Hello and Goodbye...

Well today I hadn't planned on writing but I woke up today with Dish Network crashing overnight and it erased ALL my recorded shows. WHY?!? It mostly just stinks that all the boys shows are gone and I'll have to start all over getting new ones. They have plenty of dvd's but just picking one off the recorded list is SOO much easier than fooling with the Playstation.

C'est la vie...

So last week I found a great deal on a microwave and range off of craigslist. I am changing everything out one at a time from whatever was there to stainless. The micro wasn't bad, just black and looked funny against the dark brown cabinets. The range however, is 20 years old and I think it was once white but is now a shade of yellow...annnnd it leaks gas :( No Beuno.

So anyway about this GREAT find. We pick it up and bring it home, (Helloo Gorgeous!) take out the old, put in the new micro...PERFECT! Put in the range...ummmm. It has a huge plug. The outlet on the wall is normal. Not huge...

It was advertised as a Dual Fuel with a gas stove and convection oven. We stupidly thought that it's either all gas or all electric. Dual Fuel...DUH...it all makes sense now. We only have gas hookups for the stove and oven. So we got an electrician to come out and see what it would take to get a 220 something put in so it would work.

It would take a $1000. We payed $575 for the microwave and range. No thanks.

Back on CL it went :( Last night it was picked up and now we have a gaping hole where there should be an oven...and we're living on microwave dinners and eating out. And looking for a new range pronto!!

Well, I say this was a good lesson learned. Check your connections and do a little research before diving in.

Once again...
C'est la vie...

Scrapbook Paper Wreath

Hope everyone had a good weekend!! We went and checked out Harwin (my first time!) and although the kids hated it...I thought it was fun! They did have an overwhelming amount of jewelry to where I couldn't even look through it, my head started spinning and I had to walk right out of every store. Speaking of too much of one thing...I feel like I am going to be buried alive with scrapbook paper if I don't do something with it all soon :O. AND I don't even scrapbook....

I googled some ideas on what to do with it and found a cute wreath idea. I LOVE it and know I want to make a ton more....but then I would just be buried alive under scrapbook wreaths :/ Anyway here's how it turned out...

It was really easy...just a foam circle, about 6 sheets of scrapbook paper, hot glue gun, and ribbon to hang. Cut the paper in 2 by 4inch strips, fold them (without creasing) and glue ends together and then glue each one to the foam.

EASY and QUICK!!

Touching up the baseboards

Wow, I am on a roll! Last week I was trying to clean the basebaords and realized that most of what was bothering me wasn't dirt but chipped paint and dropped paint from when I did the walls. I had some cabinet paint in the garage so I just touched them up with a sponge brush. Makes the floors seem cleaner ;)

These are them before...ugh!

I kind of forgot to take an after but this will do...

This cat is not even mine...she came in through my cat's cat door... weird...but she liked pictures.

Refinished Coffee Table

I realize that my blog looks pretty bland. I have no clue how to make it pretty but maybe once I know for sure I like this blogging thing, I can figure out how to make it prettier. I also barely have any blog postings but today I am going to try and knock out a bunch of projects I have done in the past couple of weeks :)

We have had this coffee table for about 5 years and over the years it has taken quite a beating! I think it's pine or something soft because when Aidan was a baby he would bang a remote or toy or whatever on top of it and sure enough, light colored wood would show through the stain. When we moved it was so ugly so I put it upstairs (I call the upstairs living room our wasteland) and it stayed there for over 2 years. Until now!!

I wanted to restain the top but it would have to match the bottom and that just sounds hard! So my husband thought I could paint it black so that's what I did. First I had to sand it down which made a huge mess in the garage. Then I wiped it down really well and just painted it. It took a couple coats. And then a couple coats of poly.

Yay for getting rid of this chest....it just didn't work...too tall and small for the space...

Now it looks like this...looks more cozy...much better I think :)

Chalkboard Baskets

The other day (ok like 2 weeks ago but I have not had time to post anything) I was looking at some blogs for some project inspiration and found a cute basket idea on my favorite blog. She bought these at target
 ----> Chalkboard baskets but I didn't want to spend $80 on baskets so I thought I could just find some big baskets and put on the chalkbord plaque myself. I found 2 baskets at Hobby Lobby in the clearance section for $20 each.

Then I got some wooden plaques and I already had chalkboard paint and chalk.

I think they turned out pretty cute! I wrote Cozy (blankets) on one and Fun (random toys that I don't feel like throwing up the stairs) on the other.

Never too late

Things have been a little crazy here in the Stewart household to say the least. So I thought what better time than now to start a blog, right??? ;) This whole idea started about 3 weeks ago when we decided to put this house up for lease and buy a new home. We have 2 investment properties in Colorado and so we were just going to add this one to the list. So we were looking at homes for sale in the area, thinking we wanted, bigger, better, and a pool. I was reluctant at first but once I found a couple gems I started to like the idea of us moving. The first home was beautiful, not a thing needed to be changed. Every finish was just what I would pick...stone fireplace, huge mantle, hand scraped wood floors, light granite, dark wood cabinets, all stainless steel, etc etc etc...didn't even need paint. And don't get me started on the pool!! And in the neighborhood we wanted. It was perfect. Except for 2 things. It didn't have a 4th bedroom (It was actually not at all bigger than our current home) and it had a formal living/sitting area. We are not formal sitting people. We don't need a formal living area. But we thought maybe we would put up a wall or something and close it in, somehow...and I could tell my husband loved it :)

So we put in our offer the first weekend it went on the market. We weren't too much off from asking but sure enough, we were outbid. I said well that's that. We'll keep looking. Then came the Windcrest home. First time we looked at it the owners were there and so that was awkward. It had a strong smell of curry and was a sad sad house. (Really, they speak to me!) Blue counter tops, blue grey tile on the floor, apartment blinds, no paint, no love, and the pool was just sad. But it was a pool and I knew the whole place could be fabulous. I couldn't get it out of my head. Then it hit me. I was going to start a blog. Of the house. And document my journey from ugly to lovely. It would be a family project and so much fun!

Then a week later the deal someone had with the first home fell through and it was back on the market. Justin was so excited so we made another offer. Full price. OUTBID. UGH. What a letdown but Windcrest was still there and I was falling for it. It was a project home and I wanted to make that house happy and beautiful. We went one more time to look to make sure it wasn't all in my head. Nope, still wanted it. We looked at a few more houses to be sure. We put in an offer and they excepted!

Fast forward to this weekend. We realize we have to get this house ready to lease. We have to pack everything and find leasers. I started to clear out rooms and then I just started getting sad. Really sad. Then by the end of the night I was balling crying. Something just didn't feel right. I LOVE this house. No, it doesn't have a 4th bedroom, and no pool, and no walk in closets for the boys, but we made this house our own and I felt so sad thinking after 2 years we were just going to leave it. I felt like the house was sad too (I am a little crazy, yes) because I had so many projects and plans left for this place and loved it so, and now I am just giving up. Then Justin said he was also torn. (How come men never speak up!?!?!?)  SO after calling my mom, calling my sister, Justin called the realtor the next day and terminated our contract with the Windcrest house. Yes, I was sad. I had already moved in the furniture in my head and called pool companies for quotes on pool renos. But I felt the biggest weight off my chest as well. There will always be other homes if we decide to start this process again...but I kind of like the idea of a forever home and maybe we will be happy here forever...who knows?!!? And I can have a freaking blog with this house if I want to! I can add in the old projects that have been already done, along with new projects I plan on doing...and believe me the list is LOOONG! Some people blog about their children, their pets, their romance...me?...well, my house :)

Anyway that's the scoop and now on to Project Nest :)