I can’t sing.  I can’t dance.  I can’t play any musical instruments (despite the fact that I took piano lessons for 6 years, but that’s besides the point).  One talent that I do have is taking things that are not great – sometimes even meant for trash- and turning them into things that make our house a home.

My husband and I are committed to living on a pretty tight budget so that doesn’t always leave money for decorating so I’ve had to become pretty creative and resourceful.  One of my bigger feats was lugging four dining room chairs that were set out for bulk trash pick up across a big play ground to my car and home.  You can read more about that here.

Once I got them home I asked Hubs to refinish them for me.  We have a very common butcher block dining room table that we bought at a garage sale when we first got married (which we’re planning on refinishing too).  I didn’t like 2 of the chairs that came with the table so we chunked them and built our own benches- on casters. Trouble is one of the benches is really really hard to move.  It’s been like that for years.  When I saw those chairs I knew that they were the answer to my problem.  I could replace the 2 chairs that we currently had and take out the bench and use all four of the chairs that I recovered.

Here’s the before and after:

I’m not going to lie.  If I had unlimited resources that’s not the chair I would pick out in a furniture store, but if it looks 100% better than what we currently have so it works for me.

Next up we have our master bedroom.  We had a huge white dresser that I had had since high school.  The thing was probably 15 years old.  When we moved into our house I painted it white (it was a murky brown color) and swapped out the hardware so it looked decent, but it was just too big for our room.  I saw this picture in a magazine and wanted to see if I could copy it with furniture we already had.

I feel like I came pretty close.  I still need to buy some glass knobs for the smaller dresser, but I’m happy with how it turned out.  I also decided to do my nightstand while I was at it:

And yes the ugly lamp is on my to-do list.  I saw one at Target that I really like, but it’s $50 so I’m waiting for it to go on clearance. 

The last project that I want to share if for those of you out there who think that you can’t do this sort of thing.  Start small.  Really small.  I found these frames (there were two) at a garage sale and knew that they’d be perfect for my kid’s rooms.

I spray painted them with left over paint from previous projects, put the mats back in with pictures of my kids with their friends and now they’re hanging up in their rooms.

Garage sales, second-hand stores, flea markets, craigslist are great places to start looking for those little treasures that can really turn your house into a home.  If you need help find some frugal decorating blogs (they’re a lot of very talented women out there) to help hone your eye and expand your mind as to what’s possible.

I have a confession to make.  For the last 3 weeks I have not shampooed my hair.  I decided to try something different I saw on one of my favorite blogs- Simple Mom.  She said that she gave up “poo” for baking soda and water and apple cider vinegar and water (conditioner). 

She gave a list of reasons why- and I was all about it.  I was totally on board.

For the first week or so it was fine.  My hair definitely didn’t feel silky and smooth, but it looked okay and my hair actually had a little more tooth to it because my hair is normally really fine.  It was nice not to have to use product to get it to do- well – anything.  This is my hair after 4 days of no shampoo:

Two weeks in I was starting to think that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.  My hair was starting to look a little more grungy and it just didn’t feel good at all.

Now I’m at about three weeks in and I had to wash my hair with shampoo.  I know that it takes 2-4 weeks to get your hair acclimated, but my vanity just can’t take it any longer.  If I could wear baseball caps to church and stuff like that I might try ot hang on another week, but the fact is I’m just really not liking my hair at all and since there’s a quick and easy fix I’m taking it.

I should probably address my non-blogging lately.  Nothing’s going on – I’m fine.  I’ve just been bored and uninspired and needed a little break.  I’m going to try to do 2-3 posts a week and see what happens.

  I usually have half a dozen projects around the house that I really want to get done.  I used to blame the fact that I couldn’t do anything because my kids were always around, but I can’t use that excuse anymore because they’re in school now.

My girls only go a few days a week, but after rambling around a few hours today I saw that Melissa at The Inspired Room is holding a Procrastinator’s Party and that’s just the jumpstart that I need to get some stuff done. 

I’m not going to get all wild and crazy.  If I finish one project I’ll be happy- I might tackle two, but we’ll just see. 

The thing that I really want to do is paint this dresser:

I know it looks so good at the top of our stairs holding all of the junk that doesn’t have a home.  Including snacks for my son’s Kindergarten class that I don’t have to take until November. 

My plan is to move the dresser into the master bedroom and I’m going for this look:

My son has a dresser in his room that looks similar to the taller dresser.  I’ll just  take it from his room move it to our room and find something else to hold his clothes. 

And if I get adventurous I’ll also tackle the nightstand while I”m at it:

If nothing else it might motivate me to replace/change the hideous lamp I’ve had for way way too long.

I’ve already got the dresser primed as I type this post up so it might just get done!  I have two weeks to finish so stay tuned.

  I don’t have a problem getting older.  At least I didn’t think that I did until two incidents in the past two weeks which makes me think that maybe I’m past my prime.

Incident #1:

I was doing our weekly shopping at Kroger a few weeks ago and picked up a bottle of wine for a recipe I wanted to try.

(Side note- this is where my lack of culinary knowledge comes in.  The recipe calls for white wine so I went to the wine section and got the cheapest bottle they had.  The very next week I was getting balsamic vinegar and saw that they actually make wine that’s specifically for cooking.  Y’all know that I’m too cheap to throw away a perfectly good bottle of wine and I don’t drink wine so it will be used in the recipe and we’ll just hope for the best).

I went to pay for my groceries and saw that the bottle of wine was coming up to be scanned so I got out my drivers license.  I mean- he was wearing the button that says that they card everyone under thirty and surely I look like I’m 30 or under right?  Nope – apparently not.  He just keyed in some override that means- this lady is way over 30 and I don’t need to key in her birth date because I’m sure that she was born before electricity was invented so I can override this purchase.

(Another side note- to all of you grocery cashiers that read my blog- all none of you.  Throw a girl a bone.  If the woman isn’t a member of AARP- go ahead and card her and make her day.  I’m just sayin’.)

I admit I was a little disappointed about not being carded, but consoled myself that he was probably half blind and just couldn’t tell how young I really look.

Fast forward to last night.  I have a very part time job where I work childcare for a local church.  I got called in last minute last night and ended up working with a 16 year old girl and another woman who I’ve never met.  We were talking and the other woman (who’s older than me, but I won’t guesstimate her age because I have no idea how old she is- I just know that she’s several years older than me) asked the 16 year old if I was her mom!!!!!!!

Seriously- I almost started crying right there.  Who knew that I was so vain, but apparently I am.  I told her that- no I was not her mom and the older woman said that it was because we look a like.  16 year old has blue eyes and red hair- and doesn’t look anything like me.

I mean technically- yes I could be her mom, but I don’t think that the woman was thinking I had her at 16.  I think that she thought I was much older than I am (32 for anyone that doesn’t know).

I’m thinking that maybe I should have saved all of the money I spent on Weight Watchers and just got a face lift.

  If you’re a reader here you’ll remember that a few weeks ago I finally reached my Weight Watchers goal- and maintained my weight for six weeks therefore becoming a Lifetime Member.  The only thing I have to do is stay two pounds over or under my goal weight and I can attend as many meetings as I want for free forever.

If I’m more than two pounds above or below my goal weight I have to pay weekly until I get back to may goal weight range.  Problem I’m having is I’ve been hanging out about 4 pounds below my goal weight (which is 164) and I just can’t seem to gain enough weight to be within my goal range. 

Okay- I know – I’ve become one of those whiny women, “I just can’t gain weight.”  The thing is I think that my body is pretty comfortable around 160ish and I hate to try to gain 2-4 pounds just to stay within my goal range if my body is happier at 160.

So I may just go down as the shortest Lifetime Member in Weight Watchers history.  Having said that even if I don’t get to attend meetings I still plan on counting points and tracking because that’s the only way I’ll really be able to keep it off.

Now if I just happen to be in my range I’ll go up and weigh in so that I can maintain my membership as long as possible (since I only have to weigh in once a month)- if not my membership will lapse and I’ll got it on my own.