the outdoors...

`check out some of our landscaping:

dresser re-do, part 1

i found a great idea on a blog that turns a dresser into a tv stand. perfect. we found this dresser at a thrift store for $39.99. when they were loading it up a drawer fell out & broke. so we got a $15 discount. again, gotta love a good deal.

heres a before picture:

the hubs "happily" agreed to do the handy work for this project by taking out the top 3 drawers and turning into an open shelf.

he then "happily" agreed to use this sucker to prime it:

well. the verdict. im not a fan of the spray gun. too much hassle. to set up the spray area with tarps, wearing masks & protective eye wear, figuring out the proper combination of paint & paint thinner and clean up, its probably not that much quicker than painting by hand. clearly its just our first project and time using this spray gun...buuuuuut i dont know if i wanna mess with using it again. heres what it looks like now, primed:

i admit, it looks pretty good in white. but we've got another color in mind. any guesses? this is another project im excited to see completed. and put it to use too. we'll keep you updated. 

my favorite project...

i alluded to my favorite part of the house so far. which also happens to be my favorite project. wanna see a picture? wanna see a picture that isnt full of random squares of newspapers taped to a wall???

its not 100% complete yet, we still have to fill some frames up, but i LOVE it. have i mentioned that before? if not, I LOVE IT! we have pictures of family, friends, scraps of old wallpaper that we painstakingly removed, art work, a mirror and 9 empty frames. a little bit of everything.

ps ill take any sort of recommendations on what to fill the frames up with.

no privacy here...

i dont even know how long we have been living without curtains in our living room and dining room. ill be honest, its been pretty awkward. since lots of people are out and about when the weather is nice, there is a lot of activity going on outside our living room on the road & sidewalks. sometimes it makes for some pretty AWKWARD eye contact with complete strangers.

besides people walking and biking ive also seen some other interesting things happening in the street. ive seen a funeral procession with classic cars & trucks. and just a few days ago i saw a van drive by really slowly. i peaked over to see if there was an accident or anything and nothing. about a minute later the van was followed by about 20 native americans riding horses. and i have no idea why.

anyways, back to the no curtain thing. its been a loooong time. of no privacy. but we are in the process of changing that. we ordered some blinds for the large living room window & bought fabric for that (just waiting for my seamstress to come back from california to get those done :) hehe)

but we were able to score some pre-made curtains for the dining room. especially since they were on sale (you know the hubs & i love a good deal) they were marked down from $25 a panel to $15. not too shabby. until we got up the register. they rang up for $5 a piece. no complaints there.

so now that you know what our dining room curtains look like, any guesses on colors for the living room? yes, i did say colors. as in more than one.

the dreaded panther picture...

thought you might like an update on that dreaded panther picture. you know, the one that is a constant disagreement between us?!? ya, it found a new home. and unfortunately it wasnt in the dumpster.

but its not in the house. so thats a blessing (for me) but the hubs is still happy because he gets to see it every day. when he is leaving for work. and coming home. thats cuz its in the garage. wahoo!

dont worry though. i get to look at something too on my way to work and at home. and again, im not too excited about it. but the hubs is, cuz he found it for free. enough said.

house update...

we have been a bit busy lately doing some more house projects and this picture pretty much sums it all up. well, sorta i guess.

we finally put the trim/baseboards back up and then put the chair rail back up too. it definitely looks a lot more put together.  dont you think?

and then the doors. we got some used 6 panel, solid core doors from restore. (a store where people can donate used housing items which are then resold with profits going to habitat for humanity) honestly i thought it would be a pretty easy & quick project. however i was proven wrong. which doesnt happen very often. hehe. anyways, it turns out measuring where the hinges go, the door knob and all that stuff was a wee bit more time consuming than i thought. oh well, end of story...after living without doors up for a few weeks, we finally have new ones hung up. and i really really really like em :)

and we can't forget my new favorite part of the house. maybe even more than our bedroom. those newspapers are placeholders for a large gallery/frame wall. we are still adding some last minute frames so ill try post a picture soon. but i really really really like it. the stuff in the frames are just meaningful things to us. pictures of friends, family, artwork and some other things. anyways...if anyone has some suggestions, we have a few empty frames yet...so let us know!

and last but not least...i tried a new recipe. apple cake. cake batter layered with layers of cinnamon sugar apples drizzled with a carmel mixture. delicious. and this is coming from someone who hates fruit. granted, it was surrounded in other unhealthy things (sugar) but still. i forgot to take a pic of the cake with the drizzle, so you are just left with the cake cooling.

weekend in wisconsin...

we had another jam-packed weekend in wi. the hubs was in a wedding of one of his friends (the first of 4 getting married this summer) it was good to be back in "Gods country" as im so often reminded. and to see the hubs' friends again.  we even got to hang out with this awesome couple.

they also recently just bought their own place & will be tying the knot too this summer. im pretty envious of their decorating choices!

the wedding on saturday was beautiful, and we had a lot of fun dancin the night away at the reception. they had delicious chocolate favors and a few different choices of cake. (can you tell i have a sweet tooth?!?!)

sunday was a pretty awesome day too. it was the day of emmas baptism. she was well behaved as usual, but i can already notice that shes getting bigger and becoming more awake/active. i cant wait to introduce her to all the fun things in life...reading, dessert, pop you know, the usual. (hopefully her parents wont reconsider having us as godparents!)
 

after the baptism we had a little celebration lunch with family. someone just HAD to take a pic of this platter. cuz you know you are in wi when you have a giant cheese platter apparently. i wont name names though.

after lunch we had to head back home to reality. work. this week im "lucky" to be on nights. (i dont really know why im lucky, im just trying to be positive.) so we havent gotten too much done around the house. but thats fine too. dont want to get burnt out too quickly right?!?!

NO white paint here!

THATS RIGHT! we painted something that WASNT white! but lets rewind and start from the beginning...

someone got a MUCH wanted & needed loa for memorial day. so what better way to celebrate not having to work than to paint for 10 hours?!? this girl was very determined. and very thankful her parents were up to the task of helping out too, even with such short notice. and let.me.tell.you. it looks so good. its very odd to not stare at a primed white wall anymore. the colors (wicker & barnwood) look awesome and it feels like SUCH a relief to have done. we painted the dining room, living room, main hallway and the entry area by the main door that doesnt get a lot of use.

we were thankfully able to borrow a very long extension ladder from our neighbor and im also thankful my mom isnt scared of heights.

we have yet to put up the chair rail here; thats why the line is crooked/doesnt meet

some of our next projects include installing our new doors and working on a new banister here to prevent people from falling. and of course curtains. and even a tv stand. that isnt starting out as a tv stand. dun. dun. dun. dun....hey---i gotta keep you coming back to check it out...or better yet...come visit :)