Hubby is so sweet.....I think

He made me breakfast this morning.....

And yes, that is BUTTER on top of the pancake.

Now that I think about it, he may be after the insurance money....

I am laughing SO HARD right now!

There is a little boy that lives in this house, maybe his name is Jameson, who is having a birthday in one short week.



I made the mistake of mentioning that I may have gone birthday shopping today, not really thinking anything more about it.

A little while later, Jameson came and asked me if he could borrow the flashlight. When I asked him what for, he said he was looking for ants under the bed.....MY bed.

After a couple of minutes, he came out and let me know that the underside of my bed was ANT FREE!

WHEW! That's a relief!

Next, I hear him rummaging around in my bedroom again. I'm still not really paying too much attention because, for some reason, he always prefers to be in the Master Bedroom over his own.

After a few minutes, he proceeds to tell me he's been checking the hinges on my closet door for Squeaks....

"Mommy, I promise that it was making some sort-of squeaking noise a little while ago. I guess it just does it once in a while."

He then starts looking at this-and-that in my closet, checking out boxes, and suitcases. I get tired of standing there, so I tell him he needs to get out of the closet and go play.

I go back to what I was doing, and then I notice he is pacing back and forth all around the house.

Then it dawns on me.....

"HE'S LOOKING FOR HIS BIRTHDAY PRESENT!"

I start laughing to myself as he walks by me and heads into the dining room.

OK, Jameson NEVER goes into the dining room, so I ask him (laughing) "What are you doing in there?"

He says "Oh, I'm just checking out the light switches. I just want to make sure they are working correctly......and they are, SEE?"

After pacing around in circles for a few more minutes, he finally stops and sighs and says "I wish super powers were real...I wish I had X-ray vision."

"Why do you want X-ray vision baby?" I asked.

"So I could see through stuff...like, I could look up at the television and see how to make a television, you know, not like look into closets or anything."

I can tell now that it's going to be a LOOOOOOONG week.

And oh, in case you were wondering where I hid his super-de-dooper birthday present....


It's in the bottom of Chelsea's closet. He's not allowed to play in her room unless she's in there, so he will NEVER find it...lol!

I am getting SO EXCITED!

Fall is in the air and I am so excited! Fall is my absolute FAVORITE time of year! When those first cool breezes come floating through the air, I just get plum giddy!

Why do I love Fall so much? Here are several reasons....

Beautiful Fall leaves.

Fall decorating.

Halloween and Horror Movies!

Much more about my love for Halloween and Horror movies in later posts!

Cooler Weather and GORGEOUS blue skies!

The smell of burning leaves and firewood.

and...

High School and College Football!!!

GO LIONS!!!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!


I am also excited because I found out today that Ree Drummond's (aka: Pioneer Woman's, PW's, PDub's) much anticipated cook book is officially off to the presses and available for pre-order on many online sites!

(Photo from Confessions of a Pioneer Woman)

I LOVE Ree's recipes! They are NOT low fat, but oh. my. goodness. they taste SO GOOD! There is not one of her recipes that I've made that didn't turn out even better than expected!

Somehow, TWO copies of her book ended up in my online shopping cart.

Hmmmmmmmm, I wonder what I could do with my other copy?

Anybody have any ideas?

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What is your favorite thing about Fall?

The QUICKEST to complete project....EVER!

OK, on Saturday, I showed you the most time-consuming project ever. I was so excited and thankful that at least ONE project in the house was finally completed, that I couldn't wait to start on the next one.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

In the before shots of my master bedroom, I had nine squares displayed above my bed in a grid.

I loved the look of those squares, but Styrofoam + scrapbook paper + humidity =

YUCK!

I started to think of a way I could get a similar look, but fix it so the humidity from the bathroom wouldn't effect it.

So, with a gift card and a 40% off coupon in hand, I headed off to Hobby Lobby.

I knew I wanted to use the scrapbook paper but I did NOT want to use the Styrofoam again. It was WAAAAAY too messy and complicated to try so soon after my last project.

Then I had an idea.....artist's canvas!

Artist's canvases come in many sizes, are lightweight, easy to hang, and very versatile.....and on sale!

I found a 30" x 40" canvas for $17.49....not too bad for something that large.

Then I went to the scrapbooking section....where everything was 50% OFF! I found several sheets that would match, and figured that I would need 12 sheets to cover my canvas. So, 12 sheets at $0.30/each = $3.60!

When I got home, I decided to take the plunge and try to start working on it before Jameson came home from school.

I started picking the sheets that I wanted to use and then picking the layout I liked.

Then I cut each piece to 10" x 10" with my trusty rotary cutter. When I bought a 30" x 40" canvas, I really wasn't thinking about the sizes of the paper, but it worked out SO well. 4 sheets across and 3 sheets down....PERFECT!

Well, maybe not quite so perfect.

Some of the papers have a creamy background, while others have a stark white background. They match....but they don't MATCH....you know what I mean?

And here is my little secret weapon.....

Distress Ink.

It is just an ink pad with a light, brown tint (it's available in lots of different colors) that you rub in spots or all over to give an "aged" look.

The right side has been "distressed", the left side is plain.

Here is a distressed sheet with a strip of the plain paper lying on top.

I went over all of the papers, even the one's that already had a creamy colored background. The Distress Ink just ties everything together.

Now, it's time for the messy part....Mod Podge.

I already had this at home, so I didn't have to purchase it for this project (yipee!)

I grabbed a sponge brush and slathered on the Mod Podge.
(sorry about the poor picture quality....my camera hates me)

And here is where I started to freak out. When the scrapbook paper touched the Mod Podge....it immediately started to wrinkle and bubble up. I couldn't think of a better way to attach the paper, so I just decided to work with it. I slathered on a super thick coat underneath and on top of the paper. Purposely leaving ridges and brush strokes.

Here is what it looked like after the glue dried. (Again, sorry for the poor picture quality)

Next, I took my trusty hot glue gun (this is just a poor imitation glue gun....I have a MAC DADDY glue gun somewhere in this house, but it chose to remain in hiding for this particular project), and glue ribbon over all of the edges. The ribbon wasn't on sale, but I did have my trusty 40% off coupon. So I ended up paying $6.75 for 16 yards of grosgrain ribbon.

Here it is after all the paper edges are covered.

Now to cover the edge of the canvas.

Here is the completed picture!

And here it is on the wall! (I swear the picture is straight....the photographer is the crooked one)

I LOVE IT and so did hubby!

It ended up costing less than $28.00 AND it only took about two hours to complete it....not including the Mod Podge drying time! (it does dry really quickly, however)

What started out being a negative in this project, the wrinkled, bubbling paper, really turned out to be an asset! Since my camera hates me, I wasn't able to get a really good picture of it, but the wrinkles give the whole piece texture and depth and helps it look more "expensive".

I really enjoyed doing this simple project and I hope I can come up with cute little projects like this. So, if anybody has any suggestions, I am all ears!

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Oh, and I just wanted you to know that "Grace" strikes again!

Jameson and I were looking at all of the workout gear in Sears while hubby was looking for some tools for work yesterday. When hubby came over, Jameson and I started showing him some of the "really cool things" we found. I walked over to one of those adjustable dumbbell sets and was showing hubby how easy it was to adjust the weight on them, when one of the 5 pound weights fell and landed right on two of my toes.

OUCH!

Today they are black and blue, but I think I've beaten and banged my poor feet up so bad, it doesn't even bother me anymore. I can still walk, so I guess that's all that counts.

Marty has decided he's going to pick out my next pair of shoes....

I wonder if those come in sling-backs?