Friday, August 31, 2012

Vintage Desk Makeover


I have always wanted to be a teacher. Most of my extended family are teachers. My great grandmother taught, for a year, in a one room school house before she got married.

When I was 8, we moved into a new house that had a giant slate chalkboard hanging in the basement.  I just about died and went to heaven, playing school teacher everyday after school.

And I've always wanted one of those desks where the chair is attached to the desk. Or the desk is attached to the chair. Either way, always wanted one, but could never find one.  Until, last summer.

My hubby, who knows me so well, was at the Salvation Army looking for something else (clearly I can't remember because it was instantly forgotten) when he knocks on the window to me.  I was waiting outside in the car with sleeping boys.

I look in and there he is holding up a vintage chair with a desk attached. A vintage desk with a chair attached. Which is it already?

I literally started clapping and jumping up and down.

When he finally got the clerk's attention to ask how much it was, do you know what she said?

$3.99!  Can you believe it? Besides a little rust it was in perfect condition.



We scooped that desk up so fast and ran home to paint it. Just a few Miner adjustments.

Now, it lives in my son's room. He does his homework there. He colors there. The paint has held up really well.  All I did was lightly sand the lacquered top and the rust on the metal. Then spray painted it 3 times.




Currently, I am looking for another one for boy #2. Anyone have a lead?


Happy Desk Hunting!

~Trina







Thursday, August 30, 2012

40 Years and Counting


A couple weeks ago, I heard Dr. Oz say that 40 is the official end of your youth and the beginning of the second half of your life. Talk about depressing.

Well, it just so happens that today is the 40th birthday of my best friend!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Love!  Here is to the birth of the second half of your life! We are not going to listen to the good doctor.




You are...generous, caring, funny, a fabulous father, an outstanding teacher, and a wonderful husband!

I hope that you will not need to make any Miner adjustments in the coming year!

Happy Birthday!



~Trina





Sunday, August 26, 2012

Tutorial: Kid's Responsibility Chart

Last week, I woke up in a cold sweat. As I recalled the nightmare I had, I realized it was about getting myself and the kids ready for school (three different schools) and out the door by 7:20 am. And although the hubs is a big help, it is still crazy!

You can imagine that I am starting to feel a little panicked about doing the same routine again this year. So I made a few Miner adjustments to my thinking and came up with a plan.

This is what I told the Little People...
  • We will pick out their clothes the night before.
  • They can come downstairs in the morning, after they are dressed. (Dirty little secret: Since they were babies we have let them get dressed in the living room while they watch TV. No more!)
  • They can watch TV after they are finished eating with shoes on, if there is time.
  • This is my part of the deal, I will get up earlier and be completely ready, including eating before I have to wake them. Oh, that is going to hurt...I like me some snuggly blankets and pillows.
Well, I can tell them the plan until I am blue in the face, "No more wire hangers!", but I need to put some responsibility on the these cutie's shoulders.


Hence, the point of this post. 

How to Make a Responsibility Chart


What you need:
A canvas
Scrapbook paper
Vinyl  for your Cricut or letter stickers
Small Command Hooks
Paint
Masking Tape
Clipart
Glue

  • First, paint the canvas.  Tape off where you want to paint the "frame". I lucked out that my paint was essentially ruined...too watery.  So I painted it on and then wiped it off with a paper towel.  It actually gave it a cool shadowy effect.

  • Cut out the kid's names onto vinyl with your Cricut (if I could marry it, well...). 
  •  Font used - Quicksand
  • Cut out 18 rectangles of scrapbook paper. These are 3 inches high.
  • Do a web search for all the clip art jobs (bed, shoes, toothbrush...) and print
  • Glue the pictures onto the rectangles. I laminated the cards to make them sturdier. If you can't, I would suggest using card-stock.
  • Punch a hole in the top of each card.
  • Place the Command hooks and labels on the canvas
  • Hang the cards.
For each thing that the boys do they turn a card over.  At the end of the day, if they have completed everything on their responsibility chart, they will earn a quarter. I know I shouldn't pay them for brushing their teeth or putting on their shoes, but it works for us. And they have other jobs that they do without being paid, so it evens out. Plus, I am trying to get them to do this without my nagging them.
  • There is a bonus job on their chart.  This is a once a week job that they can earn an extra quarter for if they do it. This is a freebie...their choice whether or not they do it.

All in all, the boys can earn $2.00 a week and hopefully, fingers crossed, I will earn some well deserved peace in the crazy morning rush.


Happy Responsibility!

~Trina

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Boy's Bathroom Makeover for under $25.00


Remember those free bathroom printables I made a couple weeks ago?  Well, I finally got around to printing them. But, putting them up in my current bathroom wouldn't look right. So I started searching for the perfect shower curtain. The one I have is nice, but it definitely isn't meant for rough and tumble little boys, who will someday grow into refined men (she hopes with all her might). 

This is what their bathroom usually looks like...




A mess! This was just after bath time. And that mess isn't even that bad.




This is what it looks like when it is clean. Not terrible, but there is too much brown, beige, tan, boring. It is time for a few Miner adjustments.

For less than $25.00, I did something about it...

Steps to a better boy's bathroom


First, I printed the bathroom art....technically FREE

Then I went to the dollar store (My grandma would be proud...I am a dollar store junkie) and got four 8x10 frames....$4.00

Unfortunately, they only came in black, so I had to go get some white spray paint...$3.59 (I feel like I am the mouse in If You Give A Mouse a Cookie).

Then I headed to Target and made a bee line to the bath department, averting my eyes from any other aisle that would call my name.

There, I found 2 curtains...both on sale! But, one was plastic and the other fabric. Quality matters. A difficult lesson I have learned after wasting a lot of money on crap things. Although you must be thinking,"but you bought your frames at the dollar store." It's the kid's bathroom...it's going to get wet in there. Dollar store frames are fine for the bathroom.  Let's move on. K?

The shower curtain was $14.89 and I love it. Bold, Nautical, All Boy!

After putting the room together the grand total for this makeover was $24.05 including tax.

Want to see how it turned out?
















What do you think? My boys love it. And it was so quick and easy! Maybe I will buy them some new towels...if they are good.


Happy Inexpensive Makeovers!

~Trina






Sunday, August 19, 2012

DIY Nightstand Makeover


A couple weeks ago I teased you all with this little post.  Well, my friends, after 2 coats of gray primer and 4 coats of paint we are finally finished with this $10 nightstand! This makeover was a lot of work.  Well, not really. It just took a long time to complete. So you can imagine that I haven't gotten around to the other painting project I was going to do this summer. That will have to wait.

Alright, without further ado...



At first AJ wanted a sailboat drawer pull.  Well, that was nearly impossible to find. They were either too expensive, came in packages of 5 or cheesy looking. So I showed him some pictures of sailboats/ anchors to paint one for him.  He liked the anchor best.  I love how decisive this little 4 year old is.  Once he makes his mind up there is no more talk of it.

He is now "Anchored for Life".





The paint is called Later Gator by Valspar Signature in semi-gloss.





From cutie to beauty! Total cost: $25 (nightstand and paint)

Next, I will be making a few Miner adjustments to the paint in his room and putting it all together. Stay tuned for that before and after!

Happy DIY!
~Trina





Wednesday, August 15, 2012


Daydream Believer

Project: Up-cycled Picket Fence Sign



Ever since I was a kid I would wake up on Saturdays and lay in bed staring into space for what seemed like hours.  

It would be 10am before I got up for the day.

What did I do for all that time?

You know...daydream, replay conversations, plan my To Do list.




Then when I had babies there wasn't any time for daydreaming under snugly blankets.

But time passes and now those babies are 7 and 5. 

They get up, come give me a quick kiss and then they are off to play and run and be boys.

So, lucky me...I have some of my daydreaming time back.




How to Make an Up-cycled Picket Fence Sign:

{1} Find some old weathered picket fence pieces.



{2} Have the hubs cut it to size. 
That is if you aren't terrified of the chop saw like me. Then by all means do it yourself.




{3} Cut the words out of sticky vinyl on your cricut.
{4} Put eye screws in  the top.
{5} Add wire.




Hanging Tip:

Hold a sewing pin to the wall to see where you want to hang the sign.
When you figure out the placement push it into the wall a little.
The pin will remind you where the nail goes and the little hole will get the nail started.





The end result?  Well, let's just say the hubs keeps talking about it every time he sees it.  I think he is in love!

Honestly, this Miner adjustment makes me swoon too!




These days I could daydream until 10 a.m., but it feels like a waste of the day.

Maybe I am growing up.

8 a.m. is the limit and when I walk into the bathroom there is a nice little reminder of why I should be up.

Rise and Shine

….be awesome.
...have a great day.
...give hugs and kisses.
...get things accomplished.

There will always be time for daydreaming next weekend!


{Trina}












Monday, August 13, 2012

Free Printable: Bathroom Art


I have a lot of time on my hands right now being summer vacation and all.  And it seems that I also have a bit of insomnia.  Needless to say I spend a good amount of time on Pinterest and playing with Picmonkey.

One late, late night last week I started thinking that the boys bathroom is pretty plain.  It needs some artwork or something framed.

So I created these.  All I need to do is print and frame them now. Then get a new shower curtain, new towels...oh boy, it never ends!











Disclosure: If you like them, you have my permission to repin them or save them to your computer to print for your personal use.  Right click on picture, save as.  They may not be sold. Thanks!

I am not quite sure how to do a download yet...if you know, I would love for you to leave me a comment about it.

I am working on some in girl colors.  Will get those up when I am finished. Enjoy!


Happy Decorating!
~Trina




This week I am partying at:

Friday, August 10, 2012

Our Week in Review:

Summer Vacation Rages On!


In the spirit of trying to get everything from our Summer Bucket List accomplished, we were busy this week! I think we even made some Miner adjustments to the list and added a couple adventures. 



We went to Howe Caverns on Monday.  At the beginning of the tour they had this mechanical guy (Lester Howe) telling us about the caverns.  He was kind of creepy, so it was nice to see the TV on the wall light up with these cute animations.


Do you know the difference between stalagtites and stalagmites?  I didn't either. Stalagtites are on the ceiling (hold tight to the ceiling) and stalagmites are on the floor (watch out, you might trip on them).  The active stalagtite is always on the ceiling above the stalagmite.


It seems that I rarely get a picture of me and the hubs and wouldn't you know it, B. hijacked it!


The Turtle.
He is done growing as his water source has been cut off.
He must be really cranky stuck there with no water!

Looks like something out of "Aliens".

On Wednesday we took our canoe to the lake. We went down a canal at the bottom of Tongue Mountain that opens up into the lake. What a glorious day! We couldn't have asked for better weather.  The only thing that could have made it perfect was if the boys sat still and didn't rock the boat!



Traffic Jam!


To finish off the week, we had a pizza making party and painted some bird houses. 



One last thing...I couldn't resist a sneak peak of our cutie project.


How are you doing with your summer bucket list?

Happy Adventures!
~Trina



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