How 'bout a House Before and After?

If anyone has vision, my parent's have it.  Not sure I could have envisioned what this could be, but I'm thankful they did!  They bought this house just outside of Cedar Falls, IA when I was 12 years old if I remember right.  See those three windows on the left?  That would be where  the master bedroom now sits.  Man, it was downright ugggggly.

Yes, this house is one and the same!  I think it's changed a little from when I took this pic a few summers ago since hail damage smacked it a good one last summer!  (And it must be an old pic since that would be my beautiful super charged Grand Prix GTP in the driveway.  sniffle, sniffle...  on to mini vans....)  Pretty sure the shingles are a dark brown.  Now I'm not an observant person, especially with things like the color of a shingle!  HOWEVER, when you're helping do the shingling, you can't help but notice.  It was a heat index of over 100 degrees when I was up there workin' my booty off with Dad and the hubby.  Okay, okay, so I didn't put more than a day or two in, but it was enough to make me sore enough that I could hardly walk!! Anyone want to put a girl's roofing team together?  You get paid for your workout and a good tan. 

Who's with me?!!!

Free Dress. It LOOKED like it too.

BEFORE:    My friend scored this free dress. NEVER turn down free.  (pardon the facebook quality photo!) I know of no other details.....  Kinda hung like a bag!  Well no "kinda", it DID!  But she wasn't worried....

AFTER:  Got a sewing machine?  Me too!  But not sure if I could pull this off or not!  I'm envious of her skills. :)  (Come to think of it, the only person who uses my sewing maching is my mom, when she comes to visit!  I usually have a stack for her to work on!).  Way to goooooo, Charitina!! :)

Where it all started... Then and Now

On a farm in Iowa.  Approximately 1986.  I remember faintly my mother putting these HUGE button-up shirts on me and my brother, sticking a paint brush in our hands, and a gallon of white paint on the ground and telling us to get the whole hay rack covered.  It seemed like a never ending job.......  and I can't recall if we ever finished!  So from a young age, I had painting forced upon me.  And now here I am....  still painting!  (But loving it!)

Painting my Aunt Jan's (now home in Heaven) kitchen in their condo.  You know she would have been right there doing it herself if she could have!!  Suddenly, I feel like turning this blog in to a tribute to my great aunt Jan Sluiter, but I wouldn't even know where to start!  She was such a wonderful person.  Facing life with ALS and then having breast cancer....  almost always had that smile on her face, and an encouraging word for others.  She was so sure of Heaven, and she wanted others to share in her joy!  I only wish she could have hung on a few more years - I wanted her to meet my kids so badly, and I want them to know the Jan I tell them about.  I can almost HEAR her laughing at my silly little Ty, and "awwwwing" over Tori...   I miss you so much, Jan!!!!  And I know many others do too.

NEW!!! Alligator hair clips - $3 each

Hey Grandmas, Mommys, Aunties, and gals,

Fun and unique alligator hair clips have been  added to the "Headbands For Sale" page on the right. Scroll to the bottom to find the latest.  More to be added!

Antique Frame before & after - grrrrr to superrrrb

Once Upon A Time, a tiger lay encased in a magnificent gold and black antique picture frame.  He looked majestic surrounded by zebra rugs, wanna be African relics, and palm tree table runners.  But the habitat had changed and the conditions were no longer favorable for the beast.  The frame made it's way to Maran's home in Chicago, and there it sat in her basement.  Alone and forgotten.  Until........  Maran got a brainstorm.  With a little red spray paint and some chicken wire from her Dad's farm in Iowa..........(insert drum roll here)......

Happy Birthday to me from Maran!!  Is this taking "re-gifting" to a whole new level?  I LOVE IT!  Only friends of mine could give me a birthday present made out of something I had previously given to them and know I would be thrilled rather than offended!

My birthday surprise!!

So I haven't posted because my hubby, who I'm pretty sure is vying for a spot in the "best husband of the year contest" surprised me for my 30th birthday by whisking me away to the Dominican Republic for a few days!!  (Really, he has just been dying to go to the Caribbean and I've putting a kabosh on it because I remind him our money is going towards an addition right now!!!  So this was the only way he could get me on the plane. And that's the truth. haha.).  But it was much appreciated it, and I am home, feeling completely rejuvenated, tan, and ready to take on new projects. :)

I have NO CLUE how I gained 5 pounds on this vacation because we ate twice a day since food was so outrageously priced.  HUGE free breakfast, and then we ate an evening meal out.  We bought a coke one afternoon from the little store, thinking it would be cheaper.  FIVE DOLLARS.  FOR A 20 oz COKE!!!!!!!  So I had to balance all my thrifty thought rule-breakageness and purchased used sunglasses in the market. haha.

Before the "renovation"

So I'm pretty sure the owners of this joint must be readers of Kammy's Korner.  They recently renovated the rooms, which come to find out, consisted of painting all the furniture black and reupholstered with lime green fabric.  I LIKE!!!  So much more economical than buying all new, eh?

watch turned hair bow

This came from a garage sale, where else?  It had about 5 different color bands so I just knew I would wear this watch.  A different color band to go with any outfit!  But...  I didn't.  For one, my wrist is super small and it just didn't fit, despite the three snap adjuster!

I have finally moved from just making headbands to making hair bows.  Torri is just having too much fun yanking her headbands down over eyes that I decided it wasn't worth the constant fight and a hairbow is much easier to not only keep in her hair, but to keep those quickly growing bangs out of her eyes!  I hot glued this alligator clip on the bottom of the bow that I made from one of the watch bands.

watch my blog - hair bows to be for sale soon! :)

The Eyesore in my house

I'm ashamed to post this picture.  This is what the claw foot bathtub in my main floor bathroom has looked like for years.  Well, I guess it didn't start out this bad, but it has gotten worse and worse over the years.  I used it a couple times to give the boys their baths, but they'd come out with paint chips all over them and I didn't know if it was lead based or not!  Maybe that would explain why my 2 1/2 year old still doesn't know his colors!  And the worst part of this is?  I didn't even realize how scary it was until I had out of town guests overnight and the little girls starting wailing when they thought they had to take a bath in that scary tub!!  There was a chance this same family was coming back this year so I decided I had better get this tub polished up once and for all - before those girls see it again and shriek!! 

One reason why I shyed away from getting it fixed up was the cost of getting a bathtub resurfaced.  Wowzas.  I know because I used to mow a man's lawn that resurfaced tubs for a living.  I would have had to mow his 2 acre lawn all summer to pay for it.  So what did I do?  Went to Lowes and got Rustoleum's counter top paint!!!  Some had dripped in my sink (we won't say who did that) while we painted my kitchen counters and it won't come off for bajeebers.  It's also FDA approved to be safe for your food....  which would mean I wouldn't have to worry about it affecting my 2 year old's ability to learn anything in the future.  (Might have to worry about mine, however.  I think the fumes killed off any remaining brain cells that were floating around up there in my head!).  I had to have it tinted to white.  After scraping the bottom of the tub, I applied a coat.  It looked as if the paint was going on clear.   NO.  It took six coats!!  But ohhhhhh how pleased I am now when I go in my bathroom and see this glistening white beauty!  Such a relief to have that eye sore gone!!  Little Iowa Girls, you can come take a bath in my non scary tub now!

I painted the legs years ago....  but I'm thinking it's time to paint the ball silver.  What do you think?

****This tub has gotten a complete makeover on the OUTSIDE since this post has been written, click here to see one crazy, unique stenciled bathtub!!!!****

Horrible Hutch - before and after

Marie is the bomb-diggity when it comes to furniture makeovers.  This would be my pal Marie's beauty, not mine.  I wish it was mine.  But alas, she was in St. Vincent that day, not I. :)  Here she is in her own words, "I was so ugly, even St Vincent DePaul could not sell me for full price. I went at 75% off, $15 and some pocket change....."  I'm pretty sure she was talking in First person as the Hutch.  She really doesn't have that low of self esteem!

And now every time I walk in to her kitchen I am met with this.   And lots of coveting goes on in my head. Wowzers, ain't it a beauty though? Way to go Marie.........  again!!

Canvas hand-me-downs

My dear friend has supplied me with yet another canvas.  It had nice scenery painted on it, generic and like a million others, but nice.  My apologies original artist....  but canvases are expensive and well, I guess I don't know you and this work of art really means nothing to me...  so it will remain hidden behind shades of green the rest of it's years on earth.  Now unlike most, I don't start out with a vision of the finished product.  I squared it off with tape and used some greenish paint I had mixed with some white to add texture.  And then it sat on my counter while I decided what to paint next.  I even emailed the above pic to my sister asking her what she thought would be appropriate.  Her only response was, "I don't know, you gave me too many options."

So last night...... I decided to go with option number one.  What do you think, Karls? Hope you like it, cuz I ain't about to do it over.  :)

Making little polka dots, milk glass vase before and after

I love polka dots.  I especially love polka dot embellishments like polka dot buttons.  But since I'm all about making do with what I have, I'm not about to go spend money on a pack of four cute buttons.  So instead, here's how to make your own!  Quite easy actually.  First pick out a button that doesn't have holes or a rough surface.  Then hold it in place with a pliers or other such tool.  Dip the tip of your finger in paint and lightly touch the button for your polka dots!  Then prop of carefully to dry.

I also used this finger tip polka dot method to transform this vase from this to.......

This!  Painted the vase brown, then used a teal colored paint on my finger to lightly touch each raised bump.  As long as you don't mind your fingernails being slightly strange colors now and then, it's a great little trick.  Maybe I'm just messy, hence my always strangely colored fingernails.

Bye Country Miss, Hello Tobin Darlin'

I searched high and low for a pic of this thing but COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING except this one!!  (Sorry I chopped ya, Teresa.  Maybe I should have left you in the pic - it would greatly improve the shot!)  It gives you a little bit of an idea of what it was.... the picture at the top was a victorian little girl print surrounded by a green mat.  I loved it when my mom gave it to me as a birthday gift ten years ago  but my how my taste has changed!  So....  I took to it with my paint brush, and replaced the outdated "Country Miss" victorian print in the top with my favorite picture of Tobin. 

Phew.  Much better, no?

Hot Pink, Lime Green, and Diamond Butterfly Earings

I was so pumped last night when I found these diamond butterfly earrings in my stash of beads and goodies.  I vaguely remember buying them at Clair's awhile back, when they have that 10 items for $5 sale goin' on.  Now I don't have my ears pierced, but there are endless possibilities for earrings other than in your ears!  Like beautiful embellishments on headbands, for instance!  (However, the price for these butterfly-embellished headbands will be slightly higher than for my regular headbands.)

I actually bought a bush of flowers.  Usually I get them from my mom's mountain of storage bins chuck full of flowers, but these bright pink florals were just so purdy....  and they made purrrrrdy headbands too. :)

The left earring. :)

Oooooo, some sparkle for your little girly girl!  Who doesn't love the lime green/pink combo?  Headbands are $4.  Check out the selection by clicking on the HEADBANDS FOR SALE tag on the right!!

Better Than the Dollar Menu!!

Tim and I were out and about tonight so decided to use up some of these coupons that we've been getting.  We had to go through the Wendy's drive thru to get the FREE FRIES I told you about last Friday, then I stuck the bag of fries in my purse and we headed over to Arby's where we each had a coupon for a FREE REGULAR  ROAST BEEF SANDWICH with a drink purchase.  (I'm telling you, you gotta sign up for all those annoying email newsletters, because you never know when they might send you a sweet deal.  "Hey, it's the 452nd day of you being an email club member.  That must call for a free sandwich!").  So we got ALL THIS for just....  are you ready for this?... $3.16!!  That my friends, is better than the dollar menu!  Thank goodness Arby's was almost empty so I didn't have to hide my Wendy's bag!  haha.

Old Window Scripture

So maybe I'm just not real talented, but those words were not easy.  Since I wanted it painted on the backside of the glass, this mean writing them backwards!  Not a talent of mine.  The projector helped, but just barely.  I love old windows. :)  Click on the windows label below to see other old window ideas!

Tobin's Globe

Before.......

Since I forgot the "before" pic, I thiefed this off of google images.  But it was the typical goldish bronze stand with the globe sporting the USSR (although the pic above looks like it's got Russia...) and it was one dollar at a garage sale.  Thought it was the perfect thing for the shelf my hubby made out of old wood in the barn in my son's room.  But in need of a little update.

After......

Here's the much more masculine look - just painted that 80's gold look with some dark brown/black and now it looks so proud and magnificent up there in it's spot overlooking the Tobester's room.  Anything can be improved with just a little paint!

Used Toliet Paper Roll Uses

I saw this idea online and decided that before I post such a crazy use, I'd better try it myself!!  They actually stayed very securely in place with a couple of bobby pins.  I was surprised!

Here was the outcome.  Not quite as curly as I had hoped, but hey, I'm all about big hair.  Great volume booster with a little end flippage.  (Does wanting big hair have something to do with being 4'10"?  It might make me appear taller or something.... ? I'm trying to get big hair where I lack "bigness" elsewhere....?  I NEED THERAPY.)

Keeps those cords tangle-free!  Kudos to Grandma Buck for that swell idear. :)

And of course - there are the endless amount of craft ideas you could implement with your kids using toilet paper rolls!  I thought the ice cream cone added the coolest hat ever.  But after about two days my 2 year old, who is slightly obsessed with food, just couldn't take it any longer and ate it off.  And I have something that I must get off my chest because I'm embarrassed about it to this day.  When I was a kid, I thought toilet paper tubes made the most amazing pencil holders and I would decorate them and give them oh-so-proudly to almost every adult who visited our house.  David Oliver, did you ever use those?  I expected you to, ya know!  (Mom, why didn't you stop me?!)

Music Cabinet turned Baby Cabinet

 This came out of my mother-in-law's Dad's house.  I was pretty excited to inherit it!  If you don't know (as I didn't!), it is a cabinet to store sheet music in.  If I'm wrong, correct me.  But that's what I was told and who am I to argue?  When I went to paint this, I decided to do a really good job and scrape off all of the old finish.  It took me hours to scrape just the top off!!!  I multi-tasked though by doing the job outside in the sun so I could get a tan while I worked. :)  I decided not to do the rest and just paint over the finish since it was so hard to get off.  I couldn't BELIEVE IT.  It went over the old finish like magic.  But the part I scraped off???  After about seven coats, a pinkish hue still showed through!  Needless to say, I've learned my lesson about doing some things the "right way" (which really end up not being the right way afterall!).

I replaced the chunk of wood that latched the door shut with an antique wood button.  I guess I should have painted that white too, huh! oops.

It is the perfect piece of furniture in my baby's room.  See that cute little box for holding all those baby socks on the bottom right?  Some kleenex boxes are just too cute to toss, so I have to try to use them somewhere. :)  I just cut the opening bigger and it's just the perfect little "sock box".