An Inspiring Place to Be......

This is one of the many places in blogland that I go to for inspiration. And she is having an amazing give-away. I need to pick out the room that I would love to have a $200 giftcard to Homegoods to decorate with. Hmmmm.........lots of choices! So click on over and enter too! And then let me know!

http://theinspiredroom.net/

Fall Blocks

My friend Sarah and I had a crafting/scrapbooking day on Saturday that was just soo much fun! I decided to make up a batch of these decorating blocks for myself! Last year I made six sets of these for Christmas presents and never got around to making mine. I was a little burnt out after six sets. I think my set turned out the cutest though!

I started with 9, pieces of a 2x4 all cut in various lengths from 4" - 6".

I stagger them to look pleasing to the eye. And I right on them with a sharpie. That way in all of my creative process they don't get all jumbled up. The next part can be as simple or complex as you make it.

I cut scrapbook paper (cardstock) to cover the front of the block, I like to leave a little border. Cut out your letters to spell the word(s) that you want for the front of the block. There are many different ways to do this, I used a die-cutting machine, you could also use stencils to cut the letters, or use stencils to just paint the letters on.

After the letters are on there I embellish the letters with stickers, die cuts, stitching, staples, ribbon, etc. This is the part where you can go simple or really jazz them up. I have seen these blocks done both ways and they are all CUTE! This is as far as I got on Saturday. The kids were home and the hubby was not, so crafting was a ssssllllllooooooowwwww process!

Sunday morning dawned and all the big boys were gone so I decided to keep playing with my blocks. I headed outside and after bruising my arm getting the belt sander down, I got busy! I should mention that this is my first time using the belt sander and while it is easy as pie there is a learning curve. The first block I sanded did not come out right at all. It...did...not....even....look...like....a...block....anymore. yikes

Okay, got the hang of it, got the other 8 blocks sanded but wait....Mikey DOES NOT LIKE the sander running and he is letting me know about it. So I put him in the house to finish up. And Mikey DOES NOT LIKE being in the house without Mommy. Soooo.....he took the bath salts that I got for my birthday and gave the carpet a spa experience, and the wall, and the cabinets, and the sliding glass door, and himself..............

After that little lovely experience......I smoothed the sharp edges of the blocks with a sanding block. Yes! That is a manicure block. I love how these babies sand wood when I am crafting or tolepainting. I buy them at the beauty supply house really cheap too. And then I wiped them down with a tack cloth. You can use wet paper towels instead of a tack cloth too. If you don't have one. I want to mention to that you can sand these with 100 grit sandpaper instead of a belt sander.

Now it is time for my favorite part: Spray Paint! These are the blocks after they are painted. I purposely left some parts lighter than others and then distressed the edges with my little sanding block.

I lined them up to match up which block with went which letter. Then I hotglued them onto the blocks. As a note - last Christmas I tried all kinds of adhesive to glue these onto the blocks and nothing really worked all that great. The hotglue works fantastic.

All finished and looking pretty!

Getting the dirt out of the laundry (room)

This last week I have been working hard at catching completely up on my laundry. I emphasize catching up because laundry is a chore that just refuses to be done. completely. ever. Which okay I have heard that if you do a load or two a day, depending on your family size, you can stay caught up but I just don't have that kind of devotion. I have also heard that if you make your bed every day your bedroom will stay clean and I have been making my bed for two weeks now and that bed still hasn't cleaned my room. Huff. Yesterday I cleaned off the floor in my laundry room. It was beyond nasty. I can handle clutter but that floor was dirty! ewwww....... I was so proud of my accomplishment, those bags of give-away clothes actually made it to the church to be dropped off. Wow, two points for me. This morning Brandon slept in and I tackled the top of the washer and dryer. I should point out that my laundry room is also our utilty room and our garage. Since we have neither. That accounts for a lot of the clutter.

Here is the result of my hard work!

Free Food From Schwan's - Update

My free chicken nuggets arrived today. Actually free isn't quite the right word because I was charged a $1.00 delivery fee. I am pretty sure that that wasn't in the fine print but I didn't squabble because it is still a great deal. And the delivery guy was nice, not cute though. I love cute delivery guys they make deliveries that much better! I also received a catalog. A lot of their items are WAY overpriced. But their ice cream cones and bars look so yummy!

Free Food From Schwan's

I seen an offer in Better Homes and Gardens magazine today for free food from Schwann's. I am pretty skeptical about these kinds of offers but thought I would try it out. So I bumped over to www.schwan.com/free and now I have me some free Chicken Nuggets coming. Yes I did have to set up an account but no credit card is required. Of course they are doing this to get new customers but there is no obligation to ever purchase anything, I happen to like some of their things (think Icecream) so hooray, I will now be on their route.

It is free and it works! Go get yours!

Quick and Cute Cake Idea!

The celebration for my husband was a success! What a nice night we enjoyed. My husband felt spoiled and loved, which is the goal right? His cake was so cute and so easy.... I have never decorated such an easy cake before. I am thinking this would be perfect for cakewalks. The directions are pretty self explanatory.

Bake two round cakes and let cool.

Trim the tops so that they are flat.

Stack together and frost.

While the frosting is still wet push the candies into place.

* It helps to figure out your pattern before hand.

* Skittles or M&M's or any small candies would work. I used M&M's.

* Cupcakes would also be cute.

Enjoy!

(I forgot to take a good picture of the cake so sorry for poor picture quality!)

Hubby's Birthday BBQ

My darling hubby's birthday is tommorow. I have invited the family over to celebrate. As usual I am making a to-do list that is 9 miles long! But this time I think I will make a schedule to keep me on target so I can enjoy the whole evening with him. Now if I could just get the kids on board with it.
9:00 - bake cake and make frosting and filling

10:00 - prep work for beans and rolls

11:00 - wrap gifts

12:00 - make banner and cards

1:00 - run to the grocery store and the beer store

2:00 - do the first house run through with the kids help

3:00 - weed the flower beds, frost the cake and decorate

4:00 - do the second house run through with the kids help

Enjoy my husband, our family and our home!

Cheap Thrills......

My sweet husband and I took a day to go to our closest big town of Lewiston, Idaho today. We had birthday shopping to do for our soon-to-be 8 year old and I really needed to get away from the house for a while. So he and I headed off with baby in tow. We swung by Habitat for Humanity and there was no place to park so we left, didn't take much to deter us now did it? I really do want to make it in there one of these days but it is more of a by myself kind of store. Chuck is not super big on browsing around stores. His motto is "buy what you need and leave". So we hit a few more stores in hopes of finding the perfect birthday presents and we bought a game.

This really is going somewhere......I promise.

After lunch I hit the dollar store Honk's. Up until a few weeks ago I was not a fan of $1.00 stores and never shopped there. In my mind they were full of cheap cosmetics, cheesy greetings card and knick-knacks. And oh how I hate knick-knacks! However, a friend and I stopped in one a few weeks ago and I nearly fell over! Bargains galore! She had to tear me out of the school/office supply section so we wouldn't be late for our meeting! I found tons of great steals for homeschooling and fun office supplies. But today, today I really hit the jack pot!

My Great Bargains and some comparable price points:

2 rolls of wrapping paper 5' long

2 packs of Christmas chipboard for scrapbooking- Compare at $5.00 each
2 packs of gel stickers - compare at $3.00 each

1 Scrapbook sticker sheet - compare at $2.49

1 Scrapbook sticker sheet -compare at $1.49

4 Scrapbook sticker sheets - compare at $3.49 each

1 Scrapbook die cut tag sheet - compare at $5.00 each

2 Packs of 8 small reusable gladware like containers -compare at $3.00 each

1 pack of 1000 toothpicks - compare at at $3.00???

1 can strainer - okay so I didn't really need this but.........

1 utility brush - I use these to scrub my toilets and now I have one for each bathroom

1 new set of measuring spoons - I really needed these! - compare at $3.00

1 dishtowel - look for a hostess gift post coming soon - compare at $2.00

1 oven mitt - another item for hostess gift - compare at $2.00

1 rectangular plastic basket - compare at $2.00

1 baseball address book - a little birthday gift for my hubby - compare at $9.00!!!!

2 large plastic baskets - compare at $3.00 each

4 small plastic - compare at $2.00 each

1 football plastic- this is my favorite find! I wish I had picked up another couple of these for football banquets and such. The paint is not perfect but for a buck! Whoo Hoo!

Space Saving Idea- It's in the bag!

My hall closet has been difficult to shut the door on lately. I have to really push the door to get it to close with all of the stuff in the way. Stuff being defined as too many blankets, not enough towels, and a huge mess of giftbags. I sorted the bags into plain colored, Christmas and baby and then took all of the plain colored and a few baby bags that with a snip here and there would make a great all purpose bag, stuffed them inside a large bag that wasn't up to snuff for gift giving and hung it on the inside of my closet door. This door used to serve solely as "the hat rack" however...is has been promoted to "hat rack and gift bag organizer"! I am loving the organized feeling and how easily the door now shuts! The back of closet doors (or any door) are an awesome way to up the storage quota in a small home. More closet door ideas coming soon!

Will Daddy Please Come Take Me Away!

Today is one of those days where I would trade all the chocolate in the world just to be able to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head. 1 cousin spent the night and the two kiddos just would not get-along! I think I sent someone to timeout at least 25 times today. These aren't little kids either, almost 8 and almost 9! You would think that making me crazy would lose it's fun appeal eventually. And scarily I am usually the one who is as mellow as jello during these sleepovers! Not this time! AND...I have had unexpected company, twice. I absolutely love company but why do they always swing by when the house has that "used and abused" look going? Murphy's law or something.....

Plus to top it all off, my computer is acting horrible, shutting down, kicking me off the internet, freezing up! Grrr......would love to just toss it!

To be perfectly honest! I have one of these days a week, usually not this bad but still a day that is a little rough around the edges. Usually Friday, sometimes Monday. Friday because I am just so ready for the daddy of the house to come in and give me a rest, take me to dinner, let me take a nap, buy me a bottle of wine or all of the above and save the day (and my sanity)! Or it is on Monday because the challenges of the week are hanging out staring me right in the face and I don't clean much on the weekend so the house is less than sparkly! But today is thursday and I usually love Thursdays so this is new and my crankiness is making me irritable.

Are those even two seperate things? Feels like it!

My Top Ten.........

The top ten things I would like to see done around my home before the end of summer -

10. - A better walkway to our front steps so that when it rains it is not so muddy!
9. - Steps going down to the lower level
8. - Paint our picnic table
7. - Make our fire ring (in time for fall fires)
6. - Re-do the round mirror in our bedroom
5. - Paint the kitchen
4. - Paint Brandon's room
3. - Spruce up my hutch
2. - Make my first fountain
1. - Refinish the cabinet for my makeshift entertainment center

Let's Feather Our Nests

My interest in homemaking has been renewed and rejuvenated! There are so many projects that are calling my name and I am so excited about my decision to share them with the world. In my search for a great blog about homemaking I came up a little short. Now I am sure that there are many, many, such blogs however I think creating my own will be fun too! So if you know of one please leave a reply as I love to read a good blog! Most of the ones that I found are more about parenting or frugal living or just plain boring. Parenting and frugal living are really important to me but I want a blog with step by step directions and inspiration.

My challenge to myself is to post at least one project a week! Maybe that doesn't sound like much but I am also a mother to three very active boys, a wife and a Mary Kay beauty consultant! But my home has come last for too long and I am ready to feather my nest and homemake! Who is with me?