How do I light a fire....

Just by looking at the title of my blog, one could guess that I like to make things. I love it so much that I created a blog centered around it. Unfortunately, my husband is the complete opposite of me. He would be more content sitting in front of a computer, playing a video game, than making something. This creates a problem... a huge problem.


The picture to the left is of the office/guest bedroom/Kelda and Pharaoh's room. It is a mish-mash of items that have no sense of place. (I guess I should note that the futon that the dog is sleeping on is now a bed frame, so, make a mental note to remove it and put the round chair in its spot).

The main source of mess in this room, however, is not pictured. Chris's desk is a huge mess. (I think I blogged about making a new desk earlier). I really want to clean it up and fortunately, I have found a pattern for a desk system that implements the type of desk that he has. I only need to build a filing cabinet (and maybe a few built-in shelves) and the ensemble will be complete. To tie all of the pieces together, though, I will need to paint a cabinet, desk, and the filing cabinet. Here is where the problem lies. My husband likes things the way they are. The dark brown cabinet, light-colored, wood-veneered desk, and whatever color I paint the filing cabinet do not bother him. The woods aren't even in the same family! (The book case and plastic shelf drive me crazy in the above picture).


The main reason that he doesn't care is that it would inconvenience him from one night of using his computer if I painted the items all one color. He can afford one night of inconvenience for my happiness, right? I know marriage is about compromise, but I draw the line. I'm tired of mismatched furniture. I want my apartment to be mistaken for a Pottery Barn catalog (now you know i'm kidding, right?) ... but I do want matching furniture.


I guess my question is: How do I "inspire" my husband to want to make the room look better? I guess if I could answer this question, then my next goal would be to answer the question of world peace.

Dear Santa:

Dear Santa:

I would love a circular saw for Christmas. I know I've been asking for one for years, but this year, I'm serious. I really need it to build new furniture from Knock-off Wood. Also, the saw that Lowe's uses is out of commission and I don't want to go to Columbus to cut wood.

Another reason that I want a saw is that I REALLY want to make this desk. If you saw Christopher's desk now, you would understand. He needs storage.... I mean NEEDS storage (and a sense of organization, but that's another blog post.... (j/k Chris) ).

I am on a mission to organize my apartment before I move out in three to four years.

Your help would be appreciated and tell Rudolph that I will give him extra carrots.

Love,

Me.

What a day for gardening

Days like today make me want to stay outside and dig in the dirt. Even when I was in college and was not able to "garden", I still tried to grow stuff in a window box outside of my dorm room. I'm sure my roomate loved me climbing all over her bed to tend to the plants outside :). I still don't have a garden (even though I've contemplated the thought of turning the "porch" of my apartment into a grassy lawn) but try to grow stuff in pots each year. So far, I have a cedar tree, day lillies, irises, and an azalea bush. I also have some ivy, but I don't think it's going to make it through the winter. I did try to plant some buttercups this year in the flowerbed outside of my bedroom window, but the landlord got the bright idea to dig up all of the bushes at the apartment complex and plant new bushes, and, in the process, dig up my buttercup bulbs. I didn't lose any money on that project though, I had dug up the bulbs from the wilderness around my apartment, it just mainly hurt my feelings because buttercups are my favorite flower.

I thought about not going to class nor going back to work, especially when I saw someone sitting in the sun at the Chapel. It's so nice outside that it should be illegal to have to work on days like today.

Also, today is the opening of baseball season on-campus. I love to go to Dudy-Noble and watch baseball games, especially since baseball is the only sport that my husband will actually go with me to watch.

Blankets

Have you ever been inspired to do something, and it seems like a good idea at the time to start the project, but you just can't bring yourself to finish it? I am going through a phase like that right now with an afghan. I started it when I was in college but put it away. It's still incomplete, over five years later. Here is a small picture of the pattern I found on the internet. My afghan is a different color scheme... it's mainly purples, greens, tans, and creams.

Maybe this afghan never had a good start to begin with. It started to be another type of afghan, but was taken apart after I didn't like it. It was supposed to be a wedding gift for someone. They have now been married for over seven years!

I found this square online. It looks so neat. Also, I found a dog costume that would be awesome to make. Did I mention that awesome seems to be my word for the day?

This baby blanket looks like a good way to use scraps. I have some bright colors that would look great in this pattern.

The problem is that I have lost the drive to crochet. I start to do it and then I get tired with crocheting.

I have, however, finished one project. Remember the china cabinet I talked about for like a month? Here it is before:

And .....

(pause for dramatic effect:)

After!

I have also been talking about a chair. After pricing upholstery fabric, and since I was looking at needing at least two yards of fabric, I decided to buy a drop cloth used for painting. I got all of the material I needed for the price of one yard of upholstery fabric on sale!

Before: After:

Critter count... and why I hate Lowe's

The china cabinet is a pain in my side... well, not the cabinet, just the "supply" store that i am having to buy stuff from. I will tell of my experience at Lowes so that they will get bad publicity and maybe clean up their act.

I should have known that last night's excursion was going to be a failure as soon as I started out. I saw two cop cars with their lights own at a bad intersection. I thought, oh, there must be a wreck, so I turned around and went the other way. As soon as I turned around, I looked in my rear-view mirror and the cops were gone.

When I got to Lowes (after going to the Dollar Tree to find a frame that had glass that would have fit, I decided to check out the panneling. I found a sheet that I wanted to get cut, and even had the measurements written out so that they could cut it up, I could finish my shopping, and I would be on my merry way. I found an associate, climbing in the 2x4 lumber and asked him to cut it for me. He told me that the saw was broken... Really???? A saw... at a hardware store.... broken.... They sell saws a few rows over. They just didn't want to cut it.

Next, I decided to get a piece of glass cut for the cabinet. The dimensions were 9x11, 1/2 inch short of just getting a picture frame from Dollar Tree. The lady couldn't find a 10x12 piece to cut down, and she got one out of the scrap bin. It took her a while to find a piece to cut, and then she started measuring it to be 12 inches, even though I told her 11 inches. Then, she couldn't figure out how to cut the glass. She had to call a guy to come help her. When he arrived, he cut the glass. By this point, I just wanted to go home. I was tempted to just say "hand me the glass and I'll take it home and cut it" since I got a glass cutter from my dad. I decided it would be better to get "professionals" to do it since the edge would be nicer. He cut the glass on one side, and discovered that the blade was dull. I could have cut a better line than he did and he asked me if I wanted to see if they could change out the blade.... at this point, i just wanted to go home. I didn't care. They finally got the glass cut and the product number on the packaging. I noticed that he had written down the wrong number, but I was angry and just wanted to leave.

I had had enough by the time I got to the register. She rang up my problems, and I saw that they charged me for a 12x16 piece of glass, even though the measurements were 9x11. The smallest size they had was 10x12. They used a scrap piece of glass, so the measurements weren't even 12x16 to begin with. I asked her about this since I didn't think it was right for Lowe's to not only waste my time, but also my money. She got the glass guy to come over and I told him that the smallest piece was 10x12, adn that I didn't think I should be charged for a larger piece than what was needed. He got the product number. I stood at the register hoping the lady coudl do a refund, but she didnt. She told me to go to the returns counter and get a refund. There was no one there, so I just stood at the register, because I heard her mutter something about doing a refund. Plus, she still had my receipt. She finally gave me my receipt and I had to go outside and back in to get to the returns desk.

When I got to the desk, the lady gave me a refund, but refunded me for the entire product. I started to think that she was goign to take my glass. I told her I wanted to keep this piece of glass. SHe was like "I know, I gotta ring it up again". Then, she stood there, all confused, about how to give me my money. She rang up the new amount, and I had to give her the cash back from the full amount. In the end, I only got a dollar back. Wouldn't it have been easier to just subtract the amount from the lesser amount and give me a dollar and change back? I was furious. I haven't been that mad in a really long time. The whole experience has made me hate Lowes (in my town). I've decided that when I want to get the paneling again, I am going to go to the next town over to buy it, just to avoid the stupidity at this Lowes.

After growing weary of cleaning the china cabinet and still removing tar, I decided to start tearing the chair apart. (here's where the title comes from) Upon removing the upholstery and old foam, I found three dirt-dobber (wasp) nests and two spiders. I freaked out. I hate spiders. Needless to say, they met their maker before they could bite me.

The Chair

I guess I better post a picture of the chair before I throw out all of these fabrics to choose from.

Reupholstering fever

Apparently, I'm not the only one who has reupholstering fever. Apartment Therapy has a post about it too.

Here are a list of Fabrics I like

Hancock Fabrics
Fabric 2
Fabric 3
Fabric 4

Fabric choices

Well, the china cabinet isn't black after all. It's more of a mahogany color and will take hours and hours of cleaning to get it back to it's rightful shade of wood-grain. So, there isn't much to post about it. I took plenty of pictures last night and will post them later so that I can have a dramatic "before and after" post. For now, I'm looking for fabrics for my new chair.

The current fabric is burnt orange... straight from the 70's. It has to go . So with that in mind, here is what I found in cyber space.

This fabric is not only on sale, it's also flame-retardant. I think it's flame retardant b/c not even fire would want to touch this VERY dated fabric.

I could support the Navy with this one. (or learn to play the bagpipe while sitting in my new chair)

I tried to convince Chris to let me get this fabric, but at a whopping retail price of $396 a yard, (on sale for $79.20) it would cost me almost $500 for two chairs... I think not.

I thought about being creative and tyedying painter's cloth, but Chris wouldn't go for it. I told him that it was either that or he would be subject to this fabric.

I sent this link to Chris, hoping for some sort of "hell no", but he actually approved of it.

I'm still looking...

I found these on Flexsteel's website. They are located in Starkville, MS.

The China Cabinet

So... if all goes as planned, I should get a china cabinet today! My parents wouldn't hear of me renting a U-haul and used the excuse that "they move stuff like that all the time". Since they are where I get my "stubborn" side from, I didn't fight. It is supposed to be rain-free today, so I'm hoping that they can move it today.

With all of my excitement, I'm sure you are wondering where the "story" is at in this china cabinet. Well, it was my grandmother's china cabinet. She had it in her house for as long as I can remember. She kept all of her "trinkets" in it in the living room. The cabinet is probably over 50 years old.

When my grandmother and grandfather were married, they never had an official wedding ceremony. They went to the justice of the peace in Vaiden and got a marriage license. They were young (as in my grandfather was only 15 and my grandmother was 14) and just starting out and he didn't have money for a wedding ring.

Later, he decided to get my grandmother a wedding present. She was hoping for a wedding ring. My grandfather, being the creative and spontaneous type, decided to not follow tradition. He got her something that was in a black box, alright, but it wasn't a ring. It was a china cabinet.

The story of the "wedding ring china cabinet" was passed down and all of their children knew the story. Even to their dying days, my grandmother never got a wedding ring. I believe that it was because they love to fight over the smallest of things. If he had gotten her a ring, she would have nothing to nit-pick about when they were fighting. My grandmother said that she despised the china cabinet, but she never got rid of the cabinet... and she could certainly get rid of it if she wanted to. This is the same woman who chased my grandfather through a screen door with a butcher knife.

pondering life and other things...

For the past week, I had been making plans to watch the Super Bowl and crochet. It sounded like an easy enough plan, except for the fact that I didn't know what time the Super Bowl started.

After googling the time, I informed Christopher that we would need to leave by 4:35 at the latest so that I could watch the game from kickoff to final whistle. Easy enough, right? Wrong.

Firstly, Chris and his brother decided that they wanted to go out to eat dinner. Dinner usually occurs after 5 pm. DURING THE SUPER BOWL. So, my plan was already shot. Chris then decided that he didn't want to go out to eat because he was scared they would spit in his food because him wanting food would make them work and miss a play in the superbowl. I told him he was stupid and that is a dumb reason. We went out to eat.

At Ruby Tuesday, I took bites of my chicken tenders in between plays and peeked around the banisters to see the score every few minutes. On the bright side, our neighbor was a waitress there. I had never really seen her before (mainly because I take my glasses off at home and when I'm outside, I don't have them on and everyone is fuzzy)

Secondly, my cat decided to run away for the day in Tupelo. We started looking for him around 12:30. At 4:30, he still hadn't been seen. Since we had to get home, we left his butt in Tupelo. Around10 p.m., he still hadn't been seen. Chris and I seriously started to think that he had been eaten/ run-over/ somehow killed. (thus, the pondering life title) Chris and I were sad and didn't know if we were going to get another cat since we had already paid a $200 non-refundable pet deposit. At 10:45 p.m., Chris's mom called to let us know that he was alive and had been hiding/sleeping. So, yeah, that was my drama for the night. My cat's still in Tupelo, though.

Why do I want to watch the Super Bowl? 1) It's the Saints. The only NFL team that I have some connection with... and not a big connection. I've been to the Superdome before and New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. (even though Christopher despises New Orleans... but that's another post). 2) the ads (and the fact that I'm taking a marketing class and I know the teacher's going to talk about the ads in class) 3) I like football.

So, yeah. that was my exciting weekend story.

China Cabinet and my new favorite website

Apparently, Chris was unaware of my inherited china cabinet. Since I have been talking about painting and redoing, he just assumed that I was going to build a china cabinet from scratch. I told him that that was not the intention since I do not want my shelves falling and breaking the plates ;) . It also didn't help that I had previously been drooling over the projects on my new favorite blog. Can you believe it? Patterns for high-end furniture!!!

The china cabinet, like I previously posted, the china cabinet was in a smoker's house for many, many years. I haven't decided how I will remove the tar. I'm thinking a simple mix of bleach and water and a good scrub. Now, my only problem is moving the cabinet from my parents' house to my apartment.

My parents would be more than willing to help me move it, but there are three scenarios on how it would be moved:

1. My parents would load it, then drive to my apartment with it, then have to drive back. The fault with this plan is that it would involve my parents a) having to load the monstrocity by themselves and b) having to make a 2 hour trip just to deliver something.

2. Christopher and I driving their house, helping them load it, and then all of us driving in two different vehicles to my apartment and then my parents driving back home.

3. Christopher and I renting a U-haul (since we don't have a truck) and driving to my parents' house, loading the cabinet, and then driving back to Starkville. The only problem with that is that I don't know if Chris and I can lift it. The good thing is that we could recruit help to move it.

I'm not sure how to move it. I really would like to do the 3rd option, since it will put less strain on my parents and also, give the people in their community something to gossip about. (or as I like to call gossip, conspiracy theories)

My New China!!!!

I'm so excited. I found my china at an almost 80% discount! It was originally $732 dollars but I found it for the low price of $199. Mikasa was having a sale on it PLUS offering a 20% discount on any one item. On top of that, they were having FREE SHIPPING for items over $150. Usually, one place setting costs $50 at least. I found an 8 piece setting for $160!!! This has to be the steal of the century (other than inheriting your family's china).

I wasn't sure if I should get it and Christopher told me that I should sleep on the idea.

My mom asked me if I wanted my Grandmother's China cabinet after my grandmother had died. I said yes (of course) and now I have china to put in it.

I guess after all of this talking, you would probably like to see a picture of this amazing china. Lauren and Anna, two of my bridesmaids, helped me pick out the pattern almost 3 years ago. (has it really been almost 3 years?) Lauren used to work at a gift shop that sold china so she knew what to look for and steered me in the right location to get quality stuff.

The china cabinet has a broken pane of glass and was in a house in which the occupants smoked cigarettes for over 30 years, so the cabinet has a huge buildup of tar. I will have to sand the cabinet down and fix the broken window. I think I will paint it black and add silver knobs.

Going green...

Well, the title can be a little misleading. I'm not really going green, just going frugal. This all started last night when I went to Lowe's. I found garden lights for 78% off (only $4.50 a piece!) needless to say, I snatched them up, only to realize they were 12 volt lights. After wiring the lights to plug in to the outlet, I realized that 12 volt lights do not like to work well with 120 volt light sockets and I blew out both bulbs. I then went back to Lowes to buy some new bulbs, thinking that I had seen $0.75 bulbs for these lamps... I didn't. The bulbs for this type of light were more than $3 a piece! Because I really wanted to get these lights to work , I bought the bulbs.


Once I got home, I realized that I had several cords around the house that converted 120v to 12 v. I rewired the lights and then plugged in the light. Success!!!


Unfortunately, the plug overheated and died. This, however, did not dishearten me. I decided to rewire the whole dang lamp. I had some 4th of July lights that I had gotten on clearance in 2003 and had never used. I took off the excess lights and put one light in the globe of the garden lights. Now, I have a 120 v plug that will work with my garden light and it only costed $4.50 a piece (because I am not using the bulbs that I had bought... they will be returing to Lowe's shortly).

For the other lamp, I used the left-over wire from the rewiring and concocted another light, using a spare replacement plug and light socket I had lying around the house. Now, I have two garden lights!

Now, to the green part. Did you know you could make your own dishwashing detergent and laundry detergent? I just recently found this out. Here are the directions for the dishwashing detergent and laundry detergent. I might try this because I cringe every time I have to spend $9 for laundry detergent. (and the fact that I'm breaking out in a mysterious rash from the new detergent I'm using... but that's TMI ;) )

Tye Dye

I'm thinking about tye dying a skirt. I got a white skirt from a thrift store with the hopes of trying to break tradition and wear more white... well, white and me do not get along. I've never worn it. In hopes of actually wearing it someday, I am planning on tye dying it. I looked at this blog and became inspired to try and dye it.

Quotes from work

In honor of being at work one year now, I thought I would share some quotes that I had written down. The names will be withheld for security reasons :).

1. Pizza's like beer. It starts at good and gets better.
2. Two Ed's are better than one
3. Person 1: She's on the beach.
Person 2. I hope it's raining
4. Man... when I say "please" in an email
5. Will you be my friend?
6. The question is... can we do it from home?
7. We got women, men, questionmarks.
8. He's an idiot. He faxed me the page upside down
9. Sometimes, at this university, common sense doesn't mean anything.
10. (he) doesn't say hi, bye, kiss my butt
11. I am sitting over here fighting the urge to take my socks off.
12. The physical phone is moving
13. Tell them they can kiss my royal butt.
14. We need a beer machine
15. and I'd say screw you
16. I'm fixing to do the committee assignments and I'm going to put her on every commitee.
17. Forward me some trashy email
18. Man, will this semester ever end? (the second day of the semester)
19. Person 1: You got your keys?
Person 2: (while grinning mischieviously) I got a master key.
20. Person 1: Do you want me to stand in your parking spot until you get back?
Person 2: I've got a grad student for that.
21. Somebody build an ark.
22. I tried to get rid of him one way... I failed him three times. I guess I'll have to do it the other way.
23. Please send out an email telling everyone not to drink the water out of the toilet bowl.
24. My sister told me she's on her last pocket protector
25. No wonder the Rennaisance went away. I'm sweating like a pig in this thing.
26. Person 1: I like your ringtone.
Person 2: I do too. It sounds like her (their wife)
27. I got promoted. I went from Department Head to Queen.
28. A squirrel is just a rat with a fluffy tail
29. Person 1: You want a cookie?
Person 2: Hell yes!
30. Don't be cheating with no bums


That is all.

Tips to save money...

Saving money seems to be on everyone's mind these days. Whether it's trying to reduce credit card debt or saving a few dollars on grocerys each month, articles on saving money abound everywhere. In a world where everyone is trying to be recessionistas, how can the frugal shopper become more frugal? Articles such as 30 Easy Wasy to Save Money, 101 Ways to save One Dollar a Week, and 66 Ways to Save Money all have good ideas on ways to save a few dollars and give ideas for a good starting point.

The biggest challenge I have found today is finding ways to save money. I have already took the advice of these articles such as cutting up credit cards, not drinking Starbucks every morning, and not dining out, but what am I to do if they have already followed these sound words of advice but are still not saving the money like I would want to?

Over a year ago, my husband lost his job. We had to do some serious cutbacks. Of course, the first thing I did was look up articles on ways to save money. When one has to find cutbacks, dining out, credit cards, and brand-name foods are the first things to go. Here are some ways I was able to go beyond the normal money-saving ideas.

1. Go All-in-One. One way to reduce expenses with insurances is to combine policies. Insurance agencies have home, auto, and life insurance policies that offer large discounts to multiple policies.

Phone and cable companies will also offer a package deal if you combine phone, internet and television.

2. Don't keep what you don't need. If you use your cell phone as your main phone, there is no reason to have a land-line these days. Cut the land line. If you are worried about losing your internet that is tied to your phone, many phone companies offer a DSL-only package. I signed up for this package and cut my phone bill by $30 a month.

3. Show me the money! If you have a savings account, make sure it is working for you. Many people put money in savings and don't think to look closely at the interest rate. See how much your bank will give in interest before you put that hard-earned cash away. I recently moved from an account that gave me 1% interest a year to an account that pays .09% interest a month. By making this switch, I have greatly improved the interest rate that my money will bring back.

4. Hang it out to dry. Line-dry the clothes when possible. I followed this tactic and cut my energy bill by $20. In the winter, I use the dryer, but mainly because it is a good source of heat for the apartment. I dry a load of clothes when the apartment is becoming chilly, and Bam! a two-for-one deal. Not only do I have nice, fluffy clothes, I also have a warm apartment. Did I mention that I haven't used my heater in over a year? .

5. Get a coat. In the winter, it isn't necessary to have a toasty room. If you are cold, put on a coat. If you get too hot, take it off. It's that simple. You don't have to have the thermostat set at 80 degrees when you feel a little cold.

These are just a few of the things I've done. Let me know if there are any other ideas.

macrame!!!

I have decided that I grew up in the wrong decade.... Macrame is so cool. Unfortunately, my husband probably wouldn't be too wild about having an owl hanging in the living room. I may go home and do some macrame today instead of studying for finals.

This person is also caught up in the macrame mayhem.

Wreaths

I have fallen on the Christmas wreath bandwagon. I recently made a wreath for work out of ornaments.

To make this project, I went to Dollar Tree and bought about 93 ornaments for around $7.49 (including sales tax).






I then followed these instructions to make a wreath. I was surprised at how well it turned out.



I will post pictures of the final outcome of the wreath later on.

Holiday Bazaar!!!

The Holiday Bazaar is on-campus today and tomorrow. I can't wait to go and "borrow" ideas from the vendors. Here's a link to the holiday fun.

Recycled project

My cat is fat. He also poops a lot. Because of this, I go through a bunch of litter and end up with a bunch of litter buckets. I don't want to throw the buckets away because they are perfectly okay, but one can only have so many buckets in her closet before it begins to overflow. To remedy this, I have started using them as pots. They are a whole lot cheaper than the $14 pots than the discount chain stores sell. The only problem is that buckets with "Cat Litter" printed on them aren't very attractive for your house.

Did I also mention that my cat likes to sharpen his claws? This isn't a new discovery for cats, however, my cat only likes to use the leopard-print scratching post. I discovered this the other day when I tried to replace his old scratching post with a new one. He would not use it.

One day, I decided to clean out the closet, which involved me pulling out the old scratching post. The cat ran immediately to the old one and started scratching, even though the rope was worn out.

Since I am stubborn, I decided I would not be bested by a cat. I also hate spending money on stuff that's not used so I decided to do an old switch-er-roo on him. I replaced the old rope with the new rope from the new scratching post. He loves the old one even more now.

I didn't want to throw the old rope away, so I decided to save it for something. Thanks to my cat, I now have a cute flower pot, made from reusable materials from my cat.


I also used some jute string I had laying around the house too.