White and Bright and Beautiful

I posted about this dresser that I found at a thrift store for $6.99 here:



Well, Bill has been hard at work priming and painting the piece using white paint and polyacrylic we had on hand.  (We did pick up a can of spray primer to speed the process a bit.):




When we sold our big black bed and nightstands in March, we knew that the dresser/tv stand (Hemnes by IKEA) would not be staying either. 



We sold the dresser on Craigslist in less than 24 hours for $175.  Then we replaced the IKEA dresser with our thrift store score that ended up being about $10 including the primer and the dresser:

Isn't it wonderful?  I just love how white and bright the new look is, and it fits in better with our new bed than Mr. Hemnes did:

I also love that we made money on the change!!  Eventually, I do hope to make some built in shelves for this area, but for now this works (TV components under the dresser and all:)).

I should note that Bill did the bulk of the work on this piece, and he did a fantastic job!!  Thank you B.

Have a great weekend...and if you need patio furniture, be sure to check out Target where you may find 50% off clearance prices!!

What a Bummer...

...it is to find the *perfect* fabric for a large project in the remnant section of a fabric store.

I only need 4 more yards of you, unidentified perfect fabric.  Please find your way to me!!

Campaign Furniture Score

Can you see what these images have in common?

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

 

via Pinterest (Elle Decor)

via Pinterest

Okay, this image is a giveaway!  Campaign furniture ties the images together.  Campaign furniture was historically designed for use in military campaigns.  The furniture was intended to be easy to fold, pack and carry while marching.  Now let's look at more campaign desks:

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

And here are some campaign style desks that are currently available for sale:

Campaign Desk World Market, $229.99

Asheworthe Campaign Desk Williams Sonoma $3850

And here is what my sweet Bill picked up for me from Craigslist for the low price of $40:

Craigslist Image

And here the desk is in our garage (sadly, I forgot to take a picture before we covered it up and put it in the corner...behind all of the other furniture projects we're working on:))

Getting the desk and storage chest in the car were an adventure for Bill.  I'm starting to think he should write a book about his Craigslist pick up adventures.

The finish is actually in pretty good shape, so I'm not sure if I'll be painting them or not.  We'll see!

And now, Kiki, you know what campaign furniture is!

Shopping Again

After taking last week off from running errands, I hit my normal three stores again this week.  It was a slow week at Walgreens without many Register Rewards deals that I was interested in, and I had to use up my Register Rewards from 2 weeks ago before they expired, so I bought up a few packs of diapers using manufacturer coupons and Walgreens store coupons and left the store with $0 RR for the first time in months! 

Rainbow
I almost reached my goal of 50% savings, by spending about $70 and saving about $65, but the bigger story this week was this game board:

It's Monopoly time at Rainbow, and I'm excited!

I haven't taken the time to read all the rules, as to how you acquire a certain number of 'tickets'.  What I do know is that I walked out of Rainbow with 30 of them.  I'm playing this game, but I'm not going to be buying items only because I want an extra ticket (some store items are marked as such).  Lucky helped me peel all of these open, and we placed the pieces on our game board.  No board prizes yet, but we did have 4 'instant winner' tickets, so we'll receive a free candy bar and more tickets when I shop next week!

Target

I found jeans for girls marked down 75%, so Lucky now has jeans for the next 3 years.  Some were marked down as low as $1.74, although most were $2.48 or $3.74 depending on the brand.

I paid $14 for 5 pairs of jeans!

Also, the Calypso St. Barth Collection is on clearance right now too.  I'm holding out until more of it hits 75% (if it makes it that long), but I did find this long sleeve tunic in the girls section (for Lucky...she has the best wardrobe!:)) for $3.74 (75% off).

It was another good day of shopping:)!

Ode to D.B.

In honor of my brother, D.B's upcoming visit, Charm has been hitting the guitar pretty hard:

Ta-Da!  It's even more funny when he claps for himself:)!

Please note:  The guitar hold was instinctual.  We never showed him how to hold it or strum it for that matter.

Singing a little ditty.

Such focus!

To Charm (And D.B. too): A Guitar = Pure Joy!

Lucky's been practicing too:

That is her ring finger.  At quick glance it may seem otherwise.

Finger Picking Fun.

And this picture is just too cute to exclude:

I think Charmster is sucking in his little boy gut!  I love it.

We can't wait for D.B. to come!!

Random Post about Wind Farms

Check out these pictures from our road trip to Iowa last week:

This particular wind farm was in Dexter, MN but there were many farms like this in Iowa on our way to Des Moines.  I can't tell you how impressive looking the turbines were scattered across the horizon.  I felt like we were in a sci-fi movie.  Apparently, Iowa is one of the leading states in the generation of electricity using wind power. 

We didn't stop the car to check them out up close, but those blades were ginormous!!

There are lots of exciting things happening around here, but I'm too tired working on projects to post much.  Soon.  Very soon.

Mini-teaser: Lucky's room is done for all practical purposes.  I have one large project left that I think I'll save for when we're hibernating this winter.  Charm's room is next up, and I've got a plan!  We just moved in a large piece of furniture that Bill refinished last night.  And I'm on a mad hunt for some fabric for several new projects!  Never a dull moment.  Oh, and Charm peed in the potty twice this weekend!  Good stuff!

Happy Father's Day

I should have made a 'Happy Father's Day' post last Friday, but I may have been on vacation all last week, so it totally slipped my mind!!  I have been very blessed to have been raised by a stellar father (and mother too:))!  I definitely learned the importance of education from my dear dad, a retired high school administrator.  I also learned the importance of hard work, completing tasks thoroughly and to the best of my ability.  After all, "Once a task has once begun, never leave it til it's done.  If a task is great or small, do it well or not at all."  I've heard my dad say that countless times, and it's repeated itself in my head many, many times as well.  Anyway, I love you Pa!  Happy Dad's Day!

And to my hubby, Happy Father's Day to you!!  Our kids are so lucky to have you as their Daddy. 

Bill got to sleep in yesterday morning, and then he decided he wanted to build something with help from the kids, so they made this:

A 2 ft x 2 ft x 4 ft garage box on casters (and with a handle even) to store toys! 

(We still have some toy organizing to do:))

I am so impressed by how precisely the box came together.  I have no idea on the cost of this one, as the idea was Bill's alone, and he made the Home Depot/Walmart trips to pick up the parts.  All I know is that I really, really want to spend some time on Ana's website: Knock Off Wood right now...you know, now that I'm aware I'm living with a carpenter and all:)!!

Thanks Bill, you're amazing!!