Feel very sorry for my deprived son.

So I'm not one of those moms who says, let's go shopping for school!  What kind of backpack would you like this year?  I mean, who cares that the one from last year is still perfectly fine....  No, no.  Not in this house, sorry you poor deprived children, but that's life on Kammy's Korner.  So this summer, just before school started, my ready-to-begin first grade son spent two weeks with  Grandma in Iowa.  She let him pick out his own lunch box.  Oh my.  He picked Mario.  Mario?  I didn't even even know he knew who that was.  But after the first week of school, he came home upset because everyone had Lego lunch boxes this year, not Mario.  I tried to convince him that it's better not to be like everyone else.  He wasn't convinced.  A few days later he came home SO EXCITED.  "MOM!!  Someone told me for the first time today that they liked my lunch box!!"  Wow.  Things sure have changed since I was a kid.  Or maybe it's just that I can't remember!  Anyways, a few days later, I found a camouflage water bottle for my other guy, who's anxiously awaiting his turn to get to go to school.  It was 50 cents and he was so excited about it that I got it for him.  This made Tobin quite upset that his little brother had a WAY COOLER water bottle than his pirate one.  DEAR FRIENDS!!!!  So not long ago as I was admiring all the Duck tape patterns and rejoicing that they had dropped in price about 80% since they first came out, my eyes landed on the camo tape and an idea popped into my head.

YES!  A freebie lunch bag and $1.80 camo duck tape.

He's been using it for a few weeks now (well we take turns with Mario) and it has held up very well!  I was nervous the tape would start coming off, but so far so good!  It has made the bag a little stiffer, but nothing wrong with that I guess.

And he loves it!!!

There are a few days left to participate in the giveaway with purchase happening here on Kammy's Korner who has teamed with Tiffani Brandt aka the Initials, Inc. Lady. ;)

A little garage sale find, a little DIY chalk paint, a little sand paper.

Wooden and only 25 cents you say?  Yup, I'll take that.

Mix up a little chalkboard paint (okay, so probably not specifically for this project but since I mixed it and it's out.... we'll put it on this mail organizer while we're at it!).  1 Cup black paint to 2 Tablespoons Plaster of Paris does the trick.  Lightly sand when dry. And add a second coat.  Lightly sand again.  I used a stencil for to get my shape.

I also added plaster of paris to my light blue paint for a shabby chic look and sanded off all the edges.  Oh yeah, the eagle also went bye-bye.  He popped right off with a screw driver and flew to a new nest.

Where would I be if it weren't for paint?!  (And garage sales!)

There are a few days left to participate in the giveaway with purchase happening here on Kammy's Korner who has teamed with Tiffani Brandt aka the Initials, Inc. Lady. ;)

Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday

Happy Monday, ya'll!!!!!  I can't believe it - I broke down and turned on the furnace this morning!  In other news........

So I was totally going out on a limb with my latest "giveaway"... because in order to enter, you have to make a purchase first.  I wasn't sure it would work, but since I've never hosted an online party for a consultant (My good friend and high school classmate Tiffani Brandt), I thought this might be the best way - Kammy style with Rafflecopter!  However, there still aren't any entries... so maybe I won't go about things this way in the future.  Hey, gotta try everything, right?  Any input, readers?  In case you are interested though and don't know what I'm talking about, head on over HERE.  So many things would make an amazing Christmas gift - and personalization of any item is FREE! :)

Time for a LINK PARTY!!!!  Let's see some features from last week:

The post with the most (views):

Everyone loves a good kitchen makeover and Sweet Girl Expressions did a fantastic makeover on hers!


Shabby Love made this darling bench from a baby crib.  I knew there was a reason I kept the drop-side baby crib! :)

Great color combos on this "Trash 2 Treasure" dresser from Vivaciously Vintage.  She lots of great furniture makeovers on her blog!!

Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday Rules: 

1.  Your post must be a Trash 2 Treasure, but I'm not picky on the "trash" part!  

If you took something and made it look better and it's NEW to Kammy's Korner - link it up, Baby! :)

2. Place the Party button found on the right sidebar on the post or somewhere on your blog.

Please don't link and run!  Visit the link before yours and leave some lovin'.  So sorry I haven't had a chance lately to comment on all your links.  I do try to visit each and every one of them eventually!!!  It's hard with three little munchkins who need attention and hate mommy's computer time. :)

Link up, Buttercup!

My Mudroom. AKA the back porch.

So ACTUALLY, a before and after of this mudroom was one of my very first posts from back in April of 2010.  Since that post I've repainted the floor (MOM repainted the floor, I should say) and added a few things.  But the post was HORRIBLE - back before I knew a blame thing about blogging.  I also probably had two followers at the time. :)  So here we go, bringing it to you a second - but updated - time!

So this is my non-handy man hubby building me a window seat/bench with old plywood and shutters I had bought from Goodwill and had in storage.  As this picture depicts, my boys like to jump into these projects literally.

As you can see, this was blah, uninviting and OH-SO-GREEN!  I have nothing against green.  Let's just not do three different shades of it with not one ounce of anything else!  I loved the wainscoting and what appears to be an original cabinet.  Extremely old at any rate.  It's perfect for storing all my paint cans. The mice have found the cabinet to be the perfect winter hide out however, but they have plenty of room since paint cans are round.. :)

 After:

We added two rows of shelves over the cabinet and I picked up the tall shoe cubby at Jackson Resale Factory for $10  I covered diaper boxes with wall paper for storage.

I added pegs for the kid's coats, but I'd still like to personalize them - just not sure what I want to do for that yet.

My mom sewed this fabric onto a foam pad since I can't sew worth beans, and also recovered some old throw pillows for a punch of color.  We keep all our winter boots, hats, snow pants, etc. underneath the window seat.

And last but not least, I just HAVE to show you the lights.  Aren't they just gorgeous?!  And I didn't have to do a thing - they were here when we bought the house!  Score!!

Now I just have to keep it clean! :)

September Giveaway opportunity happening now!!!  CLICK HERE!!!  

Great for some Early Christmas shopping!

_____________________________________________________________________________

GIVEAWAY w/purchase! Meet my "Bud Since Birth".

Guessing what year this photo was
taken will get you an extra entry
in the drawing! :)

Our mom's were friends.  My great grandpa and her great grandma were brother and sister.  We went to kindergarten together and graduated high school together.  We made gingerbread houses every Christmas, went on winter ski trips, and spent hours riding go-carts at my house and jumping on the trampoline at hers.  So when Tiffer Spiffer called me the other day to tell me about her new venture and asked if I'd host a party for Initials,Inc., I jumped in with both feet.  Okay, okay.... it was more like I stuck the tip of my little toe in and wiggled it a little.  Ha.  Tiff had to do some sweet talkin' and picky pursuadin' before I finally agreed.  Now I've never done something quite like this and I'm a little nervous it's not going to work out!  But we came up with a little plan.  You see, we thought we'd give you all a little incentive. Anyone who makes a purchase - NO MINIMUM PURCHASE - gets a chance to win $15 worth of FREE merchandise along with FREE SHIPPING!

  Now with Christmas coming up (and yes it really is coming up) I first thought about the hard-to-buy-for males in my family.  Some of them are gym rats, techy rats, or just plain rats (kidding, guys!) so I was surprised when I found some great stuff that would work for the men on my list! 

 Here are my favorites:
(Click on photos to go directly to their link)
****Many of you are telling me the links to not work - scroll to the end of the post and follow the instructions.  Sorry about that!****

Now just remember, unlike some of it's competitor's, Initials, Inc. will personalize and put anything you want on your bag/pouch/camera case/etc at NO EXTRA CHARGE!

And then for the ladies and budget conscious, there are these lovelies which measure a whoppin' five inches across, for $6.  I know my mama would love to find one of those in her stocking!  (If she had one, poor thing).

And now three more that I just love, love, looooooove - and how AWESOME IS THAT INSULATED CASSEROLE CARRIER?!!  I don't know about your mother-in-law, but mine needs a cute one with her name on it!  She is always totin' food over to someone!

So now here's a word from Tiffani:

"Thanks for checking us out via Kammy's Korner! Let's put those advertising dollars to work and help our favorite bargain shopper to get some FREE stuff for her Korner of the world!!! :) Browse thru the catalog to see super cute travel bags, purses, wallets, & storage solutions (crafters-check out the Get A Grip to keep all your craftiness in one place!)! Don't forget the cute scarves, sashes and flowers to make it pop and the FREE personalization to make it yours! Feel free to e-mail with any questions! Like what you see and want to get some great hostess rewards? I would be more than happy to set you up with your own online or catalog party! All my contact info can be found at www.myinitials-inc.com/tiffanibrandt/ and when shopping, please click on Kammy's Party under "my events". Happy Shopping!"

Let's get the giveaway underway, shall we? Just enter using the Rafflecopter form below.  Once you make a purchase, it will show you other ways to get entered.  Have fun shopping! :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

**** NOTE:  If the links do not work go to: www.myinitials-inc.com/tiffanibrandt and click "my events" and go to Kammy's Korner Online Party.****

Chalk paint desk with stenciled knobs

 So this was one of one of those purchases I got IN BIG TROUBLE for bringing home.  BUT SERIOUSLY!!!!  Anyone in their right mind would have brought it home - it was $5!!!!!!!!!!  I barely looked at it.  Saw the $5 price tag, gasped and grabbed the nearest dude working in the St. Vincent De Paul and said "I'm going to go back up my truck to the loading dock.  Hope you ate your Wheaties this morning, cuz you're going to load this up for me!"  Then I decided I'd better see how the drawers worked and upon opening one, found the legs.  Ahhhh, legs.  Didn't even think of those.  Good to have some legs.  And away I went with the gigantic, heavy antique beast.

So here's where I got in trouble (Besides bringing the big thing home in the first place and needing help getting it off the truck).  The legs just didn't go in right.  They were wobbly, the holes they went in were too big, it seemed like there should be eight...  but there wasn't and there also wasn't any holes where the other four inside ones should have gone... Thankfully my nice, mostly patient Dad who I can talk into doing  just about anything for me, was visiting a month or so ago and I persuaded him to help his darling daughter out and even buttered him up with his favorite meal - mac n' cheese from scratch.  Yeah, he's real hard to please.  Switch it up from stir fry a little and he's happy.  He and my MAN worked for quite a while on those legs and they are mostly sturdy now, except for one back corner one that's not always straight... but holds up just fine anyway.  THANKS, Dad and Hubby for helping me!!!  Now, I have orders to not buy ANY MORE JUNK that I have to enlist them to help with!!!!  Yes sir!  I promise!  (finger's crossed).

So first I decided to strip it.  Oh  my word, I just don't have the patience for all that jazz.  I spent  what felt like forever stripping the top and was only 1/48th done.  That's it, I just got a vision.  This desk needs to be gray and white.
Yup, forget this strippin', keep your clothes on and let's grab the good ole' Plaster of Paris, dump some into my gray for some good ole' budget friendly home made chalk paint and let's go.  When that dried, I edged all the drawers in white and then went on a hunt through my stash of knobs.

Can you believe I came across these at a garage sale this summer ?  Fifty cents for the whole lot!  JACKPOT, BABY!

I painted them white and then sorted through my stencils, narrowing it down to this doo-dad on a corner.  Perfect!

I had picked this up in a thrift shop or garage or something just a week or so ago and decided to see what it was all about.  Hmmmmm thick and chunky....  sort of like the consistency of wall paper paste maybe?  I actually loved to work with it, unlike polyacrylic or polyurathane, it didn't run and drip and make a mess.  However, when it dried, my paint brush strokes were quite obvious!  I sanded them as much as I could with super fine sand paper.  Unfortunately too, the part of the top of the desk that I had stripped started yellowing through.  Rats.  I have no idea what to do about that, but hopefully someone will just embrace it as part of it's distressed and vintage personality.  Oh come on, Grandma wouldn't be Grandma without her wrinkles and age spots, right?!

Sorry for the somewhat poopy photo.  I can't move this thing, it's so heavy.  Therefore had to take pictures of it in my barn.  What do you think?  Does it looks like it needs four  more legs or is it good to go? Well, doesn't much matter, I ain't puttin' more legs on her. :)

September Giveaway opportunity happening now!!!  CLICK HERE!!!  

Great for some Early Christmas shopping!