V and Co:a thrifting before and after

i love to thrift shop. it's been a long time since i've been able to do so on a regular basis. with all the moves, and the de-junking/selling of our stuff for our move, i didn't feel like i could justify going to second hand places or to garage sales till we were more settled and finally able to see what this house needed.

well here in iowa i've not had very good luck with the second hand stores (as of yet but i hope to change that) BUT garage sales...holy hannah.
okay so a little observation about iowa, or at least here in hawkeye territory. everything around here revolves around the football games. so lets say it's monday, and lets say the hawkeye's had a rough weekend and didn't win (ooh i know i said it out loud i can hear the gasping slash cringing from fellow iowans) there's this almost meloncholy feel to the area, no one is wearing their black and gold and the hawkeye flags are at half mast (not kidding)
okay well lets just say it's wednesday of that said week...people are starting to get all excited about the following weekend's game, and what do you know...GARAGE SALES start popping up in the middle of the week. so from wednesday to friday is prime time GARAGE SALE SIGN spotting. because i don't know if you know this about iowans...saturday is a state holiday (at least in these parts) and everyone is home watching the game. if you look outside your window you can see no humans around, just a whole heck of a lot of black and gold flags a flying. and coincidentally if you don't wear black and yellow on friday/saturday you feel REALLY out of place. no seriously i've never experienced anything like it.

okay back to the garage sales...so i'm taking katie to pre school one wednesday, and i notice a garage sale sign out of the corner of my eye, take note, and put it aside in my "hmmm maybe i'll go check that out on my way home" pocket.

so on my way home i decide: sure why not, i am trying to avoid what i'm suppose to do, lets go to that garage sale...

and well lo and behold i see this hexagon beauty. well not a beauty yet...
and i stare at it and i ask the little cute older lady "how much for the coffee table?"
she answers "$5"
i sit and stare at the table thinking to myself "HOLY CRAP SHE JUST SAID $5!!"
but my silence must of made her nervous so she then said "but i'll give it to you for $3"
to which i almost yelled "YES OH MY GOSH SOLD!!" but instead i said "oh okay, i think i have that in the car, thank you!"

and walked away happy as a clam with my $3 table. even if it didn't work in my living room, which it does, i could of used it downstairs in my family room, or heck given it to someone who needed it. but nope, it's mine.
and with two coats of polar bear white from behr paint in the satin finish with the primer in it, it looks even better and at home in my home.

so hawkeye football, thank you so much for my middle of the week find and i think it's time for me to get some yellow and black garb to show my support. GO HAWKS!!!!!
ps that's not the only thing i've found at garage sales. :) more to come on those finds as well.
we'll talk soon.
pps: i've joined this built a quilt workshop with rachel of ps i quilt! cause you know i don't have enough going on so lets add another thing!!! :) hope to see you there.

improved before and after

nothing like taking a picture and posting it and then thinking..."i don't like it."

so i did a little moving around and this is what i ended up with. granted i simplified and used what i had so when i get a chance i will get a slightly bigger frame and with a picture of all the kids in it.
NOW, this is my after.

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my bedroom

one of most reoccurring questions i get through email and comments (besides, where'd you get those red shoes in your header (seriously, i've tried to find where they sell them with still no luck!), and where'd you get those jeans (shopko... they are actually petal pushers and were bought on the whim from the clearance rack due to my sitting in dog poop at a park), what camera do you use?, does the token system really work? (yes, it does and we've back away from being as strict with as we were before all because it worked so great!)) is the question of "what about your bedroom? how come i don't see pictures of your bedroom?"
hmmmm, well, i guess because there's not much to it. and i'm still trying to figure out what i want.
but i guess i should show you the before picture...brace yourself.
when this is your starting point...you could see why all white is the direction we went with the room. well, that and super heavy duty primer was all that would cover that sucker up.
i have some ideas of what i want. which all takes money...which means it will have to wait. and will happen just like everything else in my house...in increments. mainly inspired by really expensive things, found in not so expensive places, and sometimes made by me. but it includes a lot of light colors, and a lot of new mixed in with old.
but there you have it my really pain and boring bedroom.
we'll talk soon.

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before and after: kitchen/dining area

thank you for the lovely well wishes on my birthday!
yes, the husband got the necklace. i don't know how he knew exactly what i wanted. but he did so good! ;)
okay so...this last summer we did a little remodeling in our kitchen/dining area. here are the before and during and well, i can't really call it an after because i'm always wanting to change things. my husband calls me the "Winchester lady" because i'm always moving and changing things around...sometimes i even have "big plans" that i talk about.

here's our dining area when i looked at the house. unlike the rest of the house, this wasn't painted when they were on those good drugs and the color isn't so bad. but i like neutral on the walls so that i can paint furniture or accessorize any way i want.

here's a picture of our window no longer going to be a window. it was right next to the fireplace.
and here's the now.

french doors are where the window was. the walls and fire place has been painted (but not finished because i still need to paint that one wall..see "winchester lady") and here are my "big plans" that table holds special memories...as in it was one of the first things my husband bought for "us" when we got married...so i want to keep the table but i want to paint it and i would like to get different chairs for it. see? winchester lady...

and while this picture paints a very organized kitchen area...the "picture" behind me is atrocious as i've been "creating" while kids are in school and late into the night. i'm in between so many things and they all seem to throw up their left overs in my crafting area. my goal is to have it organized by next years this thanksgiving.
i have to. people are coming over.
my plan of action...maybe a power hose...or a bulldozer.

tomorrow i'll post my tutorial for the wheat pillows. monday we will have a new theme for sytyc (it looks like i'm moving to the next round as of right now) AND on tuesday we will have a sponsored giveaway.
fun fun fun!

a few before and afters

i'm ready to unveil a little more of our house to you.

while the husband had some time off last week. we had the idea to finish up a few more things on our list of things we needed to get done in and out of the house.

granted our list is monstrous but we are doing one thing at a time as time and funds permit.

for example this is the master bedroom closets (and all the other closets as well) when we were looking at the house. notice the pinkish glow...well that's because the opposite wall is sponged tomato orange-red...i'm saving to show you that for another day...you can only handle so much of this house at one time. (trust me)

husband changed out all our closet doors in the house to these nice bi-fold doors. it really helps with the house not looking so 1970's.

oh sorry... yes, did you scream out loud?

i did when i saw it.

i was like "holy moses! who in their right mind does this kind of stuff?"

and then i cried.
i like color but come on.

all i've got to say is that those must of been some good drugs.

so before we moved in we painted it...white.

and while my in laws were in town, my father in law helped my husband put up all new doors in our house.

the last and final thing we worked on this last week was finishing up the covering up of the smurf blue we had going on the outside of our house. before the husband went over seas we did some of it but didn't get to finish it all. the goal this summer was that we weren't going to have any more blue...

and well here's a picture as of yesterday, with ALL the blue covered up FINALLY.

edited: i should note that when we were looking at the house this was one of our only options, there were no other houses for sale and well that's why i kept crying everytime i would turn a corner. i don't think we would of bought this house if there were other options...but we're glad we did. the view is amazing and it's a really nice house. not my dream house, but a really nice house and it serves it purpose...keeps us warm at night and gives us a place to call home.

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last week we also enjoyed:

*BBQ-ing with great friends and neighbors

*playing board games and making a puzzle (star wars of course) by the end of it, it was just the husband and i up till midnight with bloodshot eyes putting the blasted thing together.

it was a nice way to end the summer.

armoire before and after

so i mentioned that i went to home depot last weekend and that i've been working on a project that i've procrastinated on for quite some time...
i got some paint and finally got to it...

when i bought this armoire from a friend 5 (or was it 6?) years ago, my intention was to get it and immediately paint it a cream or fire engine red. well, just shortly after i got it our marathon of moves started to happen due to the army... and after so many years we are finally sort of feeling settled here in the middle of nowhere.i used "behr ivory" and then with a power sander sanded the edges. the final step was to get a stain on it to give it the more dirty worn white look. i used the "american walnut" polyurethane stain.

yes i know, that would be the quilt that usually goes in my daughter's room. for now it hangs pretty here and the nine patch i just got back from the quilter is hanging in her room. i already know what i want to do for a quilt here...oh yes, the wheels are turning, i'll show you as it progresses.

i changed things around for more cheery colors. see there's one of my milk glass and of course my two most favorite prints in the world in hoops.

yes i think the white makes it a little more updated and i like how it brightens things up.

next on the list:

recovering my 12 and half year old couches...but it might just take me another good 5 years to get around to that big project...and by then, couldn't i justify new ones?

a before and after (?)

this piece of furniture was given to me by my sis-in-law. she didn't have room for it and as you can see she started to strip it but didn't finish it. it has great lines and works great in my living room.
this last weekend (before we went up north to the big city for an army thing) i got the power sander out and the paint that i had on hand.

i chose to paint it this color. and i like it...i just don't looooove it. hence the question mark on the after part. i may wait and see how i like it as time goes on, but i have some ideas of what color i REALLY want.

oh and it ain't white.

update on garden: WE HAVE SPROUTS! WHOOT!

working on table cloth skirt tutorial as well...come back soon.

a couple of small before and afters

my latest little finds at the second hand store:this was on sale from i think $1 down to .25 cents.
a wire wreath thingy that i think is used for christmas cards. now that would be fine if it were close to christmas, but it's not so....

add some spray paint and some brainstorming and now i have a perfect place to hang my patterns in one place.

this little guy cost me .25 cents.

ugly yes...but with some spray paint...

not so bad and ugly anymore.

hope that all you guys made it over to my new url.

i'd be sad if i lost some of you guys.

edited:okay so i underestimated google reader (that was dumb) and i guess they re-directed everything for everyone of you 997 people but have already gained 7 new people on the other url...YAY! all is well in the google world. (those people must be rich)

seriously, i mean my boys thanks you for keeping me from mauling them as they come home from school to show them the new skirt i made. and the husband thanks you because that means i don't keep asking him questions like "does this look good on me." or "do you like how i did that?" no, no...that's what you guys are for.

well that, and to back me up when he calls me crazy for putting up baskets on the wall.

so thanks.

before and after

found at the second hand store for $25. i saw some potential.

sand it down, primer it, and spray paint it.

Editied: okay i can't stand all the "white" so i'm changing the pillow covers

and now it can be found in my laundry/mudroom...husband painted the laundry/mudroom this weekend. i went out on a limb and bought "blue-ish" paint. it was rather frightening to me when we were applying the paint how "periwinkle" blue it looked. husband assured me that it was going to darken and change as time went on. if i were to do it again i would go for a slightly darker shade...but all in all i like the color and how cheery my laundry room is now. so i should totally think that laundry is a cheery thing to do now...well another cold day in hell will happen before i associate "cheery" with laundry...

also husband would like to know why on earth i would put up baskets on the wall. i told him that i thought it looked cute...he said "whatevah"...and so they stayed up on the wall.

a small before and after

there's no secret about it, i REALLY like stars. but this one didn't really have a place anymore because i want the boys' room to be a little more plain and just have one BIG star in it...oh and a poster of a star wars clone trooper, but it has to be "cool"(can star wars be cool? according to my boys it is.), so i'm still on the look out.

so i got some "ballet slipper" pink and went to town on the star. a few coats of this and let it dry...

and a few coats of this...have you seen this stuff? this spray glitter is amazing and quick to dry...but i think i'm going to do my own glittering so that it shows up more.

and now it's in the little ones' room. because i still have say in her room for a few more years.

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a before and after

remeber last week i said i was painting and organizing? (and failing to file my taxes)

this is what i did last week: have you ever noticed that i try to strategically take pictures so that i don't show you this area? well there's a reason. first off the red table bugged me...never liked the red it turned out in the first place...and well, what can i say? uh... i've been busy creating and making things and never had enough time to clean up (so i keep telling everyone and i'm sticking to that). instead i was stuffing and pushing anywhere i could find a slot.

remember how i said i'm adding more white? well here you go. my first wave of white completed. and now i can hide crap under the skirt and not feel bad about it...AND it also serves the purpose of a FORT for clone troopers, a CASTLE for tea parties, and a HIDING place for wild jungle beasts (aka the cat). who knew.

which way should i go?

my house looks like a tornado hit it.
the chair is almost done, but....
that's just primer on there and i'm wondering....
white, black or red for the actual wood part?
inquiring minds want to know.
i'm leaning towards bright fire engine red.
need to fold laundry
just the tip of the ice burg.

make sure you come back monday i've been working on a tutorial that i'm pretty excited and antsy to share with you all. have a great weekend, i'm going to clean.

before and after:: the fireplace (and a confession)

well you guys guessed it alright! another thing i didn't love about this house was the fireplace. very 1970's...

also in sort of an awkward place (the kitchen) but that's where everything happens in our house so i guess it's in a good place (trying to look at the positive here!)

so i painted the fireplace (what a pain in the rump to get all the nooks and crannies), and then i painted the wall behind the mantel the same color as my wall behind my buffet. which is also the same color for my WHOLE KITCHEN now (yeah i changed the buttery tan color, it just didn't go as well). love this color though!

it's still not my dream fireplace, but it's an improvement... baby steps! baby steps!!!

oh and here's the big stinkin confession news:

wait for it...

it's been 7 whole dog gone weeks since i've purposely drank Diet Dr pepper with caffeine in it! ( i say purposely because there has been two times since the 7 weeks that i "accidentally" had a fully loaded diet dr pepper. unbeknownst to me the person gave me one with caffeine not the caffeine free so i can not and WILL not be held accountable for that)...and the even more awesome news is that i try not to drink the caffeine free stuff either! only for special occasions. ha! i kicked the trash out of that habit! my mom would be so proud if she only knew that i still had the problem!

sad to say i'm not as funny as i used to be without my drinks, and i don't know how to have a good time without it, i'm sort of boring these days, i go to bed early, and wear a house coat... but at least i'm drink free baby! i'm no longer a caffeineholic! whoot! whoot!