The Girl's Bedroom

So here is what I have been working on. I love to decorate and now that I have become an official, stay at home mom (sahm), it has given me the opportunity to actually get some stuff done and to get my house to look like I want it to! Yeah!! It still has a long way to go...baby steps. Being a SAHM means that you have no paying job-Yeah!--not really--which means everything  I decorate with has to be done on the cheap. If there is something that I find that I REALLY need want, then I need to either figure out how to make it or I need to save up for it. And quiet frankly saving these days takes a long darn time.

 So let's get started. I had mentioned before that the girl's (the twins) wanted a little bit more grown up room. Their room use to be pink on all 3 walls and 1 wall was a light yellow and light green stripe. Very cute but tooooo babyISH for them now. You know when you are 8 you need to be grown up. We started by painting the walls a very nice purple/lilac color. I laid down a tan rug that I already had--no need to purchase anything new.

Next I added curtains. They are a fab sheer lilac with some great girly swirls. I got these darlings at a garage sale for the great price of $2.00!! Can't beat that!  Art work for the walls....

The upper picture is framed scrapbook paper. I got the frame at a garage sale for .10--yep one dime--it was brown and a tad beat up. Out comes the trusty white spray paint. The 3 picture frames were also purchased at a garage sale about 2 years ago. I think I paid $2.00 for them. The "paper" inside them are actually gift bags that I had saved from past birthdays. I just cut them up and framed them.

Above are my before and after frames. I bought these babies at the local Family Pathways Thrift Store. All 3 of them cost me $3.00. Two of them were a peachy color and then other had some great detail to it. Once again I got out the spray paint. I painted them all white. The girls are getting into the whole peace and love thing. Instead of adding a head board like originaly planned on doing I decided to frame some "art" for above their bed. The "art" is actually 3 school folders that I purchased at Wal-Mart for $1.50 on clearance. I just cut them in half, used some 3M poster stick on tabs and stuck them to the wall. I then framed them with my new fun picture frames.  The chandelier above the bed was also purchased at Wal-Mart 3 years ago for $7.00 on clearance. It was origianlly hanging in the hallway outside the girl's bedroom. The bed sheets are a fantastic purple and pink polka dots--bought at Target-once again on clearance for $12.00. I LOVE polka dots!!

Stay with me--I am almost done.

The girls made these ceramic plates at a birthday party a couple years ago. What a great way to preserve them and a super cool way to add something personal to their bedroom. I bought 2 shadow boxes at Wal-Mart. They were each $10.00--a little spendy--but not to bad--I couldn't wait to get them done and I didn't want to wait for them to go an clearance. You might be able to get them a little cheaper at Michaels but I wanted them NOW!! The frames were originally black--painted them white. I backed them with a brown scrapbook paper. I used a super strong scrapbook adhesive tape. It is the kind that you have to cut and then pull the red strip of paper off of. You can purchase at any place that sells scrapbook supplies. This will give the paper and the plate great hold. I then used Gorilla Glue and I glued the plates right onto the paper. Super strong hold!!

Next the rest of the bed...



I should have picked up the penny before I took the picture--oops!!

I wanted to add a bed skirt but I didn't want anything plain. I bought a simple brown bed skirt from Wal-Mart. It was $14.00--once again my impatientness ( I don't think that is a word but it works) took over. No waiting or searching for anything on clearance. I had some purple ribbon from my scrapbooking stash. I used some fusible web and ironed it on--let me just say EASY and I think my new best friend (besides spray paint)!! I stitched on some cute buttons that I had. I think the whole thing cost me $17.00. 

The last thing I have done in the room....

Bench for the end of their bed (before)



Notice the markings?--yuck! there were dark spots and marker on the top





Here it is all painted up. I primed it first and then painted it a glossy white. It was a chest I picked up at a garage sale years ago. And I mean years-like maybe 5 or 6. I don't even remember how much I  paid for it. Maybe $10.00. Over the years it had gotten a little rough. The paint didn't cover exactly how I wanted it to. I think I should have maybe actually rolled some paint on for this project but it wasn't so bad that I feel the need to re-do it. The front panels are once again scrapbooking paper. One 12x12 sheet cut in half. I spray adehsived the back and stuck it on. 

If you noticed-I do alot of shopping at Wal-Mart (only because there really isn't any other options around here) and garage sales (because I LOVE IT) he-he and I hold onto alot of stuff. Maybe someday I will post pictures of our pole sheds--they are full of stuff!! I am getting better and getting rid of things though :0)

The only thing I think I have left to do for their room is paint their doors-both the entry to their bedroom and the closet door--of course it will be white and I need to paint a chalk board to hang on the front of the door so they can write KEEP OUT on it.  One kid's room down 2 more to go!! I can't wait to get started.

Cute little helper

In my quest to get organized my next BIG project is to tackle my scrapbooking room. It seems to get completely out of control so I need to try and get a handle on things in there. I mentioned in an earlier post that I have a complete downfall for magazines. Not only with the magz themselves but what's inside. As I look through them I tear out the pages. The pages that inspire me, projects I want to accomplish, scrapbook layouts that I need to try, scrapbook tools that I need to buy, pictures of my dream kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, porch...you get the idea. I think this all comes from having a creative mind. There are times that I NEED to create. I crave it.

To get things under control I am taking baby steps and those steps are starting with a cute little helper box I made. This is where I will be putting all of my crafting ideas.  I have 2 magazine holders that I will be putting all my scrapbook page layout ideas in and I will be making a 3-ring binder for all my house inspirations. So lets get to the cute little box. I don't have a big budget to craft with-really I have no crafting budget so anything I can find really really cheap is awesome. Which I think that is what crafting is all about.

Doug was finishing up a project on his dad's house and came across this nifty box. He said, "Will you take this to the trash for me?" "Ummm NO-I will take it right to my scrap room!" Here is what it started out as....

It is just a basic metal file box that was used for taxes. There was a very old label on the front that I tried to get off. I think I used some nail polish remover-which is NOT recommended on paint because after all it is paint and that is what nail polish remover-removes-DUH on my part. No worries though. I new I was going to cover it with paper so it will hide that blemish.  I then got out my trusty spray paint and painted away.

 Once the paint was dry I picked out some scrapbook paper that would coordinate with my room. I cut pieces to fit the front of the box. It was a little too white so I took some brown ink and "dirtied" up the paper. I then took a foam brush and painted on some Mod Podge. Next I took my first piece of paper and laid it on the wet Mod Podge and covered it with another layer of the glue. Be sure to use your fingers and smooth out all the air bubbles. Keep repeating with the remaining paper. I applied 3 coats of Mod Podge--letting each coat dry before applying the next.





I finished it off by tying a bunch of different cute ribbon to the handle! I love the way it turned out. File folders fit perfectly inside there. My next project for it will be to maybe coordinate the file folders with the box.



I am learning that organizing doesn't really have to be that hard and it definitely can be cute!!

Here's What's Workin

So, I have been talkin' in this blog mostly about the chaos I feel and the things that aren't working. But today I think I will mention something that is working. At least I hope it will be working. I posted a comment on FB the other day about how to feed my family. Most of the time there are 6 of us. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other weekend there are 8. Every day after school there are 6 girls and on the days mentioned above there are 7 kids. I was struggling with what to feed everybody. I can't believe how much kids eat when they are growing. Holy Moly Rocky!! Slow Down!!

I have come up with a solution at least for now. I have tried it for the past week and a half to 2 weeks. I have made a menu--duh!! What a simple idea.

Mondays~ I serve a hot dish
Tuesdays~ It is breakfast for dinner
Wednesdays~ Soup and sandwiches--which includes chili-stews-boiled dinner
Thursdays~ It is Italian Night
Fridays~ Fun dinners--pizza, hot dogs, burgers, tacos--you get the idea.
Saturdays~ Grab from the fridge (if there are any leftovers)
Sundays~ The day to cook the nice homemade meat and potato meals.

This has helped tremendously. It has helped me grocery shop, stick to a budget, and just to not feel so overwhelmed.  This is the main reason for trying this ~ the overwhelmed part. I have been trying to get things in order at our house for awhile now. So this is a step in the right direction!!

I try to stick to $50 to a week--which is actually possible!! I have been looking at the ads in the papers and planning meals around what is on sale. I have been looking and saving recipes off of different fast and easy websites-like Pillsbury and Kraft. It is also going to help me get to all those cookbooks that I have collected :0)--which that is a whole other subject!!

What works for you at meal time madness? I would love to have some other ideas to try out.

Birthdays are special-the story of Morgan

2 years ago today my last baby was born. Morgan Denay Wright came and entered our family. She is my last child. Which for some reason to me makes her extra special. Don't get me wrong, ALL my children are loved the same but she is different. I will never have another baby to hold, never have another little one to watch grow. So with her I pay extra attention to the things she does. I am much more observant as the way she grows and learns. She is the only child that I have gotten the opportunity to stay home with. I never thought I would like to be a stay at home mom and now I wish I could have done it with my 3 other girls too. Watching her discover is simply amazing.

She was born September 2nd surrounded by the people that love her. Mom, Dad, Auntie Tania (my sister) and Grandma Vicki (my Mom). Now that was an experience in itself. Normally I wouldn't have ANYONE in the delivery room accept for Daddy. Tania asked if she could come and be there because this was going to be the last baby born into our family for me and for Tania. Same with my Mom-her last grandchild. So why not!!

It was the day before school was to start, 2008. Hailey was complaining of an earache. So off the the ER we went. It was about 8pm. At that time I worked at the hospital that we were "visiting". The nurses and I were joking about when I was due. I said " I still have 2 wks left, but knowing me I will probably go into labor tonight, being tomorrow is the 1st day of school!" Low and behold my water broke!! Right there in the dang ER.  The ER doc came in to check out Hailey's ear and the nurses mentioned that my water had broke-he told me to get to OB right away--no way was I leaving my oldest daughter in the ER by herself. Besides this time was different--you see with all my other babies once my water broke contractions came on like wild fire. This time NOTHING!!

I called Doug and told him to pack a bag and that my freakin water broke--yes while we at the hospital--are you freakin kiddin me was the response I got--NOPE not kiddin! Called my sister, told her that she needed to come to the ER and sit with Hailey because they were making me go to OB. They called the rest.

And there we sat-nothing. No contractions, just dripping water. After hours of waiting around they made me get up and start walking. As I was out for my walk there was a HUGE gush of water. There was a second bag it broke all over the carpeting in the hospital. As I waddled my way back to my room and found my nurse I explained to her that my water broke again. Hmmmm....interesting. In the beginning of my pregnancy they thought that I was having another set of twins. Holy freakin jesus--2 sets of twins. There really is only so much a person can take. Well there were some complications in the beginning-there was still a baby but also an empty sac. Maybe this is the water that broke in the beginning.

After what seemed like and actually was hours of waiting, and a TON of potocin to get things going, 2 epidurals because the 1st one didn't take, our little Morgan was here!! Don't forget while she was trying to be born it was the 1st day of school. So in the mix of everything I had to have my sister get the girl's 1st day of school outfits on them, make sure there hair was done and get them off to school. I missed out--but to give myself a guilt break-I was kind of busy.

On to the after~she definitely did a number on her poor mommy. I started to hemorrhage. OB STAT-OB STAT is being called over the intercom. I remember laying in that bed and with the doctor over me and a nurse putting a cold rag on my head as I was trying to rip off my gown because I was so dang hot. The doctor was pulling things and sticking thing in and out of my body--for crying out loud I just had a baby--things are not feeling so well the way it is!!  2 bags of blood, and a bunch of other drugs later-things finally settled down. A couple extra days stay in the hospital and we were ready to go home. 

She fits into our family quiet nicely. She is the absolute joy of my life. She is a feisty little red head girl that loves to giggle and smile. She has a temper that can't be matched. She has the most pretty blue eyes and pale skin. She loves to play with her babies, gives the best hugs, and when she says, " I lub you momma" it melts my heart. She is my last child and I lub her to!!