Happy Halloween!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Chair Turned Nightstand...

If you have visited my blog often, you know I love to make trash into treasures, and one of my favorite spots to look for stuff to re-do is on the family farm.  On a recent trip I discovered 2 little chairs sitting under a tree.  After asking my mother in law about them, I found out they were hers when she was a little girl.  I immediately asked for them, and as she typically does, she gave them to me with a shake of her head (like I was crazy for wanting them!)  Walker and his little buddy Wyatt were with me, and even Wyatt said, "Ms. Mandi, what are you gonna do with  those junky chairs?" 

Oh ye of little faith!  I took those little chairs and gave them a new lease on life!  I simply peeled off the paper seats and sanded a little, primed, and spray painted them.  I used Rustoleum Red spray paint and modge podged some paper for a new seat.  I have been looking for Connor a small side table for his bed, and the chair worked perfect. 

I used some little hooks I found at the hardware store to hang it, and the other one sits beneath it when Connor isn't using it. So what do you think?  Have you turned any trash into a treasure lately?

The Boy That Cried Wolf

Hi.  I am officially the "boy that cried wolf" in the blogging world.  I was looking over my past few posts (spanning MONTHS) and in every one I apologize for being gone for so long and try to explain where I have been. I also say things are finally slowing down and I am gonna begin blogging again.  I think the reality has finally settled in that things are NEVER gonna slow down, so if I want to blog I'm just gonna have to squeeze it in amongst everything else.  I have missed all my blogging friends so badly, and I often wonder what is going on with all of you.  I am gonna have to play catch up to find out.
As for us here are a few things that have changed.  Lon is still working up a storm, and I have gone to work full time as well.  I am working at a little place in our town called Clarity Spa as a hairstylist, and I LOVE it!  Walker is in kindergarten and doing great, and Connor is in preschool and loves it.  It's soccer season here, and between that and church our evenings are booked.

                                                      (Walker in his soccer uniform)
The boys seem to be growing like weeds.  Every time I turn around I feel like they have grown an inch.  We finally made it to Disney World this summer, and thanks to all your suggestions last year the trip was awesome!

(Here is Connor sporting his ears.)  

Not too much decor has changed around the house.  I've accomplished a few projects and they will probably be the subject of my next few posts.  Which leads me to right back to where I started, posting on this blog... I will be posting again.  I am not going to promise how often, but I am gonna do my best to stop in even if my posts are very brief.  I loved blogging for so many reasons, but one major thing is that it was such a great memory bank for me.  I need it to be that again.  What is it they say?  Something like, "your memory is like swiss cheese, it has a lot of holes."  That is me!  I look back over the past year and can't remember half of what we did, so I will be doing a lot of personal posts.  If you want to follow along with us and see what we are up to, feel welcome. 

Company's Coming and I'm a MESS!!

Hey y'all!  I am at Myrtle Beach right now visiting with some family from out of town, and I got an e-mail last night saying I was going to be featured on Tip Junkie  .  Needless to say, I WAS FLOORED!!!  I had submitted some paper ornaments I made at Christmas time, but then completely forgotten about it. Well what a pleasant surprise!!!

I have been so consumed in my day to day life between work, kids, VBS, company, and vacations, that I have really let my blog slip by the wayside.  I have missed it terribly, but have had a very hard time getting back into the groove of things.  This is just the kick I needed to get motivated.  I am a little panicked because having been gone for months, I feel like I am having a bunch of company come over and my house (blog) is a mess. 

If you are stopping by for the first time, please stay a while and visit.  I apologize for the mess!  Come back in the next week or so and I will be getting some new projects posted.  If you are an old friend, I have missed you SOOO MUCH!  I look so forward to catching up and seeing what y'all have been up to! 

Easy Valentine Tutorial...

Hey friends!  I am still here.  My "little piece of paradise" as I call it has become increasingly crazy these days.  I have started my part-time job at the tax office, and still do my magazine job from home.  I also somehow agreed to coach Walker's soccer team, and heap on to that lots of doctors appointments for Connor and a household that needs a full time live-in maid (that's how it feels anyway) and there just aren't enough hours in the day! I have been struggling to find balance, and when something has to take a backseat it always seems to be my blog.  I have missed you all terribly and feel so out of the loop.  I just know you have all been up to lots of fabulous decorating and crafting. I would love to visit each and every one of my blogging buddies, but for now I will have to be content to just check in occasionally and really catch up when April 15 gets here and tax season is OVER!!
Wowser, that was quite an introduction for the quick tutorial I was gonna share with you.  Back to the subject at hand.  I have posted in the past  how I make my cards on SCRAPBLOG and I have friends that ask me about it a lot, so I thought I would post another easy tutorial on it.  Here is the Valentines Day Card I did this year.

Here's how I did it. 

• 
  
  Go to Scrapblog's site, and create an account.  They have a fantastic site.  Beware, you can get lost in time playing with all the possibilities and hours will disappear from your day.  Anyway, I always start with a blank canvas.  You can start with kits or templates, but I like to start from scratch.  I choose my backgrounds, stickers, and borders that are free.  Some of their stuff costs money,they call it credits, but you have to pay for them.  The prices are very reasonable, so if you find something you love, go for it.  But for me part of the fun is trying to make them for free.
• 
  
  Just upload your pictures and play around until you have created something you like. 
• 
  
  Next you want to "publish" what you made.  The button for this is at the top of the screen.  Once you have done that, you will be able to click on the "file" tab and export it as a JPEG onto your computer. 
• I then upload my saved file to Walgreens or a similar photo printing service and print them for about 9 cents a piece. 

After buying a box of envelopes, I am getting great looking unique cards, invitations, etc. for a fraction of the price.  I hope you try this out. If you do let me know.  If this is not very clear, feel free to e-mail me with questions.  It's getting late and the bed is calling my name.  I hope you all have a fantastic Valentine's Day and I will be back as soon as I possibly can! 

Christmas Re-Cap...

I realize that we are well on our way into 2010, but since I was so far behind on my blogging and missed out on all the Christmas fun, I thought I would do a bit of a Christmas Re-Cap.  Atleast this way when next Christmas rolls around I'll be able to remember what I did this past Christmas.  Right now I can barely remember yesterday.  My memory is like swiss cheese, full of holes!  Anyway, here are some of my favorite things from this Christmas.

I scaled back this year in all areas.  We bought less.  We did more hand made.  I even decorated less.  I had a hard time getting into the decorating and it felt a little forced, so I spent less time decking the halls and a lot more time enjoying the season with my boys.  Looking back, those changes were all for the best.  With that said, I didn't put up all of my trees.  We did the boys' tree in the family room:

This tree has all of the ornaments they have made or picked out in their short little lives. They are all about the colored lights, so I just go with it.
This is the mantle in the family room.  Walker helped me put it up and he was so proud.  It is in the same room as the boys' tree so it also has colored lights.

Walker got a new tree for his room this year.  It was a tacky little tree, but he LOVED it, and that is what matters.

Connor's tree is white and he enjoys having one in his room so much.

I put the 30 year old tree from Lon's childhood in my kitchen window. It holds ornaments the boys have made in church and school.  Those are the most special ornaments to me.

I hung this wreath that I "beefed up" on the front door.

I put this tall wooden snowman on the front porch.

I put all of our Christmas cards on a simple ribbon.

We made a lot of people birdhouses:

We made the boys teachers ornaments and some baked goods.  This is one of Walker's ornaments.

And here is Connor's ornament for his teacher.

But more than anything else, we spent time together.  We crafted, baked, watched Christmas movies, and drank more hot calorie laden drinks than it should be legal to consume in a month's time.  Guess that explains why I will be starting Weight Watchers Wednesday back up on Wednesday!  I hope your Christmas was a great one, full of special times with family and friends too!

Coat Rack Re-do...

Hey friends! I am finally getting back into a daily routine and that means back into blogging! I have several projects I finished in the past month or so, and I will start posting about them this week.

I don't know about you, but we have a "Catch All" coat rack/shoe bin that is right inside the backdoor from the garage. It has bugged me since we moved into the house over a year ago. I was uninspired to do too much to it though, with all of the other projects that I had going on. Now that most of the bigger projects are done, I am moving on to smaller things. This coat rack was on that list.

Here is how it looked for the past year:
And here it is now:

The shelf is 48 inches wide and is stained in a dark finish. I was originally gonna put a piece of beadboard on the wall and stain it the same color, then try to find a bench to sit at the bottom so it looked more like a built-in. But when my mother in law came across this trunk, and it was already the right size and color, I abandoned the original plan and went the easier route. I got a great deal on the trunk and just made a cushion for the top.

As for the rest of the decor, I shopped my house so I didn't have to spend any moola. I mixed a bunch of paints together and created a blue that I liked. I painted the Welcome sign and "HOME" letters in that. I made the floral arrangements for my mantle a long time ago, and didn't like them there, so I moved them and they work much better in this space.

What do you think of the new space? I love it! It is so much more functional and it just makes me happy when I come in the back door, and isn't having a home that makes you feel good what all the decorating is about anyway?

I am linking up to Kimba's DIY Day: