I've Had It

I must say, I am so sorry for the delay in my posts. As you are all aware, we close on the new house in .. 9 days. This in and of itself is a major deal. Not to mention, packing, painting the apartment back to its original builder beige, planning the wedding, and helping my mom deal with my grandmother who has fallen and needs extra help these days.

So, with all that being said. I've been busy. Not only busy, but also frustrated, mad, disorganized and unfortunately moody. John has been such a good boy and kept his mouth shut during my "episodes". The most recent one was last night when I got mad and yelled at him for not saving the left over mashed potatoes from dinner (which he instead fed to the dog). The one before that was when I got mad (and when I say mad, I mean I yelled, screamed, jumped up and down, cried and apologized) about where he sat our mail when he came in each evening from work (he always gets the mail for us).

I hope for his sake that I will handle the move and our disorganization better than I have been doing. It would be a great disappointment for us to get a divorce within the first few months of being married (just kidding.. I think).

If it is any consolation, I have plenty of ideas for posts as soon as we get moved and started on projects on the new house. For right now though, for my sanity's sake, I believe I am going to have to take one week at a time, and if that includes a blog entry, great. If not, stay tuned. I promise I havent forgotten!

Craft Space

My craft space. My craft space is a tiny desk that my dad used in college. Its green. Not a pretty green, but an army green (you know the color, a cross between nasty lake water and a baby poop green) but it gets better.... hold on, yes, it also has brass hardware. Yes, it is THAT bad. Oh, how I want to get a sander to that think and go to town! But that is a little hard core to be doing in an apartment.. so there it sits. In the corner of my living room. Staring at me. Waiting for me. I have so much invested into my crafts that I love using them. But if you dont have the proper space to do it, it truly makes it that much more frustrating than an enjoyment.

For anyone who enjoys crafting, gift wrapping or scrapbooking you know how hard it is to find that one nook in your house to have a few hours to play. By. Yourself. I have always had this dream of being a Mom, sitting in my quiet, well organized, bright craft room meditating over colors for my kids scrapbook pages. Meanwhile the kids munch on the cookies I made for them before they got home from school. I am not a Mom (yet). But I still dream of this special room. All to myself. Can't you see it?

I really like this one:

I love the colors and how bright and fresh it is. Of course I would need more desk space, but we are getting there.

Loving this one too:

I just wish there was a picture of the rest of the room! Dont keep me guessing people! I am way too impatient for that. But I do love how organized and neat everything is.

So finally, here it is. My dream room:

Ahhh. Birds singing. The heavens part. Rainbows cover the sky. Unicorns are frolicking across fields of green. Oh my heavenly space. Pefection. I can see myself living and crafting in this room. I could even sleep on the lovely and inviting window seat. This is what dreams are made of. But for right now, I guess I will have to live with my little desk in the corner. One day.. it will be different. One day...

Prime Time

So anyone who has been paying attention to the blog knows that John and I are about to move out of our apartment into our new house (pics coming, I promise!). Well, because of our impending move, we have the wonderful task of re-painting our bathroom to the original color. Boo. With my incredible need for organization, it sure does help to make some critical steps before getting started.
Case and Point: the right kind of paint for the job.


Kilz is the perfect kind of paint for a bathroom, basement or any area that gets any moisture. It covers well and keeps mold from growing. And for a whole gallon is only about 12 buckeroos at Lowes. Which I think is just a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

Now before we get started, there are a few steps that need to be taken to be sure we have easy clean-up and less work for you later.
I like to take a nail make sure its a pretty fat nail (the one shown here is not and I had to switch) and hammer some holes along the rim of the can. This way any paint that is left in the rim after you pour it will drain back into the can. Yay! No more rings or drips down the side of the can!

See? Its working!

And just for a little more ease-of-use, I like to have an extra can on hand to pour some paint into for trim work or small areas. You can get small, empty cans in the paint section for anywhere from 47 cents to a buck.

I keep my can, even after I have used it. I pour any paint left back into the large can and rinse out the small one and keep it for my next project. As you can see, this one has been around for a little while. But at least I am going green!

Be sure to take off any light switches, outlet covers, or towel rods before you start painting. Use painters tape to outline any areas where you do not want paint. I know its a pain in the a** but all the prep work really will help save you time later.

I like to paint my trim first, then the walls. When using primer, ALWAYS paint THIN coats and then re-apply if needed. The more paint is not the better in this case. I am thinking 3 coats will do it for this bathroom, simply because it is a navy blue and will be hard to cover. Lighter colors will take fewer coats.

So now you know how to properly prime a bathroom.

I hope this post will help someone with their paint delimas and hopefully, lend some aid. Happy painting and enjoy your home. No matter where you live.

28 Days!

We will be official home-owners on the 30th of this month. As exciting as it is, I am very overwhelmed by moving. Since we dont have to be out of our apartment until mid August, we have plenty of time to get the house ready to move. Of course, if you know me, I want to get everything done in ONE day. Not going to happen, but a girl can dream right?
So here is my plan:

1. Close on house Tuesday, June 30. Do happy dance with John. Probably start moving some things that evening after work. There may be a bottle of wine involved ;) Any reason for a party right?
2. Hopefully, continue moving books, small items from the apartment throughout the week.
3. PAINT that weekend. We have lots of it. I will post pics. Seriously, LOTS of painting.
4. As we get each room finished painting move furniture etc. into the house.
5. Hopefully be done with painting and moving by the end of July.
6. Have a happy home for Maggie and Pickles!

Dont worry, I will post pictures and all the DIY as it goes along. So be looking for it!

Seriously? On a Monday?

So all weekend I have been asking John (who still thinks I am crazy) what to blog about on my Monday post. No luck from him. I had an idea this morning and decided when I got home that I would figure something out.

Well, I left work, went to the grocery (thanks Harris Teeter for the delicious cookie!) and came on home.
And...this is what I walked into:

Caution: Some viewers may find these next photos disturbing!

Oh Maggie, dear. (Upset tummy continued from last night when she woke us up. Twice.)

Hang in there with me.. I promise there is a point to this.
I calmly (to my surprise) put the groceries away. I needed a game plan. Quick, the smell was becoming overly obnoxious.

I love my dearest friends. They are always there for me when I need them most




So, this is the real reason for this post:

How to get that nasty stain out of your carpet

1. Open all the windows, turn on the fans and get some air in there!
   
2. blot up all you can with paper towels (wear gloves when you do this, nothing worse than poopy hands!)
3. spray down the area(s) with Resolve fabric cleaner. Let this sit for a few minutes. Scrub. Scrub. Scrub. Eww, I know.
4. Blot again.
5. Go over area with Clorox bathroom cleaner (make sure it says "NO BLEACH"). This will kill all those nasty germ-ies. And help get rid of smells.
6. Scrub again.
7. Blot again.
8. Repeat steps 2-7 until you have all the stain removed.
9. Spray Fabreze liberally over area to kill any smell that may return.
10. Done.
    

FYI: this tactic also works on throw-up (I know, a little graphic. But at least now you know).

Voila:

There is nothing worse than a bad smell or stain. Hopefully, this tutorial has helped someone get a stain out of their home.
And after a quick tummy rub, our house is now back to a normal home. I dont see Maggie complaining.