Nursery Walls Redo

My son is five months old. I'm just now getting around to removing the wallpaper border and painting the nursery.

It's not really worth making it all cutesy since he will outgrow that kind of decor lickety split. Instead, here is the color scheme I have come up with. I've picked this color scheme because the tan and the green were already on the walls when I moved in eight years ago. Yes, I'm lazy. All I want to do is paint the area where the border was.

Painting stripes. Good times. I painted the brown stripe first (color chosen because I already had a quart of it in the basement). Of course, the color ran under the tape. Argh. And to make matters worse, the painters tape pulled up some of the green and tan original paint in several spots.

Plan B: Add blue stripes above and below the brown. Why blue? Because I had some dark blue paint, and I had leftover white paint from the kitchen cabinets. Dark blue plus white equals a nice light blue.

I went out and bought a different painters tape. This one is low adhesion and is rated to go over paint that isn't cured yet. We'll see how that goes. Keep your fingers crossed.

Also this time I am going to paint a clear coat under the blue. This way, the clear coat creates a bond with the tape so that the blue will not be able to seep underneath. I learned that little trick from Danielle Hirsch on HGTV. She's the bomb diggety painter.

I'll keep you posted!

Green Thumb Thursday

When it comes to gardening, I've got two left feet. (And neither of them are green). I somehow managed to all but kill my hanging tomato plant.

Does anyone know why when I water it, the water just drains straight through the soil and lands on the plate underneath? I think that is why it's dying. It's not that I'm not watering it (though I admit that I probably don't water it as much as I should...), it's just that the water doesn't stay in the soil.


Here's my next question for you gardening gurus out there: why are my green peppers turning brown?




And other question: are Japanese long eggplants supposed to be white? Will it turn purple later, or do I have a prize-winning albino eggplant on my hands?


Finally. Something is growing normally. These two tomato plants are thriving. *Knocks on wood*


This is my Dusty Eggplant. He's purple. And tiny. Look closely- he's there.

This is how I know Hubby Loves Me

These little black plastic thingies originally held my husband's ammo (he's a gun enthusiast). He gave them to me the other day and said that he didn't want to throw them away because he thought I might be able to do something with them. He knows me so well. Most women swoon over a man who brings them flowers; I swoon for recycled craftables. Love ya babe!

So what should I make with these? They remind me of those things you'd see in a forensic lab where they put the little vials for DNA testing. Yes, I've been watching too much "Crime 360" and "The First 48."

Edward Scissorhands Paid Me a Visit

What else would explain this? I woke up to find the fitted sheet on my side of the bed was all slashed up. Either Edward was in my bedroom last night or I have the sharpest toe nails E.V.E.R. These sheets were maybe about ten years old; I got them at a K-mart Going-Out-of-Business sale back in college. I think they were two bucks. I'd say I got my money out of them.

The plus side: I now have lots of blue fabric to add to my stash! I think I'll save the material and make some lounge pants for Joel when he's a little older. He doesn't do much lounging right now. (Oh wait, that's all he does).

P. S. I just ran across this tutorial for sewing your own sheets. The weird thing is, I wasn't even looking for a tute on sewing my own fitted sheet. I'm planning on just making do because we still do have two queen fitted sheets. I'd like to say that I'm stoked about the possibility of sewing my own sheets, however sadly, I am not. I just have not been in a sewy mood lately. I've done some alterations on some clothes and still have some left to do (shorten straps on a thrifted tank top, sew the seam closed on a Gap Clearance Center tank top, etc) but I'm just not in the groove. Please send some inspiration this way if you have extra to give!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

A friend of mine paid to have her son's third birthday photos taken, and in one of them, the photographer had him hold a little number "3." It was a really cute idea, and I told her that I would have to find a number "1" for Joel to hold when he turns one.

Well guess what! I went thrifting a few hours later, and lo and behold, there was a wooden number one for 19c !!!

I got some other things too, including a LeBron James jersey for Joel for 90c and a floral painting for $1.91 that will fit in nicely in the sunroom. I'm on the lookout for some Robeez shoes however I haven't found any (yet). I did, however, find some size 2M (does that stand for "medium" ??) brown Gerber shoes with little Jeeps on the side. They don't fit him yet but will in the future. They sure are cute! I exceeded my fifty cent limit ($3.60, yikes!) but I figure shoes and coats don't count, right?

At the checkout, I learned that Salvation Army gives teachers a 10% discount. Woot, woot!! Why has none of the cashiers ever told me this before?!?!!

And one more nice thing happened today: T-3 emailed me a recipe for an upside down cake using plums and blueberries. I had just been thinking to myself that I needed to use up the plums in the fridge, and BAM! Along came that email. I will omit the blueberries and go heavy on the plums. Hopefully I will make that tomorrow.

It's like the stars were in alignment today. I hope your day was a good one too!

Hebron, Kentucky or Bust and a stupid criminal

If you are ever in or near Cincinnati, Ohio, do me a favor and check out the Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic Clearance Center. It's not like other outlets. Gap does have outlet centers across the country, however those aren't real outlets. Gap actually makes a specific line of clothes to be sold at those outlets. They do not sell true clearance items in those outlets. In Hebron, Kentucky, however they do.

This is my husband's last week of work, so we wanted to make the trek down to the clearance center while we still get the employee discount (an additional 30% off already low, low prices). We loaded up the car, filled up the tank, and headed out for a shopping dream come true.

I got Old Navy sunglasses for 99c a pair. I bought five pairs. (Of the exact same pair of sunglasses, I might add). I am hard on my sunglasses, so I figure if I keep four pairs in reserves, I might make it to next year before I have to buy another pair.

Ladies' underwear for 49c apiece. Baby/Toddler pajamas separates for 49c apiece. Tank tops for $1.99. Jeans for $4.99 to $9.99. Capris for $4.99. Ok, so some of these prices aren't that great. $9.99 is a little on the high end, but if you were to buy a pair of Gap or Banana Republic jeans new, you're going to fork over a pretty penny.

In other frugal shopping news, some thrifting trips lately have yielded a new roll of Winnie the Pooh wrapping paper for 50c, a plastic thingie to make popsicles for 59c, a vintage red handled rolling pin for 99c (yes, I do need another one, ok?!), and of course some half-off clothes for Joel and I.

While we were at the last thrift store checking out, an employee came up to the register and said that they had just received a mysterious phone call. The caller asked if the store had an armed security guard, to which the employee responded that no they did not, and then the caller hung up.

Um, I think that Salvation Army is about to be robbed. Seriously, how low do you have to go to rob a Salvation Army?!

Save Money on Photography

I cannot believe it has been a week since I last posted. Much of the past week has been spent (A) Figuring out my husband's Canon Rebel XT (B) Looking at professional photography portfolios to get ideas (C) Considering building one of these PVP pipe backdrop stands (D) Learning how to convert a photo to black-and-white except for one item which remains in color (E) All of the above.

Did you guess "E" ? Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

My mother-in-law really wants us to get "professional" photographs of Joel done. The problem is two-fold. One, I don't want to spend the money. Two, what she considers professional is not really professional. She wants me to take him to Sears, Target, etc. I consider someone who went to college to become a photographer a professional. Those people don't work at Sears. Those people also charge a lot of money (rightly so). So she's stuck with our home photography. People have commented on photographs we've taken and have said things about them being professionally done.... they're shocked when I tell them that we actually took them!
You can even add borders and/or text before printing them off at Walgreens, Meijer, etc. to make the photos look even cooler.

I'm still playing around with the Rebel XT. I'm experimenting with the AV setting. Smaller f numbers mean that the background gets blurred. It's a cool effect that I have not yet mastered. Hopefully I can get Joel out and get some good photos tomorrow using this new-fangled technique. Until then, here's a few photos that look (somewhat) professional.