What is Old is New Again: Another Thrift Store Makeover

I found this cute little tea light lamp at my local thrift store a while back, and I liked it, but it was a little rough around the edges. For 50 cents, I went ahead and grabbed it and waited for inspiration to strike.

For one thing, I didn't really care for the faux silver base. The lampshade was a bit faded, and it also had some staining around the top. So, last night, after I (finally) got the boys to bed for the night, I got out my little utility knife, some spray paint, fabric scraps and glue. The result?

The paint color is Krylon Oil-Rubbed Bronze, which is a nice, metallic-y brown. The fabric is just a piece of reproduction vintage that I picked up at some point. I love how it looks on the mantle. Much more to my liking, now!

Sponge Stamps

It has been a little nutty around these parts. I've been ill for a better part of the week, and we are currently on Week Two of Steve's 3-week absence, but I digress. I sat down about 45 minutes ago to compose a blog post, and in that time I've been stopped no less than 15 times to: console a weepy child (that would be Griffin), put a stop to sibling bickering, make lunch, clean Moon Sand off the floor, break up another bickering match, clean Moon Sand off little hands (note: Moon Sand is messy!), redirect a begging dog out of the kitchen (at least 5 times), etc.. Alas, nothing different than what any other mother does on a daily basis, but the constant side-tracking takes any inspiration I may have had to write, and tosses it right out the window. I'm determined to soldier on though, and get something new written. So, here we go.

The boys had the itch to do some painting this morning, so I took the opportunity to finally make some sponge stamps for them. I saw this idea in a magazine, probably two years ago, so I tore the page out and put it in my "idea" file. I'm really good at collecting ideas, but not as good at executing them (see above paragraph as to why).

All you need for this project is a hot glue gun (a mom's best friend, if you ask me), some assorted plastic caps (from detergent bottles, medicine bottles, or any other kind that are easy for little hands to grasp), a package of dish sponges, and a pair of scissors.

Cut the sponges out in various shapes, and then glue them to the tops of your caps. Voila! Sponge stamps.

(I know, I know...you wish you had mustard-yellow-speckled a-la-1970's tile counter tops like mine. Don't try to deny it)

These were a huge hit with the boys. They wash up easily, and I think we'll be getting a lot of use out of them, whenever we paint.

An Interview with Camden

Me: Hi Camden, how is your morning going?

Camden: It's going fine.

Me: What are you doing right now?

Camden: Griffin's pretending that I'm the Bad Guy, but he's really the Bad Guy.

Me: So, tell me about your fabulous mohawk.

Camden: All I can say is it is cool. Can I go play now?

Me: No. Humor your mother for a minute.

Camden: But Mummy, I don't want Griffie to mess up my line of cars!!

Me: Okay, I'll make this quick. Shall we talk about Titanic?

Camden: Okay...my favorite part is the bow. I like the pictures of the bow on the bottom of the ocean.

Me: Tell me about your brother.

Camden: He's annoying all the time and he always breaks stuff that I build out of Legos and it is annoying.

Me: What's your favorite food?

Camden: My favorite foods are tacos and cookies. And carrots with dip.

Me: Favorite cartoon?

Camden: Wonder Pets are kind of lame. I like Pokemon.

Me: If you could be anything in the world, what would you be?

Camden: The thing I want to be is myself because I have fun. I want to be a shipbuilder but only if I don't have to get a lot of shots to be one. I don't like shots.

Me: Thank you for your time, sir.

Camden: You're welcome!

Scenes from a Day

A Thrift Store Makeover

A couple of years ago, I found this beat-up old rolling cart at my local thrift store for $10.00. I immediately liked it, but didn't quite know what I would do with it. I brought it home anyway, and didn't get the inspiration to do anything with it until a couple of months ago.

So, I took it apart and gave all of the pieces a good scrubbing. Then, I gave each of the trays a coat of Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Primer in White. Next came a couple of coats of Krylon Indoor/Outdoor spray paint in Banner Red Gloss. Once it was dry, I put it all back together, and, voila! I had a brand new rolling bar/tea cart for my dining room:

I love how it turned out, and I'm glad I finally figured out what I wanted to do with it.

Peg Doll Necklace

See this little girl?

She's on her way to Maine to see this little girl ~

(that's my lovely niece, Violet)

I love the little wooden peg people that you can get in just about any craft store...they are really inexpensive, and there are so many things you can do with them. I saw this idea on one of my new favorite blogs recently, so I thought I'd give it a try this past weekend. I love the way it came out, and I hope that Violet will like her, too!

Of course, the boys were intrigued, and wanted me to make something for them as well. So, with a little inspiration from Her Cup Overfloweth, I came up with these:

I made this Superman for my nephew. I made a Spiderman for Griffin, but he went missing less than 4 hours after his paint was dry, and the Batman I made for Camden vanished not long after (thus, no photographic evidence of their existence)! Hopefully they will resurface, but in the meantime, I'm having a hard time not painting up a whole little family of peg dolls!

Peanut-Butter-Chocolaty Goodness

Oh, Lordy...is this pie yummy. The boys and I enjoyed a lovely cookout with Rex, Kasey, and Banzer on the 4th of July (Steve was under the weather, so he missed out on all the fun, unfortunately), so I made this pie. You may recognize it from The Pioneer Woman ... when I saw it on her website, I knew I wanted to make it. Very, very simple, and delicious beyond imagination. I would put this pie in the same category as a cheesecake (i.e., super-rich) - - so yummy that you want to go back for seconds, but if you eat too much, you will most likely wish you hadn't.

The Tree Fort

Steve started building a tree fort for the boys back in May, when his parents came out for a visit. I think we can safely say we are entering the home stretch of completion. It turned out so nice, and the boys just love it! There are times when I want to take a chair and a good book, and go hide in it myself (like today, for example - - Calgon, take me away!). There is some painting yet to do, and I still need to make a curtain for the door and shades for the windows, according to Camden. We picked out some cute canvas material the other day, so I must fire up the sewing machine this weekend and get it done.

It appears that there isn't a roof on the fort, but Steve used some clear plastic stuff, so that daylight would still shine in....love that idea!

The boys wanted a little sign to hang outside the door, so here is what I came up with.

I was happy to finally find a home for this nifty cow bell - - my mother got it for me at Stonewall Kitchen back in 2005 when I was home for a visit. Unfortunately, our house is brick so I've never been able to hang it up!