Friday, May 27, 2011

School is OUT!!!!!

No more homework!

No more books!

No more teachers dirty looks!



It's hard to believe in August, I took this picture of the first day of school.....
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...and in 9 months time they have changed to this  (on the last day of school!)



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They grow up so fast!!!!

My house will be clean again in August, and my sanity will probably return then too....

HAPPY SUMMER everyone!!!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Deployment Project # 88 - Back Patio Reveal

Deployment Project # 88
BACK PATIO REVEAL


For the longest time, my back patio looked pathetic...I mean, REEAALLLY pathetic.

Take a look at BEFORE

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In my last post, I told you about hanging these curtains...(click HERE to see it)

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After a few purchases, here is my new patio......
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I purchased the furniture from Sears at the end of the season last year. It was the floor model, I had a military discount AND because one of the chair legs was fraying a bit I got an additional discount. I ended up saving about 60% on this furniture!!! YAY!!
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I added some greenery (some real, some fake)....

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This table was purchased at Goodwill for $2. I spray painted it and it looks good as new!!





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The sun sets back on the patio, so I added some bamboo shades (Lowe's) and drop cloth canvas curtains. Now I can pull the shades to when the sun is too much!

I made a few pillows using an outdoor fabric scrap I picked up on clearance at the fabric store....

I LOVE IT!!!

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I am so pleased with how it looks. It's VERY relaxing to sit on a pretty day and read a book, relax, or watch my kids play in the backyard!!!! 

Of course, no room is ever officially done. I would like to put something on the wall behind the couch, but haven't been able to find anything so far....I'll keep looking!!!!

Tell me what you think....just don't make me cry!  :-)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Deployment Project # 87 - Patio Curtains

Deployment Project # 87
Patio Curtains


I have been working, here and there, on my back porch.  I am finally ready to show it to you, but wanted to show you my new curtains first.
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I REALLY wanted to have some curtains with a print on them....but I needed 10 yards of fabric. Even cheap outdoor fabric is $10 a yard, and I just couldn't see spending so much money on outdoor curtains.

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So I bought 4 drop cloths from Home Depot for $10 a piece....$40 total....much better than $100!

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I didn't have to sew a stitch...I just hung them up with rings with clips attached.  I also didn't want to spend a ton of money on rods...they can cost $40 for one rod. I bought PVC pipe and spray painted it black.

  It's not the best option, but the cheapest. I will admit that the paint is already chipping off the pipe and it's not as sturdy as a true curtain rod, but it works well enough for my back patio. I didn't want to spend alot of money on these curtains, so having a crooked curtain rod is fine with me. ha!



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Come back in the next day or so, so I can show you my spruced up back patio!!!! 

Have a great day!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I'm just White Trash....

I'm trashy.... I admit it.

...or at least I was for one night.

I hosted Bunco at my house and made it a "White Trash" theme.

I even decorated my front yard....didn't have a toilet to put flowers in or a washing machine for the front porch, but I think it turned out pretty trashy....

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I play Bunco with some of the funnest girls you'll ever meet.  They are always ready for a dress up night, even if it is a redneck party. We've had a Luau, 80's, new Year's party...but never a white trash party!

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Check out some of my trashy friends....

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We all posed with our "bubba" teeth!!! We laughed the night away like a bunch of drunk, trashy people....even though we weren't drunk nor trashy! ha!

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And no white trash party would be complete without a SPAM CARVING CONTEST!!!!

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Look at some the sculptures my talented white-trash-spam-carving friends came up with...

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The Spam Turtle


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The Spam Tractor

And look at my friend's hand...she's drinking out of a redneck wine glass a.k.a. Mason jar!!!! ha!
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It was so much fun to be trashy for the night!!! I think we all could have gone to Wal-Mart and blended right in with the other shoppers! LOL!
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We had SOOOOO much fun....pork rinds, Spam, sweet tea, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, lemonade, pink flamingos, blue eyeshadow, etc....oh the fun we had!!!

If you are looking for a themed party, I suggest one like this. 


Loads of white trash fun!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Deployment Project #86- Master Bedroom Reveal...FINALLY!

Deployment Project # 86
MASTER BEDROOM REVEAL

FINALLY...

I am ready to show you my master bedroom. I know it took FOREVER....and to be honest, I STILL have a few things I want to tweak in here, but for the most part...It is COMPLETE!

But before I show you what it looks like now, I have to show you what it looked like before I started....

Here are the BEFORE pics  (get ready....LOTS of photos)

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I just wasn't feeling the yellow walls and swags on the windows anymore.....

And here it is NOW...

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Ahhhhhhhh, I just LOVE it!!!!!
It feels brighter, calmer. My 8 year old even said, "Mommy, your room looks like a hotel room now"....I am assuming she meant a LUXURY hotel room, right?!?! :)

Here is another view of the OLD room..
..I was trying out paint samples (hence the swatches on the wall)

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...and the AFTER of the same space....

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BEFORE...
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...AFTER
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I love how the gray paint (Stonington Gray by Benjamin Moore) looks. I hit a home run with this color!!!! 
And the good news is, I can change up the bedding color if I want and the walls will match....
the yellow was soooo hard to match it with anything!!!




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I made these swags a few years back....but had grown tired of them. The windows still looked bare, even with the swags.

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I hung this chevron fabric to make the walls look taller and more sophisticated.

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Another BEFORE shot...

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....and the AFTER. My plan is to put a chair here in this space under the mirror, but I just haven't gotten around to that yet....

(You can read about the mirror HERE)

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Here are a few more photos of the room.... I am just so happy with the way this space turned out!
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One of my favorite features of this room are the 2 matching mirrors I hung above the nightstands. I LOVE it!
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(Read about the lamp redo HERE)


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I love the grays, blues and whites and the POP of yellow!!!
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(You can read about the frame HERE)


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(Read about the no-sew curtains HERE)
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Just for dramatic effects, let's look one more time at the 
BEFORE..
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...and the AFTER

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There are a few things I want to do to have this 100%, but it's come SUCH a long way....and I am happy with it!!!

What do you think??

Items used..

Bedding - Pottery Barn
Mirrors - TJ Maxx
Paint - "Stonington Gray" by Benjamin Moore
Frames about bed - Wal-Mart
Fabric for curtains - Fabric.com
Blue bed quilt - Target
19" bedskirt - ordered from E-Bay
gray pillow on bed - ROSS