MERRY Blocks

MERRY Christmas!  Or MERRY whatever you might like to MERRY.

I had a really cute set of FALL blocks from a Super Saturday event a few years ago.  I wanted something fun for Christmas.  These were made out of a spare piece of fencing I had in the garage (yes, there's a large random pile of wood that I have collected from the cull wood bin at Home Depot.)  I cut the piece into random sizes and cut out some random letters using my Cricut.  No, I'm not a super cool vinyl expert like all the chicks in Utah.  I'm old school - paper and mod podge.  There was a little sanding and painting involved - but I think this one is easy enough to replicate without a tutorial.  

Happy Crafting!

Dresser into Dress-up Closet

I apologize in advance for these TERRIBLE pictures I am about to post.  My cell phone camera is horrible, and my real camera isn't operational at the moment.  Therefore, you and I must endure blurry photos - often with a glaring flash that detracts from the end result.  

With that disclaimer, I present to you the underused dresser in the kids area of my basement:

It is. . . large.  The drawers hardly open anymore and it has become a catch-all despite my efforts to label and organize in kid friendly ways.

After some Pinterest motivation and inspiration, I headed to the basement armed with a rubber mallet and a screw gun.  I removed the drawers, then removed the runners for the drawers (power tool moment!)  Then, I had the pleasure of using the rubber mallet to knock the shelf out.  When the entire right side of the dresser was barren, it was time to head to the garage.

Who do you know who just happens to have some random PVC pipe hanging out in the garage, along with some hardware for hanging up closet rods?  Me - that's who!  The items had been intended for a different project that had become obsolete - this remake was meant to be!  With my handy tape measure and chop saw (another power tool moment!) I hacked a hunk of PVC pipe the right size to create a kids size closet rod.

I headed back to the basement, screwed in the hardware, slid in the PVC pipe, then stood back to admire my suddenly more useful piece of furniture in the basement.  Good-bye catch-all - hello dress-up!

The cupboard side (on the left) has bins for holding hats, gloves, boots and all of the other accessories one needs to become the superhero within!

It's not beautiful, but it's super useful!

We're Here!

Well, I'm here!  Did anyone else imagine Horton Hear's a Who when they read the title?  That's what I was thinking of when I wrote it.

It's not as though crafting has died in my house - it's just continuing on undocumented - which, I know - is a monumental loss to humanity as a whole.  However does the world continue without my random, occasional posts?

So, here's the deal.  Between our work schedules, Penny and I don't have a ton of time to get our craft on.  The crafting continues - lonely, bleak at my dining table, or in my cold basement.  Although I often have the company of my sweet little Ryan to hang with - and believe me, he wants to help - it's just not the same!

As I was crafting for Christmas it started to feel like I was working in a sweat shop - well, without the sweat (it's really cold in my basement - where the belt sander is located - and even colder in the garage - where the chop saw lives - seriously, my breath was visible.)  There's something comforting about that extra touch of companionship.

I spent hours, and hours, and hours - if you've ever been in my basement, you'd understand - organizing and cleaning a crafting area.  Take hours of work, my aching back and several shelves/cupboards that Penny gave me and presto - I now have a totally awesome crafting area to work at.  No more hauling stuff up and down the stairs to work - although the saws are all still in the garage, travel will still be required, just not as much!  My husband is excited that family meals are returning to the dining table!

You can now rejoice (I heard that) and celebrate the awesome creations that will flow forth from my new craft area!  (Cheers, roaring and accolades abound!)  

With that being said, I will go forward and post some badly photographed projects I've recently finished!

This one time, when I used to blog . . .

So, I plopped down at the computer, determined to do some writing, and discovered that I'd been completely neglecting my blogs.  And I mean neglecting!  It's not like I've missed a few weeks, or maybe even a couple of months - it's been over a year for some of my blogs.  Ry-Ry - my littlest - is still a baby in his blog pics and his most recent post was in 2009!

So, it's time to get a grip and get back to it!

I haven't been particularly crafty, more clean-y than crafty, lately.  And I'm not sure that our frosting/fondant making marathon on Thursday qualifies as crafty either.

Clever it is!  Random money saving tips from Sara!  You know you've been wanting to hear it!

1.  Switch from using the measuring cup that comes with your detergent to a measuring cup that is the exact size you actually need to do a load of laundry.  At our house, we always wash full (large) loads of laundry.  So, I filled the scoop/cup for the Tide detergent to the "proper fill line" - there are various lines on the cup that comes with the detergent - needed for my load of laundry, then dumped it into a liquid measuring cup in the kitchen.  I discovered that I needed to use 2/3 cup of detergent for a normal load of laundry.  I chucked the cup that came with the Tide into the trash and use a 2/3 scoop (which stays in the detergent bucket) to measure.  I was using an extra 1/3 cup of detergent all the time, and who knows how much my spouse was using!?  Small change, long term savings!

2.  Sign up for Groupon alerts - either email or the phone app.  (I love the phone app myself!)  Look at the deals every day.  It only takes a minute to look through the deals, and we have bought some great ones for the summer.  Recently they had $4.00 movie tickets through Fandango, and a $30.00 one year family pass to the Butterfly Pavilion!  It's a great way to stretch the entertainment budget a little further!

3.  Are you planning your menu for the week yet?  I know, it can be a bit boring or tedious - but it saves so much time and money in the long run!  If you don't do a dinner menu yet, start!  (Now, I will repent my laziness and go write up this weeks menu myself!)

I know it's not much - but that's what I've got at the moment!  Talk to you soon (well, sooner than last time!)