A Project Finished; Urban Loft Photos

It's so nice to be able to get projects done around the house.

Though we were recently blessed with a temporary income, it won't last, so we are still watching every penny we spend.

I got a chance to buy some spray primer. I was ridiculously excited to find out that I had a can and a half of white spray paint just sitting in my garage.

What luck!

So I finally got to paint my daughter's shutters.

All I have to say is:

She had better appreciate me when she gets older!

I have been super-busy lately.

(To the point that if I didn't have a wonderful husband to help cart kids around, I don't think I would make it...)

Yesterday was no exception.

My son was in a Kiddie Parade for T-ball.

Sorry for the terrible picture quality. I was shooting out of a shadow, and I didn't have enough time to figure out how to keep the flash on.

Anyways, I bring this up because while we were waiting, I let him handle my nice/expensive/favorite camera.

Here's what I got when I pulled up the SD card in all of it's UNEDITED glory:

Wouldn't those be great in an urban loft?

Maybe it's just because I'm his mom...but I absolutely adored his photos!

"Momma...I'm going to take a picture of the police car."

Anyways, I have one really cool project that I just completed. I can't wait to show you!

Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait quite a few days.

Today: Work all day, then go grocery shopping (at 10pm).

Tomorrow: Make my veggie bars for a family reunion, go to an auction, go to the reunion, watch the Waterfront Festival fireworks.

Sunday: leave to Milwaukee, WI for a Brewers game. Come back late at night.

Soooo....maybe Monday you'll see it?

Bird House Post

Wow, have I been busy the past two days!

I want to streamline the bookcases that I just built in the living room, and I realized that I have a lot of stuff that can be relocated.

One was a birdhouse that my step-son made my husband and me for our wedding.

Isn't that sweet?

<3

Anyways, it's been on display in our house for the past few years, and I've finally decided that it should be used outdoors.

It is afterall, a birdhouse!

So. I'm still not in the clear with my financial situation. Hubby is still desperately job searching.

:(

Luckily, I had all the material to make a pretty darn good post for this bird house.

1. A scrap 1x4 from my board and batten project. (In this photo, the board is already cut to make a stake.)

2. A plaque that my MIL gave to me. She new I would be able to use it somehow!

3. The finial from my old message center. I never used it, so I tore it apart.

I pre-drilled three holes in the plaque.

I screwed that into the top of my 1x4 using 2" screws. I used just the two outside holes.

Then I screwed in the finial using the middle hole.

This is what you should have now.

I spray-painted the entire thing white. The spray paint was left over from a different project that I did yesterday.

Then I spray-polyed (left over from some random project. Not sure which one...) the crap out of the birdhouse to preserve it. This birdhouse means a lot to me, so I don't want it to rot or anything. I put 4 coats on it just to make sure.

;)

Isn't that cute? He signed the bottom.

:)

Anyways, after screwing in a 1 1/2" screw to hold the birdhouse in place, all I had to do was pound it into the ground!

I put it right in the middle of my raspberry/blackberry garden.

Project Cost: FREE!

I love being a "store-for-the-future squirrel."

Isn't it lovely?

Don't laugh at my Photoshop skills, but I just wanted to show you what it would look like when my bushes are at mature height.

Haha. I could have edited this one in Microsoft Paint!

Oh! And both my raspberry bushes are already producing fruit! I planted them only a few months ago. They weren't supposed to bear fruit for another two seasons.

I happily ate two whole berries.

;)

Coming up: Cafe Shutters, 3rd Kitchen Rugs, Bathroom Moulding, Country Skillet Recipe, and more!

Oh, Pottery Barn

I'm always amazed at how Pottery Barn jacks up prices on everything.

Take, for example, these stools.

I love, love, love saddle stools, but at $99 a piece?!

No way!

 You can actually get the same stools at Bed Bath & Beyond for $29.99 a piece...

....even though I got mine for only $17 for BOTH.

;)

Anyways, my great/awesome/amazing/genius friend fixed my computer for me, so I'm virus-free!!

Though we didn't wait very long, all that free-time drove me into high gear!

I have four projects that I will be showing you soon, I'm just waiting for my thumb to stop throbbing (stupid hammer...) before I pound out the rest of these projects.

Thanks, everyone, for being so patient and understanding with my lack of projects lately.

You guys rule!

It's Just Getting Funny

You know those people that always have bad luck?

Like Mandy Moore's character in Scrubs:

I'm inspired how well she embraced her misfortunes.

I say this because, just to pour salt on an open wound, my computer has a virus.

And what a virus it is....

Worse we've ever had...

So while I beg my I.T. friend to look at my computer, I may not be posting frequently. I was able to steal a few minutes on my mother's computer today since I just got done mowing her lawn.

I...just...need....a....toe....hold.....

lol.

I'm at the point where I can't help but to just laugh at everything that's been going on.

BUT hopefully it will be a good day today.

I got to go to church this morning. I haven't had a Sunday off of work in FOREVER, so it was nice being able to go with my family.

Anyways, I have a million things that need to get done today, so I had better be off.

Wish me luck that my computer gets fixed!

Cafe-Style Shutters

Pinching pennies, lately, has been hard for me.

I don't mind not shopping. That doesn't bug me at all.

It's the lack of having a project to work on that is driving me bonkers.

After a few days of moping around the house, I realized that I have a basement full of "eventually" projects.

I would go thrifting, love something, buy it, but never do anything with it.

I have tons of these "eventually" projects down there.

A long time ago, I bought three boxes of shutters at Goodwill.

I can't even remember what I paid.....but it was probably ridiculously cheap if I bought three boxes.

;)

I wanted to make sure they fit my daughter's windows right away, so I put them up right away.

I do have primer and paint, but I've hand-painted shutters before, and it's no picnic.

So I'm just going to wait until I can afford some spray stuff.

(Yes, I'm that broke right now.)

It's going to be white, just like the rest of the trim in her room.

Wouldn't that look great with her shutter headboard that I made her a year ago?

I'll post pictures as soon as I get it done!

Stay tuned for more "eventually" projects that I unearth, recipes, and hopefully news about my life getting back on track, haha!