win, lose.

The win.

This sprinkler wire was a hassle every time I edged the lawn.

I had to lift the wire up with my foot 

while hopping along with the weed wacker at my side.

Ineffective.

To solve that annoying little dilemma,

I screwed little open eye bolts into the stucco and hung the wire up.

Ahhhhh.

The lose.

Here's our front door.

Here's a closer look at the threshold,

and yet a closer look.

As you can see, the black paint on the metal did not look so hot.

I very carefully taped everything off and started spraying.

It looked great!

Unfortunately... 

the new paint disagreed with the underside of the door,

and, even though it has been a month, 

the door sticks every.time.you.open.it.

What's worst...

the paint is scratching off.

Win some, lose some.

framed.

This mirror was pried off our hall bathroom wall a year ago.

Since then, it has been the full length mirror  

in the alcove outside of our bedroom.

It was time to give it more substance. 

I bought some 70% off scrap wood from Home Depot

and had them cut it to the approximate sizes I wanted.

I laid the boards out to get more exact measurements.

After trimming the ends down, 

I glued them together.

I never really know what I'm doing, 

so I use construction adhesive and nails to slap stuff together.

I was afraid all my hammering would crack the mirror,

so turned it upside down and glued anywhere and everywhere.

After letting the adhesive set overnight,

I had this:

My seams weren't perfect, 

but that's what you get with clearance wood 

and a craftswoman that doesn't know what she's doing.

I'm ok with the rough look though,

so I just sanded, painted (with watered-down grey paint),

clear coated, and called it good.

The mirror now looks like I paid $400 for it,

instead of the $10 it actually cost.

primrose.

Every spring, we enjoy a mini field of
pretty Mexican Primrose in our front yard.

I love them, except they are incredibly invasive.

This year, they spread 5 feet farther than I would prefer.

Also, after 2 months of blossoms, they turn into woody brown sticks.

Not so pretty for the remaining 10 months of the year.

I mowed the tops of them off last week and was left with this:

I have also fought with the weeds
in the back portion of the side yard for too long.

Something had to be done.

I weeded like a mad woman in the back,

and made a distinct separation of where I wanted
the Primrose to be contained in the front.

In an attempt to keep the weeds at bay and control the Primrose growth, 

I secured WeedBlock cloth.

Then came the fun part of hauling and spreading 19 heavy bags of wood chips.

I'm still sore.

I choose the two-tone look for a little bit of variety 

and to clearly mark where the Primrose should and shouldn't grow.

The little accordion wood fence was $2.50 from Home Dept.  

We'll see how long it lasts, but it's cute for now.

This is my first time using WeedBlock or wood chips.

Hope the combo does what it promises for discouraging weeds.

At least we'll have some curb appeal for a few months.

advent calendar.

These wooden ornaments were hand-me-downs from Eric's parents.

I love how cute they are, 

and I really wanted to use them in our Christmas decor.

I combined them with star hooks from my mom,

clear plastic wall hangers, and slips of red paper.

See the wall that separates our living room from our little kitchen?

Well, now it showcases our advent calendar.

Each slip of paper has an activity for us to accomplish

so we enjoy Christmas every day of December.

So far we have done things like read Luke 2, drink hot chocolate,

write each other Christmas notes, hang mistletoe, 

and decorate these adorable mini gingerbread houses together.

We stayed up until midnight working on them.

It was awesome.

front & back.

I bought this fabric from a local thrift shop.

It's the high quality $40/yd upholstery fabric you'd find at Joann's.

Mine cost $4.

In addition to the great price,

I recognized that both the front and back color scheme 

worked in with rooms I had.

I used the front of the fabric to reupholster this stubby stool.

I got it for $1 at a yard sale.

While disassembling it, 

I tried my best to save the decorative tacks,

but many of them were too old, worn, and rusted to keep.

The rest I put in a box to work some magic with later.

Here's how it turned out!

It works perfectly with the colors in the 

living room, dining room, and kitchen.

I left the legs as they were because I like the layers of chipping paint:

brown to black to white to wood.

I also like the contrast of the new fabric with old paint.

I used the back of the fabric on this next interesting project.

Remember the stencils I made for the guest room floor?

Well, I saved the inner portion of one of them.

I started out by gluing fluff onto the stencil.

Then, I put wrong sides together.

(I had just enough fabric)

 And, I basically upholstered the stuffed stencil.

I couldn't use a staple gun on this, so I hot glued every little section.

There were several fraying portions that needed attention,

so I brushed over all of them with Mod Podge 

and that seemed to seal them. 

Here's the finished product.

These are some of the items I've gathered for our Master Bedroom:

pillow from a thrift store - $1

lamp shade from a discount store - $6

turtle shell on major clearance from Target - $12

vase from a friend - $0

first aid cabinet from a yard sale - $1

It'll be a while until this room really gets worked on, 

but it's a start.

As you can see, the back of the fabric incorporates all the colors.

I'm not exactly sure how I'll use the upholstered stencil,

(wall hanging, part of a headboard detail, I dunno)

but it'll be a cool addition to the room wherever it ends up.

sun dress.

I had this little sun dress sitting in a box of keepsakes.

I wore it when I was a little girl.

My awesome mom made it.

Evidence of toddler play remained in a few spots,

so I gently hand washed it.

I thought I remembered a picture of me wearing it,  

so to my trusty Baby Book I went.

I found one!

In order to display this duo as I wanted,

I sprayed this old, cheap-o frame white.

I didn't have any white spray paint on hand, 

but I did have spray primer.  

That's how it remains.

Is that bad?

Anyway, apparently I wore the dress on my 3rd birthday!

My awesome mom also made that great Cookie Monster cake.

I also spray painted spray primed two clothes pins,

nailed them to the wall, 

and pinched the dress loops into them.

I guess the office wasn't totally complete after all.