SUMMER

Work may be busy but I'm loving summer!

Lofty Listy

I'm well aware that most of these tasks will not be completed this summer. Right about now I'm missing the free summers that came with teaching. But my new job will be amping up on July 1st, which means I'll just have to make better use of my free time! :)

Furniture:
 White cabinet—paint
 Cream desk—paint white/cover inside drawers
 Desk chair—paint white/refurbish
 Cream dresser—paint white/cover inside drawers
 Black headboard—paint white

House interior:
o Paint downstairs—2nd coat Basketweave
o Paint baseboards/trim—gloss white
o Stairway frame gallery
o Paint bathroom ceiling
o Back hallway—Adobe White
o New bedroom color

Outdoors
• Flagstone patio
• New deck (dream big!)

I'll post each project I finish. Here's to getting stuff done!!

Happy Spring! (part 2)

It FINALLLY looks and feels like spring around here!!!!!!

The grass is green and begging to be cut.

I don't mind the dandelions yet. We have been in need of some color around here.

My hostas are back!!!

ALL of the Lilies of the Valley that I transplanted survived the winter :)

Trees are budding.

The cats get to take their walks again. Preferably in our yard and not the neighbor's.

And lastly, the hubs is back out in the garage fixing up a bike.

Hope spring has sprung in your yard, too!

Happy Spring!

I know I'm a few weeks late. But.....

Happy Spring, everyone!

Jackpot!

Man, oh man, did I get a deal today! And I just have to show off what I got :)

Pretty pink sweater

From Goodwill: $3.75. Still had the original tag on it (full retail: $37.00). And contrary to popular belief, redheads CAN look good in pink. Why must someone always make their way into my photos?

Grey military-ish coat

From Peebles. Marked down to $27 on clearance. Kill price down to $5.99. Plus my 25% off coupon and my 20% associate discount. I paid $3.59!!!!

Black and white houndstooth coat

From Peebles. I paid $3.59 for this, also!!!!

Teal Etienne Aigner satchel

And now for the biggest mother trucker of a bargain----EVAH!

Keep in mind, this is a real leather purse, originally priced at $148.
It went on clearance and was marked down to $44.40.
The kill price for this item was $9.99!
But wait--I'm not done yet. Don't forget my 25% coupon and 20% discount.
I paid $6.00!!!! That's a total savings of $142.

Well, I've had a great day. Have you? :)

Birthday!

I really love my birthday! Birthdays = family & fun!

We spent the weekend in Boone with my parents and brother, which means a trip to Goodwill!

Five items from two different stores. I had already changed the ribbon and buttons and added the flower on the bunny. I got the motocross bike for Ben. He pretended to be excited. :)

BIG purple bag!

From JCP. I need major purse space for our trip to Phoenix in April. How could I go wrong? It's big and purple!

I even got a few presents.

WWI inspired boots from my parents and brother. Pardon the flash.

Craft storage from my hubs.

"But that's a tool box," you say. And you're right. It's gonna hold all of my crafting crap!!!

Craft books :)

More awesomeness from Ben.

I'm totally looking forward to spring.....

I have the best asst. manager at my job :)

Looking forward to 28.

It'll be a great year :)

Uncreative

I have had no creativity or motivation for weeks. I'm tired of cold weather (it makes me lazy) and my job that doesn't pay near enough for the stress is causes.

But I'm working on it. I am happy that February is finally over! And next Monday is my birthday!! Sounds like things are already looking up.

Plus, I did make this today.

No more headbands strewn about the bathroom! But only if I put the headbands where they belong......We'll see how that works.

Cold

That is all.

V-Day Project #5

Today is February 1st and this is my final Valentine's Day project.

Materials: foam wreath, yarn, hot glue, purple felt hearts.
Wrap wreath with yarn while watching Blue Crush (or the movie of your choice :P). Attach little purple hearts with hot glue. Proudly display on your front door.

Super easy.

Happy Valentine's Day crafting!

V-Day Project #4

Perfect project inspiration!

http://www.thenewyorkcitytraveler.com/2008/04/photo-the-look-of-love-on-sixth-avenue/

Here's my $4-$5 version! The letters are from Hobby Lobby. I'm not a huge fan of the shape of the letter "O" here but it was my only option. I just wish it were rounder. That's the perfectionist in me! But it still works.

I bought a package of 150 popsicle sticks for $1 at The Dollar Tree. I really only needed two sticks! I cut up two popsicle sticks and hot glued the pieces to the back of the letters to hold them together.


Now, what to do with 148 popsicle sticks?? :)

V-Day Project #3

I started seeing holiday-ish specimen charts back before Christmas so I finally jumped on board with my own Valentine's Day 'heart chart.' It was pretty much the same procedure as the framed button heart I made (project #1). 8x10 frame, fabric, and felt hearts are all from Hobby Lobby.

Cute?? I think that's a yes!

V-Day Project #2

Big red plastic plate! Price: $1.99

Heart image I found on the internet.

White vinyl from Wal-Mart. Price: $9.99 maybe?

Wish I had a Cricut. But I don't so I did everything the old fashioned way. So I printed out the heart image, cut it out, traced it onto the vinyl, and cut that out. All this took a steady hand and lots of concentration, especially since I was watching Erin Brockovich. I love that movie!

But I digress...

Peeled off the backing and stuck the heart on the plate.

But I didn't like the white so I dug out some black acrylic paint and added at coat of Modge Podge for shine.

Not my favorite project, maybe it's the shape of the heart. But it will still be displayed proudly. :)

V-Day Project #1

One of five Valentine's Day projects is complete!

Here's the 5x7 frame from Hobble Lobby. I love this frame.

Next, I cut a piece of cardboard and covered it with the fabric.

I almost went with burlap. But I found this nicer burlap look-alike.

Into the frame it goes. The glass is behind it.

The buttons, from Wal-Mart, were $.78 per sheet. I bought 4 little sheets.

It took me a while to get it the way I wanted. I used hot glued to attach the buttons. But being the perfectionist that I am I kept pulling up the buttons and regluing them. But look how cute it turned out!

Tah-dah! One down, four to go :)

Makin' Stuff

If my favorite store in the whole world is Macy's, then my second most favorite store has to be HOBBY LOBBY! It's a shame that the nearest store is 2 hrs from Spencer. But I got to go there today and did I have a good time!

Here's what I got!

That's most of the supplies for five different Valentine's Day projects. Not that I'm a huge fan of V-Day but I am a huge fan of makin' stuff. :)


Everybody always has to see what's going on.

Looks like I've got some work to do!

My First Sewing Project!

I made an apron in my 8th grade Family & Consumer Sciences class and that's been about it. Jess' sewing skill level: 3.8

But eveyone out there in the crafty bloggys makes their sewing projects look/sound so easy! So I decided I needed to broaden my craft horizons.

So here's my Goodwill sewing maching. :)

Hattie wants to learn, too!

Silly me. Once again, I forgot to take pictures stage by stage. Basically, I started out with two scarves, sewed them into one long scarf, and bunched up the fabric as I sewed (complicated, I know).

And here's what I got!

Cute scarf for $1.60!

Look out, world! Here comes another beginning sewer! :)

Beautiful Snow

Oh! The snow, the beautiful snow,
Filling the sky and the earth below,
Over the housetops, over the street,
Over the heads of people you meet.

--J.W. Watson