My Opinion Monday - My DIY workout shirt

If you're on Pinterest you've seen the "DIY Workout Shirt" tutorials that are floating around. Here's what I'm referring to (mom) so you can see what I'm talking about:

source

Basically you take a t-shirt and make it into a workout shirt (even though I thought t-shirts were already workout shirts???)

Anyways, here's my tutorial on my DIY Workout Shirt. I hope I explained this well enough so even my "not so crafty" friends can follow along!

You really don't need much for this. Just a few dollars in gas and some cash in your bank account!

I don't think that this needs any further explanation. I can even add an action to it so it looks (sort of) cooler:

So fancy no? 

Do you have a super easy DIY workout shirt tip? I'd love to hear it - post it in the comments!

Everything gets painted...

I'm starting to think that this blog should have been titled "Everything gets painted" because everything that we've brought into the house has essentially been painted. And if that piece is really lucky, gets painted again. I recently went on a "donating spree" and got rid of a few items that just weren't serving any purpose other than collecting dust and junk. I got rid of the desk we had in our living room on the office wall because I'd already bought another one from the Salvation Army and Tyler has put me on a one in, one out furniture diet.

You may remember that this is what the wall looked liked after the new paint and accessories went up (and what the house looked like before we painted everything):

Looking good, but I always thought something was missing...

Well, after we painted the new desk and hung up some frames, this is what we've got now:

Tell your boyfriend the color is CORAL and you can get away with
a pink desk :)

Quick, can you spot the differences? Don't mind the heater fan that I clearly didn't realize was there when I was taking the picture or the fact that the chair you're seeing is clearly blocking a bunch of "stuff" that has made its home on the floor in front of this wall. The blue chair and "stuff" needs to go back to the craft room - after we had water in the basement a month ago or so, most of my items got moved upstairs and just haven't made their way back down yet.

Did you notice the CORAL desk though?

My Grandmother would say "ohh, pret-ty, pret-ty!"

I LOVE it! Since the rest of our house is pretty colorful, those colors start to feel like neutrals - the blues, greens, grays, teals - so this coral was just the pop I think this wall needed! I'm going to be painting the chair white I think - or maybe not? thoughts? I've had the chair for about a year now, so glad it finally found a home :)

This piece actually matches another piece we have in our living room that we painted yellow - same line of furniture for sure. The legs match, the drawer handles match, the little wooden applique at the bottom (which you can barely see) matches. It was meant to be in our house (and that's what I had to tell Tyler when he begrudingly came to pick me up from the thrift store since I didn't have a vehicle big enough to get it home. "Hi, um, can you come pick me up at the Salvation Army?"). And at only $20 for the desk itself and $12 for paint, I'd say we have a winner!

I did learn that you should always prime a piece if you're not sure where it's been. The paint didn't take too well to a few places so I was painting, then priming some spots, then painting again. It's a little rough around the edges and I left it that way because I'm lazy to add character.

Now all I have to do is find some knobs I like - which is essentially trying to find a needle in a haystack. Wish me luck!

My Opinion Monday - Bacherlorette Party Etiquette

If you're a girl and you have friends that are girls, you've been to a bacherlorette party at least once in your life (or will be going at some point I hope). I went to one this weekend and had a hootenanny of a good time, but wanted to share some etiquette rules for all the haters that we came upon - and haters I've ran into on other bach parties. Perhaps I was the only one who noticed these peeps but being the judger that I am, it's kind of my thing.

So here are a few rules for all you that come in contact with a bacherlorette party:

1. Stop staring. Yes, the bride and bridesmaids are wearing tutus and she's carrying around a giant, inflatable penis (which didn't happen this past weekend). Yes, all the other girls are dressed in black - or matching at least - but that's what our invite told us to do. The bride is wearing a veil and is looking a hot mess right now. Get over it. Stop staring, we don't want to be your friend anyways.

2. Buy a god damn sucker already. All bacherlorette parties sell something. Whether it's a sucker for a dollar (Suck for a Buck) or a penis shaped cake pop, just buy it. Buy the bride a shot too; the sooner we get her wasted, the sooner we're out of your hair. 

3. Get over the fact that we've asked your boyfriend to get a picture with the bride. She's getting married, she doesn't want to take him home. It's one of her tasks that's been assigned, she doing it because she has to. We convinced a guy to go into the bathroom and put his clothes on our blow up doll at one bach party I was at. His girlfriend thought it was funny, that's how you should think. 

4. Yep, 20 girls just got off a bus and are passing you in the line and not paying (or paying a reduced) cover. Accept that fact. 

5. Yep, those 20 girls just ordered shots so your drinks will take a little bit longer than normal. You'll be okay, I promise. Go pee one more time (before we all do) and by the time you're back, the bar will be all yours and the bathroom will be all ours!

6. Are you kidding me, those 20 girls just took over the dance floor? We.sure.did. And requested NSYNC, we're old. Sorry we're not into whatever the heck it is you kiddos are into these days.  We like our old school tunes (which aren't even very old), and we like to sing them at the top of lungs. We'll be gone in 20 minutes anyways, we've got a bus to catch. 

7. No you can not get on our bus. We all paid at least $25 to be on this thing, no way are we letting free-loaders on our bus. Don't be mad when we say no - remember how we don't even know you?

8. Give us a friggin break. You've all been there, done that, know how some bach parties can get completely out of control and girls get a little cray cray (that's like double crazy mom). We've been drinking heavily for a few more hours than you have, have had way too many jello shots and just don't give a shit at that point. Don't pick fights with us, just take your drunken self elsewhere thank you very much. 

Keep these rules in mind when you see a bacherlorette party ascend on your hangout. Remember that we're most likely 5 jello shots and 3 margs into the evening, don't want to take your boyfriend home and really, really want to take our heels off.  Stop acting like you've never done it before either. 

Backsplash tile is up!


 Soooo, the backsplash tile is up and we're almost done! Just have to pick out flooring, knock out part of a wall and then get the flooring in place! Here are a few pics of the almost completed kitchen!

The picture says "Do the Dishes" - just a friendly reminder :)



Above the stove Craigslist microwave. Loving this.



I'm putting a shelf, THE SHELF that started this whole remodel, on this wall.
After my dad cuts it down because I've realized it's too big. ugh.





And another view, and our Craigslist white dishwasher.
Yeah for matching appliances!

After we let our checkbooks rest for a few weeks, we'll be back with flooring. Super excited!

Fabric Flower bridesmaid bouquets - the reveal!

I wanted to show you guys that I've been doing more lately in the crafting world than just this:

Do you drink when you craft? Just curious. 

Lately I've been asked to do a whole slu (that's a word I thought??) of items for a friends upcoming wedding. I loved that she was wanting to do a vintage theme and said yes to everything she asked me to do. I sometimes find myself saying, "Self, you are nuts. Did you see that list of stuff?" but then I look at how awesome the things I've done have turned out and go, "Self, you are awesome!"

So, without further ado, here are the bridesmaid bouquets I made:

Again, cell phone pics don't resize that great. 

And then up close and personal:

T+K

I used a combination of several different fabrics to achieve this look - I am really happy how they turned out and I think the bride is as well! I'm in the process of whipping up some other items for her and as soon as they're ready for the world, you'll be the first to know!

If you or someone you know is getting married and is looking for a different type of flower arrangement or any other projects, let me know! I'd love to make something for you or them!

My Opinion Monday - Always be prepared.

I wish I could say this was a guest post, but alas, this happened to me. Thanks to the in-laws for being such good sports about my lack of being prepared. 


My dad was a Boy Scout leader for what felt like my entire childhood. I remember many times going to these meetings as some sort of family outing - makes our last family trip to the John Deere factory and Cabela's look like Disneyland now that I think about it though! I would stand when they did their pledge, mimic their signs and pretend I knew what I was doing. I'm practically a Boy Scout - probably have my Eagle patch by now. In fact, I most likely would have had more badges from Boy Scouts than from my Girl Scout days (my troupe leader was a nut-so crazy lady). Two weeks ago over Easter weekend though, I would have totally had my "Prepardness Badge" removed.

It all started with the hurried packing I did for the weekend a mere 20 minutes before we left town for 2 days. I had thrown about 12 outfits in my bag  (I wore sweatpants for a good 24 hours though) because I had no idea what we'd be doing and what I thought to be about 6 pair of underwear. I generally overpack - as for underwear, I pack about 3 pair per day I'm going to be gone. I don't know why, but I do. I just reach into the  clothes basket of clean clothes that hasn't made it to the dresser drawer yet drawer and grab what I can, stuff it in my bag and call it done. Not this weekend though. That weekend I apparently neglected to get the handful of stuff into my bag.

In a fit of panic, I decided I'd just wash them in the sink, hang them to dry and they'd be all good by the time we were ready to go out. I was not about to just turn them inside out - I'd been in sweat pants for a good solid 24 hours, and well, you know how that is. The moment I threw them in the sink though, I knew I'd made a mistake. "Oh my god, what am I going to do? I'll just ask his sister if I can borrow a pair of hers. Okay, perfect, no one will ever know."

So that's what I did. I asked my boyfriend's sister if she had an extra pair. She has 3 kids and a husband, of course she packs extra everything right? Wrong.  You see where this is going right? 


I wasn't about to go without for the evening, so his mom offered me a pair and I asked that we not share that fact with him. I ended up telling him anyways because he'd seen my "freshly washed in the sink" pair that I'd draped over a fan in hopes of them drying before I put his mom's on. No dice. Oh, did I mention this was on our anniversary? I wore his mom's underwear on our 2 year anniversary. How did he get so lucky? Or how did I get so lucky that no one even blinked an eye when I asked to borrow such a thing!?

And after we'd all had a good laugh about that, his 3 year old niece found a green condom in my purse and proudly came running around the corner to show all of us, his parents included, her new finger puppet. Needless to say, that pretty much trumped the underwear fiasco and disqualified me from every getting my Preparedness Badge back.

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Anyone else have any embarrassing stories from visiting the in-laws they'd like to share?? What badge would you lose for sure?

My Opinion Monday - selling on Craigslist

I've been bitten by the Craigslist bug (no, not that one that requires an antibiotic, I stay out of the W4M section) recently and have come across some really annoying habits of people that post their items for sale. There's a way to sell items on Craigslist - it's called the cheap way. This is not the showroom at Homemakers furniture people, it's your garage so no one is going to pay what you paid 6 months ago. It's like buying a brand new car and driving it across the lot and expecting to get exactly what you paid for it, or more! Here are some pet peeves I've found in recent posts (my apologizes if these links don't work by the time this is posted or you get around to reading it...)

1. Big Daddy Chair - $325. This fella notes he doesn't have room for it and needs to sell for the space. My question - WHYDIDYOUBUYITIFYOUDONOTHAVEROOMFORITTHEN? Did you not think at the store, "hmm, this looks really big but I bet it won't fit in my house..." I imagine it went more like "hmm, this looks really big, I don't think it'll fit in my studio apartment but I've got $500 to burn so I'll take it! If it doesn't fit, I can always sell it on Craigslist." Good luck with that. PS I rotated the picture for you :)

2. Huge Mirror - $150 This poster notes it's "still in new condition" - um no it's not sweetie. Do you now why? Because you bought it, therefore making it new to you, second hand to anyone else that purchases it. And if you paid more than $150 for that mirror, you got robbed. You should go to Gordman's next time.

3. 3-piece bedroom set - $500 500 dollars? Are you serious? For a headboard, dresser and nightstand from 19whenever? I paid $10 for a headboard like that at the Salvation Army a few months ago. I'm going to cover it with fabric. I didn't buy it for looks, I bought it for the function. If I want to pay $500 for a bedroom set, I'll go spend twice that at a store and finance it for free. You'll be lucky to sell this for $125.

4. Custom Tile Fireplace -$250 Seller notes it's look great in any house. He's clearly not seen an updated, contemporary home that has a fireplace using tiles that cost more than the $0.54 ones that he's selling. Custom items are custom to you, not to anyone else purchasing them. No one will pay what you paid for custom. If they do, you better remember their name so you can sell them the rest of your stuff.

5. Comfy bamboo/wood furniture set - $450 I'm sorry, comfy and bamboo/wood just don't really belong in the same sentence. The couch posted has bamboo arms. I can tell you that does not look like a place I'd like to lay my head down and take a siesta (nap for all you that failed Spanish). I love The Golden Girls, but I don't want their furniture; I actually sit on mine for more than a few hours at a time while taping.

6. Television wall mount - $20 Ah yes, because everyone is mounting their giant tube TVs. If you paid $50 for it at Mendards, TAKE IT BACK! Don't people save receipts? Although, this is for an old school tube TV that pretty much only 3 year olds have now.

7. Hide-a-bed couch - $20 It's like a Where's Waldo in this picture. It really is hiding. I had no idea what I was even looking for. Thank goodness the seller apologizes for the pathetic photo. But if you recognize that it's a bad photo, TAKE ANOTHER ONE! If you don't have the option, just put it on the curb and put it in the free section.

8. Ethan Allen Sofa - $500 OMGOD I can't believe she paid $2600 for this sofa when it was new! The only person that likes this sofa is "beautiful" is my grandmother, and she doesn't have a computer. Therefore, she does not have the internet and can not contact you to purchase.

9. Potato Bin - $20 Much like the TV stand above, wondering if these things are still useful. Good to know that the top and drawer open though.

10. Every other post that does not include a picture. Include a picture. Even my dad has a phone that will take a quick picture. Do it. I bet your stuff gets more attention that way. I myself don't even look at posts without pictures. I like to see what I'm going to waste my time on.