Stop Pin-ing Start Doing YHL Challenge

So this is my new blog and the first time I really decided to blog for real. I enter linky parties and plan on doing some challenges.  I did the last YHL challenge for the thrift shop.

This time Young House Love is doing a Pinterest challenge.  The point is to stop pin-ing and start doing! I don’t have a problem with this. I plan on doing lots of pins. Wait that might mean I have a problem!

I decided to take on something big, bright, and fun. We are in the process of making my little monkey’s room a big boy room.

I searched thrift stores for a long time. I was looking for a short long dresser that wasn’t too long. I wanted good bones and a fair price. I saw lots of tall dressers and a few short ones. I just didn’t want to pay $50 for a used dresser. I also didn’t want a dresser that was huge.

Then one day I was at Goodwill for $1 day looking for clothes  and bang.  There is was.  It was short and long and only $15.00. I walked away knowing I could not fit this in my car. I didn’t make it far when I turned back. I bought it. I had 48 hours to figure out how to get it to my house.  Thank you mom for helping me.

I sanded off the clear coat finish and painted on my favorite primer. Really this stuff is awesome.

Next I went to Home Depot to get spray paint. Most the time I use Krylon but home depot had none! Instead I got this…

Let me tell you something. It was AMAZING! It took only a little more than 1 can to paint is. That’s it!  It really is 2 times the coverage. Before you ask… No I did not get paid to say this.

I was super excited. It’s bright and beautiful. I loved it. Then my very opinionated 3.5 year old son marched outside and demanded that I paint it green. WHAT?!?! Problem solved!

See that… awesome green inside the drawer.  Just perfect. He totally loves it.  Yes those are really his blinds right now. L  Guess what is one of the things on my Make It March   Curtains for his room!  

To see the other blogs who participated click here!

Tutorial #3 Dinosaur Coat Hanger

This week the tutorial is for a dinosaur coat hanger for the kid's room. Or your room if you're into that kind of thing. 

Supplies:

Toy Dinosaurs (I got these small ones at Dollar Tree for $1.00 each

A board to put them on  (I found this pack of 6 of Joann Fabrics they were $2.50)

Craft Glue

Spray paint

Knife

Bolt Hooks (I got a pack of 4 for close to $1.00)

 I flipped my dinosaur over and they had this seem I decided this is where I would make my cut. 

 I started cutting right on the seam. I made sure to do it straight. As a note I have a set of knives I got two of them for $1.00 at Dollar Tree. I use them just for crafts instead of using my good knives. After I made the cut I sanded the edges a bit.

Apply glue to the cut and stick it on the board. I eyeballed it. I kept my dinosaurs evenly spaced and straight. Let them dry overnight. 

I had already painted a board red for another project, but it was supposed to be a Christmas gift that I never got around to. :(

Take it outside and spray paint it. If you have extra primer around primer it first. I did not. So the paint tends to run down the dinosaurs. It took me about four coats. I let it dry about 30 minutes between coats. I wish I would have had spray primer.

Once it's dry you can put a sawtooth hanger on the back or even some ribbon.

Next take your bolt hooks and screw them into the bottom. I chose three hooks. The same number of dinosaurs I had. 

This will hang in my son's room to hold jackets. It's not hanging yet. Not until I finish his room transformation. He got a big boy bed for Christmas and he loves sleeping in that. So we are working on getting the rest of his room updated to big boy style.

Thrift Store Score #2

So on Thursday I went to Goodwill for $1 Thursday. This time I even got the beau to go with me. His four kiddies needed clothes for over here. The beau is not a big fan of thrifting or shopping in general. What a lame! 

I did snap a few pics of awesome things. 

Wreath anyone? You are looking at a 6" shelf full of old wreaths! Holy moly!

If I was still married this would have been mine. Then I would insist that she hang it up because I am for sure a special friend!

Aren't these sombreros horrible, ugly, and stupid  a totally awesome find. At $.99 each I sure am glad my beau bought them.

For the kiddies: three pairs of jeans, a pair of gym pants, two pairs of shorts, a dress, a skirt, and four shirts. $12.00 for all of that. The black shirt with rhinestones is H&M!

For me I found these four awesome dresses to chop up and make pretty. I purchased a cute blue knit dress,which, my little sister promptly stole. I also got a pair of pants and shorts for my little monkey, but they went missing along with three other shirts.

I love $1 day! I will be going back this week too!

So for March I have decided to do something called Make it March. I will make 20 items in 31 days! I do not promise a tutorial of each thing but I will post picture of each one!

I even made a cute banner. :) 

Pin Test #4 Cleaning The Oven

My test is a day late :( I did it yesterday, but my charger wouldn't work so my computer wouldn't turn on!

I decided to keep with my cleaning the kitchen test.  I chose this pin.

 Baking soda and vinegar to clean the inside of the oven.

This is my before oven. EWWW! That's gross right. Man I really need to learn how to clean!

I mixed vinegar and baking soda together to make a paste because that seemed easier.

I waited about half hour. Next I got a scrub brush. Got it wet and started scrubbing. I wiped away the mess. I could tell it was working because the baking soda was brown. Ewww! I thought I took a picture of that, but alas I did not. 

I did have to take the razor blade to a few areas. If you don't know about cleaning with a razor blade you must do it. It's amazing! This is after. It looks MUCH better. Not perfect but this I think is acceptable!

Pin  Status: Pass. 

This week posts will be a little different. Monday will be a thrift store score as well as my March pledge.  Tuesday will be Tutorial Tuesday. Wednesday I will be posting a special post for the Young House Love challenge. Saturday will be a new pin test.

Tutorial Tuesday #3 Dollar Tree Washcloths to Fabulous Unique Baby Shower Gift

Today is a fun tutorial. It's sewing, frugal, and cute! Customizable baby shower gift that works great as washcloths and as booger cleaners. Since they are pretty soft they aren't too rough on the face.

Supplies:

1 pack of washcloths I got these 4 at Dollar Tree

Sewing machine with notions

Scrap fabric (right from my stash)

Cut your fabric a tiny bit larger than the washcloth since this brand of washcloth has a little stretch. Pin right sides together and sew.

Leave a small opening so you can turn it. It's best to leave the opening on a straight part of the cloth not the curve.

Flip you wascloth so the right sides are now out.

Tuck the opening inside and pin it. Next, put it back under the machine and topstitch starting and ending at your pin.

Lather, rinse, and repeat. I mean repeat the above steps to all the washcloths. 

See here I have 4 beautiful and unique washcloths for a shower gift!  For the record they were a huge hit at the shower because they were so cute.

Total out of pocket cost: $1.00

Wish me luck tomorrow at Goodwill for dollar day! 

Thrift Store Score #1

My post tonight comes a little late because my big sister had her baby tonight, and I am now a proud aunt! Connor is big, healthy, and oh so cute! My little monkey is so excited to go meet him tomorrow!

So this will be my first thrift store score post. I love thrift stores. I love to turn trash into treasure!

For the yard sales I went through my closet... and I mean really went through it. I got rid of things that didn't fit anymore or that I just don't wear. I LOVE clothes. I am an emotional shopper. I buy clothes when I'm sad, mad, stressed, and to celebrate.  I purged over 60 items from my closet!  HOLY CRAP! My closet was half empty.

After that I needed to replace some of those clothes. Since money is REALLY tight right now I decided to go to Goodwill. In Phoenix every Thursday we have $1 day! Everything with a certain tag color is just $1!

On my way to work I decided to stop (much like I do every week!)

I arrived just before 9AM when they open. There was already a line! The Goodwill I went to is in a better neighborhood than I live in. While they have better clothes they have less vintage kitchen items.

This Goodwill has TONS of furniture! Here is a quick picture I snapped.  I did end up making a furniture purchase for my son's big boy bedroom makeover. That will be in another post though!

This cracked me up! It's like a Catholic person and a Dexter fan designed a house. I get that maybe it could be for the blood of Christ but really? It doesn't match the saying very well.  It was only $1 that week but I left it for someone who might appreciate it more than I did.

Here is my loot! 2 pairs of  name brand blue jeans, a khaki trench coat, a cute bright dress, a vintage nightgown (it was too pretty to pass up!), a Tommy Hillfiger tank top, the black top still had tags on it meaning it was never worn! it was purchased for $12.00 at a discount Dillard's I could recognize the tag, and a vintage party dress complete with shoulder pads. That will get a fabulous refashion!

Grand total $8.00 plus tax! Can't beat that!

I will of course be going again this Thursday and the beau will be coming with me. He will be looking for clothes for the 5 kids for summer before we go buy them new! Hope we score a few $1 deals!

Linking to:

Coastal Charm 

What a slacker :(

I missed all my posts this week! What a slacker I am!  Let me tell you what happened!

Market it Monday is on hold because my Etsy got hacked into. I have to do some work to get it back up!

The other days were because I finally went to Urgent Care for being sick. I had a bad cold and a horrible ear infection! :( The medication for the ear infection was no good. Apparently I have developed an allergy to amoxicillan.  I was so sick. Even more sick form the medicine than I was before I went in!

I did make it to Goodwill for dollar day this week and did get some great finds. I will show you my sweet finds soon.

One of the finds is large and I have been outside working on it all day! I'm having tons of fun!

So please forgive me for this week. I will do better next week!

Pin Test #2 Vinegar and Water In Microwave then Wipe Clean

So it's time for another Pin Test. We are also doing another yard sale this weekend. I haven't made the money this weekend I did last weekend but I still sold some more crap. Which is fun because it gives me money to go to the thrift shop and buy more crap things I need REALLY bad!

I tested this pin...

 It works like this... get a microwave safe bowl add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of vinegar. Microwave 10 minutes and all the gunk should wipe clean with a rag.

Here is my embarrassing before picture.  YUCKY!

Here it is microwaving. While I stood there, impatiently waiting.

I wiped it with a rag. It did help a bit, but as you can see it did not just wipe clean.

Next I sprayed in some of my favorite cleaning spray! Gold Canyon Candle All Purpose spray. It smells like Rosemary and mint... mmmm... I paired that with a good old fashioned sponge and scrubbed with the green side.

 That did the trick! Nice and clean! I won't say the pin was a fail because it did help a bit but I can't say it passed either.  I figure instead of waiting 10 minutes I would rather just use my spray and scrub since I had to do so anyways.

Tomorrow I am going to The Chocolate Affaire. MMMM I can't wait to get some chocolate covered strawberries! I love them! If you live in Phoenix area you should go. It's a great time! Bye bye yard sale money!

Tutorial #2 One Of a Kind Framed Art and Quick Update

Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday #2! Today's tutorial is fun for the whole family.  Beautiful one of a kind framed art...from the heart.

Here are the supplies you will need to start:

One poster board from Dollar Tree $.59 and a pack of finger paints $1.00.

Next tool a willing artist. This is mine. He was excited to paint for me.

Start painting.  We had a great time painting... this is his rendition of a dinosaur.

After the painting is finished let it dry.

I got this picture and frame for free. My sister gave it to me for my yard sale but I kept it.  It's a nice frame and mat.

I figured out what I wanted to put in the frame. Placed my mat over it and trace a light line. Then I cut outside the line and taped it into the frame. Then hung it up.

I love it. Also up today is a quick little update.

I have been staring up here all week deciding that I want to start a collection and place it up here for decor. Then I realized man this is a mess..... I grabbed an extra basket I had laying around and threw stuff in there.

Awwww...... much better. Now I can stare with a better idea of what I want? I am leaning towards candle stick holders.

Linking to:
Coastal Charm