let's try this again...

This last week has been full of RE-s.

aRngEnrargi
(rearranging)

We decided to move around our little apartment a little bit to make it more homey. We moved our TV back into our bedroom and left the front room just couches and books. =) It's a nice quiet place to get away from the noise of kids and movies. It has made it a lot less dirty too. The kids don't have an interest here anymore, because they can watch Elmo in the bedroom! It's great. But as we were moving things around, we found some interesting things...

I'm pretty sure this is the vortex hole where Parker puts everything that we are missing. Sure enough, I reached my hand inside this hole (in the back of our couch) and found the DVD remote!

Then, as we moved our bed, underneath my side was about 100 bobby pins! I guess you never know when you want to pin your hair up in the middle of the night.

Before: crammed in the front room watching TV

After: sprawled out in mom and dad's room watching Elmo while eating breakfast.
so much better...

REdecorating...

After we settled where all the furniture went, it occurred to me that some things I have are just blahhhhhhhhh... and boring... so I went to some blogs that Dani recommended and loved them all! They aren't your typical mommy mormon blogs... not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just unique craft ideas that really are applicable to a college budget. This is where the Modge Podge comes in... (or as I have affectionately named it, MoPo)

#1- the clock...

before:
insert mental image of the most boring black and white $1.99 Wal-mart clock that isn't even worth the digital space to take a picture.

Then add some cute paper coordinating with the orange pots, flowers, and well, oranges in my kitchen...

print adorable Amanda fonts numbers 1-12

smother with Modge Podge
and reassemble

after:
But, if I'm late a lot now, it's probably because I lined the numbers up myself! haha.
2:30...
7:45...
what's the difference.

Speaking of clocks, for Christmas, Richard's parents got him the coolest "math-nerd" clock...

Can you figure out what time it is? =)
If not, Richard could tutor you...

#2 - the file cabinet

before:
rusty, embarrassing, but still useful, metal catastrophe

This one was a little more difficult... it actually took me three tries, hence the mistakes mentioned before. I spray painted the body of the cabinet and then used ideas from Design Sponge. Since I didn't follow the tutorial given there exactly, I hit a few snags... and had to figure them out. She uses wallpaper and I thought to save money, I would find a cool design online, print it out and then MoPo the paper onto the front of the drawers. Well, the paper was too thin and the MoPo made my ink bleed...

So I finally did end up printing off my own design (well, with a little help from Orla Kiely) onto cardstock and then I sprayed it with acrylic sealer (good for document and map preservation just so you know) then MoPo... and long story short... with all the kinks worked out I ended up with this...

After:

It was a lot of fun, but took a lot more time and energy than I thought it would! But I'm happy with it. At least I don't have to try and hide it behind things now.

Also, I found these flowers from our wedding in a box and I love them! I feel like they are brand new to me... just like with Parker's toys. You put them away for a while and then bring them back out and it's like new stuff! Works for me too.



RE-upholstering

Now that we have extra space in the front room, we found a really cool D.I. loveseat to add to our seating. It's super comfortable, very soft, and even more ugly.

Seriously, I warned you...

Come on, you should get a closer look...

It's like a car crash... you can't look away can you? Well, I seem to have a fetish for lime green, velvet couches. I had one growing up in my loft bedroom. Anyway, this time the upholstery doesn't quite suit my style, so Richard and I impulsively decided to reupholster it ourselves! =) I know, we got a little ambitious. But, I'm not sorry for it. Although, my sewing expertise consists of hand stitching a couple leg warmers and anything with less then two straight edges max. So, I tried to make a seemingly simple square cushion cover. After four days of unpicking, measuring, cutting, sewing, crying, cursing, repenting, I finally finished at 6:45 this morning (at least that's what my new clock said) and then I went to put it on...

...it was way too small

bummer

So, back to square one... as they say. At least the fabric was only $3.50 a yard! (It's smoky blue corduroy... fabulous!) Richard's Aunt Janet is such a life saver and has agreed to help us since she is the goddess at all things crafty. I do have to say, that will be a very satisfying "after" picture to post when it's done!

REsale

and finally, we want to sale our spare twin bed in Parker's room, so there's room for Colette to finally move out of our room. She sleeps so well that there isn't really a point of her being by me all night. Anyway, if you are interested... let us know. I just thought it was funny that as were trying to take pictures of it, Parker just naturally posed as the perfect model...


REfresh

It always feels good to get a fresh start on things.

Now I can start REblogging ... =)