Makeover Midnight Monday

I thought having a weekly post on here would make me more inclined to blog regularly, and keep track of the quiet little happenings in our quiet little life. It doesn't. It stresses me out. And really... My mom is pretty much the only one who reads this, and I can just call her and say, "Hey, mom! Guess what I decoupaged today?!" And she'll be all sweet and tell me how brilliant I am and how pretty I am and how perfect I am. And it's just much easier and less stressful.

But my sister Gwenn asked for a Makeover Monday post. And here's the thing: Gwenn is a missionary in Haiti, where she spends her time ministering to the downtrodden and disease-stricken impoverished masses. And gets lots of tattoos. But that's neither here nor there. The point is-- I know that, in the scope of her encounters with cholera and earthquakes, she doesn't really care about how Hobby Lobby is having a special on Mod Podge. But she was sweet enough to ask, and for that alone: Gwenn, this one's for you.

A couple of summers ago, an Amish family had a gigantic yard sale in their barn. They had all sorts of amazing crap vintage treasures for cheap. Blue mason jars for a dime, an antique metal lunch pail for twenty-five cents (which now houses the girls' "tools" thankyouverymuch). It was a pack rat's dream come true.

I found this for fifty cents:

I felt a little nostalgic when I saw it, as I am pretty sure that we have a photo of my pint-sized dad in a similar chair. Only his might have been red. Also, I might have made that up. I can't remember. Regardless, it was 50 cents, and it made me happy, and it came home with me (after I somehow managed to cram it into the backseat of my ex-car, our Mazda Scrotege. Yes, that's really what we called it. As in, Evie would say, "Hey, Mom! Are we taking Dad's truck or your Scrot to the grocery store today?" Parents.of.the.year, I tell you.)

Normally, I like to leave vintage stuff the way that it is. But this was looking kinda craptastic in my house, and Chris would give me the Stink-Eye whenever he happened to look at it. He doesn't share my love of... you know... rust.

So I took her apart.

That, folks, is 50 years worth of smashed up bananas and toddler goop. Blech.

I covered up her lady-parts:

What does that even mean? I am not sure why I just typed that.

And sprayed her down.

Because I couldn't find any vinyl fabric in a pattern I liked, I used iron-on vinyl and some fabric I had laying around to make the chair cover, and also replaced the rotting-asbestos-black-mold-of-death padding.

Voila!

And there you have it. A cute little vintage-ish high chair that is mostly useless because I didn't put the screws back correctly when I was reattaching the seat. And Chris hates it too much to fix it for me. So there you have it. A cute little vintage-ish death trap.

Is it bad that I still let Cana sit in it?

Poor middle child.

Makeover Monday: nursery before and after

I hope everybody had an amazing Christmas! Ours was super low-key and relaxing. And by relaxing, of course I mean imbibing a ridiculous number of Christmas cookies, picking up bits of Moon Sand smashed into the carpet (what part of me thought that was a good idea?!), and playing with my new (old) 1918 paper cutter (my husband knows me so well). I thought about doing a Christmas post on some of the gifts/crafts that I made this year. But then Chris told me (truthfully) that one of the gifts, a unicorn costume for my eerily unicorn obsessed daughter, looked more like a pig in a party hat. So I decided that perhaps it wasn't worth a post. But I definitely am going to be adding some cute pictures of my adorable little lovies enjoying their Christmas! So grab a cup of cocoa and stay tuned. Organic cocoa made with local, raw, grass-fed cow milk, of course. 'Cause I am crunchy like that. Really.

When we moved in to the Crack House, we planned to make the smallest bedroom into the nursery. It didn't seem horrible at first glance, but there had been some water damage that had to be repaired. The previous tenants, when they realized that water was coming into the room from the exterior, lifted up the corner of the carpet and coated the seam with spray foam. Great idea for keeping out moisture. (Did you catch that? That was sarcasm. Using spray foam to seal a leak = water coming into the house elsewhere. Truth.)

While it wasn't cosmetically the worst part of the house, it did need some work to waterproof it and repair the water damage.

We painted, and replaced the ceiling tiles and carpet.

It's an itty-bitty room, so it's hard to photograph...

but I think it's sweet and cute. For a sweet and cute little baby.

Not that she has ever actually slept in her crib. In fact, I am currently petitioning the Household Manager to let me turn the nursey into a playroom. So far it's a no-go.

I like decorating baby rooms-- but I am not really into "cutesy" nurseries. I'd rather something that can last for a while. Unless you decide to turn it into a playroom, of course. What about you? Are you into Winnie the Pooh and pastels? Pretty pinks and boyish blues? How did you decorate your nursery for your babies?

Thrifty Thursday: vintage pulley-- what would you make?

I know I said I wasn't going to make T.T. regular, and I'm not... but this is one of my thriftiest finds yet. 'Cause it was F-R-E-E!

I understand that some girls want fancy jewelry and electronics this Christmas.

Not me.

I am perfectly happy rummaging though shelves at Goodwill and rifling through other people's curbside trash (you think I jest?). So you can imagine my excitement when Chris got me a "present" (ie, found this super cool vintage pulley in the rafters of our barn). He was all excited to give it to me, which is how I know that he secretly loves my dumpster diving habit, and can't wait to see what I pick up next on the side of the road. Right, honey?

I already had an idea when he gave it to me, as I had seen this photo in Dwell magazine months ago:

But a quick pinterest search yielded some other fun stuff (sorry, I couldn't relocate some of them and can't give credit to their owners):

I am kinda partial to the first hanging pendant lamp-- maybe beside my bed in lieu of a lamp? Or maybe the globe light in a future homeschooling space? Somehow I feel as though the pulley bookends wouldn't have the same aesthetic affect when propping up my stack of smutty Sophie Kinsella novels. But the possibilities are endless! What's your favorite? Any other brilliant pulley ideas for me? Anyone else like crapping up beautifying their homes with other people's castoffs?! Tell me about it!

Advent--welcoming the Savior

Oh, yes. Oh my word! Yes, come in! Please. Welcome!

I am so sorry... I was really hoping to be better prepared for You.

Wait, hold on a sec. Shoot, yeah. That's the baby crying... lemme grab her. My apologies.

Ummm, wow. Where are my manners? Have a seat. (Cana, hush! We have company!)

I'm really embarrassed. I had hoped to have the house cleaned up more.

See, I had it all planned out in my head. Candles, music, clean and well-behaved children.

Sorry, I'm so tired. Frazzled. And oh, my kids are making me crazy tonight.

(Evie, stop kicking your sister! He's here--He said he would come and He is here!!)

Yeah, sorry. I know this is totally not ideal... I was really hoping that we could sit and chat. It's been so long since we've really talked.

How can You get a word in edgewise amidst all this din?

But oh. Please don't go.

What I am trying to say is, I need You here. I desperately need You to stay. And yes, I am going to have to interrupt You sixty times so I can change a diaper or wipe a nose or kiss a boo-boo.

But I've invited You here. And I've been waiting for so long.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Oh, yes. Wait, what? Is that You? Really?

We're so sorry-- You'd think we'd be better prepared for You.

Wait, hold on a sec. Are you serious? A baby crying in a manger? My apologies that we didn't have room.

Wow, where are my manners? Have our treasures.

Here's our incense, our myrrh.

We're really embarrassed; we were hoping to have our hearts cleaned up more.

See, we had it all planned out in our heads. A military coup, a prosperous society, well-nourished children. We are so tired.

You're really here. You said You would come and You are here.

Sorry. I know this is totally not ideal. I can't believe that we can sit and chat... the face that Moses was forbidden to see, the face he longed to see... we can really talk.

How can You get a word in edgewise amidst all this din?

But oh. Please don't go.

What we are trying to say is, we need You here. We desperately need You to stay. And yes, we will spit on Your face. And yes, we will deny You three times. Yes, we will mock You and hang You on a tree and kill You.

But we've invited You here. And we've been waiting for so long.

Makeover Monday: Pottery Barn Pinterest Project

Please pardon the piddliness of this post.

Projects are plentiful and pending completion perfection.

(How about that thar alliteration?! Shout out to Miss Dixon, my sixth grade language arts teacher. Who got married to a man but then left him for my female 10th grade language arts teacher. True story. Boo.)

No, of course I didn't just google a synonym for "completion". Ahem.

Awesome alliteration aside, this is just a quickie post about one of the Pinterest projects I've done lately. What's that? You're not on Pinterest? Well, by all means, stop caring for your kids and preparing meals for your husband and get on over!!

I saw this bad boy at the Pottery Barn outlet several months ago, and I fell in love a little bit:

But it was $69.00.

The heck you say.

So when I saw something with a similar look on pinterest a while back, I whipped my hair back and forth it up.

I had some of the materials on hand, and grabbed the rest for about $2 at the thrift store (brass candlesticks and old cake pans multiply like bunny rabbits on the shelves of Goodwill-- so easy to find.) I have also seen people use new cake pans, but I like old crusty crap the weathered patina.

A little spray paint and Gorilla glue later, my own little tiered cake stand cutie:

Ok, so yeah. I like the Pottery Barn one better too. But considering that I spent about $5 total and not $69 + taxes and tags, I think it's a decent stand-in. How about you? Have you made any Pinterest projects lately? Are you a compulsive pinner like me?

What's that? You actually prefer to play with your kids instead of mindlessly browsing images of houses you will never own? Me, too.

Of course.

Thrifty Thursday-- Dish it up

Just kidding. I don't think I am doing a weekly feature on crap amazing stuff I got at the thrift store. But I don't know... I do get some incredible things there. Just ask my husband. He loves it when I bring home amazing stuff from the thrift store. Really.

Like these bad boys:

What's that? You're not impressed?!

I should have seen that coming.

You see, the thing about me? I have a fetish for vintage schoolhouse stuff. Wait, does "fetish" only apply if it's some kind of sexual preference? I think it might. In which case, I definitely do not have a schoolhouse fetish. I just really really like it.

Which is kinda weird, considering that I haaaaated elementary school. I mean, ugly-cried every morning and begged my mom not to make me go to Mr. Clymer's class. (I called that one, though. He totally ran off with one of my classmate's moms that year. Bad egg.) I was the fat kid who got teased all the time. Which is weird, cause I wasn't really a fat kid. Now I am the fat kid, and people don't really tease me for it. At least not to my face. Go figure.

Ahem. Anyway. I digress.

Don't these trays remind you of your elementary school days (before they started hating the earth and using stryofoam)? Can't you just picture the little chocolate milk box and the little pizza rectangle (wait- maybe I was the fat kid.), all nestled sweetly into their own little space?

They make me smile, in all of their pee-yellow and puke-orange glory (there's more colors, but that friend, is another amazing post). Next I am totally getting a hair-net and doling out mashed potatoes with an ice cream scoop. Oh yes, I am.

My kids think they are the shiz-stinking-nit. Smart kids.

God love the Goodwill, for making this schoolhouse-fetished smitten mama smile, one ugly plastic tray at a time.

She made the paper!!

Last week, when we were out enjoying Christmas in the Park, a photographer for the local paper asked if he could take a picture of the girls.

Not shocking, right?

'Cause who wouldn't want to peruse the paper with their morning cup of coffee and stare at these wee beauties?!:

I mean, come the heck on!


So when we received our paper the other day, I eagerly thumbed to the community section, past the Help Wanted ads, past the girls' basketball scores (who CARES?!) and found....





Wait for it...







Keep waiting...






It's gonna rock your world...







Keep scrolling...

*Sigh*. Almost missed it, but I recognized that little pink and black jacket.

You win some and lose some, babe. I really hope that wasn't the entirety of Evie's 15 minutes of fame, or else she got J.I.P.P.E.D.