Soccer Games 2012

Miss Megan is the funniest soccer player on the planet.

Big sista Marisa's game was the next hour. I caught them between games and snapped a cute sista shot. 

She got bored with her soccer game and all the running she had to do.

She is easy to spot with her hot pink shorts on the all boy team. She kept holding hands with the blonde kid to her left. 

 So she decided to hug and hold hands with all the little boys on her all-boy (except her) team.

She was running a lot of the time, and would just sit down and do a somersault or two....then get up and run again. 

Finishing up a somersault while the coach isn't looking...so cute! 

 Then she did some somersaults, and then she finally just picked up the ball, ran over to the goal, dropped it, and kicked it in.

All smiles after THAT sneaky goal! Everybody was just howling with laughter! 

It was the funniest moment of the game. And the most fun at a soccer game I've ever had. She is a riot.

Blackberry-Peach Crisp

I picked these peaches today off of my tree to make some Blackberry Peach Crisp. 

Blackberry Peach Crisp with toasted pecans....great summer dessert! 

RECIPE FOR FRESH BLACKBERRY-PEACH CRISP 

1 cup of quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter of room temperature butter
6 to 8 medium fresh peaches sliced  (enough to cover bottom of 9 x 9 or larger casserole dish) 
1/2 cup fresh blackberries (or raspberries)
1/2 cup pecan halves or pieces
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons salt 

Always use REAL BUTTER for your Peach Crisp...it will taste better! 

Combine oats, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add butter and mix. Cut butter into oats mixture. Arrange sliced peaches in a 8 x 8 or 10 x 6 inch, oiled baking dish. 

Fresh Blackberries from my bushes! I am getting a good crop this year. This yield is just todays, picked from only 2 plants. 

Here are the peaches from my tree right before I peeled them and sliced them for my Blackberry Peach Crisp. 

I peeled my peaches but you do not have to. I've done it both ways. My tree peaches are just VERY fuzzy, so I like to remove the skins and slice them up. 

You can see my blackberries added! Yum!  This is right before I added the pecans and popped it into the oven! 

Cover peaches with a few squirts of lemon juice and a few teaspoons sugar. Spread the blackberries around.  Mix up all the rest of the ingredients in your mixer. Then Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the fruit. Top with pecan halves or pieces. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350. Let set for 15 minutes before serving. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

You can see those yummy toasted pecans. I just lay them all over the top and they toast so nicely! 

This is right before I took a giant bite. mmm.....

Laundry Room Decorating

My daughter Tiff has done such a cute job decorating her laundry room. She has a cricut and has added vinyl lettering to many areas of her home. Isn't it sooo cute?

Laundry Rooom Decor - she did the vinyl words using her cricut machine.

Another Cute decor item to add to a boring old laundry room...the laundry detergent jars...


These white shelves are also nice because you can hang hangers on them.  

I found this laundry room stain remover jar on Pinterest....I'm going to copy one o f these jars...so cute! 

Alphabet Wall using many different wood and scrapbooking paper designs.
Awesome! I love her laundry room! 

Bulletin Board Repainting

I repainted a bulletin board that used to be bright red. I LOVE how it turned out. It will be pretty in the classroom too! Don't you think? 

This is what it used to look....cork board under the blue plastic I taped over it....red painted edges.  

It actually used to be gray in my hub's office. But I took it home and painted it red. But I didn't end up using it in the grandkiddie room. I made a giant chalk board instead. They love it so much! 

And I covered it with fabric and ribbons and glittery butterfly pins....

A quick and easy video on how to spray paint old furniture....

Taping up the bulletin board with paper, trash bags,  to cover  up the cork portion. 

It use to be a fire engine red for a kiddie room....now I want it for my craft room since all my kiddos are grown and gone. 

Here is my painted bulletin board after I sprayed 2 coats of the  Rustoleum spraypaint on  it....You can see how I taped the edges with a trash bag and masking tape....

KILZ primer and Valspar are the best...they go on smooth . 

Valspar and Rustoleum are good spray paints too....I liked this light blue color. It will match my little book boxes in my classroom library.  I bought blue, light green, and pink last year and redid the library. CUTE! 

I covered the bulletin board with a kitchen trash bag and masking tape....not too bad for prep! 

Here were my 2 fabrics and my ribbon I wanted to use.

I sewed the glittery, striped fabric onto 2 sides of the butterfly fabric....and cut it to fit the bulletin board....

Then I just glue gunned it all around the edges of the cork after letting the paint dry overnight. Lookin good!  It's too bad the back would not come off, it would have been easier to just wrap the fabric around, but, it was glued down in every corner and edge. 

Then when it was finished I added some embellishments....a couple of glittery butterflies and push pins.

Check out my 6 tips for using spray paint at Patties Place.

I bought some glittery, giant push pins at Hobby Lobby for my painted bulletin board redo.  I put one in the center of each cute little flower. 

Finished bulletin board redo....it turned out just like I wanted.  

Well, don't look too close at my bad sewing job though. It's kind of hard to believe I've had 5 years of sewing in high school and college level, right? Yeah, I've gone downhill there. :D

I think it will look great in my classroom this year! A LOT better looking  than the plain red one. I love spray paint! 

Spray Painting Furniture Tutorial and Tips

Finished repainted chest of drawers...

Pretty painted chest will look great in my craft room makeover! 

I'm trying to finish my craft room this summer. But I'm such a perfectionist that it is taking WAY too long. I think I need to just simplify and lower my expectations. I want the cute little die cut vinyl on all my little buckets and totes. It may never happen! But I did want to repaint an old, brown dresser in a pretty bright beachy blue. So I finally got around to it this week. Yay me! 

For Brush Painting, I found this excellent youtube to help anybody who has never painted furniture before. This gal has all the right moves. 

But if you'd rather be lazy and go the CAN of spray paint route, this youtube also gives excellent advice.  

Laying out the drawers for sanding and removing the hardware before I start the furniture primer coat......

My supplies to start the sanding and primer coat...

Oops, first I covered the hardware with masking tape.....I'm lazy remember?  Then the hubs came home and took them off for me with his cordless drill....those men and their power tools....gotta love 'em....

Old dusty chest of drawers in ugly bugly brown to go with the pastels in the craft room....need to do a little change up!  So I'm spray painting the wood. 

Bulletin board I wanted to change from PLAYROOM bright red, to CRAFTROOM sky blue....

6 GREAT TIPS FOR REPAINTING FURNITURE

 I spray painted my dining room table (ball and claw) and all the oak chairs last summer from light oak, wood color to black (when I'm off of school I paint my brains out!) HERE's a link. so I learned dos and don'ts from doing all those painting projects.  Here are my tips: 

 

1.SAND A LITTLE, NOT A LOT!  I usually sand my stuff a little bit before even priming it. Not so much that the former paint is gone, but enough that it feels smooth to my fingers.  I like a smooth finish and I get it by sanding first. Start with 60 grit if you have a real awful piece. Then move to 120 grit, or just use 120 grit if your piece is pretty decent. You can end with 150. You need to rub off some of the gloss finish on a previously painted item, to help your new paint adhere better. 

You could start with 120 if you really need to remove stuff...I used 150 grit sandpaper and called it done after a light sanding....

Hand sanding...just a bit to roughen up the surface....I would sand more if it needed it....you be the judge! 

2.USE A GOOD PRIMER COAT!  I always prime stuff I want to turn out beautiful.  Use KILZ brand primer if you are doing something light colored. KILZ only comes in white finish. But if you are painting something red,  black or brown, I would instead use a good KRYLON primer near that color. Both are around $4.00. 

Spray painting wood furniture...you need this KILZ primer. It's great! The Valspar doesn't cover as fast . 

3. I USE SATIN FOR SPRAYPAINT and REGULAR PAINT. Some people like gloss, but I think the furniture ends up looking more expensive when it is kind of a satiny finish instead of high gloss. If you have young kids you may want to go the GLOSS route for easier cleaning up afterwards, (you know those messes they like to make! :D) OR do a topcoat afterwards in polyurethane (for dark paint) or Polyacrylic (for light paints) to protect your item. 

This is really good good spray paint for wood furniture, Krylon is good too. 

4. BUY KRYLON SPRAYPAINT at Walmart for around $3.00. It's the best. Just ask anybody.Rustoleum is good too but some colors aren't my favs. I did like this blue color and I got it on a good sale!!  And for regular paint I love GLIDDEN from HOME DEPOT the best. It isn't the most expensive, but it covers really well. The BEHR is just too thick for my taste. 

5. IF YOU NEED TO PUT A SEALER ON, USE POLYACRYLIC   NOT POLYURETHANE (it will yellow after time!) I have rarely ever finished anything, but I rarely paint things white either. If you want it to last and it gets used a lot, use polyacrylic to add a topcoating to protect your stuff. The only thing I'd use Polyurethane on is stained woods. 

6. DON'T PAINT WHEN IT IS TOO COLD OR TOO HOT. I like to wait for a day that is between 65 and 80 degrees outside. I painted last summer on my deck in 90 degree heat and it seemed to melt some of the paint before it dried, and some bubbled a little. Also don't paint on a rainy day unless you can do it in your garage. A moderate day is best. And out of direct sunlight is even better. I usually paint on the grass in the shade, or under my deck shade with an old sheet under the item I'm painting. That way I'm not breathing in any fumes!

Finished outside of the chest of drawers....looks pretty good!  

I went over each drawer twice after priming...It all took only 2 cans of Rustoleum spray paint and almost 2 cans of primer!  

The best part is.....my hubs mows the lawn the next day and all that paint disappears! (I love when that happens...somebody coming along to clean up my mess!) He also picks up my weeds when I weed the garden. Isn't that cool? (i know...I should clean up my own weeds..... my bad.) 

Setting out in the front yard, spray painted furniture drying in the shade......almost done!   

Finished Craft Room spray painted dresser! I used almost 2 cans of paint. And it was super EASY!   I think I'll put some vinyl lettering on each drawer....once I figure out what junk to put inside!  

Now I just have to finish all the shelves. My daughter did these cute vinyl letters on my little pastel buckets.  Thanks Tiffany! She's the best daughter in the world. And she gives me good decorating advice too.  

That was the easiest furniture makeover I've ever done! 3 CHEERS for spray paint!