WHEN YOU HAVE A BIG SISTER

 
They do funny things to you,  like paint your toes….

And put their bracelets on you…

But you’re cool anyway…

And a very handsome, chubby, dude…

With big brown eyes…

Not like this cousin who has big blue eyes…


And your other cousin, thinks this….

But she’s a girl so we will let her…

She likes to show off…

In true girly fashion…

But she’s okay so I guess we’ll keep her…

MASTERING THE “MASTER”

Our house was built in the 70’s. I don’t know, but I guess having a nice spacious bathroom back then didn’t seem to matter. It measures 4ft. x 5ft. with a 3ft. x 3ft. shower. Both of my daughter’s master bathrooms are bigger than my bedroom. Of course they have nice new homes.
Anyway, we moved into our house 18 years ago and with 7 kids, you don’t do a lot of renovating when all you are worrying about is feeding and clothing them.
The time has come and gone for some major renovation and during the last couple of years I have been working on it bit by bit. I’ve done my Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, Front Bathroom and now my Teeny, Tiny Master Bathroom.
Of course I needed a little help so I called over 1/2 of the matched set and put him to work…

We had nasty cold tile on the floor that I hated so my little plumber and his crack helped me pull it up…

I worked him hard…

At this point he stops and says to me, “Gwams, can we take a bwake? My back hurts!” (His Mom has been having back problems lately)…
So we stop for Popsicles and Ding Dongs and then carry on…

All done…

Now let me back up. I forgot to take before pictures as usual but here is the old vanity we took out…

It’s on it’s way to the basement bathroom because even if it is ugly it is way better than the one down there and basement dwellers who live for free really don’t care.
Here is the old mirror…

It’s going to the dump! (So I can exchange it for something way more fun!)
I put in a new window…

New vanity and floor…

New sink…

New towel holder…

Old towel rack. I’ve had it for a few years now…

New artwork and mirror…

All done…

So there you have it, my teeny tiny master bathroom dressed to the nines.

I LOVE MY FRIENDS!

See this?…

You can buy it at IKEA for $355.00
I’ve had this picture on my computer for years.
See this?….

It’s been sitting in my garage for several years now. I have a dear friend, Mearritta, who had it sitting in her garage and was tired of it taking up space so she gave it to me so it could take up my space.
She often asked me if I had done anything with it and I always told her I was thinking about it.

Well, I’ve finished thinking about it. I’ve always wanted to put it in my front bathroom but it would take up too much room. Since I have remodeled and put in my new vanity, I have more room but still not quite enough.
Sooooo, I did this…

That’s right, I cut some of the back off to make it narrower…

Then I put a new back on it, cut the middle of the doors out and put glass in, painted it and….

There I have it, my IKEA knock-off for pretty much free. I had the paint already and the glass cost me $10.00

I kept the original hardware and I’m still thinking whether or not I want to make drawers for the top spaces.

I’m loving it!   Thanks Mearritta.
PS.  Mearritta just called me and wants her cabinet back. I don't think I am as good a friend as she is.

I LOVE TURQUOISE

As a child it was probably my favorite color. I am not alone. I even found several blogs that are just dedicated to turquoise.

I’ve been wanting to paint something turquoise for a long time and I finally did it.  When I got this old buffet a few years ago it was all beat up and ugly. So during my “black” phase, I painted it.

I even did this with it…

But I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to use it for a vanity.

Soooo… I combined my two thoughts and came up with this…

That’s right, my buffet turned vanity turned turquoise…

And the mirror… it has lived in the basement storeroom for several years now…

With a little paint and love, it now looks like this…

I like it.

WHAT ME? COPY?

See this?

I’ve wanted one forever. You can buy them HERE for anywhere from $89.00 to $219.00  Or you can make one for about $12.00
I bought primed MDF boards and I got the backing in the cull pile at Home Depot for 50 cents.
I made the frame…

I used 7/8'” dowels for the rack…

Then I painted them white…

And did a turquoise wash all over…

Then hung it up in my bathroom..



I like it.

EVER HAD ONE OF THOSE FRIENDS?

You know, the kind that you don’t see for 20 years but you just pick up where you left off and have the best time ever.

Back in High School I had a best friend. Her name was Elaine. She was tall and I was short. We were known as Mutt and Jeff. (You probably have to be at least as old as I am to know who the are.)

We did the things best friend do. Our hair was the same, we dressed the same and we took the same classes.

Here we are in I think 8th grade…

Elaine..

Me…

I think these are 12th grade…

She moved away the summer before 12th grade so needless to say we were both pretty lost for that last year of high school but we survived. She went on to become a school teacher and had 4 children.  I went on to become and Mom of 7.

I ended up in Utah and she stayed in Canada. They visited us once 17 years ago and that was a fun visit with all our kids together. 

This time just Elaine and her husband Richard came to visit. We had the best time ever just reminiscing and talking about our families.

Look at us now…

Still Mutt and Jeff.

I loved her so much that I named my second daughter Rebekah Elaine. 

Elaine had a daughter, Janina who was the same age as my Rebekah but unfortunately she died at the age of 4 from leukemia.

My Rebekah named her daughter, Hailey Elaine and we were finally able to get the three Elaines together…

My two had been camping in the dirt all weekend but they still look beautiful.

It was a wonderful visit. Next time I hope it isn’t 17 years.

You can follow their whole trip on Elaine's blog.