You’ve got mail

Simple weekend projects have become my style. I am over tearing down walls and painting like my life depends on it – instead I am going to stick with the smaller projects. They are cheaper – and faster – and make smaller messes – and don’t require heavy lifting – yep small projects it is

Look how dirty that sucker is.

And that eagle… that eagle that stands out like a sore thumb.

Oh that eagle.

Besides the esthetics – there is nothing wrong with this mailbox so I couldn’t justify buying a new one. Instead I unscrewed it from the brick, cleaned it up, and went to town with some Satin Nickel spray paint

I gave thought to a funky color but couldn’t settle on one – I even thought white to match the light fixture but I had a feeling a white mailbox would look dingy in about 2 seconds flat.

So fresh and so clean and so… easy!

Now that eagle doesn’t stand out like Angelina’s right leg at the Oscars. Yehaw!

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The Month of Love–with a side of low calorie

As the month of love comes to an end (on Thursday – hello Leap Year!) I thought I would put together a list of my current loves for you. You’re hanging off the edge of your seat… I can tell.

These amazing cracker chips are 110 calories for TWENTY SEVEN! Keep in mind my beloved tortilla chips are 140 calories for THIRTEEN. Are they a cracker or a chip… nope just a cracker chip. Light and airy without that low calorie cardboard taste. LOVE

She's a sleeping beauty diva. When I look at her sleeping so sound and my heart skips a beat I wonder what I will be like when I have kids. There are only so many sleeping pictures you can take of kids without looking verrry creepy.

One more for the road.

Two pounds of the largest juiciest red strawberries for $5.00… in FEBRUARY – thank you Sam's for making snack time oh so enjoyable

Five can taco soup and freezable containers – this is how a single girl eats y’all – freezable meals only. Seriously though, at 200 calories a (generous) serving how could you go wrong with this tasty delight?

Add it on top of salad and you have got yourself the best taco salad in all the land. I do not kid.

So those are a slight few of my current (food) loves… and my diva cat…

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Potato Problems

Flood lights aren't exciting but they sure can make you feel safe and secure. Well, wouldn’t you know two of my flood lights in the back yard have gone out. Over the weekend I got a wild hair and decided that it was time to replace my flood lights with the ones I had bought and sought to replace when I moved in two months ago.

Changing a light bulb shouldn’t be hard. Or so I thought.

Unscrew the blub and BAM – glass shattering – the bulb broke in the socket.

There is this little known fact that using a potato to help unscrew a broken bulb does the trick..

.. except in this case.

I guess a flood light is too large and in charge for my little spud. So rather than replacing the blub I instead got a wasted potato and flood lights that are still sitting in their box ready to go to work.

Here is where you come in – how do I get the dang thing out? I have tried pliers – a towel – and even thought about taking down the entire thing all together but that proved to be a little more intensive than I thought.

So – what a girl to do??

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Needs some lovin’ {Craft Room}

You’ve seen the stripes and the chalkboard – how about some more craft room details?

I have been trying really hard as of late to get things out of closets – where they are all piled on top of each other – and instead put in their place. Because I love my craft room so much I decided that was the best closet to start with.

I had this cabinet in my dining room at my old apartment. It had all old red kitchen items with cute decorative plates and such – now it is taking on a new life as my storage system for all things crafty.

Piles of fabric – this makes my heart happy

Thread, yarn, needles, inspiration – what more could you ask for?

Wreaths are such a hard thing to store because most of the time they end up in a box or sorts under a bed. I love my wreaths and all their colors and the different seasons the represent, so I wanted to make sure and display them somehow. On top of the craft cabinet it is. Every once of me smiles to see the fullness and color.

This old flamingo used to hold my hair ties and bobby pins – now it holds thread, bobbins, and straight pins.

Sewing machine on an unfinished table with a doily runner – screams CREATE to me. The table and desk, both will receive a face lift in the near future. I love blank canvases but only for so long and these babies have been blank waaaaay too long.

 

Next on the craft room list: add a rug, put some inspiration on the walls, give the room some life with a little color, and refinish that desk and table… just a few things to do - riiiight

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Furry Diva Child

Meet Maggie.

When I was in college I did a speech over pet adoption and thus went to the local animal shelter for research. I left with a bunch of pamphlets on the importance of adoption and a orange furry thing.

That day in April of 2009 my heart was stolen by a four legged little girl. Little did I know she would be the biggest kitty diva ever – demanding to drink from the bathroom sink, insisting to snuggle as close as possible, and talking back… man can that kitty talk back.

The other day I interrupted my little divas afternoon nap by opening the curtains. Her eyes squinted shut as if to say “how dare you” but after getting acclimated to the day time sunshine my kitty girl quickly became a model.

I might be biased but that kid sure is cute!

She's a good little poser that one – but then again what diva isn't?!

Tomorrow I will give you a craft room tour – its far from finished but its starting to take some semblance of shape

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Love Notes

My grandpa was an amazing wood worker. He was creative and worked really well with his hands. Growing up he always made things from toy chests to helping fix my old coffee table.

He used to have this shop a hop skip and jump away from the house where him and my grandma retired. It was such a fun place to go escape to – the tools, the scrap wood, chalk board. There was this oversized chalk board that he would write his measurements on whilst working on a project. One day I decided to leave him a note on his chalk board – I was in fourth grade and writing on chalk boards was the bee’s knees.

A year ago this past December my grandpa passed away after a long hard fought battle with melanoma.

Over the holidays my grandma gave my cousins and I things of my grandpa’s that held meaning. When my aunt asked me to come with her outside I had no idea what was waiting for me.

Then she showed me the chalk board.

With the message untouched.

The chalk board (turns out its actually a solid piece of slate) had been moved from his old shop to his new shop and never got erased.

Talk about something that held/holds meaning. I couldn’t have been given anything more perfect.

Over the past weekend my dad hung it up for me in the craft room. I love that I now have a place for it in a room that I am able to create in just like he did in his shop.

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Storage Wars

Living in an older home poses some difficulties such as lack of insulation or creaking floors. In my house the biggest issue is lack of storage. And by lack I mean ZERO storage.

When I look for furniture I always make note of potential storage capabilities so when my dad was building my vanity adding side shelves for storage was a must.

Since moving in the shelves have housed hot rollers, make up bags, and nail polish – not so easy on the eyes.

Over the weekend I found some khaki bins at Target for $5 each and figured they would be perfect size for the bathroom shelves.

No one needs to see everything so these little babies help contain randoms while looking a tad more put together than my hot rollers ever could.

Lets be honest, khaki isn't really my color… I am currently thinking through all sorts of possibilities to give them a little pop. Paint? Stencil? Fabric? I guess we shall see.

Next on the storage list we have those little odds and ends that hang around on the countertops.

Q-tips, toothbrush, tooth paste, and make up brushes – all have a place of their own now.

 

The teal, navy, and silver metallic really make my heart go pitter patter. You know because bathroom storage can do that to you.

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