Confession Time

I have a confession.  It's nothing shocking to my friends and family.  They all know me and love me anyways...bless their hearts!  But, I am a terrible housekeeper.  Horrible, terrible housekeeper.  I always thought I would be good at it...but, nope.  I'm definitely terrible at it.  And, Burger loves me anyways.  Dear, sweet man.

See - here's some proof:

No matter how much I try to control the chaos that is my house, organization eludes me....well, more like kicks the crap out of me and stands above me laughing!

Here's another picture of the disaster I call a family room:

I can honestly say I've half-heartedly tried to decorate.  I've at least attempted to corral the games, books, video games and dvds that were housed in this room.  I even banished all toys to the basement.  All to no avail!  It was always just a disastrous mess.

But, I believe I've found something to help the problem.  It seems, that if I have a project I want to try, I will fix up a room to make the project look better.

For the last few days I have had the crafty bug.  I have started - and finished - several projects that I have been wanting to try.  And, the weirdest thing happened...I loved my projects so much I wanted to fix up the rooms so they could be showcased.  It's proof that internet is a good thing!

True conversation:

Me:  I want that wood from the playset.

Burger:  Why?

Me:  Because I can use it for a craft.

Burger:  We are trying to clean up the backyard - not just move crap around.

Me:  Please!!!!  If I can keep some of it I can make some of the projects I've been wanting to try.

Burger:  You are not allowed on the internet anymore.

1 week later:

Burger:  Hi honey!  I'm home!  How was your day?

Me:  It was great!  I spent all day on this project and I only need you to do 1 thing so I can complete it.

Burger:  You are not allowed on the internet anymore.

2 days later:

Burger:  Hi honey!  I'm home!  How was your day?

Me:  It was great!  I figured out how to do a project and even hung it all by myself.  You don't have to do anything!  Doesn't it look great!

Burger:  That's pretty awesome.  Especially since I don't have to do anything.

Me:  I have another project I want to try tomorrow.  I might need you to move the furniture around just a little.

Burger:  I swear I am going to take your internet privileges away!

Today:

Burger:  Hi honey!  I'm home!...hello?

Me:  I'm in the family room.

Burger:  Wow!  Someone's been busy today!  Is someone tired?

Me:  Yep.  

Burger:  Well, it looks great!  Did you get something for dinner?

Me:  Yep.  And I need you to bring up that chair from the basement so we have a little sitting area in here.

Burger:  Ok.  The room really looks great!

Me:  See - if you took my internet privileges away it would never look this good.

And this is where I gloat because I got some pretty great ideas from and was inspired by the internet.  Except, after all the moving stuff around and placing things just right and then stepping back to see how it looks and then moving them just an inch to the perfect place and then stepping back again...I'm too tired to gloat!  And, don't laugh at me - you know you do it too.  And if you don't step back to see the big picture, then I can guarantee you are missing it.

Over the last week I completed a couple of projects that I already showed you.  Today, I worked on another project and the over all organization of the family room.

Here's a view of the area after:

I will post a more detailed account of what I did later - I just couldn't wait to share with you what I have done so far.  It's truly a useful room now!

Let's look again.  Here's the room before:

And here's the room after:

I celebrated the usefulness of the family room by letting everyone eat in it - I don't know it that was really the best idea but, the boys loved it so I win!

Brothers til the End

I decided to use another piece of the leftover wood from our playsets today.  I just wasn't loving the bridge project as a coat hanger so I decided to make a new project.

The piece I used today was one of the landings on one side of the playset:

Yes, there is a board missing.  I was going to nail it back on but decided I could work with it the way it was (that does not in any way imply I was feeling lazy).  Besides, the 3 pieces sticking out on the bottom were perfect to hang the hooks.

I did not prep the wood.  I just got all crazy and jumped right in to white-washing it.  Or, more acurately, grey-washing it.  I mixed a little bit of "Shark Loop" grey paint and some water and covered the boards.

It really looks like you are painting it white when you first apply the wash.

I only applied 1 coat this time because again I was being lazy I knew it would be perfect.  I made sure to get the edges all around and the hangy down parts where the hooks would go.

And then I waited for it to dry...

While that dried I went inside and used my Cricut to cut out the names of the boys.  And then...I had a brilliant idea.  I wanted to put a great brother quote on the board.  It only took me a minute to find just the right one.  It only took me a minute 2 hours to cut out the letters for the quote.

By the time I was done, the board was dry.  Then, it was time to place the letters... and replace them... and place them again.  FINALLY I was happy with how they were laid out:

(Yep, I had to stand on a stool to take the picture...I'm that short.)

The Mod Podge and water mixture was already mixed up - leftover from my last project.  I grabbed my paintbrush and slathered it on.  I was almost done with the quote and was just getting ready to slather the boys' names when this happened:

(I always work in the garage cause this is not uncommon.)

I dropped the bucket I was using for the Mod Podge and almost all of it splashed out.  As it turns out, I had just enough to finish up!!  

The Mod Podge looks awfully white before it finishes drying...

but, it always dries clear.  Every time.  It's. like. magic!

I put the sign out in the sun to dry 

while I went back in to clean up my tornado of a craft area find the perfect coat hangers.  And that's when I remembered the door knobs I bought from the Re-Store!!!  Yay! No bent nails used as hooks for my boys!  

(And, aren't door knobs the perfect place to hang stuff?)

I also found these

 to use to hang the hanger on the wall.  Yes, I did start the project with absolutely no idea of how I was going to get this thing on the wall.

I was going to let the wood thing (I'm still trying out words to figure out exactly what to call it) lean against the wall until Burger got home so he could hang it.  But then I remembered IamamomandIamawomanandIcandowhateverIsetmymindtoandhearmeroarandallthatstuff that I was pretty handy and could probably get this thing on the wall all by myself.  

And that's just what I did:

(You can't tell but that is actually hanging straight on the wall.)

And here's an action shot:

This turned out to be one of my favorite projects ever.

ps.  Did I mention that when the boys are being snarky and fighty, I am going to make all of them stand in front of it and make them read it together?  I promise to post a picture!

Linking up at:

Savvy Southern Style

The Thrifty Home

Inspired by Stairs

About a month ago, while randomly searching for a new craft, I found the best. stairs. ever.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these stairs.  I pinned them, I thought about them, I wanted to redecorate my whole house to compliment them.

See - aren't they incredible?

You can read all about how she did it HERE. at Home with Heather.

As much as I adore her stairs, I'm just not ready to tear up the carpet on the stairs, buy the risers and the stairs, paint, sand, stain and then paint again.  So, I did what any "normal" crafty person would do.  I made my own version.

We had a playset in our backyard that was beyond dilapidated.  It had fallen over, been put back up and fell over again.  It was a beautiful mess of unused crafty material!  We tore it apart and I begged my husband to let me keep a tiny bit of the wood for my projects.  You see, we were trying to clean up the backyard - "not move the junk around" as he put it.  I huffily told him we would be saving so much money by letting me keep the wood because if he didn't I would just go out and buy it later.  I NEEDED that wood!  I could already see the finished stair project in my head.

The poor man rolled his eyes and agreed.

Of course, this was all before I started a blog so I went ahead and did the project with NO. PICTURES!!  I know, what was I thinking?  I hate when people put the finished project up without the 'How-to' pics.  I mean, how else can I copy what you are doing???

But, alas, here I am, writing my very first project blog post...without the 'How-to' pics.  Forgive me.

I started with a bridge.  It was the bridge that connected to playsets together.  It was the newest addition to the playset so it was in the best condition.  It was weathered and worn and absolutely perfect for the look I was going for.

Next, I cut our the letters from scrapbook paper using my Circut.  This was really the first time I had used it even though I had had it for over a year.  I varied the fonts and sizes.

Then, I laid the letters on the bridge and stood back to see how I liked it. I called Burger (my husband) in to see what he thought.  He had only been called in to give his opinion of how it was shaping up about 97 times by this time.  He said he couldn't see the letters that well and walked away.  

And I said, "WHAT???  After all that hard work???  You can't read it???  Of course you can - you're just being difficult!!!"...in my head.  I'm not dumb... I did ask for his opinion.

And so, off I went to find the perfect whitewash paint to make it better.  I used some leftover paint from the living room, added some water to it and painted away.  I have to admit, he was right.  It looked so much better.  Don't tell him though.  

Once the whitewash was dry, I used Mod Podge to put the letters on.  Since I wanted some variance in the letters, I used different papers and different colors for the sayings.  The silver looked great but, it doesn't show well when the sun isn't on it.  My middle son, the dear, suggested it needed glitter.  And so it did!

I glitter glued the silver letters and it was done!  

So far, I have only used materials that I already had around the house. 

The last part of the project isn't done yet.  I wanted hooks on the sides to use it as a coat/backpack hanger for the boys...instead of the currently used couch.

I found some great doorknobs at the Re-Store that will work perfectly!

In the beginning...

I've wanted to blog for. ever.  I LOVE to craft and I LOVE to find new crafts to try.

So here I am - I'm sharing my crafts with you.  Enjoy!