A little paint goes a long way

So I have this little problem.

I like to change my mind. A lot.

We are talking purchases here. 

Clothes, lamps, rugs, bedding, you know, all things you need to be pretty certain before you pay big bucks for. Which usually, I think I am...at the store.

This problem seems to usually occur about 7 minutes after I get home with my new purchase.

"Why do I always DO this?" 

Let's just say I'm a pretty big "returner".

In all sense of the word really, I return often to stores but I also often return the items I buy.

So what to do when you buy things you can't return.

Paint them !

Here is a little secret about me : I usually do all my painting while my Mr. is at work, so by the time he gets home the item is painted, dried and placed back in it's space. 

Sneaky. Sneaky.

This brings me to this quick little upcycled project.

We all know I love lamps, so take a look at the latest.

Last year I bought 2 of these lamps on sale for 20 dollars each. 

At the time they fit perfectly with our bedroom decor.

I originally placed them in the spare room and bought new ones for our bedroom; however, that little thing happened again and I changed my mind. About the 2 sets of lamps.

Oops.

So the new ones went to the guest bedroom (along with the new rug and bedding originally bought for our bedroom....are you seeing a pattern here?) and I took these back for our bedroom.

 But they needed a face lift.

I sanded the base a little and spray painted them Rust-oleum Marigold.

The perfect vintage yellow. 

 Problem : The shade no longer fit with the new base color, and new ones could be pricey.

Solution : Paint that too !

I used an Antique White acrylic paint from the dollar store.

I used about 2, 4 ounce bottles as the material soaked up lots of paint.

About 3 coats each shade.

5 dollars and an hour later we have new bedroom lamps that I can commit to without a large cost !

I kind of love them.

Aren't they fun ?

So before you throw out your unwanted household items think long and hard about what a little paint can do to give you a whole new look !

Here are a few other lamp projects of mine :  Here, Here, Here, Here, Here

Thanks for stopping in today.

Bye.Cya

The perfect man friend gift

Aren't men the hardest people to buy for ?
I'm not talking your husband or Father here, I mean your "man friends".
Yeah them.
You know those guys you know enough to be friends with but don't know enough to know what their perfect gift choice would be.
Yeah them.


Still following ?

This past weekend the Mr. and I were invited to a 30th birthday bash for two of our "man friends".
A night away, camping, wine, comfy clothes, junk food and friends.
Pure Perfection.
Except what the beep do you buy two 30 year old "man friends" ?
Beer. Beer. Beer.
That puts a smile on any man's face right ?
Problem is, handing a case of beer over as a gift is kind of plain these days.
So naturally, I went on Pinterest.

Thank you to whoever created this magical site; however, you should seriously think about offering house cleaning services to all users since your site seems to take up most of our time, resulting in no time to worry about our that part of our lives. 
BINGO.

I found 2 pictures of beer cakes on Pinterest but they weren't linked to any site, which meant I was on my own to figure out how to make sure the beer stayed put as a cake.

Oh, did I mention we were travelling 3 and a half hours to the party ? 

Beer tower in a moving truck...this may be a challenge.

So after some brain storming, this was what I came up with...

 I've linked up too  : http://thewinthropchronicles.blogspot.ca/

I used :

Foam Board (found at our local dollar store for a buck)
Hot glue and glue gun
Ribbon
Printed pictures
Small piece of cardboard for "Enjoy" tag on cakes
Birthday boy's favorite beer

What I did :

3 tier cake
Bottom layer - 10 beer cans
Middle layer - 7 beer cans
Top layer - 1 beer

1) Trace beer tiers on foam board and cut.
2) Hot glue beer cans to foam board in layers
3) Hot glue (small dots we don't want to melt the can here) ribbon around each tier
4) Hot glue picture to the top can of the cake

DONE ! Simple and guaranteed your "man friends" will love their prezzie.
I just like saying "man friends".
Man friends. Man friends. Man friends.

The hot glue makes the cakes very sturdy and easy to transport if the party isn't at your place !

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial - happy beer cake making - Thanks for stopping in today !

Bye.Cya

Hello my sweet little boy.

To my little C.A.P, 

You don't realize how much your heart can love another until you meet your own child.

My heart belongs to you, all of it.

I want to teach you everything there is to know about life,  but I know, that some day, I'll have to let you learn some for yourself.  But until that day comes, I want you to know this...

Never let anyone make decisions for you. You are your own person, and your opinions always count.

 It's cool to be smart. Do the best you can do in school, it will pay off.

 Laugh everyday. It's good for your soul.

Accept and love yourself. The world can sometimes be a big bad place - always remember you are you and that's what makes you so special. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently.

Always, always respect your elders. One day you will be one of them - remember that.

Don't bully others. Treat them as you would want to be treated. Words hurt, a lot.

When you have other siblings, love them, protect them and be their friend, not only their brother. They will look up to you, set a good example.

Remember to never let your feeling bottle up inside. It's good to vent, and I will always be here to listen.

Enjoy your life, grow slowly. Remember the small things, they are usually always the most important.

Sometimes when you think life is too rough to take. Stop, take a deep breathe and remember you are loved,a lot. It will all be okay in the end, time heals.

Remember that no matter how much you hear it from your friends, material things are not what makes a person happy, love and friendship does.

If you are good at something, show it. Don't be afraid to let your talents shine through. Don't be ashamed of it. Follow your passion.

Travel. Visit the world. Experience different cultures, you'll have a new respect for everything you have.

When you meet someone new, shake their hand and look them in the eyes. It's respectful and it will get you places. You can thank your Daddy for that one.

Please don't wear your pants past your bum.  Believe me, later in life, you'll thank me. 

Playing outside is better than any video game out there.

Always accept others for who they are. They all have the same feelings as you do.

Don't litter. It's never cool. Ever.

Even boys are allowed to cry. It's okay, everyone does it.

Remember tattoos are there forever. When you think it's a great idea to get the latest fad permanently on drawn on your skin, talk to me first. Your Mama has 4 she could live without.

Never be afraid to tell me anything, I am your mother, I will support you, always.

No matter how hard life gets, remember that you can always come home.

Love Mommy.

PS - if you've missed my other "letters to..." you can catch them HERE and HERE.

Thanks for stopping in today ! Post ya Friday !

Bye.Cya

Wanna be healthy ?

Happy Friday ! Want to start making healthy choices ? 

Start here. Literally, it's a breakfast choice so you can start your day off with it.

I don't know about anyone else but breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.

 I seriously wake up and my first thought of the day is of food, I mean, unless C.A.P is screaming at the top of his lungs because he can't get out of his room. But most times, it's food.

 There are so many delicious choices to pick from but they all don't leave you feeling in tip top shape. 

I'm taking bacon and eggs here.

 It sure is SO delicious, but what's that saying "a minute at the lips a lifetime at your hips"

Amen to that girlfriend.

Today I'll share a healthier but equally yummy breakfast choice with you !

A pancake. An oats pancake.

Here is what you'll need :

PS - this recipe is measured out for a female - if you make this for a male - you can double the recipe if needed.

1/2  cup quick oats 

1/2 cup berries (I like using frozen blueberries, but you can use whatever your little heart desires !)

1/2 scoop of protein powder (this is optional, but the vanilla flavor protein adds great taste to the pancake)

3 egg whites

Cinnamon (amount desired) 

1 individual pack of Sugar Twin

If using frozen berries (recommended) microwave them for 1 minute.

Once that's done, mix all your ingredients above in a bowl, and add about HALF of your (melted) berries to the mix. 

Set side other half of berries.

Fry in a none stick pan as you would a normal pancake.

Once cooked, top your pancakes with your berries in which you had set aside, you can also add some sugar free syrup (or no sugar added syrup)

 I have yet to find "no sugar" syrup here in Canada (Can I get a "BOO").

I typically use the no sugar added E.D Smith type shown below.

It still has 6 g of sugar but it sure beats the 15 g in the other brands. Wowza.

Source here 

There you have it - a healthy little breakfast that will leave you feeling full but without the bloated look.

Here is the Mr.'s pancakes - His preference:  Raspberries ! 

Hope everyone gives these a try ! 

Have a great weekend - I will post ya on Sunday.

Bye.Cya

Charger plates

Mid week already - Holy mac. 

Side note 1 : who says Holy Mac? What does it mean ? Is it a mom thing ? Why have I all of a sudden decided it was cool/appropriate/fun to use after every sentence. Someone please ?

This week is flying by, which is always good, because who doesn't love weekend right ? 

I've got lots of projects on the go and I'm motivated !

On Monday I promised to show you what I put in the pretty wrapped gifts - so here it is !

I wasn't sure what to get for my mama for mother's day but knew I wanted it to be unique and different.

She likes to host dinner parties so it hit me - Charger plates.

Bonus : I get to stencil again. My love lives on. 

Seriously I would stencil my whole house if it was acceptable. There is just something about it that satisfied me. 

It's my drug. Stencil drug. 

Hey, at least it's healthy. 

Alright, I'm blabbing.

Check em' out !

I bought a piece of 12 " by 72 " for 8.49 at Home Depot. 

Side note 2: Older DM please ignore how cheap this was. It was made with love.

I got them to cut it into 6 pieces of 12" by 12". 

They do it for free if you didn't know !

I sanded and stained the 6 pieces Cheery - this matches my Mama's dinning room perfectly !

Of course I used my Lotta Jansdotter  stencils. 

I love them, as I'm sure you have read.

Et voila ! Simple as that !

I just love them. I want my own ! 

They won't match my kitchen; however, would look fabulous on my patio table.

Thanks for reading - Post ya Friday !

Bye.Cya

A personalized touch

Hi all ! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend and that all you Mamas were able to have a nice relaxing "do nothing around the house" type of Sunday.

Today I wanted to share a quick, easy and cheap way to add a personalized touch to your wrapped gifts.

Let's start with the basics of wrapping gifts.

Gift bags & wrapping paper.

We all use them, and most times they make our gifts look good. 

But let's face it, they all look the same.

ps - I'm not dissing your wrap jobs, believe me,  I've used my fair share of wrapping paper and bags.

This is just another way to spice up your gift wrapping !

What I used :

Packing paper : found at all post offices. My HUGE roll was only 2.50 $

Stencils : Found at all craft stores.

Ribbon rope : Dollar store or craft store.

Letter stamps : Dollar store or craft store.

I don't think it's necessary to go through the steps on wrapping a gift.

Most of you could probably teach me a thing or two about them !

I love them plain yet special touch the stamps add to the wrapped gift.

Here is another example I have to show you. 

Another present for a very special Mama !

Short but very sweet.

Hope you enjoyed today's post - come back on Wednesday - I'll show you what's inside these beauties.

Thanks for reading my blog 

Bye.Cya.

The good and the bad

Happy Friday !

The good and bad. News of course.

The good : 

Sweet mother of...we have a basement floor ! It's like some kind of blog fairy miracle. Literally. 

Remember on Wednesday when I mention the lack there of process in the basement ? 

Well by Thursday morning they were here working on.

Mini Miracle ! 

Or maybe they ready the blog - either way, I am one excited mama.

Here is C.A.P watching at the cement trucks do there thang. 

Yep, I just said that word.

Okay wait, where did those crazy weird arm looking things come from ?

A transformer in my yard ? 

Does this mean Josh Duhamel comes to save the day ?

Just kidding Mr. - you're both cute.

Alright now for the bad part :

This is the extent of my post today - No DIYs to share today !

It's beautiful out and C.A.P is over his cold - we are on an "being outside" mission. 

What's on the agenda. My "to get" list. 

There is even a sneak peak bad sketch of some of my furture projects. Get excited, I've got big plans - hope the Mr. is on board, I need some lots of wood cut !

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. Post you on Sunday !

Bye.Cya

DIY Wood Art

Do you ever feel like you have a zillion projects on the go, think of new ideas, start them and leave the rest unfinished ?

Just agree and say it isn't just me.

I literally have unfinished rooms and projects all over the house. One of those rooms is the basement, but this isn't my project to finish. Remember when the flood happened, oh MONTHS ago, yes well, the refinishing of that is still not finished started. 

You can read about that adventure here. 

Moving on to something positive ! I finished another project ! 

I can hear you cheering through the computer.

I was feeling wood crafty last week so off to home Depot I went.

Bought some wood and got to thinking.

This is the result !

It's currently just sitting on the floor because I'm not 100 percent sure where I'm the Mr. is hanging it yet.

I'll keep you posted.

These were my supplies :

3 pieces of plywood (size 4 inches wide by 6 feet tall - cut each piece into 3 making it 2 x4s)

If you aren't handy with a saw and don't have a Mr. who is either they will cut your wood right at Home Depot free of charge, you may even get a smile too !

Wood glue

Wood stain

Left over paint

Martha Stewart stencil brushes

Stencil pattern

Step by step : ("ohh baby...gotta get to you girl" - Who doesn't love that NKOTB song?)

After your wood is cut (you will have 9 pieces of 2x4)

Glue 3 pieces together (times 3 giving you 3 "wider" pieces) see picture below.

Once the wood glue is dry (20 minutes each piece) stain your 3 pieces.

After your pretty looking stained wood is dry whip out your stencils !

I used my Lotta Jansdotter Stencils.

Mini break - I've figured out how to stencil properly...after many fails. Like seriously...MANY.

Here is a short video I made to show you...just in case your stencils look like my "bad" ones showed above.

The brush used in my video are my bran spankin' new Martha Stewart stencil brushes.

 I picked them up at Walmart for 8 dollars (pack of three).

PS- For some reason this video isn't always working - I'm trying to figure this out. Stay tuned.

Alright, you get the point, probably way quicker than I did. 

Cue no more failed projects. 

Hooray !

It's hard to tell in this picture but one of my leaves are painted a light blue...can you spot it ?

I'm linking up with : http://www.somewhatsimple.com/blog-link-party-with-pocket-full-of-posies/

This project cost me a total of 12 dollars. 

The wood was 4 $ per piece and I had the stain and paint was left over from previous projects.

I love the way it turned out and can't wait to add it to one of my soon to be finished rooms !

Thanks for stopping in - Post ya Friday.

Bye.Cya

Fussy little eater.

For those of you who follow me on twitter - you've probably seen a tweet or two about my sweet but fussy eating little toddler.
There's a short list of foods C.A.P, Old DM keeps saying it's pay back because I was so fussy as a child. Eating only PB & J sandwiches, potatoes, corn, and meatballs for 2 years of my life. Seriously, 2 years.
Don't get me wrong, I love potatoes but jeepers.
Anyway, moving straight to the point.
C.A.P loves chicken nuggets, but Mama does not like feeding them to him (I'm taking store bought already made nuggets here...those are bad, bad to the bone, or lack there of I guess...)

This bring me to the picture below - my homemade real chicken breast "chicken bites", C.A.P loves them and doesn't know the difference !

Mama  : 1 

Fake chicken nuggets : 0

Score.

I know, I know, every mom probably already knows how to make these, they really aren't rocket science, but just in case some of you have fussy eater chicken nugget lovers and have no idea what to do - here is your answer !

Here are your "Special Agent OSO 3 simple steps" :
Any other mama now humming the OSO song ? Gotcha, now I'm not alone.

1. Cut boneless chicken breast into small "bite" size pieces.
2. Roll them in bread crumbs (I used the Costco type - any would work just fine !)
3. Cook them for 15 minutes at 350 in your oven.

Simple or what ? Oh and MUCH healthy for those little kiddos too - BIG bonus !

Thanks for stopping in today - Enjoy your week - Post ya Wednesday.

Bye.Cya

I'm organized !

Happy Friday !

If you are a regular here you know about my list obsession.

If you're not then here is the low down : I am obsessed with making lists.

I make about 23 a day - lose 20 of them and forget the other 3 at home when I run errands.

Regardless - making them keeps me sane. 

I think.

Between my lists, coupons, receipts and everyday mail my fridge usually always looks like this...

...and I'm over it.

Here is my solution :

Fabulous or what?

 This solves all of my problems.

I've tried the organization baskets too many times, they always turn out to be a bigger mess than what my fridge looked like.

I was on a mission, on a google mission.

"Organization board"

Yes. Google pulled through yet again !

It lead me to this great blog "Girl Loves Glam".

Who A has fabulous projects and B has an even better organization board.

What did we do before the Internet existed ? No seriously.

Thanks McKenzie !

I "borrowed" McKenzie's templates (only because she offers them on her site of course) put my own twist on it and voila I am now organized.

Check out how I did it !

Glue plywood pieces together using wood glue.

Each piece was 7 inches wide - 30 inches long

I then stained the ends of my wood and painted it over "antique white"

Using my Lotta Jansdotter Stencils I decorated my backboard !

Tip : Using adhesive spray for holding your stencil in place is a different and easier way than using tape.

Here is the finished stencil.

 I wanted the distressed look so my stencils are not perfect on purpose.

Sanding various places (where I applied the stain) is an easy distressed look. 

Moving on to the objects on the board.

I covered an old tomato paste can with scrapbook paper - this will hold my markers & pens.

Using sandpaper, I gave my new frames an old look.

Glued some buttons to the top of tacks 

Filled my frames with my printed templates and attached them to the backboard with my adhesive dots.

Done & Done !

Picture overload coming your way.

Hope you enjoyed the board as much as I do !

Thanks for stopping in today. 

I'm off to make a list, it makes it even more exciting that I now have a place to hang it.

Bye.Cya.