upcycle

my newest addiction?  spray painting little treasures from the thrift stores.

last summer i had this amazing (psychotic) idea to sell all of our stuff... you remember.   after suffering a panic attack 3 mos. later, i came up with this grand idea to "build our own farmhouse table"...and by that i meant, "grady build me a farmhouse table".  he did.  what a little handyman.  it turned out super fab.
 
 (we spent less than $200 for all lumber, hardware, etc.  but grady's time... priceless)




 am i the only person who loves those "imperfections" in the wood?  i think the people at lowe's thought i was crazy, i kept saying, "NO!  i want the boards with knots!  this one doesn't have enough knots!!!" grady wanted to pretend he didn't know me.   (he has pretended not to know me before...)

i also demanded i get carriage bolts.  it's this idea that it'll look more "farm-house-y-ish"...we'll see.





no he didn't turn the legs.  although, we like to tell people that! ha!



OK.  so i'm going to stain the table gray.  yep, i wrote gray.  i haven't found a gray stain that is "just right"  but i think i'll just try charcoal gray.

so back to my "brilliant idea" i decided it would be super cool to thrift some random chairs and "upcycle" them into the same color and fabric.  sweet.  i found 8 chairs and have started spray-painting them all white.  i found the following fabric on here for really cheap and started re-upholstering them all.  btw, i ordered 6 yards, they sent me 18.  no complaints.  SO... here are the sick-nasty chairs i bought:

 (chair: $12.00)

 (chair: $7.50)

 (chair: $8.00)

 (chair: $10.00)

(chair: $7.00)

 (chair $12.00)

 (chair: $5.00)


i know.  there's only seven.  i'll get to the 8th one in a min.  here's my fabric that i now have a plethora of:

 
 (fabric: $30.00)


 fab right?!

ok so here's the deal on the 8th chair.  it was a desk chair.  and very weathered.  i love the natural distress from people's butt cheeks and arm skin.  i don't want to paint it now.  what do i do?!  i think i'm going to buy a different chair for the dining room table and put this one in a corner somewhere with a cute pillow. 

 (chair $15.00)

 

cool right? 
ideas and opinions welcomed.
after pictures to come.
(((***side note:  this was my idea of saving money...in the end we probably are going to spend more than if we purchased brand new, but it'll be a one and only***)))

so i spent around $300, which seems a little higher than i wanted, but i'm getting excited to have something that is only in my house and is EXACTLY what i want.

i'm going to blog again about the other $0.50, $0.75 and $1.00 items that i'm currently spray painting.

gratitude attitude

  this last week... well, month has been hard.  last month i accepted a job at costco.  love my costco job, kept my other job.  i worked 2 jobs for a month.  out of the blue, the dealership offered me a higher paying, better hours, full-time job.  i accepted.  i quit costco.  i'm working my last two weeks, life is still crazy.  my costco badge reads:  employed since May 3rd, 2012.   my last day will be June 10th, 2012.  how pathetic hahahahahaha!  i've been blessed with the dealership job.  i can fulfill my calling in our ward now.  we might actually be able to go home and see family now.  i have days off now.  i'm happier now.

i can't help but think back on our time in rexburg. think about how different it was.  not better or worse, just different.

• in rexburg i found myself jealous of grady's time.  upset if he studied too much.  sad if he spent time at school, rather than come home.  now, i try my best to allow him to study.   i'm grateful for every minute he spends prepping for school, quizzing himself for a test.  it means he cares and that we're in the right place.
• in rexburg the workload of keeping up the house was very shared.  i was happy to come home to a spotless little apartment after a long day of tanning in the sun outside the office.  somedays i would take the 13 steps to our apartment and spend 30 minutes picking up the place before grady got home from school.  he was happy to come home to a spotless little apartment because he found it impossible to study in a mess.  life is different now.   i try to keep the apartment up, clean, cook, etc.  i'm not doing a great job.  fingers crossed, getting down to one job will help in that department.
• in rexburg we were very social.  having all of our dear friends live a few footsteps away was so easy.  and perfect.  now, my time with grady is so precious.  yesterday we had 15 minutes together.  today grady will be in bed before i get home.  its hard for me to lose moments grady and i can have alone together to be overly social.  my hope is that our schedules will change and allow for more time building friendships in the future.
• in rexburg having one car was easy.  grady was within walking distance of the school (not that it mattered, i dropped him off and picked him up most days).  with my two jobs, the car situation has been a challenge.  poor grady bums rides off everyone who will allow.  i feel terrible about it.  next week i'll be at the dealership most days and should be able to walk there, hopefully that change will free up our vehicle so grady can have a little freedom.

i'm happy for change.  i've recognized the importance of gratitude in our marriage.  i'm grateful for the stacks of papers piled up all over our living room, it means grady is taking advantage of his time here.  i'm grateful for the nights when i actually get a meal prepared, it means i'm not working until 11 pm and will get to spend dinner with grady.  i'm grateful for days when we can get together with some friends.  i'm grateful for the means to be able to afford our vehicle.  life is good.