26 today

Well- today I turned 26. This is the first year I have really noticed and felt older.

I would like to almost forget today happened.

It is not often that I let myself get sad or down, but today I was feeling it.

Another friend is having a baby.

One of many; ready to take that step and be a mom.

I am jealous.

When we first got married, I laughed it off- we were too young.

Then I felt a tiny pang of jealousy.

Now it is a full out, stab in the heart, overpowering sadness.

But are we ready?

Days like today when I am feeling mad, upset, and alone?
When we argue over who should take out the trash or feed the dogs?

Maybe not.

So, I feel old... steps behind the rest of the world and where I always envisioned myself.

Kara brightened my day with my favorite form of caffeine.
Michelle overdid and bought me my beloved bee stuff from Hobby Lobby so I can throw a cool picnic. And carbs for lunch (oh how I miss thee!)
My cute kindergarteners threw me a (not at all... they blabbed) surprise party, complete with cards, gifts, a BEE themed cake ( I have an obsession), a dozen roses, and squeals of laughter.

But at the end of the day- I still don't like 26.

Salvation Saturday

No- this post is not related to Jarrod... they are all about the Salvation Army spree me, Michelle, and Kara went on this past Saturday. We hit up three Salvation Army stores, one Goodwill, and the DI (Deseret Industries). I walked away with these cheap and awesome purchases-

This lovely chair- $4 at Salvation Army

This grease-spackled spice rack-$1 at Salvation Army

This kidsy lamp-$3 at Goodwill (don't be jealous of our Chuckit)

The chair was very scary. Even though I bought it Salvation Army, it had two old stickers from DI on it- so I think someone tried to redo it once but lost the nerve. The person that put it in this lovely form needed to learn a few redo tips- such as: sand off old paint before repainting, don't use hot glue to reupholster! Here is Sergeant Sausage, my crafting partner, checking my progress from inside the house, always the helper!

To redo- I did this:

1. Cleaned the entire chair with Comet.

2. Used a fine sandpaper block to sand off the many scary layers of paint and varnish

3. rewiped off all of the surfaces

4. Primed the entire chair with Rustoleum spray primer (from Home Depot)

5. Spray painted the entire chair with flat black spray paint

6. Reupholstered the seat cushion with black and white damask fabric

7. Added black cord to the entire edges of the cushion

8. Redrilled the cushion into place

And finally- stepped back to admire what a bad-A I am!

I know what you are thinking- is that trim I see on that cushion... it's true!

I also scrubbed the spice rack with Comet to remove at least 20 years of cooking grease off of it, primed with spray paint primer, and then spray painted.

Now it is a cute little thread holder with two drawers for my bobbins (one new unused ones and one with thread on them!)

For the lamp redo, I decided I wanted it to match my chair with both fabric and colors. I liked how the original shade had two colors and ric-rac so I decided to copy that look with a more grown up approach.

I primed and spray painted black.

For the shade I did the same process as with my sister's lamp- but did a black strip of home upholstery on the top and the damask upholstery on the bottom. I spray adhesived them on one at a time, folded for the back crease, and hot glued the tops and bottoms the best I could. I then hot glued ric-rac around where the two fabrics meet.

Total Chair Cost: ($4 chair, $3 fabric, $2 trim, about $2 worth of primer and paint) Total $11

Total Thread Rack Cost: ($1 spice rack, about $.50 primer and paint) Total $1.50

Total Lamp Cost: ($3 lamp, about $2 worth of fabric, $1 ric-rac, and $.50 primer and paint) Total $6.50

Overall- some rocking good deals and LOTS of fun hunting for them and redoing them!

Don't worry--- I still have lots more projects remaining to show off!

52 Things I Love About Jarrod Cards

Well- its true. I love Mr. P. With Valentine's Day right around the corner I have been thinking about what to do.

I remember that when we first got married my Mom told me that your husband is either a romantic man or a man you try to make romantic for the rest of your life together. After the first year of realizing I was experiencing some unrealistic expectations I decided to stop trying to make Mr. P into something he wasn't.

However, I can't help that I like to use Valentine's Day, his birthday, our anniversary, and other holidays to show Mr.P how much I love him.

I saw on Tatertots and Jello her playing card Valentine coupons and thought they were SUPER cute- but unrealistic for Mr. P. He would throw them in a drawer and never use them. So, I decided to use playing cards and the same idea to do 52 things I love about him on playing cards. Which, after I explained my idea to her, Michelle told me she saw them somewhere on some blog- but here is my version of the cards that once I googled I found here.

Some of my favorites include:
How cute our kids will be
Your Nice Butt
How easy it was to say yes to you and the rest of our life

I hope you enjoy and maybe found a cute idea for your man!

P.S. Today I got this from one of my kindergarteners--


Do you think they got ideas from my classroom decorations? Hehe :) In my defense: Mr. P does bare a striking resemblance to Edward!

Lovely Lamp

The lamp is done! This is the lamp I bought my cute little sister on Saturday at the Salvation Army.

It was 55% off day so it ended up being just a little more than $6. My sister is getting ready to move out from my parents house (FINALLY--jk Em). She was looking for a lamp that went with her ultra modern black and white and scarlet motif in her soon to be living area. I told her I could make a lamp for her for supercheap...versus the $45 ones she wanted to buy.

I got out my best friend, Mr. spray paint and gave the base two good coats of flat black paint.

We went to Joanns and she picked out the fabric she wanted. I bought 1 1/2 yards because it is a HUGE lampshade. I used a 50% off coupon so it ended up being $7.50. I ended up using exactly half.

I started by pulling the large trim off of the top and bottom of the lamp because I didn't want it to be bulky once it was recovered.

I then measured my fabric so I could cut off the excess to save for something else. I cut right down the middle and made sure there was more than enough to leave some space to fold over each side of the lamp... look closely and you will see my crafting partner Sergeant Sausage checking my progress.

I then took the lamp, fabric, and spray adhesive into the garage so I could not kill our dogs with aerosol fumes.

Then, lay the lampshade so that the back seam starts where the end of the fabric is. I sprayed about 10 inches of fabric at a time. Because it was so large of a space, I also sprayed the shade too... for more a more permanent hold. This was the trickiest part. I had to go in small sections so that I could stretch the fabric and make sure I was lining up the pattern as close as I could.

Lastly (notice no picture... I got on an excited roll again) I hot glued the fabric to the top and bottom of the shade. I stretched and glued and tried to keep the fabric the same all the way around so if you see it from the inside it doesn't look messy.

And here's the final product:

I set it on our end table to get a feel for it. I felt I would like to keep it for myself. The thought then doubled when Mr. P said he liked it and wanted to keep it too. I called Emilee to come pick it up ASAP so we didn't steal it (we have a habit of doing this). So- I am now on the lookout for cute lamp #2 to redo for us.

Total Cost:

Lamp-$6

1/2 of fabric- $3.75

Spray adhesive- owned

Flat black spray paint- $1

About $11! Cute!

Thrift Store Cool

When I was little my dad used to go to thrift stores all of the time and drag us kids in there. I. hated. it. I hated the smell and touching stuff. Then I got older and of course what is my new addiction? Thrift stores. Michelle and I went to a few Goodwills and Savers- but in our area everything was SUPER overpriced. We were used to yardsales where the common price is a dollar.

Well, we went to the Salvation Army one day on a whim last month and that is where we ran up and down the aisles squealing with delight. Full carts later I had lots of cool buys for less than $20.

After some red spray paint on my $1.50 pot and my $.50 bird (which Michelle said was creepy and now covets) they are ready for Valentine's Day.

The bird lives next to the Love sign on the mantel.

The red pot is filled with glittery hearts and a big heart.

A little pink on the blueberry topiary and it too is ready for it's close up.

My favorite was this little country chic gem.

Geese not your thing? Mine either!

Too cute now. A little pink spray paint and pink glitter and voila! A cute bathroom decoration.

The lesson I learned is this: thrift stores are great but you have to find the right one. It took some hunting for us to find one where it was worth the money to dig and redo it. I love making stuff, but if the cost factor isn't part of the deal... then it's easier to just go buy what you want. You also have to look at the potential of things- which takes time. I will post more of my Valentine decor later- I have been busy working on this little gem...

A $6 lamp I am redoing for my little sister who is about to venture out on her own. Good thing her cheap and crafty sister is saving her money versus those $45 lamps she wanted to buy. Come see tomorrow what it looks like done!