Shabby Chic Table before and after

I've always loved the slightly distressed look.  Good thing, cuz I sport that look quite often.  Sometimes it's 10:00 before I run a comb through my hair.  Hey, with three kids 4 and under... well that's my excuse.  But we talkin' 'bout furniture here, not me.  Love distressed furniture.  However, after painting something, the thought of "messing" it up freaks me out!  So this isn't a major distressing or anything, just some sandpaper rubs here and there so the gray I painted underneath peeks through, but I really like how it turned out and I see more "distressing" in my future.

After

Thrifty Thoughts - old socks, onsies, T shirts

Holey Socks.  We all have them, and some of us have a hard time parting with them, but when the time comes, instead of tossing them in the trash.....

Put it on your hand and use it as a dusting or cleaning rag!  Works great!!!  If you're going to toss them anyway, use them to clean with before you toss them!    Or here is my mother's stellar new "holey sock usage"....

Arm warmers!!  Slide on and stick your thumb out the hole.  You have no idea how proud she is of her "invention".  She claims she wears them to keep her warm in certain situations, however we all know she really wears them for the "She-Man" factor!!! 

And here lies a pile of stained onsies that are ready for the trash.  But wait, before we trash these, cut off all the snaps (you never know when you might need some snaps someday!) then cut each one in two and throw them in with your cleaning supplies.  Don't waste your money on expensive swiffer dusting mits and the like.  They didn't have those back in the day anyway!

Tobin demonstrates his cleaning abilities on the babyfood-splashed kitchen cupboard using an old onsie that he probably once wore.

Old T-shirts that can not be consigned also get cut into sections and go in the rag bag or kept whole for use when painting, dying grandma's hair, etc...

Repeat my motto: WASTE NOT, WANT NOT!  repeat again.

Roadside Chair Before and After

Oh how I love when people put their stuff on the side of the road and I get there before the garbage truck!!!  One day this past fall, I was toodling down a back road in my F150, pulling my trusty Deere on my dilapidated trailer, when my "junk by the road" radar went off and there was a chair.  I hollered out my window to the dude in the yard and he hollered back "It's all yer's" and oh was I happy.  I cranked up the kerosene heater in the barn and gave 'er a new look yesterday, thank goodness for left over curtain fabric.  Here's your before and after fix for the day: aaaaaaaaaaand as I go to upload my pics I'm panicking as I realize I DIDN'T GET A BEFORE SHOT!!!! NOOOO!!!!  How could this be? I have failed you.  Well, you'll have to use your imagination.  Light colored wood with this HIDEOUS almost metalic silver weave through a brown and beige fabric.  I'm ticked at myself.  Trust me, it was a doozy.  So here's your after minus the before.

From hip attachment to helper

3 years ago....  my little hip attachment.  He often accompanied us to social gatherings with paint dashed across his forehead, hands, knees....

2 years ago....  insisting on painting mommy's things.  With real paint.  Apparently crayola washable paint is not "real".

Present day....  Still insisting.  It's much easier if he doesn't help.  I mean, I'm constantly cleaning up the drip marks, reminding him how deep to dip the brush, and freaking out as he wipes up the drips on the dirty ground with his paint brush.  But how can I not let him "help" when he says things like "Mommy, we're really working together as a team, aren't we?",  as he did while we worked on this chair together, and in his most serious voice "If someone calls for me, you just tell them I'm busy, okay?".

Now this is a good job for the little guy, and he takes it quite seriously.  Scrape away, Honey. 

Thankfully, this little disaster waiting to happen isn't too interested in helping me paint yet, and doesn't know the difference between Valspar and Crayola when he is.

Ugly Melted Candle Lamp Before and After

My friend told me to keep an eye out for a lamp she could redo for her baby room.  This is what I came home with.  She was less than thrilled.  "It looks like a big melted candle perched on top.  Thanks, but no thanks Kammy, it's just too weird."  No problem, I said.  I'll do something with it.

So last week while in Iowa I got to visit my beloved Hobby Lobby store with my beloved friend Tiffer Spiffer.  They have the most beautiful lamps.  However, the price tag isn't so beautiful!  I got inspired.  I can do that ribbon-thing-on-the-lampshade!  So take this plain white lamp shade, ugly melted candle lamp, and some stretchy black pin stripe fabric - add it all together and you get......

A BEAUTIFUL "HOBBY LOBBYISH" LAMP!!!! Well, maybe not quite as beautiful, but minus the massive price tag anyway!  I put an antique broach from my grandma in the middle of the knot.  This lamp is for sale.  However, if you buy it the broach stays with me!  Sorry, Charlie.

I like feedback - it helps with future projects! :) If you don't like, please tell me why!
 

Rocking Horse Before and After

I can't for the horsey life of me find my original  "BEFORE" picture, so this one with Ty, the horse,  and his banky will have to do.

Can you tell I've been ambitious this week??  I was browsing a few weeks ago on my favorite blog of all times, BetterAfter, when I saw a before and after of a rocking horse.  Low and behold, I found one the NEXT DAY in a thrift store.  They were asking $45, which was down from $60 the lady told me!  I think NOT.  What part of "thrift" don't you understand, people?  Fast forward a few weeks and I'm in Goodwill out in Iowa with my mom and what do I see?  A pretty wood rocking horse, looking at me.  Rocking horse, rocking horse, what do you see?  A crazy lady that has obviously been to one to many early childhood conferences!  Crazy lady, crazy lady, what do you see?  Annnnd I'm done.  Anywoo,  let's just say it was a bargain.  I snatched it up and have been itching to do something with it.  Here's the before and after of Mr. Rocking Horse.

I tried to mix a brown paint that would be similar to the previous color so it would be easy to cover.  The contrast color is actually a light blue/green (though it looks white in the picture).

Update:  Just realized today that I'm a follower of the blog that did the original rocking horse that inspired me!  It was done before I became a follower apparently!  But she does some AWESOME stuff and it's all about making "trashed" furniture into something beautiful. You know I'm all about that!  Check her out at  Curbside Creations - I promise you'll love what you see!

Fun Flower Table before and after

After posting a before and after of one of these tables (spider table) that everyone has at least one of stashed away in their closet, a few friends pulled their's out of their closet and donated them to me.  THANKS!!!!  I decided yesterday was a good day to tinker around with my new stencil. :)

Fa fa fa fa flowery.  Why do I always paint things that match nothing in my house?!

Mail organizer before n' after

You know you've seen something like this a garage sale, and just passed right over it.  In order to have success at garage sales/thrift stores you need to learn to look at things not as they are, but what they could be!

So easy your 4 year old could do this for you!!  (notice the counter tops - a peak at before and after of those too!  Read about painting my countertops here.)

How simple was this makeover?  A little white paint makes huge improvements!  I now have a spot for mail, reciepts, business cards, coupons......... part of my 2010 New Year's Resolution to get organized!

Knight in dingy armour

I can't believe what I paid for this ugly thing at a garage sale.  I won't even disclose the amount, you might scoff.  And I don't want no scoffin'.   But I was looking for a big canvas so my mom could paint me a picture.  That was about three years ago.  As you have probably guessed, she never painted on it.  I found it while rummaging through her basement last week.  It was time to do something about that dark mysterious knight.

Adios, valiant warrior.

Finished product.  Same frame and all!  But.... is it just me, or is it lacking something?  Whatever, I kind of like it.  Though, my hubby doesn't really.  So I guess it'll be for sale. Pfffft.

Free Kid's Outting

Kids itching to get out?  Want something that will be a learning experience, FREE, and give great memories?  A visit to the local fire station!  A friend of mine is lucky enough to live a few blocks from the one in their town.  She and her two cute, rambunctious grandkids walked down and asked the firefighter that was on duty if they could get shown around.  He and his firefighter pal were more than happy to give the kids a tour!  So when we were out visiting in Iowa over the Christmas holiday, my mom decided we'd give it a go.  The kids came home with packs of fireman cards (like baseball cards, with a picture and little write up of each firefighter), and the infamous little red fire chief hats.  Along with an explanation of all the rescue trucks, we got to see where they sleep, eat, and watch TV too.  Pretty cool for mommy to see too!!
P.S. Don't forget to bring them a plate of cookies!

The Christmas Scene - Not what you picture.

My Cats send Christmas Greetings To You, along with us! :)

Taking a break from the usual Kammy's Korner Blogness to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!   We had a wonderful week in Iowa with lots of family and friends and now glad to be back home in Michigan where our presents are still waiting to be unwrapped under our tree!  I received the following thought provoking message  from a friend, Peter Ramsey, written by himself, that I'm sure he wouldn't mind a bit if I passed it along to you.  After reading it this morning, I haven't stopped thinking about it all day!

Romantic Birth Scenes

Often you will see a nativity scene in someone's yard or a miniature scene on the fireplace mantle within. The focal point is a little wooden cradle with a neatly wrapped doll inside. Figurines of a loving mother and a watchful father, a few shepherds kneeling before the cradle in wonder and some barn animals resting nearby. There is something romantic about the scene.

With all the ornamental displays for us to view at Christmas time, we could lull ourselves into thinking the birth of Christ was just as warm, welcoming and romantic as all of this. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Anything but Any Easy Trip

The Government made no exceptions for extenuating circumstances and unusual hardships. All must travel to their assigned cities to be registered for taxation. For the carpenter and his wife who was nine months pregnant they too must travel. For them it meant 145 kilometers over bumpy winding roads, up one hill and down another from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We can only imagine the extreme discomfort and weariness Mary experienced as the little donkey carried her.

All the Rooms Are Filled

When they arrived at Bethlehem, no one had room for the expectant Mary and Joseph. No one was willing to give up their comfortable bedroom to accommodate the couple in their distress.

Was it an act of kindness? Did a resident offer them one of his limestone caves usually occupied by sheep at night? Or did Joseph find the crude underground stable himself?

Perhaps you imagined a nice little tidy, picture-book barn, painted and pretty, with clean straw strewn on the floor and a cozy wooden rocking cradle for the infant. Not a chance!

The crude shelter in the rock would reek with the putrid odors of animal manure and urine mixed together. Cobwebs clung to the rocks and the place crawled with the type of insects that thrive in raw conditions. Somewhere in that dirty cave, accustomed only to bedding animals, Joseph found Mary a place to bring her firstborn child into the world. The pain and agony of childbirth was only intensified by the harsh surroundings of the dark cave that night.

Heaven to Earth - No Ordinary Birth

With no mid-wife available and no nursing assistance other than her carpenter-husband, the child was born. Mary had brought along some swaddling clothes to wrap around her baby. The cries of the newborn infant pierced the silence of the night in the darkness of the cave. Christ from Heaven had arrived. The eternal Son of the eternal God.

God had become man. He never stopped being what He always was - God; but He became what He never was before - a Man. The truth of God becoming man is staggering. Little wonder the Bible says: "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh." 1 Timothy 3:16.  But even more staggering is why God became a man.

Lost Without Him

We were irrecoverably lost in our sins. Humanly speaking there was no way for us to repair ourselves or to produce a self-remedy for our spiritual disease. We were unfit and unacceptable to the Holy God: more than that, we were helpless.

How did God respond to our plight? Here's what the Bible says: Christ "made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  (Philippians 2:7-8)

Please never entertain the wrong idea, even for a moment, that God doesn't love you. He does and He proved it!  The Bible says: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

From the Manger to The Cross

Christ was born to die. That's why He came. Sins against God are a capital offence requiring death. Rather than sinners bearing the punishment and penalty for their sins, Christ came down to do that for them.  It was God's desire that Christ would die for our sins. He voluntarily laid down his life on the Cross. 

If you think His birth was the epitome of poverty and lowliness - how ever would you find words to describe His death?

Have you ever thanked God for the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you ever seen beyond the tinsel, trees and Christmas treasures and appreciated the truth of 'why' Christ came into the world?

Doors are Still Shut Today

The question today is not whether there's room in the inn for Him - is there room in your heart for Him?

Knick Knack From This to That

Before you toss those knick knacks from 1994 into the Goodwill donation box, try to look at them in a new light.  I was digging around in mom's basement (there are so many treasures, I would never get to the bottom of them) and came across this ceramic topiary tree.  It had potential.  With a little red and brown paint, it has been updated to at least the new millennium.

The topiary-turned-terrific. :)

Swoon Interior's Giveaway

Janna over at Swoon! Interiors has a great giveaway contest going on!  Upholstery fabric!!  2 whole yards of gorgeous fabric!  I'm crossing my fingers for option numero uno.  If I win, maybe I can redo my chairs (for the third time) and they'll make it on BetterAfter's website.  That would make me a double happy girl.  I would post a pic of these chairs with their present fuzzy leapard print, but I'm not on my home computer.  Even typing on this keyboard feels awkward so I'll be saying adios for now.  Plus my boys have cooked me up some delicious looking playdough hamburgers and my tummy doth rumble. Peace out, yo.

Raving over Rebates

I usually skip right over the ads that are about rebates.  What a hassle. Maybe because once I bought expensive paint because it was supposed to be half off after the rebate and I don't know what I did wrong, but they wouldn't send me the check.  So a few weeks ago, I got the Rite Aid ad in the mail and the whole back page was covered in things that were FREE after rebates.  Were these things I would normally buy?  Probably not, but hey if they're truly free, what's there to lose?  I gave the ad to hubby man with the assignment to go buy everything on the rebate page.  (Don't want to make a special trip in to town ya know, he's already there for work).  He did, and here's the loot!  A couple weeks later, the rebate came in the mail, enough $$ to cover all of it!  Yay!  I love free!  I even drank one of those Immune+ things when everyone in my house was getting sick before my friend's wedding and I didn't want to be a "doped-out-on-cold-meds" bridesmaid and I didn't get sick!  Who knows if it was the Immune+, but what's to say it wasn't?  Thank you, Rite Aid!

New use for shoe organizer

Okay, so ONE of my resolutions for 2010, now almost a whole year ago, was to try to organize SOMETHING almost every day - big or small!  Well, here's one of my favorite "organizers".  I actually read this tip in a magazine and wouldn't ya know it (the way it usually happens) I saw a shoe organizer at a garage sale not long after - cheap and unopened!  It's clear which makes it easy to find what you're looking for!  Now this might look a little messy so it's good to keep this somewhere inconspicuous like on the inside of a closet door or like mine - hanging on the wall in my laundry room, which is small, cramped, and about to be demolished.  As in gone, kaput, in less than 24 hours from now.  Oh my.  So actually, my "shoe organizer" just got laid across the piano bench.  Very attractive.  But my hubby says, "time to just go into 'construction mode'".  Oh it will be worth it in the end.  This I know.  :)

milk glass lamp before and after

A few years back, I was really into antiques, and bought a pair of these lamps in a dusty, musty old antique shop.  A few years later I got inspired to do something to them.  Like make them ultra girly, for the girl I didn't (at the time) have.

Here's a break down of how this cuteness happened.  1. spray painted the metal silver. 2. painted the middle pink, and the bottom black.  3. glued black ribbon around the top of the shade, and a ribbon with little dangles around the shade bottom.  4. Dug in my jewelry box and found this pink broach, which happened to be the wrong pink, so I just painted it with the paint I used on the lamp base.  5.  Last but not least, was the tedious task of gluing on each individual little plastic pearl.  Didn't take as long as you might think, actually!  And there you have it - whether you wanted it or not. :)          

Wood Canisters before and after

Holy wow, these look straight from my grandma's house.  No offense, Grandma.  Maybe it's just the big Eagle that was on your garage that makes me think that.  No, pretty sure you had something like this in your kitchen when I was a kid....  Eagles are cool on the back of your Harley jacket, but not in your kitchen.  So a screwdriver went to prying them feathered friends off and I had FUN painting these!  Here's a little fix for your before and after craving (that I pulled out of the ancient files since I'm desperately lacking in before and after projects these days). :)

Creamy Ham and Corn Chowder

Lately I've been inventing my soups using a can of Progresso as a springboard, or for inspiration, you might say.  This is very easy to do.  Take a soup (on sale and with a coupon of course) off the grocery store shelf , like a chowder, and build on it.  Here's one of my Hubby's favorites, using a can of Progresso Chicken Corn Chowder as a "starter".

Creamy Ham and Corn Chowder

1 can Progresso Chicken Corn Chowder
1 brick cream cheese
1 can creamed style corn
2 cups of chopped up ham
1 cup milk
optional additions: broccoli, celery, carrots, potatoes

warning: this is a very rich tasting soup.  You can tone it down with a little more milk if need be.

How much am I spending on my kids for Christmas?

Here's a hint.  Last year we went to the dollar store.  My three year old got a hat and glove set that he just ooooed and ahhhhhed over, and my one year old got a little wind up man on a bike that rode across the floor and provided hours of entertainment.  They both shared a recorder and made beautiful (in their opinion) music.  Total amount spent?  FOUR DOLLARS.  They were tickled pink.  Seriously, Tobin didn't seem to care one bit that he didn't get the car he so badly wanted.  Like car as in, what is parked in our garage, not toy car (he made sure Santa knew that).  Anyways so I felt like we were really going all out this year with some nice gifts.  Tobin's four, and the  dollar store hat and scarf thing might not work out so well this time around.  So how much did we spend this year on our kids?  $10!  Total!   Tobin is getting a digital camera since he loves, loves, LOVES to take pictures, and Ty is getting a toy electric guitar.  Tori is only 8 months old, and can't decide if she wants to eat the (reused) box, the (reused) tissue paper, or the contents of the box first so she gets nothing.  And doesn't even whine.  Not a bit.  So how did we get by with nice gifts so cheap?  My hubby had his ten year anniversary working for the utility plant.  When those big milestones pop up, they get to take a little catalog home full of gadgets and trinkets that quite frankly, nobody really wants or needs, as was the case here.  So we picked out the digital camera and stashed it away in the closet to give Tobin for his birthday in June.  When June rolled around, we decided we didn't need to give him a gift since he was  already getting hundreds, or so it seemed, (that and I couldn't remember where I had stashed the camera).  So now it has come out of hiding and is under the tree.  An awesome but FREE present!  The guitar we got at Family Dollar for $10.  He'll love it.  Guaranteed. So total spent this year?  TEN DOLLARS!

Psssst.  You tell my kids what they're getting and you die.  Or get dropped kicked.  Or something scary like that.

Excedrin? Tube Bra? Glow in the dark golfball? FREE?

I have posted before about my love for the site www.icravefreebies.com.  Have you been faithfully checking it?  I say, it would be foolish not too.  Foooooolish.  This past week there have been some swell freebies.  Along with the usual shampoo samples there are free coffee packets, free Dream water (what the heck is that, I say I might need some after my over-the-top dream last night!), a free tube bra (boo yeah) but probably the highest in value is the coupon for a free bottle of Excedrin!  I thank the Lord that I've never needed one of those, but my sweet hubby seems to get a Migraine every Saturday.  Seems to be the combo of going to bed late Friday night, waking up early to play 3 hours of hard basketball on an empty stomach Saturday morning....  and then oh man, I'm getting a migraine...  So if you are prone to these, head on over to www.icravefreebies.com and get yourself some o' that free Excedrin and "Hands Off TSA" bumpersticker (sheesh, I hope you don't get that, you could be the next shoe bomber!) or click here for the headache pills.
It appears this is another lesson in "YA SNOOZE, YA LOSE" cuz the tube bras are gone, and the Excedrin is temporarily out of samples......  But there are still plenty of other freebies on the site!

Gossip Chair before and after

Can't you just picture a lady in her pin curls, sitting here with her legs crossed, gossiping away on a dial up phone?  This was another one of those pieces  that I brought home and Hubby exclaimed, "are you kidding me?"  It was a little busted, but I sweet talked him into fixing it into a nice stable table. This is actually something I did a couple of years ago.  I think if I was doing it now, I would have done a fun black and white fabric on the chair.  But you gotta admit, anything's better than that nasty brownish orange plastic seat cushion!

The finished product.  I hope I can find another one of these some day.  Well, for under $5 that is! 

Spicey Sausage Minestrone

Tis the season for SOUP!  Unless you're in Mexico, of course.  And I do have a couple followers from there - shout out to Shelley and Penelope!  This is an easy soup and a good alternative to the standard Chili.  Here's all you need:

Boil 2 or more carrots and 2 or more celery stalks (optional), and about 2 cups pasta (I like small shells or rigatoni noodles) in water and when tender, add 1 lb browned and drained spicy ground sausage, 1 can of diced tomatoes, and a 46 oz can or tomato juice.  Italian seasoning to taste.  Also can add salt and pepper, oregano, basil.... Oh yeah, I really like to add some crushed red pepper to give it an extra kick!  Heat till bubbling and serve in your cutest Goodwill soup bowls.  Then cozy up to the fire and play a mean game of Rummikub.

Cream Cheese Tower - save $ on groceries

This is one of the reasons I spend under $200 a month on groceries.  Unlike most articles I read on "slashing grocery costs", I'm a stocker-upper.  They tell you, plan your meal for the week, and then buy the ingredients you need, sticking to your list.  Baloney.  Seriously, that's just a bunch of bull honky!  When there's a serious sale, I seriously stock up.  I cook with a lot of cream cheese, as you may have noticed from my recipes.  These were on sale for $1.  So I stock up.  I rarely buy any thing unless it's on sale.  EVEN if I have a coupon.  Coupons generally don't save you much money.  Studies show that people will spend more with coupons, because they buy things they normally wouldn't otherwise, just because they have a coupon.  The trick to using coupons is to use them when the item is ALSO on sale.  You can get some pretty cheap food items when you remember this rule.  If you have a coupon but the item isn't on sale this week, stick it back in the purse and cross your fingers that it goes on sale next week, before the expiration date!  I really had no idea how much I spent on groceries per month until a little while ago my friend asked me if I'd heard about the cheapest family in the US.  They had seven kids and spend somewhere around $350 a month.  That's all!  That's ALL I thought? That sounded seriously high to me.  But I wasn't sure what I spent so I started keeping track.  So far I have October's spending at about $188 and I'm up to $184 for November. And the only reason November's tally was so high was because I had to have a minimum purchase of $20 to get  my cheap turkey. Then I wanted another turkey so I had to do another minimum purchase. (STOCK UP, remember?!) Haha.  Anyways, look for some good recipes that use cream cheese coming up this week!  Or browse the archives for apple dip, creamy pasta, turkey crescent bake..

Update: december's grocery total came in at $120!

Tired of his Ties?

Girls, you can wear them!  But not the traditional way... how about a tie skirt?  This is not my idea, but I sure wish it was.  My sewing machine usually stays hidden in the closet and only gets pulled out when my mom is visiting since I usually want her to sew me some curtains or make me a dress....  the night before she leaves on her eight hour drive back home.  Anyways, this was created by Charitina from a town called Garnavillo. It's in Iowa, where it's anything BUT FLAT. I'll bet half of you reading this wouldn't believe me if I told you how hilly it was!  Most beautiful countryside ever.  Back to the ties - if anyone has an abundance of brown and green ones, send them my way. :)