Craft Room Re-Design

Ok. So it's more like just 'Design', as I've never done anything with this room, in the, oh...10 years I've owned my house. It's been in a perpetual state of catch-all, with an occasional bout of being occupied by a tenant, or two cats.

Before #1

As you know, I do quite a bit of selling on eBay. If you look real close, on the left hand side, there is a white thing sitting on top of my printer. That's my scale. Those boxes. Empty. The litter box. Empty. The ottoman has items on it from 2 months ago, when my toilet was acting up (I had a plumber fix it. Tried to do it myself, but that's another blog). Those items were taken out of the room, and moved to the basement with the rest of the building materials. Oh, the greenish/blackish blob half on the couch, and half on the rocking chair? That's a comforter, that I finally got around to taking to the laundromat to wash, in February. I was too cheap to dry it there, so I hung it over my shower curtain rod. It then made it's way into the craft room.

Before #2

Oh look. MORE empty boxes! The tall one, sitting on the floor, was filled with recyclables, and removed from the room. The things that are on top of the dresser are various things I have listed for sale on eBay. I managed to move and condense things enough to get most of them inside the dresser, by the end of the night. They are now either all sold, or in the dresser. The black tote, also had eBay items in it, and half sold, and the other half were put in the dresser. You'll see the tote again, in the 'During' pictures. And now for the fun part! Organizing. I did all this organizing two Fridays ago. It took me from 6 p.m. until 3 a.m. to do it, but it was SO worth the missed sleep.

During #1

I was ridiculously happy when I measured, and figured out I could put both the dresser AND the hope chest on this wall. I REALLY didn't want to put either of the pieces in the basement. The hope chest holds what it's intended too. Memories. All my pictures are in there. My Grandfather's WWII Army Uniform (Which I'm likely to have put into a shadow box and hung on the wall). My Father and Aunt's confirmation records. The family photo's I took out of my Grandmother's house when we cleared it out. Memories. The dresser, as previously stated, holds my ebay sale items. When this picture was taken, I had the top drawer full of items that needed to be listed, and the second and third were full of items that already have a listing (meaning, all I have to do is relist them). I'm proud to say, everything in this dresser has now been listed, and it was a GOOD month for sales.

During #2

This corner will contain my work surface once all is said and done. The laptop stand is just a filler right now. I'll be selling that at the annual community yard sale. I have a drafting board in the basement, and intend to buy some table legs and build a base for it. It will make for a nice area to work. I intend on re-purposing the book case I have in the basement, and putting that behind the chair, and using it for storage. There are some really pretty canvas totes on sale this week at Target. I intend to pick up 4, and stick them on the shelves, along with some various sized boxes I cover in fabric.

During #3

Yay! The couch is almost clear! There's the black tote again. This time, it's full of all the projects I intend to do for the room. They're all in one spot, which is going to make it much easier for me to knock the projects out in no time. A girl can dream, right? The ottoman will be re-covered in fabric.The brown wood things (there are actually two)? They're mirrors. The one will be fastened to the dresser, and the smaller one will be taken down to the basement. It goes to the vanity that's already down there. This furniture came out of my Grandmother's house, and I really didn't want it. I was being nice to my sister, who lives out of state, and who indicated she wanted it. When it came time for her to take it home with her, while she was up for Christmas, she didn't want it anymore. Damn it! Now that it's in the house, I can't make myself get rid of it. ARRGGHH! Almost forgot. The vacuum is going down to the living room closet. Those with good eyes see the empty litter box is in the bottom right hand corner. I stuck all the various electronics in there. Chargers, USB cables, who know's what. If it was electronic related, it went in there!

During #4

It's kinda pissing me off I can't get these two pictures to be side by side. GRRR. Ok. So, I broke down a bunch of the empty boxes, and stuck them in another box. The larger box on the left, has the styrofoam out of the large box from one of the before pictures, that got used for the recycling. The rod on the top holds the coats I have listed on eBay. One of them has already sold. There's also a bag of stuffed animals in there. The top corner of the picture is actually my authentic cowboy hat. It's in a very dusty bag. But the hat looks fantastic inside ;) The A/C units will go in both my bedroom, and the craft room once summer hits. Then the closet will be used to hold packing materials for eBay sales. I'm also going to put another shelf in, so I can move the printer into the closet too. My OCD likes having clear surfaces, so it'd be nice to be able to close the door on that area.

During #5

Of course, I'll need to patch the hole in the closet (I had my water supply lines replaced...ohh...5 years ago) before that happens though. Look...the spackle is even IN the closet (and has been for a year now. Don't judge.).

Finishes #1

This quart of paint was FREE at Ace Hardware (I used a coupon) 2 weeks ago. It's actually a little darker than the paint I'm going to use on the walls, but I thought I could use this on some frames so they stand out a little more. I also have black and white spray paint I got a few weeks ago. All the miscellaneous frames I have in the house, are getting a unifying look, and will be hung on the wall, in a group in this room. They're actually going to end up framing the TV (kinda) I bought for the room. Got a great deal on it at Best Buy, 2 weeks ago. YES. I didn't do anything but shop that weekend!

Finishes #2

I got a fantastic idea on how to re-purpose my roller shades, which are starting to crumble. This fabric is going to be used as my shades.

Finishes #3

Believe it or not, this IS the pared down stack of fabric I bought. It's a black/white/Tiffany Blue themed room.

Finishes #4

I got a killer deal on some Maidenform Bra's, and they came in a box, wrapped in this bag. I thought it was cute, so I kept it, and will use it to cover a storage box.

Finishes #5

I picked a color! It's the one in the top left corner. It's called 'Sea Life'. I only got a Gallon of it. I'm trying to stick to a self imposed $400 budget. So far:

Fabric                               $92.27

19" TV with DVD Player     $121.89

4 Cans of Spray Paint          $4.12

1 Gallon Wall Paint            $34.96

1 Quart Accent Paint           FREE

Subtotal                           $253.24

I actually thought I had spent more than this. Good to know! Why the $400 budget? Because I'm trying to do this in a frugal manner, and I happen to have $112.00 in rewards from my DiscoverCard. I transferred $200 from eBay in March. I hope to make the remainder on April's eBay sales.

I still need to purchase some floating shelves for the walls. As well as some storage bins, and whatever else I think will make the room look nice.

Next blog...more organizing/purging. Lots of pics in that one too.

March 2013 Coupon Savings

Ok. So I've done the whole couponing thing before, and haven't kept up with it. I'm giving it another go, this time, with the help of the internet. Did you know, there are sites that make it super simple for you to save? I'm sure I knew this...but didn't bother to look at them before. I am now.

Here's two I like:

www.southernsavers.com
www.forthemommas.com

Sooo...what have I bought for cheap? I thought you'd never ask!

Giant

Last week Giant had a $5 off "Personal Thanks Coupon" if you buy 5 frozen foods (from a certain selection, not just any frozen food). Pair that with some manufacturer's coupons and BOOM! super savings!

Rite Aid

+Up #1

+Up #2

Rite Aid 2

Rite Aid has also been very nice to me. Who doesn't love free potato chips? I also got 4 cans of Pringles, on my first shopping trip. These I paid for, without getting any +Up rewards, but, there's a reason. Be on the look out for the empty canisters to be re-purposed.

CVS #1

CVS #2

Cant forget about CVS! I bought a bag of $0.99 cent Jelly Beans, which had a $0.99 ECB. I added them into the Easter Care package I sent to my Aunt and Uncle. Then, I used the ECB, with a coupon to get 2 packs of gum, for $0.15 each. These are going in my Boss's Easter Basket. She's very good to me, and I like to spoil her ;)

Walgreens also treated me well last week, but...I'm not sure what I did with the receipts :( I'll give a recap of what I remember. 4 Cans of Progresso Soup, which cost me $0.75 each, after coupons, discounts, and bonus points. A free Starbucks Iced Coffee. As well as 3 Hallmark Cards ($0.99 ones) for free. It was a sweet trip!

I'm doing this weeks shopping tomorrow. Not too much on the list. I hope to make it to Walmart this week. I had a list of about 8 items for last week, but my dumb ass didn't think to go to a Super Walmart, as all of the items were of a grocery store nature. Sigh. I'll know better this week.

Doubling my Efforts

This has been sitting in draft form since 7/27/12. Might as well post it for all the throngs of my adoring readers.

I need to buckle down. Really.

I'm doing quite well with my cash spending. Keeping it in control, that is. Charging was much less this month than it was last. Still more than I'd like though. I'm blaming some of the overspending on having to replace all my perishable foods from when the power was out.

I have to buckle down...because...I GOT A NEW JOB! Slightly less money, but a WHOLE lot more in line with my future life goals. I'm SO excited. If I could do cartwheels, I would. I'm doing them mentally instead.

All that time away from my home at the beginning of the month, took a toll on me. Total lack of motivation to do anything. I haven't scanned anything else picture-wise, and though I have done a little bit of crochet, I'm no where near meeting the goal of completing the project. So...this months goal...eat what is in the house. That simple. When I'm out of frozen veggies to pair with my protein, I need to use up the canned vegetables I keep forgetting are in the cabinet.

Speaking of which, I'm back on track with following the eating plan from the dietitian. Back down the 5 lbs I gained at the beginning of the month.

Happy New Year!

...3 months late. Better than never, right?

So, what's been going on with me? Uhm...In August, I got a new job! FINALLY! Praise Jesus! Prayers ARE answered. Guess what. It is even more fantastic than I could even imagine. My brain is appreciated, and exercised on a daily basis. It is exactly 3 miles from my front door, to the office.

I am itching to be creative. Right now, I'm watching a marathon of America's Next Top Model. It makes several things pop into my mind. First, I can't stand Tyra Banks. Second, I can't wait for the weather to cooperate, so I can work with my willing model. You'd think more people would be willing to dress up all fabulous and wear some funky makeup, so I can take great pictures of them. Nope. It's like pulling teeth to get someone to work with.

I'm still up to my old tricks with eBay. Sorry for the crappy pictures.

February

March

Too much floating around in my head right now. Hard to focus it and get it out on the screen. More updates soon. Promise. Topics include coupon savings, craft room decorating, organizing, certifications, savings goals, and more. 

3 Is Just Too Much

Project goals that is. I thought 3 might be a good number to aim for, but apparently, for me, that's just too much right now :( That really bothers me.

I AM happy, and proud I took care of my yard clean up, mostly by myself. I did borrow Dad's truck, and Dad himself to go to the dump with me. I loaded it up the night before, in the dark, to keep myself from completely passing out from the heat. Then drove over to Daddies the next morning, to pick him up.

Of course, Daddy had to improve upon my securing of the branches. I don't blame him though :)

The red straps were my attempt, the yellow are the ones he added.

So. The yard goal was reached. I did also work on the crocheting project, however, I didn't complete it. I will continue this project in July. I am not even going to try to work on the basement ceiling tiles. For some reason, I just don't want to do it, or I would have done it already. Other projects are getting moved to higher priority than this one.

I'm torn between seeing if one project a month is a good goal, or going with two instead. I'll try two for this month. The crocheting, and at least ONE of my many photo projects. 

I DO need to work on a vision board. That should be my first project. I needed a scanner to finish up my photo projects. For some reason, I can't seem to keep a scanner working, on a multi-function machine, but really, who wants to keep a flat bed scanner all by itself. It takes up too much room, right? Well, I was at the thrift store last week. I decided to take a chance on a $5 scanner. Seriously. The thing was marked $4.99. I did a quick search on my smart phone and decided to give it a go.

It took about an hour of fiddling with the drivers (which were downloaded) in order to get it working, but I DID get it working, and scanned about 250 photos in the period of 2 days. I still need to search around the house to see if I have any left. After they are all scanned in, they need to be cross-referenced against what I already have uploaded to flickr. Then, and this is going to be major pain in the butt, I have to figure out a better way of arranging the photos ON flickr.

In other cheap news, I have been dabbling with going "no-poo" for a while. Not really committing, and then washing my hair with regular old shampoo when it got to the point I couldn't stand it anymore. I think that may be over! I decided to splurge, and get a $7 bottle of L'Oreal Sulfate Free, Silicone Free "Cleansing Conditioner". While I was there, I also got a 89 cent bottle of Strawberries and Cream Moisture Milks Alberto V05 conditioner. It's also sulfate/silicone free. Guess which one works better...

My hair is looking pretty fantastic. Nice and clean, soft and my curls/waves are really responding. That's the majority of the reason I'm trying to be poo-free anyway. I want my curls back!

I did get one other item off my to-do list over the weekend. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you're looking at it. I have had "Defrost Basement Freezer" on my to-do list for probably 2 years. It's certainly wasn't a high priority at all. On 6/30 there were some pretty severe storms that hit the bat cave and surrounding area. The community I live in, just got it's power restored this morning. A full 6 days later. This is why the freezer got defrosted. I need to find a more level place for my freezer. It's in the corner, and leans about 2 inches on one side. I think this is why ice is forming, because it's only on that one side. Anywho, the two loaves of bread and one Lean Cuisine that was trapped in the ice on the bottom are now removed. Yay. I think I should give it a good cleaning, and just unplug it. I don't keep food in it. All that's there is booze, and that's really because there's no reason to keep that in the main house/kitchen fridge, because I don't drink enough for them to be there. I'll see how much the electric usage drops after I unplug it. No point in paying a bunch of money to keep liquor cold unless it's going to be consumed.

I did really well with my cash spending, right up until the last week of the month. I got a little sad, and decided to have fast food a few days in a row. That really eats into my cash spending. I still ended up with a full $20 left over from this months $116 cash spending. I am disappointed with how much needed to be charged in June, but, it wasn't stupid stuff. It was investments in the future. I'm really just trying to keep the mindless spending to a minimum (fast food, etc). With that, July will have a $100 cash limit, and $300 charge limit. I may have to bump the charge limit to $400 as I have a fridge and freezer to restock with food :(

I am Woman Hear me Roar!

I like to think of myself as a pretty handy gal, but there are some things that just plain scare me, like using a circular saw. I'm afraid I'm going to cut a limb off. Because of this, I am SO proud of myself for using my chainsaw to trim up some horribly overgrown things in the yard. The Holly out back, and a who-knows-what bush on the side of the house. Yeah. The bush was HUGE. You can see in the picture how big it was, because all the grass underneath it was dead. I would have cut even more, but there's a birds nest in what's left. The neighbor told me my tree looked good. HA! If it were to stay like this, and continue to look like a tree, that would be fine with me. This thing grows huge every year.

Holly got her hair cut too ;)

Before

After

There's still one or two limbs that need to be cut back, but I need to get underneath the tree to do it, and I was getting cranky by the time I got to this point.

Yesterday only topped out at 82 degrees. I took that as a sign to finish up the yard. I mowed the back lawn, used the blower/sucker on the back patio after I moved a few things to the shed, and weeded the two beds I had left (Front and right hand side of house). I had wanted to shape up the bushes in the front bed, but that will need to wait until fall, as I have to purchase some new equipment to do that. But at least the weedy vines won't kill them in the process, right?

Before

After

This months budget isn't going so great. It isn't horrible, but I neglected to factor in the fact I was charging my trip to a dietitian (separate post might be written about this, but basically, I'm making an effort to eat well, so I thought it would be advantageous to have someone tell me if I was on the right track or not), so I'm WAY over at this point, but, it's an investment. I AM proud of not charging silly things. I'm doing quite well on my cash spending this month. $86 left of the original $116 (I had overages from last month).

I also just signed up for a prep class for the certification exam I'm going to take. Didn't even think about that when I picked $400 as my budget. Oh well. These things are "investments" in my future. Gotta spend a little money to make big money in the future.

I also changed out the battery on my old car yesterday. Poor girl hasn't been driven in almost 2 years, but she started right up like a champ! Now, to get to the emissions station safely, and pass the emissions. I did a little happy dance at the car just starting. I'll do virtual cartwheels (because I can't do them in real life ;) when the car passes!!

I have been doing a bit of crocheting here and there, so I am slowly making progress on that goal (Remember, I had only 3 for the month). I haven't touched the basement ceiling yet. I plan on doing some laundry tonight, so I'm going to challenge myself to do the prep work while the first load is in. Prep work for this project is removing the staples. I'm thinking, in the family room, I'll rehang the tiles. I have enough to do that, but in the laundry area and bedroom, I really have to think about what is the best way to proceed. It may be easier to rip the ceiling down (large parts already are) and just hang sheetrock instead.

I Need to Make a Vision Board

I really need to make a vision board. I'm already thinking, in my mind, of things I want to make my life better, things in my house prettier, or my heart fuller. Some of these things are happening, and I'm so thankful for them. I think making a vision board will help me bring the others to fruition.

My last post talked about scrapping the spice rack project. I have the spice rack on my mind, and I of course check Craigslist "Free" section for my city, on a daily basis. I came across this free standing cabinet last Sunday. Yahoooie! I think it goes pretty well with my existing cabinets, and I'm super happy the stock pot (which holds my large utensils) fits perfectly underneath. I am looking for a working VCR so I can check some recordings I have on VHS tapes and see if they are worth keeping. If I can get a VCR (mine ate tapes, and I got rid of it late last year) that works, and there's anything I'd like to keep, I will purchase a transfer cable/software off of eBay and convert whatever tapes are appropriate to DVDs. I found an ad for a free VCR on Craigslist this morning, and am waiting to hear back from the person on whether it's still available, and hopefully when I can pick it up today.

Of course, some of these things aren't so good :( I was sitting at my dining room table playing cards with friends on Wednesday, looking out my large picture window, thinking...man it's hot in this room. The living room has much better ventilation. I would really like to have a window that opened instead of this picture window. Fast forward to Fridays torrential rain, and the a window that hasn't leaked in the 9 years I've lived in this house is suddenly leaking. Just great! (sarcasm). While I really would like to switch out the window for something else, I don't want to spend the money on a want rather than a need at the moment. My intention is to spend as little as possible on 'wants' in 2012. This window issue 'needs' to be addressed, but I've been told it's a $7 fix with a tube of caulk.

May's financial challenge was very good for me. I ended the month with $4 left, of my $100 cash. I charged $221.41 on the credit card. I think only $20 over on such a low limit was pretty darn good on my part!

June's financial challenge will have a larger charge allowance as I have a few vehicle expenses to include for the month. A battery and emissions on one car, and an oil change on the other car. I think $400 will be an adequate amount to pay for my normal charges, plus the car expenses. I will start the month with the normal $100 cash, plus the $4 excess from last month, and $12 I made at yesterdays yard sale ( I didn't have any big ticket items to sell, I'm happy with what I got rid of) for a total of $116. I still have a Visa debit card to use with $4.46 on it.

eBay sales weren't so hot last month. I made $48.95, with only 5 sales. This month is starting off strong. I've made $24.97 so far this month, and that's with sales that were actually listed using May's free insertion listings, so I still have all 50 to use for this month. This morning I transferred $100 from my PayPal account to my checking account in anticipation of using it to finance the car charges I'm going to incur. I'm contemplating getting a PayPal debit card. It may be easier to do this instead of transferring money between accounts. I could just charge my 'extras'  on it. But then again, I get nice cash back on my Discover, and I never pay interest on that account, so it is truly bonus money. Decisions, decisions...

Ughh, just remembered I have even more extras to pay for this month. My Mothers birthday and Fathers Day are this month. I'll still try to keep it under $400. Oh yeah! I haven't taken any gift cards on my MyPoints account yet this year. Quick check tells me I have a few more points before I can get a $25 gift card to Target or Walmart. Boo! But, I do have $50 in bonus dollars on my Discover account. That will come in handy.

Ok, so I knew everyone was getting a $100 credit from the local Gas and Electric company, but I thought mine would be spread out over the next 6 months, as I'm on budget billing. To my surprise, the credit was given all at once, so this months bill is only $30. Huzzah! The money saved, will be spent on the cars, but that's plenty fine with me. Things are shaping up to find a financial homeostasis this month, and I'm thankful for it.

Thinking I should take care of all the project items on my to do list each weekend, is kind of keeping me from doing any of them, so I'm amending my thoughts here. In June, I only have 3 items I'd like to complete. #1: Re-hanging the ceiling tiles in my basement, #2: Tidying up the yard. The weather is perfect for this today. Since I got some sun at yesterdays yard sale, I'm going to tackle this one when the sun isn't going to be blazing down on me. #3 will be the easiest to achieve, as I can do it while I'm being lazy! I have a crochet blanket I'm working on, and need to finish it and make another one. I'm pretty fast with my stitches, and these projects aren't large to begin with. That's it. If I complete all three of these items, I will feel as though I accomplished something.

I also think it's time to fast from TV again. A week should be sufficient.

'maters are finally starting to produce fruit. Yay! Since I messed up when I should have harvested my broccoli, I have already consulted with my garden guru. She tells me to pick them when they first turn orange, and then let them ripen on a window sill. I have additional pics of the garden, but I don't really feel like posting them. Everything is coming along nicely, I think the next thing to start producing will be the squash. I'm happy for that, as it will save me a bit on my grocery bill, and I happen to LOVE squash!