Day 5: Clouds

THE PHOTO CHALLENGE

Today’s Photo Challenge is clouds and wouldn’t you know it…. not a cloud in the sky!  So funny because yesterday there were light rains coming and lots of really cool looking clouds blowing in and out.  So…. instead of taking a picture of a cloudless sky, I took a picture of a decorative element in my youngest son’s bedroom. 

I love this plaque (I guess that’s what you would call it?) with the VW Van and surfboards with the cloudy sky in the background.  We first found this picture on a trip to the beach when I was pregnant with little B.  We were transitioning Mister B in to his big boy room and moving little B in to the nursery.  We wanted the big boy room to have a surf theme and we found tons of stuff at the beach.  We were super excited about this because I had been online shopping and every surf thing I found was kind of expensive by the time we paid shipping.  At that time, surf themes were not as popular as they are now.  Pottery Barn had not gotten in to it’s Surf Themes yet.  Luckily we drove to the beach on this trip as well so we could cart it all back in the trunk.  So, here are my clouds for today!! 

See You Soon….

Day 4 : Animal

T H E  P H O T O  C H A L L E N G E  

Today I have a photo of our sweet Lady, aka LayLay. She is the best dog! My only complaint is her shedding ALL over the house...but I must say she is great at cleaning up any food dropped! =) She is around 9-10yrs old now...but still just a puppy at heart, she always up for a game of  ball(which is a perfect fit for our house)!! Love you girl! 

My photo today is also of my dog.  This is MY dog more than the family dog because I rescued him when he was just a sweet little white furball of a puppy.  He is now 14 years old!  I can't believe it.  My sweet and very quirky dog has turned in to an old man.  He can't hear that well anymore, you can see his eyes have cataracts and the poor boy sleeps all the time! 

Sweet old fart.  Every time he sleeps now his tongue is hanging out of his mouth.  It makes me giggle.  Even though he has got all the signs of being old, when he is awake he is really alert and really sweet to everyone.  Love you Sweet Sulli!!

See You Soon....

Hammer Time… I mean Homework Time!

Didn’t this table turn out cute?

This is the third and final piece I renovated for my son’s school Fundraiser and Silent Auction.  Here is where it started.


It was your basically boring white melamine kid’s computer table.  One of the generous Mom’s from our school wanted to donate it to the cause and was up for letting me mess around with it and see what I could turn it in to!  I was totally up for the challenge… and this one was challenging.  First I decided to try some spray paint made for plastic.

The table had some minor scratches and damage and this stuff alone just did not cover it the way I wanted so on to plan B.  I bought some really heavy duty wallpaper and decided to cover the table top with that.  I just used some really strong 3M adhesive and opted out of using wallpaper glue (in hindsight I should have used the wallpaper glue).

Since the top of the table was curved I had to make slits all along the wallpaper overlap so I could fold it under with no creasing on top.  I actually love this wallpaper and was really excited when it was finished…. but then… it bubbled up all over the place.  So I had to scrap the wallpaper idea and rip it off and go back to square one.  So on to plan C…. oh yeah and thank goodness the table came with this warning on it.

Lord knows I had no idea which end was the top.  My poor kids were doing their homework on an upside down desk… awkward!  JK.
Ok.  Plan C.  I had already found some awesome Faux Leather in the bargain bins at Childress for the seat and shelf, so now that would become the top too!  It makes the table look a little flat in the pictures but it really was a deliciously soft caramelly brown color.  Again, I used the 3M adhesive – I sprayed it on both the backside of the leather and on the table and let it sit for a minute – it said this would give it more adhesion.  I also used my handy dandy new staple gun and added staples to the under side for extra hold.
The next step in this process was totally brutal – honestly.  It was time to wrap the twine around the legs.  My first idea was to soak the entire ball of twine in the mod podge.

This was VERY messy but I fumbled through it…. and was covered in glue by the end of that ball of twine!  So for ball of twine number two I decided to dip my gloved fingers in to the Mod Podge and rub it on a small section of twine and then wrap that section around the leg.  Lather Rinse Repeat…. many many times!!  This step alone took me around 26 hours… no joke!!  And it broke my back because I sat on the floor to do this step.  Note to self – next time prop the table up on to another table and do this step standing.  Many chiropractor visits later my back felt a little better.   The glue also made me feel a little high and loopy after 4 or 5 hours straight so I had to make myself stop there.  But I really loved the finished look of the legs.

I actually think for a future project with twine I will dip it in paint first and dye it a color!!  My super sweet neighbor Cindy ended up taking this little cutie home.  I may have to stop by for a visit once in a while.  Here are some more Afters.



See You Soon……

Day 3 : Something Red

T H E  P H O T O  C H A L L E N G E  

I always try to do nice little things for my husband...and as I was trying to think of something red today...it hit me, My LIPS! lol So he will have a little message on his pillow today! =) 

Okay.... my turn!! I actually took this picture day before yesterday and I kind of liked it!

This is Mister B's old bike that he has now outgrown.  I had brought it out to the backyard to rinse it with the hose and sell it!  And it's RED.  Perfect.

See You Soon....

Day 2 : Bad Habit

T H E  P H O T O  C H A L L E N G E  

I have no doubt that I have the WORST bad habit ever!!! Yes, I am a Dew-er (as my son calls me!). And I know all the HORRIBLE stuff they use to make it...I have tried to quit, but always come back. Anyone have any great tips, please send my way! I need all the help I can get...to STOP the DEW!!!

For Bad Habit Photo Challenge Day I did not exactly have to think too hard to come up with one! 

C.O.F.F.E.E.

Oh my sweet sweet coffee how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways!  This is a bad habit that I carry loud and proud.  I don't see divorcing my sweet coffee anytime soon so don't you dare even comment on here and tell me how to break up with my coffee.  I won't take it kindly!  Coffee is my bestest morning friend and I get grumpy when she is gone... so don't even try to talk to me before I've had any or you might just lose your head.  See Tinker Bell flashing you her backside on the coffee mug in the picture top left?  The message she is sending is this, "You are going to have to kiss my ass if you even try to mess with her coffee!"  Ummm hmmmm..... I am chipper and happy after a sweet visit with my sweet little friend though... so just talk to me then okay?  All this coffee talk is making me want another cup!

See Ya!

Crazy for COLOR Tuesdays

Crazy for COLOR Tuesdays

One of my favorite things to blog about is color!  Today my mind is on painted front doors.

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Sigh…. it’s all I can say.  I love the grey house with the pop of bright yellow on the door!

The reason my brain is stuck on brightly-colored front doors is because mine needs an update – B.A.D.!!  If that was all the exterior of my home needed it would be an easy decision – I would paint it a color called Capri by Sherwin Williams.  However, the door color is the least of my problems.  The entire exterior trim of my home needs a good coat of new paint.  My house color has been this poopy brown color since the day we moved in almost seven years ago!  So many other projects have just taken precedence over the years.  Here is where we started.

It was a toss up as far as what was worst about the front…. the awful Bermuda grass, the termite infested wood walls and mailbox, the treacherous thorny holly bushes, the pink pavers up the walkway or the poopy brown trim?  Some of this has changed and I will blog about that later.

Okay it is really funny to me looking at these pictures now because the house does not look nearly as bad in these pics as it did in person!  It was really really ugly.  I kid you not.  The story behind how we actually came to purchase this home is kind of funny as well so I will backtrack.  The Hubby and I owned a duplex in a far northern suburb of Dallas….. way too far for me.  It was in the land of the sad Charlie Brown trees and cookie cutter houses.  That is not to say that there is anything wrong with a newly built home in a spanking new neighborhood.  It was just that in this neighborhood of duplexes everything really did look the same.  Our friends would knock on the wrong door sometimes…. even after we had lived there for years and they’d been over many times.  We were really itching to move closer in to the city and in to an old home in an older neighborhood with huge trees and big lots.  We decided we would first attempt to lease out our duplex as we thought it would be a great long term investment with great lease potential – and it has been.  Well, it leased in four days and the new tenant wanted to move-in in just two short weeks.  We jumped on it and moved ourselves and Mister B (at 9 months old) in to Gigi’s home for a while until we could figure out where we wanted to live.  Well, at this same time I was showing homes to some great friends of ours Brien and Kerrie and they were looking at an area Greg and I had just begun to consider.  One fateful day I showed Brien and Kerrie the most awful house and knew it had to be mine!  Brien and Kerrie saw it and knew they were not even a little interested – they dubbed it the Boogie Nights House because it had four bars, black lacquer and mirrors all over the place.  In fact, I don’t think they would have lived there if someone paid them to do so.  So I called the Hubby and I think my exact words were “I just showed Brien and Kerrie the biggest dump of a house and I love it!  You have to come see it.  It is perfect for us”.  I am sure you can guess how excited he was to see it after that awesome sales pitch!  I made him see it anyway.  He loved it too!  It just had such great bones… and we were looking for a fixer-upper… and this was the ultimate fixer upper!!  I will post more later about all the projects and where we are now…. but for now back to the outside.  I generally have no problem picking colors.  I pick them, buy them, paint them and almost never regret it!  The exterior has been a very different story.  Like I said in a previous post, exterior colors are just harder because the undertones tend to come out.  I have experimented with so many colors it is getting ridiculous.  I think I have finally come to a decision…. I think?!  I think I will go with Sherwin Williams Foothills.  It is a really great and totally neutral Taupe… not too brown…. not too grey…. just right!  Now all I have to do is make some $$$ to pay someone to paint the exterior – this is a job too large for me!  Once that is done, I will paint the door.  Or maybe I will paint it anyway… I have the paint in my shed already… we will see???  So back to doors I covet.

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Love them all!!!

See You Soon…..

Day 1 : Self-portrait

T H E  P H O T O  C H A L L E N G E  

Here we go friends...this is me! I couldn't decide between serious and smile....so I am just showing you both! Man, self-portraits are very tricky, but once I got going I took 129 pictures (think I was having fun)!!! LOL! Where's yours? Can't wait to see!

See ya tomorrow for Day 2 : BAD HABIT! Yikes!! 

Man, you're going to get to know me well!

Okay since Mishelle posted the Glamour Shots, I will post a recent snapshot that someone took of me that is not horrible.

But here is how I really felt today after messing with my crashing computer today!!! It took all day and I had to re-back-up all my photos and files.... sooooo fun!!

Pretty right?  Pretty Awesome!!!  I just cannot decide which picture is better.  Tell me which you like better??

Take the Photo Challenge

Ok, so I am a little bit embarrassed to say I have NEVER taken a photo challenge! After having my photography business for 7 years...I think I'm ready! =)  I have always been afraid of not having time...but I am going to make time! Please join me, it will be fun! And a great way to get to know each other better!! Let me know you're in by commenting on this blog post! You too Kelly?!