Printer Tray = Lego Men Storage

Of course I picked up this idea on Pinterest.

I already had the printer tray in the garage waiting to be used. I bought two in Frankenmuth over a year ago when I only planned to buy one, but they were half price, therefore the reason for buying two.

I'm glad I did now.

I used a couple of hooks and picture hanging wire on the back to hang it on the wall. To help keep it stationary, I used a command picture hanging hook on each of the two bottom corners.

It's hanging on the half wall outside Caboose's room by the stairs. That way if the little men (or whatever they are) fall off, they won't get lost behind a piece of furniture.

Tour The Rooms — Buddy's Room

We (as in Hubby and I) bred a sports lover. It's evident in his room.

When we refer to his room with other people, we say, "It's the one with the big men on the wall at the top of the stairs."

Buddy loves red. If we'd let him have his walls red, he would have. But with the red shelves it would be just too much.

So we picked a green that reminds us of the Green Monster at Fenway Park. It's by Behr and is called Vineyard.

This is the view when you walk in the room. The denim curtain panels I recycled from old bed skirts here.

You can see all the card collecting he does. He's been at it now for just over seven years. It's even how he learned to alphabetize.

Standing in front of the window looking back toward the door wall, this is the view:

I guess we should say, "Big men on the wall and tiny men on the shelves," when we are referring to his room.

And here is a better look at the bed wall:

I just got the duvet cover at Ikea last week. Buddy had been using his duvet with no cover on it for a year. We just hadn't been able to find anything we liked. Ikea finally had a few new patterns, and this one seemed to work.

The funny thing is that Hubby brought Buddy a new pair of Razorback pajama pants home from his trip last week. They are plaid and almost match the pattern and color perfectly. We told him when he wears them he'll be camouflaged and we won't be able to find him!

I guess it would work during a game of hide and seek!

The red wall shelves and shelving units are from Ikea.

Tour The Rooms — Sparky's Room

This is the color that I thought I would be painting either my living room or my bedroom. I happened to have the swatch card and it's the one that Sparky picked! I wouldn't let her do the glowing lime green like the bathroom.

She's very happy with it and thinks it brings out the green she has in the room nicely.

This is the view when you walk in her room out the front windows of the house. (None of our bedrooms are on the first floor.) Her room is slightly recessed from the doorway.

She painted the picture on the wall between the windows when she was eight years old. There was an older couple in Illinois from our church that were good friends of ours, and he taught her how to paint. She has some natural artistic ability.

This is the view to the left.

We (as in I) just hung that mirror after we got done painting. I found it for half price at Hobby Lobby about a month ago and knew it would be perfect for that spot. She has trouble getting to a mirror in the bathroom occasionally when everyone is getting ready at the same time. I couldn't hang it too high or she wouldn't be able to see in it.

This is the view to the right from the door.

She definitely has some green in here!

Her bed, nightstands, green shelves, and red dressers are all from Ikea.

Her paint color is Cloudy Day by Behr. I have a lighter color of blue for my room, but if I don't like it, I'm going with this one.

A Trip, Ikea, My Kitchen

Yesterday Hubby took his first trip out of town since his surgery in November. I think it's like the first time I haven't driven him to the airport and still had time to drive the hour back home and get back in bed by 5:30 a.m. That alone makes this non-morning person happy.

Yesterday it was mid-morning, so Ikea was open, and if I do the loop different, it's on the way home. So of course I did the loop different and went. That makes me ecstatic.

(By the way, Hubby went to the doctor last Tuesday. They did a CAT scan of his liver and a side-by-side comparison from before the surgery. His liver is fully regenerated. He saw the original scan with the two lobes and the new one where the one lobe takes up the same space. I keep telling him to be careful carrying his suitcase even though he got cleared to do regular activities. I mean, he went out the next morning after he got cleared and decided to shovel a little snow. He's nuts! He also got in trouble with me.)

Betsy asked me what I got at Ikea in the comments yesterday. I looked at pulls and knobs for my kitchen cabinets when Mari and I were there last April, but they didn't have enough in stock. So I looked at those and they had plenty. I've started putting them up.

It's a chore! I've done five. I have lots to go.

I'm doing knobs on the drawers.

They are all a black matte finish, and some type of metal that reminds me of iron. Very substantial.

I also bought the nifty guide with holes to help you line up where to drill. At under $2.00, I consider it the best purchase of the day.

It's Official

We can't move.


There is too much painting happening around here!

Bathrooms RevealedAlternately Titled: How To Not Paint Your Kitchen

I am totally the queen of starting a project in one place and having it run rampant into other places.

I decided the week of October 11th (when Sparky was in Bolivia and Hubby was in El Paso or Washington, D.C., I forget which) would be a good time to paint the kitchen.

We'd already painted the living room. Other than me painting the mud room and powder room, we still had builder beige throughout our house. We've been here almost two years.

In picking a color, I had to make sure it matched with the back splash we put up. It needed to look nice with the bold living room color. It also needed to have the same undertones as the carpet and the fireplace tile in the living room.

I also started thinking ahead to the common hallways and what color they would be, so that all the colors would look good as a group since it's fairly open everywhere on the first floor. I planned to use the color I picked for the first floor hallways in all the stairways and hallways throughout the house, so that was in the back of my mind in the thought process.

I had tentatively picked out a color for our master bathroom and had the color card for it. I decided that it would also be a good color for the kitchen. I picked a color that was only one shade lighter for the hallways. I decided the color for the kitchen and master bathroom would also be a good color choice for the second floor loft.

I went to Home Depot and purchased paint in the right types for the areas I was going to paint. I got the sample of the bright green to test in the bathroom then.

I started painting the hallways on the first floor. That was what was different in this post! Also the fringe on the curtain was added.

I went to the second floor and did the hallway. There's not much common hallway on the second floor since the large area is the loft.

When I switched colors and started painting the loft, I decided to move the desk with the computer into the rec room. It's an 'L'-shaped desk on a shelving unit from Ikea. The desk had to be taken off, so since I was moving things around in the rec room and putting the desk back together, I decided I'd go ahead and paint that room too. You know, save some steps for later.

So it was back to Home Depot to pick a color. Buddy wants everything red, which wasn't an option, orange wouldn't work, I couldn't do green or I'd look green all the time, yellow and purple are automatically not considered in our house (sorry if you love those colors), and neutral was out because Buddy wanted 'color' in the room. Blue, my favorite color, was the choice, so we picked one that both boys and I could agree on. I'll show you that room in a different post.

That trip to Home Depot I also got the green paint in the right type for a bathroom, and I purchased a bright white for the ceiling and for all of Chatty's bathroom.

After I had the green paint up, I had a guy come by and do some repair work on a spot on the wall that had gotten wet, he caulked the dickens out of both bathrooms, and I had him go ahead and paint both ceilings and Chatty's bathroom walls. He also put up new light fixtures.

Here is the bathroom that Sparky, Buddy, and Caboose share.

When the door is shut with the light on inside, you can see green glowing from underneath. Still.

Here is Chatty's bathroom after it was finished.

The kitchen (my original project) and master bathroom are still not painted.

This post is linked to Metamorphosis Monday at Naps on the Porch and Show Us Your Life - Bathrooms at Kelly's Korner.

Not BlueAlternately Titled "The Room That's Glowing"

This is the bathroom that Sparky, Buddy, and Caboose share. I'm hoping that once the shower curtain goes back up it helps deflect the glare coming out into the hall.

Seriously. After one coat last night there was a definite green glow in the hall when the light was on in that bathroom.

I'm waiting for the second coat to dry today.

It appears to match the Garnier bottle. Could that be considered a plus?

Blue

Does this give you a better idea what was going on in these pictures?

It's a little more obvious here. The color and the in-progress mess.

That's one long wall in those two pictures. It's the length of a three-car garage. It took a full gallon of paint for that one wall. Two coats. Behr Ultra Paint plus Primer.

In the last week I've used nine gallons of paint...all by myself...Hubby's out of town.

Front Yard Beautification

I love putting pretty, bright flowers out in the spring.

Of course now that I live in Michigan that means waiting until late in May or early in June so they don't die.

Some places I've lived I've planted them in early or mid-April, sometimes even late March. But having definite seasons and nice, cool summers are worth the trade-off.

Now that we have the front landscaping (done last summer) I did more than just put some impatiens in pots on the porch.

This pot has lots of different flowers that require full sun. They were ones I liked when I was browsing through the flower selections and thought I could put together in one gigantic pot.

This pot ended up with my leftover impatiens and one of the other full sun flowers. I should have kept those little sticks with the names.

This is another full sun spot. I have those requisite gerbera daisies (they came just like this!) and another small pot with some flowers requiring full sun.

The requisite impatiens on the front porch. There are matching pots on the other side.

I also planted three little perennial plants in the bed. I don't have a great picture of those, but they are behind the bright purple in this picture and left of the rock. But it's before the bushiest blue-green bush in the back. I do remember their name — moonbeam.

Some overall views:

It's always nice to come home!

This post is linked to Show & Tell Friday hosted by Cindy at My Romantic Home.

730 in 365 — One and Almost Done

Please feel free to skim through the lists or skip over them. They are in a little bit smaller type.

The first donation on April 15th:

There were more boxes than this and a total of 271 items.

Action Figure 27
Shoes - Casual - Adult 2
Jackets - Adult 2
Bathroom - Shower Curtain Hooks 1
Bathroom - Shower Curtain Hooks 1
Shorts - Jeans/Denim 1
Shirts - Dress Shirt 1
Shirts - Dress Shirt 1
Shirts - Jersey 8
Pants - Chinos/Khakis 5
Shorts - Chinos/Khakis 7
Sleepwear - Lounge Pants 1
Shirts - Mock Turtleneck 3
Pants - Nylon/Athletic 5
Pants - Nylon/Athletic 2
Shorts - Nylon/Athletic 6
ClotSleepwear - Pajama Set 8
Shirts - Polo 1
Shirts - Polo 2
Shirts - Sweatshirt/Fleece 1
Shirts - T-Shirt 12
Shirts - Turtleneck 2
Cassette Tape 5
Children's - Hardcover 9
DVD 1
Dinner Plate 6
Comforters - Twin 2
Pants - Jeans/Denim 5
Shirts - Jersey 2
Shorts - Nylon/Athletic 1
Sleepwear - Pajama Set 4
Skirts - Full-Length 5
Skirts - Skorts 2
Undergarments - Slips - Half 1
Sweaters - Pullover 1
Shirts - T-Shirt 8
Shirts - Tank 1
Hardcover 3
Headband 5
Keyboard 3
Indoor - Lamp Shade 1
Pants - Dress Slacks 2
Shirts - Jersey 2
Sweaters - Pullover 3
Shirts - T-Shirt 1
Pillow 2
Pillow Sham 1
Pillowcases (Pair) 3
Plastic Storage Container 1
10-999 Piece 4
Sheets (Individual) - Flat - Queen 1
Sheets (Sets) - Queen 1
Bathroom - Shower Curtain 3
Softcover 1
Indoor - Lamps - Table 1
Duvet Covers - Twin 1
Suits - Individual Pieces - Blazer 1
Undergarments - Bra 7
Shirts - Camisole 2
Pants - Capris 1
Shirts - Dress Shirt 1
Pants - Jeans/Denim 1
Shirts - Jersey 7
Sleepwear - Lounge Pants 4
Shirts - Mock Turtleneck 8
Sweaters - Vest 3
Sweaters - Pullover 10
Sweaters - Cardigan 2
Shirts - Sweatshirt/Fleece 1
Shirts - T-Shirt 15
Shirts - Tank 4
Shirts - Turtleneck 2
Youth 1
Shoes - Dress - Youth 1
Mittens or Gloves - Youth 2
Brushed Silver Bathroom Lidded Dishes 3
Canvas Bag 3
Large Stationary Wii Wheel 1

The second donation on April 16th, which consisted of 235 boxes:

U-Haul Extra Large Moving Box 24x18x24 3
U-Haul Large Moving Box 18x18x24 27
U-Haul Laydown Wardrobe Moving Box 36x21x10 1
U-Haul Medium Moving Box 18x16x16 40
U-Haul Shorty Wardrobe Moving Box 24x20x34 10
U-Haul Small Moving Box 16x12x12 154

The third donation on April 30th:

It consisted of 127 items, only because I didn't individually count all those sheets of packing paper I donated. The center planned to use them to wrap breakable items they sold. They were excited to be getting it.

Shoes - Athletic - Adult 1
Hats & Caps - Baseball Caps - Adult 12
Shoes - Casual - Adult 2
Shoes - Casual - Adult 1
Shoes - Dress - Adult 2
Boots - Fashion - Adult 1
Boots - Fashion - Adult 1
Winter Scarves - Adult 2
Banana Hanger 2
Bread Pans - Bread Tube 1
Children's - Hardcover 1
Children's - Hardcover 2
Children's - Softcover 1
Children's - Softcover 5
Children's - Softcover 1
Indoor - Lamps - Desk 1
Indoor - Lamps - Desk 1
Dessert Plate 3
Fabric Wall Hanging 2
File Box 1
Glass Tumbler 1
Handheld Game 4
Hardcover 1
Hardcover 5
Ice Bucket 1
Keyboard 2
Measuring Spoons (Set) 1
Pencil Case 1
Picture Frame 2
Candle Holders - Pillar 2
Placemats (Set) 1
Plastic Storage Container 3
10-999 Piece 1
Sheets (Individual) - Flat - Queen 1
Softcover 5
Statue/Figurine 1
Plastic Storage Drawers 1
Table Runner 1
Textbook 1
Trivet 1
Sheets (Individual) - Flat - Twin 1
VHS 3
VHS 1
Wooden Wall Shelf 2
Shoes - Athletic - Youth 1
Youth 1
Boots - Fashion - Youth 1
3 Ring Binder 3
Auto Seat Backpack 1
Brushed Nickel Interior Door Knob 1
Build-a-Bear pjs and slippers 1
Closet Dehumidifier Packs 3
DVD-Video-CD Wooden Storage Tower 1
Design and Drill 1
Egg Boiler-Cooker 1
Globe Light Bulb 2
Hello Kitty Plastic Case-Clipboard 1
Lexmark Inkjet Cartridge No.1 Unopened New 1
OTD Shoe Organizer 1
Oilcloth Playmat 1
Resin Holiday Tic Tac Toe 1
Snowflake Wreath Hanger nwt 2
Snowmen Oblong Decorative Tray 1
U-Haul Large mirror box - 48 x 4 x 33 2
U-Haul Mirror box - 37 x 4 x 27 5
U-Haul Packing Paper 8
White Wreath Hanger nwt 1

When I dropped these items off, I saw some of the boxes I dropped off two weeks earlier being used. Made me happy.

73 items that I threw away:

Broken Ikea Box 1
Undies 4
2008-2009 Planner never used 1
Giveaway book damaged in transit too badly to donate after reading 1
make-up items 14
miscellaneous clothing items torn or stained 52

This doesn't even count the socks with holes that I throw away (of the boys that seem like they come through every single wash!).That makes the April total 706 items! I'm only 24 items from being done, and I have more than that listed on ebay right now.

I've already entered $2,760.87 in deductions using ItsDeductible for an estimated 2010 tax deduction of $703. I did some copying and pasting of my list from there to here of my items. I did not type all these in here.

The best part of clearing out this clutter is what we found. Caboose lost a video game back in January. It's been missing since then, and we've looked in literally every corner of our entire house and vehicle for it. He's been very upset about it, but there's nothing we could do and he's had to live with it. When I was going through the giveaway boxes in the garage, I took everything out to make a list of the items (for ItsDeductible) before I put them back in the box or into another one. His video game was at the very bottom of one of the large boxes. He's bad about sitting his game down as he walks through the garage and then goes to throw a ball for a minute before we leave or take a quick ride down the driveway on his scooter. He probably did something like that and it fell down inside the box.

I was able to talk to Caboose, my resident pack-rat, about how having a lot of unimportant or less important things around keeps us from being able to find what's really important to us. This week we are going to try and make a serious dent in his stuffed animal collection. It's pretty large, but he seems to be ready now.

Amy at The Finer Things in Life is hosting this great challenge. I've linked up here.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway before Wednesday the 5th at midnight!

$10.50 and a Bird

Do you happen to remember my lovely front door wreath I made for a mere $10.50?

It must have been the same time I was hanging this wreath outside, or literally the next day, robins started trying to build a nest on our porch light which hangs right by our front door. We realized it because we could see straw all over the ground outside the two windows that flank the door.

Those robins tried for a good three days to build that nest. We thought they finally succeeded, then they knocked it down the next day and decided on what they thought was better spot.

Can you see her perched up there? I'm assuming it's the her of the pair. I don't know if there are eggs there yet or not.

There was all the straw the first day they decided to put it there, and Hubby was not willing to move it. The next day they bombarded it and my door with mud. Hubby informed me it was for stability.

I'd really like to know what that bird did with the white gerbera that was right there in that spot. I'm guessing it might be a little stained by that mud if it's even still there.

You know that wreath is never going to be the same again.

You know it's pathetic when I'm miffed about a plastic white flower.

$10.50

I had to go to Wal-Mart Monday night.

I dread going there anymore. The one in Virginia had self check-out. This one doesn't, and there are never enough registers open. Ever.

I wandered just a little when I was looking for a curtain rod. I found a grapevine wreath for $2.50 and two floral swags that were originally $5.00 marked down to $4.00 each. The swags caught my eye because even though they have some purple flowers, there were white gerberas.

So for $10.50 I made what I think is a very spring-y wreath for my front door.

I think I could even leave it out all summer if I wanted to.

"Those Look Like Our Old Bedding," said Chatty as she walked by....aka Repurposing

Cleaning out my garage and my garage sale boxes has given me some ideas.

Last year, of course, we were happy that the third matching cabinet with the big hole cut out for an old and big-backed television didn't sell. I've referred back frequently to the post about the hole picture.

Now that I'm actually taking things that didn't sell last year to the one of the local charities, I'm making lists of the items for tax purposes. I'm going through the boxes, putting the items on a list, and putting them in a different box.

As I was doing this last week, I found two twin-sized bed skirts that are a chambray denim. They used to be on the girls' beds when we lived in Illinois. They had to have bunk beds due to the small room size in Virginia, and now we no longer have twin beds.

Usually the middle of bed skirts is a very thin white fabric and often tears easily. Ask me how my I know. But these bed skirts have fabric in the middle that is exactly like what hangs down on the sides.

I decided that if I cut off the skirts, I could use the middles and have two panels to use as draperies for Buddy's room. He only has one window.

I had to rip out two seams on three sides of each one. The second seam was the one that included the serging on the edges (I think that's what it's called), so I ended up with rough edges on those three sides.

I originally thought when I took out the seam that I'd have finished edges on all sides and then the one side with an original hem. I wasn't anticipating a second seam that combined the serged edges. It ended up taking me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to rip out all the seams.

I bought two packages of those drapery clips and kind of folded the unfinished edge over when I clipped them on. It was easy to do since there was a semi-permanent fold. I left the two sides unfinished and the bottom has the single edge that is hemmed.

You can't really tell the sides are unfinished since it's bunched, but it's okay with me if it shows a little anyway. This is my grass-stained knee baseball kid with big Fathead men all over his room.

This post is linked to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.

Finally Finished!

The project that wouldn't end has ended.

This is the best before picture I could find.

Unfortunately it doesn't show the knobs from the doors. But I did take pictures of them before I tossed them.

When I unscrewed them before I painted the doors, they came apart.

Being screwed on is what kept them together.

I wanted new door hardware anyway. I couldn't find anything with the small spread these had, so I patched up the holes and drilled new ones.

Paint and power tools all in one project. If it hadn't taken the better part of the week it might have been exciting.