Mothers Day [late]

I love my mom so much! There are not enough words to describe how great my mom is, but this video says it all... I am who I am because of her (and my dad, but Father's day isn't until June). She has been there for me through everything! She has been so supportive throughout my life and I honestly have NO idea how she does it. she is so selfless, kind, honest, selfless, humble and strong. Did I mention she was selfless? She always is willing to help me, listen to me, talk with me, defend me, and so much more. I can't believe I got so lucky to be raised by her. Thanks mom, for all you do. You truly are AMAZING. You have been such a great example to me. I'll do my best to live up to the very high bar you have set on Motherhood. 

(That's supposed to be nice, not mean... I can't decide how it sounds from the reader's perspective.)

Love you mom.

secret obsession... well, not anymore.

This is a little sad to admit, but I definitely just took the "How well do you know ____?" Quizzes on FOX's website. These are my scores for the BONES characters:

Brennan: 8/10

Booth: 7/10

Sweets: 5/10

Cam: 7/10

Hodgins: 8/10

Angela: 7/10

I'm not proud of it, but I kinda am... I am considered a "Super Fan" for all characters except Sweets... and that's ok with me. 

I may or may not be obsessed with BONES.

Actually, I am obsessed with BONES, there's no doubt about it. As I write this, I'm trying to find a time when I can pick up all the seasons to borrow from my friend Aubrey. I'm so excited to see the "will-they/wont-they" from the beginning.. and even though I know they will, I'm still excited! 

Today is going to be a great day. 

steal of a deal x10

I got a steal of a deal at DI tonight... actually, more than one!

• Harry Potter 5 (in great condition, first book in my collection) - $3.00
• Christmas wrapping paper (two huge BRAND NEW rolls) - $0.75/each
• 2 Picture frames for a repurposing project I'm doing - $0.75/ea

I also got a few great deals last month, too! I can't believe I forgot to blog about these!

• 3 Stocking Holders (for a repurposing project) - $1.50/ea
• Picture frame (for the same repurposing project) - $0.75
• DVD Player (pretty decent condition, ours had broken) - $10.00
• Silverware drawer sorter - $1.00
• Condiment tupperware sorter thing (same one I grew up with that we used when we had Hawaiian Haystacks or Tacos) - $1.50
• V-neck T-shirt (b/c of my t-shirt quilt that I'm working on, I don't have any more t-shirts to just wear around the house) - $2.00

I was pretty excited about all my great deals! DI is a lot more awesome as an adult then it was as a kid. Probably because my mom would make us try on the clothes that you could just feel were someone else's. Now I get to choose what I buy and actually enjoy it! (I also don't try things on until they've gone through the wash...jk, but kinda for real) Ben's a good sport about it, too.

Is it sad that I'm so excited about my deals from DI? Probably, yes... but that's ok. I had a great night just browsing the aisles of DI, Ross, TJMaxx, Old Navy and (my personal favorite) LOWES, with my husband.  --  But seriously, it's fun to look all the home stuff and think of a better future. Times where green walls and exposed electrical wire don't exist in my home... :)

Happy Friday! Good-night and Good-luck.

naps...

So, I usually try to avoid naps. (Sad, right?) Whenever Ben says he's going to take one, I just hop on my computer and try to fill my time with pinterest, or I might get the motivation to do some laundry or dishes. He's such a busy guy, that I don't really mind when he takes a nap. It's also really nice because when he wakes up he's a great person to be around. A fed, well-rested husband?? What more do you need? :)

Anyway, every once and a while, I have a really LONG day at work, and When I get home I could use a hug that lasts about an hour. Today was a very busy/long day and so I needed some a hug or something of that nature. So, after dinner when Ben told me he was going to take a power-nap before he did his homework, I decided that I'd go lay down with him and just enjoy a little time, cuddling with my husband.

Right when we laid down (around 6:45p), I asked him, "how long are we going to rest/sleep?" and he responded, "Oh, maybe a half-hour. I just need to rest a little before I do my accounting homework." So, I was cool with that. I could definitely use a half-hour of peace and quiet. Who wouldn't want that??  :)

Lo and behold, I roll over and he's gone! I'm thinking, Where did he go! I laid down to be with him, not for him to peace out. So I get out of bed, and he's sitting there doing his homework and I turn and look at the clock...... 11 PM!!???!! Say WHAT??

I immediately think.. This is why I DO NOT take naps. They always last longer than they should and while they are always wonderful during, they do not bode well for a good  night's sleep later on... Mainly because your body thinks night already happened (while you were sleeping for the last 4-ish hours).

ANYWAY... that's my story of the day. during my nap was wonderful, but the waking up WAY later than I planned on was not. I think I'll keep my roll as the human alarm-clock (Ben usually gives me the job of waking him up after a certain amount of time).

Lucky for me, there are some awesome infomercials on right now on The Country Network. If I wasn't self-disciplined, we'd have two non-stick orgreenic pans, or these AWESOME Who Knew books. :) I've only been awake for an hour, so who knows how long I'll be hub this time... Hopefully not past 12a. I need to be at work by 8:45am tomorrow.

Oh Baby, Oh Baby!

Mirror and Canvas "Subway Art"

Next Project: Canvas craft. I've been experimenting with what some people call "Subway Art" and I ended up making this for myself...

So, my recent challenge has been to find somewhere to print this for cheap as a 20x20 so I can transfer it onto a canvas my friend Cassie gave me. Costco charges like $9 to print a 20"x 30" (which is the best deal I've found so far), but I'm a little worried about the ink smearing because I'm going to be modge-podge/gluing it and stuff. But it may end up being just fine. If I try and fail, I'm only out 9 bucks and about 5 hours of time (it took me a while to make it "perfect"). I'll let you know how it goes... 

Also, when we got married, my parents were getting rid of a dresser that came with a large mirror. Since we've always put the dresser in the closet, the mirror has sat against a wall in our house for the last year and a half... We've been wanting to re-frame it with something fancy like this: 

(image from google)

BUT... after much research and many many price quotes, we figured the cheapest frame that we actually liked would be around $300-$550....since I'd rather eat dinner every night then have an awesome framed mirror, we decided to just paint the frame that was on it already and just stick it on the wall. We were both sick of moving it from room to room and having it be in the way. 

Lucky for me, Ben decided that he'd do it all while I was at the YW broadcast with my cousins this past Saturday... (Watch Here) He taped the edges, put plastic over the glass, sanded the whole thing down, and spray painted it black. When I got home it was DONE! What a stud. He said he would have taken pictures of the process for me, but he couldn't find the camera... (that's because it was with me in Salt Lake) Ben is Wonderful!

Here's the finished product on the wall... :)

Now I have to find a place for all the pictures that used to be on that wall...
Also, I made this to go in that empty frame to the right of the mirror... Cute right?
It will match the ottoman!

Next Post: YW General Broadcast

DIY: Re-Covering an Ottoman (Pic.Overload)

My friend Whitney was getting rid of an ottoman and a chair she didn't need anymore so I told her that I'd take them both off her hands. As I was driving my "new" furniture back home, I realized how much I am like my mother... She would pick up a chair or dresser she saw on the side of the road if it looked in decent shape. I feel like I now know what my mom was thinking when she did this... Why let something go to waste or get sent to DI when you can get it for free!?!! I'm so glad Whitney thought of me when she was getting rid of her stuff before she moved to New York. :) I'm also glad my mom/sister taught me to say yes when people offer you free furniture (especially as a newlywed).

ANYWAY.. after having it sit in our family room for a week and contemplating how to put a cover over it, Ben suggested that we try to take it apart and make it a storage ottoman. So, here's a million pictures to try and show you how I did it...

It started off as a combination of the two of these things:

It was the size of the one on the left, but shiny and had dents in it like the one on the right. (What is the more technical term for dents... I can't remember what those are called?) It was basically put together with hot-glue and staples. So, Ben and I took it apart, and tried to figure out how to make it a storage-ottoman, instead of just an ottoman.

(BEFORE)

Ben took some wood pieces we already had, cut them down to size, and put them evenly around the edges. He then screwed them in (from the outside) and we had our edge for the lid to sit on.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out how to make a pillow-top for the top of it... I had some left-over stuffing from an old pillow that was hideous and furry, so it was just a matter of getting a casing of some sort made. Note to self/world: Staple-gunning fabric to wood is not the best idea.. Elastic is the way to go!

I bought only some of the fabric that I needed (because it was  more than I wanted to pay) and I ended up patching it to make it fit all the way around the 92-inch (around) cylinder. It worked out nicely... The fabric is so busy that you can't really tell where it's patched (and we just put that part towards the wall). SO... I put the fabric around the ottoman (inside out) and pinned it where it needed to be sewn together. Making it as tight as possible, but still being able to take it off was VERY hard! But it worked out and Ben was a GREAT helper with putting it on and off, on and off, and on and off again...

^^Here it is after the elastic has been done for the bottom, and I'm seeing how tight the top should be.

Finished the elastic part on both top and bottom... Ben was outside chiseling the top to make it fit with the added fabric that now lined the edges. (It was SO snug in there before that it wouldn't fit with the fabric on there.)

Ben cleaned the lid and drilled some holes to put handles on it (so we could get the lid out easily). The handles are just made of decorative rope type stuff that we found at the fabric store for cheap

I then got a button kit and made these three buttons to go on the cushion I was making... they are pretty cute.

We also bought some little legs for it so that it would slide on the ground more easily (and then the fabric doesn't get messed up when it slides).

Ben just drilled some holds and screwed them right in there...it was awesome! ^^Finished bottom^^

I cut the fabric for the pillow in a circle and sewed it shut (all but 6-8 inches of it) and turned it right-side out. Then, it was time to stuff! When I stuffed it, it ended up being MASSIVE (see below). 

So, I un-stuffed it and sewed it smaller... it was much better after that

I then put the buttons on, (making them all the same length was kinda hard) and I re-stuffed it. 

That was the last thing to do! It was awesome. After that, we loaded the inside up with blankets and pillows, then put the lid on... put the pillow on... and tuh-duh!!! All Done!

Finished Product! (You can't really see the feet at the bottom, but I promise they're there.)   :)

Well, I'm off to cut Ben's hair and watch MegaMind... More craft projects on the way... :) adios!