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!!!

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 2

I am so far behind, so forgive me for being late with this week's entry!

1. How did my week go? My goal is to eliminate most/all sweets from my diet. I'm not going to pretend that I won't give in once in a great while, but basically I plan on going back to a regular diet of no sweets. At all. I did pretty well this week. There were some treats at work that I didn't indulge in. I just stuck to my healthy snacks.

2. Was I faced with any challenges? Besides the snacks at work, there weren't any others.

3. How do I plan on conquering challenges in the future? There will always be snacks at work! My co-workers always share the greatest snacks! But I'm just going to have to try not to indulge and stick with my healthy snacks.

4. What things did I do to get myself moving in the right direction? I tried harder not to eat sweets and distanced myself from them at work; also, I didn't buy any sweets at the grocery store.

It's really going to be a challenge with the holidays coming. I really love pie and I love having pie at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, I enjoy baking and eating sweet breads and cookies. I will have to work hard at having lots of will power!!

Please visit Kendra at Domestic Princess in Training to join in on the Weight Loss Challenge. It's not too late to begin!

Happy Birthday to My John!

John and I, 2008

Yesterday was our son John's 21st birthday! He was home from college for the weekend and we had a fun family time celebrating last night. Our family went out to eat at a place called the Irish Democrat. It was lots of fun! Afterwards, we drove to where our daughter and her son are building a home to see the progress. The foundation is being dug, so they are on their way!

In keeping with my healthy eating challenge, this is what I ordered last night. I generally get the same things when ordering out. Either a grilled chick filet, a salad or salmon. This was a new place where we ate last night, so I didn't know what was on their menu. I ended up getting their Tuna Kahuna sandwich which was pretty good. It was tuna salad with lettuce, tomato and walnuts. My only issue was with the bread (I think it was white, but it was so dark in the restaurant I couldn't tell!) and I didn't know what ingredients they used in the tuna salad. But all in all, I think it was a good meal choice.

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 1

I've decided to join up with Kendra at Domestic Princess in Training for her Weight Loss Challenge she is hosting. The challenge is to meet a goal by November 12. Check out her blog here for details and to link up to join! It'll be super fun...really!

First thing's first: I'm to list what my goal is, how I'll support myself in achieving my goal and what tools I'll use in helping me along the way. Here goes:

1. For the past two years I've been a fitness/health freak. After I found out from a bone density test that my bones are getting weaker, I decided to do something about it. I totally changed my diet and started exercising very regularly: walking, going to the gym, working out at home, etc.

I'm very particular about what I eat. No HFCS, no poison foods (candy, cookies, cake, you know...all that sort of stuff). As a result, I have toned up a lot, I feel so much healthier, I have more energy and I even dropped some pounds (who wouldn't on a diet of twigs and berries??). So, you're probably wondering "what's this chick's problem that she's joining this challenge??"

WELLLLLLLLLL....

Ice cream. Over the past few months I've "slipped" and made some unhealthy food choices. I love ice cream. And I've loved myself a lot of it lately. I even switched to frozen yogurt, which is quite good. But I've eaten too much of it and not enough of my healthy foods. So....

MY GOAL: to eat only healthy foods.

2. I'll support myself in this goal of making only wise food choices by having more will power. My dh likes indulging in a few naughty foods such as ice cream. That's fine. But it doesn't mean I have to give into temptation. I know myself pretty well and I know that if I allow myself "just a bite" of something bad, it'll be all down hill from there.

3. Some of the things I'll use to help me along the way... stocking the cupboards with more of my good-for-me foods (that I love anyway). I really do love my healthy foods. Give me a box of raisins and I'm a happy camper. I also love cutting up an orange, banana and some grapes and making a quick fruit salad for myself.

It's just those times when I think I need something sweet and I've already eaten all of my raisins. ;) Here's something I picked up the other night...Soy Dream. It's non dairy and it's chocolate and it's frozen. Not quite like ice cream or frozen yogurt, but it's not bad.

As I mentioned before, I'm a fitness freak, so exercise isn't a problem. One thing I did want to mention because I think it's a super and easy way to exercise at home is logging in to exercisetv.tv. There are lots of free exercise routines you can do at home. And once I get my laptop (it has been shipped!!), I'll be doing more of those at home.

DIY Day

I'm once again participating in Kimba's DIY Day*. Visit her blog A Soft Place to Land to see a lot of incredible projects!

This summer, daughter Hannah and I went on a long day of shopping and junking. One of my finds at GoodWill was this little shelf thing. It was even something I needed which made the find even more sweeter. Please ignor the old lady holding the shelf. She just grabbed it and butted herself into the picture!! ;-)

I lightly sanded her, gave her a few coats of Glidden's eggshell paint and distressed her. I have several places where I could put it, so I'm undecided right now.

*I haven't linked up to the party because it hasn't started yet. By the time it does, I won't be around to link. But I'll link up to it as soon as I get back to a computer.

Just a Few Junkin Treasures

The last time I was in the city, I only stopped at a few places to junk. The Good Will had nothing fun; same for the Salvation Army. Oh! Except for one thing that already had a sold sign on it. It was the most fugly nightstand I ever did see. Sort of a cream, gold, yellow french provincial thing. BUT, I saw the beauty in it. It would look so lovely painted Heirloom white and distressed a little. I hope whoever bought it will transform it!

The only things I picked up were four hooks for a future project and 4 old teaspoons for the heck of it. Probably because I didn't want to go home empty handed! Photos below...

A Little Frosted Glass

Happy Sunny Saturday! At least it's sunny here. Hope it's a nice day in your corner of the world. I still don't have a computer at home....bum.mer. I have it ordered and hopefully it'll get here soon. Ya know, it really puts a cramp in things. Can't email. Can't blog. Can't nothing! Good thing for a work computer!

Centsational Girl blogged about frosted glass projects she did around the house. I thought to myself "I can do this". Yes, even me. Because I don't trust myself not to mess something important up, I did a little project first. I got a little clear glass votive holder at Walmart, some stickers at Michael's and went to it.

Convinced that I wouldn't screw up a larger project too terribly bad, I attempted something a little bigger. And wanting to be frugal, I used things I already had on hand. I took an old frame and spray painted it black. I took the glass and attached a couple stickers and a monogram and this is how it turned out. Not bad for wanting to give frosted glass a try. I sorta like the window look to it.

I used Rustoleum's frosted glass that I purchased at Home Depot. With one can, you can really create a bunch of neat things.

Hurry! Awesome Giveaway Deadline Tomorrow!

I just had to post about a giveway...Rue from Rue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Life is having an awesome giveaway. Please check out her blog here. When you do, you'll see her incredible kitchen transformation. I love it! And you will too...hurry on over!

Happy Wednesday

Hi everyone...it's been almost a week since I've blogged. We had our son home visiting this past weekend, I've been baking cookies for him and I've been gone a lot! I'm hoping to get back to working on my "to-do" list of projects, some of which include:

1. shutter headboard

2. frosted glass projects (will post pictures provided they turn out! I'm challenged, ya know!)

3. painting the living and dining rooms! Dh will be taking his vacation in a week and I've already planned some of his time off for him. ;-) We're gonna paint and let me tell you, he is absolutely thrilled about it! ;-) But it'll be nice to freshen up these rooms with some new paint.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the pretty fall weather!!

I Made It Without My Hubby

Hello bloggy friends! Today I'm joining the sisters from Shabby 2 Chic for their I Made It Without My Hubby party.

I really feel like the sisters should give me an incomplete. I gave it a go, though and did my best to complete my project. But I'm just not quite there yet. But I have enough done to give you an idea so I'm goin' ahead with it.

Here is the before. The photo is tooooo dark. Chalk that up to poor photography skills. It's a cute pine pantry cupboard.

After removing the hardware (without my hubby) and sanding it lightly (without my hubby), I took a tack rag and removed all particles (without my hubby) and gave it several coats of Glidden's eggshell, a shade I really love...(again, without my hubby!!)

Here are some after shots...again, the first one is dark. (Remember who's blog you're readin here!) The door isn't done yet. I still need to give it a few coats. Also, I want to switch the knob out. I just threw a few things in/on it for the pictures. When the door is on it's going to be servicable and hold crafting supplies and other what-nots.

An angled view...do I really crook my neck this way? I must...this pic is tilted!


Please excuse the bare walls. We'll be painting this room (dining room) and the living room in a few weeks.



Head on over to Shanty 2 Chic for the party and see some other neato projects!!

Happy Wednesday!

Hi everyone...

Well, we still continue to be without our internet service at home. Considering I have yet to purchase a new computer, the internet isn't such a big deal. ;-) I'm shopping around for a new laptop and should order one soon. We'll have our phone lines and such repaired tomorrow.

We still have a yard that looks a little like this...

(The weather has been too wet to do any good cleanup).

Even though I've been without a computer at home and I've been sick with a little bug the past few days, I still plan on submitting a project for a cool blog party tomorrow hosted by Shanty 2 Chic, two of my favorite do-it-yourself girls in blog land! They are so creative and also helpful to this old woman who knows zero about doing anything myself. Check out their blog...it's great!!

Firewood and a Thrifty Purchase

We had our damaged tree removed this morning due to yesterday's storm and lightening strike. They will come back another day to remove the stump.

In happier news...I found this lamp at Walmart last week for $4. This afternoon, I found the shade for $2.50. An accent lamp for $6.50=not bad.

Be Careful What Ya Wish For...

...Cuz it just may come true.

For years I've told dh that we should probably take down this big old tree in our yard before it got knocked down in a storm.



Well...

Today it did. Part of it anyway. I was working in my church office when a big old thunder bolt struck and I nearly jumped out of my chair. I immediately called dh and told him I thought the church got hit. So, I start walking around our big old church sniffin' for smoke, not realizing that our house across the street is what suffered some damage.

Lucky for us we are good natured people with a sense of humor.

Thank God the damage was limited. And thank God the tree didn't hit our house or our neighbor's. So far as we can tell, besides the tree, damage to our house is limited to our cable and internet are out; My computer is fried; and so is the phone and the coffee maker.

It could have been so much worse.