french cane chairs

works in progress

52 week savings challenge!

I saw this going around on FB and then on Pinterest so I thought I would give it a go. Who doesn't need an extra $1,378.00!?!

source- stuckathomemom.com

We decided to up the ante and multiply by FOUR. A dollar for the parents and a dollar for each child. If we are faithful we should have  $5,512.00 come December and Hub's mandatory time off! We can take a real vacation or something!! WOOT!

I wanted a way to make sure we couldn't get to the money very easy so I chose an apple cider jug with a very small opening. I can just ease a quarter into it so shaking out money or trying to pull out dollars is not happening.

BONUS! Having a nice large glass container really helps to SEE the money building up. :) We are also adding in all spare change we find laying around... for non cash carrying people there sure is an abundance of it! LOL

So here we are... week TEN and I have only added to week EIGHT. I must fix that tomorrow.

Week number	From Date	To Date
Week 01	December 31, 2012	January 6, 2013
Week 02	January 7, 2013	January 13, 2013
Week 03	January 14, 2013	January 20, 2013
Week 04	January 21, 2013	January 27, 2013
Week 05	January 28, 2013	February 3, 2013
Week 06	February 4, 2013	February 10, 2013
Week 07	February 11, 2013	February 17, 2013
Week 08	February 18, 2013	February 24, 2013
Week 09	February 25, 2013	March 3, 2013
Week 10	March 4, 2013	March 10, 2013
Week 11	March 11, 2013	March 17, 2013
Week 12	March 18, 2013	March 24, 2013
Week 13	March 25, 2013	March 31, 2013
Week 14	April 1, 2013	April 7, 2013
Week 15	April 8, 2013	April 14, 2013
Week 16	April 15, 2013	April 21, 2013
Week 17	April 22, 2013	April 28, 2013
Week 18	April 29, 2013	May 5, 2013
Week 19	May 6, 2013	May 12, 2013
Week 20	May 13, 2013	May 19, 2013
Week 21	May 20, 2013	May 26, 2013
Week 22	May 27, 2013	June 2, 2013
Week 23	June 3, 2013	June 9, 2013
Week 24	June 10, 2013	June 16, 2013
Week 25	June 17, 2013	June 23, 2013
Week 26	June 24, 2013	June 30, 2013
Week 27	July 1, 2013	July 7, 2013
Week 28	July 8, 2013	July 14, 2013
Week 29	July 15, 2013	July 21, 2013
Week 30	July 22, 2013	July 28, 2013
Week 31	July 29, 2013	August 4, 2013
Week 32	August 5, 2013	August 11, 2013
Week 33	August 12, 2013	August 18, 2013
Week 34	August 19, 2013	August 25, 2013
Week 35	August 26, 2013	September 1, 2013
Week 36	September 2, 2013	September 8, 2013
Week 37	September 9, 2013	September 15, 2013
Week 38	September 16, 2013	September 22, 2013
Week 39	September 23, 2013	September 29, 2013
Week 40	September 30, 2013	October 6, 2013
Week 41	October 7, 2013	October 13, 2013
Week 42	October 14, 2013	October 20, 2013
Week 43	October 21, 2013	October 27, 2013
Week 44	October 28, 2013	November 3, 2013
Week 45	November 4, 2013	November 10, 2013
Week 46	November 11, 2013	November 17, 2013
Week 47	November 18, 2013	November 24, 2013
Week 48	November 25, 2013	December 1, 2013
Week 49	December 2, 2013	December 8, 2013
Week 50	December 9, 2013	December 15, 2013
Week 51	December 16, 2013	December 22, 2013
Week 52	December 23, 2013	December 29, 2013

Grandma called

and she wants her 1986 Country Blue laundry room back! When we moved in it had the country diamond flooring, lace curtains, and NO storage.. not sure if there were ducks... probably moved out with the owners

In true form I don't think I have any real before pics of the whole room. I cover my head in shame with the 2 I did find of the left side of the area. :-(

Don't judge me please

we found out the front loader was leaking so we threw everything to one side trying to get to the back of the machine.

the glare from the window and my lack of a real camera makes the Country Blue look not so grody

the floor was torn up by our first pup when we moved in.

I had ripped out all the plastic baseboards

hubs built the massive storage area, hung shelves, and reused kitchen cabinets for me!

so far I have :

pulled out the old sheet of flooring and added in new vinyl planks

finished painting the room

here you can see the old Country Blue with the new "10% Argos" walls

a bit better shot of the color change



what the paint looks like straight from the can

Of course I couldn't stop painting once I was going....

so right over the old Pumpkin Butter walls in what has become the catch all/dog crate room

I love this color!

We mixed it up for Oldest's room from left over Argos used in Bub's room

and 2 or 3 cans of "whatever white was left in the house including trim paint"

It changes colors based on light and accessories.

It can look --

silvery

blue gray

white

darker metal gray

When I go in for more paint the paint guys think I'm nuts...

"Hey lady, why are we custom matching WHITE?"

I can't wait to finish it off but I'm working on a little something else right now :)

how does my garden grow?

very well considering I kill everything green in my yard but weeds!

sugar snap peas

tomatoes and corn

summer squash

bush beans

all veggies are ORGANIC, NON GMO, HEIRLOOM seed started transplants growing in a square foot garden 4x8 of organic compost

SQ FT Gardening -take 1

We just started our first set of seeds! I bought a cool self-watering little seed house at Home Depot tonight and came home excited to finally get started on my garden. I am reading the "All New Square Foot Gardening" book by Mel Bartholomew to teach me all I need to know about "growing more in less space".

I went down to Waco this week and bought heirloom organic seeds at Homestead Heritage.

I picked up-

Roma tomatoes- for sauce canning

Beefstake tomatoes- for salads

Yellow Dent Corn- not a "sweet corn"

Summer Squash

Purple Hull Peas

Sugar Snap Peas

Black-eyed Peas

Butternut Squash

I did find my Purple Hull Peas full of weavals when I dropped the bag and it burst open releasing the little beasts. So I gathered up the dropped seeds and threw them and the bag's contents outside into the flower bed. Tomorrow I will turn them under and water... see if they survive since we are not out of frost/freeze danger yet.

Started today Feb 16-

black-eyed peas -36

sugar snap peas -36

I will try to get pics up tomorrow when the planting room is cleaned up and I have day light.

Are  you gardening this year?

If so

What are you planning to plant?

inspiration for the bathroom closet

picked up this at Borders last night

ignore Hubby's size 16 in the shot...he was taking the pics for me

 hmmm no closet door on the closet AND organized?!

:-)

but my "closet" is about double the depth so doing this make over will take some thinkin'

the closet and trim as of last night.

stripped and scraped twice.

since needs work before I can start to make things pretty

playing with paint

and stain :)

cream with "age" stain...would also sand and distress

can really see the age of this dresser in the pic

rubbed french blue over black (Bub loves)

technique needs worked on....

but that is what I get for 30 secs and using a hair dryer!

Minwax "Provincial 211"

looks good here, IRL it is showing EVERY. LITTLE. BIT. OF. PAINT. left and looking hazy

homemade options for pest control.

Things You"ll Need:
1 Teaspoon Boric Acid
1 Teaspoon Bleach
1 Teaspoon Ammonia or Window Cleaner
6 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Cups Super Hot Water
Cotton Balls
Resealable Disposable Type Container
Oatmeal or Grits

Boric Acid Solution - Combine a small amount of boric acid, sugar and hot water in a spray bottle and swirl mixing thoroughly. Boric Acid can be purchased at any discount retailer ,under the name Borax. Make sure to keep this away from pets or children as it is hazardous. This is a good option for long term control.

Bleach Solution - Combine a small amount of bleach with hot water in a spray bottle and swirl mixing thoroughly. Make sure to keep this away from pets or children as it is hazardous. This is a good option for long term control. Using the name brands, like Clorox, does not add any additional killing power.

Ammonia - Spray Window cleaner liberally and watch them stop in their tracks, dead. This is a good option for short term control. It will have to be reapplied to be effective as the ants appear.

Oatmeal or Grits - Leave a few pieces of instant oatmeal or grits (some sort of water absorbing food) out where the ants are appearing. Get it as close to the nest as possible. The ant will take it back to the nest and eat it. Once eaten the food expands essentially popping the bug. Nice visual huh? Cruel but effective and non toxic. This option has to be applied frequently.

Now, if you don't want to kill the ants, but just want to keep them away from a particular area like a garden etc place a few drops of peppermint essential oil in a spray bottle and fill with water. Spray this generously around the area but try to avoid the plants themselves. Good luck.

Mission Possible- week 1

Groceries and a few cleaning supplies- $185
Lunch out- $50 (guessing as Hubby paid)

So far I am doing good! I made a list and Hubby went grocery shopping. The only thing I know I will need to buy at the store is my breakfast shakes...for some reason those disappear really fast in this house and I am the only one that should be drinking them...hmmm

The groceries bought should last a week and it even included lunch, breakfast and snacks. The menu does include meats and veg that was left over from my last Costco trip. Otherwise I am sure it would have been higher.

Mission Possible: get a what?!

Hubby has given me a mission and should I chose to accept it there will be lots of cash to be reaped.

My mission... get a BUDGET and stick to it.
More specifically cut our grocery and dinners out bill way way down.

Last time we did a budget (FPU last spring) we found out we spend almost half of Hubby's pay check on these two things. In fact our eating out bill totaled more than our mortgage payment! OUCH.

So I will have my loving man create a run down of what we spent this month on groceries and dining out and post it later. Then I will try my darnest to make a grocery list that includes everything needed for the meals. This is my downfall really...tons of trips to the high priced market up the street cause "Hon, I am making tacos but I forgot to buy tortillas! Oh and while you are there grab cheese because we ate most of it already. And do you have to have salsa?! Might get that too!" This is usually followed the next day with another trip to the store because I bought 6 weeks of meat and veggies for dinners but nothing for lunch or breakfast! How do I forget those meals?! sigh

I was never taught how to make menus, shopping lists, or cook fast meals not from a box. I married a man who ate most of his dinners in restaurants growing up. It was a match made in heaven til the bank statements came and we actually LOOKED at them.

So if anyone has some websites to help me learn these new skills it would be awesome if you pass them along! It shouldn't be this hard to feed a family of five! *banging head*