Umm... No.

A few days back this was one of the suggested crafts on my google widget. No. No. No.

Garden Progress

I've had quite a few people inquire about the garden we planted a few weeks ago.
If you have no clue what I'm talking about, click here for a refresher.

Well, the answer is, it's growing!Despite 3 inches of snow, we are seeing green all over the place. The main thing we are seeing is lettuce. The spinach and snow peas are well on their way. We will soon be planting peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. For the record, there will be NO tomatoes in our garden. (I can hear the groans of disapproval from my father right now). Sorry, Dad. They're still nasty to me.

Some websites that I have found helpful to the newbie gardener are:

http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/
http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/a-raised-vegetable-garden/index.html
http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/

Holy Week Map

I found this on The Gospel Coalition Blog

Here is something you might find fruitful while contemplating the events leading up to our Savior’s death and resurrection: an attempt in Google Earth to show the locations of the major events (to the best of our knowledge) along with descriptions and biblical passages describing those events.Go to this link for a description.

$1.00 Shelf Makeover

I found this little purple shelf at a garage sale for $1.00. I saw potential.

I pulled out one of my best weapons: Rustolium Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint.

Thirty minutes later...

I had originally planned on using this as a shelf in our tool/utility closet. However, as I looked at it more, I realized it might be the perfect fit for a spot in our bathroom.

Our bathroom is small. Very small.
Sharing it with a dude makes it seem even smaller.
Do you SEE how close the toilet is to the sink?!? That's all I'm going to say about that.

Moving on...

I got a little creative and modge-podged some cute paper on the shelves.

Let it dry.
Hung it up.

Done and done!

Before

After

I'm proud of my $1.00 makeover.

Chair Change

I went to 3 garage sales this morning and came back with a loot!

Don't worry, I have elaborate plans for all these items.Lets start with those brown and green chairs, shall we?
A closer look...
Yuck.

BUT they were only $3.00 each! My plan was to redo them and sell them on Craig's List. Here's how the story goes...

The process started with a major sanding down. There was lots of peeling paint coming off so I made them nice and smooth. They also were a little unstable so I tightened the screws and glued together some of the joints.

Prime-Time!

I'm lovin the Krylon spray primer. While the primer was drying, I went to work on those seats. I was very indecisive about the fabric. After verbally deliberating for a while, Austin's expert decorating advice to me was, "Do something Springy... that's what people are wanting right now."

So I went with some of the flowery fabric that I picked up for $.50 at one of the sales and stapled it on. It's kinda like wrapping a present- just a little noisier.
I then put on a coat of white paint and waited another 30 minutes for it to dry.
I sanded down the edges to give it a vintage-country look.
Sprayed on some top coat to give it some protection and shine
Drum-roll please.....

How cute are these!Like I said, I intended to sell them on Craig's list a make a little profit but I have a problem...
I like them too much!
They go great in a little spot in our reading room.


I don't think these chairs are going anywhere for a while.

Before
After

Small Bench Makeover

Hi There.
My name is ugly purple table.
I was sold for $6.00 at Goodwill the other day to an eager young gal.
She promised me a makeover.
My makeover started with some sanding.
Then I was primed all over with white paint in order to hide all my different colors.
(I thought it was funny when the young gal leaned forward to paint my underneath and got oil based primer in her hair... good luck getting that out!)
Anyway, my bottom half was covered with this mustardy color. I wasn't so sure about the color choice, but once I was wearing it, I felt pretty confident.

But that wasn't the end of my makeover. The eager young gal started doing some measurements on my top half. She penciled some lines on me with amazing accuracy and laid some paint tape down on me. Then out of nowhere, these really cool stripes were painted on! I love them!


I'm pretty pumped about my makeover.
Hope to be useful soon!

Pillow Case Potentials

I found this pillowcase at Goodwill a few weeks back. I had no idea what I wanted to do with it, but I really liked the fabric print and it was only $.50 so I thought, what the heck.

A few nights ago, I was feeling a little bold and wanted to conquer my sewing machine standoff so I attempted something easy. I made little tie-backs for our curtains! I had previously made some but I liked these better.


I also used some of the fabric to make a little headband. Elastic and all. Pretty cute, yes? I'm a fan of the headbands. You can probably tell by the pick, I've got curly, thick hair. Combine that with a little humidity and I've got a fro. Praise Jesus for headbands.

Doggy Delimma

It is a beautiful 70 degrees outside today. Perfect running weather.
So I geared up, got Sophie leashed up, and we were off.

The neighborhood I live in has an overwhelming amount of fenced in dogs. They seem to think it is their mission to terrorize anybody that walks past their territory. This day was no different.

As we jogged down our usual route, we passed a house that had a screened in porch. As we approached the house, I heard barking. I didn't think anything of it. It was a little dachshund. As we continued to jog past, a very funny thing happened.

Another dog, which was much bigger can running from inside the house. It didn't even hesitate as it ran towards the screen that kept it inside. It busted through the screen at full force and headed in a dead sprint towards Sophie and I.

I scooped Sophie up as the dog tried to get to her. At that point, the owner came out and was screaming at the dog. "Callie, come here. HERE!" The dog had absolutely no respect for this woman and was taking full advantage of its new found freedom. I stood their awkwardly watching this dog lead this screaming lady (who was not moving very fast) in circles around their yard. I asked, "Is there anything I can do?" No answer from the woman.

While the dog was leading this lady on a chase around the block, the dachshund realized that there was a hole in the screen. As I saw it start to come out, I yelled, "No!" in my most authoritative voice. It didn't give a crap what I had to say and came running towards me aggressively. The lady was still trying to get a hold of "Callie," so I slowly tried to disappear from the hilariously awkward scene.

What's funny is that for the rest of the run, every time I heard a dog bark from behind a fence or screen, I would get a jolt of fear. Sophie remained unphased. Needless to say, I took a different route back to our house. I doubt those dogs will be spending much time on the porch anymore.

Irrationality

Alright ladies, you know those days where you are borderline meltdown for no reason? How everything seems slightly worse than it actually is? How irrational thoughts seem to pour forth without control?

Yesterday was one of those.

In an effort to divert my attention from the chaos in my emotions, I threw myself into a few sewing projects.

Big mistake.

I began with trying to hem some jeans.
My first three attempts ended in inches of string hanging out the back side and getting stuck in my machine. Turns out the tension wasn't right (whatever that means). I tried to look at my machine's manual only to find out that I actually had the manual for a different model than mine. Crap. I continued to fight my way through the hem of my jeans. My needle got stuck multiple times but I got it done. Kinda.
"I'm never attempting anything with denim ever again."

I moved on to do some laundry. Pulled one of Austin's new dry-fit Mizzou shirts out of the washer to find mysterious orange stains all across the front. Crap.
"I'm never buying anything white ever again."

Found out Austin wouldn't be home for a while so I decided to take on another sewing project I have been wanting to try for a while.

Cute huh? I wish I could say I made them.

This blog makes them seem so easy. For an emotional gal looking for something to take away stress, this is a BAD idea. I was in no mood for preciseness. I wanted to accomplish something. A bad combination for sewing.

Long story short, my machine was not working well. My fabric was all crooked. And to top it off, when I ironed it, I ended up MELTING some of the fabric. Awesome.
"I suck at sewing. I'll never be good. I quit."

I threw my attempted project away and watched 4-yes-4 episodes of The Office.

As I regurgitated the irrational thoughts of the evening to my husband, he made the point that I have only been sewing for a month. He has a point. But for the time being, I am in a stand off with my machine. I'll have to be in a very positive mood to attempt anything soon.

A Weekend of Outdoor Adventures

We've been busy the past few days. Thursday after work, I was feeling the itch to do something outdoors. It was beautiful so I thought yard work was the best option. I was moving some rocks to a different spot and was inspired to create something.

It was a bigger project than I anticipated so with a little (unenthusiastic) help from Austin, we made ourselves a cute rock path leading to our gate! I think it's great! Austin still isn't convinced.
Friday was even a bigger work day for us. For months we've been planning to landscape a side of our house that was in desperate need of some TLC. It started with 140+ retaining wall bricks.
Don't be deceived. These suckers are heavy! Moving 140 of them is not an easy task. It took two trips from Lowes. After laying down some weed fabric, we got to work on beginning the wall.


I quickly learned that Austin and I had entirely different methods for this brick laying. We both thought we were 100% right in our techniques as well.

My Method: Lay the brick down. Make sure it is level. Adjust if not. Move on to the next. Approximately 1 minute per brick.

Austin's Method: Lay the brick. Level it from all possible angles. Make sure it is 100% level with the brick next to it as well. Add two pinches of dirt if it's not. Use the rubber mallet to pound the brick into the ground. Level all angles once again. Add another pinch of dirt. Remove the three blades of grass that might be the reason for the slight unevenness. Pound the brick some more. Level once again. Approximately 7 minutes per brick.

Watching his process created an inner turmoil in me. After two bricks I was about to explode. I tried to explain to my husband that absolute perfection in every single brick is not only not important but will take 2 years to finish the wall at his pace. He would hear none of it and continued in his snail-paced, precise efforts. This is a picture that I took around 1:00. We took a break for lunch and the MU game and then ventured forth in our brick laying extravaganza.

(Austin made it a point to tell me a person driving by said our wall looked fantastic and asked if he did this for a living.) I was becoming more convinced his tetious methods were probably for the best.

After 5 more hours of work, we laid the final brick!
Pretty good, eh? We did decide that we are going to add one more layer to the entire thing so I guess isn't not 100% done. The next step is planting shrubs!

So after working outside all day in the beautiful Spring weather, we were shocked to see snowflakes falling from the sky the next morning. In a panic, Austin went outside to cover up our garden. It's times like these I am really thankful I live with a man.



We ended up getting around 2-3 inches of snow yesterday. Missouri weather is crazy. Hopefully our garden survived! I will of course keep you posted.

Pacman

After a few days of being busy with house projects, my husband started referring to me as Pacman. His references it with, "go-go-go-go-go," while making a talking-hand hand gesture.

I told him he should be thankful for our differences. If I were like him, the house would look exactly the same as when we bought it. He agreed. He went on further to describe me as the spark plug and himself as the compass. After a good laugh, we settled on the best description of our relationship as me being the oars and he being the rudder.

I'll take that. As long as I can still, go-go-go-go-go.

"Suitcase Hunt"

This summer, I am taking a team of 50 people on a work-project mission trip to Harmons, Jamaica. Each person on the team is required to bring two suitcases that they end up leaving in Jamaica. Having led past trips, I am well aware that not everyone can easily find two large suitcases that they can leave down there. With this in mind, I have made my mission to hunt down as many suitcases as possible.

Problem is, when I walk in those doors of Goodwill, my suitcase-hunting-ambitions are thwarted by the mass about of items with so much potential! Last week I came home with zero suitcases but two other great finds.

Item one
Basket
$0.50

A touch of spray paint gives it a whole new look. I'm not quite done with this guy. Going to put some cute fabric on the inside and use it as storage for fabric scraps.

Item Two
Ugly little box
$1.00

I spray painted it white and sanded it down a bit.
I LOVE how it turned out.
A little more detail for ya.

Guess I'll just have to keep hunting for those "suitcases," huh?

Polly vs. Grocery Bags

I like organization.

Most people know this.
What most people don't know is that under our sink cabinet lies a world of chaos and disorder. Mainly involving our grocery bag collection.

It was a growing monster threatening to creep out every time we opened the door.

Armed and ready with my sewing machine, I went to war.

Laid strips of fabric out making a 20x23 piece of fabric. Sewed the strips together.

Added some elastic to the top and made a little hook.
Shoved the mob of bags in the new holder.

Done and Done!I liked it so much that I made another one for my friend, Kelsie.

I must confess, I like the one I made for her more than mine.
Guess I'll just have to make another one soon, huh?!

A BIG find

This is my friend, Sara.
We stumbled upon a sidewalk sale last weekend.
We both got a great deal.
She got this.
For $75.00.
Unbelievable.

I got something too!
Something big.
Three men had to help load it up.

$15.00 for a perfect sewing table!
Solid oak.
Very heavy.
Sophie liked it.
Read Sara's Blog for the full story.

I mean, $15.00 for this. I asked the seller if the price tag was missing another one in front of the "15.00"
I was told later that the question probably wasn't the smartest bargaining tool