I scored on Craigslist

Last night I scored on Craigslist. I know that sentence sounds bad but really it was a good thing. Who would sell a solid wood buffet/hutch for $60? It's beautiful and I have a new paint project. That's right, MORE PAINT. Aw, yeah! Luckily I just about have one of my other paint projects done and ready to leave the garage so I have space (hubby will appreciate that). This is the picture from the ad. I need to take a better one but last night it just got put down in the middle of the living room so I haven't gotten one yet.



I have to tell you I was so nervous I wouldn't get it. With a price like that (when all the others were $250+ and not as nice) I figured it would go pretty quick. I called 50 minutes after it was posted and I was already the 5th call BUT he said he was first come/first serve and I was the first to make arrangements. Booyah! (Can you tell I was excited? Haha!).

Anyway, so we made an appt. for 6 but then I was reading Mandi's blog and I got nervous that someone would offer more money because it was definitely worth more. Then the guy's wife got called to go into work and they share a car so it was almost off again. Luckily they said she could come a bit later and my father in law came to help me out. This was great because a)I needed his truck and b)I'm going to meet people I don't know at a storage unit and what if they are sinister people (turns out they were really great people and not crazy people luring me to a storage unit and I was psyching myself out for nothing (as usual) but we'll overlook the "I'm crazy" part). I owe my FIL big time for the help, too.

And now it's home and I'm in love. She's in really good shape, too. There are a few dings here and there to clean up and that's about it. Can't wait to start this one!

Oh, and what perfect timing, too. Mandi is doing a Look What I Found Friday right when I actually found something (normally I would find something 3 days from now when I can't play so the timing is nice). Anyway, go check her out because her blog is awesome and she has great style.

Have you found something fun lately? Anything (find or otherwise) have your stomach all tied up in knots right now?

Random moment: I just noticed that I don't have post tags for Paint or Furniture. That surprises me since I do a lot of both. Huh.

Random moment #2: Why is it that, even though I know how to spell definitely, I always spell it wrong anyway (definetely) and the spell checker has to point that out? Every. Single. Time.

Birthday Cake: Monster Trucks

Boy, n.
1. Noise with dirt on it.

K2 had his 5th birthday this weekend. I almost made a construction cake but the Monster Trucks birthday cake won out.



This cake stuck to the pan (both layers, argh) and I ended up having to frost the whole thing back together. Luckily, it's supposed to look torn up and dirty so I didn't have to remake it.



I love really simple cakes. Vanilla cake (double recipe), chocolate frosting and crushed up Nilla wafers (with a little cocoa powder mixed in to darken it). I made two 9x13 cakes and one short (2 inch tall) loaf. I cut the corners from the loaf cake to make the ramps and used bamboo skewers to make the trucks stand up over them. I got into the older boys' car stash and picked a couple cars that looked really well beaten up for the "crushed cars" and washed everything real well (including the new ones).

First Day

It's the first day of school again! This morning I delivered 3 balls of nerves to school. We went through and checked out their classrooms and met teachers. I think it helped the kids when the teachers told them that they are nervous, too. :)



And of course we had to let the silly get out too.



Hope you're having a good Monday!

Couch Recovered

Last November we got a puppy and, in true puppy style, it ate my couch. Luna (puppy) tore the sides and back from the couch (all of it) and put a big hole in part of the cushion. It was still comfortable to sit on (the seating areas were mostly fine), just ugly. I thought I had a picture of the destruction but I am having trouble finding it. Just imagine something truly ghetto.

Anyway, the original couch was the dark green color you see below (with the southwest design on the backs of the pillows). It wasn't exactly my style but it was given to me for free and in good condition so I can't really complain about fabric. And then in stepped Luna, also known as Looney and Pain, who "remodeled" the couch. We tried to buy a premade slip cover but the store here only carried them for couches up to 97" (about 7 or 8 inches too short). We bought it anyway and made do for a while.



Then I discovered that it fit much better if I took the seating cushions out and put them on top of the cover instead. Except the cushions had been doggy chewed a bit themselves and I was back to a little ghetto (though less bad than it had been at least). I stopped in at the fabric store and found this pretty green in the clearance section for $3/yard and it's extra wide. I took the old covers off of the cushions and used those for the pattern. Following my little sister's advice I didn't make them too tight (the seams on her's busted from being too tight). So here's where I'm up to so far. The cushions are recovered (but still need a little bit of foam to fill in the holes on the right side, pretend you don't notice) and there are new pillows. Next I need to add some zippers to the back of the cushions and add that foam.



What projects are you working on at the moment?

Pergola Building

When I first bought this house 3 years ago our backyard looked like this. Pretty, right? Over time we added a concrete patio and the grass and then it pretty much has stayed that way.



But I have been dying for a little shade because Nevada gets hot, hot, hot. Last weekend the pergola went up (when it was a fun 97 degrees outside. Ouch). We based it almost exactly on the one my parent built a few years ago with some of their "wish I had done it this way" thoughts added to the design.



Since 2x2 and 2x4 are about the same price we decided to just buy 2x4 and rip them in half to save some money. We don't have a table saw but luckily we know someone who was willing to let us use theirs for a bit.



We got a pretty good system down of taking the boards out of the car, running them through the table saw and putting them right back into the other side.



We decided to go ahead and prime and paint before assembly.



On Sunday I got to see the first side go up. Once we had all of the cuts done it was pretty quick work getting the frame together.



Then starting in Monday morning we got the slats on. Obviously I have some paint touch up to do and more clean up on the patio. I'm thinking some curtains would be nice for the end of it since after about 5:30 the sun gets low enough that the cover doesn't help as much. Our next step will be to build some benches and then see about some bushes and trees for the yard. Can't wait!

4th

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!



We spent the weekend working on backyard projects (hopefully to share really soon) and at the annual neighborhood BBQ for the 4th. Did you do something special this weekend? Did you go somewhere or stay close to home?