Laundry Room Makeover

I have been pretty unsatisfied with my laundry room for a while now. It is small, and has absolutely zero character. Besides the entry door, and the chalkboard door, it was pretty much lifeless. It has a white washer and dryer, white walls, white shelves and LOTS of junk filling those shelves. Most of the "junk" are things we use, almost on a daily basis. A few years ago, my husband, trying to overcome a major lack of storage space, added a second shelf above the original shelf in our laundry room. This shelf became a storage space for many of our rarely used, small kitchen appliances.

So, my friend, Betsy, has had a curtain hanging from the clothes bar in her laundry room for a while now. It hides all of the wall directly behind and above the washer and dryer. I have always thought it was cute, but it would never work for me because I use that clothes bar to air dry most of my clothes. I am 6' tall and have long feared highwaters! ha! So, rather than pay a lot of money for jeans or pants, only to have them shrink in length in the dryer, I have long been drying my pants elsewhere.

They say necessity is the motherhood of invention. And, while I'm sure I didn't invent this idea, it occurred to me that I can have a curtain in my laundry room and it can conceal my junk! So, I got a shower curtain tension rod, and a cute turquoise shower curtain at Target, and began. I had some extra red fabric that I cut up as if I were making a ragamuffin garland, and used it to tie the curtain to the rod. I hung it at the top of the wall, almost to the ceiling, concealing two rows of shelving, but not the clothing rod! Then, I found where Glidden was having a paint promotion and you could get a quart of paint in your choice of color for FREE!

Once my paint arrived, I got to work, and though it took a few days, I am pleased with the outcome. I re-hung several of the things I already had, to keep this makeover VERY low budget. I re-painted some of the little signs I had already in the room to make them match my red and turquoise theme.

Sorry for the blurry pic.This sign used to be green. While I do not think that I am a "desperate" housewife, I do love that show. When I found this sign, I had to have it, hanging it appropriately in the laundry room.
This sign used to be blue and it used to just say "laundry". I got a catalog in the mail the other day that had a sign with this saying on it, so I painted over the blue and made this.This calendar used to be hot pink. Again, sorry for the blurry pic.

I thought that my favorite thing about this laundry room would be this project:
My dad is known for his "salvaging skills". He "salvaged" this piece of iron gate (aka, pulled it from a trash pile) and I took it to my house. Jeremy cut the pretty part off of it to be hung in the back yard. I had this part left over and didn't know what to do with it. Then, I got the idea to make a drying rack for my delicate laundry. So, I spray-painted the iron, and went to Hobby Lobby to find a way to hang it. I had almost given up when I found the "Laundry" sign and it was 50% off of $12.99! My goal was to make it similar to this (which I have always wanted).

But, I would have to say my favorite part of this laundry room is now this:

I went to Target and Hobby Lobby looking for a cute rug, and couldn't find any in the style or price range that I liked. So, I decided to make my own. I took the blue chindi rug that was previously in the laundry room, painted it with the same paint as I used on the wall, cut smaller pieces of ragamuffin strips from the same fabric that I used to tie the curtain, and painted white polka dots on it to mimic the curtain.
I LOVE how it turned out, so whimsical!

My low cost laundry room makeover is now complete, and it only cost $43.47+ tax!

Now, if I could just convince hubby to get me these, the room would be complete! HA! :)

Shamwow...

...No, more like ScamWOW!

Jeremy faithfully washes our cars at home and uses a shammee. I wanted to get him a new and improved shammee and thought the Shamwow commercials looked pretty impressive. So, I went online and ordered him a set. Then, our car was broken into and my wallet was stolen. So, the credit card that the Shamwow was ordered on was cancelled.

So, a few days ago, I was checking out at Wal-Mart, and they had a small Shamwow set for $9.99. So, I bought it and gave it to Jeremy to use on washing the cars this weekend. Boy, were we un-impressed. It claims to hold 12 times its weight in liguid. But, it didn't soak up any more water than a paper towel would have! The insert in the package said it isn't supposed to drip, but guess what we got? Yep, a big, drippy mess! The other shammee that we use does a much better job.

Maybe the Shamwow that they sell at Wal-Mart is not the same as the one you can buy as seen on TV. But, nevertheless, I would not buy this product again, and would not recommend anyone else buying it either!

Walking Tall and Screaming Loudly

My baby boy can walk! We aren't officially calling it walking yet because he cannot stand up on his own from a sitting position, but basically, he can walk! We are so proud. Enjoy this little video!

P.S., I don't know why I called him "DooDoo" in the video. I was about to call him "dude" and somehow it morphed into "DooDoo". As with things like that, I wanted to re-do the video once I realized, but try getting a 13 month old to do anything the same way twice, and you're out of luck! So, please excuse the "doodoo" reference! ha!

Prayers for PK

I would like to request everyone to pray for my MIL today. She is having surgery today, and we are all hoping there will be much wonderful news to share after today. She has a short stay in the hospital ahead of her, then recovery at home, then another round of chemo. So, please pray for strength for her to get through all of these things.

Happy Birthday Heather

Monday is my SIL's birthday. She requested a chalkboard for her kitchen for her birthday. I made it my mission to find her a big, pretty chalkboard, but my budget didn't agree. Boy, those things are expensive! So, I was at one of my very favorite places and found a reasonably priced plate rack. So, I decided that my SIL would get a chalkboard for her kitchen, just not the one she wanted. I went to HomeGoods and found some cute plates, and painted the insides with chalkboard paint. I think it came out pretty cute.

I have a plate rack in my kitchen and am considering doing the same thing to mine.

Smile for the birdie!

The other night, while I was at the gym, Jeremy was home playing with Rhett. Rhett received a lot of mega blocks for his birthday, and they have found a home in a basket in our bedroom. When I left, Jeremy and Rhett were in our bedroom playing with them. When I came home, Jeremy and Rhett were in the living room playing with other toys. I didn't go back into our bedroom until bedtime, and this is what I found:

Who knew my husband was so artistic?!? I could have never come up with something like this. Good thing Rhett has Jeremy as his Daddy!

I LOVE MY BOYS!

C is for Cookie...

Edited to add: For some reason, blogger will not let me move the pictures today. So, you will have to look at pics, then read. Hopefully you can match the picture to the post. Sorry!










... and Crafts!

I have been busy baking over the last few weeks. First up, one of my best friends from when I was little asked me to make some cookies along with other things (posted below) for her son's 1st birthday. She was doing a fiesta theme to honor their heritage, and requested bright colors. I searched everywhere for some cute fiesta-themed cookie cutters, but never found any that I just loved. So, I used cowboy hats and decorated them like sombreros, cacti, jalapenos, and boots also decorated in bright colors. I tied them up with brightly colored ribbon and put them in a cute little box, and it looked so festive sitting out at his party. She also used some things that I won from the Cinco De Mayo Giveaway.

She also asked me to make him a matching party hat, so I obliged and came up with the party hat above. It matches the bucket that she asked me to make him for Easter. I think it turned out pretty cute.

While I was on my crafting kick, I decided to paint him a canvas for them to hang over his crib. They are moving soon, so I wanted him to have a new, cute room in their new place. I think that personal, homemade gifts show a lot of love, time, and effort went into making them.

After I wrapped his present, I realized that I didn't have a card for him. So, I took a quick look through my crafting closet and found a little cake-shaped, wooden piece that I got on clearance at Michael's. I decided to paint it, add his name, and a small hole, and then tie it to his present. I thought it turned out pretty cute for a last minute addition.

And lastly, while I was on my cookie kick, I also decided to make some cookies for my husband's family reunion. They had it on a party boat that you can rent at a local lake in our area. So in continuing with the boat theme, they decided on a pirate invitation. So, I decided on pirate cookies. This was my first time doing these, and I think they turned out pretty cute. With every cookie decorating endeavor I try, I learn something and perfect my lines a little more. So, not only did people enjoy them, I learned something in the process. It's a win-win!

From Drab to Fab!

Throughout the end of May and beginning of June, Jeremy worked his little booty off expanding our patio, and it looks wonderful! His parents gave us some old patio furniture that used to belong to Jeremy's grandmother for the new space. There was a rocker and an armchair and a coffee table. They were painted green and had some rust spots and some areas that needed welding.All it took was a little spot weld courtesy of Jeremy, some sanding, and a few coats of black spray paint, and this patio furniture was in tip-top shape!I added some red cushions from Wal-Mart and some of the CUUUUUUU-TEST pillows that I found at Pier 1. Ever since I found them, I racked my brain trying to find a way I could use them. Well, I think they make the perfect little addition to my FREE outdoor furniture. I am very grateful to Jeremy's parents for the donation. It saves us money, and it is nice to have something that belonged to Jeremy's grandmother. I am kind-of sentimental like that, and don't plan on EVER getting rid of them!

Copy Cat Part 2

I am constantly inspired by all of the super-creative people that I find on the Internet. Some people just amaze me with their creativity and talent. One of my favorite blogs for design inspiration is My Sweet Savannah. She has a beautiful home and even better talent. To make a long story short, I copied her. Her kitchen has these hand-painted words around her skylight, and ever since I first saw it, I have wanted to copy her. But, I have been too afraid. Last week, I just decided to go for it. I figured that I can always paint over if I messed up. Here is the finished result; I am pretty satisfied. I am pretty proud of my self for actually using a paint brush and painting these instead of using markers!

Rhett's New Castle

My mom and dad bought Rhett this cool bouncy house/ball pit for his birthday. We planned on using it for the party, but things got hectic, and we didn't receive it until after the party started. So, we didn't get a chance to put it out. Last night, Jeremy must have gotten tired of staring at the box, so he decided to blow it up for Rhett. IT IS HUGE!!!!!!!!!! But, Rhett had such a good time playing in it, and every time we would take him out, he would crawl right back in. It is sitting in our front room right now, and is taking up the entire thing! It is too hot right now in Texas to put it in the back yard. I guess we will be only blowing it up on special occasions if we want to be able to walk through our house!