Friday Funnies

A MONTH since my last post? Where did August go? Wow....
Overheard at my house this week during dinner, at which we had broccoli.
Mr C: I hope there is not broccoli in heaven.

This picture really has nothing to do with the post, but here it is anyway!

Glam Girl's Room on a Budget

Old outlet covers..made new with a coat of silver spray paint. We also painted the floor vent and the drawer handles.

A yellow wall becomes turquoise!

 She already had the pink canopy (a $3 garage find a few years ago). The flower hooks and name above the window were purple and pink. I repainted all the purple parts turquoise.

 Switch plate cover...glammed up with turquoise paint and the same rhinestones as the lamp. It makes me happy that she wanted the vinyl puppies on the wall...lets me know she is still a little girl and not growing TOO fast.

 Old hand-me down mirror freshened up with a coat of what else.....silver spray paint!

 A bit of hand-sewn ribbon detail adds a little sparkle to the curtains.

This bulletin board has been several colors in its lifetime...turquoise with a spray of glitter gave it new life. The two over the door jewel hooks add a little more storage for all kinds of things.

So, the total breakdown of the room redo:
bedding and curtains: $70, but it was a birthday gift from Cupcake Nana.
gallon of paint: $20
ribbon: $2
silver spray paint: $5
nightstand table: $20, plus a few materials already on hand
light switch cover: $5
package of rhinestones: $3
lamp: $10
trim for lamp: $5
vinyl puppies: $10
turquoise spray paint: on hand
total for room: $150
seeing the pleasure on your daughter's face of a job well done: priceless!
We still have a few little things to finish, but she is very happy with the results and proud of our work. I have caught her several times just sitting in her room and looking around.  Happy (early) birthday Miss M!

Thrifty Lamp Re-do & Candlestick Frame

Yes, I am finally posting after a blogging break...mostly for a lack of time more than anything else. Summer has finally arrived in the Midwest and the heat is driving my family indoors, so maybe I'll get caught up a bit now! One project that has been keeping us busy is updating Miss M's bedroom decor. She turns the ripe old age of 8 in 2 weeks and has been after us to redecorate her bedroom for several months. It's almost finished, but here's a sneak peek.
I picked up this lamp at a thrift store for $10 before we even started on the room. At that point, she knew the main color would be turquoise and I thought the silver base and acrylic "jewels" could work in the room.

Here's the before....perfect size, marble base good for defending yourself against bumps in the night...

Now, with a coat of turquoise spray paint left from this awning project and some hot glue action paired with sequined trim and rhinestones at a total cost of $15 for the lamp and supplies...

I will confess that the shade is a little marbled looking when the light is on, but the effect is perfect for Miss M's room. After I completed the lamp, I saw fabric spray paint at Michael's so I may investigate that for future projects. I also made the little frame in the photo...more details about that later but it probably only cost about $2 and took about 2 minutes to make!

Finally, a full shot of the new bedside table made by Miss M's daddy. If she ever gets the floor and dresser cleared off enough I'll take some more pictures!

Friday Funnies

Overheard in my car last week when my dad was visiting....Earlier in the day Miss M had been calling her brother "annoying". When he kicked Popa's seatback, Popa said "I agree with your statement. Sometimes he is annoying."
Mr C piped up "I am NOT annoying! I am cute!" Just another one of those things you shouldn't laugh at, but you can't help yourself.

Friday Funnies

A few days ago, I finally decided to upload the massive amount of pictures from my camera. While clicking through them, I wasn't sure what I was looking at:

 Give up? It's a sampling of Miss M's mad photography skills.

My New Love - The Farmer's Almanac

Who knew this little book was was so smart? Well, at least this year it is! Way back in January, I read that the F.A. predicted snow and unusually cold weather for my part of the country sometime March 24-27. The kids and I wrote "major snow" on the calendar and my husband chuckled at us. Guess what? It was RIGHT!! The week started off in the 80s, which was really nice since it our spring break. It gradually got colder and then we woke up to sleet and snow on the 25th.

It started snowing again on the 26th and didn't stop for most of the day. We finally got good packing snow and the kids and I headed out for a snowball fight. We didn't actually go out until after dinner, which was strange. But with daylight savings time already in motion, there was more than enough light and we played out until almost 7 PM. The F.A. also predicted a lot of stormy weather for this week...and it has done so already with more to come. I don't know how it all works, but they have been correct about other smaller weather events this year too - all several months and weeks in advance.

I Lost My Pants in the Swimming Pool and other fun stuff...

No, not really! But last summer the kids and I enjoyed a free library concert by Babaloo. With titles like "The Wee Wee Dance", "My Hair Had a Party Last Night", and the above mentioned swimming pool incident my whole family laughs, sings, and dances along to his CD's. The entire family was able to attend another free concert near our home earlier this year and Babaloo sang wee wee dance as a special request from our family!

The lyrics are probably a bit obnoxious to some parents, but after teaching kindergarten/preschool for 6 years I am hear to tell you that kids laugh/talk about gas/boogers even if you don't think they do! I figure if I can't beat 'em, I should join 'em. Besides, it's a whole lot less obnoxious than Justin Bieber! And we do still listen to Go Fish and VBS CD's so often I think we will wear them out someday.

Here's a link to a video a local teacher did with her class for "The Wee Wee Dance".

Nothing says fun like a paint roller with toilet paper attached to a leaf blower. Babaloo's quote "I know what all the dads are going to be trying in the garage this afternoon!"