Living Room Pics

I don't really have any thing to post, so I thought I'd share pictures of my living room!

I'm Exhausted!!!

I forgot how exhausting chasing after little ones can be!! I watched my nieces two little boys yesterday because her regular babysitter was on vacation. Drew is 3 and Nick is 2 and boy are they busy little bees!
My daughter, Kory, who has Down Syndrome, was so excited for them to come. She wanted to help babysit them and was very good playing with them, athough sometimes she got them a little too riled up! She was playing monster with them and chasing them around. And how my 17 year old son could sleep through all of the roaring and screaming and the laughing and giggling, is beyond me!!! He slept through all of the noise!

Luckily, I kept some of my kids' toys from when they were little, so it was nice to have something that little ones can play with when they come to visit. We had so much fun playing with trains and tractors. We built a fort with a sheet that they had a blast playing under!!

We went outside for a little while and kicked a ball around and swung on the swing under the trees. They tried playing basketball, but the hoop was way too high for them and they would get to laughing at their failed attempts. I decided to taking the ball playing back on to the grass because they were laughing so hard that they were stumbling going after the ball and I was afraid one of them was going to fall on the concrete and scrape their knee.

We made peanut butter cookies with chocolate & peanut butter chips after lunch. Drew was a big help adding ingredients and stirring, but Nick just wanted to play with a bowl of water that was in my sink! They were excited when they got to take some home to their mommy and daddy!

Kory kept skipping out on me throughout the day by going to her room and listening to her music. She would get them so riled up and then when it got to be too much for her, she'd leave. Thanks a lot, Kory! LOL Later in the day, I found her laying on the couch because she was "tired". She was a little grumpy because "the boys were annoying her"!! I told her that if they bothered her that much, she should go to her own room to lay down. I had to laugh because she gets up, says "Fine!" and then stomps to her room mad (she can be very dramatic!). She comes back out about 10 minutes later and starts chasing them around again! So much for being tired and annoyed!!

I was exhausted after they went home! I kept dozing off on the couch at 8:30 then gave up and went to bed at 9:00! I think I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow! But it was worth it, we had so much fun!

Oh, and my son said that "tired and annoyed" Kory stayed up until 11:00! :0)

Simple Prim Book

I just wanted to share a simple project with you - making a prim book or journal.

I bought this little book at Dollar General. You could also purchase a book from Goodwill or a thrift store.

I then hand sanded it with a piece of sand paper. I tried sanding one with a palm sander, but the spine came off. (After all, it wasn't top quality for $1.00!!)

I found images by doing a google image search on specific historical people. I also found a website that has old photos that you can print out. Go to Family Old Photos and on the left hand side you can click on Civil War photos or under United States you can click on your individual state and find photos from your area.

Once you print out your image, brush on a coffee solution (equal amounts of instant coffee and water) and place in a 170 degree oven for about 10 minutes - times may vary. I also brushed some on my book and all around the sides to age the paper. Repeat this procedure as many times needed to achieve the look you want.

Cut photo to fit your book. Brush Modge Podge on the back of the photo and place on the book. Brush Modge Podge over top of photo and entire top of book. Let dry and embellish however you choose.

I bought this journal at WalMart for 84 cents.

I painted the front and back black (not the binding).

If you want to make one just like mine, click on the picture below and print out. (That's Ben Franklin, in case you didn't recognize him without his infamous glasses!)


Brush on coffee solution and dry. Then cut to size (butting up to black binding) and Modge Podge onto journal. I sanded around the edges of the paper after it was glued on to fray the paper to make it look more worn. Brush Modge Podge over entire top of journal and let dry. Embelish however you like.

Soap Holder and Antique Store Finds

A couple of weeks ago, Pam from basketsnprims posted a picture of a soap holder she won on ebay. I absolutely loved it and asked her if she would mind if I did a tutorial on it. Below is a picture of hers. To see where she has it displayed and more pictures of her gorgeous kitchen, click here.



I searched every thrift store and dollar store in my area, but couldn't find a round wooden bowl. I did find a square one at WalMart for either $1.97 or $2.97 that I thought would work just fine. I first made a pattern with curves similar to Pam's but decided that it didn't look quite right with the square bowl, so I went with a simpler look.

You should be able to click on the pattern below and print it out. Tape it together, matching up the lines and cut out.



You'll need a 13" piece of 1x8 pine board, a wood bowl and a 3" square concrete nail.

With a miter saw, cut the bowl in half.

Trace the pattern onto the 1x8 pine board and cut out. Drill a 1/2" hole at the top for hanging and then sand both the base piece and the bowl half. Wipe off excess sawdust and glue bowl to base.

When completely dry, paint as desired and add nail.

I think this turned out pretty good. I still like Pam's better, but this will work for me. And after seeing this picture, I'm thinking curvy sides may not have looked bad after all! Well, I do have the other half of the bowl. . . . !!!

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I made a couple of trips to an antique store that's near by me. On my first trip I found this old bucket for $10.00 and this 12 tube candle mold for only $29.00!! I saw some like this one on ebay selling for $49.00 and up.

The second time I went, I found these lanterns. The revere lantern on the left was $24.00 and the ship lantern was $22.00. When I got home, I realized that the ship lantern is exactly like the one that I bought (and posted a couple of months ago) from one of my favorite prim stores. I paid $29.00 for it.

On my last trip there, I bought this wire basket for $12.00 and this basket cubby for $15.00. The baskets fit straighter in the cubby than what the picture shows, I just forgot to fix them before I took the picture!

Simply Home Outdoors

Hi, everyone!! Sorry I don't really have anything to post. I've been in a slump since the 4th of July and I can't seem to snap out of it! :( Hopefully, it doesn't last too long!!

I do have some pictures of my outside that I'd like to share with you. We don't save our do-it-yourself skills for just inside. We've done a lot of work outside, too. Over the years, we have installed new windows, sided the house, built a garage, set up a pool, built a new side porch and pool deck, created a grilling area from stones we got for $30 at a masonry "yard sale", put in barn stone planters and poured a new driveway and colored, stamped patio! (My hubby has his own concrete business!) And, yes, we've done it all ourselves!! We feel a sense of pride whenever someone pays a compliment on our home because we've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it. And the best part is, we saved a lot of money doing it ourselves!!

The only major project left is to install a new roof. Hopefully, we'll do that this year. I'd also like to replace our front sidewalk sometime. I don't care for the pavers anymore. I'm tired of getting ants building nests, or whatever they're doing, in between the joints. I already have a color and stamp pattern picked out! ;)

Well, hopefully, it won't be so long before my next post. I NEED to snap out of this sluggishness!!! I have things to do, I just don't feel like doing them! NOT GOOD!!!