World Traveling Military Family

Flea Market Finds

2012-02-10T08:45:00.001-06:00

Yesterday for our weekly get together me and a couple friends decided to hit a local flea market. I've always been fascinated with the flea markets here in Alabama, coming from Idaho where I'd never seen the likes of one before. I love to go 'treasure hunting' and see what I find. While we always see some neat and crazy stuff, you should see the pic of me with the hamburger phone...oh wait you probably shouldn't LOL...it's not often that I find several good deals at one place. Our last attempt at the antique mall was a bust due to inconsiderate weather which had us stopping the trip early, yesterday was redemption day!

Yesterday yielded some great results! I spent little but got some amazing bargains! So I decided why not take photos and blog about them :)

First and foremost I found MY window!! I've been wanting an old window for awhile now but of course I only wanted one if the price was right. We seen this one for $6 and I almost passed it up due to the one missing pane of glass. That's when my friend who we'll call Amarilla (because of her intense love for all things shiny and sparkly) came up with a plan. She asked if I happened to have a measuring tape in my purse, and low and behold I did...only because I had to measure a driftwood centerpiece for her last week...but that's another story ;) When she measured it we realized that it was 8x10 so we came up with a plan to use a piece of glass from a frame to 'fix' it. I mean it is not going to be used as a window, only for decor so I was all for it! Good friends don't let their friend walk away from 'treasures' knowing that they will later regret it ;) Thankfully she stopped me from walking away and instead figured out how I could fix it, wahoo! Then I remembered this other booth we had seen and we found this....

A vintage wooden frame with glass, for only $1! So not only did I get the glass to fix the window but the wooden frame to repurpose as well. And the glass is even old/dirty like the window ones so it won't be hard to make it look like it belongs.

I also scored this vintage print of a Europe map for $2! I think my love for maps started back in Iceland when my friend Y just had to have this amazing old world print of Iceland...of course I needed one too ;) Now I've got another map to add to the collection and for a steal!

Close up of the map print, I really don't know much about it and the Internet has yielded little information but I do know that I LOVE it

And I also found me an ugly bird...LOL! After scouring the Internet and seeing how people have been repurposing things (kinda like what I did with my owl) I've been keeping my eyes open for things to paint and repurpose and then I seen this little guy yesterday for $2.

So I walked out $12 lighter but super excited to start working on these projects! My friends also scored some awesome deals, flea market shopping is fun, but so much more so in the company of some great friends

Brought To You By the Letter H

2012-02-08T14:21:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been fascinated with the letter H, I don't know if it's just something that has sparked my fancy lately or if it's growing on me because down here in the South people seem to be obsessed with letters, monograms, and all that stuff!

I had a scrap piece of wood that is 11 3/4 in tall by 9 in wide and a jigsaw that I was chomping at the bit to use, so I decided to cut me a wooden H

Ooops I started cutting before I remembered to get the camera....here is my piece of wood held to the table with a vise

Using the vintage jigsaw to cut out my letter H

Both sides cut out

I beat it with a hammer and screwdriver and then finished staining it with my dark walnut stain

My H's on display

Close up where you can see the distressing on the wood where I banged it up

Baby Gate Eye Sore No More

2012-01-26T08:16:00.001-06:00

Nope, there are no babies in the house BUT we do have a baby gate that we use for our dog Mac when we are not home. It keeps him in his 'safe zone' in the laundry room. And while I love the function of it I have always HATED how ugly it was!

Mac likes the new gate as well

I know, I know baby gates are not made to be 'pretty' but instead to keep in/out kids and pets but since I've been on such a huge DIY kick I thought I'd give it a go on the ugly baby gate.

I grabbed my favorite can of stain (I used RustOleam Dark Walnut) and set to work and now it is SO much better!

It went from this:

to this:

and I am much happier with it! I may end up distressing it a bit more because I'm kinda on a 'distressed look' kick but I'll probably wait a few days to feel it out

When it's not in use we set it against the wall by the baker's rack and it always irritated me how it looked there, now I don't mind it as much

It's the little things in life I tell ya ;)

Growing Up & Archimedes

2012-01-25T06:00:00.019-06:00

Ever wonder what your kids will look like when they grow up...somehow this wasn't want I was expecting:

LOL!

Then he wanted it braided...ugh! So why was he sporting crazy facial hair? He was practicing using it for his Archimedes costume

Archimedes

I had to jump in on the action

and so did Mr. B, then later that night Bubby decided to have Boo & his friend try out the 'fun'

Wow, I've decided that Boo should NEVER had a beard, LOL!

And I heard they were quite entertaining around the neighborhood & bowling alley with people taking pics, wonder who's Facebook they ended up on that night?! LOL

DIY Ruler Growth Chart

2012-01-24T06:00:00.009-06:00

Once again I've been bitten by the Pinterst bug! I just knew had to make a Ruler Growth Chart :)

I started with a 2x10x8, which I cut down to 6 ft long. So the board is 6 feet tall and when hung 6 inches up from the floor it will be a 6.5 ft ruler

I used RustOleum Dark Walnut because I like the darker stained look, it's also the same stain I used on my DIY planter centerpiece. I stained the sides and both sides of the boards, it took it a bit longer to dry since it was pretty cold the day I stained it...but I just couldn't wait for warmer weather ;)

After staining I brought it into the house to work on putting on the ruler lines & numbers.

The HARDEST part was getting the template set up on my Silhouette Cameo so that the measurements were accurate! After finally getting the spacing right (1 inch apart) I was set to start with the 7 inch mark and then go up to 1 foot. I cut the lines out of contact paper so that I could stick it on the ruler and use it as a stencil! Above is the contact paper stencil before I applied it to the ruler

The specifics for the ruler lines. My lines were 1/4 inches wide.

The inch lines were 1/4 in wide by 2 in long

The quarter inches were 1/4 in wide by 3 in long

The foot lines were 1/4 in wide by 4 in long

I used a clear contact paper so that I could make sure that I could 'see' where I was lining things up, see the stencil on the left side?

Close up of the stencil on the board

Then I used a black acrylic paint and painted the lines of the stencil, I used 2 coats

All the lines painted and drying

Then I peeled the stencil off, see the first half of the ruler...

They were still drying when I peeled it off, as I'm a bit impatient ;)

Then I cut out the numbers 1-6 on contact paper and stuck them on the board, then painted the with black, also using 2 coats.

You can use any font/size that you want. I tried a few and found that I liked Adobe Fangsong Std R (I have a Mac) and my numbers were 3.2 in tall by 2 in wide.

All numbers painted and drying, and yes I did stain the top and bottom after I was done, I forgot to do it ahead of time

And the finished product! I LOVE it!

If you don't have a Silhouette machine you can free hand the lines and put them on using a measuring tape to mark them out every 1 inch, or tracing them on, or using a stencil made out of card stock.

You can use any number stencils or free hand them, I am not that talented so I had to use a stencil.

Thumbtack Decor

2012-01-23T14:36:00.000-06:00

Yep, that's right, you can make decor with thumbtacks and it's so very fun & addicting!

Of course as always I seen the idea on Pinterest from this blog and HAD to try it!

I ran out and grabbed several boxes of thumb tacks (300 count for $1 at the Dollar Store) and a 6 pk of 3" Styrofoam balls from Hobby Lobby and I got to work!

I started with 3 boxes of silver thinking I'd only need 150 for each ball, instead I needed 300 per ball and had to have a friend get me three more boxes and they only had gold...which really didn't matter since I'd be spray painting them anyways.

I made a line around the ball with the tacks

Then I started filling in, trying to not leave large spaces

Finished gold one

Close up

Gold & Silver, while I do LOVE the silver ones, I'm not so keen on the gold ones...just not a big fan of gold in general

I didn't have any bamboo skewers so I made my own 'post' by shaving down some bamboo chopsticks, worked like a charm!

Spray painted with Valspar Gloss Tropical Oasis & the green below is Valspar Satin Leafy Rise

I decided on 2 of each color

Finished!

Funny enough they even happen to go with the decor on my Tibetan trunk!

Crafting craziness going on around here for sure!

Spray Paint is a HOOT

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I have a new addiction...it's spray painting! And I'm just getting started, LOL!

I found this owl at Kirkland's

and while he was cute I wanted him to 'pop' so I decided to cover him with Valspar Tropical Oasis, originally I had planned on covering him all in blue BUT while I was spray painting him blue, I turned the can upside down while painting the side and it turned GREEN! I started to panic! I grabbed a paper towel to try to rub it off and then ran in for a wet rag. When I rubbed it off I found that I really LOVED how it looked and so here is my happy accident

I still have no idea why it turned green. I stopped and read the directions, shook the can for 1 minute and then tried again on a piece of paper and I still seen some green. I'll give it another go here sometime in the near future and hope it doesn't happen again! If it does I'll stick to other brands of spray paint.

My remodeled owl with my planter

DIY Decorative Planter Centerpiece

2012-01-19T14:38:00.000-06:00

I seen this super cute planter on this blog awhile back and wanted to make it, well a smaller version of it!

The one on the blog was 4 feet long but I wanted to use it for my newly refinished cabinet so I needed it to be only 1 1/2 feet long.

I started with some scraps of 2x4 and a 2x6x4 whiteboard that I cut for the sides, and the saw worked great! It was my first 'self' project using it.

I nailed it all together

The 'shanty' looking ends

I stained it and let it dry, then I added the upholstery tacks on the side for a decorative look

I bought some triangle shaped bottles and stem of red flowers from Hobby Lobby, I even 'refinished' the owl....but another post about him later :)

Planter on the cabinet

Loving the red flowers

LOVE the outcome! It was super easy and pretty quick to make!

The Many Faces of Sleeping Bea

2012-01-12T06:00:00.003-06:00

Bea is quite a hoot and she always keeps us laughing. We never know what we'll find when we check on her while she's sleeping. Here are some recent photos of her sleeping faces that have cracked us up:

While we were in WV vising family there were some cupcakes that had turkey toppers on them. Bea really liked the topper and was playing with it. Somehow it ended up in her mouth while she fell asleep, I was laughing so hard when I found her like this!

Another view of Bea and her turkey

Then Mr. B and I went to a Christmas party for his work. When we got home we found Bea asleep in our bed looking like this! The next morning she told us that she was trying to look like Rudolph! Thankfully it was washable marker

Just the other night I found her with her hand over her face cupping her nose...I mean what in the world was she dreaming about?! LOL

Another view, wonder what we'll find the next time we check on her....

Mini Drawer Facelift

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

When I seen this small 3 drawer box at the flea market for $12 I just had to buy it, and knew I'd be giving it a much needed facelift.

I was in such a hurry to get it finished that I didn't even take 'before' pictures...shame on me! Thankfully I had the above on on my cell phone that I'd sent to a friend.

I decided that I wanted it black so I grabbed some spray paint and got to work. Since it was my first spray painting project I had some trial and error with learing the 'right' technique. Thankfully I managed to figure out something that worked and now I have this beauty.

I planned on using it for the kids homework/notes from school, one for each kid. So far I haven't put that into action but now that I'm thinking about it, I may just do it very soon....

Refinished Cabinet: From Run-Down to Repurposed

2012-01-10T06:00:00.003-06:00

A while back I bought this cabinet at the flea market with visions of refinishing it, yesterday I finally completed that vision!

I do have to say that I did not do it alone, instead it was a tag-team effort with Mr. B :) He sanded it down, cleaned it all up, and painted it the base coat for me. I did the vintage/distressed finish on it and I love it!

Now I know it looks kinda rough in the photo above but that didn't stop me from seeing it's potential!

When I bought it I had NO idea what colors to use, or even HOW I wanted to distress it, so this was all a trial by fire. I went to Walmart and feeling overwhelmed by the paint process I headed to the clearance section where I struck gold! I ended up with a Indian Painted for the base and Granite for the finish and at a greatly reduced price...now that's my kinda deal! Instead of paying $20-30 each I paid $13-14 each and there is plenty left for other projects.

All sanded down thanks to Mr. B. I will say that I did start to sand it down when I had free time here and there but I was moving much to slow for Mr. B's liking so he decided to just knock it out for me.

Me deciding if I liked the base color. While it was a bit 'beige' for my taste I knew it wouldn't matter once I put the gray on top of it.

I decided that I would paint the whole thing in the base color and then use the 2nd color to give it the vintage/distressed look. After spending some time online researching I decided to just give it a go myself. I painted the Granite over the base coat and then I decided to use some old rags to wipe off a good portion of it. It was great because the finish picked up all the cervices and highlighted them. I wiped and painted until I got the look that I wanted...it was really pretty simple and only took me around 30 minutes to knock out the whole thing!

Mr. B mounted the new hardware and we brought it inside! Finished photos, please note the garage lighting is not the best and these were taken in the evening:

I love the hardware that Mr. B picked out, I had looked around at Hobby Lobby but didn't see anything I really liked. When he was at Lowe's buying the wood for the workbench he found this set, and it's perfect!

See horrible lighting on this back picture. Like my Coca-Cola 'painting' signs? They were throwing them away at the shoppette and Boo asked if he could have them...he wanted to hang them in his room! They say 4/$10, LOL! They were perfect for using while painting for this project

Side view

Now that we got that little project under our belts I have the feeling it's just the beginning ;)

DIY Workbench

2012-01-09T12:10:00.000-06:00

Finished workbench, as you can see it's sitting on Bea's driveway canvas for her chalk art ;)

We recently bought a miter saw from a friend and I've been chomping at the bit to put it to good use with all the amazing Pinterest projects out there, but first I really needed a workbench for it :)

Our new saw to make MANY projects with

This weekend Mr. B decided to make me a workbench, and it was able to knock it out in no time. I pretty much stood around handing him screws and provided moral support. I also got a tutorial on how to use the saw...which will be handy for some up coming projects, I won't have to wait for Mr. B to cut the wood!

We got free plans from this awesome site where there are tons of plans for all kinds of projects, I have my eye on a few others!

We did have to make a few adjustments. Mr. B bought the wood listed on the shopping list and ended up with extra 2x4's. Also the cut list was missing some cuts and the 12" cuts should've been 16" luckily with the extra wood we were able to fix the issues. Overall it was a good plan for a VERY sturdy & heavy workbench! I look forward to putting it to good use!

In the garage with the saw in place. Mr. B even mounted a power strip for the electrical cords, a hook to hold the electrical cords and a pencil holder that I made from an old shampoo bottle!

Now I'm ready to make some projects!

Photography DIY Easy Color Filters

2012-01-06T11:34:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had to create a 'special effects' photo for my photography class. I've never used color filters before and decided that not only would I give it a go, that I would make my own color filter to use as well!

All I needed was a Ziploc bag (I used snack size) and some BIC Mark-It markers, which was great because I had tons of colors to choose from...I only had a red & black Sharpie lying around. Basically I colored one side blue and one size in a rainbow theme, then I pulled it apart on the seams so it was one piece of plastic.

While I traced the lid and kept the colors inside the outline I could've easily just colored rainbow lines across the whole bag and it would've been fine...no circle is needed :)

Blue, I was worried that it would be too dark, but it worked out great

Then I went to work trying to figure out HOW to use it, LOL! You do NOT put it in front of the lens....well unless you want a blurry blob of color. After a quick visit to google I was able to find that I was supposed to hold it in front of the flash. You also do NOT hold it directly on top of the flash or in front of it. You need to hold it back just a bit so the flash can bounce off it. I still don't 'get' how it works but really just knowing that it does work is good enough for me ;)

Then I played around with it and ended up with these:

Using the blue filter

Rainbow filter effects

And my favorite...creating an Antique/Vintage warmth without the computer! I just used the yellow/orange part of the multicolored filter.

I'm not sure that I'll use colored filters much BUT now I know that if I need any I can make them quickly and for free!

Driving Permit

2012-01-05T11:01:00.000-06:00

Well yesterday was the 'big' day...Boo got his driving permit! Since his birthday was on Christmas Eve it's taken awhile to get it done because the school had to sign a form saying that he is indeed enrolled in school...and we did not know that beforehand.

Mr. B took him on the 27th to take the written (ie computer) test which he passed with flying colors. Now taking a test here is a mighty long process. They had to wait over an hour just for him to take the test, which took a whole 5 minutes! Mr. B also got the form that we needed signed and was told to return with the form and then they would issue the permit.

So yesterday on Boo's first day back to school from break he was able to get the form signed. We headed straight to the office after school and were turned away because they were too busy!! The guy told us to come back in the morning and get a number for the long line...I decided to try another city. Mr. B called and the lady said if we could get there by 4:10 pm she could do it for us, this was at 3:53 and the office was 20 minutes away. We made it with no time to spare and even completed a quick 'get lost' detour at the courthouse ;p

Permit was issued and he's now ready to learn to drive! I let him practice at an empty parking lot on base yesterday and then let him drive to Mr. B's work. Mr. B then rode with him while Boo drove home. He did pretty good for having ZERO experience. The brakes are a bit touchy in the Lexus so I did think I was gonna end up with whiplash there for a minute, LOL!

Thankfully he's starting Driver's Education next week...which is NOT required here in AL! I'm from ID where it IS required so I had no idea that stuff like that was 'optional,' needless to say he will be taking it.

I'm still amazed that we are here...with Boo 15 and able to drive...how did we get from here:

To here so quickly?!

Time is precious and goes by much too quickly!!

School is Back in Session

2012-01-04T11:03:00.000-06:00

It has arrived...Christmas breaks is officially over and school is back in session...which is always bittersweet. So it's just Mac and I in a quite house...what's a girl to do???

I know I'm sure you all are picturing books, naps, bubble baths, & bon-bons...the common stereotypical stuff but I hate to burst your bubble. It's been a morning of shampooing carpets & whipping the house back into shape after 2 weeks with the kids at home. I know glamorous right?! While glamorous it may not be it sure was productive and I feel so much better now that it's done and marked off my 'to-do' list.

Now that I've got some cleaning done & chore cards updated & ready for the 2012 year it's time to FINALLY take a shower and then work on my photography class before I head out for my daily 'bus' run to pick up kids from school.

In the meantime I'll leave you with some photos I took of Mac with my new lens I got for Christmas :)

I hope your day is much more glamorous than mine ;p