Favorite Finds Friday!

Just 'cuz I've seen some cute things lately, I thought I'd share today's favorite.

I just got these from Michael's yesterday.  They were $2 and came on a sheet of sock monkey magnets.  This is for the hard-rock, cowboy sort...

 And this one cracked me up, as we had JUST watched Madagascar 3 at the free movies.  :)

Everyone, all together now... Afro. Circus. Afro. Circus..... (polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, afro.)

There are two others, one a chef and one a soldier.  There are many "accessories" to dress them up... including two mustaches.  

Now, who can pass up sock monkeys with rainbow wigs and mustaches??

It's Not Done TEAL It's Done

It's summertime here on the Hill.  How are you all handling your summers?

I have four kids, aged 8, 9, 12, and 14.  So, my summers are DRASTICALLY different than my spring/fall/winters.  For one, I'm actually home all the time (I teach preschool and sub in the public schools during the school year) AND all four kids are home all the time.  So,  the schedule is a tad easier... and the house is a lot messier.  Ha!

Well, last week, our first actual week of summer vacation,  was Vacation Bible School.  I'm not sure how many of you have ever experienced VBS as a child or as a parent or as a volunteer... but I guarantee those three points-of-view are completely different.  

To the VBS attending student, there is but one word... FUN!

(water game day)

To the Parents, there is but one word.... {sigh} PEACE.  (three hours in a quiet home)

(my VBS cowboys)

To the Volunteers, there is but one word... EXHAUSTION!  (Okay, two words... also "BLESSED")

So, for those of us, like myself and my two older kids, who were the leaders of groups of kids, that first week of summer really doesn't feel like summer just yet.  It was a fun and energetic time... but at 12:30 each day, I just wanted to CRASH!

This week, my two oldest went away to a church camp.  So, I'm home with the two younger ones.  It's been a partly relaxing/partly fun week.

While my oldest Reagan is away, I decided to attack her room.  She's 12 and lives on the third floor attic (where I avoid due to the extra flight of stairs)... so my assumptions on what has gone on in that room were fully correct.  

ACK!

So, I decided to take this week to straighten it up a bit,  a LOT, weed out those clothes that are two or three (or four) sizes too small, and to refresh her furniture.

She has had my old furniture in her room for years.  It was given to me when I was a kid and still had the same stain on it that my grandfather used decades ago (i.e.... it was very orangey by now and just didn't complement the purple walls).

So, I decided to paint it.  Being it was on the third floor, I created my own little paint studio right there!

I've admired "chalk painted" furniture on the blogosphere for years now, and decided it was my time to try it out.  I cannot, however, afford $50/gallon Annie Sloan (or whatever it costs).  So, I found a quart of unused linen white paint in the basement and altered it.  I found a recipe for chalk paint online where you add two tablespoons of unsanded grout to every cup of paint.  I mixed them in another bucket in batches (to avoid too much drying or thickening).

I have read that chalk paint needs no sanding pre-painting.  However, I didn't want to risk a problem (especially since I was making my OWN chalk paint)... so I did some brief sanding of all surfaces.

I painted at least two coats on each surface area.  Since I wasn't as concerned about a perfect coating (since I planned to distress afterwards), I didn't worry about a third coat, which would've been a more solid finished color.

At this point, the paint had a chalky feel... very similar to the texture of chalkboard paint.

I used a piece of coarse sandpaper to rough up the edges a bit and a little on the big flat surfaces.  I didn't do a LOT, but enough to notice.

I used Minwax Paste Finishing Wax (again, too cheap for AS.)  I had never used wax before.  I was so pleasantly surprised at the smooth, hard finish it achieved once it sat for a few minutes.  Not soft or greasy at all.  

Here are a few close-ups of the final look:

After I finished the furniture and put them back in place, I decided to add some more color to her room. It used to be very... purple.  Walls, pillows, rug, decorations.  I once saw these pieces in an Ikea:

I wasn't in need of a small dresser, but something caught my eye.  Yes, the colors were very vivid and pretty... but they looked GREAT together!

It made me realize that the teal would be perfect with the purple.  So... 

COMMENCE TEAL INFUSION.

I found a lovely shade of turquoisy-teal in my paint samples, and decided to paint everything with that.  :)

I did this to a cabinet door to make a beautiful rack for her necklaces.

Then I found an old discarded frame in my crafting stash that was tossed out by a moving neighbor.  I also found a cute fabric to wrap around a piece of galvanized steel.

It made this adorable magnetic board!

I just put her recent 5K numbers on it for now.

I painted her earring holder.

And added some soccer fun to make a soccer collage wall.

I found this teal throw blanket for $15 at Target.  

Then I changed the background to these prints.

I found this adorable shelf liner on Amazon (MacBeth Collection).

 to line her drawers...

And here is her vanity/desk area.

 And here is the dresser area.

 I hope she'll be happy to see some small changes.  The furniture looks SO much better!!

I has inspired me to try more... like that new-old dresser I just bought yesterday at the Restore.  :)  I'll keep you posted.

Ground Beef? Wow, you really CAN blog about anything!

Well, today's post is a little "off the wall"....like REALLY off the wall, actually!  Yep, I am going to tell you a little story about some beef.  Yes, I said BEEF.  Hold onto your seats, people...today's post is a doozy!

I don't know about you, but I buy my meat in BULK.  Like...."HELLO COSTCO!" kind of bulk.

When I buy my ground beef I break it up into freezer bags and store it in the deep freezer...but, I usually put it in bags in a "ball" shape...so yes, it's like a "ball-o-frozen-beef".  Eww. 

Wellllll, you see, this caused a little bit of a dilemma.  When you try to freeze and store 20 "balls-o-frozen-beef", it takes up "a-lot-o-room". A-NNOY-ING.

That was until my Mom came to the rescue...you know that saying "mom knows best"?  Well, it's true...really, it is.  My Mom pointed out to me that I need to start freezing my ground beef FLAT.  As in like a pancake.  Yep, that's right; instead of putting a big hunk of ground beef into your freezer to take up a bunch of room...you FLATTEN your beef.  Was that a Freudian slip?  =)  So now, not only do you save room in your freezer, but it thaws faster, your freezer bags have less air {which means none of those ice crystals}...and, it's nice and neat!!  Who wouldn't want that?  I mean, don't YOU want the best for your beef?

Here's what I'm talkin' 'bout...

These two pictures are how I would have normally frozen my beef....(I would have removed as much air as possible, then zipped the bag...obviously.)

 

THEN...here is where it get's REAL.  Flatten...like so.

 

 

 

 

 

SEE the DIFFERENCE?

 

 

 

Wow, crazy, right?

 

OMG.  I can't believe I just took the time out of my life to blog about how you can freeze your meat.  Gross.  Sorry to all you vegetarians out there.  But "HEEEEYYY" to all you space-savers!  =) {and meat-eaters}