spray adhesive in the center and heat n' bond for the edges.

I think I like it. It has lasted 3 days, which is longer than the other ottoman. What do you think about it?

Family Room Overhaul...

As I mentioned earlier in the week, my MIL has been helping me do a HUGE Spring clean out. I got a lot accomplished in the family room so I thought I would show you a before and after of the back corner.

Here is the boys toy area when we started:

If you've ever wondered what the boys are doing while I am busy here is your answer. They are wreaking havoc on the toy area of the family room. And that huge closet is packed full of toys too. This room WAS a shameful hot mess most of the time due to the toys and the free reign I give the boys in there. No more.

Here is the after:

Ahhh. So much better. We moved the kitchen into the built in shelves, and it fit. PERFECTLY! I could swear that I had tried that before and it didn't fit, but it looks like I was wrong. Those signs with their names on them were from Lon's grandma at Christmas. She wanted me to put them on their bedroom doors, but they were too big. They work perfectly here though.
I also wanted to make them a place to hang all of their artwork they make. Here we have it. I took little hangers, and hung them on the wall. I love it.
We also put all of their books in one place and organized all of their kitchen play food in those two big baskets.
Friday I didn't get much done because I was playing toy cop all day. I am trying to teach the boys new habits about how much they get out at one time and how to pick up before they get more out.
Connor was about ready to pack up and move...
But I think he has decided to stay. Atleast for now. So what do you think of the new art gallery? This whole makeover cost me about half a day in time and $4 for the hangers. Now that is what I call thrifty!

Best of the Week...

Having a MAJOR spring cleanout, and finally setting a date for my yardsale.

My 3 guys having a muscle contest for me. I have 3 strong hunka hunkas, and almost wet my pants laughing at their antics.

Walker and Connor catching earthworms and building them a little habitat to live in. Well, they lived there until Walker fed them to the chickens at the river. Poor worms.

Walker naming thier largest monster truck the "Crushmeister" and Con calls it that now too. I laugh out loud every time they say it.

My 6th wedding anniversary and spending some special time with Lon. We had a wonderful day in Charleston and the boys stayed at the river with Nana and Jerry.

Finally getting a much needed pedicure.

Lots of time in the kitchen with Walker and Connor. Walker made Lonnie his favorite Oreo dessert after big closing as a surprise. Walkie was so proud and Lon loved it.

Dinner at Miyabi Japanese Steakhouse. I LOVE Miyabi, and it would have really been perfect if the crew from Knoxville would have been with us. I always think of our friends in TN when we eat there.

Walker telling me dinner was "SUPER DELICIOUS!" Who knew Hamburger Helper was such a delicacy?

Cleaning the house so much that Connor was ready to pack his bags and move. He was gonna leave on his scooter. With Lon's laptop bag. Needless to say he did not get far.

I hope you had a wonderful week!

Project Procrastinators...

I have been working so hard around the house lately, trying to make a little headway on some of my ongoing projects. I hoped to have these things completed by today for the Project Procrastinator's deadline of May 14th, but alas I am realizing I bit off more than I could chew at one time. So, here are the 2 major projects that I have completed and the progress on the third.

I will start with my front porch. Here is the before:

And here is the after:

I got my rockers for free, but had to refinish them. I decided to paint them with the dark green paint I had left from the shutters and door because it was FREE!
They were a lot more work than I bargained for because of all the sanding and prep work I had to do, but I love them now.

I made the wreath last year, but still like it so am using it again. I put "welcome" on the door in vinyl letters.

I got the finial between the chairs on sale at Wal-Mart. I have been watching it like a hawk and they finally cut the price to $25. It was worth it to me. My plant by the door is one of my favorite purchases, EVER! I have loved this plant from afar for years, but could not bring myself to pay over $300 for it. When it went 75% off I snatched it up. I still have to paint my wreath hanger silver and replace the kickplate at the bottom of the glass door. I would also like to find something to hang over the rockers, suggestions?

Moving on, if you remember last month I fixed up this little patio area on the back of the house.

To the right of it is this lovely area...

This is not the true "before" picture because I did not think to take a picture of how bad it really was when we bought the house. Just imagine a warped blue counter falling off of the wall. My father in law took that hot mess down and put up some plywood, and most recently some cement board so I could tile on it. This is the mid-way picture.

As you can see I still have to add trim and do some touchup painting. I have to figure out what I am gonna do above it as well. I haven't decided yet, but the wheels are turning. I'll keep you posted.

This was my first real tiling project, and I ended up getting help, but I did the entire center by myself. I also did the flowers under it. I just planted sweet potato vines because they do so well here. Now if I can just get some grass to grow there I will be in business!

Another big project I'm working on is my laundry room. (Mom, close your eyes. This picture will probably embarress you.) Here it is last week:

As I have mentioned before I am NOT a fan of laundry. The washing isn't so bad. It's the putting away that gets me. It piles up so quickly. Anywho, this is the ONLY way to arrange my washer and dryer. The washer is a frontloader and the water heater prevents the door from opening if it is not angled. With the cabinets and shelves as they are, stacking the washer and dryer is not an option. So, the solution I came up with is to have a shelf/table over the washer and dryer so things didn't get lost behind it anymore. Lon's grandpa did this for me and he also made me a hanging rod.
I am on a shoestring budget, so we used cheap plywood for the top. I had to caulk and fill all the cracks.

And here it is all finished. Now I just have to beautify it. I am gonna make a curtain to hide my detergent and I am not sure what else I am gonna do, but I love how much more functional it is.
Last but not least, I have been in clean out boot camp for the past week, and my suffering is not even half over. My mother in law has been coming over daily and helping me sort and throw out. I asked Sandy to help me because she is one of those people that amazes me by her lack of attachment to stuff. She gets rid of stuff ALL. THE. TIME. She is also not the type to tell you what you want to hear. She tells you like it is. Period. We have not even been in our house a year and I feel like we are busting at the seams. I always have grand plans for how I am gonna re-do or makeover something(one of the downsides of being creative), so I hold on to way too much junk. Not with Sandy around. By this weekend my entire house will have had a clean sweep. I will be posting on our progress the rest of the week.

Now go over to The Inspired Room and see all of the other fabulous projects people have completed over the past 2 weeks!