Church Bulletin Bloopers

churchlady in her office

Remember those church bulletin bloopers we've all seen? Things like "food panty" instead of pantry and things like that?

Well, this church lady can attest that such bloopers actually do happen (I've even done the "panty" one).

Last evening I went to my church office to do a funeral bulletin for a little old lady from our congregation who passed away. Her funeral was this morning. On the back of all my funeral bulletins, I like to write a little obituary. Something just a bit different than the ones you might find in a newspaper. Wellllllll........

When it came time to write about her marriage, my line said, "She was untied in marriage to..."

Noooooooooooo! It's suppose to be united, Nancy!!! Argh!

How dreadfully embarrassing! DH said nobody else seemed to notice it. I wasn't able to attend the funeral due to my other job. But dh sang in the men's choir and as he was sitting in the choir loft reading the obit, he had to exercise some extra control because he wanted to burst out laughing!

I do hope nobody else noticed!!

DIY: Facelift For a Little Chair

A few months ago, I blogged about some child-size chairs I got at our church (free for the taking) here. I finally decided to do something with one of them. I liked how they were already a chippy green color, but still I decided to paint one. I gave it a few spray paint coats of black and distressed it a bit in order for the green to peek thru. Also, some of the natural wood comes through as well. I like the different "layers" of life to this chair. Here are some pics.

This little guy will more than likely find a home in our living room...if ever we get done painting in there and the room put back together!! I have a few ideas for what I'd like to do with the other chairs, but I'm not in too big of a hurry. Too many other things on my "to do" list! I'm linking up with Kimber at A Soft Place to Land for her DIY party.

An Award

Thank you to the sweet Zizette from Chez Zizi for the Kreative Blogger Award!

While I'm honored to receive an award, I find it increasingly harder to bestow awards. Many blogger friends have award free blogs. And I respect that. Some don't have awards on their blogs but don't have the "award free" button, so I am not sure. So...I will do what I've done in the past and pass this award on to whomever is reading this and wishes to accept it. You know I admire all of your blogs (why else would I spend so much free time stalking you?) ;-) And I would love to give this to more than just 6 people anyway. So grab the award and put it on your side bar. You deserve it! Yes, I'm talkin to YOU!

Part of the rules also say to share 6 things others may not know about me. I'll try to think of something I haven't shared in the past. Don't expect much tho, I'm not very interesting!

1. My older siblings used to tell me I was adopted when I was younger.

2. At slumber parties as a kid, sometimes there would be a game where one person put a piece of gum in her mouth and then passed it around the circle of girls. We were all to chew the gum and then pass it around. I had and still have very active gag reflexes. Guess who just couldn't do it?

3. One of the nicknames my husband gave me when we were first married was "mouse". SO romantic, huh? ;-) It was because I would always scurry around the house getting into things. I was a busy little homemaker.

4. I have four vintage rooster spice racks hanging in my kitchen. I just thought of that because I'm sitting at my desk right under them. Plus, I'm desperate for something to say.

5. I have really ugly feet.

6. I haven't bought myself any new clothes in a long time and I'm proud of myself for not being wasteful. I've been shopping my own closets and have realized that I still own clothing that is still in style and I can get along just fine without adding to the clothes stash.

There you have it. Everything you never wanted or cared to know about me!

DIY Show Off Giveaway

It's a giveaway...The DIY Show Off is having a spectacular giveaway. Go here for details!

I Roll My Own

Pie crusts, that is. Did you thinks cigs? Nope, not a puffer. I like making my own pie crusts, but on occasion I've used store bought. I really prefer making my own, though. They just seem to turn out better. Tonight I baked two apple pies. One for a church supper tomorrow night; the other one to put in the freezer for another time. I could have just made one two-crust pie for church, but I decided to make two one crust apple pies with a crumb topping.

They look pretty good, if I do say it myself. My mother was a pie baker and my dad would always refer to her pies as "world famous". lol She was good at it and mine don't begin to compare, but I try!

The New Man In My Life...

...is Ralph Lauren. He has been spending a lot of time at my house lately helping me with various projects. Take a look...

Before Ralph...







After Ralph...

Ralph's technique glaze is so much fun. Other bloggers have found out how much fun it is; he has been making his rounds. ;-) Here he even helped me with this $1 faux apple from Walmart. Also, the little white hanging shelf that I recently painted.

Ralph didn't help me with the living room painting; the hired man aka dh did. This is it with one coat. One more to go! The color is Valspar's weathered oak. It's hard to tell in the photo what it looks like, I realize that. I think the next time I take pics of our progress I'll ask Hannah if she can take them with her camera which is much nicer!

Tres Chic

Sorry for the play on words in the post title, but I couldn't help myself. This is a tray project alright; but it's hardly chic. I did it because I actually needed it to serve a purpose.

I started with an unfinished wood tray from Walmart. The only Walmart in these parts that actually still sells craft supplies and fabric, but that's a rant for another day and besides, I'll spare ya. Also needed: sand paper, spray paint, scrapbooking paper, mod podge, scissors, and Ralph Lauren's faux technique glaze in smoke (thank you Shanty2Chic!)

I sanded the tray a bit to get rid of the rough spots. It didn't take much. After wiping the dust away, I spray painted it Rustoleum's heirloom white. Next came the mod podge step. Slathered that on the bottom of the tray, slapped the paper down and smoothed it out. Once dry I gave it another coat of mod podge on top. I let it sit overnight, mainly because I wanted to get to bed. The next day, I painted on some of the technique glaze and wiped it off. Done.

It's not perfect by any means. But like I said, I needed it to serve a purpose which is holding my arsenal of hair products on the back of the toilet. I basically have no vanity space in our super small bath, so I look for all sorts of ways to have my stuff accessible. Take a look...and you will even have the treat of seeing my ultra uncool 80's wallpaper!

More hair stuff in a shabby hanging basket, which wasn't holding everything, hence the need for the tray.

Decorating Dilemma Party: Round 4

It's a par-tay! And I'm there! Amanda @ Serenity Now is hosting yet another Decorating Dilemma Party. Go here to check it out!

What does not belong in the photos below? Everything you say? You.are.right! We are in the midst of painting the living room, dining room and ALL the woodwork/trim! Can you say excited! I can .... cuz I am! Hubby is one who thinks it's breaking one of the Ten Commandments to paint wood. Any wood. But he surprised me tonite by saying that's what we'll be doing...cuz he knows how much I wanted to paint it. What a guy!

Okay, sorry for the ramble. Here's the thing (see photo below). This fugly built in shelf will be getting a paint job. It'll match the rest of the trim (soft white). I was wondering how it would look if all but the back part was painted white and we painted that back area the same color as the walls? (the walls are being painted weathered oak by Valspar). Or should I do it all in white?

(Sorry for the mess on the shelves).

Join Amanda's Party here and see all the other decorating dilemmas...or submit one of your own!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 3

This is week three of Domestic Princess in Training's (Kendra) weight loss challenge. Here are my answers to this week's questions.

1. How was your week? It was pretty good. I didn't slip up and eat anything that wasn't healthy.

2. Did you have any challenges? Nope. There was even bakery cake served at church yesterday afternoon and I wasn't even tempted.

3. What are some of your favorite healthy foods that are a must have? Fruits, veggies, chicken breasts, organic lettuce, organic peanut butter, Nut Thins, organic brown rice cakes,(do you see a pattern here with organic?) organic granola bars and bananas. See photo below...

I looooove bananas. It's not uncommon for me to eat 2-4 a day. And these granola bars...Cascadian Farms organic. The only flavor I eat is harvest berry. They are to die for! They are organic, free of HFCS and taste so good!

4. Share a healthy recipe. I don't have a picture to share, but this is pretty simple. Take a low carb, high fiber whole wheat tortilla (only 50 calories), spread some peanut butter on it and roll up a banana in it. Mmmm!

Pumpkin Love

One of my favorite blogs is Shanty2Chic. Those sisters have the most fun and creative projects! One of them is here and I did my best to recreate these pumpkins*. I left out the step where they used Ralph Lauren faux technique glaze because I still don't have any. Hopefully today I'll get some.

*The pumpkin on the right doesn't look nearly as crappy in person as it does in this picture!

Painting

As promised, dh has begun painting the living room. I chose Valspar's weathered oak as the color. It's a very neutral color. I hope I like it! I'm very indecisive and I like a lot of colors. Choosing one was very difficult. I will probably help him some, but he's really better (and pickier) than I am at painting.

The next room will be the dining room. I'm planning on painting a built in shelf a contrasting color (something similar to heirloom white). This built in has been an eye sore for years. Hopefully painting the thing will make it look better.

A few years ago, we bought blinds for our dining room from Menard's. Paid through the nose for those custom things! I didn't exactly know how to approach dh about getting something new. I was afraid he'd frown on the idea since they cost so much. When I told him today, he was sure it would cost major bucks for new blinds. But when I told him I priced some roman shades at Menard's, he was more receptive to the idea after I told him they wouldn't cost that much at all! Yay for that!

I'm excited about sprucing up these rooms a bit. It's nothing major, but it'll still be nice. A fresh coat of paint makes a world of difference!

New Projects From the Creatively Challenged

I've been stamp happy tonite. I got out my new stamps and did a few projects. They are simple, but for being the creatively challenged person that I am, I'm pleased with them. I first did a set of note cards. These come in large packages at Hobby Lobby. I got the plain brown ones to stamp. These are plain and I'm sure I could do more to jazz them up. Any suggestions? I have some distressed ink that I picked up. I'm not sure what to do with it. But when an idea comes to me, I'll be all set! ;-)

Next, I did a set of four coasters with the same stamp. I thought these turned out cool. I like the black ink on the rough tumbled marble tiles. I put some adhesive cork backing on them and they are all set for gift giving....



...oops...now they are! All tied up with a ribbon!

Shopping Treasure and Crafting Supplies

Yesterday proved to be a successful day for buying crafting supplies. Both Michael's and Hobby Lobby were having sales on their rubber stamps. At Michael's, they were 40% off. At Hob Lob, they were 50% off! The top row of stamps are the ones I found at Michael's. The bottom row are the stamps I bought at Hobby Lobby. I'm going to use my stamps for various projects, mainly making coasters from tumbled marble tiles I got at Lowe's.

I already had this tile on hand. I had gotten it at the restore store. I used it for practice and made myself a coaster.

At Gordman's, I was looking for a wall clock. I happened to find this one in the bargain bin for 60% off. It was sold "as is" because the hands are missing. That should be a quick fix. For $2.52, I couldn't pass it up!!!