Function is Beautiful

My sweet man took me out to the outdoor antique market a few weeks ago and we stumbled across the perfect storage solution. My workout gear was taking over the corner by the fireplace. Multiple sets of dumbbells, yoga mat, kettle bells and medicine ball and resistance bands spilling everywhere and if you have ever stubbed your toe on a metal dumbbell you understand this is a major hazard! Not to mention the risk my boys could learn a new word that would net me a call from the school when repeated to his friends. Don't judge me!
I thought I was looking for a metal wire basket with the plan to make it a cloth liner. Until I saw this genius answer and I knew it was meant for me when I saw the low number on the price tag. Gotta love a TODAY ONLY price in red sharpie. SOLD!!!!
I love that it has a lid to shut on the chaos and crazy colors of all my gear and it is still convenient to me for my workouts!!

B for Crafty

hey y'all,
 I made an inexpensive quickie art piece for the half bath when I felt it needed a change. One quick craft store run and 10 minutes of spray painting and a little bit of glue and call it...
Done!!!!!
 It's not the Mona Lisa but I think it works. I had the canvas, it was in a 2 pack I bought for another project months ago and so all I needed was a wooden letter. You know I keep a full shelf of spray paint so no worries there!

and in case you were worried about what happened to my eye chart art I made last year...no worries it found a new home on our gallery wall for now

World's Longest Yard Sale Queen of Light

Ok, I posted this picture on our Facebook page and forgot to tell you about it here! I am so sorry, darlings!!! I saw this mirror an instantly pictured it in my half bath. The one I redid after the big plumbing leak a while back. All I could find in my budget when I repainted originally was a smallish black framed mirror but I just knew it would look bigger with a metallic framed larger mirror. I had brought home a wood framed mirror back in the spring only to discover it was to big so it ended up in the master bedroom over my dresser instead.

Now this newbie was coated in gold paint when I found her and to be honest when I brought her home I wasn't entirely sure if she would keep her clothes on or if she would get a new coat. I tried her out and just knew she needed to go icy cold. Silver was what she cried for. So I taped her up and pulled out my handy dandy favorite metallic paint and gave her 3 coats of liquid gorgeous! I hummed while I painted because I was picturing her in her fabulousness in her new spot.

I hung her and the while room sighed in gratitude for the  new shine and sparkle it now had. I was so inspired I pulled our cast iron horse down and gave it a coat of ultra thick clear gloss to add some shine and refreshed a few accessories. I will share one of those in a future post....no peeking!!!
Here she is....the Queen of the Half Bath!

I wish my photog skills lived up to her loveliness, alas I suck at pics. So I hope you can FEEL the difference in the room. I will say everyone who has used the potty has commennted on how much bigger the room seems and how much lighter! Gotta love that!

Summer Steps

I did it! I met my summer goal and I did it almost 2 weeks before the deadline! I love a good deadline!!!! I work well with a goal to reach. This summer I made a goal to walk (or run) 100 miles before Labor Day. When I hurt my knee in July and didn't walk for almost 2 weeks I really thought I wouldn't make it but my knee started feeling better and I was back on the treadmill at a run! Husband Darling joined in the fun and walked many of the miles with me every chance he had. # miles, 6 miles, 2 miles... we marked them off increment by increment. Some days I hit the treadmill after the kids were in bed and walked at 11pm, to tired to run,  but I was determined to reach that goal.  Success of a goal met is so so sweet!

my chart on the basement door in my kitchen(doorway to the treadmill)

marking off the last three miles!

Did you have a summer goal you were able to reach this year?

New Life Tables

I have always loved nesting tables but have never had a set. When I saw this one at Goodwill I just had to have them. I knew just the project to perk them up from their slightly battered and unattractively faded orangy wood color. I made a quick stop after picking up the kids at school and as soon as they were busy doing homework I was in the garage with paint on my hands! They get several coats of metallic silver spray paint to liven them up and now they are the perfect upgrade for the living room to go with my new tables I scored on Craig's List. So within 3 days I procured all new tables for my lovely room. Best part? These little lovelies cost me 4$ and a 3$ can of spray paint!!!  Tell me you love them!

I love the subtle shine they have and the glossiness the paint gave them. I think maybe they need mirror tops the next time I am at the craft store but I am still undecided. Oh and the glass vase and rattan ball filler were freebies from our Craig's List table adventure!!! Can't argue with a woman who wants to gift you good stuff!!  This whole project took me one afternoon. They were in the house after dinner, freshly painted and newly fabulous!!!!

Treasure Found!!!!!

For over a year I have had a vision in my head of how the living room should look. I got the right flooring, this spring we got the perfect rug I had picked out before we did the floors and one of the last things on my purchase list was tables. I knew just what I wanted but I couldn't afford them on Wayfair or Amazon or Overstock or..... so I have watched Craig's List every time I thought I might be able to fit it in the budget that month and finally...finally I found them!!!!A little above my preferred dollar figure but the style and quality I wanted. I messaged and negotiated a deal I thought I could manage and ran it past the husband. He hemmed and hawed and waffled but I kept showing him. We asked for measurements and checked the room from a couple angles to make sure it would fit. I made the poor man sit thru a full description of what the room should look like and finally, possibly just to shut me up, he agreed they were just right. We went to look them over and make sure and I was a little upset to notice just the tinisest flaw in one corner. I mentioned it and she dropped the price 40%!!!!! SOLD!!!!!  I also managed to broker a deal for some fabulous apothecary jars and she threw in some glass vases and vase filler! Not bad for a morning's work!!! We were s lucky to find her and so happy to help her lighten her load before moving!

So without further ado, here they are!!!!!!
Ta da!

I am over the moon with these new tables!!! They are just right!!!

ABC Back To School Time

UGH!!!!
It is already time for pencils and crayons and folders and glue and paper and books and highlighters and ear phones and....... and the list goes on and on and on!!! Back to school is already here in our little town. I hate that the kids go back so early but no one asked me my opinion on that subject!

My babies went back to school yesterday, luckily this year we have 2 in the same school and the oldest graduated in June! But my baby started middle school!!! How, oh how can this be true?? Especially when I look so young and fresh, you say? Well, I have no idea! Just a moment ago he was a toddler pouting at the zoo with his arms crossed and lip out because he didn't want to discuss where the hippo lived and get his picture taken in front of the hippo enclosure! And now he pushes me away with an, "aww Mama!" when I try to kiss him. <sigh> life is so unfair.

If I were one of those super awesome every day kind of bloggers who are constantly finishing new projects to share with you I woul have totally had my new back to school door decor BEFORE my kids did their annual back to school first day photos in front of our fabulous red front door. But alas, I have failed yet again because I just finished it today, yes, on day 2 of school. That's it, folks, that's how it is around here. But I did manage to have all their school supplies, new school clothes clean and folded and made them some pretty freakin fabulous pumpkin protein muffins for their first day breakfast so I do have some saving graces!
And a day late here is my brand new, super awesome back to school door decoration! Ta Da!!!

You love it, right??!! Me too!!

I used unfinished woo letters and some spray paint. The B I hit with chalk board paint because I am just that smart. Then a little hot glue and ribbon and it was all ready to go. I do wish I had managed to pull it off for the first day of school but hey, there's always next year!

Main Floor Refresh

The other day I looked around and realized my house felt stale, boring and dusty from a summer time long of me playing with the kids and focusing my free time on exercise. We have done bare minimum chores all summer long, I think. I really needed a change so I pulled a bunch of the accesories down and tossed them all on the dining room table, brought up some more from the basement and mixed them all together. I also drug a few out to the garage for a little spray painting change up!

 I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE SPRAY PAINT!

 Fastest way in the world to feel like you have new decor is change up the accesories. It is one of my favorite cleaning and refreshing strategies for the house! Well, also, my budget is nada so I can't just change out the furniture I am oh so tired of and is beginning to look a little on the rough side but I can paint a vase and feel better. Silly? maybe but hey whatever works, right?

Here are some pics of my refreshed rooms

In the kitchen I removed some of the red accesories and went monochromatic with this little black and white rectangular platter I picked up at a yard sale a week ago. 

In the dining room I took down the teal trio of vases and moved some metallics in their place. This mercury glass candle holder was a Goodwill find, the little lanterns are brass and I scored them at a yard sale years ago. They have had many different incarnations over the years including my Christmas mantle more then once. The spheres are just metal banding strips I bolted together for a quick, cheap project. They had most recently been on a occasional table in the living room. I loved them in there as they reinforced the whole metal and airplane thing I got going on but needed a change. I think they look pretty good up here

my watercolor portraits of my children got a quickie refresh with some siver metallic paint on their previously acid green frames

This is my youngest's keyboard where he practices for his piano lessons. It sits in a corner in our dining room so we can remind him to practice and hear him play, especially now that he is in his 3rd year and it actually sounds like music! I often have him play while I make dinner and set the table. This corner got a new rug to cover the keyboard and his stool went from acid green to soft grey and I free handed a number 5 since he is our number five member of the family. The cat also likes to play occasionally by walking across the keys and scaring us half to death when the baby forgets to turn it off. As you can see it is a rough life for a cat here on Clover Ridge

This is our bar wall in the dining room and I gave the lamp a new coat f shiny silver over it's many other colors, most recently teal blue. I hung that fabulous feather plate and took down the lettuce and leaf platters I hung in the spring. And just moved around a few candles and that little wood daisy painting  I made a year or so ago. It has a quieter more elegant feel for now. Although before we know it we will be putting out the pumpkins and mums for fall!

Our little storage bookself in the living room holds card games, dominoes, extra family photos and board games the kids like best. See the mirrored frame I found at Goodwill? I have to order a print of our oldest son's graduation this week to fill it :)

The proverbial key table, we will talk more about this one in a later post!

The mantel just got some fresh hydrangeas from the yard and those uber awesome deer head brass statues I scored at the World's Longest Yard Sale from the sweetest little old lady you ever did see! They were a steal at a buck for the two of them! I honestly felt a little guilty paying so little! And there you have it, my main floor accessory do over! A mulligan of tcotchkes! Anyone else ever do this when you feel cooped up in the house?

 

Horses on Clover Ridge

I am a genius!
No really, I am. I saw a pin on pinterest that made me think of this project. I don't really know what the pin was because it wasn't like lightening struck my brain right that moment, which would hurt by the way. But I was cleaning up the deck and saw one of the kids old plastic horse. All sun faded and ugly, it was almost tossed in the trash bin but then..........this was my lightening moment!! I decided to spray paint it! I painted him all over with gorgeous metallic paint, hot glued his tiny plastic feet to a wooden base and gave him another coat. I finished him off with some triple thick clear coat and he is so fabulous he needs a name! I think I will let his original owner name him but he deserves some serious recognition.
Check him out!!

Seeeeeeeeee I TOLD YOU!!! Isn't he amazing!? And look how awesome he matches our little horsey theme we got going on in our guest bath, playing off our whole Clover Ridge theme which is all horse based.

I am so happy with this little guy! I accidentally just gave you a sneak peek at another super quickie project! And bottom line on this project was  $1.47. Shocking I know! But the horse was almost trash fodder and I already had the spray paint from painting some dresser knobs a few years ago! So my all in cost was the wooden base, unfinished craft wood piece from the craft store. This project is so simple but ohhhh so cute

Super Quickie!

I made a insanely quick little project the other day. I popped into a Pier 1 and found theis incredible peacock feather plate on clearance but they only had 2. So I only bought one, I wanted someone else to be able to have one of these little cuties too! Then I ran over to the craft store and grabbed up a little vinyl alphabet letter and voila! Stick them together and it's a project completed!

Isn't she gorgeous????

project complete!

And I put a plate hanger on the back and added it to the dining room wall when I changed out some accessories over the weekend. I think it looks great. Whole project, start to finish was 5$! Now that is my kind of quickie project!

Menu Time!!!

Hey y'all

 I love to post my menus. It actually helps me stick to them in a weird way. Like, because I told you all I was going to cook that, I must do it!! We are still working on teaching our littles to cook. I believe everyone should be able to feed themselves delicious and nutritious, well-planned and balanced meals so I am trying to instill this skill in my boys. They resist a bit but what else is new!

So here they are

Sun:Spinach and white bean soup with spinach salad with dried cranberries and sunflower seeds
Mon:Falafel wraps and herbed couscous salad with mandarin oranges and hummus
Tue:Chinese take out and ice cream sundaes (the boys start school tomorrow so this meal is a treat meal)
Wed:Spagetti and giant vegan meatballs, tossed salad with Ranch dressing, garlic bread. I also made zoodles in case anyone wanted them, I ate them.
Thur: artichoke and spinach stuffed shells with a roasted tomato, pepper and garlic sauce
Fri:english muffin pizzas, smoothies, veggie dippers
Sat:grilled onion and mushroom quesadilla with fresh made pico de gallo and crockpot pinto beans

Summertime Avoiding the Chaos : Chores and Daily Sweating!!

Today I thought I would share with you how we handle chores at our little house. My kids are older 19,12 and 10 so they are capable of a lot! And so therefore a lot is expected of them. They each have bathroom chores, vacuuming, dishes, unloading the dishwasher, mowing the lawn, pet care and a host of other responsibilities each week in addition to the typical cleaning their room and tidying up after themselves. But since the kids and I are home most of the time together I decided last summer to ad my name to the chore list so they can see how ALL the chores are split up. No complaints of, "I have to do everything!" coming from kids in my house!! 

Also you will see that I added exercise to my kids chore lists. We struggle with getting them active enough since they would all prefer video games to soccer. And healthy kids is extremely important to me as it is to most parents. We talk a lot about healthy habits and making choices for healthy bodies. I try not to have much junk food in the house while balancing the fact that they are kids and need some amount of "fun" food so they don't feel left out with their friends. Who wants to be the only kid who has never had a twinkie??? BUT we focus on the fact that foods like that are "sometimes foods" not a daily treat. I try to use fruit, fresh or dried as a dessert for myself and encourage them to do the same. Now why do I add it to their chore lists??? Shouldn't exercise be fun?? Well yes it should be and we do try to incorporate fun exercise into the day, backyard kickball games or frisbee, swimming at the pool, canoeing or hiking and we frequently take walks in the evening and encourage them to ride their bikes and come along for a few miles. But if I didn't add it to their chore lists those activities that I plan would be the only exercise they chose to do. Just being honest, it is who they are. They would rather be reading or playing games. So by adding it and putting routines together they can do that incorporate some fun moves but all solid cardio circuits I hope to instill the importance of getting their bodies sweaty on a daily basis. Obviously not everyone will agree with me, that is fine, this is how I choose to raise my kids. So here is a snapshot of our chore list!

Brass Love

I am over the moon in love with these little brass deer head tchotckes I found at the World's Longest Yard Sale yesterday. But if I tell you what I paid there is no way you will believe me! I bought them at the Senior Center where they were having a parking lot sale. Actually I made a huge haul there!! The sweetest little lady sitting in an old style yard chair with a blanket over her sold them to me and when she told me the price I shouted "SOLD!"  I made her jump a little and I apologized. I was just so excited!

Aren't they fabulous??? I plopped them on the mantel for now, until I find just the perfect place for them :)

Day 10 and Feeling Good!

hey y'all,
Day 10 already of my Bikini competition prep workout plan. I pulled off a beautiful no momentum pull up and I loved the difference in the feel of my muscles as I slowly pulled myself up and lowered without dropping. I think I am starting to see some changes physically and I am so excited about where this is going. Eating has been a little off as my sweet darling brought home 3 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts last week from a day trip. We are 30 or so miles from the closest one so they are huge treat in our little house. But today I am going to hit those macros and nail my workout. # rounds of the full body workout and then a run if my knee holds out. I know hearing about someone else's success isn't as exciting as having your own so all I can do is encourage you to try something that challenges you! 
Maybe I will get brave and post a pic soon,lol