While You Were Fishing...what?

Before I begin...Happy Thanksgiving! Do you have your stretchy pants on? I certainly do!

I printed this lovely little thing off and stuck it in a repurposed frame. It was gold, so I sprayed it black, sprayed the mat white, and printed off the Thanksgiving page (sooo sorry, I don't remember which blog I got it from, but whoever you are, if you read this, please let me know so I can give you props!) This is going on a blank wall in my dining room.

Okay, so if you know me, then you know that everytime my hubby goes out of town (which isn't all that often) I usually do some minor projects around the house. It was hard to choose my next victim, but the living room won out in the end because (1) we were having Thanksgiving at our house, so I wanted it to look all fancy (that's for my friend Carolyn...she loves it when I say it with my Texas twang..or maybe she's just making fun of me..not quite sure, but whatever) (2) it wasn't going to cost hardly a thing and (3) I knew that I could pull it off in less than 36 hours. Sooo, here it is. Sorry, I didn't get before pictures, but it was sad. Let me give you 3 words: blue, brown and blank. Now, I acutally have pictures on the walls! I think I am going to paint the "M" a brighter color, but other than that, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The khaki fabric is an old skirt that got a stain on it that I couldn't bear to throw away because the color was amazing and it was linen for heaven's sake! Don't you just LOVE this wreath? In case you don't read any other blogs out there (you really don't get around much do you? I'm so sorry) this amazing piece of fluffiness is made out of ...wait for it...COFFEE FILTERS! Fo' realz yo! It cost me a grand total of $3.75. You read it right...$2 for 2 packs of natural coffee filters and $1.75 for the straw wreath it is attached to (used my 50% off coupon at Hobby Lobby) and about 543 sticks of glue and 12 burns on my fingers. I think I need hot glue lessons...or a remedial hot glue class. I would fail miserably. Here is a close up of her: Here is the view from above my t.v.. I do have some tweaking to do. I need to trade out some pictures. The large one had a funky size picture in it before, and I didn't realize it. I printed out an 11x 14 and it isn't big enough.

I am really happy with the way that everything turned out! It isn't perfect, but I can tweak it as I go. What do you think?

Fall mantle

I love fall....

{...and I'm linking up to The Nesting Place today for their Fall Mantel (a.k.a. "Fantel") Party.}

Third time's the charm, right?

If you can't tell from the ridiculously non-matching blog page, I am in the process of redoing it. One day I might invest a little moolah in having someone who has a clue what they are doing, do it for me and make it look RI-DONK-U-LOUS, but for now, I will just have to do it on my own and deal with it's non-perfect, non-custom and non-designer look. It kills me, but then so does the fact that my camera takes pictures just one step above a disposable. So, in order for me to take the plunge and get someone to design on for me, I must one or several of the following:

1. Have someone donate it to me because of my lack of blog design skills.


2. Blog more than once every couple of weeks.


3. Have pictures that don't look like they were taken by a 5-year-old, or by someone who is visually impaired, or by a very slow monkey.


4. Have something exciting to blog about. The extent of my days includes lots of picking up the toy trail that follows my 2 little ones everywhere, burning multiple batches of brownies, cleaning various body fluids off of the bathroom floor, sweeping under my kitchen table 13 times a day, and an occasional bandaid application to an imaginary boo-boo.

So, in conclusion, this blog, as well as my life, and every room in my house is a work in progress. Stay tuned...Oh yeah, and I painted my laundry room again...stripes!!! Here's a sneak peek...

Please ignore the fact that it isn't completely finished...I ran out of painter's tape right at the end.

Do you like how the stripes match my new blog background? Yeah, I am kind of going through a stripe phase. Also, this is the third time I have painted this room. It is my experimentation room. I like to try things out in here that I am not sure I want to do anywhere else. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Not sure if I am 100% sold on the blue...might like it better khaki and cream. Hmmmm, we'll see how it goes, but I definitely like it better than the retina burning aqua that it once was. Anywho....have a great weekend!

In the ingenious words of Dr.Seuss...

Hi y'all.
I sit here at well after midnight contemplating important issues like life, motherhood, time management, the pizza I ate for dinner tonight and how it is going to make me swell up like a big toad in the morning...you know, things like that, and I have decided many things:

1. There should be about 2 more of me to get the things done that I believe that I should get done on a daily basis. I can't decide if I am just too hard on myself and my expectations are ridiculous, or whether I have horrible time management. I would tend to think more of the first one, since I am notorious for beating myself up on a minute-to-minute basis and constantly feeling like I don't compare to other moms/wives/Christians out there (I am fairly certain it has something to do with my childhood and repressed memories and the fact that I ate peanut butter and miracle whip sandwiches growing up, but that is a moot point), but I am hoping it is the latter. I am bound and determined to get myself more organized, and it has to start now. Now, mind you, I am a fairly organized person already. The thought of baskets and pretty little tags tied onto those baskets, and clear glass jars with little stick on labels, and The Container Store and more baskets, and label makers, and more baskets makes my knees weak. The thought of making a list really gets my engine running. However, my follow through is rather lame. I have ideas of grandeur when it comes to my perfectly functioning home, with children who actually pick up what they get out and return it to their labelled bin, and a hubby (love you Babe!) who makes the long & tedious 15 foot trek to the hamper to put his dirty socks there, rather that the floor, and countertops that don't look like Office Depot threw up on them. However, I will be defeated no more! Hell hath no fury like a woman on a mission to organize her life! (Or maybe it is acutally "a woman scorned". Oh well, whatever.)

2. Oh wait, what was I listing...be right back...scrolling up...Okay, I'm back. So, I have also taken on some new responsibilites. I am helping a dear friend with her business. Yes, I am kinda working. I am her "assistant". You have to know that I am taking full liberty in making this as fun as possible, such as calling her "Boss", and texting her if I need to pick up her dry cleaning, or her half-caff-upside down-soy-latte with 2 Splenda with a shot of espresso. I have thought about getting her a "World's Best Boss" mug and wearing my hair in a bun and calling everyone "Toots". Hmmmm. Maybe not. Anyway, it is a small gig (only a couple of hours a week...for now) but it has given me something, other than mommyhood or wifehood (that IS a technical term, thankyouverymuch) or house related, to have pride in. I have also started helping my hubby with his business. So, needless to say, I have packed on even more things to keep me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Just what I needed, right?

3. I am on a spending freeze. Seriously...a freeze. I have to make do with what I have. Repurpose...rearrange...remove...rewind..oh wait, that doesn't really make sense, does it?

All of that being said, I am taking a sabbatical from blogging here. I love blogging, but unless I am up at an unGodly hour, I can't make the time. Honestly, I can't say that I have a lot to blog about anyway. I am not doing some amazing craft or painting my living room or baking from scratch or redoing my mantle everyday, so if I did blog, you would sleep through most of it, until I make some self-deprecating remark and then you might chuckle a bit and nod back off again while I show you the millionth picture I took of my daughter at her first soccer game. Oh yeah, I should have posted those before I vowed to take a sabbatical...crap!
Simply stated, I have to work on being a mom, wife and homemaker right now. I have to dedicate myself to those things, then when I get it all figured out, I'll be back. Then I'll write a book on how I did all these things, and make a million dollars, and have my own doll, and my own talk show and ...just kidding. I will get it figured out. I am too hard-headed and determined not to. I'll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, in my freetime, which I don't foresee having too much of...I will be watching you and YOUR blogs...watching and waiting..MWAHAHAHA!!! Just kidding...I will be popping in on my favorites here and there to get a little inspiration and trying not to feel totally inadequate that I didn't go to the FLEA and refinish some amazing piece of "junk" to look like something out of a Parisian boutique, or reupholster my $5 thrifting treasure into something that even Ethan Allen himself would weep at, or whip up the most delictible meal that will later be shared on my blog with 20 beautiful and artful pictures that I took with my amazing thrifted antique camera. I will TRY not to feel inadequate, I didn't promise anything.
So, I will leave you a quote from one of my favorite poets...Dr. Seuss (seriously, he is a hoot)...

...when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun,
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done...
(from "Oh, The Places You'll Go)

My friends, I am in a Slump, and I am off to Un-slump myself. In the meantime, I will be charting my "self"progress on my Skinny Girl blog if you just miss me that much. If you do...I am so sorry for you.

See you on the other side!

Blessings,
Jenn

Amazing & cheap wall treatment

Okay y'all, I have promised more posts, so here 'tis...

As you know, I have been blogstalking (which is totally legal, I might add) and I stumbled across the most glorious of "glory be" blogs ever in existance...or at least that I know about. It is called Jones Design Company. I am literally obsessed with her sense of style. It is PERFECT!!! So, when the hubby went away overnight, I had to copy her idea of the painted quatrefoil design. It looks like wallpaper, but only cost me...um nothing because I already had the paint!!!

Here is the before:

Yikes! Scary!!!

And here is the after:

Paint treatment looks great, pictures are a little too small, and not at all what I want, and that grodie chair (remember that little find?) against the wall needs some lipstick...but that is for another post :)

I did do it a little bit differently than the inspiration, but it was purely by accident. I used her template that she had on her blog, but instead of painting all of the pencil lines, I just went in between. I should have double checked the tutorial, I still think it looks great though. Thanks for the inspiration Emily!!! If you want to do the same in your space, head on over the Emily's amazing blog and check out how she did it. Oh, and take a gander at her nursery for her new baby girl too. You will have to pick yourself up off the floor...gorgeous!!!!!

Blogstalking

Okay y'all. I don't know how many people actually read my blog, but I have not been a good blogger lately. I'll tell you a little secret...I have been blogstalking. There are so many amazing blogs out there that have some equally amazing ideas! Let me tell ya', I love blogging, but I feel a little inferior when I see what some of what these gals can do. I also thought I had a pretty good camera until I found out that, it in fact, was only about 2 steps up from a disposable. So...what do y'all use? I can only dream of a new one at this point, but I need to know what I am coveting. Hee hee.

So, not only do I feel incredibly inadequate in the photography department, but I was handcuffed to by desktop...until last week when I got a LAPTOP!!! Can you hear the angels singing, because I sure can!!!

Sooo, all of this to say, I will definitely be blogging on a regular basis about my fabulous life. I know that you are "literally dying" (Rachel Zoe reference) to see what's been going on here.

I have been a busy little bee...can't wait to share. Here is a sneaky peaky...

3 years ago...

...this little man came into this world and stole my heart.

He drives his brother and sister crazy, but they love him anyway. Not just love...adore!

Irish twins!

Daddy and his twin. That is what everyone says. Maybe that is why my heart melts everytime I see him :)

Fun party!

Tasty cupcakes!

Cake balls too...

Don't forget the cake! (My first attempt at fondant.) Treats for the guests.

His little gap-toothed grin and chubby cheeks are just delicious! Thank you Lord for this precious bundle of joy and endless energy and giggles!!!

Where I've been...

I have been in full fledged party planning mode for my littlest monkey, being a mom, organizing, doing a little crafting, and doing this.

Yeah, I have taken this workout thing by the horns and it is eating away major chunks of my time. Soooo, I have spent some of my free time (which is miniscule) checking out some other blogs and coming across way too many cute ideas that I need to try, but simply don't have the time for, so I am living vicariously through other bloggers at this point.

I'll have pics of little man's birthday party up next week.

Have a blessed weekend!

4

Happy birthday my precious baby girl!

My most random post yet

I love blogging...but I love reading blogs even more. That is why I don't blog often. That, and the fact that I barely have time to sleep, much less sit at my computer (yes, I don't even have a laptop...dark ages) while my kids are wreaking havoc in my peripheral. So...I do it when I have insomnia (also known as drinking a Coke at 8:00 PM).

This blog is particularly random because it is the second time this week that I have been up until, well, too late and up at the butt crack of dawn. Yes, I said butt crack. I blame the insomnia...or the coke...or both. Or the fact that I am from the country and I am uncouth.

I have been working like a dog...wait, I know my dog (see right side of my page) and she doesn't work. She just lays there all day and lifts her head when we walk by. Okay, let me rephrase... I have been working like a stay at home mom of 3 young children lately. There...much better and clearly more accurate. Since I got the thumbs down to install a pedestal sink in my upstairs bath because (and for the record...I completely agree) that in this house, you just never know what is lurking behind a wall, under a floor or under linoleum (and in the case of said bathroom, 3...yes 3 additional layers of linoleum...all the same color & pattern...don't ask me why). After seeing my visions of a cute little cottagey, yet rustic and boyish bathroom with a gorgeous square pedestal sink come to a screeching halt, I decided that my dad was right. In this house of surprises (and very questionable construction) I succumbed to the fact that the weird corner cabinet was going to remain intact & I had to deal with it. So, I painted it, added a new mirror, floors, and a few other things. Pictures to come soon...

I have also been party planning for my daughter's birthday. Here is what I have so far...

I have also been inspired by my blogfriend (I made that up...feel free to use it :) Jenni at Nest to Keep (holla!) to recover a lampshade. It started like this...

Now it looks like this...

I know exactly what I want it to look like, but I can't find the picture and I have searched on the internet forver (about 5 minutes) and have decided that a picture doesn't exist...or I'm just tired of looking. So, you will just have to see what it looks like when I'm done. Yet another teaser. Hmmm....

Since we are the subject of cute shoes (weren't we?) I picked these up at the greatest kid shoe store on the planet...otherwise known as Marshalls. I cannot even begin to tell you how in love I am with these. You can't tell in the picture (because of my super high-tech camera...did you note the sarcasm there...you should) but they are navy. I wish they sold them in my size...oh wait, they do.

And while we are talking about Target (weren't we?), looky what I saw today and could scream that I didn't grab it and run straight to the checkout line yelling, "MINE! MINE! MINE!"...well, maybe not the last part.

Oh my...with a burlap drumshade with navy grosgrain detail. Seriously, what was I thinking? Oh wait, I know...I wasn't...because I was up at the butt crack of dawn. Sorry y'all, you can take the girl out of the country, but, well, you know...nighty night!

Elegant Burlap...it does exist

One of my favorite blogs to follow is Melanie over at My Sweet Savannah. She is having a great giveaway today, and I shouldn't be telling you because you will go over there and enter, then my chances will decrease on winning the goods, and, yet again, I won't win a giveaway..story of my life...but I am a nice person and decided to tell you...and it gives me another entry by posting it on my blog..but that is neither here, nor there and don't you want a nice person to win? So don't go there...okie dokie. Well, you can go there, but don't enter. Hee hee.

The winner (hopefully me) gets a $50 gift certificate to use at Bella Inspiration's etsy shop. I am a huge fan of burlap (which is why I should win) and her stuff is beautiful. It doesn't at all look like a potato sack either. Now, if you are looking for potato sack home couture, so sorry...don't suggest you enter. I am in LOVE with this ruffled table runner.

If I don't win (I hope I didn't just jinx it) then one of my adoring fans has my permission to buy one for me. I'm just sayin'...

P.S. Melanie...Pick me!!! (waving arm fanatically in the air)...PLEASE!!!! Pick me, pick me!!!!!!

I'm here, just busy

Okay y'all, I have been super busy and haven't written in a while. It is 2:10 AM and I can't promise that this will be coherent.
A quick run down of activities that have kept me from posting (otherwise known as "life")...
I have been trying to wrap up Mother's Day Out for this year which had me crafting some pretty snazzy canvases (9 t0 be exact). That took a bit. Planning Little Miss's (Is that apostrophe right? I always get confused with the apostrophe before the s, or after the s, or is it apostrophe es...I'm confused...what's new, I know.) birthday party and Little man's birthday is quickly creeping up behind hers. I have also been trying to work on my meal planning, couponing (not going so well), coming up with some fun crafts for the kids for the summer, planning the summer schedules (camps, VBS, etc.), having my 11th wedding anniversary (whooo hoooo), among about 20 other things that I can't think about right now because I will have a mental breakdown.
I am also trying to save money on birthdays and I have been whipping up ribbon covered flip flops & hairbands for my daughter's birthday. (Note: Whipping up translates to: laboring over, hot glueing one's self, cursing under one's breath, and nearly taking off the tip of one's pinky finger)
Oh yeah, on top of that, I have been remodeling the boy's bathroom upstairs. I am laying the vinyl wood planks, repainting the vanity, adding a little artwork and doing some overall fluffing. Fluffing is not a good word for a boy's bathroom...let's say tweaking..yeah, that's better.
By the way, I have no pictures at this point. I will post some, but I am tired. I have also changed up the look of my blog and I am not thrilled with it, but I am tired. Do you see a recurring theme here? I don't care because I am tired. Hmmmm. I'll have pics, a new blog look and better grammar and spelling the next post. Sorry, but I am just...nevermind. Good night Blogland.

Polka dots

So Little Miss decided she wanted a pink room with pink polka dots. Well, we are well on our way. As I said in my last post (I know it has been a while, but I have been super busy) the color on the walls is Chalk 1. I decided to go tone on tone for the polka dots and used Chalk 2. I know, I am a wild woman. I just took a good ol' soup can and traced around it in a random pattern and painted them in with a craft brush. I only got a tester can of paint from Lowe's (remember the paint debacle of February 2010?) and it is going to be more than enough.
(For some reason, it isn't letting me download the picture. I'll have to try later.)

On another note, I have put out a few of my spring decorations. Not much, nothing crafty, but it will have to do. I am feeling rather tired. P90X is killing me, and not softly (sorry Roberta Flack) I might add. Speaking of busting a gut, I have another blog if you are interested in complete self-deprecating humor & a good laugh....at me, not with me. :)


Happy spring y'all!

Julia Child would be proud...and I'm not talking cooking.

Okay y'all. So, I will make this as short and sweet as is humanly possible for me. I know, that is a stretch, but so are the yoga pants that I have on...
Lowe's has truly disappointed me. My mother-in-law moved out this past weekend and we decided to give Caroline back her old room which was builder's beige, then pink, then beige/blue, and is now pink again. We turned her old room...old as in the one that she has been in for the past 6 months, not the old one as in her original one...oh, for Pete's sake, now I am even confused....Where was I? Oh yeah, it is now an office. Soooo, I go to one of the stores that I am sure they have at the strip mall in Heaven, "Lowe's", to get some paint (this mall will also include Hobby Lobby, Anthropologie and Chipotle in case you were wondering). Well, I decided upon a lovely pale pink, because if you know my daugther, she loves pink. I decided upon "Chalk Pink 1" by Laura Ashley. I asked for 1 gal. of primer tinted to match the paint & 1 gal. of satin paint. They sent me home, unknowingly (to me, that is) with 1 gallon of OIL-BASED Kilz primer and 1 gallon of LATEX paint. I didn't realize this little faux pas until I had already cut in the top half of the ceiling and around the doors (I didn't do the bottom because I was going to use that wainscotting wallpaper on the bottom half, but that is another disaster that I will go into detail about in a later post.), and was trying to clean out my brush with water. Ummm, yeah, that is when I realized that something was awry. I called Lowe's, told them my situation and they ("they" as in lady that was working the paint desk) told me that it was "fine". Apparently, I had nothing to worry about because it was primer and you can put latex paint over oil-based primer. That is what people do when they want to change from oil to latex. At least, that is what she said. Let me go ahead and say that I didn't believe her, but she is paint desk girl, and I am not. It isn't in my wheelhouse. Well, let's just say that it wasn't "fine" as paint desk girl said. It took twice as much paint (which equates to twice the time and four times the frustration) to get it to look right. (I have to add the disclaimer that the Lowe's manager confirmed my suspicions and discounted our next 2 gallons 50%...thank you very much.)

Needless to say, it isn't perfect, but my quest for paint perfection ended after the 45th coat of paint...and the realization that my husband was cutting in with my pastry brush.

Texas Weather

You just never know about Texas weather. Those of you who don't live in Texas truly don't understand how true this is. This is what our house looks like this morning. From the way that the snow hit my snow boots this morning, I am going to bet that we had nearly a foot of snow....in Texas...I am serious. We are supposed to have temperatures in the 50s tomorrow. Goodbye snow. It was nice to have you, if only for a couple of days...

Snow ice cream:

1 gallon of fresh, clean snow

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 cups milk

Stir & enjoy right away.

'Cause I didn't have anything better to do...

When you are stuck at home with 2 sick kids for what feels like an eternity (really only 6 days), it is amazing how productive you become. After about 4 days, I finally had enough. The retina burning turquoise walls and way too shiny and uneven stained cabinets had to go.

Here is the laundry room before I ever touched it...

Lovely 1990's oak cabinets. I will say, they were in great shape, are very sturdy & I love the raised panels.

After ripping out the matching 1990's linoleum, do you remember me putting these totally rad (oops, sorry, I have the 90s on the brain) peel and stick laminate flooring tiles in?Now, for those of you new to my blog, these are the same tags that I made to hang on the laundry sorter. ...and the same jars to hold various stuff that I use daily.

Now, here is my new old laundry room!

I wish I had the pictures of the retina burning color on the walls that came after my before pictures above...totally confused? Welcome to my world...Anywho, I think I was too embarrassed to keep the pictures. Here is the newest color. I mixed 3 different colors I had in my garage and came up with this lovely little blue-gray. I like it. It doesn't hurt my eyes and that is always a bonus. I also painted 1 layer of Kilz and a couple of coats of regular latex paint over the polyshades that was there before. I was shocked at how well it covered and at how durable it seems to be, because Heaven knows that I am flat out sick of this darn room and it wasn't going to be painted again no matter how horrifying it turned out.

Now, for just a little tweaking...I'll get back to ya' on that one.