Makeovers--2008

So, in the blogging world, is it fashionable to come late to a party, or is it rude? Because I am doing it every time! But you know I hate to miss a good party, so I dash over for a little bit, anyway!

Today (it's today for 20 more minutes!), Southern Hospitality is hosting a "Before and After" Project party, so I wanted to share two big makeovers that we did in 2008 during Miracle Worker Week. That is the week (er, almost two) that my parents came to help us out with a ridiculous amount of projects. Enough projects that I haven't even gotten to blog about most of them, yet! If you like these, I can only take credit for the vision, but most of the skill and labor was provided by my dear parents/miracle workers.

Project #1--The Ugly Green Chairs

I was on the hunt for inexpensive folding chairs before my Gourmet Group meal in August. I found some on Craigslist at a church that was going out of business (is that what churches do?). The folding chairs were ugly and cumbersome, but the price was right, so I brought them home anyway, but I was much more excited about these green chairs, that I negotiated to buy for $15/each. My husband wasn't so thrilled when he saw them. They smelled a little funny and were clearly from the 70's. I loved the shape, and must admit that I might have considered keeping the bright green fabric if it weren't so scratchy, uncomfortable and dirty.

So I hit Craigslist again and actually found an interior decorator selling her fabric remnants. I found a lovely chenille piece that she said was gracing the dining room chairs of a $3 million home, and brought that home at a bargain, along with several other trims and a few cans of paint that she threw in for good measure.

Then Miracle Worker Week begins:

Mom and Dad carefully pulled apart the chairs, making sure to keep the original pieces intact.

This is when we discovered the chairs had a bit more history (and nicer legs) than we had originally realized. There was a certificate stating that they had been professionally and commercially reupholstered in the 1970s--hence the green impenetrable fabric. Judging from the fabric underneath, I think they were more likely from the 1930s or 1940s (maybe even older). My dad stained the wood while my mom worked on the new cover.

See how she uses the old pieces as her pattern. She is a sewing genius!

And here is the after:

I had envisioned them skirted all along, but we were lucky that the legs were so nice, because I really didn't have enough fabric to do skirts, even with miracle worker mom at the sewing machine!

Now would you guess those were $15 chairs? (Plus about $50 for fabric and materials, so more like $35-40 chairs. See the value of cheap labor? :-))


Project #2--Children's Desk/Project area

My FIL is a physician and had this beauty in the waiting room of his office for many years. Well, this year they decided the office was long overdue for a makeover and thought this bulky piece of wood had to go. When I saw it, it was just sitting in their garage waiting for a trip to the thrift store and sitting right next to a couple of gallons of red paint that my MIL just could not bring herself to use (I have been working with her on white wall therapy. "It is OK to put color on walls. It will not make them look too small. Sometimes deep or bold colors look the best." Baby steps.).

So the kids helped my dad give it a fresh coat of paint (can you see their brushstrokes?) And now it has a new home in the playroom/loft (which I am working on and hope to have all put together soon!)

(Sorry about the funny angle) Add some books and a fun stool from IKEA and this thing has life again!

(Yes. There are already marker marks on the desk. That is why you shouldn't spend the big bucks on kids furniture, even if it is soooooo cute!)

This is the back side. My dad decided that the back should be reinforced a little, so we bought some beadboard and trim, and that side now functions as the wall for the play kitchen. I might paint some fun design on them, or leave them white, but I have a colorful miniature Cuckoo clock from Germany, that will be decorating the play kitchen, soon. Total cost for this project is around $20 for the beadboard and trim. Paint and furniture were Free! And we used the paint for our mudroom, put that is a post for another day.

So there you have it! I hope all of you creative people visiting from Southern Hospitality will consider coming back next week for my Blogoversary Party Party. What's that you say? Go here for more info!

And thanks for letting me crash the party...late, as usual!

Family Motto 2008: JOY

This is normally the kind of thing I might reserve for my personal blog, but because it is a great idea, and because Tip Junkie told me to, I'm sharing my word of the year with you. I think Ali Edwards may have been the first one to come up with the concept of choosing just one word to focus on all year. I like it because it is easy to remember, and gives a theme (if you will) to your more specific resolutions and goals. I have been thinking more in terms of a family motto, or short phrase for our whole family to remember and work on, probably inspired by Stephanie Nielson--although, I have yet to make a fancy dinner to celebrate our motto.

Our family Motto for 2009 is:

JOY IN THE JOURNEY

(or JOY if we just want one word). Inspired a lot by this talk, and this one, too. The main concept is that we don't know what trials we'll face this year. But instead of dwelling on the negativism around us, I want our family to work to see the good in each other and in each day, To make hard jobs fun, and to remember to be grateful for all of the amazing blessings we have!

Scrabble Tiles for the Teacher

I was really excited about the gifts my kids gave their teachers this year for Christmas. (The pictures really don't do them justice.) Some friends and I got together and made scrabble tile necklaces (using this fantastic tutorial), for all kind of friends and siblings, etc. (You may remember this Insanity Zone from my home tour). Instead of using scrapbook paper for the necklaces we made for their teachers, I used my children's original artwork. I had them draw pictures of their teachers. Then I scanned them into the computer, shrunk them down to tile size, and printed them out. From that point I just followed the original directions. The top one is Kira's picture of her teacher and her. I loved Trenton's stick figure drawings of his teachers. This one really captures the essence of her hair!

If nothing else, these gifts are one of a kind! You could use this idea for end of year gifts or for Mother's Day (Grandma's) or Christmas next year. It took us a while to track down all of the supplies, so I would recommend working with a friend and making several necklaces at once to make it work the time and expense. They are fun to make! I'm wanting to get more tiles so I can make some more! Just make sure the paper gets adhered well when you glue it to the tile, before applying the glaze, or the drying glaze might cause it to curl up at the corners. It's good to print some extra pictures for this reason. And watch out for bubbles when applying the glaze! That is the trickiest part! Happy crafting!

Where's the Party?----Right HERE!

It was January 15th one year ago, when I clicked the "publish post" button on this post about my husband paintball birthday, and thus began sharing my insanity with the world. My blogoversary is just a few days a way, and since I'm not sure what the proper protocol is for a blogoversary celebration, I am throwing myself a HUGE party! At least, I hope it will be huge. I'm inviting you all to come. And since parties are some of my favorite things, I'm having a PARTY party. How fun is that?

Here is the way it works. Come back on January 15th, the date of my blogoversary, (but you can come back lots before then, too.), and link-up with your favorite party post. That's right. I am in the process of figuring out Mr.Linky, and will have him at my party so we can all go and check out your parties! (Are you confused?)

Let's try this again. Write a post about a party you've thrown or attended, or even a great party idea. It could be a birthday party, holiday party, dinner party...whatever. Then come back and add your blog link to Mr. Linky. There are only a couple of rules:

1. - Please link your post back to my party.

2. - Even if your party wasn't G-rated, please keep your post G-rated (got it?)

3. - I reserve the right to change the rules, because "It's My Party and I'll Change the Rules If I Want To." (Do you hear the music playing?)

Here's the best part: I will scour each post for the party or party idea that most captures my imagination. That blogger will be featured on my blog and will win some cool (yet-to-be-determined) prize.



So will you come? Please RSVP by snagging my button and displaying it on your blog!




<br /><a border="0" href="http://meandmyinsanity.blogspot.com/2009/01/wheres-party-right-here.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc115/irene_jazz/partysquare200.jpg"/></a>

Ooo! I want...

...this!

I've been wishing I could cut my own vinyl (and paper, etc.) for some time, but when I learned that this machine will let you cut YOUR OWN DESIGNS, I have become a little obsessed with winning this giveaway. And yes, blogging about it increases my chances of winning, unless you all decide to go and enter, too, which will decrease my odds of winning. *sigh*

Shopping for Christmas 2009

I know most of you are done with Christmas and so ready to move on to what's on the docket next (which is too bad, because I still have a lot of Christmas to report). But before putting all of those Holiday Decorations back in storage until Thanksgiving, you may want to make another trip to check out the deals. Most stores have now marked Christmas stuff down to 75% or even 90% off.

It helps if you know what you are looking for. I have told you that I have themes for each Christmas. Is this necessary? Probably not for most people, but I can be a horrible decision maker, and having a theme (for just about everything), makes decisions much easier to make. It is the barometer by which to judge purchases and ideas. This year, my theme was "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" utilizing a lot of pear green. (Still need to report on that).

I've already settled on next year's theme. It came from the decision to travel to Utah to spend Christmas with my parents this year. We had a wonderful time (the kids got to go sledding and build snow forts), but I am really looking forward to having Christmas in my own home, next year and hopefully eliminating some of the stress that comes from traveling in the middle of Christmas preparations. So my focus is on HOME! I am calling the theme "Home for the Holidays" and it will be about all things "homey." The color scheme will be red and cream and brown. We will make a gingerbread house and decorate my family room (where the gingerbread people stockings are) in a kid-friendly, rustic, homey sort of way.




So here are a few of my purchases:

1. I found this garland at Target (Smith & Hawken). I got it at 50% off (they were selling out so didn't go any cheaper). I've bought four of them, because I am trying to cover my whole banister. So I bought all four that I could find, and a couple of other less expensive Target garlands with a similar feel. I love how the S&H one looks really real!
2. I held out on these reindeer pillows until they hit 75% off (Target.) They are perfect for my "homey" theme next year--soft and cozy.
3. (Target--again) I've decided to do a smaller tree in the family room. I'm thinking popcorn and cranberry garland, paper chains, and lots of homemade ornaments. I hope this one looks alright, because it was a steal at just over $6 for a 6 foot tree!!!
4. Oh, I grabbed some parchment paper at Target, because it was 50% off, and I can use it all year long, even though there are pictures of Christmas goodies on the box. I'm also thinking of buying some more almond bark (melting chocolate and white chocolate) because I know I was looking for it last year, and none of the stores had it since it wasn't holiday candy-making season. Anyone know how long that stuff stores?
5. I finally found these Martha Stewart gingerbread house boxes at 50% off at Walmart (3rd Walmart I looked at). Remember my theme? I'm thinking of baking gingerbread people and giving them to neighbors in these cool boxes.
6. And while looking at Martha Stewart stuff at Walmart, I decided to pick up this beautiful glitter and stamp set (featuring gingerbread houses etc.) at 50% off. I'm sure I will need them for some project.
7. I've already used these candlesticks from Target for New Years, and I think they will work well year-round. A few years ago, I found my 3-tiered serving tray for a couple of dollars on an after-Christmas clearance at Target.
8. I want my girls in these dresses with these gorgeous sweater coats, next year, but the sweater coats have pretty much sold out with out going on clearance, and this dress that I found at 50% off (Target), is a few sizes too big for my daughter, so we'll have to see if I can find the right sizes, or get my mom to fix them, or something, but they are perfect for my Christmas scheme, and I'm hoping to have them for family pictures in the fall. (And maybe this dress for me, if the price goes down!)
9. 75% off gift tags from Target. Some fancy styles. Fun to have around, if you don't have to spend much money on them.
10. Battery powered LED lights at 75% off from Target. Would like to find more of these.
11. Letter to Santa ornament from Target for the new tree. This is in case we still can't find our special Santa mailbox next year.
12. Wrapping paper that's perfect for next year's theme/design scheme at 75%off at Target.

Oh, and I just noticed that down below the gift tags--mostly off-screen, are some Christmas thank-you notes, I got at 75% off, because we are try to still remember to be grateful, so hopefully, tomorrow for Family Home Evening, we will sit down and scrawl out a few notes to grandparents, etc.

I haven't taken down Christmas yet, because the kids aren't ready, and I'm not sure I'm done with my bargain shopping. Anyone know if there is anything good left at Hobby Lobby? I found some great stuff there at 90% off after Halloween!

Anyone else have Christmas 2009 some-what planned, already?

You Love Me! You Really, Really, Love Me!

Sorry I was just working on my acceptance speech. Was I getting a little carried away?

I always love awards shows and have imagined that one day, for something, I would wear the gown, walk the red carpet, and accept some shiny statue for something! Well, my day may have finally come! Who cares if it is only a virtual gown and virtual red carpet? The prizes are real!

Tip Junkie is hosting her 1st Annual Tip Junkie awards to recognize her contributors. And if you have been reading this for any amount of time, you know I frequently submit posts to Tip Junkie. Tip Junkie tells me to blog about something and I blog about it. Because of Tip Junkie, my sister's card won a cool prize!

So now all I need is for you to make my dreams of glory come true!

Here are the categories for prizes:

• Best Submitted Tip
• Best Tutorial
• Best Organizational Idea
• Best Craft
• Best Birthday Theme
• Best Gift Idea
• Best Entertaining Tip
• Best Home Decor Tip
• Best Bonding Tradition
• Best Blogging Tip
• Best Featured Blogger
• Best Blog Designer
• Best Holiday Idea
• Best Commenter
• Best Tip Junkie (biggest fan)
• Best Mom-preneur

Here are all of the times I have been featured on Tip Junkie:

Christmas Card Contest--featuring these three posts:

• Card Parade
• Great Idea
• 2007 card

Baby Shower Ideas--featuring these two posts:

• Wild Invitation
• Magnificent Mobiles (gift idea)

Adult Birthday Party Themes--featuring:

• Having a Ball (Paintball Birthday)

Homemade Christmas Gifts--featuring:

• Animal Hooded Towels

Halloween Spookspiration--featuring:

• Batiful Invitations

Boy Transportation Birthday Parties--featuring:

• Trenton's Truck Birthday

Girl Birthday Party Ideas--featuring:

• Nancy Drew Birthday Party

Christmas Tree Contest--featuring:

• O Christmas Tree

Baby Shower Tutorials--featuring:

• Monkey Madness Cake

More Christmas Advent Calendars--featuring:

• Counting Down Christmas--An Advent Calendar

Traditions and Gratitude--featuring:

• Gratitude Tree

Halloween Show and Tell--featuring:

• Halloween Round-up

Family Themed Costumes:

• The Family That Dresses Up Together

Top 10 favorite Things in my House:

• Top 10 Home Tour

(*Phew*--I think I deserve a prize based on sheer quantity of tips! Maybe that should be a new category!)

And here is where you go to nominate your favorite bloggers (*wink*wink*).

There you have it! If I made it any easier, you might think I was begging for your nomination. (hmmm...)

Happy 2009!

I hope you had a "ball" on New Years Eve!

I had to scale down my original New Years Eve plan, since we all got sick between Christmas and New Years, and our party ended up being a rather intimate family gathering. Still, I had to pull out a few of the stops for my in-laws (who mostly smile and shake their heads at me--they don't all share my insanity). We couldn't use these blowers since we had put my nephew to bed and they were too loud, but they looked cool, either way. I know you agree, since I saw the same ones at other New Years Eve parties featured around blogland. Mine came from Walmart, as did the streamer shooters. Those were in the wedding section. The ornaments and silver tray are from the dollar store.

The angle is a little funny on this picture or I didn't get my candles in straight (likely both). I got these fun candlesticks and the contents of the bowl at Target after Christmas clearance (plus a lot of others stuff I will share soon). I think the candlesticks will work well year round.

Here is another arrangement I made using and urn I already had and some after-Christmas clearance picks (Michaels, I think).

I didn't get to make this ball, but instead pulled out one of our old wedding lanterns--lit it with a battery-powered candle, and had Grandpa "drop" it from the banister as we counted down.

Incidentally, we had our countdown at the same time the ball dropped in NYC. This was actually 10:00 AZ time. I thought we would put the kids down and the adults would party more, but they had all been sick and were grateful for a couple of extra hours of sleep. So the kids had as much excitement as everyone else and were OK with the arrangement.

Stay tuned for lots more insanity in 2009! Up next, I'm cleaning up my blog for the New Year, and if you are lucky, I will share the recipe for this New Years tradition...

Top 8 of 2008--Most Insane Moments

Based on your comments, here are your top 8 moments of insanity for 2008!

Honorable Mentions (Other posts with lots of comments...or posts that I think should have had lots of comments. :-)):

Batiful Invitations

Holiday Butter Cookies

The Great Pumpkin Cake

Homemade Gift Ideas for kids

Trenton's Truck Birthday

Nancy Drew Birthday Insanity

Did I miss your favorite post? Thanks for helping making 2008 a great insanity-filled year. Here's to lots more craziness in the New Year!

Oh, and don't forget to sign-up, if you'd like to be a sponsor in January. The rates are staying the same. Go here for more info.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

UPDATE: I just joined in a New Year's Party over at The ROOST! Check out everyone's Top Ten of the year!

Party like it's 2009???

Are you still needing a little inspiration for New Years Eve? I outlined some of my ideas for a ball-themed party, here. And wanted to add a few more ideas, in case you are still stumped.

First off, I found the instructions for Martha's little ball ornaments I had mentioned, here, via the Hostess blog.

If you like my ball theme, you'll like the New Years parties at Setting the Mood, and Celebrations at Home. Both feature lots of sparkly balls! (and other fun details!)

Of course, the Hostess blog has some other stylish New Years options.

If you want a more casual celebration, check out Tangarang's bowling party. I am so using her clever fruit ball for my New Years Eve Ball!

Christmas Cookies - 2008

So much of Christmas still to share...now that it is over and everyone has moved on. But if you are like me, you like to do a debriefing of Christmas and get ideas for next year.

So here are the cookies I painted this year. (I had to take full advantage of my mother doing all of the baking and glazing for me). And don't worry...I let the kids paint their cookies first, so I was just finishing up the left overs.

You want a better look? Of course! Here is the cookie parade:


First up--this fun red house by my little sister Shanda, who claims that she doesn't have the patience for the detailed cookies I like to paint. Don't you love the garland and the wreath in each window. We'll call it Garland House!

Next up--My Candy Cane Tree. (Kind of self-explanatory).

We'll call this one Winter Gift.

And here's Rudolph. I'm not really sure how those antlers are supposed to look, but what do you think about his festive gear?!?

Houses provide some of the best opportunity for detail, but I wanted to do something that would be a bit different from my brick house, so this is my Gingerbread House. Can you tell what candies I painted?

Sweet Angel--Angels have always been a challenge. Either they get colored green by one of the kids, or need a lot of black to show detail and don't end up looking very angelic. I was pleased with how this one came out with a little blue and some understated features.

So now I need your vote...Which cookie deserves the title of Craziest Cookie 2008? Vote in the comments below! And for the recipe to make your own crazy cookies, go here!

A New Years Ball

We had a wonderful Christmas, and have lots to report, but I have to go travel, right now, so I have to make this quick.

New Years is less than a week away! I was asked for party ideas on my facebook page. This is what I would like to do for New Years, if I can pull it off. Maybe it is because my daughter is fascinated by all things ball related but I took my inspiration from this ball:

You know...the New Year's Ball...for a New Year's Ball!

I first saw this idea at Readymade magazine and was thinking of using it for the planets in my son's space-themed bedroom. But you could easily use this technique to make a large sparkly New Years Ball. Spray it with glitter, and lower it from a banister or ceiling as you countdown to the New Year. Martha Stewart also had instructions for small ornaments like this, you could but around the house.

For decorations, I would buy silver ball ornaments on after-Christmas clearance and display them in vases and urns around the house like this:

I would carry ball theme into the food:

Like this fancy cake for a more formal event. Or Bakerella's cupcake balls...

You could put them on a stick like this, or just make them more like bon bons. I would dip them in white chocolate (bark) and coat them in this...

(real flecks of edible silver), if you are feeling rich. Or if you are like the rest of us, just sparkly sugar crystals.

You can do balls in other food too.

Rachel Ray shows how to make these fun goat cheese balls, pretty easily. Melon balls, and other ball-shaped hors d'oeuvres would be fun.

And of course, something bubbly to drink (sparkling cider or lemonade at my house!).

As for the party event, you could carry on the "ball" theme, and actually have dancing. I will have children at my party, and have found that they love dancing more than adults. You could do a balloon drop, as well as the ball drop. Small balloon drop kits can be found at party stores. We will probably have games and karaoke.

If you have small children, you might consider counting down the New Years a couple of hours earlier. For example, if you are on the west coast, you could count down with New York and still get the kids to bed at a reasonable hour. Kids would love getting involved in making the large ball or the smaller ball ornaments. They could make those at the party and take them home with them. You could even create your own ball pit with lots of inexpensive plastic balls. That would keep kids entertained for hours!

What are you doin' New Years Eve?

We love Tip Junkie--Tree competition

My train Christmas tree is a finalist over at Tip Junkie's Christmas Tree competition. There are some beautiful trees over there, so I won't be offended (too much :-)), if you vote for one of them, instead, but if you like my train tree, I'd love a vote, because, it would be really fun to win another prize!

Speaking of winning fun prizes...Thank you, so much, for voting for Trina's NOEL card! We won 10 of these hilarious cards, and it was a prize that we are actually able to split!



Merry Christmas!

Because I'm sure you are all done with Shopping and Making Presents...

I have to share these fun gift wrap ideas I found. We are visiting my parents, and I found out my mom used to instruct a course on creative gift wrapping, long before I was born. She pulled out a file of favorite ideas she had been saving all of these years, and I knew I had to share with you, just in case any of you have everything but gift-wrapping finished, and want a little vintage insanity in your Christmas this year (I am not finished, so will probably not be using these techniques, this year, but aren't they fun to look at?)

They are from various magazine clippings and brochures put out by Hallmark. The one with a copyright is dated 1958.

If you like this circle bow technique, here are some instructions:

This page just makes me giggle!: