Painting

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . Last week, we tackled painting our living room. If you want to have an intimate relationship with your house, paint the walls. We touched each wall no less than 8 times!!

1. Wash

2. Spackle

3. Sand

4. Spackle

5. Sand

6. Wash

7. Prime

8. Paint

9. Faux Finish

Here is what it looked like before:


With 11-foot ceilings, we had to rent a scaffold. It was my own personal stair-master.


And here is what it looks like now:


I love how the picture wall turned out. We decided instead of hiding the windows, we would honor tthe architecture of the house by framing them like art. We hung the pictures from the bottom frame with twine. I liked the natural fibers and how cheap it was. Hanging a family tree is a great idea because they are forever changing. This way, you save the wall you just painted from the scars of nail holes.

I also love how the faux finish came out. It is a patchwork pattern that I dragged into the glaze with a wisk broom.


I think it works really well with the boarder and the brown bottom of the wall. It was such a vast space, I needed to break it up and I thought the different colors and textures were a great solution.


And do you believe we did the whole thing for under $700? I have a cost breakdown planned for later in the week so, stay tuned for that:-) And let me know what you think! I am looking forward to some feedback:-)

Spaghetti Cupcakes

Happy Friday Followers! I want to win some cash! Midday Escapades told me that Toothsoap.com is going to sponsor a special GRAND giveaway exclusively for Friday Followers: three $100 prizes....cash!! Check it out:

With all my giveaways and crafts and painting, I completely forgot to show you guys the cupcakes I made for my daughter's Student of the Week reign.

At my daughter's school, right around their birthday, each child gets to be Student of the Week in their classroom. As part of this wonderful celebrations, the kids fill out a book and a poster that tells all about them. They write about their hobbies, their likes, their dislikes and their favorite things. Since my daughter's favorite dinner is spaghetti, I thought it would be fun to do Hello, Cupcake!'s Spaghetti Cupcakes and here they are:



Don't they look real? She provides such great instruction, there is no way I could screw them up. The kids loved them and my daughter loved being the center of attention:-)

What is Going on in My Garden

We are still painting away but, I have done a lot in the garden before this week to keep on schedule during this busy week. So, here is a recap of what I have been up to:

3/9/10:

I sowed lettuce, peppers, marigold and basil. The lettuce is sprouting:

and so are the marigold:

3/17/10:
I had planted some peas directly into the garden on St. Patrick's Day. This was the first time I have tried this so early in our Wisconsin spring. So, wish me luck with these.

I also turned my compost and although it is very "leafy" there is some really great black gold in there!! I can't wait to get started!!

3/19/10:

I started the tomato seeds today! They tested well so, I am looking forward to a good crop this year:-)

Easter Cookies

Aren't they pretty? I made them for a bake sale at school and they were quite a hit! I used the same Vanilla Sugar Cookies recipe to make them that I have used before. With a little Royal Icing and sprinkles, you can have a beautiful Easter display. Here is each one up close:

How to Make a Sit Upon

Today, I am posting about making sit-upons with my Daisy troop. Sit-upons are an honored tradition with the Girl Scouts. Being the adventurous bunch that they are, you often find yourself with a need for something to "sit upon" (hence the name). I was able to donate $4.20 of materials for the project. A bargain craft, wouldn't you say?

Step 1: Buy vinyl/fabric-backed table clothes. You will need enough to and cut them into 14'' X 28'' squares/one for each girl. Fold them in half to make a 14 inch square.

Step 2: Tape three sides of the square with masking tape:

Step 3: Punch holes through the tape.



Step 4: Thread ribbon or yarn through the holes all the way up one side. Tie at the top and leave enough for a handle. Tie it on the other side and then thread down the second side.




Step 5: Fill with newpaper:




Step 6: Tape it closed:




Step 7: Throw a sit-upon upon on your shoulder and enjoy:-)

Sprouts

Glorious Sprouts!!

Paint Prep

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Next week, we are painting our living room which is a very daunting task. The ceilings are high, there are lots of cracks and holes that need to be patched and I am doing a faux-finish on the largest wall. So, we spent this weekend preparing for the job. Here is what we accomplished:

We cleaned off these shelves:

We cleaned some more to reveal that big giant wall:


We cleaned off the mantel:


We cleaned off the walls with the blinds:
Once we cleaned everything out, we had a a blank canvas and we could design. Here is the palatte that will be our living room:

I am so excited! I can't wait to post the finished room!!

Friday Foto Fun with Breathing

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun and Friday Followers.

Some of you may have noticed that my blogging "service" has been spotty at best the last couple weeks. My apologies but I have been terribly ill and breathing has been a novelty at best.

Apparently, my bronchitis has exacerbated by asthma and the result has not been conducive to blogging. It's hard to write when you are fighting for basic air. And, the lack of oxygen does not promote energy to do anything other than basic life skills.

The answer: antibiotics and steroids. I can breathe now. I just hope I don't end up looking like this:

Welcome Back Babies!!!

Friday Foto Fun with a Cake Bowl

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun and Friday Followers and...

...another giveaway! I thought to myself, "What is a giveaway?" It's a gift. And "What is a gift?" Something that would be really cool to have but you wouldn't necessarily buy yourself.

So, when CSN has graciously offered my readers a giveway, I chose Cake. Perfect? Yes, but not what you think.

Check out this really cool Profile Bowl by a company called Cake:

Nice, right? It's sleak. It's modern and check out the feminine forms on the bottom!! Definitely a conversation starter!

And it can be yours! It's so easy to win. You just have to do one or all of the following:

1. Leave a comment on this post (get's you 1 entry).

2. Follow Susie's Homemade Blog (current followers and new followers gets 2 entries).

3. Friend me on Facebook (current friends and new friends gets 2 entries).

4. Follow my Tweets (current followers and new followers gets 2 entries).

5. Join my brand NEW Community (current members and new members get 3 entries).

6. Tweet about my giveaway gets you 4 entries.

7. Blog about my giveaway gets you 5 entries.

Good luck to all! You have until Monday at midnight. I will tackle the winner on Tackle it Tuesday:-)