coffee table - barfy to beautiful

Before: Yeah.  Nasty!  That's why it was only $1 at a garage sale.  The 3 wood-like squares popped out easy thankfully, and using a screwdriver, I was able to pry off the front holey panels and sand the wood smooth that was behind them.  I had a large peice of glass (free from the roadside of course!) that I paid to have cut to fit the top.  Then gave it a few coats of black paint and - wa la! A beautiful, stylish coffee table!

AFTER! :)

left over turkey? FancyTurkey Crescent Bake

Fancy Turkey Crescent Bake

(It just looks fancy, but it's easy peasy!)

Step 1.  Stir together in bowl:
2 cups cooked and chunked up turkey (can use canned chicken)
1 cup peas (you can also used cooked carrots or broccoli - my cooking is all about using what you have on hand!)
2 Tbls Italian dressing
1/3 cup miracle whip salad dressing3 oz. cream cheese
2 Tbls grated Parmesan cheese

STEP 2. Roll out crescent rolls as pictured.

Step 3. Spoon mixture out in a circle on the crescent rolls and fold the ends to the middle.

Step 4. I buttered the top and sprinkled oregano on top then baked it on 350 for probably 25 minutes.
Serves 4 average eaters.  Serves 2 Nate Sailors.  Maybe 1. On second thought, Nate hates peas.

Once I was using a public restroom...

I was just 16 years old.  Coke bottle glasses, braces, and chicken legs.  We were in Estes Park, Colorado, hoping to summit Long's Peak, if the ice would melt in time.  We were in the grocery store stocking up on hiking necessities like granola bars, beef jerky, Gatorade, and Snickers.  While everyone was in the check-out line, I decided I'd better make a bathroom run.  I checked and rechecked the sign.  Yup, WOMENS.  There were two stalls.  I'm in the middle of my business when I hear the door open and I see big boots from under the door.  A quick glance through the crack to the mirror reveals an older man heading for my stall door.  I clear my throat and bellow out, "hey Sir, you're in the wrong bathroom!"  No reply.  I look through the crack and my eyes meet  another pair of eyes.  First, I think I quit breathing, as I see his fingers slip over the top of my door.  Then I'm pretty sure my heart stopped pumping all together when he starting shaking the door.  I mean seriously folks, he shook the daylights out of that darn door!  I'll never forget my eyes bulging, staring at that lock and praying it wouldn't wiggle open!  I was also hoping like mad someone else would come in!  But they didn't.  He finally gave up and stood against the wall.  I'm almost too shaky to pull up my pants. Now to get out.  I muster up some courage, send up a quick prayer, and bust out, making a bee line for the door. I still don't know if it was some old man with dementia who wandered out of a nursing home or some sicko registered sex offender.  But I will never let my children go into a public restroom alone!  And you shouldn't either, got it?  Good!  Cuz that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Christmas Card holder - before and after

A 25 cent garage sale find makes a cute Christmas Card holder!

Just painted it, added some white glitter to the "snow", and glued on a little wooden snowman.  Cost was under a dollar!  The glitter and unfinished snowman were also garage sale finds!  A whole bag of little snowmen for .50 cents and a HUGE thing of glitter for .10 cents!  Judging from the label on the glitter, it was from about 1958.  No joke!  Good thing glitter doesn't have an expiration date! :)

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!

Nightstand before and after, both questionable...

I distinctly remember when I brought this one home from a garage sale my hubby saying "Kam, why do you buy this junk?!  At least buy stuff made of real wood".  I hung my head and "I know, I know....  I'll be a good girl next time..."

So this is what I did with it since I had this yellow paint sitting in my porch, leftover from my laundry room.  Hey, not any nightstand that would match my house, but apparently it matched someone's since it sold on good ole' Craigslist!

Buy a turkey. Now. And lots of them!

Buy an extra freezer if you have to!  This is the one time of year when you can get the cheapest meat on the planet.  Okay, maybe not planet, but we'll go with in the US.  If you live in other countries, you are more than likely consuming goat meat.  What?  Didn't you know that goat meat is the most consumed meat in the world?  I'm not sure what I'm missing out on since I don't believe I've ever had goat meat.  Unless that's what that unidentifiable meat was I ate sitting on a dock in Belize...  I've always wanted to raise goats to sell for the meat.  My neighbor actually does! So maybe this is why I was never a writer? I start out writing about turkey and get side-tracked with goats!  Back to turkey.  At my local grocery store this week, you can get it for 49 cents a pound.  It's hard to find ground beef for under $2 these days!  And In Meijer, you can get it for as low as 29 cents/lb.  Well, could.  I made the mistake of waiting until yesterday to get mine.  They were gone.  They told me to come back in an hour.  I did, waited another 1/2 hour, and then the truck only brought the Butterball brand which were NOT 29 cent/lb!  Grrr..  So this morning, thanksgiving morning, I'm heading over to my small local store and getting another 49 cent one.  I have to make so many trips because you're only allowed one per visit.  But the possibilities with all this turkey meat are endless.  You do not need to make it for a huge traditional turkey dinner.  Rather, cook it someday when you're home, and then tear all the meat off the bone and  fill several containers with the meat and freeze it.  This makes for SUPER CONVENIENT meals in the future!!!  Next time you're craving Cheesy Turkey Baked Burritos, one of your steps is already done.  Pull a container of turkey meat out for soup, stir fry, tacos, pasta dishes, etc.  I will be posting more recipes to use up your left over turkey soon. 
Until then, Happy Thanksgiving and while you're stuffing your face, remember to be thankful for all the blessings that we enjoy, and if you know your sins forgiven, thank the Good Lord above for ever making the ultimate sacrifice and paying the price of our punishment so we can be in Heaven some day!

nightstand before and after

I haven't finished any furniture in a while so I'm pulling this out of my photo archives.  It's been so long, I can't remember where I got this.  But I think it might have been at the annual yard sale at the fire department in Spring Arbor.  Now that folks, is a good sale.  Why?  Because it's run by men.  Whenever a group of men are running a sale, they don't know what the price of anything is, nor do they care!  A quarter?  Sure, why not!

I kinda liked the look of this when it was done, and put it for sale on Craigslist.  The lady that bought it told me she was giving it to her daughter and she'd probably paint it to match her room. Sheesh.  Why did I bother!  You can keep that info to yourself next time, lady.  :)

Lil' Michigan or Michigan State Fans

Michigan?  Michigan State?  I say, who gives a rip?  If I cared, I'd want Iowa to win anyway.  But some of you  do care and you want your babies to care so I'm announcing new headbands for your little wolverine or spartan fans!  Plus many other new headbands that are now up for sale.  Click on the link to the right to see the newest!  Great Christmas gifts/stocking stuffers.  By the way, the crocheted waffle headbands fit anyone from infant to adult!!  email kammyhayes@hotmail.com.  $4 each.

Michigan headbands in the maze and blue

for little Spartans

Give your baby the gift of unique beauty, like the unique, beautiful little girl she is!

Kammy's Meatloaf recipe - for the onion hater!

Back in the day, BK (before kids), Nate and JD used to eat a lot of meals at my house.  The most requested meal?  Meatloaf!  Now meatloaf is not something I usually would eat anywhere but from my own kitchen.  Who knows what scary things could be lurking inside the beef and ketchup?  Too risky.  But this summer, my hubby took me on a dinner cruise in the Saginaw Bay for our 10 year anniversary (okay so we couldn't have a paradise destination with a three month old nursing baby, so maybe we'll have to celebrate the 11 year mark "Aruba style").  It was an all you can eat buffet and boy was I surprised when the two meat choices were meatloaf and chicken!  I didn't finish all of my first piece of chicken but I did however go back for seconds on the meatloaf!  So that said, here's my special recipe.  Please try it and tell me how you like it!
 

Kammy's Onion-Free Meatloaf  (double for a larger batch)

1. Stir together in large bowl:
1 egg
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 cup oatmeal
salt and pepper
2. Add 1 pound ground beef and mix well.
3.Press mixture in a greased 8"x8" pan with a fork
4.Pour on topping: 1/2 cup ketchup and 1/2 cup brown sugar, stirred together.
5. Bake for one hour on 350, covered.  (I usually uncover mine the last 15 minutes because I like it a little crispy on the edges!)

Old habits die hard.  Since I was a kid, we always had scalloped potatoes and baked beans with our meatloaf.  I still have to eat my meatloaf accompanied by scalloped potatoes and baked beans!  Just doesn't taste right otherwise!

Your Amateur Photographer

I take a lot of pictures.  Pretty much because I have three little children that I just adore.  So naturally, I think I have to have a picture of them with their cute hat on.  When they have cake smeared on their face.  When they're sitting on the potty chair.  When they're having a bath in the sink.  When they're smiling.  When they're crying.  When they use diaper rash cream for hair gel.  But I was surprised when a girl asked me if I would take her senior pictures for her.  I mean, I've never attempted such a thing, nor do I have the equipment that goes along with such endeavors.  But we ran around yesterday afternoon in the freezing cold and wind with my little digital Canon Powershot (I didn't even know that's what it was, I had to look on my camera!) and after I did a little finagling with color and such in Photosuite, here is a sampling of the results.

Hey, Hubby, maybe a new business?  JUST KIDDING!!!  DON'T PUNCH ME!! 

Wood scraps

See these?  They are scraps.  Leftovers from some beams that are holding up our pergola.  They were on their way to the burn pile when my mom and I halted the junk load and salvaged them.  They might make good.... signs?  Something? Stash 'em in the barn.  We just might want them someday.  And I did.  So here's what some of them have turned in to. 

Ceiling Appeal

Give your ceiling the illusion of being tiered with paint and chair rail! Please ignore my ginormous plant in the corner.  It's hibernating over there for the winter until it can resume it's spot outside on the patio. (Click HERE to see the pictured dining set before and after which was found on the side of the road!)

Who says your ceiling has to be white and boring?  Well okay, so most of mine are.  Mostly because I'm not brave enough to take that step of painting on the ceiling - it seems so... permanent, a step over the edge, something your grandma's generation would have never done (and that alone should make you tremble)...  But about a year ago, my dining room got a complete makeover and today I'm going to share my favorite part of that makeover - the ceiling! Maybe someday I'll get super brave and do something to some of the other extremely boring ceilings in my house.  Until then, here's one idea for your ceiling.  Please share a picture with me if you have any fun ceiling ideas!

I look like WHO?!!!!!

We have this very large book that is a compilation of Disney stories.  My sweet little Tobin always used to say things like "That looks like you, Mommy" when he'd see a picture of one of the blond Disney princesses.  (Hey, I know I don't look like that, but blond and blond, ya know....)  He always got my "awww, you're so sweet" reaction regardless if I really look like Sleeping Beauty or not.  So not long ago, my 2 year old, Ty, is looking through this large book (a very rare incident indeed -Ty sitting still with a book?!) and I hear him repeating over and over (very emphatically, I might add) "That's Mommy!!  That's Mommy!!"  He's so excited about it, I decide I'd better go respond.  I start to give my "awwww" response, when I see what I think might be a snicker on my sweet hubby's face.  I look down at who my little boy is perceiving to be my twin and it's........ TARZAN!!!!!  Bubble is burst.   All I can figure out is, it's gotta be the muscles!!  Or the spear I threaten my kids with??  Er, just kidding....

Hoosier top before and after

Hooray for Hoosiers!  And Hooray for my friend Marie who buys random things as much as I do, and then decided she doesn't need them and passes them on to me!!  I believe this is a the top to a hoosier cabinet.  Oh if only I had the bottom half too!  But alas, I don't.  Nor do I have room for the whole shabang.  I was almost tempted to keep this green, it was such a charming, cheerful color!  But Marie had already started painting it and the green slightly clashed with the rest of my dining room, so to white it went. 

Oh how I love those oh-so-cool little sliding doors at the bottom which will hide more of my junk!  I wish I could find some glass for that door on the left to match.  I know, I know, I'm sure I could at Lowes or insert-name-of-your-favorite-materials store.  But I like things either free, or for the quarters jingling in my pocket.... :)  Haven't you caught on by now that I'm all about thrift?  THANKS, MARIE!  I LOVE IT!!!

Mom's sunflower painting

Of course, when we break out the paints, the boys have to paint too.  And of course, Ty dumps his paint on the floor.

90% off at hobby lobby.  It's been sitting in a storage trunk since I bought it 2 years ago.  So since it matches nothing in my house, My mom decides to give it a makeover.

It still matches nothing in my house.  haha.  But I think she did a pretty swell job!  Thanks, Mom!