Chair Challenge

So, there are lots of projects I would like to undertake around the house...but isn't that how it always is?

I talked to Sean about prioritizing projects (this was back in November - yikes.) and he was very quick to say that CHAIRS needed to be number one on our list.  In fact, he gave me an ultimatum of February 1st (yes, 2011) to have them all done by - I knew that wasn't feasible...so I said March 1st.  HA. 

Sadly, I still haven't made much progress.  Only the Bamboo Chairs have seen a little action.  I really do want to start checking some projects off the list, and all the chairs below should be at the top.  Now...if I can just focus and stop thinking about the new desk and free buffet! 

Here is what I need to do:

1.  Bamboo Chairs (6)
     a.  Determine which chairs need something on them fixed (some of the backs are loose, some of the seat braces are coming unglued, etc.)
     b.  Determine if I can fix, or if I need someone to help me.  Likely will need help. (UPDATE:  I was able to find this very honest and helpful handyman on CL, and he fixed all six chairs for me - he checked every joint/loose spot, fixed them all, sanded, primed, painted, and put two clear coats on them!)

     c.  Learn more about reupholstering chairs.
          i.  Price/buy new foam for seats (UPDATE: Still undecided on this...my foam is 1 inch thick, and I would upgrade to 1.5 inch foam - not sure that the 1/2 inch is really worth the cost and effort)
          ii.  Research/decide on stain protection, if any. (Thankfully, I already have the fabric)
     d.  Wash/iron fabric
     e.  Stain protect fabric
     d.  Recover seats

2.  Black and White Salvation Army Chairs (2)
I have had these since fall of 2008, and I still haven't changed them.  And, a leg broke off of one of them while in Boston...that isn't even fixed yet!  Yikes.
     a.  Call more furniture repair/upholstery places and decide where I will take the chair....or if it is worth fixing it.
     b.  Decide if I will paint chairs (would prefer this to save money), or if I will have them painted so that all the work can be done seamlessly at once.
     c.  Decide if I want to replace the foam in the cushions and have a better back pillow made that will mirror the shape of the chair better.
     d.  Pick fabric.
     e.  Execute!


3.  French Chairs from Scott's (2)
I re-did these chairs while in Georgia, but one of the pair was broken during this move.  In order to fix the chair properly, the chair needs to be taken apart before putting back together so that the joint can be cleaned/re-set.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, that means that the chairs will need to be re-upholstered.
     a.  Call more furniture repair/upholstery places and decide where I will take the chairs.
     b.  Decide how I want the wood painted (probably glossy white...but I seem to want ALL the chairs to be this way...I need to diversify)
     c.  Select a fabric.
     d.  Execute!

4.  Caned & tufted barrel chair (1)
     a.  Decide if I want to leave the current stain or paint.
     b.  Decide if I want to have reupholstered or leave alone for a while.
     c.  Have the chair evaluated as I think it might need a little gluing at some of the joints and a tightening of the seat.  Then have work done!
     d.  Pick a fabric
     e.  Execute!

I joined the revolution - iPhone App Review

I now own an iPhone.  I am one of the crazy people who stayed up until 3am on February 3rd to order my Verizon iPhone.  I was on pins and needles waiting for her to arrive, and I have been hooked since she did.  Since I stopped working, I have just had an old school cell phone which often got made fun of.  I am glad we stuck it out and waited for Verizon to come around.  I am now just trying to not get TOO addicted...this can do EVERYTHING...oh, I am probably telling you all something you already know :)

So, I thought I would list out some of my favorite apps that I have acquired thus far...

Shopping:
1.  CraigsPro+  ($1.99) - OH MY!!!!!!!!  This is the BEST.  I wish craigslist used this user interface.  It is so much better to look at and easy to use.  I adore this one.

2.  eBay (Free) - I used to feel like I shouldn't even bid on things on eBay anymore b/c I was usually not paying attention or was away from my computer at the end of an auction, and I would lose time and time again.  I hope, now that I am more connected, I might win more often.  Sean may disagree with me here :)

3.  Save Benjis ($1.99) - So, when buying my iPhone, I was hoping it could help me figure out the best price on an item when I am out and about.  When I see something in a store, I always am wondering if I can get it cheaper elsewhere.  This app is my new best friend!  Just hold up the barcode on the item you are interested in,  and the app will scan it and report back several places that have it cheaper!  You can also search for items by typing in if you don't have a barcode. 

3.  Amazon Price Check (Free) - I found this one before I learned about Save Benjis...same concept but will let you know if Amazon has it for cheaper!

4.  Amazon (Free) - I was hoping to figure out how to use the Universal Wish List function from the iPhone, but I haven't been successful in figuring that out yet.

Design:
1.  Benjamin Moore Color Capture (Free)- take a picture of anything, zoom in on the part of the picture where you like the color, and the app will show you the closest BM color.  I have already used this a couple of times, and I really like it.  There is also a Pantone app; however, it was $10, so I went for the free one :)

2.  Houzz (Free) - Great for looking at photos of all different rooms in the house for design inspiration...

3.  Dimensions ($1.99) - I really wanted my phone to work as a tape measure, but wasn't sure if it was possible.  I started looking into apps that can do this, and I found a few different ones.  I finally decided to give Dimensions a whirl, despite some of the bad reviews it got.  When I opened the app and it asked me to measure my foot, I thought, well, there goes my $1.99 down the drain.  But, as cumbersome as the tutorials/set up are, I think that it is going to be a super useful tool for me.  Bonus - it has a GPS like function, so if I am walking Paddy, I could just use that to figure out how far we went, what our pace was, etc. 

4.  What the Font (Free) - Oh my - you can take a picture of a font to identify it!  How fun!  I tested this three times, and it only got one out of three correct; however, it returned lots of results of fonts that look very similar to the one I had taken a picture of.

5.  SnapShop - I thought this sounded fun, but using it wasn't nearly as great as I thought it would be.  You can select furniture from a limited selection that the app has (they have some featured brands like Pier 1, CB2, etc.), and then you can take a picture of the room that you were looking to put this new piece in.  The piece is then placed in the room and you can move it around to see what it would look like.  I can see how this could be helpful in some situations; however, it wasn't quite as slick as I thought it might be.


Lists:
1.  Evernote (Free) - So, this is one that I am super excited about but haven't spent the time to figure out how powerful it is yet.  I have started putting my to do lists on here.  I have also used it to snap a picture of our parking spot designation - and then, you can tell it to find all notes within a mile, and it would have retrieved that picture!  Crazy.  I didn't get to try that part of the functionality because we remembered where our car was.  I did spend some time trying to figure out how to use their Web Clipper from the iPhone...which allows you to take screenshots on the iPhone and save them to Evernote.  So far, I have figured that I can press the round button on the face of the phone at the same time as the power button and it captures the shot.  

2.  Ziplist (Free) - awesome grocery list making app.  I love that it has check boxes that I can click when I have put the item in my cart....ahhhh, sweet lists.  It apparently can take pictures of barcodes as well - I haven't quite figured all that out - I may try it tomorrow at the commissary!

Other:
1.  Flashlight (Free) - turns your phone into a flashlight...or a crazy strobe light for that matter!

2.  Hipstamatic ($1.99) - takes awesome 'vintage' looking pictures - you can change out the types of film and the lens, and it looks like an old school camera, with the film window, the button that lights up when the flash is ready, etc.  Great stuff.

3.  Pandora (Free) - WHY am I just starting to use Pandora now?  I have heard about it for years - but have no clue why I didn't start using it earlier.  If you haven't used it, you just type in the name of an artist you like, and then it will play you songs that are 'similar' that it thinks you might like.  Fantastic. We have been just using my iPhone in our Logitech iPod speaker system now and it is so fun having this whole new world of songs!

 That's all I've got to share right now...I have a few others, but these are my favorites.  I haven't downloaded a good reader for all the blogs I love keeping up with but I hear that 'Reeder' is the best. 

Do you have any great apps you can share?? 

Dishwashing Detergent

Okay, this will be the last of my laundry posts for a while :)  So...I also made dishwashing detergent.  Making this was even more simple than the laundry detergent I made.

Here was the recipe I used from Frugally Green:

2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Baking Soda
4 small packets of sugar free lemonade Kool-Aid (you can also use 4 tablespoons of citric acid--if you can find it)
White Vinegar

Supplies:

Just measure out Borax and washing soda and pour into your container.  Empty the four packets of lemonade to the mixture.  Mix together and you are done!  The vinegar gets added to that rinse receptacle in the dishwasher...and that's it!

Lesson learned:
On the first load that I ran, the plastic dishes/cups came out with a white film on them.  I had read that others had this issue as well.  I was able to fix it by ensuring that I select the high temp wash cycle when I run the dishwasher. 

Craigslist Searching

Gosh,  I love craigslist.   I was realizing as I tried to bargain for this desk just how CHEAP it has made me.  I was able to get the desk for $40.  I was also recognizing that, for some reason, I seem to have much more patience with CL than most other things in my life.  I can see how it would drive some people crazy trying to sift through not-so-great photos, descriptions, etc.  Sort of how shopping for clothes at TJ Maxx usually feels to me.  I wish I had more patience for it...especially when I see friends in adorable things from there.  I guess it is that 'amazing find' that keeps you going and brings you back.  Or, at least, that is how CL is to me :)

Look at the pictures from the original post (you can see the white top here)...
I just try to picture this without the trash bag hanging from it, the broken fire alarm removed, and the box of diapers not sitting underneath it :)

 If I had to give a few CL searching tips, here is what I would say...

1.  If you are thinking about wanting to find some stuff on CL, make sure you have an app to retrieve pictures when you do your search.  I would hate CL if I didn't have one of these.

Krissy and I used to use Craiglook, but it was shut down.  That was a sad, sad day for us.  I recently stumbled across Search Tempest which seems like a great alternative.  This site has a better user interface than CL, and you can enter in how far you would travel to get the item you are looking for.  I find this to be an awesome feature because depending on how much I want the item usually determines how far I would travel.  Plus, that feature also helps search different CL areas all within one search.  For example, I usually search the Hudson Valley CL; however, we are close enough that I will also run searches on NYC.  This site will combine those two diff CL areas into one search result if both areas are within the mileage you selected.

On my iPhone (more to come on that), I am LOVING CraigsPro+!  Incredible app.

2.  Remember you can always ask for a better price.  The worst they can say is no.  When I first started buying off CL, I felt like I was getting such good deals that I never asked for a better deal.  Now I always do, and it has usually worked out in our favor.

3.  Some items go VERY QUICKLY.  So, if you really like something, get in touch with the seller right away.

I hope you enjoy CL as much as I do :)

Welcome, craigslist desk.

Say hello to my latest craigslist steal....

Love my new find.  I wanted to find another cheap desk so that I could create a work space in the basement.  I was tired of my Interior Design stuff completely taking over our dining room table for weeks at a time - or until we had company coming over :).

The only strange thing about the desk is that it has some sort of formica or veneer white top.  Seems random.  But, I planned to paint this anyway, so I wasn't too worried about it.  
I really love the delicate hardware.  I am wondering if I can somehow strip the paint off to get it to just have the brass look.  Need to research that...
Now I just need to decide how to paint it...I am leaning towards white to make it 'all purpose', but am contemplating a contrasting color on the bamboo detailing on the drawers?  I have never tried anything like that...

Laundry Experiment - Part 3

I have been asked some questions of why I would make my own laundry detergent...


First and foremost, I had heard about others doing it, and I figured it would be a fun and interesting project to try out.  Simple as that...

Secondly, it saves money.  I spent about $7 on the supplies and $10 for the glass jar which made about 10 batches of detergent.  I am hoping that this will be enough to last us several months.  I would spend more than that on one large bottle of Tide.  And...I felt like I was buying detergent a lot.  I had planned to figure out the cost per load, but knew I probably wouldn't be much good at following through on that.  So...I will refer to Trent, of Simple Dollar, who did a cost analysis who found that the homemade detergent cost 3 cents per load while using Tide costs about 30 cents.

Now, Mark would ask me, have you factored in the opportunity cost?  And, like Sean asked...does the 3 cents include your labor?  No...it doesn't include labor, but please reference the first reason I decided to try this...fun project.  I wanted to :)  And, it really didn't take much time at all, so yes, it was worth it to me to try this out.

Third, from what I have read, it is more environmentally friendly due to less chemicals than store bought detergent, less plastic bottles bought (sorry, dad!), etc.  I wish I knew more details to relay on this, but you wouldn't want to listen to me try to be scientific - trust me.

Will I keep using this in the long run?  Right now I would say...yes.  I will definitely tweak the recipe as I see fit i.e. using more soap, changing out the soap scent I use, etc.  I also made dishwashing detergent so I will post about that soon!

Make a wish...

I recently made some 'wish' tags for a friend's baby shower.  The shower was full of gorgeous details that the girls had lovingly put together.  I thought it was such a cute idea to leave a wish for the family.  They were then placed in a glass ginger jar for Beth to take home.  How fun!


The Laundry Experiment - Part 2

Below you will find my personal take on the Laundry Experiment so far...if anything changes along the way, I plan to do another post.  I have also included a few shots of my Laundry Area which I thought I could whip into a pretty space once I had these glass jars for all my laundry needs...but I am struggling to pull it together just right...

My Reviews:
Laundry Detergent
My soap seems to be working well so far...I have not specifically 'tested' stains; however, Borax advertises itself like Oxyclean, so I have some extra plain Borax left over that I plan to use on stains when needed.

The clothes have a faint clean smell - not nearly as strong as they would usually have with Tide.  I kind of miss the stronger smell.  We think we might be able to just put more bar soap in to add more scent.  April doubled the amount of soap in her recent batch, and she loves it, so I am planning to grate another few bars to add to mine...

As I said yesterday, the recipe said to use 1 tablespoon...April and I are both using 2 heaping tablespoons per load in our HE washers.

Fabric Softener
I read that you can use vinegar as a fabric softener, so I put some into my HE washer's spot for softener, and the clothes seem pretty soft after I dried them.  Vinegar seems to be my new best friend.  Check out this site for all the things that vinegar can do!

Dryer Sheets
So, there are again lots of ideas/recipes for making your own dryer sheets...the main ones that I read about were:

1.  Dip old cloths in liquid fabric softener, let it dry, and then throw that rag into the dryer, and you can apparently use these rags several times.
My verdict:  I personally didn't want to do this b/c I was trying to eliminate buying fabric softener.  If I am going to use store bought, I would just use my Bounce sheets.

2.  Make a mixture of water with ~10 drops of essential oil, and spray a few spritzes into the dryer before starting it up.
My verdict:  I tried this and didn't notice any lavender smell.  (I am wondering if the mixture is too diluted...maybe I need to add more essential oil)

3.  Take a cloth and put several drops of essential oil onto the cloth and throw that in with the clothes.
My verdict:  I tried this (used 10 drops of essential oil), and didn't notice any lavender smell.

4.  If the clothes aren't smelling like the essential oil after the dryer cycle, then it was suggested to spray some of the water/essential oil mixture into the dryer at the end of the cycle and air dry the clothes for 10-20 minutes.
My verdict:  I tried this with my spray mixture, and didn't notice any lavender smell.


Eliminating Static Cling
 1.  I read that you can throw a few sheets of tin foil into the dryer to help eliminate static cling - call me crazy but that makes me nervous. 

 
FINAL VERDICT:  I am still throwing a Bounce sheet or two in IF I don't use vinegar for a fabric softener.


My Laundry Area
Like I said earlier, I wish I could claim a beautiful area to go with the pretty jar, etc.  I have been working on it, but I just don't like it yet...but in an effort to keep it real, here is what it looks like now..

a few details...
If you are wondering what all the bottles are...on top of the dryer, I have a spray bottle with water/essential oil as well as this old kettle that I use as a watering can for my plants downstairs.  On the washer, the green bottle holds bleach, the clear bottle is white vinegar, the small ball jar is left over OxyClean and the enormous jar is my detergent (which, I still want to find a pretty spoon/scoop for!).
Keeping it real shot - Look at the ridiculous white Ikea panel (my go-to solution for just about everything) - I clearly didn't hang it straight and I would need several more of them to cover the entire wall.  One of these days, I am hoping that a better design/arrangement will hit me.  I thought that having these glass jars would make it easy to pull together an area that I liked, but I am really struggling with this one!  It is just one of those many things that didn't come together as I had envisioned...but I guess that is the beauty of the design process...it is ever-changing and evolving, right?

The Laundry Experiment - Part 1

Why not start another new project when I have lots of existing ones that I need to finish?   April and I were thinking it might be fun to attempt to make our own laundry detergent.  I checked in with my friend, Brandi, who has been doing it for a while, and she shared the recipe that she uses.  I started doing some research on it and my brain was filled with this whole new world of your own detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, dishwasher detergent, etc.  Here were my questions and what I found out...

My Questions:
I had some questions that I needed answered...
1.  Do these recipes work for High Efficiency machines?
HE machines just need to have low suds detergents, and the homemade recipes are 'low suds'.

2.  Does the soap smell good?
You control what the detergent smells like - you just select bars of soap that smell good to you!  Also, April and I think we could probably grate some additional soap into the mixture if we wanted the scent to be stronger.

3.  Does the soap actually clean clothes?
My clothes seem to be coming out clean.  The stubborn stains are still there, just like they would be when I was using Tide.  This guy did a comparison of stain fighting power with store bought vs. homemade detergent if you want to check it out.

4.  Can you make a liquid detergent?
Yes, there are lots of recipes for liquid detergent, and I thought I wanted to make liquid at first because that I what I always buy at the store; however, the powder one was easy to make and would be easier to store, so ultimately, I just went with powdered.

Making the Detergent:
Okay, so onto the making of the detergent.  First thing first...I must have a pretty glass jar.  I bought one...and it is WAY too big.  I have now made 10 batches of detergent and the jar *may* be half full.  Lesson learned for next time.

The recipe could not have been much easier...

--1 Cup Borax
--1 Cup Washing Soda (took me a few stores to find this, but I found it at the commissary - in the detergent aisle)
--1/2 Bar Grated Soap

Here were the supplies...

Steps:
1.  Grate the soap - first, I used the grater, and for subsequent batches, I used the food processor to get it done a little faster...

2.  Measure out the Borax and Washing Soda, dump it all into your container and mix it all together!
All mixed and ready to go!

The recipe calls for using one tablespoon per load, April and I have been using two heaping tablespoons...

Reviews of the Laundry Experiment to come!

Oh, Martha!

I had the good fortune to attend a taping of the Martha Stewart Show with 14 other West Point ladies on Wednesday.  I had never been to a taping of a show before, and to see how organized and efficient the whole process is was fascinating.  Plus...Martha's studio is like heaven on earth.  The greenhouse - swoon.  The kitchen with all the beautiful dishes and vases - jealous!  And the craft room - so organized - who could really have one like that?  It was PERFECT, just as you might suspect.  The staffers were all incredibly friendly to us (and I couldn't help but think how they all must just LOVE working for/with Martha!).


Can you believe I didn't bring my camera?  Argh.  And we were actually allowed to have them!  I made the bad assumption that we weren't (mental note - need to take time to sit down and read directions).  I snapped a few iPhone photos...

One of the beautiful images from the waiting room...

On set before taping starts...

So, we were all just trying to be excited audience members, and then, in the last segment, Martha recognized all the West Point Army Wives, and called us up on stage.  She chatted with us, let us ask her a question and then Krissy actually got to chat with her one on one when she asked if anyone had their own business!  To top it off, they gave us all quilts from her new line at Macy's!  WOW.  None of us knew that was going to happen - they definitely had the surprise factor, that is for sure.  It was incredibly kind of them to acknowledge us - we were just happy to be in the crowd - but this definitely made our day!

Their photographer sent us this picture...

The first thing I noticed about Martha when she came on stage were her shoes.  She was rocking these VERY tall gray suede heels...you go, Martha.  One of the girls asked her about the shoes, and Martha said they were from JCrew.  I think these may be the ones...

When we got up close to her, it was a somewhat surreal moment - right, girls?  I mean, to be so close to Martha, the legend?  And she is SO beautiful up close!  What a day for the memory books.  A huge thanks to Monique for organizing this wonderful day!

Purge

You know when you are in that mood to just clean out, reduce, simplify?  I have been on one of those kicks.  Sean and I have an obscene amount of keepsakes that we keep hauling around with us, and it just doesn't make sense.  When we returned home after Christmas, I decided I was going to start to tackle this project that always shows up on my list (for years now) and it never gets done.

I attempted it once in Boston, but clearly wasn't in the right frame of mind to do it.  I remember feeling like I wouldn't be able to get rid of enough pictures to make the endeavor worth the time.  Well, this time, I was ready.  I got rid of 22 photo albums and reduced our pictures to three wedding albums and two large boxes of photos, one for Sean, one for myself.

I just found some plain white photo boxes at Michaels, and they were buy one get one free, so only $2.50 each.  I went ahead and bought the four that they had, and got a raincheck for four more.   The boxes are pretty tiny, so I think Sean and I will need three each for all the photos we are saving.  More boxes than I was hoping to have, but much better than the 22 albums that were taking up lots of large Rubbermaid containers in the attic.

Friends have asked if I will regret anything that I got rid of.  I feel confident when I say no.  I just took way too many pictures back in the day. 

My strategy was basically to keep at least one picture from each event, get rid of poor quality photos, doubles, etc.  I took scrapbooks apart and kept only the pictures that I wanted.  It is funny how most of my printed pictures trail off in the last four years or so as I am HORRIBLE about printing digital photos.

It was a major undertaking for us, but it has me on a roll to continue down the purging/simplifying path.

Sean sent out a link the other day about a professional de-clutterer and how she would be worth paying $150/hour.  After my big purge, and after seeing how Sean has about 10 large boxes/trunks of keepsakes up in the attic, and I am think I am now down to two boxes, I think HE might be in need of the de-clutterer more than me!  He would absolutely disagree with the previous sentence :)

New York Books

When we were in the city last weekend, I found some NYC books that I have added to our wish list.  I thought it would be fun to amass a small collection while we are here...

Here are the ones on our wish list...
We saw this one when we went to the Guggenheim, and it looks like you can only buy it through their store, as it is a reprint.  It is a very cute story...looks like we will need to visit the Guggenheim again :)

 The ones that we have...

(this is Paddy's FAVORITE book right now.  He loves the page with the mule and the sports page)

And onto the coffee table books that I have scored...



Any other good New York books that we should add to our collection?

Going to the Big Apple....

We had a lovely day in the city last Saturday.  There were a few stores I was wanting to check out, so we had the morning free and we ventured into NYC.  We hit up Fish's Eddy, ABC Carpet & Home, MUJI, Pearl River, and Canvas.

From Fish's Eddy...

I could have taken a set of everything that they had home with me...amazing dishware here.


Cute chandelier made with what they so appropriately call "Kitchen Weapons" :)

We cruised through a Farmer's Market in Union Square...
Check out this yarn that one of the vendors had...made me wish (once again) I was better at knitting.  Haven and Jen - I need so much more help!

At Pearl River, they had the most amazing selection of printed blue bowls.  I can't believe I didn't snag a few of these while we were there...perfect for trinkets or for food!


We were pretty close to Canal Street at this point, so we figured we might as well check out the strip of vendors with all the knock off purses, etc.  It was pretty comical to be chased down the street by ladies who would not stop asking us if we wanted Louis, Chanels, etc.  I have seen people buy such cute things from NY street vendors, and I want to...I just need to have more patience, perhaps?

We had a lovely lunch in Little Italy and right before we left, we scored two dozen roses for 10 bucks...woo hoo.  Ahhh, it brings back memories of the Wholesale Florist in Columbus that I usually went to see every week :)

It made me want to continue to make trips to the city as often as we can.  It is such a blessing to be so close.  After a day focused on all places that I wanted to go, Sean will get 'his' city day on Sunday when we are going to see Duke vs. St. John's at Madison Square Garden with a high school friend and his wife!

Banana

Recently, I had the privilege of spending a wonderful girl's day in NYC with my mom and my aunt.  It included an informative bus tour, some walking/shopping on 5th Avenue, great dinner with our 'celebrity spotting' of Wes Moore, and the brilliant Broadway musical, Promises Promises (based on the old movie, which is totally worth seeing, The Apartment).

I loved every inch of the Banana Republic on 5th Ave...check out the art deco stairwell...

And the branch - OH MY, the branch.  I am a horrible accessorizer (can that be a word?), so I really don't have much at all that is worth displaying, but seeing this makes me want to display what I do have on a pretty branch...

The cutest mule you'll ever see.

My dad surprised all of us on Christmas morning with the cutest Army mule you will ever see (okay, besides Sean that is).
I wanted to get some better photos of the mule when we got home, but he suffered a little injury in one of the parades that Sean and Paddy were having with little Glory and the mule.  We will be attempting to fix him soon!

Here he is without his back legs...
I wish my dad could crank these out quickly - I bet there are lots of West Point families that would enjoy a cute mule like this one...

Speaking of mules, we went to the Army/Navy game on Saturday night, and Paddy would squeal so loudly every time he spotted the mule.  So cute. 

Paddy is one...decor

How pathetic is it that I am just posting this now?  It took me this long to have enough patience to upload these pics to blogger :)

In keeping with the 'keep cost down' theme, I really tried to use things that we already had for Paddy's 1st birthday (that was in NOVEMBER!)...

Banner Flags to drape on front of table - I cut the flags out of fabric scraps that I had and fabric glued them to this grosgrain ribbon. 

Large Balloons...I had ordered these for my maternity pictures, and then used another one for Paddy's photo shoot with Shea Halliburton.  I had three left.  I had planned to get them filled with helium, but because that is so expensive, I decided to copy an idea I had seen - probably on Party Perfect...and just string them across/above the food table.

Clipboards...I ordered 5x7 pics of some of my favorite pictures throughout the year from Walmart, and then taped them to cardstock and hung on the clipboards.


Flag toothpicks...I contemplated getting special sticks that would be longer than toothpicks, but decided that I couldn't beat free toothpicks and free fabric.  One night, I just sat down for a while and cut lots of fabric and then just fabric glued the pieces onto the toothpicks.  I would use these for the sausage cheese balls and carrot cake cupcakes.



Food tags...I designed these in PPT and then used double stick tape to stick these onto lollipop sticks.

Cake pop display...I needed a way to display the cake pops and the large chocolate covered marshmallows.  I wanted to have some on the food table and also have some cake pops near the door since these were pulling double duty...they were a dessert during the party, but they were also a 'favor'.  I ended up buying two 10 lb bags of sugar and filled my cylindrical hurricanes.  I picked sugar b/c I knew that I could use it after the party, so it wouldn't go to waste.



Splurge...I am such a straw girl.  I usually have one Diet Coke (usu. caff free) a day, and it is always with a straw.  I have been really wanting a reason to order these paper straws.  Since I had to pay the shipping, I figured I better get some blue, red and gray ones while I was at it :)


Games & Prizes - I have such fond memories of the little games that we would play at our birthday parties growing up.  My mom was a champ and took on the game responsibility and set up bozo buckets with the help of the Thompsons (thanks, again :)) as well as a clothes pin drop into a glass jar.  We were thankful that it was a beautiful day, so the older kids were able to be outside to play games.  I bought some gum and candy to match the color scheme.
 

 Party Hat - I wasn't very good at making this, but I just bought a sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper and added some ribbon to the top, and it stayed on for all of 2.2 seconds...


Happy 1st Birthday, Paddy Man - what a fun day!  Thanks again to my friend, Jennyjo, for snapping most of these pics!

Mirror, decided.

This poor mirror has been through so much...since the last post about the mirror, I have tried navy and finally landed on gold leafing it.

I sprayed some other mirrors gold this weekend, and I was disappointed with how they turned out, so I was nervous about gold leafing.  However, the finish/color/texture is so much different and better than the spray paint.

To gold leaf this, I first sanded the mirror.  Then, I applied a metal leafing adhesive.  I let it 'dry' for 45 minutes, and then it will be tacky...ready for the super delicate gold leaf sheets.  I applied the gold leaf...I would love to see an expert do this because I am clearly not one.  I had SO many spots to retouch.  Wine and some streaming Netflix movies helped :)  There were some spots that I had missed with the adhesive.  I went back over the missed spots with adhesive, let is 'dry' or get tacky, and then I applied more gold leaf.  Once I had finished the retouching, I applied two coats of sealer.  You can buy all these supplies at Michael's for less than $15.

I am enjoying the results...it is fun to have a finish that is different from my standard painting option. I think it brings a nice pop of color and a bit of glam, which I felt like the room needed.  


 So, here are the stages of the mirror again...

When it arrived in the mail...

Painted white and in the downstairs teeny bath where it just didn't look right...

Then, the mirror stayed white for a few more days and had a test drive in the living room.  I really liked the location, but the white mirror faded into the gray owl walls.

I had a small sample paint of Rich Navy by Glidden.  I did a horrible job, but slapped one thin coat of paint on the mirror to see if I might like navy.  I think this could be nice looking - but I already have too much going on in the room, as it is, so I opted to gold leaf.
And...here is the final verdict.  (At least until I get tired of it :))

this pictures makes it look brighter than it is in person...


Girl time

For Isabella's birthday, we decided it might be fun to have her over to hang out with us, have some girl time, and do something fun together.  We let her 'design' her own day from some suggestions we had, and she picked to have lunch with me, go to Michael's to pick out a craft, then have her friend over to our house to do the selected craft project, then have dinner and a sleepover with us.

It was so fun trying to get a few things ready to make the day feel special for Isabella.  She wanted brownies as her 'cake', so I just baked some brownies in cake pans and topped with ganache...

And set the table with my most feminine things - my mismatched teacups, delicate glasses that Krissy got me years and years ago, my silver candy server, and the napkin holders that hold fresh flowers (which I failed to get in time for the playdate!).
 
It was such a pleasure to have Isabella over for the day and have some great quality time with her - and A&T, too!  I mean what can be bad about a day with tacos for lunch, brownie cake in the afternoon, tacos again for dinner, and more brownie cake to follow?  We capped it off with the Crow family joining us for breakfast the next morning.  Fun times.  We feel so blessed to be at the same place as our dear friends.