Alice in Wonderland...

...cookies.  It has happened to all of us, right?  You are taking pictures and at some point you realize that you forgot to stick the memory card in...humor me here people, and just say yes!  Well, it happens to me more times than I like to admit, but since I always look to see what I just took a picture of, I usually see the "No Card" right away.  Apparently this time, I did not.  However, in my own defense, I think my camera may need a little tlc, because there are many times when I have to reinsert the card several times for it to recognize that it is indeed in there!

Anyhoo, whatever the problem, I have no good pictures of my Alice In Wonderland cookies.  Thankfully, I took this one to post on Instagram, or I would not even have that.  These were ordered for a little girl named Isla, who was turning 1.  These were the designs her Mom picked:

There were 3 dozen in all.  I hope Isla had a great first birthday!

 To most of you, summer is still in full swing...but here in AZ, some schools have already started back (like Thomas) and for those that haven't, they will be in the next week or so.  Taylor spent the night with us last Friday, so her and Papa shared a little pool time on Saturday.  She has become quite the fish over the last few months!  (Sorry, wasn't thinking I should turn my phone when taping this!)

 

Not bad for a 4 year old!  The next Missy Franklin?  I think just maybe!

Til next time!

There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Craigslist...

...is my bff!  How pathetic is that?!  I could spend hours sifting through other people's junk treasures and although there are a lot of times when I find nothing, there are those days that I find a diamond in the rough!  Yesterday was that day!

Let me just tell you that is never fails...on the days that I should not be looking for things, is ALWAYS the days that I find the best deals.  Let me also say, that I am pretty sure that if I asked my hubby to put one more said "treasure" in my garage, he would divorce me.  The eight piece dining room set almost put him over the top as it is!

My dirty little secret?  I have my CL "search" bookmarked on my computer.  There I have said it!  Slightly twisted?  Yes, I totally agree, but it takes me right to where I want to go and saves me unnecessary searching (unless of course, I am looking for a particular item).

So back to yesterday, when I had no business looking, I came across this:

Sorry, seller photo!  Anyhoo, I am always looking for hutches to refinish...they just make me happy!  So it looked like it was in good condition AND it was solid wood...you know that makes me positively giddy!  Anyhoo, guess the price...no really, give it a try!  Well, if you guessed $25 people, you would be spot on!  Seriously, WHO passes up a hutch made of wood for $25...not I said the fly!

I had to think it through...remember that whole hubby thing?  He would just not "get" the fact that it was ONLY $25...he just sees it as another piece of furniture in my, already bulging, three car garage!  I contacted the person to see if it was in two pieces...if so, it looked like it just might fit in Melissa's SUV...so what, if we had to make two trips!  Stars were aligned...it was two pieces and the girl said she thought it would fit.  So with kids in tow...off we went.

I wish you could have seen Melissa and I carrying that thing...it was not extremely large, but it was quite heavy!  The funniest part...when we went back for the second piece, there was a guy there...a guy that was perfectly capable of helping us carry that thing to the car (thankfully, it was a downstairs apartment and we could park right in front) but do you think he offered?  No!!  In fact, I am pretty sure he was trying to be completely "invisible"!   We practically peed our pants laughing over that one when we got in the car!

So, I am sure you are dying to know what my hubby said when I brought it home, right?  Well, I didn't bring it home...I used plan "B".  Kelli has a great little storage room at her new house, so I asked her if I could "borrow" a little of that space.  I think it is only fair since some of what is in my garage now, belongs to her.  I will tell him about my hutch....someday!

BTW...Melissa has now banned me from looking at Craigslist...well, at least until I get rid of some of what I already have!

Have a great weekend!    








There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

My latest find

I have been looking for a new "old" dining room table for a long time. What I have now is not only dated, but hideous (hope no Craigslist people are reading my blog). It is a glass table that I have had for about 20 years. In my defense I did have newer Parsons chairs that sold within the first few hours! The table has been so lucky, even though I have been dropping the price daily...it is about one day away from curbside!

So, last week I was doing my usual rounds on Craigslist myself, and came across this listing. (All pictures were taken by previous owner, I have so much junk many treasures in my garage right now, you would not even be able to see it!  Anyhoo, this is what I bought from the nicest little lady located in Scottsdale.

I was super excited...you KNOW how anything that is all wood just makes me giddy!

It comes with 4 regular chairs and 2 captain's chairs.  The table has two leaves and the mat to cover the top.  This little piece came with it is well:

You can't really see in the picture, but the sides actually pop up to make a very good size buffet.  This was an added bonus because I was not even looking for that piece!  All of this for $200...I was as happy as a pig in shi....well, I was very happy!

The seat cushions have been removed and I am ready to buy paint.  Yep, you heard correctly!  The tops of both pieces will be sanded and refinished with stain...the rest is getting a good coat of Annie Sloan.  I went to Interior Fabrics yesterday and ordered new fabric for the cushions.  If you are local to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, I highly recommend checking them out for home decor fabrics...they have a HUGE selection and very good prices!

That's about all I got for now!  I will soon have some Alice in Wonderland themed cookies to share, so be sure to stop back by in the next few days! 

 





There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

More of "Polly's" Cabinets and...

...another little piece of news!  I am happy to say that I sold my little headboard!  You remember this one, right?

I don't mind telling you that she sold for $75...not bad for my original investment of $5.99!  I really hated to see this go, but I don't have twin beds in my guestrooms anymore, so it had to go to make room for other projects!

Carry on...I

In case you don't remember my last project using one of Polly's cabinet doors,  I will refresh your memory...this cute little wine tray:

Since then I completed another tray using the same image but the original wording and adding a couple of flourishes:

Next I decided that I want to make some message boards.  For this one I used the same image that is on the bed.  I bought the knobs from Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off...perfect for hanging dish towels or keys.  The handle on the top is one that I picked up from Restore...it was painted using Rustoleum Flat Black.  I purchased a package of 4, 12 x 12 pieces of cork board from JoAnns and cut to size.

The second one I used a Valspar sample paint from Lowe's.  I purchased these knobs from Hobby Lobby and painted both of those plus the handle with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze.  The image is another that I purchased from Graphique.

And last but not least, I actually have a few cookies to share.

Last night was the teacher "meet and greet" for Thomas.  Believe it or not, he will be returning to school next week!  What better way to butter up your new teacher than with a little cookie bouquet!

till next time...

This post linked to:

My Repurposed Life
Primitive and Proper 
Restore Interiors






There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

Weekend finds!

I thought I would share a few things that we picked up this weekend.

I love going to the Goodwill the day before their 50% off Saturday (not sure about your area, but they do this every two weeks here!).  I am sure that everyone wants to wait until they can get everything at half the price by waiting so it is typically FULL of stuff.

I have also found that if you snooze, you just may lose!  One time I saw the coolest sideboard/dresser there and was sure that no one would buy it, as it was, for the price it was, which I believe was only $25.  It was literally covered in kids stickers!  If I would have thought for one minute that someone would have actually paid full price for it, I certainly would have gone ahead and bought it right then.  It is still a thorn in my side that I missed out on it!

Anyhoo, back to last Friday.  As expected the store was full.  I found this cute little table:

I get positively giddy when I find something that is actually real wood...and this table was!  No major damage and the price was $14.99.  That is a little more than I like to spend on items that I plan to refinish and possibly sell (I usually give my daughters "dibs", if it's not something I am going to use myself).  I was not in the mood to come back the next day and fight other crazies for it!

The next piece I found on Craigslist.  It is a king size headboard and since Melissa still did not have one for her newly acquired king size bed, I sent her the listing.  She liked it so we went and picked it up.

Not bad for $20, right?  Of course it needs a "facelift" and if the background looks familiar, you can probably see that it is sitting in MY garage, waiting for me to work some magic!

That's all I got for now!  It's been a slow cookie time...I have not made any in weeks!  Can you believe it?!

Till next time! 




There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

From bleak...

...to chic! Well, at least I think so.  I think I mentioned that I have been working on pieces for my second guestroom.  I am not quite ready to reveal the two dressers, but I can give you a little peek at the piece I am using for a nightstand.

Let's recap on the colors of the bedroom set itself...remember, my two-tone headboard?  If not, it looks like this:

The bedding is very similar, which alone, makes for a very boring color palette.  I was originally going to use peach as my accent color, but after seeing this on Pinterest, I had to make a change of plans!

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Stunning, right?  Let me just tell you that I did a search for those sheets and at $250 a set...it ain't happening!  I LOVE my guests, but there is no way they are sleeping on nicer sheets than me!

Okay, where was I?  Oh yeah...the nightstand.

You might also remember (yes, I am testing your memory today)  that I purchased two of these at an estate sale.

This particular one, I painted for Taylor and Tatum's room...it looked like this:

Now, picture one more drawer (forgot to take a "before" pic)...paint it a pretty coral color and you get this:

I wish I could give you the exact color, but I had Lowe's color match from a piece of fabric that I have...let's just say, I LOVE it!  As far as furniture goes, this is really just a "cheapo" piece that was originally purchased from HomeGoods (loves me some HomeGoods!!) but I love all detailing.

To kick it up a notch...I slightly lightened the original color with a touch of white and used a damask stencil that I picked up at Joanns, to add some additional design to the sides.  I think it really compliments the details on the detailing on the drawers.  Whatcha think?

Worth another look?

Thanks for stopping by!


This post linked to:

Primitive and Proper
Restore Interiors






There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

"Wine a little...

...you'll feel better"! Nope, it's not a typo...I meant just that type of "wine" and if I am being completely honest...I don't even drink it! Okay, I heard that collective gasp! I have just never acquired a taste for it, but for those that do, you just might enjoy my latest project!

We are going to call these "Polly's Trays". Why, you ask? Okay, I'll tell you! These are the cabinet doors that came out of the house that Kelli recently purchased. Remember the 1970's house that still had the 1970's kitchen? For whatever reason, it was the one project that Polly, the previous homeowner (for 33 years!) never got around to. Honestly, I suggested that Kelli paint them to start out till she was really ready to remodel, but she wasn't having it...out they came! Knowing I could find some kind of cute project to use them for, I confiscated a few...okay, more than a few!

Using the same transfer technique that I used on my cute headboard...I made a couple of these:

First, I gave the doors a good scrubbing with TSP and the hose.  Next I filled all the previous hardware holes, sanded and then painted them with leftover ASCP that I had in my stash.  I painted the original hardware with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze, that I also already had on hand (love this stuff).  I purchased another image from Graphique (love this shop too), but changed out the sentiment for one that printed up myself.  "Burnished" them on the door and gave them a quick spray of clear matte acrylic to set the image.  Did a little "shabby" sanding,  drilled new holes for the handles and VOILA...Polly's Trays were born!

Here is a better picture of the graphic:

A few more shots:

This was a fun, easy project!  If you aren't lucky enough to have some old cabinet doors lying around your house, try your local "Restore", they are a great source!

Be sure to check back...I used these doors another way too!

Till then...

Don't forget the GREAT sale Melissa is having at her ETSY shop...all the details are here!

This post linked to:

Under the Table and Dreaming
Primitive and Proper
Restore Interiors
My Repurposed Life   






There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!

How about some bling?!

Nope...it has nothing to do with cookies or a piece I have recently redone!  This bling is for the little girl's in your life.  Here is just a small sample:

Sure, I may be just a little biased because these cute items have all been made by my daughter, Melissa, but this deal is just too good not to share!

From now until the end of July, Melissa is offering FREE SHIPPING on any order from her ETSY shop, TaylorTHIS!  That's right, no minimum purchase necessary.  Just use the code "ILOVESUMMER".

Besides hair bows, she sells legwarmers and flannel burp clothes!  As if free shipping isn't enough...she is also offering these great deals:

Buy 5 get the 6th FREE (of equal or lesser value).

Buy any Burp Cloth Listing and get a FREE bag of Clippies ($4.00 Value).

How is that for some good deals?!  You cannot beat her prices, so I hope you will take a minute to browse her shop...you won't be sorry!

Till next time!




There's a skinny girl who lives inside of me that's screaming to get out...I can usually shut her up with cookies!