My DIY life...

Here in our house we always have a DIY project going on...big and small...especially seeing how our house is still in the "fix" stage of being a "fixer-uper".  Our newest project that we are undertaking is a wooden play kitchen for Zander.  Our neighbors have one and he absolutely loves playing with it (mainly pulling every toy piece of food imaginable out of it).  I googled wooden play kitchens and to my astonishment most cost around $150.  I'm sorry but that's crazy!!!!  Thanks to amazing Pinterest we found this......

The Idea :)

Since Jerry drives around for work he came across some nightstands that were free to use for the project.  All of this DIY and free stuff got me thinking about everything that we do around our house that is "DIY/frugal".  Being that we have just one income in our family (and this is not a rant about that but more a...this is how I choose to live my life by being minimalistic).  And trust me I LOVE being frugal. 

Here's the Top 10 how the Hardy's save money.....

1. Cloth Diapers - yes they were an investment in the beginning but trust me, not having to run out to the store and buy diapers all the time is amazing.  I know for sure we have saved a ton
2. Cloth Wipes - I don't use them all the time (trust me when there is a massive blowout we go to our disposables) but I do use them a ton and really don't buy wipes all that often.  We also make our own solution to clean his little bottom with (2 cups of water & 2 T of any baby shampoo in a spray bottle)
3.  Library - I can't remember the last time I bought a book, plus I love getting tons of books for myself and if I don't like it I don't feel bad if I never really read it.  I have read the first 2 books of the Hunger Games and yes I've had to be on a waiting list for the books so I can't read them right away but I still get to...for free.  Plus I love the thousands of children's books that we take out for Zander and it's fun for him since every week we get new ones
4. Holidays - Here's the simple thing about holidays, we don't go crazy oven them and that's it.  I think that some of the holidays that bother me the most are Christmas, Easter and Valentine's Day...just to name a few.  Christmas is not about who can spend the most on their child and I'll be the first to say we got Zander 1 gift and it wasn't anything major at all and I don't feel bad about it at all.  He will grow up knowing the true meaning of Christmas.  Now Easter, I never thought Easter baskets would bother me but oh my goodness people go crazy (some might not like this next part), we didn't get Zander and Easter basket and pretend to be the Easter bunny.  Nor will we ever.  That's not what Easter is about.  Jerry put it very nicely on the way home from church yesterday, it's like a second Christmas.  Now Valentine's Day, I now some love it but really it's just a day where people feel forced to spend money.  Well we don't...we just don't and neither one of us feel bad about it, no candy, no flowers, no nothing.  We just spend the day as a family.
5.  DIY - we do this a lot.  Now if you came to my house, it's not perfect.  Although it's an amazing transformation from 5 years ago when we bought it.  We still have lots of work to do on it but it takes time and money.  We choose to do it ourselves because honestly I believe that every marriage should go through the test of remodeling a home.  It's not easy.  We had ups and downs but I would trade my "fixer-uper" house for anything in the world.  Jerry is a super handy husband and it does help that I have a super handy dad that has allowed us to not need to hire out for projects in our home...big and small.
6.  Garden - We garden because we love it but also because we can eat what we grow.  It's amazing to see things start as tiny seeds and grow up...kind of like kids :)
7.  Eating Out - We just don't do it.  Before Zander was born we ate out all the time.  Now here's the thing it's fun to eat out yet and we do once in a great while eat out but it's usually for something special which makes eating out all that more fun.  I also believe that eating at home makes us eat healthier because I know what's going into the food that I am feeding my family.
8. Toys - We usually don't buy new.  I can honestly count on probably 1 hand the number of toys we have personally bought for Zander new from a store and guess what I don't feel bad about it.  He has way more than he even needs to play with.  Yard sales are amazing and we are so excited to start going again.  People sell stuff that they used once or twice and is practically band new, especially kids stuff.
9. Jubilee - That is probably my favorite store.  It's a local thrift store and I especially love their 50% off Friday and Saturdays.  Some finds are picture frames for 30 cents, a pair of almost new jeans for Jerry $1 and books for Zander 50 cents.  AMAZING.
10. Neighbors - I would love to live not in town (I want chickens and we can't have them in the boro) but I love that a ton of stuff and people are walking distance.  For example we can walk to the library and jubilee.  Also we have neighbors that are amazing people.  I love that we all share things if others need it.  Our neighbors were building more raised bins for their garden and we loaned them a drill to put it together.  How nice is that, they don't need to buy one when they would hardly use it.

I know I might get some flack about some of this but I am just being honest and have felt it on my heart.  Maybe this will touch someone and they wouldn't feel like they need to put those extra 2 gifts on their credit card because they can't afford it anyway.

I would love to hear if anyone else has any other tips for saving money.

A New Adventure??

So everyone in our house is finally getting over being sick.  I'm sure there is something going around...weird thing is that we usually never get sick.  I was puking all Wednesday evening...not that fun since my dad was visiting and having dinner with us.  Zander was running a fever since Wednesday morning and then Friday Jerry stayed home from work because he was up all night Thursday getting sick.  But good news...we are all better now!

So Friday...IT CAME!!!  My MacBook came, so I've been playing with it non stop...now if only I could figure out how to use everything on it.  So if you have any tips on using a MacBook Pro I could surly use them.

I love helping others.  I believe that we are doing God's work when we help others and work together.  I have a friend, Kristen, who was selling a wet bag (it's a bag for dirty cloth diapers) and I had talked to her before about my Cricut and all the amazing things that I can cut out with it.  We decided that I would cut her a boat design with her son's name on it to put in his room in exchange for the wet bag.  Now, I could have gone to the store (well online) and bought a wet bag...Kristen could have gone online and ordered an adhesive vinyl boat design and we both would have been happy and gotten what we want but by trading what we each have we are helping each other out (and saving each other a ton of money).  Seriously it's God's work and it happens everyday.  I'm also going to be designing a quote with some birds for my friend Sarah's daughter's room which I am VERY excited about doing.

All of this designing of these vinyl wall decals kind of got me thinking...oh know!  I truly believe that if you can buy something local..or at least from the US you are doing yourself a favor because you are supporting our economy (which needs all the help it can get).  So here's my idea......

 I'm thinking about starting a small business where I would design custom made vinyl wall decals for anywhere in your home.  They would be like the ones that you can buy at the store but these could be any design that you want...personalized.  I have a few that I have done as you have seen already for my own house as examples and then I have some that I'm in the process of doing.  Would love anyones thoughts on it...or if you would be interested in purchasing one I would love to help you.

I've been doing a lot of thinking and more importantly praying about this and I believe this is something God is calling me to do.  Might be something little in His big world but we are all put on this earth for a reason and I believe my purpose is to be a Child of God and a Mother.  I also believe that God gave me special talents to share with others.

I'm excited to see where God leads me in this week...month...year...and lifetime.

Family Day

I love Sundays.  They might just be my favorite day of the week.  At our house we consider Sunday's our "family day".  We get up and go to church as a "family" and then we usually stay home most of the day and just spend time together.  I love it!

So this weekend was a slightly busy one.  Saturday morning we had our tax appointment.  We also found out the MacBook wasn't sold yet so we should be getting it.  This Saturday I also got to spend the afternoon and evening with one of my best friends, Kristi.  We went to Ikea in Philly which was awesome.  I'm pretty sure you can never have a bad time at Ikea.  I also had Chick-fil-a for the FIRST TIME!  It was so delicious and I for sure recommend getting a milkshake!!  Well I saw a project earlier in the day on Pinterest where they had a quote "the best of times" and pictures of each of their kids with a clock below the picture.  The clock didn't move...it was set at the time of each child's birth. 

AMAZING!!!

 So while I was at Ikea I found a plain plastic clock for $1.99! LOVE IT!

So after church (which was AMAZING as usual) we came home and did some housework.  Also started working on this project.  The clock that I got was just a plain white clock and decided I would spray paint it, well I thought we had black but turns out tan was all we had so that's what I used (didn't feel like buying more spray paint).

STEP 1: disassemble the clock

STEP 2: spray paint the "frame" of the clock

I do have a confession...I love spray painting stuff...maybe more than Jerry likes

STEP 3: speckle paint the clock

The clock in my inspiration picture already had this done (plus they spent like $12 on the clock) so all I did was took some black craft paint and used one of those crappy toothbrushes places give out for free and "flicked" paint on it.  Then I let it all dry.

STEP 4: put clock back together and set time.

Got it all put back together...was a little tricky since I didn't pay attention to what I was doing when I took it apart.  Set the clock to 1:27pm, the time that changed my life forever.  Then decided to break out the trusty Cricut.

STEP 4: add title

I did erase the pencil line that is in the picture.  Now all I need to do is hang up the picture I have of Zander and the clock and it will be all done.  So now just waiting on Jerry to have time to hang it up.  Another confession...I tried to hang it up but when I bent like 4 nails trying to put them in the wall I decided I better wait. I'll post a picture when it's all done.

Jerry and I are going to have more kids so I know I will be adding to this so the OCD in me almost wanted to buy 4 (yes we plan on having 4 kids...and homeschool all of them but that's another blog for another time) clocks and picture frames because I will NEED to have them all match.  But I didn't and decided I would cross that bridge when it came there.  Plus I did think it might look fun if they don't match...but who am I kidding my OCDness will kick in and I'll buy all matching ones.

I love deals...and finished projects

Sitting here drinking my first cup of coffee for the day (not Nantucket..not sure why I didn't open that lovely new box) and thinking about what I should be doing but enjoying the quiet time before Zander awakens for the day.

This weekend we finished our wall project...yes that's right it's all done.  Thanks to my wonderful dad (whom without his help many projects at my house would still be unfinished...like my AMAZING bathroom) for coming down and helping us complete it.  So here's a look at the finished project.

The white erase board

YAY!! The finished product!

So glad that's finished.  Now onto the next projects.  Began working on stuff for Zander's birthday party.  We are doing an "Old MacDonald" theme.  I so didn't want to be the mom that does a "theme" but it's so darn cute and after inviting family we already have a TON of people to come so I think it will make it more fun.  I was planning on making puppets for favors for the kids...but yeah I went online and found something equally as cute and WAY easier so we are doing that...sorry not spoiling the surprise for anyone that is coming.  But I am working on a banner for the party.  I saw on Pinterst (of course..I can see you all rolling your eyes..haha) and it linked to none other than Etsy.  Well I love Etsy but I'm not paying $30 for a homemade paper banner when I can figure out how to make one.

So for a while now Jerry wanted to get me a new Cricut machine.  I have a smaller one that I've had for years and used it every so often but I can't cut anything on it bigger than like 4 inches.  Now if you don't know what a Cricut is (I use it a lot for scrapbooking) basically it's a machine with a blade and you can purchase cartridges and then cut those things out of paper or anything.  It's how I made the letters for on the wall project.

Long story short for 2 days we stalked eBay for the best prices...I love eBay and another addiction is Craig's List (but I'll get more into that later).  Found a person (or so we thought a person) selling TONS of them for cheap.  Brand new the Expression machine runs like $150-$200.  Well after much eBay stalking and swiping a bid at the last second I got a brand new Expression machine along with 8 brand new cartridges for $160!!  Now doofis me didn't pay any attention to what cartridges were included because I thought every auction had the same...well I was wrong.  When the package came Zander and I ripped open the box and checked everything out.  Well turns out there were 4 cartridges that were "fancy Christmas" as I called them and a few others...the only one I was super excited about was this Home Decore one...which I plan on using to make stuff for lettering and things on the walls.  So yesterday I decided to list 6 of the cartridges on Craig's List to see if I could sell them and make some of the money back.  Well within a few hours I had a text from someone in Lebanon that wanted them...ALL of them!  So we set up a time to meet.  I then decided that I should just list my old machine and 1 cartridge.  Same thing within a few hours I had someone interested in the machine for their sister and the cartridge for them self.  So here's how the numbers worked out.....

New Machine & 8 Cartridges $160

Sold 6 Cartridges $75
Sold old machine and 1 cartridge $65
Made a total of $140

Total Paid for New Machine & 1 Cartridge......$20!!!!

I love a good deal!!  Even better since I love stalking Craig's List I wanted to look for a Moby wrap to use with Zander and any future children.  Well found one right near my mom's house and she offered to go check it out.  Guess what!?!?!?  I got a brand new Moby wrap (she used it once but her 1 month old didn't like it) for $10...normally they cost about $45!!!!

So last night Jerry was complaining about an email from AT&T about how he's a high data user...seriously this guy uses his iPhone for EVERYTHING!!  I said to him you know it stinks...I never wanted an iPhone (I thought that they were a waste)...I'm now on my second one...I could never not have an iPhone.  I used to think those people that ONLY used Apple products were snobs...or Apple snobs as we call them...oops I'm afraid I think I've turned into an Apple snob.  I've wanted a MacBook for a VERY long time and have been saving for it (because I don't want to go into debt putting it on a credit card...don't get me started on that).  We got a call earlier in the week from one of my best friends saying she knew someone selling a less than year old one...so crossing my fingers that our tax appointment on Saturday goes well and Jerry will buy it for me.  So yes in our house we own 2 iPhones...an iPad...and hopefully soon a MacBook...we are Apple snobs and proud of it!!!

Thanks for listening to my random thoughts and as I proofread this blog before posting it I do see that this one is very much my random thoughts :)

Make it Monday.

New week...had an awesome weekend except we were supposed to go to my sister's house on Saturday morning but because of the snow we didn't make it.  This was an extra special weekend Zander finally cut his first tooth!!!  And actually tonight at dinner it looked like another one might be "popping" up soon.  So didn't get to do much with my wall project over the weekend, but Jerry did hang the wire for the masterpieces so that part is all done.  We don't have any Zander art up there yet but Keaira's book she made for Zander is up there and our neighbors son made us a card.  I'm sure it will be filled up soon enough.

"Masterpieces"

I used my cricut machine to cut the letters out and used the sticky shelf liner from Lowe's so that they would stick directly to the wall but can be easily removed.

I was in a super crafty mood today and got lots done for the wall.  The board is completely covered in white contact paper.  The contact paper and I got into a little bit of a fight today and I think I in the end won.  We have some small square cork boards that I wanted to use on the wall so I decided to make some more "art" to put above the whiteboard.  Although Jerry wasn't overly excited to hear that I put burlap in our printer but he did like how they turned out. :)

First

Second

Then 2 cork boards...kind of boring so I didn't take a picture of them.

Fifth

Sixth

So those are the things that I made today to hang above.  Got all the ideas from Pinterest.  The new amazing thing I found out about pinterest is all the free fonts that are on there.  It's awesome!!  Trust me I felt creative today but it was just using others ideas.  So now we just need to hang the whiteboard and all the squares for above and then put a frame around everything and the wall will be done.  So hopefully we can get it finished up this weekend...or maybe before if I ask nicely for it to be hung up :)

Funny story pretty much off topic..well sort of on topic..it has to do with Pinterest.  Jerry is always seeing me looking at stuff on there so he had me make him an account and now he's on all the time.  He also found it awesome that other people were repinning the stuff that he pinned.  Oh goodness gracious I think I might have helped create a monster.

Now that this project is coming to a completion I am going to have to decided what to do next...decisions....decisions.....

More Pinterest Adventuers...Day 2

Well last night I successfully took the metal frame off of the white erase board and cleaned it.  That's about as far as I got.  So this morning I began researching on pinterest how I wanted to "title" the area for the artwork.  I decided I did want to go with "Masterpieces".

Now I'll be honest...I'm cheap and don't really want to pay $50 to get someone else to do something that I probably can, I just can't justify it.  So I began looking up DIY vinyl lettering because honestly how hard could it be.  Well found out the same contact paper that I'm going to use to cover the white erase board I can use with my Cricuit cutting machine and make my own phrase.  Well after lunch off Zander and I were on another shopping adventure...probably not his favorite thing to do.  The only annoying part was that this wasn't a one stop shop...but 4 stores later at good 'ol trusty Lowe's we found black contact paper.  So now I'm cutting the letters out and going to hang them on the wall.  Then when Jerry gets home I'm going to have him hang a wire to clip the pictures onto.  Tonight I think we are going to attempt to put the contact paper on the white board.

So there is also another craft that I might attempt tonight on Pinterest and that's printing with your printer onto burlap...looks so cool.

On a side note my little boy turned 10 months old today...honestly where did the time go.  I truly can't believe that I just mailed out 1st birthday invitations.  Crap!  I better get working on the favors.  Another adventure I'm sucking Jerry into :)  Seriously though, I feel like I just gave birth to this wonderful person and now he's growing up so fast.  He truly is a blessing from God and I'm so excited that Jerry and I get to be his mommy and daddy and that we can raise him the way we truly believe God wants him to be raised. 

Well nap time will only be about another hour so I better get to cutting these letters out and up on the wall. 

...new kitchen wall project...day 1

Pinterest is probably one of the most amazing websites ever!  I love getting lots of ideas and I'm happy to say that I've actually created a few things off of it...nothing major but at least I crossed some off the list.  Well I decided today that I was going to finally get working on this bigger project that I want to do.  We have this wall in the kitchen and we can't put anything too "deep" on it because it's by a walkway that is already kind of narrow so I thought this would be the perfect thing to do so that Zander can have somewhere to draw and we can use the top to scribble down a note or two.  We don't want to make it as tall as in this (picture on the left) because we would like to hang Zander's (and future children) "masterpieces" above it (picture on the right).  That will be part two after we get the bottom part done.

        

The Idea!!

The Wall.

 So I also have a love for Jubilee...it's a local thrift shop with LOTS of fun things.  When anyone comes to visit we usually take a trip there and they are hooked too.  Well a few weekends ago we were there and they had a HUGE (4'x6') dry erase board for FREE.  Now I love a good deal but FREE is even better.  So needless to say I sent Jerry back down to pick up my find.

The Board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it's hard to see from the picture but there is some marker we can't get off it and there are some scratches.  I mean come on though...it was FREE.  I knew I could do something with it.  All morning I was researching dry erase paint.  Problem is that I just don't feel like sanding this and then painting (and based on the reviews the painting takes FOREVER).  So kept looking and there was lots of info about "dry erase contact paper".  Well after researching more it didn't sound like any special contact paper.  So after Zander and I had lunch I had a return to take to Lowe's anyway so Zander and I went to check out the contact paper there that is used for lining drawers.  Well for about $2 we got a roll of white (1' x 10')...we actually got 2, I figured I could test one and if it worked great and if not I only spent like $2 and I would return the other one.  GUESS WHAT?!?!  I wrote on it and used the dry erase board eraser and it came off just like that. YAY!!!

So now that Zander is taking his afternoon nap I'm off to figure out how to get the metal frame off the "old" board...oh Jerry will be nervous if he sees tools out when he gets home from work...