Restaurant High Chair Makeover {Chevron}

Yup, still have loads of this blue colored paint left!  Some day, I will do a post on all the things I used this paint on.  Several years ago, my mom's neighbor called up and told her that their church was getting rid of a bunch of stuff.  In the stash were several restaurant-style high chairs.  Mom asked if I was interested in one.  But of course!  We have used the daylights out of it!  Since we eat outside on the patio every night in the summer (weather permitting) it ended up just being the "outdoor highchair".  Well, after three kids and plenty of "weathering", it was either fix it up or throw it on the burn pile!  So I sanded it down, and painted it with some homemade chalk paint.  Of course it needed a little design - I can't ever just leave it plain!  Plain is blah.  Plain yogurt, plain fingernails, plain bath water, plain potatoes...  okay, you tell me something that is BETTER plain.  Okays? :)

 I used the homemade stencil I made for this shelf in my craft room:

Though my "baby" has finally outgrown a high chair, I'm still not sure if I should keep it on hand for when guests come to visit, or if I should make more room and sell.  Maybe for the right price.... :)

And since this is for eating, let's talk about eating for like 14 seconds.  I'm very proud of myself.  I just made chocolate malts for all the kids in the blender.  I poured them into their glasses and there was only enough for them.  Chocolate malts are my favorite.  Faaaaaaavoritist guilty pleasure ever.  I could live on them.  I served them and got the ice cream back out of the freezer to make my own.  What am I doing??!!  A few minutes of pleasure is really worth blowing how well I've done so far this week?  Sigh.  I put it back.  So having said all that, if you want to improve your health, (and eat yummy shakes while you're at it)  check out my sponsor:

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My Repurposed Life

Photo Bag Gets Chic

I received this as a gift after I had my first sweet lil' bundle of baby.  I was supposed to put my cute, ever so darling photos in the pouches of the "brag bag" but never got around to it, and it got stuffed into the back of my oh-so-organized closet.  (shya right!)  I pulled it out the other day and decided I wasn't sure it if was cheesy or not and then decided it was the ultimate bag with TONS of room, a side for me, and a side for kids... Just had to do something with it - but photos just weren't quite my style.

I went digging through my scrapbook paper and found this black and white paper pack and found a pattern I really liked.  I cut them into 4x6 pieces and used them instead of photos.

Then I found some black and white stretchy fabric that I literally bought 14 years ago for my mom to make me a dress with but since it never happened I have a whole lot of this stuff.  I cut a looooong strip of it and tied one end in a knot and hot glued it in the middle of the bag.  

Then loosley twisted it around and around, hot gluing all the while, until I had a large fabric rosette.

And now I have a bag that hangs from my shoulder and makes me feel quite snazzy as I meander the isles of Wal Mart . :)

 Don't forget to check out the giveaway happening February 19th graciously sponsored by Kit and Caboodle HERE!  Low entries!

Dynamic Design's Colorful Nursery for Trey

Whether you're looking for ideas for your own little bundle of joy, or you just want some eye candy, this is for you!  I went to visit my super talented friend Debra from Dynamic Designs the other day for lunch.  She made some yummy soup... and I over ate.  What's new!  I just LOVE the nursery she did for her little darling boy, Trey, so asked if she minded if I did a little photo shoot to share it with my readers.  She didn't, of course!  So feast your eyes on this!

 I would never have thought to add pops of orange with lime green and brown but I'm just totally diggin' it!  Debra is GREAT with colors!  An orange nightstand?  YES PLEASE!

A few of us were lucky enough to get on the stripe action!  On the left we have Angelina from Housewife Extraordinaire, the Mama (Debra from Dynamic Designs) and Marie from....  Move over, Rover?   I'm the one snapping the photo thank goodness for ya'll - you don't wanna see me when I paint!

Say it ain't gorgeous!!!!  (You'd be lying with a capital "L"!)

These awesome pillows in the window seat make a statement.  More like an exclamation, actually.

Too bad she doesn't have any "befores".  It's a blogger's thing.  I never took a before until I started blogging.  What a regretful era of my life.  haha.   But  I'm sure we can all use our visual expertise and picture what it could have been like before it found it's bright, beautiful paint job at the hands of Debra.

And folks, that is that.  Wasn't it great?!  I thought you'd enjoy it.  And here's the thing.  This girl is a stay at home mommy to the sweetest little boy that calls this featured place his room AND she would LOVE to help you design the room of your dreams!!!  Click HERE for more information and to enlist her help!  She helped me design my craft room and boy was I happy with the results!  Oh, and the best part?  She'll work with your budget, no matter HOW SMALL!!!!  It's all about upcycling, folks! :)  (when will spell check ever figure out that upcycle IS indeed a word?!!!)

If you're been a follower for awhile, you may recognize Debra from other posts... she's beautiful and so makes a much better model that me so I used her for my post on embellished hats from the dollar store.  If you missed it, click HERE.

Oh, and what to see the little sweetie that calls that room his own?  Here he is:

Too adorable.  Plain and simple.

Check out the giveaway happening now!!!  Our gracious sponsor Kit and Caboodle is giving away a cute prize!!!  Click HERE to get entered!!!!   Ends 2/19/12

Doors for Decor

Sometimes when I'm at my friend Marie's house, I just walk around with my camera because I just know there's bound to be something I'll feel like posting on my blog someday.  She's just so darn creative.  Now, I know she's not the first to prop a door up in the corner of a room for decoration, but I just loved her whole adding the shelf and curtain....  And she had no idea this was getting taken, so pardon the lack of photo staging!!!  As I said, I just walked around one day snapping pictures in her house... :)  

Don't ya love the way it dresses up an otherwise boring old corner??  Well I for one, do! :)

And that's all I've got for you today because I'm tuckered out and heading to bed!  If you've been following along, I'd say Tori is officially potty trained - and not turning two years old until April!!!!  I'm ONE HAPPY MAMA to be done with diapers - hopefully for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!  Poop might not be as bad when it's your own child's, but it's STILL GROSS.  And I still have to put my shirt over my nose when it's my own sweet lil' darling's!!!  We started last Tuesday, so it's been eight days.  She wasn't as quick of a learner as her older brothers.  But if you want to know my take on potty training, CLICK HERE on a post I put out awhile back.

Lamp for Lilly Before and After

We were on the Parkade anyway.  Why not go to St. Vincent De Paul while we're here, I asked my non-junkin' sister.  I managed to convince her.  After five minutes of being in there, my prissy sister's nostrils stung so bad she had to wait outside for me while I paid for all my treasures.  But I found this lamp for a few backaroos and knew exactly how I wanted to paint it for my darling little niece's baby room.  It'd match her nursery perfect!!!  Here is the before: 

Can you believe this is the second such lamp I've had in my possession this year?  I found one in perfect shape in some curbside trash with a matching bumper pad and other accessories.  I sold the lamp at my garage sale.  Anyways, Lilly's room is a bright, jungle themed room.

I went with yellow, because it was the only bright color of spray paint my I could find in my mom's house.  I concentrated on just elephant and the base, because I figured the elephant would be the hardest to get a paint brush to.

I'm not real great at recovering lampshades with fabric, and leaves seemed to go with the jungle theme.  These are just hot glued on, two rows.  I just folded the tops over the top of the shade. 

 And now for the finished look:

Looking at these pics, I totally should have sprayed the white part of the lamp brown.  Would have looked like the bottom of the tree!  doht.... 

My mom painted the zebra canvas last year, along with a giraffe, lion, and elephant.  Hope this lamp is just another reminder to you out there - never look at something for what it is, but what it could be!!

Not Your Grandma's Cloth Diapers

Wham.  The first picture that hits you about cloth diapers is this crazy animal print!  I TOLD ya, they weren't your grandma's cloth diapers!  Or your mom's for that matter.  I'm sure she used pampers anyway.  But if you complain about the cost of diapers, complain no longer.  My big regret is that I didn't use them with my first two kids!  Now, I'm not a die-hard.  I always have a box of disposables on hand.  In fact, we generally only use cloth diapers when we are at home.  Who wants to stick that big thing in your purse when it's full?  Yeah, not this Mama!  I actually got into these because my friend Brook was using them (for her babies, not herself!  duh...) and I thought good for you, but those aren't for me!  Then she let me take a few home to try them out just to see if I liked them.  Welp, that was it - I was sold!  So here are the facts as I know them:

They're cute but expensive.  UNLESS, like me, you buy them for $5 each on Ebay.  What did I all get for $5?  Well, for one that included the shipping!!!!  Woot woot.  It also gave me two nappy inserts with the cute, colorful one-size-fits-all diaper.  They have lots of snaps to adjust the size.  Now a box of diapers, as you well know, costs around $20.  I got five of these reusable, washable diapers for $20.  And that's all the cloth diapers I have - five!  I put them on my baby during the day, and when they're all dirty, throw them in the washing machine, set the load to "small" and put a very small amount of All Free/Clear detergent in them.  (Not supposed to use bleach or soap with scent/dye).  Then you hang them to dry!  I try to hang them out in the sun as much as possible because the sun naturally disinfects and bleaches.  So while they are in the wash, she usually where's a Parent's Choice diaper. :)  I can't BELIEVE our savings!!!

There is an opening at the bottom where you slide in the insert.  I always double up and use two inserts, otherwise they fill too quickly!

They're super cute and she doesn't look like a white trash baby crawling around in her white disposable when it's hot!  haha!  The brand Tori is wearing are Sunny Baby.

And another huge benefit?  They can get wet during water play outside... and they don't explode with little silicone crystals all over the place!!!

Let me know if I've persuaded you to make the switch!!!  I think you'll be glad you did. :)

Thrifty Thoughts - BABY EDITION part II

1. Use homemade baby wipes.  Someone gave me the recipe for this four years ago.  The instructions filled a recipe card front and back and looked so tedious and time consuming that I thought, "what the world, why bother?  I think I'd rather buy them!"  Fast forward four years to baby number three.  Another friend passed me the recipe and I thanked her and tucked it in my coat pocket.  A couple weeks passed and I'm changing little sweetie pie's stinky diaper when, ohhhh no, I'm down to my last wipe!  This was Monday.  I had no plans to go in to town until Wednesday night (go ahead and laugh at that one, but just remember how much gas money I save!).  I ferociously started ripping apart paper towels and made a big stack in no time.  Used my dull scissors and cut through the stack, quartering them.  Piled them all up in the container and dumped a mixture of mostly water with a little baby oil in it.  They worked okay but seemed to be missing something.  Then I came upon the official recipe in my coat pocket a few days later - light bulb goes on inside my head - I was missing baby shampoo!  Much easier than I thought it'd be, and now I just made my third batch.  The downside - they don't separate very easy!

quarter a stack of paper towels

pour mixture of 1 cup water, 1tbls baby oil, 1 tbls baby shampoo over paper towels in plastic container.

2. So I already mentioned making baby food in a previous post.  Another cheap baby food is applesauce!  I can't believe people buy a little 4 oz jar of Gerber applesauce for $.60 when you can get a huge jar for a little more monies than that.  Just because it doesn't say "baby food" or "Gerber" doesn't mean it ain't the same thing!  Also, bananas are easy to mash yourself.  Don't buy banana baby food! 

3. A changing table is not necessary.  You can buy a contoured changing pad and put it on the top of a dresser.  Don't have a dresser to put it on?  Find one for about $10 on Craigslist or in a junk shop somewhere and paint it cute!  The drawers can hold diapers, sleepers, and all your other baby paraphernalia.

bath time at Grandma's

4. Fancy baby tub for bathtime?  Sure, they are probably nice.  But what's wrong with the kitchen sink? You already have one, I assume, so no need to spend any money there.  Some of these fancy shmancy tubs now a days even tell you if the water is too hot for baby.  What, don't you have any feeling in your hands?  Can't you just stick your fingers in there yourself and judge the water temp?  Really now, people. :)  Chances are, you were bathed in the sink as a baby. I know I was!  And so are my kids.  I used to use one of those big bath sponges for my babies that they could sit on while in the sink, but they start to stink after using them awhile.  Now baby number three just sits in the sink with nothing and doesn't mind a bit.  I take that back, my mom found her a little bath chair at a garage sale that has suction cups on the bottom and sometimes I use that for her.  Works great!

Purse for .50 at a garage sale.  Perfect diaper bag! 

5. Diaper bag?  I think not.  There are soooo many huge purses out there that there is no need to spend voo-coo bucks on a diaper bag.  What works for me personally is a purse that is divided in three.  Very standard for a purse.  One side is for me, the middle zipped compartment is for diapers/wipes (I keep a few wipes in a plastic ziplock bag to save space), and the other side is for baby.  I've bought a couple really cool ones at Dollar General for *gasp* $10.  I splurged, but hey they were zebra striped, and super cute!

new headbands added!

Check out the new headbands on the for sale buttons to the left!  A disclaimer about the turquoise flowers - it was a little experiment.  I didn't have any turquoise flowers so I spray painted some so they're a little "crispy" feeling, not soft like the others....  But they still look pretty awesome if I do say so myself.....  and Tori didn't seem to mind it.  Then again, she's a pretty easy goin' little sugar n' spice baby girl!  Can you tell I'm lovin' shmuvin' having a little girl?!!!

Glam up your Girl!

Now selling headbands on the blog!  Click on the "Headbands for Sale" button to the right of this page to see the selection! These are not limited to babies, ohhhhh no.  Tori and I fight over who gets to wear the pink and brown one. :)  These make great baby gifts!  Shoot me an email at kammyhayes@hotmail.com.  If you require shipping, your entire order will ship for just $2.50.  If you live in Iowa, I can always send them home with my mom who burns up the highway between here and Michigan quite often!

Thrifty Thoughts - BABY EDITION

As I was waiting for this page to load, I overheard my 4 year old ask his little brother, "do you want me to pick your nose?"  What happened to the saying "You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose?!!!  Wait a minute, those weren't my kids.  I don't know who's kids are sitting in my house. Usually I love to claim them, but anyhow moving on to the subject at hand!  And that would be?  Some BABY SAVING TIPS!

1. Make your own baby food.  I have to confess something.  Actually I have two things to confess.  The first time I tried this, I didn't realize you had to cook the carrots before putting them in the blender.  I really didn't ride the short bus.  I know you were wondering.  My other confession is, I did not make baby food for the first two children (although that one carrot attempt sorta counts), but when I went to buy those yummy smashed beans for baby #3, I had to blink a few times to see the price had gone up to 50 cents a jar!  Humph.  I get bags full of green beans from my next door neighbor and even grew a tiny patch myself this year so I make a big pot last week for supper and all the ones we didn't eat went thunk, into the blender, into baby food jars, and into the freezer.  note: add water!  And you'll have to stop the blender and pull off all the bean strings stuck around the blades.  It kind of looks like when you pull the hair out of the drain.  SICKO.
2. rip wet wipes in half.  Usually their little bums don't need more than that.  But sometimes they do, plus another, and 5 more, and oh goodness, just put them in the bathtub.
3. SIGN UP for all those baby newsletters and stuff.  They'll send you lots of free samples in the mail - including tubs of powdered formula!  My babies were breastfed so I sold them on ebay.  The coupons sell on ebay too!
4. Hit up the garage sales.  Your baby doesn't need new - she doesn't care and she probably will hate that $200 fancy shmancy swing you bought her.  Trust me, I just talked to a mom who has one and yeah.  Darn it.  Buy it (swings, strollers, jumparoos, bouncy seats, etc. ) for a few bucks, and you ain't out much when junior screams every time he gets near it and you can probably resell it for more when you're done.

Tori in her $7 garage sale bouncy seat. another money saver - put her in brother's old sleepers!  haha

5. Your pediatrician gets loads of free samples to give away to patients.  Last time I was in, our Doctor gave me six small bottles of cough syrup.  He also gives me lots of infant Tylenol.  If they don't offer it, just ask.  Chances are, they'd be happy to hand some out.  That's what it's for!